Free Revenant by Larissa Ione

jaw, just barely, but enough to know he’d struck a nerve. “I struggled every day of my life to keep evil from taking over my soul.”
    “Because it was easier to be evil, wasn’t it?” Until just weeks ago, he’d thought he was pure evil, a fallen angel with no hope of redemption. But all of that had changed, and now he found himself wrestling with who he really was. As much as he hated to admit it, he and Harvester were a lot alike.
    “Evil is always easier,” Harvester murmured.
    “True dat.” He squinted, zeroing in on the man on the porch. “Why are you spying on your werewolf slave?”
    “He’s not mine anymore. He belongs to Jillian now.” A smile turned up one corner of her mouth. “She gave him back his birth name and granted him as much freedom as he can stand.”
    “That doesn’t explain why you’re spying on him.” She didn’t answer, but he realized she didn’t need to.
    The fact that she was here spying on the werewolf told Rev that she’d truly cared about him. She might even have set him free if he wasn’t bound for life to be a slave. Nope, his slave bond, while transferable, wasn’t breakable. Tough break. Revenant knew exactly how it felt to be tethered to someone by blood.
    “Why are you here?” she asked tiredly. “Some diabolical plot to annoy me to death?”
    “I wanted to check up on the Horsemen,” he lied.
    “They’re fine, and unless they summon you, I’d stay out of their way.”
    “Aw, Uncle Revenant isn’t their favorite person anymore?”
    She ignored his sarcasm. He’d
never
been their favorite person. “They’re a little protective of their father, and since you and Reaver aren’t exactly best buds…”
    “They’re going to be dishing me extra large portions of asshole at the family reunion.” So not a surprise.
    Harvester cast a fleeting glance at him. “Can I ask you something?”
    Huh. Harvester never asked permission to do anything, so this should be good. “Shoot.”
    This time when she looked over, she locked eyes with him. “In all the time I was rotting in my father’s dungeons, why didn’t you ever take the opportunity to torture me? He sent everyone else to do their best, so why not you?”
    Actually, Satan
had
offered Harvester up on a platter for Rev’s sadistic enjoyment. But while Revenant had no problem with killing, he couldn’t torture a female. Even before he got his memories back, he’d had a particular aversion to it, even though he’d had no idea why. Now he knew. He’d seen what it had done to his mother, and he would take no part in that.
    “Your pain doesn’t interest me,” he said.
    Eyes narrowed, she studied him long enough that he damned near started squirming. “Tell me, Revenant, when he tells you to kill me, will that interest you?” He shrugged, but something in his expression must have given him away, because she murmured, “He already has, hasn’t he?”
    “It’s against the rules for a Watcher to kill another Watcher,” he said simply.
    She snorted. “As if there aren’t work-arounds. I’ve seen the archangels bend rules for their own selfish reasons. I’m sure you can, too.”
    Maybe, but he wouldn’t. Rules were rules. “Speaking of archangels, I don’t suppose you can tell me what’s up with the goody-goody bastards?”
    She flipped her black hair over her shoulder. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
    “Why won’t they respond to my summons?”
    She gave him a flat look. “Do you really think they keep me in the loop? I haven’t seen any of them since I got my halo back.” She watched the werewolf prop the broom against the side of the cabin and head toward the barn and main house. “You should talk to Reaver.”
    “So he can tell me again that we need to work together to stop the newest threat to Heaven and Mankind? Fuck that. I don’t give a shit about either.”
    “Is that why you’ve been ignoring his summons? Because you don’t give a shit?”
    “Pretty