Tears streamed over a shattered cheekbone and swollen skin. One eye bled and watered from having been poked with a dagger.
Gadreel bent his head low. “Not ready yet?” he whispered, the malice in his voice so evil it sent an icy wave of fear through Nathaniel. “Well, men, this boy is anxious for more. Strip him, dip him in the pool to rinse away the filth, then bring him to me. Naked.”
Their harsh laughter was more than Kate could bare. She wanted to kill them. She tried to shoot up and smash her fist into Gadreel’s face, but Nathaniel’s broken leg crumpled beneath her. She fell, striking her head, and darkness fell.
“Kate,” a gorgeous voice said.
Kate opened her eyes to the soft light of burning candles. Pine and vanilla scented the air, a warm comfort, and Alissa North leaned over her with concerned pale blue eyes.
Kate put a hand to her aching head, finding a small knot on the back of her scalp. She grimaced, but then remembered the horrific pain that she’d endured in Nathaniel’s memory and the mild headache seemed insignificant.
“Where am I?” Kate rasped.
“My house. The ES duty guard at the Dome said you fainted. He said you’d mentioned that you’d missed lunch and down you went. He couldn’t get around his desk quick enough to catch you.”
Kind lies. “How long was I out?”
“Twenty-five minutes. A neurologist is on the way over.”
A house call from a specialist. The muses do indeed have magical powers, Kate thought wryly.
Kate sat up and took the glass of water Alissa offered. “I’m fine now, but I am having a very strange day.”
“So I’ve heard,” Alissa said. “Grant called and said that the man who dropped you off was probably a fallen angel.”
“He’s not fallen!” Kate blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just not sure he’s fallen. I don’t want to paint him with that brush yet.”
“Not fallen, but you do think he’s an archangel?”
Kate nodded, then shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Kate,” Alissa said gently.
“What?” Kate said. She’d felt the soothing, persuasive vibration in Alissa’s voice that pushed Kate to suspect the worst of Nathaniel. “Why does he have to be fallen?” Kate demanded, resisting.
“The archangels of Heaven don’t mix with people. Legend allows that they might save a human being in the course of killing a demon, but they don’t join the community of man. Heaven’s real ranks are a thing apart.”
“Well then, Nathaniel’s not an archangel because he lived and had a family.”
“Why do you think he didn’t want to come into the Etherlin?”
Kate shrugged.
“Do you think he worried that his true nature would be revealed?”
Kate thought about the overwhelming pain she’d felt for that brief time in Nathaniel’s terrible memory. What else had happened to him that she hadn’t seen? Had it been horrible enough for him to renounce God? Had he fallen or become damned? She shuddered. His intention had been so pure. If his will had been broken, it hadn’t been his fault. God could have shown him a little f**king mercy. She lurched from the sofa, feeling ill. She swallowed hard. “I’m gonna be sick. Bathroom?” She slapped a hand over her mouth.
Alissa guided her to the bathroom, and then in a surreal turn of events, the most beautiful woman in the world who never had so much as a speck of dirt on her clothes held Kate’s hair back while she retched so violently it tore sobs from her.
Alissa’s fingers soothed the back of Kate’s neck. “It’ll be all right. After the doctor sees you, you can take a hot shower and lie down.”
Kate shook her head and banged Nathaniel’s—no, Gadreel’s—ring on the cold tile, hard enough to bruise her finger. She took a deep breath and said, “Absolutely not.” She exhaled, wincing at the rough condition of her throat. “I’ve been looking forward to this holiday party all year. I’m not going to sleep through the damn thing.” Besides, if Nathaniel wants to see me later, he may not be willing to enter the Etherlin, but he could come to the Clarity Hotel in the Sliver. She’d mentioned the name of the hotel to him on the drive to the Etherlin.
Alissa’s crystalline blue eyes seemed to peer into her soul. “You hardly seem ready for a party.”
Kate narrowed her eyes. “Pulitzer Prize–winners don’t let little things like concussions put them off their schedules.”
Alissa smiled. “You don’t need to prove how tough you are, Kate.”