Show me,I begged.When I wake up, I’ll need to know how to keep from growing weaker. So I can save Righteous.
“I almost wish I could meet him,” Rumple said, his voice filled with mischief. “I thought he was a prat. Sounds like you’ve forgiven him? Very like you, of course. You forgive far too easily.”
He was Ashtad.All along, he was Ashtad, Rumple!
The world around us dissolved into laughter for a split second. “Your little friend? The one who mooned over you for months at that abbey? Who carried in roses to the stable, and built that ridiculous shrine? You know there’s a whole sect that does pilgrimages there. Ashtad haunted the place for years, and the roses bloomed in every season.”
I didn’t know about that,I protested.But yeah, that sounds like him.I smiled.I guess he had a crush.
“He’s not the only one. Now, focus. I don’t have long,” Rumple told me, gripping my shoulders and turning my attention to a lesson.
He showed me how to see the exchange, by pulling energy through me and placing my own mental hands on the ropes of light that he envisioned for me, and wrapping imaginary fingers around them. Then he commanded me to move the power through the ropes. To tighten my grasp to keep the blaze of power from leaving me, and then how to let out the tiniest amounts.
“These are the skills all High Angeli eventually grow into, little one,” he said. “We spoke of this in passing. You already hear thoughts, yes? And you can speak the language of power now?”
It still hurts. And makes me so weak.
He hummed. “Like your muscles on Earth, these powers will grow stronger with use. Rest in between attempts.”
Attempts at what?
“Knowing you, to turn the bathing rooms into chocolate fountains,” he joked. “When you wake up, try not to drain all ofSanctuary like you’re drinking dream fondue.” I smiled, loving the humor in his voice. It made him seem more like the Rumple I’d played with and trusted for so long. “Using a similar sort of energy exchange as I’ll teach you now, you will be able to make yourself invisible to others. Eventually, you’ll be able to slow time.”
You did that on Earth for me, didn’t you?I guessed. He went still.When you told me to protect. That was you.
His words were a thought so quiet, I wasn’t sure I heard them correctly.Ah, to have Her voice mistaken for my own. Mother would laugh.“Never mind that. Time manipulation is the last skill you’ll attempt. Or one of the last. For now, when you need more power, Little Sacrifice, you do it like this,” he said brusquely, and showed me how to pull the cords of energy through me, while I hummed a note I’d never heard before. My throat stretched to fit the tone inside my dream form, and I felt it changing me as I managed to mimic Rumple’s honey-rich voice, but an octave above.
“So beautiful,” Rumple sang into my ear. “So much power. It feels good, doesn’t it? Feels like you should have it.”
It felt more than good, more than sensual. It almost felt forbidden, like I was playing at being the Singer of All Songs.That’s enough, I thought, and realized he’d said the same thing, at the same time, our voices a strange, doubled tone.
Had we been merging? I didn’t ask; I knew. But not a mating merge. This felt more like an apprenticeship. Like he was teaching me this skill for a reason. I wasn’t certain I was brave enough to ask why.
“We’re out of time, little one,” he murmured, pushing me away. “You need to wake. Save your realm. And don’t come back. I can’t… I don’t know if I can let you go again.”
I don’t want you to let me go, I thought, as he disintegrated into particles of shining dust and began to flow away from sight.I will find a way to save you, Rumple. Rafe. I will bring you home.He didn’t answer, but I whispered into the void, “We belong together.”
“Feather!Feather!”
My eyes snapped open, and I saw a face I didn’t expect, or even remember at first. “Percy?” I managed to rasp. He helped me sit. My body felt like an empty pot that had been scoured with steel wool, but Percy’s expression looked like someone had scrubbed all the joy from his soul. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “What happened? How long was I?—”
He held up one hand. “Only a few minutes. You… I could sense something changing in you. Your energy. I don’t know what you did, but the lights in the hall dimmed and they haven’t gone back. It’s colder, too,” he explained, and I realized he was right. He pulled the bag I’d brought down here out and drew out the blanket, wrapping it gently around me. His wings were extended slightly, and I got the feeling he was hiding something from me. “I think… Feather, I think we should go. It’s too late.”
I jumped to my feet, though I felt dizzy for a long moment afterward, and peered over his shoulder. “Righteous!”
Righteous sat propped up in one corner of the room, legs splayed out, his arms folded around his ribs. He was naked, with only his wings to cover him.
And they had been broken. The feathers were shredded, almost, some cut with a blade on the sides of the shafts, with jagged marks on the stems as well, as if someone had tried to saw through them and failed. Every feather was stained with blood, smut, and ichor. His hair fell over his face, but the skin I could see was bruised and battered. A line of dark, shining blood dripped from one ear. I ran to him, pulling the blanket away from my own shoulders and wrapping it around him, covering him. He wasn’t even shivering; his skin so cold it felt like the marble floor beneath us.
“What did they do to you?” I gasped, and he mumbled something through split, swollen lips. His skin was dry, and I hissed at Percy, “Bring me the bag, the water.Now.”
Percy joined me, wiping at the tears that spilled down his face. “They kept me isolated and didn’t feed me much… but this. This is horrific. This is against everything Sanctuary stands for.”
“But I bet it’s legal,” I snapped, grabbing the flask and uncapping it to hold the end to Ry’s mouth. “Just a sip,” I murmured, and his tongue darted out, lapping up the first few drops.
Percy was quiet for a moment. “You’re right. I’m sure they passed whatever law or rule they needed to, when the High Angeli weren’t paying attention.”
“Mikhail was stuck in his Maker Hall, carving himself into pieces to make the new Novices, so I’ll give him a partial pass on this. But I’ll be having strong words with Gavriel when he gets back here,” I vowed. “Some leader of Sanctuary he is.” Righteous mumbled something, and I put one hand behind his head, tilting the flask up for a second so he could take a small swallow.
