Tied With a Bow

hours of torture roared through her mind as she looked up through tear-blurred eyes. Pain screamed and screeched within the body—Nathaniel’s body. This again was his memory, but she felt everything, the hurt so pervasive, so profound that she wanted to wail, but Nathaniel only groaned, his hoarse voice nearly gone.
    “I warned you, Nathaniel, that God would not protect you, didn’t I?” Gadreel said. “I promised you that Nero would not help you. And he did not. That his advisors would not listen. And they did not. No one can stop me. Now your family is dead. Where is your precious God? Not with you, that much is certain, because he cares not for the suffering of men. He allows me to do what I will.”
    A knee slammed into Nathaniel’s chin, jarring his body and causing a fresh wave of sharp pain that made him crumple into a heap. Blood gushed from his split lip. Kate shrieked in frustration. She wanted to cover Nathaniel’s body with hers, to protect him from any more abuse. She wanted to tear Gadreel to pieces.
    “Denounce him,” Gadreel hissed. “Kiss my ring and call me master. I will end your pain.”
    She felt Nathaniel’s soul recoil. There was no defiance left, only exhaustion and an unspoken prayer that he’d be strong enough to remain silent. She wanted to scream. She wanted to shove Gadreel away, but she had no body other than Nathaniel’s, which was too weak.
    Shards of light broke over the room. Gadreel went on talking, unaware. His men pulled Nathaniel’s body so that he knelt upright. Gadreel placed the ring, the one with the coin image of Nero against Nathaniel’s broken lip.
    “Kiss my ring and pledge your allegiance,” Gadreel screamed.
    Tears streamed over a shattered cheekbone and swollen skin. One eye bled and watered from having been poked with a dagger.
    Gadreel bent his head low. “Not ready yet?” he whispered, the malice in his voice so evil it sent an icy wave of fear through Nathaniel. “Well, men, this boy is anxious for more. Strip him, dip him in the pool to rinse away the filth, then bring him to me. Naked.”
    Their harsh laughter was more than Kate could bare. She wanted to kill them. She tried to shoot up and smash her fist into Gadreel’s face, but Nathaniel’s broken leg crumpled beneath her. She fell, striking her head, and darkness fell.
     
     
    “Kate,” a gorgeous voice said.
    Kate opened her eyes to the soft light of burning candles. Pine and vanilla scented the air, a warm comfort, and Alissa North leaned over her with concerned pale blue eyes.
    Kate put a hand to her aching head, finding a small knot on the back of her scalp. She grimaced, but then remembered the horrific pain that she’d endured in Nathaniel’s memory and the mild headache seemed insignificant.
    “Where am I?” Kate rasped.
    “My house. The ES duty guard at the Dome said you fainted. He said you’d mentioned that you’d missed lunch and down you went. He couldn’t get around his desk quick enough to catch you.”
    Kind lies. “How long was I out?”
    “Twenty-five minutes. A neurologist is on the way over.”
    A house call from a specialist. The muses do indeed have magical powers, Kate thought wryly.
    Kate sat up and took the glass of water Alissa offered. “I’m fine now, but I am having a very strange day.”
    “So I’ve heard,” Alissa said. “Grant called and said that the man who dropped you off was probably a fallen angel.”
    “He’s not fallen!” Kate blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just not sure he’s fallen. I don’t want to paint him with that brush yet.”
    “Not fallen, but you do think he’s an archangel?”
    Kate nodded, then shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
    “Kate,” Alissa said gently.
    “What?” Kate said. She’d felt the soothing, persuasive vibration in Alissa’s voice that pushed Kate to suspect the worst of Nathaniel. “Why does he have to be fallen?” Kate demanded, resisting.
    “The archangels of Heaven don’t mix with people. Legend allows that they might save a human being in the course of killing a demon, but they don’t join the community of man. Heaven’s real ranks are a thing apart.”
    “Well then, Nathaniel’s not an archangel because he lived and had a family.”
    “Why do you think he didn’t want to come into the Etherlin?”
    Kate shrugged.
    “Do you think he worried that his true nature would be revealed?”
    Kate thought about the overwhelming pain she’d felt for that brief time