Read Online Of Alliance and Rebellion by Micah Persell - Free Book Online Page B

was both
good
and
evil
. The shock of her eyes and her duality distracted him before he remembered to shake his hair more securely across his scar.
    She did not seem to notice the effect she had on him or the raised flesh that slashed across his face. “Max.” She paused and glanced at Luke again. “And Luke. I am here to liberate you.”
    It was almost as if the words, which Max completely understood, had no meaning. She couldn’t be saying what it sounded like she was saying. Max frowned. “You said you were going to kill us.”
    Luke’s head snapped around so quickly, Max was sure it should’ve made a sound of some kind. He gave Max another black look, and Max had to resist the urge to throw up his hands in the air and say
What?
To him, it seemed like a perfectly good observation. Because she now claimed to be their salvation, they were supposed to forget she’d threatened them?
    “Would you like to be freed or not?” the angel asked.
    “Just going to ignore what I said, then?” Max crossed his arms over his chest and ignored the pleas to shut up that Luke was tossing at him with those puppy-dog eyes of his.
    The angel cocked one eyebrow and said nothing.
That’s a yes, then
.
    “We’d like to be freed, yes,” Luke said, turning adoring eyes upon Max’s angel.
    “Very well,” she said softly. She stepped around Luke and walked toward Max.
    More than anything, Max wanted to open his arms and invite her to step into his body. Instead, he held out his hands and barked a harsh, “Stop!”
    It worked better than he could have hoped. She stopped so quickly, Max worried that she would fall forward. A brief look—eyebrows drawn together and lush lips pursed—flashed across her face before it was hidden behind a blank façade. And that quickly, Max knew he had hurt her, probably just as badly as he feared, with his callous treatment earlier. It devastated him to a level he would never have guessed. Something that felt like physical agony knifed through his gut.
    This was
regret
. Max couldn’t remember a time he had felt regret—definitely not for how he had treated someone. Of course, he had never been felt up by an angel before, so perhaps his level of regret was merited.
    Merited or not, Max had his men to protect, and the angel had threatened to harm them more than she’d threatened to help them. And he was
still
getting the impression from his eye that she was both evil and good. Unfortunately, life experience had taught him to err on the side of evil.
    He focused on the angel in front of him. He had stopped her for a reason: she’d appeared as though she were about to touch him again. He could not have that. “Just … don’t come any closer, okay?” Max said quietly. “For the time being.” Now, why the
fuck
had he added that qualifier?
    “Max,” Luke said in a warning tone from his place behind the angel. “She wants to rescue us, man.”
    The hope in Luke’s voice made Max antsy, and more than anything, Max wanted to make sure that Luke’s weakness wasn’t exploited. “What’s the plan, angel?” he asked roughly.
    She appeared to wince at Max’s words, but spoke in the same calm, husky voice as always. “I am Anahita.”
    Max forced himself to frown when what he wanted to do was grin like a fool. He knew her name now.
Doesn’t matter
. “Yeah, not what I asked.”
    Luke huffed, but Max ignored him.
    The angel—Anahita—cocked her head to the side. “I had hoped that knowing my name would put you on more even footing with me,” she said. “Perhaps create a tiny measure of trust between us.”
    “That will never happen.”
It helps a little, yes
. Max gritted his teeth. His damn mind had better get on board.
    Anahita sighed. “The plan is simple,” she said wearily. “Your men Eli and Jericho await your arrival at the front gates of the prison. I am to transport you there.”
    Eli and Jericho
? Optimism Max couldn’t afford to feel bloomed in his chest. She wouldn’t know