Asher scrubbed a hand down his face. “Because he killed aNephilim.”
“No, hedidn’t.”
“He murdered his mother, Leigh. A Nephilim. Even if Jarod was inoursystem, he’d have been considered a Fallen, so he would’ve incurred the samefate.”
“Except hedidn’tmurder hismother.”
“What are you talkingabout?”
“I’m talking about the fact that the Ishim who ranked him made a mistake. Jarod Adler didnotkill hismother.”
His eyebrows slanted deeper. “Just because he fed you a differenttale—”
My temper sparked. “Hedidn’t feed me anytales.”
Asher’s pupils dilated against their brilliantbackdrops.
“Jarod’s convinced taking the knife out of his mother’s chest made her bleed out, but it was theplanting it insidethat killed her, and she did that all on her own.” The same storm captured in those canvases back at Jarod’s house raged behind my breastbone. “Are the Ishim truly so dense that they can’t tell the difference between murder andsuccor?”
My breath hitched as though someone had jabbed the letter opener into my wing bones. I shut my eyes, nostrils flaring. I wasn’t surprised that criticizing the Ishim had cost me a feather. I’d been livid before, but now I reached a whole new level ofanger.
I flung my lids wide, cranked my neck back, and yelled into the dark elysian sky. “Punish me all you want for decrying your fallible system, but don’t punish a man—an angel-blood—foryourmistake!”
“Leigh!” Asherthundered.
I gestured to the skylight. “They made a mistake,Seraph.”
“You weren’t there that day,” he saidcoolly.
“Just because I wasn’tthere—”
“Well, I was.” His voice had dropped. “I’m the one who found him with the weapon in hishand.”
I touched my throat, mouth gaping. That’s how Jarod knew him sowell.
“Before becoming an archangel, I was an Ishim. I’m the one who gave him his score, and I marked himafterheconfessed.”
“He was eight, Seraph! He was probably in such shock that he had no clue what he was confessingto.”
Asher tossed his hands in the air, turquoise feathers bristling at his back. “He’s the nephew of Isaac Adler. Isaac Adler was a Triple and died a Triple. Not to mention the boy’s mother was aNephilim.”
“So that makes him automatically evil?” I shot back. “Since when are we judged by ourkin?”
A body materialized in the Channel. And then another. And another. All wore sleeveless belted gray tunics over gray suede leggings, all had metallic wingtips. I’d met Ishim a few times over the years. They’d visit the guilds to explain their jobs. I remembered being dazzled, but that was back when I’d thought their systemfaultless.
One of the Ishim, a woman with wild blonde corkscrews and a pointed chin, came to stand beside Asher. “Seraph?”
“I have the situation under control, Ish Eliza. I do not requireassistance.”
Eliza turned, fanning out her lilac wings as though to shield the archangel from my sight. “Seraph Claire sentus.”
I snorted, which captured the attention of all four angels. Not that Asher had looked away from me. Angel-fire hadn’t shot out of his palms, but I doubted that was for lack of want. He was probably worried of the repercussions of barbecuing aFletching.
Eliza’s gold-tipped feathers swayed as she whirled back around. “Careful, Fletching. You’ve lost many feathersrecently.”
“Are you reminding me or threateningme?”
Her dark eyes narrowed. “We don’tthreaten.”
