Page 63 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

Only to feel my entire being shudder with horror. We were falling.

It was Nephesh who was making that sound, the wounded cry trailing off as we began to plummet back into the building. I didn’t have time to do anything. Nephesh’s arms banded tighter around me as we fell, and I realized now that he was falling with purpose, guiding me until I was at his front.

I didn’t understand why until his body slammed into the cement floor. And my body, cushioned from the damage by his own, landed squarely on top of him.

Nephesh moved under me, his groans making my heart ache, but at least I knew he was alive. I pushed up, trying to decide how I could protect us from what was coming next as I staggered to my feet.

There were more of them than before now, lines of them surrounding us, all dressed in black. But now, they parted as one moved through, an olive-skinned male who smiled at me in welcome.

Dread curled in my gut. I knew that look. It was one of victory.

“What did you do to him?”

“I did nothing,” he said quietly.

“Let us go. Please. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

The man was shaking his head. “You know I cannot, sweet girl. Unlike my friends here…” He gestured to the blood that had seeped across the floor. The remnants of Gregory, around which several other soldiers were poised to strike. “I can see that you’ve already given Lucifer’s son your soul. You are no longer the innocent party here, Justine.”

My breathing accelerated.

“But now we know something new.” The man’s head cocked, and his entire eye went black. “The Fallen can love, and isn’t it a beautiful thing.” He gestured at Nephesh’s broken form at my feet. A flicker of laughter filled the room.

“How interesting, though, that he has not accepted the missing half though. He could just as easily have absorbed that soul and gone back to rule his part of the Underworld. But hey…” He moved his head, his dark eyes staring over at me. “Isn’t love grand? Perhaps his soul was damaged? Not that it’s your fault. Born to be the carrier of a demon’s soul? That’s a lot of darkness to carry around.” He tutted. “More likely is that you had a positive effect on his soul. No wonder he cannot accept it.”

Nephesh hadn't accepted my soul. Rejection threatened to flood me, but I pushed back, grasping for the reality of this thing in front of me. He was trying to hurt me, and he’d do it any way possible.

Nephesh moved, struggling to sit up, and I moved to him, careful to not step on his beautiful, bloodied wings.

“Justine,” he grunted, propping himself up as best he could. “I can explain.”

I shushed him, pressing my hand over his mouth as the man encroached ever farther on his. “It doesn’t matter. Survive, and then we can talk.”

“So many ideas and options. That’s why we need you both here. The information you will give us can completely change the tide of this war.” His eyes gleamed. “Master will be so thrilled.”

Nephesh’s eyes met mine again, and I saw the sorrow there. I wished so badly I could kiss him, I wished I could tell him that we were going to be fine. Because we had to be. Because he came back for me.

But not now. The lump in my throat grew.

Survive first.

I twisted, standing to face down the man in front of me. “You seem to know an awful lot about us. Are you the Drude, then?”

He chuckled. “Sweet girl, I am but one of his many devoted servants.”

I blinked. “And your name is?”

“You can call me Niko.”

“Great, nice to meet you. Now let us go.”

Niko ignored me, craning around dramatically to stare at Nephesh on the floor. “Such a mighty prince to let a little human speak for him.”

I stepped in front of Nephesh once more. “I speak for both of us. And if you were a real man, you wouldn’t be so scared to talk to a woman.”

“A real man?”

Recognition flickered in those pitch-black eyes. “You’re his mate, aren’t you?”