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4
LILIN
“So?” I said.
Abigor looked at me blankly. “Huh?”
I gestured at the villagers on the ground. “What do we do? I mean, I assume you’ve seen this before,” I said, tamping down my irritation at his apparent confusion. This was demonic influence, was it not? After all, Julian had used Abigor’s power to do…whatever he’d done.
Abigor’s brows knitted together. “And why would you assume that?” he asked tightly.
Was he being deliberately obtuse? “Clearly, this was your—”
“If you say fault, I’m leaving,” Abigor interrupted, his red eyes flashing dangerously.
I cleared my throat. “I was going to say—area of expertise,” I amended, lying through my teeth.
Abigor narrowed his eyes. He clearly didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth. “Contrary to what you apparently believe about anyone who doesn’t live in your precious Heaven—”
“It’s called the City,” I corrected automatically, cringing at the crude term.
Abigor gazed at me without answering. He was silent for so long that I finally broke eye contact. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Go on.”
He grunted. “I don’t actually have firsthand knowledge of human dark magic,” he said, twirling one clawed finger in the air. “Whatever it entails. So as to where Julian went, I’m afraid I’m at as much of a loss as you.”
“I do know a bit,” I said under my breath.
Abigor raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“He traveled through fire,” I said, slightly louder. “And demons can travel through shadows, can they not?”
“Well, yes,” Abigor acknowledged grudgingly. “But it’s not as though it’s the same thing.”
“Still,” I persisted. “It may be a place to start.”
He sighed. “I suppose,” he said. “I can travel from shadow to shadow—might he go—”
“Fire to fire.” My heart began to race. “But where would the second fire be?”
Abigor shrugged. “Where does anyone go when they’ve lost their way?” he said, meeting my eyes.
I nodded. “Home.”
He glanced up the lane at the many small cottages with their thatched rooftops. “So we’re going to find his house…how?”
“For starters, it’d be the only one with a living occupant,” I pointed out.
Abigor bristled, and for a moment the air between us shimmered.
“But he may not have stayed there long,” I amended hastily, holding up my hands. “Even if we’re wrong, it might give us an idea of where he has gone.”
“Doesn’t really help with the problem of finding his cottage, does it?”
I sighed. I could find his home, I was certain, though the effort would be draining. Human emotions shone like stars, illuminating the space around them with whatever they happened to be feeling. They were impossible to ignore, impossible to overlook. And like the stars, they left traces of their light after they’d gone—the home of a happy family would be bright with joy for months, sometimes years after they’d moved on. Similarly, the home of a heartbroken, lonely man would be painted with grief.
I began to walk up the lane, dropping my shroud and stretching my wings in the moonlight, allowing my senses to expand beyond my physical form.
“Lilin,” Abigor said from behind me. “Hey—Lilin. Are we looking, or…?”
