“The calamuts took care of those beasts.”
“Good.”
Up ahead, I spotted the pile of debris we created when we broke through the tunnel. War’s body remained sprawled across the ground.
“There!” I exclaimed and pointed at the hole. “Up there!”
“Bale—”
Whatever Wrath was about to say was lost to me as Raphael’s hands slipped under my arms and lifted me into the air. The tunnel faded away; wind tugged at my hair, and my feet dangled over the ground as we soared up to the hole. Raphael folded his wings against his back and turned to fit us through the opening.
Once we were back in the tunnel, he set me down and flew a few feet away before landing nearby. Without Wrath’s flames, the tunnel was completely dark, but I knew which direction to go to find Fiora.
However, I was too scared to move toward where I last saw my sister. When Caim arrived with Wrath, I turned to him as Caim set him on the ground beside me. His black eyes were filled with concern when they met mine, and his flames flickered over the walls and statues.
Parts of the ceiling had caved in during his fight with War and now littered the floor. A giant fissure ran down the center of the ground and between my feet. Though it didn’t look like it was going to split open and devour us, I studied it until I realized I was only putting off the inevitable; I had to see Fiora.
I started forward, but Wrath gripped my forearm to stop me. “Wait.”
“But—”
“Death and Pride could have returned.”
My hand tightened on my sword as I glanced around.
“Stay close to me,” he said.
“Would you know if they’re here? Can you sense them?”
“No.”
I scanned the tunnel and the golden statues, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. All the figures remained the same as the last time we were here. My heart sank, but I refused to give up hope.
The others were coming alive; Fiora would too. Shehadto.
Cautiously, we made our way down the tunnel together. Wrath didn’t release my arm as we walked. I didn’t think it was because he was trying to keep me with him, but because he also required the comfort that came with touching each other.
I searched all the golden statues as we walked but saw no hint of life returning to any of them. Whereas the tunnels below were coming alive with sound and movement, the only sound here was the crunch of our feet on the debris and the occasional rustle of an angel’s wing.
Mytaz’s broken spell hasn’t made it this far. They’ll come alive,I repeatedly told myself, but the message wasn’t getting through as my chest constricted and a lump wedged in my throat.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Fiora again, staring at her bowed head, and trying not to give in to the sobs choking the air from me. I’d already cried in front of Wrath; I wouldnotdo it in front of the angels. They were my friends, but I couldn’t let them see me fall apart.
I stepped forward and cradled Fiora’s cheek with my palm. I yearned to feel her warmth again and to hear her laughter ringing out like the call of a bird on a dew-kissed morning. My doused hope clawed at me like a hideous monster burrowing its way beneath my skin and trying to tear out of my chest.
I resisted the impulse to throw myself around Fiora and weep until I couldn’t anymore. The others were waking up while she remained trapped inside this thing, and I had no way of knowing if she was aware of it or not.
Maybe these statues aren’t waking up because they’re already dead.I bit back a sob as my head bowed and my hand trembled against her cheek.
Wrath released my arm and rested his palm on my hip. “I’m sorry.”
And he was. Before he walked into that nymph bar, before he brought me here, I would have believed this man incapable of experiencing anything other than his selfish desires, but I’d been wrong. He was sorry, and hedidcare. He wasn’t who I’d always believed him to be; what he was exactly, I still didn’t know, and I couldn’t figure it out now, but I would.
I rested the tip of my sword on the ground and leaned on it. Wrath drew me closer and lowered his head to mine. The tender gesture almost made me weep while I railed against the unfairness of it all, but nothing on any of the planes of existence was fair.
Then, from somewhere down the tunnel, a large gasp sounded. Wrath and the angels turned toward the sound, but I couldn’t move. My gaze remained riveted on Fiora as renewed hope thundered through my chest.
“Stay here,” Wrath said and released me.
