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you, I thought, would be more concerned with following the letter of the law.”
    “The letter of the law is that I protect Sheol and the Fallen first, and I would not endanger them for the sake of one rogue angel. Besides, the only way you can find another bonded mate is out in the world of the humans.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m a rogue,” Cain shot back. “Maybe a bit of a rebel, but any society needs its rebels. In fact, I am in no immediate need of the services of the Source. My wife just died, and I am . . . unready . . . to embark on another relationship.” He planned that little break purposefully, to express his manful grief at the loss of his mythical wife. In truth, he had had no mate for hundreds of years, but that was one reality he wasn’t ready to share with the rest of the Fallen. Not yet.
    Raziel glared at him, and Cain could sense the uneasiness of the gathered Fallen. He glanced over them; for some reason his gaze stopped for a moment on Martha’s troubled expression, and his quick mind leapt ahead.
    “Ask your seer,” he suggested. “I imagine she’ll tell you I’m meant to be here, and I’ll bring no harm.” It was a gamble, but he had always beenluckiest when he took extravagant chances. If she had any clear knowledge of the danger he presented, she would already have warned them; therefore he could reasonably assume that she was either a piss-poor seer, as even Raziel had suggested, or that the art of prophecy was as much a fiction as fairness or compassion or the sanctity of the blood-bond.
    But he was in no hurry to enlighten them about all the dirty little secrets you could discover when you believed in nothing and questioned everything. That time would come.
    All eyes turned to Martha. Calm Martha, with her soft mouth and her big eyes and her determination that would avail her absolutely nothing in the end. If he decided he wanted her, he would take her, body and blood.
    She nodded reluctantly, and for some reason he wanted to rumple her soft brown curls as if she were an obedient puppy. “I have seen no danger to the Fallen from his presence,” she said carefully, and he wondered what she was leaving out. He’d known almost instantly that there something she wasn’t telling, and his curiosity, always insatiable, rose up. He filed that thought away, to be explored later, and turned back to Raziel with a limpid smile.
    “You see?” he said in a dulcet tone. “Absolutely harmless. The seer verifies it.”
    “I didn’t say that,” she said sharply.
    “Then what do you see?” he countered.
    He wondered if the others would notice the faint wash of color on her cheekbones. So Miss Martha had been having naughty thoughts about him? How very interesting. Still not enough to push him into making a premature decision, but it looked as if Thomas’s quiet widow was a front-runner in his search for the woman to help him bring down the entire organization of the Fallen.
    “You may stay,” Raziel said abruptly. “On a trial basis, at least. As Michael will tell you, we can use all the warriors we can find. Your former rooms have been reassigned, but you have a choice. You can have a small room on the third floor, or a larger room in the annex near the gardens.”
    All he needed was Martha’s almost imperceptible jerk to know the answer. “The larger one in the annex. If I remember correctly, that area is relatively private. I find, after so many years of being away from communal living, that I value my solitude.”
    “No one’s back there but—”
    “We’re done, aren’t we?” Martha interrupted Raziel just as he was about to say something interesting. She didn’t realize Cain had already surmised that she was the sole resident back there. He should be distrustful of things happening too easily, but one look at Martha’s mouth and he was more than happy to take the easy way out this time. He wasn’t normally a beingwho believed in signs, but when circumstance