Free Angel Eclipsed (The Louisiangel Series Book 2) by C. L. Coffey Page A

I would have to do so. As it happened, his order was much more frustrating: this conversation was over – whether I liked it or not.
    I folded my arms over my chest and glowered back at him, knowing full well that I was acting like a petulant child. I didn’t care. “Then why did you summon me back?” I growled out at him.
    “I’m beginning to question that myself,” he told me, the anger still evident in his tone.
    It was Raphael who interrupted our glaring competition by clearing his throat. “Perhaps we should have this conversation later this evening. Over dinner?” he suggested, although the emphasis on ‘dinner’ hinted that had been the plan all along.
    Michael’s eyes flicked over to Raphael before returning to mine. He nodded, releasing a breath. “Dinner will be at eight o’clock.”
    I accepted the dismissal, glad to be able to leave, managing to close the door behind me without slamming it.

CHAPTER SIX
    Bad Influence
     
     
    I had taken a couple of steps down the narrow staircase when the door opened behind me. I carried on walking, trying to ignore the footsteps as someone hurried to catch up with me. “Angel?” Raphael called after me. I sighed and turned back around. He was a few steps above me, but he towered over me. His muscular frame seemed to take up all the available space around him. “Michael filled me in on what you said happened.”
    “You make it sound like I lied and made it up,” I told him.
    Raphael shook his head, taking another step down towards me. He leaned against the wall, his hands stuffed into the pockets of the dark trousers he was wearing. “I don’t think you made anything up,” he assured me. “But Michael doesn’t lie: Lucifer is dead. You don’t need to worry about anything other than getting yourself...” he trailed off.
    “Better?” I snarked in suggestion.
    He gave me a sad smile. “He’s been worried about you, you know?”
    I knew he was talking about Michael. I felt myself deflate slightly. So much had happened, in so short a space of time. For weeks all I had been able to think about was what happened that night. Everything else had been pushed back, deep into a dusty corner of my mind – including Michael’s feelings for me.
    He had kissed me, admitted he had feelings for me, and then apologized for it. He’d also confessed that he resented me for causing these feelings which was why he was hard on me. Was that why he was being an ass with me now? I mentally shook my head. This was not something I wanted to think about right now. “There are more important things to worry about,” I muttered.
    “But Lucifer isn’t one of them,” Raphael told me. His tone was firm, but there was sorrow in his gaze.
    Lucifer had been his brother too, I realized. Cupid and Veronica had explained to me the three tiers and the nine different types of angels which were split amongst them. Essentially, they saw each other as family. And every time I mentioned Lucifer I was bringing up the fact that Michael had killed his brother. Although it didn’t have me doubling over, a flash of guilt shot through me. “I’m sorry,” I told him quietly. “I just... I saw it in Lilah’s eyes. She believed in what she was doing.”
    Raphael leaned forward and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Half the population doesn’t believe in angels. It doesn’t make that true, does it?” He gave my shoulder a squeeze, and then retreated back up the stairs to Michael’s office.
    After spending weeks holed up in my bedroom, I had no desire to go back there. I did, but only to get changed into my own clothes. I replaced the dress with a pair of denim cut-offs and a long, black tank top, but kept the cowboy boots on. They were growing on me. I slipped the phone into my pocket and rummaged amongst my things to locate some money. Finally, I grabbed an old copy of the Times Picayune which had probably been left in my room by Cupid, given that it was left open at the horoscopes, and