The voices get louder.
Anika backs up again, eyeing Luca suspiciously. We could grab her, but then she would scream. Fuck.Fuck.She’s left me with no other choice.
Closing my eyes, I send my magic out, infusing it directly into my words as I promise to keep her safe. It shoots out from my heart, eager to be summoned. I haven’t used it since—No, now isn’t the time to think about that.
Anika gasps as golden runes appear on every inch of my exposed skin, then reaches for me with both hands. Luca... Shit, I’m not brave enough to see what he thinks.
The voices are almost on top of us.
We’ve got to go.
Scooping Anika up, I head for the car, half jogging in my hurry to get to safety. Gods. I feel terribly exposed, like the runes burned my skin off instead of labeling me for what I am. Burying my tension, I reach the parking lot and wrench the car door open, sliding Anika into the back seat.
As her head lolls to the side, I realize with shock that she somehow trusted me enough to fall asleep on my shoulder. My stomach churns, nausea building steadily until it competes with the itch. Ignoring both, I buckle her seatbelt and close the door, unexpected tears welling up in my eyes.
Luca grabs my arm, and it’s all I can do not to vomit. “Deep breaths, Celine,” he urges me, walking around to the passenger side and opening my door. “I’ve got you.”
I drop heavily into the seat, my fingers running mechanically over the upholstery. Luca opens a water bottle and presses it into my hand. I take a grateful sip, jolting as a few drops fall on my legs.
“You must have a lot of questions,” I say, glancing at Luca’stight jaw from the corner of my eye. His hands are working the leather of the steering wheel like he might be able to squeeze out the answers he wants that way.
“That can wait.” He sighs. “We need to decide what to do with her. What did she say?”
“She doesn’t know how she got here.” I look over my shoulder to make sure she’s still asleep. “Her name is Anika, and she’s an orphan. She said her parents died in a plague.” I frown, confused by the story she told me.
“What about that is hitting you weird?” Luca asks, correctly reading my expression.
“The plague part,” I admit. “I’ve never heard of any sicknesses running rampant in the celestial realm. Not in my lifetime at least. People catch things, but it’s usually minor or knocked out by a quick visit to the healers.”
Luca considers that, looking in the rearview at the sleeping kid. “She’s young, though. Chances are she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, especially if she’s been through something traumatic.”
He’s right... But her fear. My itch. “What are we going to do with her?” I ask.
“Harry might take her,” Luca says. “Last I talked to her; she was fostering a few orphans already. The language barrier might be an issue, though.”
“Not for long,” I murmur, remembering the shape and size of the wings poking out from Anika’s back. “She’snish misha.” At Luca’s questioning glance, I squirm in my seat.He deserves some answers.
“Not all angels are the same,” I explain. “Genetically or magically. Her classification ismisha, an echelon known for their intelligence. Most work in science, research, and higher education. They aren’t typically gifted with much magic, but they make up for it by thinking circles around the rest of us.”
“So what?” Luca cranks the car and heads toward Harry’s home. “You’re saying she’ll pick up English in a few months?”
“Days,” I say.
“Nish,” he murmurs. “If that means tier or class... She said that word to you along with something else.”
I grit my teeth. Of course he picked up on that. Luca is smart. If I tell him more, am I putting us both at risk? He’s not giving me much wiggle room either way and combined with my difficulty with lying...
“Yes, she recognized my type,” I whisper, dropping my forehead against the cool glass of the car window.
I feel Luca’s eyes on me. He lets the conversation drop when I don’t immediately volunteer more information. “It’s going to be okay,” he says instead, the promise empty given how little we know. I appreciate the gesture anyway.
Luca street parks near Harry’s house, thrumming his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel. “I’ll go explain. Do you want to stay with Anika in case she wakes up?”
I nod, releasing all the air from my mouth and metaphorically sliding into my big girl pants. It helps to remind myself we would have done the same thing if Anika was a demon or a shifter. Harry is the only one around here I know personally who takes in supernatural strays.
Luca gets out, shutting his door firmly behind him. Anika bolts upright, her eyes panicked until they land on me.
“Celine,” she says my name, the word heavily accented. The way she says it... Like the voices of my childhood. The visceral reminder of home makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
