I reached down and let my mind touch the cords of energy that I’d started learning how to manipulate the last time I was here—and dropped them as fast as I could, as the realm leaped to meet me, clawing at the wells of power I carried. Desperate for my support. Sanctuary was screaming. Dying.
“They’re killing the realm,” I whispered, dizziness assaulting me. “They’re eating its power.”
“Yes, Rafe showed me a moment ago what’s happening down there. He made a rift to get inside, and hoped they wouldn’t find it. At least not so soon.”
He’d reached out to Gavriel, but not me? A new pain, entirely centered in my heart, stabbed me.Rumple?I sent a thought toward the basement… and hit what felt like an imaginary brick wall. Rumple was locking me out of his thoughts?
He’d never done that before. “Is he angry with me?”
Gavriel shook his head. “Not at all. I told him you’d arrived, but he already knew. He’d come to greet you, but he’s completely focused on holding the rift, re-weaving the strands.”
My mind spun. How had he torn through Sanctuary like that? Maybe the more important question was, “Why did he come inside?”
Gavriel barked a short, bitter laugh. “To kill me. He thought you were dead. When you left for the Celestial Realm, he felt it.”
“How? How did he feel me go?” I looked down at the swirling gray under my skin. “This?”
Gavriel sighed and lifted one hand, laying it on my chest. His skin was warm, his fingers calloused from centuries of holding a blade. A thought flickered in my mind. His fingers should be calloused from playing a harp, or a guitar. I’d heard him sing. He was a musician.
His lips turned up; he’d caught that thought.I was a musician, until I lost heart. Lost hope. I never wanted this, Feather. But I should have done more when I held the position as leader. I should have done better by the realm. And much better by you.I swallowed hard at the flood of emotion, his regret, that washed through me.Rafe is tethered to this feather. My feather, inside you. He has been since before you were born.
I don’t understand.He pulled his hand away and shuttered his thoughts.Are you locking me out, too?
Our eyes met, and he reluctantly opened his thoughts to me. His soul was almost as hungry as the Abyss, but filled with remorse and anguish. Oceans of shame and regret, and yawning canyons of heartbreak. I gasped at the pain, and he closed his thoughts off with an apology. “I don’t want to burden you while we’re fighting. Rafe feels the same… and he needs to do his work with no distraction. We’ll share all you want to know as soon as you’re—we’resafe.”
He turned to the gathered crowd, projecting his voice. “I need you all to go to The Merge. Gather everyone you can. Fill that space with music, and wait for news.”
“News?” one of the Guides squawked. “We’re just going to… sit there?” I almost rolled my eyes. Sitting was what the Guides had been doing pretty much twenty-four-seven for years. They ought to be experts at bench warming.
“You have two High Angeli and two Celestial Messengers here, Guide. Use your brain. I’ll send word to Feather.”
The Guide tilted their nose high enough that I could see up their nostrils. “Why her?”
Arabella stepped forward, fists raised. Gavriel’s face turned into something from a horror movie. “Watch your tone when you speak about the leader of Sanctuary, Guide. Respect her, or leave the realm.” Everyone’s eyes landed on me, some filled with shock, some abject horror, and a few with amusement.
My voice sounded like I’d been sucking helium for days when I asked, “The leader ofwhat now?”
Chapter 13
Feather
No one answered until Gavriel said, very clearly, “You are the true leader of Sanctuary, Feather, the Beautiful Sacrifice, Beloved of M?—”
“Stop talking!” My voice cracked on the words. “That can’t be. You’re joking.” Gav was the leader; everyone knew that.
Hope muffled a laugh behind her hand. Perception’s eyes sparkled, and he nodded. Truth sniggered. “True in every detail, Feather.”
The Guide who’d been speaking used so many curse words that I could see the smut freckles appear on their neck. Arabella made a sound that could only be described as a growl as she advanced on the Guide. “Let’s take this one to Seraphiel and let him stuff them in the rift. They need a lesson in sacrifice.”
I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “Later. What do you mean, I’m the leader? That can’t be—” I looked at Truth, who shrugged. “Thatshouldn’tbe…”
Gavriel smiled then, and I remembered why I had always included him in my fantasies, even when he was being a total jerk. That smile could power a thousand rechargeable vibrators. “You took my title when you left here, little thief. It’s your job now.”
“What?” He sent me a mental image of me leaving, and the little hiccup I’d had when I said my name.Shizz.He was right. I’d used my Maker powers to rob him of his authority.
I was the worst.
He held the hand that he’d touched me with up to his lips for a moment, and his nostrils flared. Was he sniffing his fingers?What the heck?
