A mixture of anger and fear splinted me to the spot before Corbin took a step in between Gabriel and me, his back toward me.
“I don’t know the exact history between you two, and where I’m grateful you brought me to see Lilith, you need to back off.” His voice was smooth, calculated. I could hear the psychoanalysis he was doing in the situation, but my fingers curled around his bicep as I pulled him beside me.
I couldn’t let him get hurt because of me. Not again.
Swallowing my pride, I decided to play nice with Gabriel. He wouldn’t hurt Corbin so long as his ego was stroked a bit. “It’s fine, Corbin. I’m still bitter about the past, but it was the past.”
Corbin’s gaze told me he knew I was lying, but he didn’t call me out on it. He nodded his head before wrapping me in his embrace.
I slipped my arms around his chest, noticing the clean and fresh scent he used to carry was gone. Scents weren’t needed in Heaven, but I’d always hated that fact.
My chest felt heavy as I tightened my hug on my human ex-boyfriend.
Corbin may not have been the love of my life, but I did care for him. “I’m so sorry,” I mumbled, my voice muddled by the nape of his neck.
He pulled back and his soft hands cupped my cheeks, thumbs wiping away the tears that rolled down. “Why are you sorry? I chose to die in place of you.”
Tears continued to fall as guilt ate away at my consciousness. “Because I couldn’t love you the way you loved me, and you didn’t know that when you jumped in between me and the abandoned.”
Gabriel snorted. “I can relate to that pain, human.”
“Shut up,” I snapped, and he rolled his eyes.
Corbin dropped his hands, and I straightened my spine. What’s happening to me? I’m a blubbering mess.
“Lil, I wasn’t stupid.” His cheeks tinged pink as he scratched the back of his neck. “You weren’t as invested in our relationship. I knew that…but I loved you. I still love you. I wanted to hold on to it, even if it wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Corbin, I—”
He shook his head. “After I died, the reaper let me watch how things ended. I saw the vampires you were with. I could see the love between you all that you didn’t have with me. I may have died for you, but those three would kill for you.”
Fat tears continued rolling down my face, and I sobbed into my hand. “I did love you, Corbin. But I wasn’t in love with you, and I’m sorry for that.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Gabriel’s halo flicker, and I flinched back, stumbling over my foot.
Corbin reached out and caught my arm to steady me, making sure to stand in between Gabriel and I as he pulled me into his chest again. “You don’t ever have to apologize for who you love. Of course I’m sad it’s not me, but I respect your choice.”
Being wrapped up in his arms almost made me feel human again. But my heart was aching from being away from my true loves.
“Thank you, Corbin.”
We parted, and Corbin turned toward Gabriel.
“She’s not here out of her own free will, is she?” he asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “Not quite.”
“You claim you love her, but from what I’ve seen today, you’re obsessive. It’s dangerous.”
His nostrils flared from the accusation, but Gabriel dialed it back. “You’re wrong, human. Don’t speak of what you don’t know. I thought bringing you here could show her that she didn’t need to be in Hell to be happy, but I was wrong. ”
“What have you been doing in your own personal Heaven?” I interrupted, tugging on his arm to get him to stop confronting the unhinged angel.
He grinned, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes as he did a quick glance over at Gabriel. “I’ve been spending it with my grandparents and my younger cousin. Now that Dean’s here, we’ve been hanging out a lot too.”
I sighed. “I’m almost positive Dean hates me now.”
“He doesn’t hate you. He hates the feeling of being out of control,” he said. “You know how he gets.”