Page 292 of Interion

After the birth, Calistra refined her gift of healing, placing something within her lungs that would cause the power to grow throughout her life.

With that body, the archangels would have everything: physical strength and full access to celestial gifts. Now they only had to wait for her to grow strong and awaken the second power. And then the world would know the true fury of an archangel made flesh. Until then, the gods would send their creatures to protect her, and when the moment came, the child would become more than a warrior. She would be the vessel. The bearer of hope. Not golden. Not silver. But red like her grandmother.

Granddaughter of the Apocalypse.

Chapter 72

“You!” Zion shouted as he stormed across the room and hurled the Sonar against the glass wall. The room seemed to shake as the bulletproof glass absorbed the impact. Shadows spread through the space like black veins of pulsing darkness. “You knew everything, you bastard.”

He grabbed the man by the collar of his tunic, crushing him against the glass. The general’s eyes were wild, his face flushed red from the sheer irrationality the information had triggered.

“Which of the archangels is inside her?”

“Angel.” The Sonar’s voice came out choked.

“You knew this would happen! You always knew they’d come after her, and you let it happen,” he roared in the man’s face.

“It had to be this way.” Julius, bloodshot eyes wide, gripped Zion’s hands.

When the general finally released him, it was only to land a punch square on the man’s right eye.

“Idiot! They’re going to kill her, and you knew!”

He grabbed the seer by the collar again, foaming with rage.

“She won’t die if we help her!” The Sonar raised his hands in surrender. He blinked his injured eye, clearing away the blood dripping from his brow. “That’s why I’m here. I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t know what to do. You need to listen to me!”

“It was me, wasn’t it?” Serguei’s voice echoed through the room. “I was the one who caused the voracious to come.”

Zion stopped his assault and looked at the psychic. Serguei sat in the armchair, seemingly oblivious to everything happening around him. His hands trembled, and his eyes had a glassy look.

“What are you talking about?” Zion demanded, still gripping the seer.

“That night, when I killed your mother, I knew something bigger had happened… Now it all makes sense. She had a fragment and was after another. She said it could protect our people.”

“What?” Zion released the Sonar and moved closer to his father.

“When I found her in the tunnels, Ravena had already discovered the fragment in a cave of light and was carrying one in her hands. During the fight, the stone she carried fell into the well where the other one lay. That’s where I killed her and left her body beside the spring. I couldn’t bury her right away—I needed to return quickly to the king and report that I’d completed the job, so he would free the descendants he’d imprisoned and sentenced to death in the public square. But before leaving, I retrieved the fragments from the bottom of the cave and brought them with me. I climbed back up and saved my people, promising myself I would return to give her a proper burial.”

“And did you go back?”

“I returned after proving to the king that I’d done the job. I made my way down through the underground corridors toward the cave. But halfway there, I sensed a different presence. It felt like Ravena’s gift, but it wasn’t. It was a chaotic version of the power that had once been clean and precise.”

Julius interrupted the psychic:

“When you killed her, you didn’t know the sacrifice would cause a rupture. You knew nothing about what that meant… Not even Ravena herself understood. The blame wasn’t yours alone, Serguei.”

The seer’s rotten breath drew Zion’s attention once more.

“But you knew this would happen. Why didn’t you intervene?”

“Of course I warned your father! Do you think I didn’t want to intervene?” For the first time, the man fixed the general with a hard stare. Something like hurt showed in the downward curve of his lips. “I paid a high price just for that warning, son of Darkness. The voracious and the gods know who I am. They know I know many things I shouldn’t, and that the weight of my words can tip the scales for either side. That’s why they hunt me. I’m putting another target on my back by helping you tonight.”

“And which side are you on?” Zion stared into Julius’s eyes.

“Neither the gods’ nor the voracious’s. I’m on the side of mortal life, and my goal is to keep this world spinning with as many living souls as possible.”

Zion stared at him. He wanted to rip out his teeth one by one. As if anticipating this, Julius ran his tongue over his yellowed teeth and raised his hands even higher. Then, with a snort, the general looked away.