Rafe cursed again, violently, as he scooped up the Celestial sword and ran for the stairs, with me a few feet behind. “Yes, what’s about to be inside the Maker Hall should concern you.”
I understood immediately. “The Well of Souls. The Abyss is breaking in.”
“I managed to get a feather through. They may have discovered the same flaw.”
“How?”
He spat a word of power at the door, and it opened immediately. “They’ve been working on finding a way in here for a long time. Revel’s been holding fast, even with no help from you.”
For a moment, I wondered what he meant about Revel. I knew from my reading of ancient texts that he’d had a brother with that name, but not where he was now. The Abyss, perhaps?“Tell me how bad I was at your job later,” I answered angrily, though a part of me was rejoicing. Rafe was here. He would fix things. He always had.
Still, he was so changed. Could I trust him?
“Did you help the Abyss find the way in?”
“Through the Well?” He sneered at me, extending his wings again. I heard screams in distant hallways. “I didn’t stop them. To be honest, when I felt her die—or leave—I didn’t think. I just wanted to get to you. Get to the ones who’d hurt my little one. I knew the shadows would find a way eventually, though I thought they’d take longer to get through.” Something in my gaze must have revealed my mistrust because he sighed heavily. “Gav, I knew about the weak spot under the cells. I’ve hidden it from the shadows, distracted them from it, for millennia. You can’t think I wanted them to devour Sanctuary, can you?”
“Not with Feather inside,” I replied softly. “Go, and I’ll follow on foot. The Hall will open for you. You made it, after all.”
He hovered in midair. “Where the fuck are you going?” I extended my wings, and saw his features distort for a split second, as mine must have when I first saw him. “You can’t fly? What happened to your wings, Gav?”
I shrugged. “I had to make a few sacrifices.”
“For whom?”
I smiled, remembering. “For Feather’s baby.”
“Herwhat?” His voice, the most perfect natural instrument the Maker of All had ever created, broke like a teenage boy’s.
“Hers and Mikhail’s,” I said, truth ringing in my words. He grabbed my shoulders and plunged his mind into mine, raging through my memories like a hurricane. This time, I let him. He was moving so fast it was excruciating, almost as painful as the loss of my soulmate. But also glorious, since I was able to see Feather again with every memory he exposed.
It was almost like having her here with me.
When he reached the moment I discovered Precious on Earth, and then when I learned of her parentage, I almost laughed at his dumbfounded expression.
Almost. The hallway was now filled with the sound of a million angry hornets, and Rafe took off. I ran behind, sending a quick mental message to Perception about what was happening in the Maker Hall.Is Arabella safe?I thought.
Perception’s thoughts showed me that she was. In fact, the power he’d seen her use to communicate with the gate was terrifyingly strong.Should I leave her and help the others?
I vacillated for a moment, but the desperate cries of Protectors drew my attention. They needed leadership, and Perception was the only other High Angelus in residence.Yes, go. I’ll make sure Arabella’s safe. You protect the younger ones, then take a group you trust and do a complete inspection of the realm, room by room, if necessary. Look for weak spots. The Abyss is too close.
Then I ran as fast as I could up the stairs to the main level of the realm and toward the Maker Hall, wondering what Rafe and I would find in our realm’s most sacred space.
Chapter 5
Mikhail
In my long life, I had never once thought arriving at my spiritual home would elicit panic, rage, and fear.
Yet here I was, holding my unconscious soulmate in my arms, driven to all of those emotions. “What do you mean she’s dying? Coming here was meant tosaveher. This realm is a place without death, the Great Maker’s home. How can anyone die when they’re safe in Her arms?”
Imriel’s voice was filled with sadness. “Mikhail the Great-Souled, you are correct. There is no death here. But that is because there is no corruption. No part of the Abyss or any other realm finds its way through our gate.” His eyes clouded for a moment, and I knew he was thinking of Precious. He blinked, and went on, “Your mate carries within her very being…”
His voice trailed off, and Righteous finished for him, “She’s made of the same material as any soulmate.” The scent of old roses sprang up in the air as he crushed the small bag of petals in one fist. “She was drawn out of the Well with Gavriel’s mate. But when she was remade in the Abyss by Seraphiel, some of his material… made its way into her. She told me. She knew that.”
“Wrong. She doesn’t know her own origins, and neither do you,” Imriel corrected, though we had all heard the sour ring of untruth in Righteous’s assertion. “She is made of much more. She carries all the realms inside her.”
The enclosed room we had been brought to shone with a healing blue light. I could feel it acting upon my scars as it landed on me, trying to fill in the divots of flesh. After a few millennia here, it might even work. But not if she was gone. I would follow her into unmaking gladly if it meant not having to live another moment without her.
