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I took another long drink of water, set the glass down again, and gave my throat a moment to start working properly. “My head feels like it’s full of broken glass,” I said, “but you can ask.”
“Where did you come from?”
“A place I would rather forget.” I knew that wasn’t an answer to her question, but the words came up anyway. I decided to follow up with, “Meridian.”
“Meridian… that’s a long way away.”
“I was flying for days. I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, or drink.”
“It’s no wonder you can barely speak. Angels need food, and water, and rest… we’re part mortal, now.”
“I realize that, but I thought if I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to find my way to you, and I had to.”
“Why?”
“Meridian was attacked by the Wretched.” I shook my head. “And that isn’t even half of what happened, but my mind is in pieces.”
“Attacked… and Medrion?”
There’s that bile again. It came up quickly, hand in hand with rage. I wanted to spit his name out, but I wasn’t sure what her relationship with Medrion was like, and she was the only reason I was alive right now. I couldn’t risk telling her how I really felt about him. The last thing I needed was to get kicked out of this place.
“I don’t know,” I said, forcing the words out. “I lost sight of him.”
“I’ll gather some of my Guardians, and we’ll send a rescue mission out to them.”
“Don’t bother. There were three Wretched… they decimated the place. Your people won’t find anyone there—just the corpses of whoever the Wretched couldn’t be bothered to eat.”
She lowered her head. “Meridian had a large population… it’s painful to have lost so many.”
“You don’t have to tell me about pain.”
Helena angled her head to the other side, now. She took one of my hands and examined the deep purple marks along my fingertips—the marks of the sinner. “I feel it in you,” she said. “I can sense it.”
I pulled my hand away. “It’s been a difficult journey,” I said, a bitterness to my tone.
“You’ll find no judgment here. We only mean to help those displaced by the Burn, those like you.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I’m just… not used to kindness.”
“I understand.” She paused. “But you’ll find kindness here, Sarakiel. And maybe a friend.”
I frowned. “How do you know my name?”
Helena’s soft smile eased the anxiety that had filled my chest in an instant. “I have someone who wants to speak to you.”
“Who?”
She turned her neck to the side. “You can come in, now,” she called out, raising her voice only slightly.
Through the gap in the door came a shadow, then a person. I couldn’t see who they were, not until they stepped into the room and came up to my bedside. Even then, I couldn’t recognize theboyI was looking at. He was young, barely a teenager.
This boy kneeling in front of me had a soft, round face, rosy cheeks, and curly blond hair. I thought, maybe, I recognized him, but I couldn’t have possibly been sure until he spoke. “Sarakiel,” he said, in a soft voice, “Lightbringer of the Seventh Choir, Tenth of Her Name, and all-around pain in my ass…”
My face fell, my heart surged, and my guts froze. I didn’t know how to deal with the sudden flood of emotions tearing all the way through me. I remembered him. I recognized him. I knew who he was, and in a flash, I saw him staring at me from across a set of bars, a long, long time ago, in a place I would never be able to forget.
“Micah?!” I croaked.
Helena and Micah smiled at each other. “Hello,” he said, looking back at me. “You’re looking better.”
