I turned away from the carnage as gods started floating over. They began gathering fallen feathers. Bones that were scattered around. Goddesses came up behind them to scrub out the bloody stains from the pristine, golden stones. One of the goddesses looked up at me through her chainmail gown.
Hatred. Profound hatred swam in her pale eyes as she paid no mind to the sweat dripping down her deep brown arms baking beneath the suns. I masked my face into neutrality.
Looking at the gods and goddesses, I wondered what brought them to the temple. How they were kept here. Maybe it was a treaty they signed with the angels. A pact they made. Either way, this goddess looked ready to pluck my wings and burn them.
I turned away from her.
She had her plight and I had mine.
Floating back into the wingtower, I took a deep breath. My stomach grumbled.
“You sound like you could eat a pegasus.” Omarion chuckled. Kazemir snorted.
I leveled a flat stare at them both. “Because I actuallycouldright now,” I grumbled. “I’m starved. I’d go home just to eat and come back if I could. The only thing is, I’d have to hear Papi. Again.”
“I take it Papi Cassandrel fussed at you,” Ellabeth cut in, flying to my side as she kicked off her sandals. “Before the Ascent. But why would he be grumpy? I thought he supported you Ascending? Through all of our endless cycles of training together, he never actually saidno.”
I kicked off my sandals and floated down to rest on my feet.“Supported me,” I snorted. “Please. Hetoleratedmy ambitions because of Manmi. Now he swears the temple is unsafe and that I’ll end up like Manmi.”
Isandra, Amayah, and Daelun all raised their brows.
“I mean,” Isandra shrugged, “Its not like he’s entirely wrong.”
I waved her off. “Listen, Manmi’s had me training to be here since before I could talk.”
“True,” Ellabeth agreed. “I got dragged into those lessons.”
“Also true,” I confirmed.
I looked at the rest of them.
“She prepared me for what I’ve been encountering here.” I folded my arms. “Yes, it’s been wild. But seriously, itsTempleEfysis. They didn’t have us Ascend just to butcher us like cattle. There have been deaths but all things have their purpose, even when we don’t understand.”
“Agreed,” Ellabeth chimed in. “They only want the best of us remaining for a very specific reason.”
“That makes sense,” Omarion said. “I mean, if you can’t even discern through a scrollport, you probably shouldn’t be allowed into the Farasee Order.”
We all nodded.
“Exactly. Is it cruel for them to prepare us for the true work of the temple? It’s a lifelong commitment that must be kept by those who prove themselves worthy of it.”
“I don’t give a rot about worth. Fallen blood. That’s what I’m here for,” Kazemir mumbled.
“Well,” Ellabeth said, pointing to the other side of the wingtower. “Go get it.”
Kazemir’s honey eyes flashed, his lips pressing together. “I said Fallen, notFallenspawn. There’s a difference.”
I glared at him. “Fallenspawn were raised by the fallen angels. Whatdifferenceare you talking about?”
Kazemir leveled a weighty gaze at me. He said nothing for a long time. He stared at me as if he was looking straight into my soul. “Just because you’re raised by monsters doesn’t mean you are one.”
Then he spun away and padded off to his bedchamber, quietly closing the door behind him.
I stood there, dumbfounded.
“I disagree. Wholeheartedly.” Daelun rose his chin. “A Fallen’s a Fallen’s a Fallen.”
“Our point exactly. Anyway, I’m going to meander. My room is like a small palace.”
