Sister Cecilia kneels next to me, her face ghostly pale. Ruby and Candice hold onto each other over her shoulder. Candice’s cheeks are stained with tears. Ruby—always the calm, composed one—is shaking.
Father Shin sits on the steps a few feet away, a rosary clutched in his hands.
“What…happened?” I croak. My throat is dry. Scratchy. Like I’ve been screaming for hours.
“You just…collapsed,” Ruby says. “You went all pale, then the whole room got cold, and you…went down. We tried to catch you, but… It all happened so fast…”
I struggle to sit up, and Sister Cecilia slides her arm around my back to help me. My head spins for a brief moment, but after a hard blink, the dizziness subsides. As does the knot in my stomach.
“Welcome, Whisper Keeper.”
The strange voice is only a memory now. What the hell is a Whisper Keeper?
“I thought I heard someone…calling to me.”
“God protect us,” Father Shin whispers.
“From what?” I turn carefully, hoping I won’t pass out again.
He shakes his head as he pushes to his feet. “The tour is over. I’m sorry. You all need to leave. Immediately.”
Sister Cecilia frowns. “Father, Dr. Saunders is in no condition?—”
“Now, Sister Cecilia.” Gone is the kindly older man who was so excited to tell us about this place. He lowers his voice to murmur, “Observe the time and fly from evil,” before fleeingback up the winding staircase and leaving the four of us staring after him.
Ruby calleda Lyft to bring me home—even offered to ride with me—but all I want is a chocolate chip cookie and my bed.
My nervous system hasn’t worked right I was a teenager. A rare form of cancer stole any chance of having children and gifted me with one more lingering side effect—POTS. For years, I’ve tried to keep the symptoms in check. Stay hydrated, don’t get up too quickly, don’t skip meals… But postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome doesn’t always play by the rules.
I drop my keys on the kitchen counter, pour myself a glass of water, and pull two cookies from the tin. There’s a flicker at the edge of my vision—a shadow that shouldn’t be there.
A trick of the light?
But then it happens again. The cookies slide from my hand as a gauzy form hovers between the kitchen and my tiny living room.
It’sme. Or…a ghost of me. Her eyes are filled with sorrow, despite being mostly translucent. The water glass hits the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces, and when I look up again, the ghost is gone.
Gabriel
Crumbling bricks pop and crack as they hit the ground. Sparks from the twisted electrical conduits rain down at the edges of the destroyed power station.
My wings are in tatters. The scent of burned feathers makes my stomach roil. Flying through a magical portal and into the fires of Hell was reckless beyond measure. But only an angel could have saved Zoe and Sinclair from Lucifer’s endless torment and lived to tell about it.
I am overwhelmed by the suffering all around me. And very angry. Only an hour ago, Thorn, one of the worst demons to ever walk the earth, and his fae concubine, Regina, were auctioning off theuseof six women. He’d held, starved, and tortured them for days, then branded them with spelled ink so their minds belonged to him and him alone.
A pure-bred incubus, the asshole had fed off their fear. Until Zoe—a daughter of Seraphim—had fused her consciousness to his and dragged him to Hell. Sinclair, her mate, had risked his life—and his soul—to save her.
Across the destroyed space, Sin cradles Zoe in his arms. She passed out moments after I yanked their souls from the Underworld and has yet to stir.
Along another wall, a panther shifter named Dion sobs in a mage’s arms. “I can’t! The mark…you have to remove the mark!”
I stride over to the young mage. The woman looks entirely overwhelmed trying to comfort the hysterical shifter. “Can you not see the rune, magic bearer?”
Dropping to one knee, I tear a strip of cloth from the sleeve of my robes and gently swipe it over Dion’s forehead. The mark fades slightly, but whatever the incubus bastard used to create it is strong, even now that he is dead.
“Water. Or alcohol,” I demand. “Now!”
Dion shudders and a fresh wave of tears tumble down her cheeks. “Who…are…you?” she whispers.
