Ronen sheathed his blade and sank in front of me, grabbing my chin. He twisted my face back and forth, his nostrils flaring.
“Are you okay?”
“Don’t you already know the answer?” I gestured toward my nose, where his shadows had just been.
His golden irises flashed black.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you lying to me, Hellion?”
“No.” At least not in any way that mattered to him.
On the outside, I had a few insignificant slices on my face. But inside, everything was pain—like someone had reached into my body and squeezed all my organs to the brink of rupturing.
I just hoped I could hold back the scream clawing my throat for the rest of the day. If I allowed my thoughts to take form for even one second, I wouldn’t be able to hold it together. And I still had to train with the Tormentors.
I ripped my chin from Ronen’s grip. “Something’s wrong with Lucifer, and I’m not sure if it’s my fault or something else.”
“Why would you think it’s your fault?” he asked, gently rolling Lucifer onto his back. He checked his pulse, nodding when he felt it.
“Because I have more energy than I used to, and he seems to have less.”
Ronen unbuckled the armor on Lucifer’s arms.
“What are you doing?”
He ignored my question, yanking off Lucifer’s arm braces. “Has he runed you?”
“No. Why?”
Ronen pushed up Lucifer’s sleeves, revealing five active runes carved into his arms. One I recognized: the Ligamen Rune between him and Oliver—his end of the deal not yet complete. The other four were the same symbol, just in various shades of gray, their power fading.
“What are they?”
“Transference Runes,” Ronen said grimly. “They work like a Wrath Rune, transferring energy to another person. They’re used in battle. When some of our warriors are weak, the stronger and re-freshed ones give them a portion of their energy.”
I didn’t have any new runes. So he wasn’t giving energy to me. Butwho?—
“My mom,” I answered aloud. “He’s giving his energy to my mom.”
“Which means she’s taking less from you.”
And every time Lucifer used his powers, he drained himself.
I almost sighed with relief. For a moment, I thought I’d caused his sickness. But in a way, I did every time we trained. Which meant we’d have to stop. At least until we killed Michael.
Ronen grabbed Lucifer’s arm, twisting it before taking off his glove and grazing a finger over the raised marks.
“What?”
“I need to get him to Sam.”
There was more he wasn’t telling me. I could tell by his furrowed brows and calculating expression.
“What aren’t you saying?”
He shook his head. “Nothing I’m sure of yet. Do you have another of Sam’s crystals?”
