“We were on a roof with no way down. What do you think I’m doing, Hellion?”
“We can’t get to wherever we’re going a different way?” I protested, my palms slick in my gloves.
“This is your first lesson on delegation. We could lusceler, but that’d burn too much energy. We could walk, but that’d take too long. So we’ll fly.”
We hovered high above the roof. His magnificent black wings flapped as my stomach flipped. Loose strands of my hair whipped in the wind created by his wings, and my feet dangled over open air. The tops of the snowy evergreens were hundreds of feet away. Souls and blood-banded stood as dark specks against the white snow.
I pressed close to the general’s body as I continued to stare at the ground, wondering why I was doing this to myself.
He chuckled, and I whipped around, thinking he was mocking me.
“Yo—”
The retort died in my mouth. He wasn’t laughing at me. He wasn’t even looking at me. He was staring down at where I presumed Alexei and Oliver were. But I didn’t follow his line of sight. My curiosity vanished the moment I saw the creases near his eyes and the joy lining his mouth. In the healers’ wing, watching him sleep haddone strange things to my heart, but here, seeing his laughter transform the planes of his face,stoppedmy heart. I had never seen him smile. And damn me to Hell, but I loved the sight—and I shouldn’t.
I turned away, feeling a heaviness overtake the fluttering, and finally looked at what caught the general’s attention.
Alexei held Oliver as they launched into the sky next to us, keeping as much space between them as he could, like he was a bag of stinky garbage. Oliver, on the other hand, beamed up at Alexei, completely ignoring the open air beneath him.
“Nephilim, wipe that smile off your face,” Alexei said, scowling.
Oliver didn’t.
“Ronen, tell him to stop looking at me like that.”
The general’s chest vibrated, but he pursed his lips, keeping the smile off his face but not out of his eyes. “Why would I, when it clearly annoys you so much?”
Alexei turned to eye the general, his expression screamingyou’ll pay for this later. “Where are we going?”
“Follow me and find out.”
The general beat his wings and pushed us through the air. At first, it was alright, until he dove. I screamed. My Glory surged, stabbing at my skin, and I tightened my arms around his neck, practically strangling him. He laughed, that stunning, playful smile of his returning and distracting me for a second. Suddenly, we banked hard upward, missing the tree tops by feet, and leveled out.
“That wasn’t funny!” I gasped.
He shrugged. “I thought it was. I quite liked your scream.”
Just like that, my Glory quieted, and my Infernus whispered in my ear. I coated my finger in purple flames and poked his cheek, hoping to frost a little bit of it. But my purple flames did nothing to him.
He seemed just as surprised as I was.
“Are you in my mind? Are you controlling my power?” He better not be, but nothing else could explain why my powers weren’t working. Lucifer said I’d have enough energy for the day.
“Second lesson—only use your powers when necessary, especially in the state you’re in.”
I opened my mouth.
“Retaliating for scaring you is notnecessary, Hellion. Save your energy.”
“Fine. But stay out of my mind, please.” See, I even saidplease. I could be nice even when he was being an irritating menace.
A few minutes later, the general landed, spraying up snow. It tinked against large, clear icicles jutting two feet from the ground. They spread across a large clearing in various widths, their sharp points reflecting the low sunlight—a crystal sea of deadly weapons.
The general let me down, and Alexei landed with Oliver. Rune ran out of the dark forest behind them a second later, her fur whipping around as her tongue lolled out happily.
I smiled, and she dashed over to me and the general, her shadow tail curling as she weaved around us before sitting down right in the center.
I scratched behind her ear, then looked up just as Alexei unceremoniously dumped Oliver on the ground and strode over to us. I stifled a laugh at the open-mouthed outrage on Oliver’s face.
