Page 101 of Mage Massacres

“I saw your photos,” she confessed, her voice devoid of any emotion.

I thought she was talking about the picture we’d found last week, but she meant the ones in Amelia’s office. Raguel rolled his head to smile at her.

“I can’t wait to see them again, though I’m enjoying the view. I haven’t been outside in almost twenty-four years.” His words were low, so quiet I had to strain my ears to hear them.

Time passed where none of us moved. We only observed, silently bearing witness to something that we couldn’t comprehend. The angel’s breathing became choppy, shallow, but his smile widened.

“I’ll answer all your questions, but first, I need to die. What I’m going to tell you will kill me. I don’t want you to hold yourself accountable. This isn’t a final death for me. I just wanted to warn you.”

Her brows creased as her mind went quiet. “I’m listening.”

“Alric has been pretending to be me for years. He stole the angelic tomes from Lucifer—from the Embers. He used the magic within them to enslave me and create some kind of drug. He wants to exterminate the species that he deems as lesser.

“He’s been angry at your mother for two hundred years because she was given control of the mages’ Guild instead of him. Alric is Amelia’s older brother. They shared a mother, the High Priestess, Catilina.”

She tilted her head before asking, “Why is this information going to kill you?”

“Alric was more powerful than we gave him credit for, and he’s continued to strengthen his knowledge as well. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the fight you wanted. But I needed to be injured enough that it would take days to heal naturally. I needed to ensure death to break the spell, and I knew you could do that for me.”

Raguel coughed, a wet hacking sound that had everyone on edge.

“A suicidal angel was humorous to Alric until I came too close to death for his personal comfort. That’s why they had me locked away in that room.”

“You can’t heal him,” I murmured to Vaughn, sticking my hand out to stop him. “I know you want to, but you heard him. Isn’t this exactly what Palmer did?”

Sloane wiped the trickle of blood from Raguel’s mouth, then reached for his hand.

“All of my regrets have stacked up, and they’ve weighed heavily on my heart. I am sorry that I used you. It’s my newest but deepest regret.”

She shook her head. “How can I help?”

“Kill me,” he answered. “So that I can come back as me, not this shell of who Alric wanted me to be.”

“I—I can’t do that.”

“I haven’t felt—” He coughed. “They're coming.”

She looked down, twisting her head in an attempt to shield herself from the uncomfortable emotions.

“You have to,” he gurgled. “Now.”

Sloane pulled her hand back, tears dripping from her lashes.

“Before they get—”

She didn’t let him finish, screaming as she pierced his chest with a dagger made of hellfire. Her hand rested against the burning slash over his heart, and she hung her head.

“You’re the fourth charm,” she whispered, her words meant for Raguel.

Sam and Charlie burst out of the Void, staggering forward as wild eyes landed on their daughter. When they spotted the angel, they sped across the yard, the previous Supreme Alpha sliding in the grass as he reached for Raguel.

“Don’t,” Sloane growled, her nostrils flaring as anger began to simmer under her skin once again.

Her gaze never wavered from the angel’s chest. Tears streaked over her cheeks, dropping from her chin to land on her knees.

We stayed frozen, no one knowing what to do to fix the situation. Emotions poured through our bond as she silently fell apart.

Sam and Charlie surveyed Raguel’s body, devastated by his appearance.