Her own pain diminished as darkness embedded with pinpricks of light consumed her mind. The universe sped by. An explosion of the galaxy flooded her in a riot of colors, and she moaned, feeling as if her skull were compressing with dead weight, her agony amping up.
Something warm dripped from her nose, over her mouth, the smell of iron so strong.
With a gasp, she reared back, struggling to tighten her mental shields before her mind exploded?—
Shit! I absorbed the angel’s powers!
Before she fainted from the influx, because this was far worse than Lore’s ever was, she crawled back to him.
Please, please, let this work!
Back at his side, she held her palms an inch above Lore’s chest, and with everything in her, she set free the angel’s powers.
In a glimmering wave, they slid from her into him?—
No,throughhim, seeping into the ground…
His body shuddered.
“No!” She jerked her hands away, and the outpouring of power stopped. He remained transparent, not shifting back to corporeal. “You have to hang on, my love. Don’t leave me, please…”
Michael appeared at her side. “What happened? I saw an angel’s soul light depart?”
So, she killed the bastard?Good!
“One t-tried to k-kill Lore…” Her breathing stuttered, as if a knife was embedded in her ribs. “He-he said he h-had to carry out his o-orders.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed. His gaze skimmed her face. Then he was in front of her, crouching. “Did he do this to you?”
She nodded.
His jaw hardened. “Allow me.”
He touched her side, and warm heat flowed through her. The blistering agony from her ribs to her head eased. She inhaled sharply, filling her burning lungs with oxygen.
“Thank you,” she whispered, wiping her tear-wet cheeks with her hand. Then she picked up the hem of her sweater and cleaned off the blood from her face.
Michael rose.
“I-I heard a noise and stepped outside for a second,” she said. “When I returned, the angel was kneeling next to Lore with a blade in his hand.” Her teeth clenched, just recalling that. “I tried to push him away, but he threw me against the wall. He wanted me to watch him kill Lore before heeliminated the hard-to-kill descendant of Zarias’line—his words.”
“How did he die?”
Her rage returned tenfold. “He was about to kill Lore. I shoved him, picked up his fallen dagger, and stabbed him!” She thrust the angelic weapon at Michael. “And I would again for what he was about to do. Where were you?”
Frowning, he stared at the dagger. “Up on the mountain. I had to summon?—”
“Me.” A low, melodious voice murmured.
The cave brightened as a tall form appeared.
The woman seemed so regal and otherworldly, Nia felt as if she should bow or something. Instead, she knelt there frozen, staring wide-eyed at the vision.
Gilded hair flowed down to the woman’s knees like the shimmering rays of the sun, framing an incredibly beautiful face of rich bronze. Green swirling tattoos spread from her brow down to her cheeks—the color the same hue as her eyes, the epitome of spring, bright and green, as if giving life to all that met her gaze.
“Who are you?” Nia whispered.
“I am Gaia.”
