Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1)(59)

Raffe steals a glance at me. He looks at the polished floor as he answers. “I have no idea. We’ve been calling them ‘low demons.’”

“We?” Josiah glances at me as I try to become invisible by the door. “You and your Daughter of Man?” His tone is part accusation, part disappointment.

“It’s not like that. Jesus, Josiah. Come on. You know I’d be the last one to go there, not after what happened to my Watchers, not to mention their wives.” Raffe paces the marbled floor in frustration. “Besides, this is the last place to throw that accusation.”

“No one’s crossed the line here as far as I know,” says Josiah. “Some of the guys claim to have, but those are the same guys who say they slew dragons back in the day, with their wings and hands tied up just to make it fair.”

The albino flushes again in the next stall. “You, on the other hand, you’re going to have a tougher time convincing people of—you know.” He glances my way again. “You need to counter the propaganda against you with your own campaign before trying any kind of a comeback. Otherwise, you could face a lynch mob. So I suggest you leave by the nearest exit.”

“I can’t. I need a surgeon.”

Josiah raises his white brows in surprise. “For what?”

Raffe stares at Josiah’s blood-red eyes. He doesn’t want to say it. Come on, Raffe. We don’t have time for delicate psychological moments. I know it’s cold of me, but someone could walk through that door any moment now, and we haven’t even gotten to asking about Paige yet. I’m on the verge of opening my mouth to say something when Raffe talks.

“My wings have been cut.”

Now, it’s Josiah’s turn to stare at Raffe. “Cut how?”

“Cut off.”

The albino’s eyes widen in shock and horror. It’s strange to see such an evil-looking pair of eyes fill with pity. You couldn’t get a more sympathetic response if Raffe had just told him they’d castrated him. Josiah opens his mouth to say something, then closes it as though deciding it’s a stupid thing to say. He glances at Raffe’s jacket with his wings peeking out, then back at his face.

“I need someone who can sew them back on. Someone good enough to make them functional again.”

Josiah turns away from Raffe and leans against a sink. “I can’t help you.” There’s doubt in his voice.

“All you have to do is ask around, make the introduction.”

“Raphael, only the head physician can set up surgery here.”

“Great. That makes your task a simple one.”

“The head physician is Laylah.”

Raffe looks at Josiah as if hoping he didn’t hear correctly. “She’s the only one who can do it?” There is dread in his voice.

“Yeah.”

Raffe runs his hand through his hair, looking like he wants to tear it out. “Are you still…?”

“Yeah,” Josiah says grudgingly, almost embarrassed.

“Can you talk her into it?”

“You know I can’t afford to stick my neck out.” The albino paces, obviously agitated.

“I wouldn’t ask if I had another choice.”

“You do have another choice. They have physicians.”

“That’s not a choice, Josiah. Will you do it?”

Josiah sighs heavily, obviously regretting what he’s about to say. “I’ll see what I can do. Hide out in a room. I’ll find you in a couple of hours.”

Raffe nods. Josiah turns to go. I open my mouth to say something, worried that Raffe’s forgotten my sister.

“Josiah,” says Raffe before I can get my question out. “What do you know about human children being taken?”

Josiah stops on his way past us to the door. His profile is very still. Too still. “What children?”

“I think you know what children. You don’t need to tell me what’s going on. I just want to know where they’re being kept.”

“I don’t know anything about that.” He still hasn’t looked at us. He stands frozen in profile, talking to the door.

The jazz outside the door drifts in. The buzz of the party breaks into bits of conversation as a couple of men approach the bathroom, then recede into background noise as they leave the area. The maintenance sign must be working to keep people out.

“Okay,” says Raffe. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Josiah pushes out the door as if he can’t get out fast enough.





CHAPTER 32



My mind swirls with what I just heard. Not even the angels know why they are here. Does that mean there’s room to convince them that they should leave? Could Raffe be the key to igniting an angel civil war? My mind stretches to make sense of angel politics and the opportunities it might present.

But I rein in my thoughts. Because none of it will help me find Paige.

“You spend all that time talking to him, and ask only one question about my sister?” I glare at him. “He knows something.”

“Only enough to be cautious.”

“How would you know? You didn’t even pump him for information.”

“I know him. Something has him spooked. This is as far as he’ll go for now. And if I push, he won’t even go that far.”