Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Fifty

A/N: Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!!!

"Where is she?" I demanded again.

Raffy, nudged by Uri when he saw Gabe and me approaching, stared at me as though English was a foreign language. I thought angels knew every tongue ever spoken. Uri had no problem understanding. He didn't speak, but there was an obvious lack of confusion in his gaze, even as they both looked to Gabe for clarification on what we were doing here.

I rolled my eyes. "Really? Oh, come on, Raffy. Don't look at Gabe to play mediator," I told him, and kicked the exposed sole of his shoes. Moving my hands from my hips so I could cross my arms, I asked, "Where is Suzie? Why are you out here?"

"The doctors are with her," Uri said, his voice low.

"Yeah, I totally didn't need your answer, Uri. Sorry." I looked at Raffy. "What. The. Hell. Happened?"

"Suzie—"

"How could Mike allow her to be hurt? Why would he bring her back to—?"

"Alyssa, let Raffy explain, one question at a time," Gabe said, reaching between us to touch my arm.

I side-stepped before contact could be made, not wanting the distraction. "Then he should start talking because my patience is very thin right now," I told Gabe between clenched teeth, though I never took my eyes off Raffy. "Start talking or so help me, Raffy. Fast."

Gabe nodded and Raffy finally looked at me, not just in my general direction, but he actually met my gaze. He didn't flinch when he saw my determination and open hostility even though it was clear I was laying blame. What had happened and why we were here didn't matter. How we arrived was irrelevant. The fact that Suzie was hurt while in the care of the Brothers was unacceptable. It proved Lachesis was right—they couldn't protect us. I mean, Darkness didn't want Suzie, it wanted me. If the Brothers couldn't protect her, how could they expect me to have faith that they could keep me safe?

Without blinking, Raffy said, "Suzie couldn't stand being at Glory Academy without you, and even then—when you were there—you wouldn't talk to her. She bugged each of us to bring her home. Even Mike refused at first."

No wonder Gabe had made talking to her a term of our bet. Fix the problem, kill the annoyance. I shook my head. "Yeah, and that's why we're at the hospital. What happened?"

"I said no at first, too, but Suzie is... persuasive," he said, and took a deep breath. Being able to talk someone into doing something was a polite way to describe her usual annoy-you-until-you-cave tactics. "But Mike saw how much being there was hurting her. She could have complained with every breath she took, and it wouldn't have made him bring her home. He couldn't stand to see her suffer, though. She was an outsider as the only human still alive."

I swallowed and the sinking feeling in my stomach burned a hole until I felt like it was about to drain everything within me out onto the floor. He can't mean that. "So, you're saying...?"

"That this is your fault?" Raffy nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Raffy," Gabe warned, using a tone I'd never heard before but would be stupid not to fear.

"What? I can't lie." Raffy shrugged, unapologetic.

"Don't talk to Alyssa—"

"It's okay, Gabe," I said. I placed my hand out, patting him on the chest, and took a step towards Raffy. "When did you stop being a nice, fun-loving guy, Raffy? The boy I knew, the one I happily thought of as a friend, is so much more pleasurable to be around."

"I was never mortal." He lifted his head, leaning back to fold his arms across his chest and spread his legs out further, crossed at the ankles. "You keep forgetting that, Alyssa."