Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“They would have realized that I was the unifying element,” she reasoned, her expression thoughtful. “I live in the complex. The pool hall was my long-time haunt. The dive bar was next to my store. Although … all of that also applies to Mia.”
“Yes, but anyone watching me while I was near you would have noticed I paid attention to you. They would have guessed who you are to me—it was a given that I would seek you out after I fell, if not before.” He held his breath, braced for her to yell at him; blame him for the shit she’d recently had to deal with. But she didn’t.
“I never considered that the notes were connected to you. I received the first one before you and I even spoke.” She folded her arms. “Who exactly would do this? One of the Seven? You said they betrayed you, though you didn’t really go into detail.”
“Back when you were Everleigh, they came for us, taking us by surprise. They put us both to sleep, took us to separate locations, and killed you knowing your soul would be reborn. They took measures to ensure I wouldn’t find you.”
They’d tried lying to him, tried convincing him that the Uppers were responsible for her disappearance. He hadn’t bought it. Gabriel had been too twitchy and nervous, and Michael hadn’t been able to look Viper in the eye. So he’d delved into Raphael’s mind and seen all; seen how he, Uriel, and Azrael had led the ‘mob’; watched as Raphael wiped Viper’s imprint and memories from her soul.
“Believe it or not, they thought they were doing the right thing by us.” His entity snorted, finding them ridiculous.
Her head jerked back. “How is killing me the right thing?”
“It isn’t. But in their mind, it would free us both from each other. They felt you were better off without me, and vice versa; felt that parting us was the only way to stop me from falling.” They hadn’t cared that she was the only thing that brought him peace; had disregarded what she meant to him, more concerned about what he’d become on falling.
“I don’t believe any of them are responsible for the notes,” he went on. “Their motive for separating us was to prevent me from falling. It’s too late for that now, so it’d be senseless for them to go near us. Besides, I put them through some serious pain when I realized what they’d done. They won’t want to risk that happening again. And they’re not the vengeful type, unlike me.”
Her eyes went slitted. “You said they hid me. How? I mean, I’m right here.”
“I’d imprinted myself on your soul. Marked it—and yes, you were aware of it. You agreed to it. They removed that mark before killing you, because it would have otherwise enabled me to track your soul. They should have known better than to think it would be enough to keep me from searching for you.” He took a slow step toward her and offered, “I can show you what they did.”
Her brows met. “You were there?”
“No. But I psychically punched my way into Raphael’s mind afterward and snatched the memory of what happened right out of his brain. Want to see?”
“Yes, I want to see.”
“I’ll have to touch you,” he warned.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not scared of you.”
Relief pounded through him. His entity relaxed slightly, though it was still on edge. They weren’t out of the woods yet.
Viper closed the space between them. “There’s more I could show you.”
“Like, what?”
“Glimpses of times we met in your past life. Some of those memories were soaked into your soul. When we met again, those memories would have begun to surface.” His lips thinning, he added, “But Raphael had wiped them away.”
“Will it hurt to show me?”
“I would never do anything that would cause you pain.”
“Will it hurt you? You’d be invading the mind of a demon—it takes a toll on celestials.”
“There’d be some discomfort, but it wouldn’t drain me because it would take only seconds. It will be like uploading a file to a computer.”
She planted her feet and rolled her shoulders. “Okay. Show me. I want to see what happened. I want back what they took from me.”
He placed the heels of his hands against her temples. “Close your eyes.”
Ella pulled in a preparatory breath, bracing herself for the psychic impact, not entirely sure what to expect.
And then it happened.
Images flickered through her mind, fast and vibrant. Memories played out there in fast-forward but dug in deep, planting themselves in her own mind.
She saw all of their personal journey. The talks they’d had, the kisses they’d shared, the attention he’d lavished on her body, the way he’d kept coming back to her, the love that had crept up on him little by little until finally it had filled every space inside him.