Even being an angel, and being on the righteous side of things, I’d never felt like I was above anyone.But the moment I saw Mercy reach out to the wolf, the moment sheglowed,I understood the truth with absolute certainty.
My faith always preached that in the grand scheme of life, we were nothing.Not unless we accepted God as our savior, only then we were worthy.
Worthy of blissful fields of gold and heavenly rewards.
But as I looked at Mercy, glowing like a goddess, I was aware of two things.
One, was that we werenotinsignificant.
The other was that peace was not something you strived for.It was something yougave.
When the light left Mercy, her entire body went limp in my arms.The wolves whined and whimpered, howling as theyretreated, slowly.
Endor made no move to follow them, both of us equally shocked from the sight of what we’d just witnessed.
Artists and poets often described our souls as golden beams of light.
But in truth, the soul was not just light.It was also...dark.
For one could not exist without the other.
I looked at Endor, catching my breath.His dark eyes gazed back at me, full of concern, but also full of something else that startled me just as much as Mercy’s soul on display.
For in those deep, dark eyes, I saw love and forgiveness.
How could a demon be capable of such things?
Mercy rolled her head against my shoulder sleepily as he sauntered toward us.I was frozen, my grip on her tight as Endor stood before us, reaching out to brush some of her damp, dark hair from her pale face.
His eyelashes stood out against his tan skin, black hair falling in his eyes like shadows across a sunlit sidewalk.
“I can take her from here,” he said softly.
Endor was always sarcastic, bitter, and a pain in the ass, but then...
In that moment, on the edge of the forest, under the moonlight, stroking Mercy’s damp hair, I couldn’t deny my insides ached.I was tired and I was weak.
After igniting my smite, which had scared the wolves off enough to push them back, I was more than exhausted.
I wanted to argue, to fight his insinuations.I could take care of Mercy just fine on my own.I could?—
Endor moved his hand from Mercy’s hair, reaching for me and tucking some of mine behind my ear.
The gesture made my heart flutter, made my breath catch.
It was oddly comforting.
“The fight is over for now, Valory,” he said, his voice smooth like butter.
Somewhere in my brain, I could remember Matthew’s voice, his slippery tone as he told me to poison the demon before me.
To shackle him to the earth and ensure we won the claim on Mercy’s soul.
But as I looked in Endor’s tired eyes, as his warm palm smoothed over my chin and neck, I knew he was feeling the drain of his own powers from the wolf’s bites.
“The fight is never really over, Endor,” I told him, hoping he understood.Because I couldn’t even begin to comprehend that when I looked at the demon before me...
I felt like I was drowning.Drowning in a sea of deep, shadowy eyes and solid warmth.
