“I trustyou. I don’t trust myself. I thought Hannah and Isaac wanted to help people. I thought I’d be safe with them. I let them put thatthingin me. I knew they had witches working with them, but I took them at their word when they said they were human. My whisper knew. She tried to warn me, I think. But I didn’t listen. I didn’t know how.”
“You are not to blame,deliciae. The woman is part fae—or vampire, I suppose, as they can also enthrall their prey.”
Willow cringes. “Prey. God, that’s all I was to them. Prey. A few pretty words, and I was theirs. I’ll alwaysbetheirs.”
“You belong to no one,” I growl. The room—the entire hotel—vibrates with a wave of my angelic power. If I am not careful, I will bring the old building down around us. The scant two hours of sleep I managed in the uncomfortable chair were enough to strengthen me, but my control is hanging on by a thread.
Before I can—again—beg Willow to tell me about the Blade, my phone buzzes on the dresser.
Killian: You bloody angelic twat. Maddox and I should be packing for Tahiti. Instead, we’re going to Newfoundland to track down a Valkyrie vampire. Get yourself and your witch to the Bureau. Sin and Zoe will be waiting.
“Well, fuck.”
FIFTEEN
Willow
Gabriel tucks the phone back into his pocket. “I need to know about your whisper. Right now.”
I shake my head. “No. I can’t. You’re in enough danger as it is.”
Shoulders straight, he arches a single brow. “I am an archangel. One of the ancients. And immortal. I do not care about danger. I care about you.”
Oh.
“I could run…”
The other brow lifts. “And I would follow. I can find you anywhere, Willow.”
I snort. “Becausethat’snot creepy. Pro tip? Stalking isn’t sexy.”
“Who said anything about stalking? Archangels can locate any soul they choose.” He steps closer and cups my cheek. “I know you,deliciae. I have tasted you and, for the first time in my very long existence, I wish I were not…what I am. I wish I could give you all of me.”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I sink down onto the edge of the bed. “I don’t know a lot about her—my whisper. She’s a part of me. Sort of. But she has her own free will. I can’t control her. When she shows up, when she doesn’t.”
How much do I tell him? His friends work for the paranormal equivalent of the FBI. If they search for “whisper” and “blade,” will they find out who I am? What I can do?
Gabriel sits close enough our thighs touch. His warmth seeps into me. “Where does she come from?”
“There’s a vault under St. Mary’s. It’s warded—or so Hannah said—and it’s been sealed off since the fire in 1906. I took a couple of students on a tour of the cathedral a month ago, and when the priest took us into the basement, I passed out. That night, I saw my whisper for the first time.”
“Was she trapped there?” He sweeps his gaze around the room, but we’re alone. I haven’t seen my whisper since we left Sinclair and Zoe’s building, and I’m starting to worry about her.
“I don’t know.” The realization brings tears to my eyes. She’s been my semi-constant companion for a month now. And yet, she’s still a complete mystery to me. “I think…maybe she was ‘born’ when I got close enough to the grimoire inside the vault for it to sense me.”
His eyes narrow, turning molten with flecks of gold churning in the amber depths. “A booksensedyou? That is not how books work. I may not understand humanity, but I am well-versed in books. Who do you think carved the stones to give to Moses?”
“Y-you…the…T-ten Command-m-ments?” I sputter. “Holy shit.”
“Holy, yes. Shit, no. Though I suppose many people have called them that over the centuries.” Gabriel stares up at the ceiling for a long moment. “The magic contained in the grimoire…is that what those two assholes want?”
I chew on my lower lip—a nervous habit I thought I’d broken back in college. If he learns the rest, will he try to take the Blade from me? Or worse? Stop me from destroying it?
“Willow.” The gentle word is almost too much. But when he turns, cups my cheeks in his hands, and brushes a kiss to my lips, I break.
“The magic isn’t in the grimoire anymore. It’s in me. There’s an ancient blade out there somewhere that only I can wield. It…I don’t even know what all it can do, but I think it can transfer power from one person to another. They told me they wanted to use it to cure disease. To siphon off a little of a shifter’s immunity, for example, and transfer it to a human with cancer. But that was all a lie. They want a weapon, and they think…if they havemeand the Blade…they’ll be unstoppable.”
I letthe hot water wash over my body. After my admission, I spent a full ten minutes sobbing in Gabriel’s arms. When I’d run out of tears, he asked for my trust, and dammit. I agreed.
