Setting his papers aside, Raphael sighed and looked up, his expression calm. Gabriel had been expecting anger, disdain, sarcasm, maybe a sick satisfaction. But he saw none of that on the demon’s face. “I think you are planning to tell me to stay away from Sara Michaels.”

“To start with.” Gabriel had other thoughts as well, but first he wanted to hear what Raphael had to say. “Are you going to agree quietly or do I have to convince you?”

There was nothing but a shrug. Raphael’s passivity was unnerving. Gabriel had arrived expecting, anticipating, a battle. He had a sheath knife in his back pocket, prepared to kill Raphael if he had to, knowing full well only an immortal could kill another immortal.

But the man he had come to think of as his nemesis, the one who had taken Anne’s life, making him doubt his own innocence, his soul, his very self, and who by killing her mother had hurt Sara in ways that could never be repaired, just sat there hunched over in khaki cargo shorts and a red golf shirt.

“I’ll stay away from Sara because I don’t want her to get hurt,” Raphael said. “I never wanted to hurt her, and I’m sorry that she has been affected by all of this . . . by me. I came here to watch her, to protect her. I admit I was surprised that she was with you . . . I didn’t anticipate that, but I figured it was a good thing. With both of us watching out for her, she should be safe, right? She is safe, isn’t she? Where is she?”

Confused, Gabriel just stared at Raphael. What the hell was he talking about? Safe from who? It didn’t sound like the words of a man who had sent her pictures of her mother’s crime scene, but Gabriel was wary of drawing any conclusions. “She’s safe. Why do you care?”

Raphael propped his chin up with his hand. “I care about Sara. She’s a wonderful person. Kind, giving, and she loved her mother even though Jessie had her fair share of problems. I should have stayed away from both of them.”

“If you care about Sara so damn much, why did you kill her mother? That nearly destroyed her.” And Raphael had clearly lost his mind. He was eerily calm, melancholy, unfocused.

But Gabriel’s words made Raphael’s head snap up. “I didn’t kill Jessie. Gabriel, I swear by all that is holy, I didn’t kill Jessie. I loved her. We had a good relationship. Together, we were helping each other be better, if that makes sense.”