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14
LILIN
“Lilin, look.” Abigor’s voice was soft in my ear, his gentle hand on my back guiding me to turn toward the fire. I tore my eyes away from the spiraling light, the beauty we had wrought between us, and followed his gaze.
Julian was kneeling on the ground, his hands uplifted, and between them a shifting ball of blue energy pulsed with power. The glow lit his face, softening his features, erasing the lines that grief had etched there until I could imagine how he’d looked before: a young man, happy and surrounded by laughter and love.
His eyes closed as he lifted his hands higher, offering them up in prayer or gratitude, then bent low over a little boy. The child lay motionless and staring, tiny face white and so frail that blue veins were visible beneath his translucent skin.
I threaded my fingers through Abigor’s, watching in awe as Julian spoke in a soft voice, then opened his hands over the child’s chest. With a faint pulse of light, the ball of energy sank into the small body and vanished.
The wind stilled; the courtyard was silent. It was like the whole world held its breath.
And then, with a great gasp, the child blinked, coughed. Sat up. Tears stung my eyes at the sight of the little boy’s bright, focused gaze, his skin dewy with youth once more. And then the child turned his bewildered eyes to the villagers still motionless on the ground. A prickle of fear and confusion met my Senses, and I felt a hand on my back, nudging me forward.
“Go,” Abigor said.
I did, approaching the small figure and kneeling by his side. “My name’s Lilin,” I said, pulling my shroud up to cover my wings, but allowing just a hint of my angelic nature to shine through. Protection. Comfort. I reached for one small hand, pulling him to face me, even as Julian knelt beside the boy’s mother. “What’s your name?”
Fear gave way to trust. “I’m Andrei,” he said in a clear, high voice.
“You’re safe, Andrei,” I told him.
A moment later, his mother swept him up in her arms, and Julian moved down the row.
The work was endless, and hard, and filled with love. I extended my shroud, wrapping it around myself and Abigor, and we twined ourselves together. Invisible to the villagers, we lost ourselves in each other: wings overlaid, breath intermingled, the endless universe shared in our eyes.
Julian, to his credit, did not falter. He moved tirelessly, from one motionless body to the next, hands raised in benediction, guiding the energy of creation back into the bodies from which it had been stolen. The villagers seemed to see it for the miracle it was. They gave him space to work, watching with wide eyes and hopeful expressions as they followed him along the rows, from one precious life to the next.
He spoke to them as he worked, moving between them with a clasped hand here, a fond touch to a shoulder there. I couldn’t imagine what he was saying to them, how he was explaining what had befallen them or what he was doing, but I Sensed no fear or outrage from the people of the town. Only a quiet awe, as if they knew whatever had happened was bigger than them, something inexplicable, and he was setting it to rights.
As I watched him work, my heart swelled to bursting for this man, who had taken unbearable heartache and learned to use it for good. Who had been to Hell and back for the means to fix his own mistakes, and had come out the other side stronger and wiser. I watched and watched, until the energy began to fade and dim, and only then did I turn into Abigor’s waiting embrace, into his soft red gaze and the gentle touch of his hand on my cheek, and time stretched again into nothingness.
“Lilin, I think the sun has set.”
The words were muttered against my mouth, hot breath fanning across my parted lips, and it took an immeasurable effort to dredge myself up from the depths of our shared connection and regain awareness of my own body, somehow separate from his.
I blinked. The sun had indeed set. The square was empty and had been swept clean, and the surrounding houses were dark and quiet. I unfurled my wings slightly, stretching out to Sense—a peaceful wave of slumbering calm swept back to me. I sighed, my eyes closing briefly. “They’re asleep. Everyone is alive and safe.”
“He did it. He really did it.” Abigor sounded impressed.
“Did you doubt him?” I asked, carefully disentangling myself from his embrace.
Abigor gave me a lopsided smile that made my heart clench. “Well, you must admit his success with spells prior to this has been…limited.”
My mouth curved up in response, but then I stilled, stretching my wings further, reaching, listening. “He’s at the cemetery. Should we go find him?”
Abigor threaded his fingers through mine as we left the town square and made our way out toward the small graveyard on the outskirts of the village. I was quiet as we walked, remembering the first time I’d followed this path, on a night not so different from this. Just as before, the moon shone high against a velvet sky, and I couldn’t help but remember the way I’d felt then—the fear and confusion at that first blast of energy, watching in horror as the townspeople had fallen where they’d stood, racing out to the graveyard and the wave of panic that had overtaken me when I’d seen a demon in the flames.
It seemed a lifetime ago, and yet when we entered the quiet grounds of the cemetery and I saw Julian’s head bowed over a large gravestone, it could have been just yesterday.
We didn’t speak as we approached, not wanting to interrupt, but he raised his head anyway, regarding us with eyes less haunted than before.
“I owe the two of you an apology,” he said quietly. “I had no right to bring you here, Abigor, against your will. I had no right to meddle in things I did not understand, and even less to force you both to clean up the mess I made. I…I am sorry.”
Abigor gave him a crooked grin. “Maybe just…no more dark magic, huh? And we’ll call it even?”
Julian smiled wryly. “I also want to thank you both. I was so caught up in my own worries, I never even stopped to consider what a privilege it was to become acquainted with both an angel and a demon.” He chuckled softly. “I imagine most humans don’t cause so much damage that they require celestial aid to solve their problems, but…I truly appreciate all you have done for me.”
