The soldiers hesitated, one glancing at me like he wanted to argue but not quite brave enough to face me head-on.
Before the tension could spiral further, Kieran’s voice cut through the smoke, steady and commanding. “Wait.”
She moved to my side, her steps slow but sure, her gaze locking on my mother’s. “She stays with us.”
The soldiers looked uncertain, but Kieran didn’t waver. “Instead of locking her away, I want her to give us names. The Archangels we can trust, and the ones we can’t. She knows who’s too far gone and who might stand with us.”
My mother’s breath hitched. Her eyes softened as she turned toward Kieran, something like awe flickering there again. “You would trust me with that?”
Kieran’s chin lifted, her scar catching the last light of the fires burning around us. “We don’t have the luxury of throwing everyone into the same cage. We need to know who we can count on, to add numbers to our side so we can truly secure Alfemir.”
For a long moment, my mother just looked at her before she nodded, her voice soft. “You have my word. I’ll make you that list.”
She hesitated, tears gathering again as her gaze darted between Kieran and me. “And…I’m sorry. We didn’t all know the truth of the past. I’m sorry for my blindness, for letting this rot go on as long as it has. But I swear to you, I’ll do whatever it takes to help you now.”
Something loosened in my chest at her words. For the first time since this battle began, I felt the faintest trace of hope that maybe not every Archangel was our enemy.
When I looked at Kieran, pale and trembling at my side, I knew she was done holding herself upright out of sheer willpower. Her hand brushed my arm, the smallest touch, but it nearly undid me. “Gabe,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, “take me home.”
The words pierced through me, her intention landing heavily. She didn’t mean the Rebellion’s camp. She meant her house here in Alfemir. The one I’d followed her to that fateful night in the archives.
“Of course, Little Star,” I murmured, my arm sliding around her waist to steady her.
Before I could lift her into my arms, Steele and Bastian appeared, both streaked with blood and sweat.
“We need to head down to the Rebellion camp,” Steele said, his tone sharp with command but his eyes lingering on Kieranlike he didn’t want to leave her. “Bastian needs to put the blood barrier in place, and Amelia needs an update on what went down here tonight.”
“Don’t miss me too much,” Bash quipped, his usual grin tempered, softer as he stepped close. He caught Kieran’s chin in his hand, pressing a hard, possessive kiss to her lips before pulling back with a smirk that didn’t quite hide the tension in his gaze. “Don’t go dying again, Darling. It’s terrible for my nerves.”
A tinkering laugh fell from Kieran’s lips and it was like magic all in and of itself, forcing smiles to our own faces. The second didn’t last long, though, the moment quickly broken by the coughs that shook her body.
Steele followed, his movements deliberate as he bent and pressed a lingering kiss to her temple, his hand cupping the back of her head. “Rest, Princess. We’ll be back soon.”
I tightened my hold on her as they pulled away, my chest burning with the need to keep her shielded from all the eyes still lingering on us like they wanted to demand more answers than we had to give.
“Let’s get you home,” I whispered, lifting her gently against me.
All of them could wait. For the moment, safety blanketed Alfemir, and that would have to be enough for the angels for now.
Her head dropped against my shoulder, her breath warm against my neck. For the first time since coming back to life, she let herself lean into me fully, her weight a trust I’d die before betraying.
As I carried her away from the carnage, I swore I’d never let anything come close to taking her from us again.
3
KIERAN
Gabe toucheddown on the winding road, wings folding tight as his boots met stone. He didn’t let go until my feet were steady beneath me, the night air pressing around us as we made our way to my family’s home. But standing here staring at it, this moment didn’t feel like one of coming home. It felt like being dragged back to a past that was no longer mine, step by step.
The house rose pale from the hillside, marble softened with sandstone trim, its windows dark and unlit. Silence clung to it, dense as stone. The night air caught in my lungs, every breath harder than the one before as we neared. Above, clouds swallowed the moon whole. Only a scatter of stars bled through, faint light against the dark as we arrived at the front steps. I drew strength from their quiet glow.
What happened within these walls shaped me into the woman I was.
Here my father had beaten my mother and me, trying his damndest to reduce us to the worthless souls he claimed we were.
Here she succumbed as his victim, with no one to give her a hand out of the misery.
Here I decided to seize my own fate before he could kill me for what I was.
