“Then I don’t want to be safe!”
“Adrial will play the long game. It is better for him to exist, weakened by my existence, confident in the knowledge that his anchor has a newfound vulnerability. If you become too much of a nuisance, he’ll kill you and encourage another to invoke me. I will not risk your life. As long as you are safe, I do not care about the rest.”
Her eyes widen, her lips part, and her breaths shorten. We stare at each other, her eyes searching mine.
“Do you understand what I am saying, Summer?”
Her lips snap closed.
I lean into her, lowering my voice, inhaling her, everything about her—her trepidation, her indignation, her worry, her fear… her lust. It makes me quiver, everything about her makes me quiver.
“I love you.”
Her face lowers, her gaze falling to my chest. I can hear her heart thumping wildly at my words.
“I’ve loved you ever since you started working in the shop, speaking with me, sharing your light, renewing my purpose. You’ve changed me, igniting my desire to see daylight again. And when I say I will do anything for you, I mean it.”
“Anything?” she whispers, licking her lips, peering up at me again. Her eyes narrow, her lips flattening. Drawing back, my nostrils flare. Dropping the sheet from her shoulders, she angrily wipes the tears from her eyes.
I sense her intentions before she can speak them. “Summer,” I warn. “Don’t.”
“Zuriel,” she begins, her voice darkening. “You will not kill yourself. Not even for me.”
The words blast through me, a command I can’t refuse. It solidifies in my soul as easily as I ossify each morning. Naming me, her command seizes the power of my self-destruction, eradicating a gift from my creators. I growl as she lifts her chin.
Naked and unafraid, she’s glorious. “We’ll figure out another way,” she insists, her voice hard.
Rising, I take a step toward her. She holds her ground with anger and determination etched across her features.
“This is not something you should command. Revoke it—”
“We’ll find another way. If he’s too powerful to destroy, we’ll…” Her gaze flicks across the room. “We will trap him.”
My eyes narrow. “He will kill the body he’s within, flee, and find another. It is an endless cycle, one all demons are burdened with.”
“Then we’ll trap his soul.”
“Menace.He has no soul.”
“His menace then.” She waves her hand dismissively, her mind made up, refusing to acknowledge my fury. “Hopkins has exhibits and wards throughout this place, keeping things in, keeping things out, keeping things safe, correct?”
Hands clenching, I slowly nod.
“Then we’ll add Adrial to them. Make him an exhibit for the crowds to eternally gawk at. We’ll make him a spectacle, something that will torment him until the end of time.”
She brushes past me, picks up her sheet, and drapes it back over her shoulders. She strides to one of the back rooms. When she reaches the threshold, she looks over her shoulder at me. “Are you coming? We don’t have much time.”
Frustrated and proud, I stalk after her, her viciousness exciting me.
Chapter23
Ella, Carol, and John
Summer
Ella callsme as I drive back to the museum. Sunset is approaching, and I’m rested, ready for another evening. Several weeks have passed since we last spoke, nearly a month since I learned Zuriel’s name and destroyed Adrial’s form.
Guiltily, I let the phone ring, knowing I haven’t been the most attentive friend. We’ve texted, but I’ve avoided speaking—I don’t want to lie and I can’t speak the truth.
