I turned to him, my rage pulsing red with every beat of my heart. “Yeah? Is that what I need, Raphael? Was that what Jim needed? He needed to die on his knees, knowing he’d failed?” I shouted.

“Jim didn’t fail, Lela,” he said gently, not fazed at all. “Quite the opposite. He gave his life for his comrades. It was the first utterly selfless thing he’s ever done.”

I clenched my fists. Whether he was right or not, I couldn’t get past the desperate yearning in Jim’s eyes as he looked at Tegan for the last time, knowing he was about to lose her, about to lose the life he wanted, the real things he’d finally found.

Raphael tilted his head. “What do you think you need, Lela?”

“I need Malachi.” It came from me automatically.

“No, you want Malachi.”

The rage exploded, crimson and iron, burning all the way through me. I shoved Raphael with all my strength, and he stumbled back, but his mild expression didn’t change as he regained his footing on the rocks. It sent me straight over the edge. “Did Malachi need to have his soul torn from his body? Did he need to be tortured?” I screamed, hot tears streaming down my face. “Because that’s what’s happening! Right. Now. After seventy years in the service of the Judge, this is what he fucking needed?”

Raphael took my shoulders in his warm grasp, his face glowing with that otherworldly light, like it always did when he started to get pissed off. I tried to wrench myself away, but his grip was too strong. “The Mazikin are not under the authority of the Judge, Lela. Surely you don’t think—”

“Oh, I do,” I spat. “She’s thrilled, isn’t she? This is what she wanted all along. She wants him there. This whole thing was a setup, for him and for me. So let’s get this fucking show on the road. I need to see the Judge. Now.”

He smiled. “She hasn’t invited you to her chambers yet.”

“I’m inviting myself now. I have an offer for her. And she knows it. You guys think the strings are invisible, but I can see you pulling them.”

“How clever of you, little human.” His face had transformed from ordinary to blinding, but I didn’t look away. “You’ve got us all figured out.”

“Not all of it. Just what I’m going to do. And you’re going to help me.”

He let me go, chuckling. “Oh, really?”

“I think so.” I backtracked until my heels were right at the precipice of the rock and teetered on the edge, sticking my arms out for balance. “Tell me, Raphael, are you going to let me end up at the Suicide Gates? Is that what I need?”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say a word. He wasn’t chuckling anymore, though.