There were openings between the shops and restaurants that led to winding streets. I stopped next to one and took in the strip of sky that ran the length of it even though solid rock covered thepassage.
“The sky is an illusion, the stone magicked to mirror the elysian firmament, just like in theguilds.”
Mirror?It hadn’t been a real sky I’d spent my childhood watching? Real stars I’d wished on? “The Ophanim lied to us, Seraph. They told us it wasreal.”
“They told you what they were taught tosay.”
“They are taught to lie? What an example that sets forus.”
He ground his teeth but didn’t dispute my claim. I sensed his patience wearing thin, but I took my time exploring this new world. He’d forced me inside of it, so it was only fair he paid the price of mycuriosity.
There were no street plaques or numbers. How was I supposed to find my way back if Iwandered?
As we passed beneath one of the waterfalls, I reached out and glided my hand through theayim. It slid through my fingers like Jarod’s hair in the mornings when the gel relinquished its hold on his soft locks. “Are there noaddresses?”
“How did you find your way to your dorm room in theguilds?”
I snatched my hand and dried it on my flowy black pants even though my fingers weren’t wet. “With all due respect, Seraph, Elysium isn’t the size of aguild.”
“You have a century to map out the capital and surrounding cities and learn each street by heart.” His boots lifted off the ground and he hovered. “Your floor is the next one up. There are nostairs.”
I sensed he was waiting for me to flap my angel-given gift, but I didn’t. “Will you help me up,Seraph?”
“How will you get downlater?”
“I’ll figure out some way.” I’d probably have no choice but to fly and dreaded the prospect, but I’d cross that bridge when I got toit.
He offered a stiff hand, which I took. My fingers tightened around his as he yanked me up. As soon as we landed, he let go and booked it down a road that was much wider than all the others we’d passed. “Behind each waterfall, you’ll find the arteries of the Lev—our version ofavenues.”
I studied the curtain ofayima moment longer,then the street below—farbelow—before gulping and trotting to catch up with him. Bronze doors and sparkling panes of glass lined the quartz walls, along which crawled vines heavy with blooms that fragranced the glowing whitestreet.
I craned my neck to stare at the angelic trickery of sky, attempting to find fault in the illusion, but there was none, the same way there had been none in theguilds.
Oomph.Distracted by the fake sky, I bumped into Asher’s coppery-turquoise feathers. He gripped my shoulders to keep me from flopping backward, then tucked his wings in, and letgo.
Behind him, the glittery sea foamed and puffed. “Is that also anillusion?”
“No, the sea is real. And so are the Nirvana Mountains in thedistance.”
Tall peaks covered in glow-in-the-dark blooms crenellated the cobalt sky. I remembered Ophan Mira telling us the fluffy flowers were slippery like snow but warm like desertsand.
“Because you’re a Verity, you have a sea view,” heexplained.
“I shouldn’t get special treatment because of myorigin.”
“I didn’t make the rules,Leigh.”
“Perhaps not, but you’re one of the Seven, so you have the power to changethem.”
He narrowed his eyes that glowed like the stars over mystreet.
“Just like you unblocked Jarod’s score.” My fingers curled into my palms. “Just like you signed me off from mymission.”
His eyes hardened along with his voice. “Completing your wings was Jarod’s idea, Leigh. Notmine.”
“Leigh?”
The flow of blood in my veins stilled at the familiar sounding of my name. Slowly I spun, coming face to face with mypast.
