Dusk is already shaking his head before I’ve finished my sentence. “I wouldn’t hold your breath on that. I’ve been trying for thousands of years, and he still finds new ways to get under my skin. You’ll drive yourself insane trying to outwit him.”
Sounds like a challenge to me. “Well, then I guess I’ll just be insanefor the rest of forever, because I’m never going to stop trying.”
Abaddon suddenly strolls in, a servant trailing behind him with a loaded food cart, and inserts himself into our conversation. “You will learn to find peace with being alive for eternity.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter. “You’ve never been a human before—is that bread? Ooh, bring me some, please, Abaddon dearest.”
As commanded, he walks over to hand me a fluffy yeast roll, letting the servant set up the rest on the bed. It likely isn’t the best bread I’ve ever tasted, but it might as well be. I have to keep myself from moaning as I chew.
His eyes watch me far too intensely. “We should give you some rest.”
“I just rested forweeks,”I quickly respond, even with my mouth full. Not the best manners, but I’m too voraciously hungry to be polite. “I think I’m okay.”
“How about you eat, shower, change, do all that fun stuff,” Dusk suggests, “and then, if you feel up to it, you can join us for dinner?”
“Hmm…” I suppose that would be a good enough use of my time.
Looking around, I realize that the familiar sight of my room fills me with ease. I don’t know when I started to normalize it, to feel at home here.
“Deal.”
For someone who’s been unconscious for about a month, I’m unusually hygienic.
Not only does it seem like my hair has been regularly brushed, but it’s also free of any oils or residues. I have no doubt there’s angel magic to thank for that—waist-length wavy hair can quickly become unforgiving if not cared for. Though it’s still an unnerving reminder of how much was done to me without my knowledge. For all I know, they could have cut open my skull and rearranged my brain.
Raphael definitely didn’t give enough details to satisfy my medicalmind.
When I reach my bathroom, I immediately shed my wrinkled gown—and I catch a glimpse in the mirror of something on my chest.
I freeze, eyes wide and fixed on my reflection. Then they flicker down, looking at my actual chest, as if the mirror could be lying. I wish it were. But it’s not. The skin over my heart is marred, and I touch it with shaking fingers, feeling the sore ridges. The angry, red scar tissue.
I’ve been fuckingbranded.
Two four-point stars, placed diagonally over each other, form an eight-point star.
“You fucking asshole,” I growl to the entity, even if I know in my bones that it can’t hear me. I don’t think it’s dead, but it certainly isn’t where it used to be. It’s oddly quiet in my soul now, actually.
I guess my shadow couldn’t leave me without marking my heart as literally as possible, so I’d always have a constant reminder of it. A visible, ugly reminder. “A tattoo would be bad enough, but branding me like fucking cattle? Seriously?”
I move toward the mirror to get a better look?—
Oh.Oh, ho, ho.It getseven worse!No wonder Raphael was so vague about ‘discovering myself’ and kept looking me dead in the eyes. It’s because they’re notmyeyes anymore!
I lean in as much as I can, even pulling myself on the counter to see my irises as close as possible, but it’s unmistakable. The familiar hazel is entirely gone.
They’re golden now.
Similar to Dusk’s, but a shade deeper, tinted with flecks of copper. They’re so unnaturally vibrant, I feel like a piece of the sun has crawled into my eyes and taken up residence there. Hell, mywhole facelooks different. My nose isn’t crooked anymore, my complexion is flawless, my skin is radiant… Combined with my grossly overinflated muscles…
I hardly recognize myself.
I push off, backing away from my reflection like a monster is threatening to burst through the mirror. There might as well be, because this is not the person I knew myself to be. This is a stranger. A version ofmyself that had her soul torn from her body, forced a sentient celestial body to concede to her, did the impossible, and achieved immortality.
I can’t stop staring at her like a wild animal that has never seen their own reflection.
My breath shudders, and I have to take a moment to calm myself, just like I used to.
Breathe in, count to five…
