Rebel Angel: A Sainted Sinners Novel by Vivian Wood

blank, but his voice shook as he spoke, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.
    “He killed her?” Aurora asked, moving closer. Drawn to Ezra’s weakness, it seemed.
    He turned toward the window, not wanting to face Aurora just now. The story spilled from his lips, each word bringing him shame.
    “Not directly. He made her his mistress. She lasted less than a week. She threw herself off a cliff in The Void, this sort of…” Ezra waved his hand. “A big endless space. It’s one of the only ways that human servants can kill themselves in Hell. It’s terrifying, actually. But she jumped, rather than face whatever Lucifer planned for her. Or did to her…”
    “I’m so sorry,” she said. Shyness seemingly forgotten, she moved closer to Ezra. “What was her name?”
    “Priya,” he said.
    He glanced away, his chest rising and falling as he took a deep breath.
    “Ezra—” she said, reaching out to him.
    She was a little too close, and wearing far too little. Her faint floral scent, her inviting curves so very exposed, just a hand’s breadth away now. She lured him in, without even knowing it.
    Even after his story about Priya, she only moved closer, as if to comfort him.
    Hadn’t she heard a word he’d just said? Hadn’t she heard that he’d already failed to protect one innocent woman in his life?
    Some guardian I am , he thought to himself. Lusting after her, knowing I can’t have her.
    At the last moment, he stepped out of her reach and rounded on her, needing to retreat from the intimacy of the moment.
    “I brought you a cloak,” he said, changing the subject.
    “What?” Aurora asked, puzzled.
    “A charmed cloak, to cover you and help divert attention away from yourself,” Ezra said. “While we’re in the streets of Paradis. I’m not sure how well it will work, given that you’re a Null, but I got the strongest concealing charm I could find put on it.”
    Aurora blinked. “Oh. Right.”
    The tense moment between them broke and bled away, and Ezra relaxed.
    “At least on the street, you won’t be quite so exposed,” he said.
    He glanced at her. Her arms came up again to cross her chest, which he found humorous.
    “I still can’t believe you get to wear a black tux,” she said, waving her hand at his outfit. “And I have to wear basically nothing.”
    “There are worse things,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.
    “Yeah, for you,” she said, playing along.
    “Do you have everything you need?” he asked.
    “I haven’t figure out how to hide my sword yet,” she said.
    “Ah. I actually got you a pair of blades that go with your costume,” he said.
    She wrinkled her nose. “Like knives?”
    “Normally, a mistress wouldn’t even be allowed to speak, much less carry a weapon. I borrowed these from the arsenal at the Alpha Guardians’ manor.”
    “Who?”
    “The group of shifters that patrol New Orleans, keep the peace,” he said. “Mere Marie watches over them, so I’ve met their leader a few times. Big Scottish bear named Rhys. Makes me look friendly by comparison.”
    “Sounds like you were productive yesterday.”
    “Yeah, well.” Ezra moved to the kitchen counter, picking up another garment bag to reveal two thin golden blades sheathed in white leather. “They reminded me of your sword, a little.”
    Aurora’s brows rose a little. She came over to examine them, each with a slim leather holster that attached to her garters and suspenders.
    “Elaborate,” was her only comment.
    She spent a minute examining them. Then, giving Ezra a rueful glance, she pulled back one side of her skirt and secured the knife on the outside of her thigh.
    Ezra tore his gaze away as she worked on the second one, pulling a long silver and white cloak from the second garment bag. He shook the cloak out and straightened the hood unnecessarily, just waiting for Aurora to be done adjusting her stockings and garters.
    “Here,” she said after a minute, holding her hand out for the