“Getoffme,” he said through his teeth.
Rawn sat back. “That man would have killed you if I did not restrain you, Cassiel. We will rescue Lady Dyna. You have my word. Right now, Zev requires our aid.”
Cassiel cursed again, and they rushed to Zev’s side. His dull eyes, coated in black blood, fluttered open. Cassiel took his hand and searched for a pulse, listening to his heart. The pulse was feeble, the beats too far in between. His translucent complexion was as pale as ash, his veins black beneath his skin. Rawn ripped open Zev’s bloody shirt, and he sucked in a sharp breath. The area around the knife was completely black and bubbling as if it was cooking him from within.
“The silver is killing him,” Cassiel said. “Pull it out!”
“If I do, the wound will profuse. I’m afraid he may…”
“He will not die today.” Cassiel rolled up his sleeves. He took his opal knife and sliced his palm deep, blood gushing freely. “Do it.”
Carefully, Rawn removed the knife. Zev spasmed with a weak cry. Cassiel squeezed his hand into a fist above him. Blood cascaded over the wound, coating Zev’s abdomen in a gruesome painting of black and red. They stared at it, waiting for something to happen, but nothing else had changed. The gash in his stomach continued to bubble.
Rawn touched Zev’s wrist and shook his head. “He is faltering,”
“No, he’s not.” Cassiel cut himself again, deeper this time, and poured the hot red stream over the wound. It merely spilled down his abdomen, mixing with the black sludge. “No. No. It has to work!”
But it wouldn’t. He’d killed humans. His power to heal was gone.
Rawn grasped Zev’s hand. “Hold fast, my friend. It is not your time.”
Zev’s unfocused eyes focused on something past them that they couldn’t see. His expression tightened as he mumbled something lost under the pelt of rain. Cassiel leaned in closer so he could catch his fading voice.
“Father, forgive me, please…” Black tears leaked from Zev’s eyes. “I don’t want to go.”
“Turn away from the Gates. Stay, Zev.” Cassiel searched his face for some hope that he wouldn’t fade. But he recognized the look of death. “Stay, damn you.”
“Please forgive me.” His eyes slid closed. “I’m sorry …”
Cassiel lowered his head as Zev exhaled his last breath. And it carried off with the rain.
* * *
Were the fates watching? Were the Gods of the Seven Gates laughing at him now? What was the point of all of this? They had taken too much from him. Too damn much. He had lost his divinity, his bonded, and now his friend. He’d lost everything that ever mattered.
Cassiel slumped on his heels, letting the rain beat on them where they sat by the body. He pointed his face at the sky, never feeling so lost and alone as he did now. Celestials were descendants of the Heavens, meant to protect life as decreed byElyon. But not him.
Not a dirty half-breed with useless blood.
That hadn’t mattered to him when he found Dyna. She had given him a purpose and new meaning, and his friendship with Zev had given him something he never had. They were the Guardians of the Maiden, but they had failed to protect her. He failed.
Releasing a shuddering exhale, Cassiel closed Zev’s eyelids and rested a hand on his arm. “May you leave the Mortal Gate with no burden to bind you,” he croaked, fighting the burning in his throat. “May you cross Death’s Gate withallfaults forgiven. May you pass through the Time Gate with the wisdom of the age. May you pass through the expanse of the Spatial Gate’s wonder. May you pass through Life’s Gate as you did at the beginning. May you arrive at Heaven’s Gate at the end. May the God of Urn receive your—”
Zev gasped for air.
Cassiel and Rawn gawked as the gash on Zev’s stomach stitched itself together, piece by piece, until the black, rotten flesh healed. The rosy color returned to his complexion, and his green eyes blinked at the storming sky. The rain washed away the black sludge from his face and torso, revealing the flawless skin.
“Am I alive?” Zev croaked.
“God of Urn.” Rawn gaped at him incredulously. “You are.”
Cassiel stared at his hands as the rain washed away the red stains from his unblemished palms. A rush sank through his stomach. It worked. His blood had never lost its divinity. It simply took longer to heal others. When he’d healed Dyna, it hadn’t happened right away either. And his sword …Elyonhad given him Seraph fire. He didn’t know why he was chosen to have it, but a layer of his self-doubt and self-loathing peeled away at the revelation that he wasn’t damned after all.
“How?” Zev asked, dazed.
“Prince Cassiel’s blood brought you back.”
Zev glanced down at himself then at Cassiel, his mouth parting. “I … I’m within your debt.”
