“…not the point,” Nix is saying in his languid drawl. “Since when do we get involved in either Heaven or Hell’s business? That shit doesn’t involve us.”
“No,” Beckett growls. “But Earth does. You really want a bunch of corrupted overrunning this place? No one in this room will win if that happens. Except maybe Ford.”
Phoenix and Remington both turn to look at their brother, and Ford freezes, tilting his head. It’s clear he’s had some kind of thought, and I lean forward a little.
What is he thinking? He looks oddly like a tiger that’s about to—
In the blink of an eye, he moves.
Spinning on his heel, the blond fighter leaps at me, just like a predator pouncing. I scream in fear and surprise, going visible out of shock, and leap back out of the way, unfurling my wings and using them as leverage to escape him.
But there’s nowhere to go. Beckett’s apartment is on the top floor, and despite his earlier threats to throw me out the window, I can’t see any windows that even look like they’ll open.
Frick!
Ford chases me around the room, and I feel like a chicken with its head cut off, half flying, half scrambling, trying to get away. His rage is palpable and terrifying, and I don’t want anything to do with it. I know it’s probably stupid, but I’ve never been so scared in my life.
I really might pee my pants this time.
Remington is saying something, probably trying to calm his brother down, while Phoenix is being decidedly unhelpful by yelling at us like he’s watching a football game.
One of Ford’s hands closes over my wing, and I scream again. He yanks me back so that I land hard on the cool, polished floor. The wind is knocked out of me and it hurts to inhale, tears stinging my eyes from the adrenaline and shock as Ford pins me down, straddling me.
“Hey! Don’t hurt her.” Remington finally sounds truly alarmed. If he wasn’t worried about Ford and Beckett fighting, but he’s worried about Ford and me, that tells me I should probably be scared out of my wits.
Well, super. Because I am.
“She was spying on us. I heard her footsteps,” Ford snarls. His hand wraps around my throat—not tight enough that I actually have trouble breathing, but enough to send a warning.
“I’ve got… a right…” I manage, trying to talk over the hammering of my heart. “You guys are sins, and I’m an angel. How am I supposed to know you aren’t going to go back on our deal?”
“She’s got a fair point.” Remington puts a hand on Ford’s shoulder, his expression tense. “Just… lay off her. Please.”
The personification of wrath glares down at me. His weight is heavy on top of me, straddling my hips, and I feel tiny and vulnerable beneath him. He could snap me in half if he wanted to, break me like a doll. I can feel his thighs squeezing my body, and I’m uncomfortably aware of every place we’re touching.
His blue eyes narrow as his gaze pierces me. His irises are such a light color of blue that they make me think of a frozen winter sky. Of sunlight glinting off ice.
He drops his head a little, bringing his face closer to mine. “How do I know you won’t spy on us again? Huh?”
“Because she won’t,” Beckett says.
Ford looks up, apparently startled. “So, what, you’re going to fucking vouch for her?”
“Yes.” Beckett swirls his drink in his glass, completely calm. “Now let her go. She’s right. We’re the sins; she’s from Above. We don’t have reason to trust her, as you pointed out, but what reason does she have to trust us either? Our natures are diametrically opposed. So if everyone could stop pointing fingers and treat one another as equals at the table, I would appreciate that.”
“We’re not in one of your fucking strategy meetings,” the man pinning me down growls, but he lets go of me and stands smoothly.
Remington helps me to my feet. “Are you all right?” His voice is soft, his hand rubbing soothingly along my lower back.
I really shouldn’t feel as safe as I do with Remington. I try to remind myself that it’s all false, that just because he seems gentler than his brothers, it doesn’t make him any less a sin—but it’s hard to fully believe that when he’s comforting me like this.
My nod is jerky, but I meet his concerned gaze. “I’m okay.”
Beckett gives me a searching look, and my breath catches as I remember that he knows I can turn invisible. In fact, he’s the only one here who already knew I could do that. I admitted it when he caught me in his kitchen last night.
I am terrible at hiding my emotions, and Beckett must see my eyes go wide, because he gives me a slight, knowing smile. It makes my stomach twist, a burst of anger flaring inside me. Greed knew that I could spy on all of them, and he didn’t say anything to his brothers about it. And he’s not saying anything now.
Was this some kind of test? And if so, was it for me, or for Ford, or for both of us?
I don’t know. And I clearly don’t know Beckett as well as I might’ve thought either, despite spending the most time with him out of the four brothers I’ve met so far.
Ugh.
I’m in so far over my head, it’s ridiculous.
Chapter Sixteen
Ford
The angel is sleeping.
Her chest rises and falls with slow, even breaths as her dark hair spreads out on the pillow around her head.
She looks peaceful enough like this. Innocent. Fragile.
My hands clench into fists as I grit my teeth.
What the hell is your game, Trinity?
She doesn’t answer, of course. She’s dead a-fucking-sleep, and she has no idea I’m even in her room. Any guilt I might have about spying on her in secret is assuaged by the fact that she just did the exact same damn thing to me and my brothers.
What the hell was she doing, sneaking into the living room under cover of invisibility to listen in on our conversation? What was she hoping to hear? Remi can defend her all he wants; I know there’s something she’s not telling us. Nix is on my side in this, at least, although having that lazy asshole on your side in anything is about the same as having a sack of potatoes on your side.
Fuckin’ useless, in other words.
Beck is taken with her. She’s gotten under his skin. He’d never admit it, but he doesn’t have to. We know each other too well for him to keep that kind of shit from us. It’s obvious in the way he looks at her, in the way he’s gone so far out of his way to help her.
He’s not wrong—a bunch of corrupted running around New York would be bad news on a lot of levels. Earth is our territory. They already have Hell, and they can keep it.
But we could defend Earth without an annoying, alluring little angel following us around. There’s no reason for her to be part of this.
Except she is. And no matter how much I hate it, that doesn’t look likely to change. Not as long as she’s got my brothers wrapped around her little wing feathers.
Which leaves me to figure out what the fuck kinda game she’s playing, and why she seems so dead set on getting help from a bunch of sins.
Pushing away from the door, I stalk over to the bed, my feet completely silent on the hard floor. Trinity shifts in her sleep, rolling over onto her side and nestling deeper into the pile of pillows she’s surrounded herself with. Her long lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, and her round face and slightly sharp chin frame a straight nose and full lips.