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I looked around, expecting him to reappear, but he didn’t.
I waved away the smoke, trying to see through it to the doorway where I’d asked Sierra to stay. I needed to see her, to know without a shadow of a doubt that Dantalion hadn’t succeeded in taking her.
She stood in the doorway, still within the wards’ protection, but there was something wrong. Her features were blurry and there was a haze surrounding her whole body, as if she were standing in a cloud of dust or mist.
“Nate.” Her voice sounded muffled like she was underwater. Or maybe I was the one underwater.
I saw her move, saw the moment she decided to step out of the safety of the wards. I lurched toward her, my mouth moving to form words that didn’t come out sounding anything like English.
Everything about my body felt wrong, heavy and clumsy.
I didn’t have time to worry about it. I stumbled forward until I was close enough to push her back inside. My wing snagged on the doorframe, sending a slice of pain through my whole back. I ignored it, pushing until we were both inside.
I tried to lift my hand to touch her face, but my body wouldn’t obey me. My knees buckled, and I felt myself falling into the black hole that had opened up in the living room floor.
* * *
“Please wake up. Please, Nate.”There was so much pain and fear in Sierra’s voice.
I blinked my eyes open and saw her face looming over me. There were tears streaking her pale cheeks. I tried to reach up to brush those tears away, but when I lifted my hand, pain exploded along my side.
Fuck. My ribs felt like they were on fire.
“Are you okay?” I croaked out.
“I don’t think that’s what you should be worrying about right now.” Her hand brushed my hair back from my face.
My head was cradled in her lap, and the temptation to close my eyes and just relax into her touch until the blackness claimed me again was strong.
“Don’t you dare close your eyes.” She was glaring at me, but her voice trembled slightly. “I need you to tell me what to do. How do I fix this?”
I gritted my teeth and forced my arm to move so I could look at my side. My shirt was gone, so I could see the gash that ran from just under my armpit all the way to the waistband of my pants. Golden blood oozed from the cut. It wasn’t healing. Even if I’d only been out for a few seconds, it should have started healing by now.
“I need to clean this.” I braced my other arm on the floor, prepared to sit up, but a hand pressed down on my chest.
“You can’t pass out again. Tell me how to help you.”
I let out a sigh of defeat. “I just need a wet towel or something to get rid of the blood. Then I’ll figure out why it’s not healing.”
Her hand cradled the back of my head as she slipped out from underneath me. She came back in what might have been seconds or hours and knelt at my side.
I sucked in air as the warm cloth touched my skin. It stung despite her touch being incredibly gentle.
“Sorry,” Sierra whispered.
I gave her a weak smile. “Now you know what color I bleed.”
“I’d rather it have stayed a mystery, honestly. This looks really deep. Can angels need stitches?”
“No.” I chuckled and instantly regretted it. Fuck. Why wasn’t I healing? I used my functioning arm to feel along the gash. The skin on either side was ragged, like it had been torn rather than sliced through cleanly. Of course it was. I’d been clawed. The wound still should have been healing though.
“What are you doing?”
“There’s something in there,” I answered. There was no other explanation. “A part of his claw must still be inside the wound.”
“What?”
I took a breath that didn’t do me any good. “I need you to get it out. I can’t heal while it’s still in there.” This was going to hurt like fucking hell.
