“They were going to kill you. So we got to them first. All’s fair in Hèls and war. They touched our Choir, we touched their Order.”
“Amayah,” was all I could say. I was completely stunned.
“You’re my friend, Safah,” Amayah said. “A burning good one, too. Your Granmanmi isn’t taking your life. Not without a fight.”
“Burning right,” Daelun and Isandra said at the same time. I was touched by the actions of my friends. I sat back, speechless for a moment.
“And…” I steeled myself, braving for my next question. “Quazar? The Talons?”
“Thanks to you”—Ellabeth’s eyes shone bright—“Alive. Your shield kept them from being hurt. The Scourgers tried to punish them. They couldn’t.”
I pressed my hand over my hearts, sighing with relief. He was alive.Theywere alive. And I kept my word. They hadn’t been touched.
I checked our bond. The veil was gone. There was an open door on the other end. Quazar was distant, a bit far for me to reach him freely, but for the first time, he’d left the door wide open. The gesture was significant. If I needed him, whenever I needed him, I could access him. My eyes prickled with fresh tears, my hearts swelling. Ellabeth squeezed my hands.
“He’s okay,” she whispered. “All he cared about was you. His dragon, Rhaevion, stood over you and fought off any angel who dared try to hurt you more.”
Rhaevion.
I’d have to find Quazar’s shifter and thank him personally.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, sitting up again. My entire body hurt. There was a lingering, pulsing sensation in my elbows, my ribs, and my ankles. My bones were brittle, my nerves shot.
“Has Zara been to see me?”
“She has. But even with her mending…the Scourgers had done a lot of damage, Sazu.”
I nodded at Ellabeth’s words. So, I’d been on the brink of death.Again.
I brushed my fingers through my hair, finding the strands newly moisturized and detangled. My hand came away with makristi oil and a sweet-smelling leave-in conditioner.
“Ellie,” I cried, my throat bobbing. She’d taken the time to deal with my mess of hair. I threw myself into her arms. We clung to each other like we often did. It felt good to hold my best friend and know no matter what happened, she was there.
And though it had only been several months, so much had happened in the short period of time. So much abuse. So much pain. So much death. We clung to each other, letting our hug say what our words couldn’t.
Then a thought occurred to me.
“Quazar’s been shadow locking my room for a while now. How did any of you get in?”
“His Majesty, the King of Shadows, made sure Ellabeth could get in before he and his Talons were deployed to the Seal Gate,” Isandra offered.
“Towhere?” I shrieked.
“The Farasee Order said they would remain alive as a means of mercy. But they would have to work double to prove their commitment to seeing a better empyrean for all angels. That meant sending their unit to the frontlines. It’s not even the entire Xadari Legion,” Isandra said. “Just the Talons.”
“Granmanmi,” I hissed.
“Granmanmi.” Ellabeth nodded.
“On the bright side, they still live here. For now. They just spend way more time at the gate than they do here now. No more classes for them. No more trials with them. From now on, they will remain at the gate. When our complete Ascension ends, if they’re still alive, they will be released back to Azarath Academy, and from there, they will be sent to deal with the Fallen conflict on a regular basis.”
“Anyway, it’s about time you’re up. I know you want to sleep more, but you can’t. Our Choir has been summoned by the Order’s Council. They refused to see us separately. So we’ve been waiting for you to recover,” Omarion cut in.
I frowned.
“It’s been?—”
“Fourteen dawns. Two weeks. I really don’t know how you pulled through,” Omarion said.
