Page 133 of A House of Gold
Tonight, I'll sleep in the bed of the devil who saved me and hope that's enough.
"Stay," I whisper as my eyes close. "Please."
Through the binding, I feel his surprise. His pleasure. His fierce determination to never leave.
"Always," he says.
And he means it.
I fall asleep to the sensation of his hand in mine and his presence through the binding, steady, warm, and absolutely refusing to let me go.
Tomorrow, we face the other Houses.
Tonight, we rest.
Together.
29
The meeting is set for midnight.
Croesus tells me this over dinner, an actual dinner, not just food brought to his chambers. We're in a private dining room I've never seen before, smaller and more intimate than the grand hall where he entertains guests, or where staff and anyone in the house lingers to eat or chat. The table is black marble, the chairs are comfortable, and there are only two place settings.
It feels almost normal. Almost like a date.
Except we're planning how to convince six fallen angels not to let Heaven's assassins kill me.
"Neutral ground," Croesus says, cutting into something that might be steak. "An old cathedral in downtown. Abandoned for decades, but it still holds residual divine power. None of us can claim dominance there, which means none of us can cheat."
"Comforting."
"It's the best we can do." He takes a bite, chews thoughtfully. "The others agreed surprisingly quickly. The collector attack spooked them. No one wants Heaven's executioners in their territory."
I push food around my plate, some kind of fish in butter sauce. I should be hungry. I'm not.
"What do I need to know?" I ask. "About meeting all of them at once under these circumstances, especially given the attack on Idris in his own home."
Croesus sets down his fork, gives me his full attention. "Don't show weakness. Don't apologize. Don't let them see you're afraid, even if you are." He pauses. "And don't trust anything they say. They'll all be assessing you, testing you, looking for leverage. They expect me to use you against them so that aspect isn’t as bad as you think. They want to see what you can do for themselves so they can start planning how to use you when they acquire you for themselves."
"Even you?"
"Especially me." His smile is sharp. "I have the most to lose. You're in my house first. That gives me influence over you that the others don't have yet. They'll resent that. Use it against me if they can."
"So I'm a weapon?"
"You're a sin eater who can break contracts from any house." His gold eyes are serious. "You're the most valuable thing in that room, Raven. Every angel there will want to control you, claim you, or eliminate you as a threat. The only question is which impulse wins."
I set down my fork, appetite completely gone. "And you think they'll help us? After you just told me they all see me as something to control?"
"I think they'll help themselves. And right now, helping you is in their best interest." He leans back in his chair. "Someone is stealing souls from all seven houses. Someone killed your grandmother for discovering the pattern. Someone sent collectors into my domain, a direct violation of the treaties that keep us from open war." His jaw tightens. "That threatens the balance. And we've spent three thousand years maintaining that balance because the alternative is extinction."
"So they'll work with us because they're scared."
"Fear is a powerful motivator." He picks up his wine glass, studies the dark red liquid. "But it's also temporary. Once the immediate threat is dealt with, once they feel safe again, they'll remember that you still owe them six more years. And they'll collect."
The weight of it hits me again. Six more years. Six more houses. Six more angels who will see me as property, as power, as something to be used.
"What if I can't do this?" The words slip out before I can stop them. "What if meeting all of them, working with all of them, what if it breaks me?"
