She flinches and pulls her ankle-length wool coat tighter around her body. “Gabriel. You look…very different without your wings. And robes.”
I stare down at the khaki pants, dark blue shirt, and loafers. They do not change my body. Only…decorateit in different ways. Then I realize why she is confused. “It is my facial hair. Shaving is quite annoying. And time consuming. I have decided while I am in the earthen realm, I will grow a beard.” I stroke the hair. It changed from scratchy to soft sometime in the past two days, and I discovered a wondrous product called beard oil.
“One of the benefits of being a yeti,” Kunchin says. “Though having a Bureau-issued perception filter helps too.” He offers Dion his arm. “Let’s go inside. Sin and Zoe are waiting for us.”
I hang backuntil Sinclair welcomes the yeti and Dion into his home and takes their coats. Once the warded doors of the penthouse close, the panther shifter shudders. Sleek, black fur ripples over every inch of exposed skin. Her eyes take on a more slanted appearance, and she relaxes with a sigh.
“Ihategoing out in public in my human skin. I feel so exposed, and I haven’t been able to get warm since…” Her cheeks pale, and she makes her way into the lavish living room where flames flicker behind a glass panel in the wall. “My heating bill is going to be through the roof this month. Or…for the rest of my life.”
“Zoe, my love,” Sinclair says as he knocks gently on their bedroom door at the end of the hall. “Dion and Kunchin are here. Gabriel as well. Mad and Killian are on their way with the food.”
I can sense Zoe’s emotions over all the others in the room. Perhaps because she is a celestial. Or because of the overwhelming guilt I will never be able to escape over my part in what happened to her.
The door opens, and Zoe fits herself to Sinclair’s side. He winds one of her red curls around his finger, the gesture so intimate, I think I should perhaps look away.
The two share a glance—a brief moment of connection—and I wonder what it would be like to be so attuned to another being that your souls intertwine. I will never know. Archangels do not…mate. We belong in the celestial realm. Alone. Always alone.
EIGHT
Willow
Only a handful of stars dot the darkened sky above St. Mary’s Cathedral. It’s almost midnight, and this is my first training exercise with the Agency for Uncovering Rare Anomalies.
My whisper floats along beside me, and I think I canfeelher excitement. Hannah, Isaac, and the rest of their team believe in us. They think we can do something wonderful. Something to help people.
“Are you sure I have to take a leave of absence from my job?” I ask Hannah as we follow Isaac through the door to the rectory. It’s almost completely silent inside the church, only the odd sounds of an old building surrounding us in the dimly lit space.
“Once you’ve fully realized your power, you’ll be able to locate the BLT.” Hannah rests her hand at the small of my back and guides me up the aisle between the pews. “But it could be anywhere from Florida to the Arctic Circle. We have no idea if it’s protected by more wards or guarded by an army.”
“An army?” The words escape on a squeak. “I’m not fighting an army. I’m a college professor!”
Hannah’s light laugh doesn’t reassure me. Much. It’s almost impossible to panic with her at my side.
“I’m so sorry, Willow. That was a terrible joke. I’ve been looking for the Blade—and the next Whisper Keeper—for so long, I’m a little giddy. We don’t truly believe we’ll find an army. At worst, perhaps a small coven of witches we’ll need to convince of our good intentions.”
“But…we’re only a month into the quarter. My students need me.” For a moment, I wonder who I am if I’m not Dr. Willow Saunders, adjunct professor. Until I realize I could be more. I could be Willow Saunders, the witch. Willow Saunders, the woman who helped cure cancer. Willow Saunders, the Whisper Keeper.
“We’ll talk to your department chair,” Hannah assures me. “You won’t lose your job. Give us a year, and we’ll change the world. And how amazing will it be for your students to have an actualwitchteaching them about the occult?”
A hint of excitement stirs in my belly. Hannah’s right. I signed a ten-page NDA this morning. I can’t talk about anything I see in the AURA lab, can’t reveal anything contained in the book—the book I’m not even sure I believe in yet—and can’t tell anyone that I’m the Whisper Keeper. They even want me to move in to a secured apartment over the lab for the next couple of months. But after everything is done—after I’ve found the Blade and done my part, I can go back to my life.
A wave of relief loosens the knot in my stomach. Until Isaac pulls the dark purple drape aside, and the dank,oldsmell from the antechamber below wafts over me.
“And you’re sure the book is here?” I ask, stopping on the first step. My whisper is already down the stairs, probably desperate to get into the old vault. Or heck. Maybe she’s already inside.
“It’s definitely here,” Isaac says, a slight edge to his voice.
“We’ve been searching for the book for five years,” Hannah explains. “But even if we hadn’t found journal entries to confirm it,you’rethe proof, Willow. You and your whisper. She appeared for the first time the same day you took a tour of St. Mary’s. Why would that happen if not for the presence of the book?”
She’s so certain. Half a dozen times in the past two days, I’ve come close to bolting. But Hannah has been there with a reassuring word, a cup of coffee, or one of her warm smiles. Every time I talk to her, I feel better. Calmer. And IknowI’m doing the right thing.
“Willow?” Hannah holds out her hand. “I’ll be by your side the whole time. If you start to feel faint, all you have to do is say the word, and we’ll stop for the night.”
“The last time I went down there…I was terrified.” My voice sounds so small. So pitiful. “It was like I wasn’t even…me.”
Hannah rests her hands on my shoulders. She’s only an inch taller than I am, so we’re almost eye-to-eye. “You’re not alone anymore. You have the support of the entire AURA team. We’ve got you. Youwilldo this, and you’ll be fine.”
Her confidence frees me from the fear keeping me paralyzed. I’m going to do this. My whisper wants this.Iwant this.
