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Heat rose to my cheeks at the thought, and I was glad he had no way of sensing my emotions.
His eyes slid my way as he stepped over a gnarled tree-root. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an angel blush,” he commented. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you’re thinking about.”
I cursed myself as the flush grew stronger. Apparently I hadn’t been as subtle as I’d thought.
“Have you ever seen an angel before?” I asked, trying to cover my embarrassment. “Blushing or otherwise?”
“No,” he replied. “We were always taught that your kind is best avoided.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to make a comment about how in his case I could easily see why, but I bit it back. I decided instead to be honest. “I was thinking about how you don’t match much of what we’re taught about demons.”
“Oh?” He cocked an eyebrow. “And what exactly do they teach you about demons up in Heav—the City,” he corrected with a grin.
“Well, that you’re creatures of chaos.”
He shrugged. “That much is true.”
“And it leads you to be cruel and reckless,” I continued. “That it is your unstable nature that causes the disruption of energy when we are around you. That you are a necessary evil in the world, part of the Equilibrium, but one to be avoided at all costs, and protected against.” I eyed him sidelong. “And that you are hideous monsters, more ugly than the most frightening of beasts.”
I could sense him bristling beside me as my description went on, but when he spoke, his voice was even. “And have you found all this to be true?”
“Well…no,” I admitted.
He flashed a gleeful grin at me. “Ah, so you think I’m attractive then.”
“That’s not what I said,” I spluttered.
“So what do you think of me?” Abigor pressed. We’d arrived at the village gate, and he held it open.
I kept my gaze forward as I passed. “That you are…not what I expected.”
“Very attractive, then, is it? It’s the horns, I’m sure.”
Despite myself, I laughed. “I’m sure you think highly enough of yourself for both—”
The words died on my lips as I registered the scene before me. My mouth fell open. “What is he doing?”
In the middle of the town square, Julian was moving people. The villagers’ motionless bodies lay in a neat, even spiral. Children, gently placed in their mothers’ arms; men stretched out beside their wives; families grouped together—the same expression of vulnerable bewilderment on every face. In the center of the circle, a bonfire crackled, sending flames chasing merrily toward the night sky.
Julian stood on the doorstep of a nearby cottage, a gangly teenage boy cradled in his arms. He crossed to the circle, bent, and gently laid the boy on the paving stones. Sweat dripped from his brow, and he’d just turned away when he caught sight of Abigor and me standing in the shadows.
He jumped, and I hastily concealed my wings.
“You—please. I’m sorry.” He was out of breath. “I’m so sorry, I never meant—please, let me fix this.” His eyes were wide, as if he expected me to stop him from…whatever he was doing.
Which I thought maybe I should.
“Is this…another spell?” I asked carefully, afraid he would run again.
His dark eyes landed on me, and the emotions that swirled from him in clouds were almost painful to sense. Shame and hope, uncertainty and longing. “I think…” He took a hesitant step toward the fire and bent to retrieve the worn spell book. “I think I can fix it. I have to try. I just…I have to bring them all together.” He turned away, ducking toward another nearby house before I could protest.
All of them?
I turned to Abigor. “How big is this village, anyway?”
He glanced around at the assembled bodies. They looked uncanny, lying in repose, eyes open and staring. “Not sure. Can’t be more than a few hundred.”
“A few hundred?”
“I mean…we could help him,” Abigor suggested.
I frowned toward the fire, where Julian had gathered piles of dried herbs and flowers. “That’s not the point. Are you sure letting him do another spell is a good idea? It’s his spell that caused this in the first place.”
“You’re the one who insisted we find him,” Abigor reminded me. “Well, we found him. What else were you expecting him to do?”
I threw my hands in the air. “I don’t know! Something that doesn’t involve dark magic?” The air between us shimmered, and I made an effort to rein in my temper.
“If you have a better idea, I would love to hear it,” he said. “But otherwise, I suggest we help, or we’ll be watching Julian cart bodies around until dawn.” He waited, watching me until I gave a helpless shrug, then nodded.
A towering oak filled one corner of the square, its leafy branches casting a long shadow against the cobblestones. Abigor took a step back until the shadow fell across him, then he twisted and vanished, the night swallowing him whole.
