“Is he bringing the Abyss with him?” Perception asked.
“No,” I answered as I ran, my wings useless, as they had been since Feather left. I had only minutes to reach the place where Seraphiel was breaking the final strands of what had once been an infinitely complex and powerful web of Celestial power. A web he himself had spun when he built the realm. “He’s coming alone. And he’s coming for me.”
I had known, after I’d heard Feather’s wild tale of her “Rumple,” that he was Seraphiel. She’d told me he was pissed.
She was right. I could feel his rage like a burning brand sweeping through the fiery material of Sanctuary’s shell, breaking through and cauterizing the breach. He was coming to kill me.
Please, Singer of All Songs, let him still be the Rafe I knew and loved. Let him remember his love for Sanctuary. Spare them.
Arabella sent a thought into my head.I must go to Revel.
Revel?She didn’t answer, but I saw the Great Gate in her thoughts. “Merry? Go to the youngest Protectors and keep them calm.” I turned to Perception, handing him my soul knife. “Take Arabella to the gate and guard her,” I instructed. He began to protest, but I cut him off. “I still have my sword. I trust you to use the knife wisely. If I fall, send her through. Keep her safe.”
I spun on my heel, the pain in my very bones growing with every step I took from Arabella, who bore the only piece of my soulmate that was left in this realm. The silver feather that belonged to my adored nemesis.
My beautiful, lost Feather.
Sanctuary had three levels.The topmost was filled with classrooms and rooms for the Guides. The main floor held the rest of the accommodations, the assorted Halls, and central purification and dining areas. The lower level—a basement built long ago to muffle the psychic noises of newly mated couples expressing their love—was where I would find Rafe.
I slowed as I descended the stairs, and whispered the word of power that would open the door to that level. I closed it behind me, but didn’t bother locking it. Rafe was the one who had established the angelic locks, and I had never been as strong as him. Now I had no idea what the limits to his power were. After thousands of years of living in the Abyss, he’d grown powerful enough to literally remake Feather from her scattered atoms. To tear his way through to this realm.
Who could stand against the strongest of the Celestials, driven mad after being trapped for countless years, armed with all the power he’d amassed in the Abyss added to his own? His strength was immeasurable.
My footsteps were hushed as I slipped down the main hallway. But Rafe wasn’t trying to be quiet. I could hear him moving, opening doors, dragging something across the floor. As I rounded the corner, I saw him.
I was not prepared for what he had become, or what he was doing.
This was not the Rafe I’d known.
He was taller and broader, though those were the least significant changes. He stood with his back to me, and I held my breath as I took in what had become of Seraphiel, the First of the Celestial Children. The most beautiful being in any realm, who’d shone with a light he’d had to consciously suppress, or risk blinding those around him with his glory. He’d had a voice to match, and a spirit filled with joy and mischief, boundless compassion, and endless patience.
Now, he was encrusted with scabrous armor made of dark gray smut. The colors moved from deep to lighter gray between blinks, and I recognized the shapes as faces in his skin, screaming figures crying out for help. His wings, once an almost transparent crystal, sweeping to the ground, were blackened and scaled with corruption. Most shocking was the narrow, whiplike tail that thrashed behind him, and the spiraling, matte horns that rose over his dark hair, almost to the ceiling. He wore no clothing, but the smut that covered his original form was thicker than any robe.
He was utterly changed. And his soul obviously matched his external appearance. He had one of the Guides, Prosperity, in his grip and was squeezing them until their eyes bulged. As I stepped forward, the Guide’s flesh collapsed under Rafe’s grip, their organs ruptured.
“Rafe,” I rasped, as the Guide twitched and swung in his relentless grasp. “Stop.” He didn’t turn. He’d known I was watching.
“Why should I?” My heart leaped at his voice. That, at least, was unchanged. It still rang with holy fire and Celestial light. “This one tormented my little sacrifice. They liked to embarrass and humiliate her. They thought she should have stayed dead. Stayed in the Abyss.” On the last word, he squeezed Prosperity until their head rolled to one side, blood and ichor streaming from their eyes, mouth, and nose. Rafe threw the Guide’s corpse to the side, and glanced over one shoulder, almost but not quite making eye contact. Was he ashamed? It seemed unlikely.
I peered down the dimly lit hallway, and saw a trail of equally battered Guides’ bodies. “Did you have to kill them?”
“Have to?” He tsked, turning to face me. I fought to control my reaction at seeing my friend’s features so altered. Even his eyes had changed. They had once been gold and silver, shining with bright flames and sparks. Now they were filled withturbulent, dark fire and flickers of red, whirling as if galaxies burned in them.
For a moment, I almost smiled. They looked like Precious’s eyes.
Rafe backed up a step, as if I’d startled him. “You’re happy?” He let out a hiss and began pacing toward me. “You abused and scorned my little one, my love. The one who you were given to protect,” he snarled, circling around me. His eyes cut to the Celestial blade in my hand. I let it drop to the floor, knowing I would never be able to fight him. I could feel his power, like a hurricane. It was foolish to even try.
I had to hope he would let me live long enough to explain.
“You cut her. You allowed these worms to strip her of dignity and worth. Youlost her!”
I flinched. “I did. I failed her. And I failed you. I deserve any punishment you choose for me, Rafe. But I’m begging you, don’t set the Abyss loose on this realm. There are still souls here that?—”
The tail whipped around my neck, nearly crushing my windpipe. “None of them fought for her.Noneof them!” He turned me like a doll, and I allowed it. “All of you are as corrupt as the foulest souls in the Abyss. I suffered because of them, because of you.Foryou.” His voice dropped. “How could you not see who she was to you? How could you allow her to be lost, hurt, for so long?”
I had just closed my eyes, sending a thought to him of agreement, when a muffled groan came from one of the bodies in the hallway. Rafe dropped me onto the floor, and when I regained my feet, he had the Guide in his hands.
“This one,” he spat, shaking the Head Guide like a wolf with a rat. “This one was the worst. Like you, they patted themself on the back, sure they were doing what was right. What had always been done. Except you didn’t really do that, did you, Tradition?You picked and chose, and relished the power of deciding which old laws would be followed, and when.” The Guide moaned. Seraphiel moaned back, mocking them. “I recognize you. Do you recognize me?”
