“You look, but you don’t see.” Azrael points to the center of the building.
Blood red wings beat the air. The woman glows with power. The ache in my chest turns to searing pain. At her feet, another human screams. She clutchesmy body,sobbing, my name on her lips. My heart rends in two.
“Willow…”
In an instant, all my memories return. Holding her that first night in the cathedral. Marveling at her beauty. Breathing in her scent. Saving her from the vampire-fae abomination. Showingher my damaged wings. Feeling her fingers sift through the devastation with such tender care…
Making love to her.
Losing her.
Hannah grabs Willow by the throat and throws her against the wall. My love tries to get to her hands and knees, but collapses with a whimper.
“Yourfriendscannot save you, Whisper Keeper.” Hannah advances on Willow, her wings outstretched, fangs glistening. “Nor will they ever find you again. Calista, get the Blade. Now!”
The witch turns, sending a burst of magic at Sinclair. His wings simply…stop…and he plummets to the ground. Bones break. One of his wing bends at an unnatural angle, and he screams in pain. Calista flicks her wrist, sending the Blade flying across the building until it comes to rest in front of Willow.
“Pick. It. Up,” Hannah commands.
Willow’s strength—her will to resist—is almost gone. “Please, no. I killed the man I love. You can’t take more from me!”
“I can take whatever I want. You aremine,Whisper Keeper. Mine to command. Mine to control.” Hannah disappears, and an instant later, has Kàra held fast in her arms. “You will take this one’s power next. She is the strongest of them. Ancient. A goddess among Valkyrie, I believe.”
Willow screams as her fingers wrap around the hilt of the Blade. “Kàra…Fight her. Please!”
I turn to Azrael. “Why are you torturing me with this? Idied, brother. Is that not enough?”
The Angel of Death holds up his hand. Time stops. There is no sound, no movement. I sweep my gaze around the building. Killian is frozen in mid-spell. The magic arcs from his hand in a magnificent burst of blue light. Maddox dives toward his brother. Calista sends a steel rod hurtling for Ewan, while Mist is pinned by a pile of rubble.
“You are hovering on the precipice of death, Gabriel. In seconds, I will have no choice but to release your soul to the afterlife.”
“Then do it!” I grab him by his lapels, ready to beg if I must. “I cannot watch the woman I love lose anything more.”
“Then don’t,” he says, a hint of a smile playing over his lips. “Get down there and save her.”
“My heart no longer beats. My soul ishere, tethered to the Angel of Death until he releases it to the afterlife. I cannot simply choose to live any more than you can choose to let me. Seraphiel would take your wings.”
Azrael scoffs. “You are an archangel. One of the chosen. A celestial. You have the power to weave the very fabric of the universe. Surely your heart is not so difficult to mend. And Seraphiel is about to learn the true meaning of the phrase ‘fuck around and find out.’ Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
I press my hands to my chest. The wound is so deep. Can I really do this? Willow’s cry echoes in my mind.
“I…I love you, Gabriel. I’m sorry!”
Azrael rests his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve given you all the time I can, brother. Are you ready to come with me or not?”
Shaking off his hold, I draw up to my full height. “Az? I love Willow with all that I am. I’m going to live. You can fuck right off.”
My wings unfold, beating with a purpose I have never felt in all of my existence. I rise into the air, leaving Azrael standing alone. He nods once, and as my consciousness—my soul—dives for my body, all Hell breaks loose.
THIRTY-ONE
Willow
My world is crashing down all around me. Two of Hannah’s goons are dead—shot, I think—but Isaac is still firing a very large gun through a gap in the ruined wall of the building.
Ewan screams. Kàra struggles, but she’s as weak as a child against the angelic strength Hannah has running through her body.
“You hold the true power.”
