“Is that where my father is?”
He laughed. “Of course it is! Where else—” He stopped walking, mouth dropping open. My heart flew behind my ribs, my ears clogging with the sudden rush of excitement mixed with fear as he turned on me. “You little trickster!” I had only been going along with his mad rant, but I was sure he didn’t see it that way.
“Take me there first, and I’ll go with you,” I said hastily.
“What?”
“Show me where they are, and I’ll agree to go to Heaven with you. I just want to see them. They don’t even have to see me back.” He tilted his head and stared at me, clearly trying to detect any deception.
Armaros smiled, and it was full of teeth. How a man so beautiful could be so terrifying confused me. “Good. Good, good. I knew you’d see reason. Come along.” I let him pull me through three more portals, the final one landing us in a bland, beigeplace, where everything felt… empty. He’d taken a deep breath before the final jump, like he was preparing himself for the possibility that it wouldn’t work.
“Where are we?” I asked. He had only walked a few paces from the portal before stopping.
“The hiding place,” he said. But I could see plain as day that the portal was labeled Purgatory.
“Why did you seem afraid? Like you might be wrong?”
“Notwrong!” he roared. “It only opens during an eclipse,” he huffed as though what I’d asked was ridiculous. “You’re going to be a lot of work, Seraphina, I can tell. You’re bright, inquisitive.” He nodded and looked me up and down. “It’ll be so much fun watching you break.”
“Armaros?” I hated the way his name tasted. Sour, stale. Like moldy bread.
“What?” He stalked away from the portal, and I rushed to keep up.
“I lied.”
He spun again, mouth open and shocked rage in his eyes. Holding the handle of my blade with both hands, I jammed the point down, aiming for his torso. At the last moment he stepped back, so the dagger actually sank deep into his thigh. The feel of the steel cutting through his flesh and stopping with an odd vibration as it hit bone made me gag, but I did what I’d been taught by my parents and twisted before pulling it back out. I almost lost my balance but managed to keep my footing. As he gaped at me, I backed away several steps, too stunned to run, even though my mind was screaming that I should do just that.
“You little bitch,” he swore, gasping as the pain of what I’d done registered. He sat down hard in the dead grass and wasted no time ripping open the leg of his pants so he could see the damage.
The area around the wound was already black, tiny tendrils creeping away from the wound as well.
“Whatisthis?” he asked. “How dare you! You’ll pay for such insolence. You’ll be punished! I’m a full angel, high ranking and of the old guard—” I cut him off with a wild swing of my blade, this one catching his forearm. He cried out, pulling the arm against his chest, mouth open and eyes shocked. “What have you done to me?”
“Far less than you deserve.”
He blinked as though stunned I was still talking back to him in such a manner. I turned and sprinted for the portal, wondering how else my Voice might work. Scared to get too close at first, I screamed at it, giving our current location and every other place we’d stopped along the way. When I spotted Armaros back on his feet, hobbling my way, I closed my eyes, shoved my face into the strange nowhere space between the wood frame and screamed it all there as well. Then I pictured the crossroads and Tap, willing the portal to take me home directly. Unfortunately, it flickered and went dark just before I stepped in. I could only hope some part of my other efforts was successful.
“What have youdone?” Armaros roared, the black spreading from the single stab wound now thick, following along every place that blood flowed through his thigh.
“Please show Tap the way here,” I muttered, standing my ground, blade held in both hands out in front of me as the angel groaned and writhed.
There was a hum, and suddenly Ramsey and Tap both stepped out of the portal.
I hardly recognized my hound; she seemed larger than usual, her eyes red and teeth bared. Her black smoke poured from her all over, and she didn’t speak to me at all. I’d never seen her so worked up.
“Thank all the saints,” Tap breathed, sweeping me into his arms. “You called for me, Feather. It nearly knocked me off my feet in the hall it was so clear, so loud.”
“It worked.” I was equal parts thrilled and terrified by the potential power of my Voice.
“Yes, beloved, it did.” He pulled me in, planting a fierce kiss on my mouth. “Are you alright?” Tap hastily checked me over, hands and eyes covering every inch until he was satisfied that I hadn’t come to harm.
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “What about the others?”
Everyone is fine, mistress. Your demon’s family and the stone kin have everything well in hand. The crossroads is secure, and the other three Nephilim are safe in the fae realm.
Tap grimaced, appraising the angel’s condition. As if taking that as permission, Ramsey latched onto Armaros’s wrist over his shirt and tugged, making him cry out.
Weak, arrogant angel. Not even worth my effort to bite down.
