Azazel’s face softened, and he covered my hand so that it was clasped between both of his. “Daughter. There is nothing in this world that is more precious to me than you. You are right; I had forgotten that you have lived the life of a human, ignorant of the ways of our people. You need time. Very well. You shall have time.”
He snapped his fingers and Nathaniel immediately appeared at his side.
Like a dog to its master, I thought sourly.
Azazel placed my hand in Nathaniel’s, giving me no opportunity to pull away. Nathaniel closed his fingers around mine possessively. His skin was very warm, like Azazel’s, to the point of discomfort. I wanted to yank my hand back, grab Gabriel and go anywhere in the universe, somewhere far away from angelic power plays and soul-eating nephilim. I stood still and waited to see what Azazel would do.
“Nathaniel, my daughter has wisely reminded me that she is a stranger to our world. I have decided to give her an opportunity to grow accustomed to life at court before her marriage.
“Madeline,” he continued. “I will give you one year’s grace. During that time you will visit the court twice a month for a period of three days each trip.”
Three days? I thought. What the hell was I supposed to do with the souls on my list while I was trapped in Azazel’s court for six days each month?
“Additionally, you and Nathaniel will have an opportunity to get to know each other. Nathaniel will formally court you, both here and in the human world, and twelve months from today you shall marry.”
The air crackled a little at this pronouncement, and I realized with horror that Azazel’s words were like a magical binding. If I didn’t follow his edicts, appear in court and marry Nathaniel one year from that day, I would suffer the consequences of breaking the binding. I didn’t know what those consequences might be, but after witnessing Greenwitch’s fate, I didn’t want to find out.
Nathaniel lifted my hand to his lips. I kept my face composed even though my heart rabbited away in my chest. There was a tinkling of glass. We all looked toward the sound, which came from near Gabriel. He looked blandly back at us. I think I was the only one who noticed his left hand was stuffed in his pocket.
My betrothed muttered some words about my beauty, and I made the appropriate noises, but my mind was far away, frantically trying to think of a way out of this marriage, this court, this ridiculous notion of myself as a royal heir. Conversation ebbed and flowed all around us. Azazel moved among his people, leaving Nathaniel and me alone. There was a trill of laughter from one of the assembled crowd.
My heart stopped. I knew that laugh. I yanked my hand away from Nathaniel, whose look turned glacial, and frantically scanned the crowd for its source. Gabriel was at my side in an instant.
“What is it, my lady?” he asked in a low voice.
“That laugh . . . I’ve heard it before,” I said, so that Nathaniel couldn’t hear me. “Help me find her.”
Nathaniel glared down at Gabriel. “The Lady Madeline has no need of you, thrall. Return to your post.”
Gabriel nodded his head respectfully. “I beg your pardon, Lord Nathaniel. But Lady Madeline has requested my assistance.”
Nathaniel puffed up his chest. “If my lady needs assistance, then I will provide it. I am her betrothed.”
“Of course, my lord. But Lord Azazel has charged me with serving Lady Madeline, and I must do as she wishes.” Gabriel said this in a way that sounded polite on the surface but was undercut with steel. He wasn’t about to cede territory to Nathaniel.
I took note of this little exchange with half an ear. I was still trying to place the angel who had sounded so familiar to me.
“Enough with the testosterone,” I snapped. “Nathaniel, Gabriel stays; you go.”
Nathaniel gave me a look that could have frozen molten lava. “Very well, my lady. We will speak again before you depart.”
He bowed low and then moved away.
“Don’t count on it, buster,” I said in an undertone, and Gabriel’s mouth quirked into a half smile. “And don’t think I appreciate your fighting over me like a couple of dogs with a package of bacon.”
“Madeline, I think much, much more of you than bacon,” Gabriel said.
I laughed at his solemn face and then sobered. “What did you do to your hand?”
“Shattered a wineglass,” Gabriel said shortly.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Do you really think it enjoyable for me to watch that dog touch you?”
“About as enjoyable as it is for me to be touched by him, I imagine.”
The laughter sang out again, and I shuddered.
“There!” I said. “Who is that?”
Gabriel could see more of the crowd than I could with his advantage of height. “It is the Lady Ariell.”
“Ariell? Who is she?”
“She is not one of the Grigori. She is of a group of angels that came later, to join Lucifer’s kingdom. But why would you know the sound of her laughter, unless ...” Gabriel looked at me, and the word was unspoken between us.
Evangeline.
As if the very thought of her name was a summoning, I immediately felt dizzy. Black spots danced in front of my eyes. I felt myself slipping downward into darkness, and I fought it. I would not faint in front of all these angels. I could not show such weakness. I gripped Gabriel’s arm.
“Get me away from here,” I whispered. “I think . . . I think I’m going to have another vision.”