My knees buckled. My body grew numb. I tried using more starfire to stave off the excess blood flow. But I was getting so tired. So weak. My only consolation was that these wretched inscriptions hadn’t surfaced. I’d begged for them to stay hidden. And for once, they listened.
“If you do not rise, Safah Anathelle, not only will you be an embarrassment to your bloodline, but the lives of these Fallen abominations will end with yours. You chose sacrifice. Now get up and prove you are worth it.”
Who just said that? The voice was cold. Cruel. Merciless. Was it Kaelthos? One of the Scourgers? I couldn’t tell. But it was probably Kaelthos. Dung eating ashbat.
“I’d advise you shut the Hèls up or I’ll drown you in shadows and remind you that darkness does not simply bend to me. It bows.”
That was Quazar.DefinitelyQuazar.
No one else would have the spine to speak like that to a Farasee? A Scourger? Who in the stars was he talking to?Everyone, everything, seemed so far away. I couldn’t hear. Couldn’t think. All the sounds were growing muffled. Distant.
“Starling, I have been on my best behavior. Shackling myself to these stupid temple rules. But if you don’t get up, that asheater of a Farasee will not only kill my angels, he will killyou. And I swear to the Infinite, if that fire breather lays even a finger on you, I will lose control. This entire realms-forsaken temple will drown in tormenting, never-ending darkness and burn to ash until there is nothing left. Get up, my Safah, or I willrage.”
I tried to move. I really did, but I had nothing left. My tank was empty. Shadows erupted along the tether of our bond, pouring into my body, giving me a strength I didn’t have. I twitched, turning my head to the side.
The Marked were looking at me with wide eyes. I couldn’t tell if their terror was for me or themselves. I was laid out on the floor, entirely drenched in my own blood. It was hot and sticky and had a foul odor. I smelled like decay. Like death.
“Kill the Fallenspawn,” I heard Kaelthos say from a faraway place.
Something inside of mesnapped. I’d have every feather of my wings plucked before Kaelthos would get the liberty to kill for sport.
“NO!”
Starfire ripped out of my chest. My open palms. The power poured out of my mouth. I launched myself from the floor, newly charged with a primal instinct to protect these innocents.
“Do not touch them!” I roared. My breathing was ragged. My voice a broken, feral thing. My voice bounced off the walls of the cathedral in tremors. The Disciples across the Orders gasped. Some slid down in their seats, lifting their wings to shield themselves. Others were taken with the ferocity that hadovercome me and leaned forward as if I was a creature they had never seen before.
“If you want to get to them, you’re going to have to get throughme.”
I threw myself in front of Quazar and the Marked. Starfire bled out of my hands forming a starry shield around the Mortent angels, blocking them from attack.
“Holy stars,” someone whispered. “How is she…Whoa.”
“I think the real question iswhois she,” another angel whispered. I didn’t hear the rest. Stars. This was taking so much out of me.
“Just know, this dawn changes everything. For us.”A beat. Then.“Between us.”
Despite the Hèls I was presently enduring, my lips curled into a smile.
“Should I survive, oh Wicked Prince of Curses, I would enjoy no longer trying to kill you.”
He snorted down the bond though his facial expression never changed.
“Don’t flatter yourself, my Starling. You could never.”
“Is that a bet?”
Another lash.
“Ninety-four.”
I ground my teeth. Planted my feet. Conversation forgotten, I heaved trying to breathe beyond the foul stench of my insides spilling all over these perfect floors.
“Ninety-six.”
I dropped the shield. My shoulders bowed, my wings hanging limp to the floor. Four more. Just four more…
I swayed, nearly stumbling to the marble.
