“Echo?” she called out.
“Come, Nia,” her sister’s voice, husky from tears, drifted to them.
Lore summoned a t-shirt and put it on. Barefoot, he followed Nia into the small foyer and through the open door on the left leading into the bedroom. Aethan remained unconscious on themattress. The Oracle tended to him, taping a large bandage over his wound while Michael waited at the opposite side of the bed.
Nia hurried across the huge room to join her sister at the foot of the bed. Lore stopped behind Nia.
“Jade, you have to find a way to heal him, please,” Echo pleaded.
The Oracle glanced at Aethan, her expression somber. “I will do all that I can, but it will take time for him?—”
Michael growled, his attention snapping to the other side of the room.
Lore sensed the intrusion in the wards a second before a glow appeared, and another figure took form.
“How useful,” Michael muttered. “As usual, you show up five minutesafterthe battle’s over.”
Smirking, the tall angel with snow-dipped ebony wings ambled to Michael’s side. He bent and held a palm over Aethan’s chest, his inky hair spilling over his shoulders. “Hmm. His injuries are quite severe. An artery was nicked.”
Echo looked up. “Marmaroth?”
“Indeed, it is I.” He glanced her way. His silver-streaked amethyst eyes glowed, and he smiled.
Of course, Lore knew that name. But he’d never seen the angel in all his millennia in the Celestial Realm. He was the highest of all angels, the one they called the Ultimate Fate.
Marmaroth.
“Why are you here? Aethan is not in a deathly coma like I was!” Echo snapped at the powerful Fate. “You will not take any more promises from us. I haven’t forgotten how you played me to be the Curantii without revealing that I was already pardoned from that ability because Michael had asked you!”
“Ah, you picked that up, did you?” He withdrew his hand from Aethan’s chest and straightened. “But it isyouwho was meant to be the Healer of the Veils. You are a direct descendantof Zarias’ line…” He frowned at the Oracle. “As she said, his wounds will take time to mend, but I sped it up a little.”
Echo glowered.
“Echo?” a gravelly groan.
“Aethan!” Echo shot around the Oracle to grasp Aethan’s hand. “I’m here,” she whispered, tears flowing. “I could feel your warmth, but your soul light was dull within me. I didn’t like it. It was like you weren’t there.”
“I’m always here…” A slow inhale. “For you,me’morae.”
Nia shifted closer to Lore, and he drew her against his chest. He never wanted to experience the emptiness a severed bond left behind, nor what Echo described, ever again.
Marmaroth looked up, met Lore’s stare, and inclined his head. Yes, he already knew who Lore was. A Power falling would make the angelic news wave.
“This is what happens when you play the long game.” The angel smirked, toeing the power-filled clay jar on the floor. “They should know better. What’s the human saying, ‘fek around and find out?—’”
“Fuck,” Aethan grunted, whether in correction or pain, Lore wasn’t sure.
“Yes, that.” Marmaroth angled his head, studying Echo. “Hmm…your work finally bears fruit. We can’t lose that now, can we?” His amethyst eyes gleamed.
“Lose what?” Echo frowned at him.
“You are with young, little Curantii.” The angel’s wings fluttered, sending a slight breeze across the room.
Aethan blinked.
Echo froze. “Wh-what?”
“A babe. Your unborn offspring’s protective shields are quite strong.” His amused stare met Aethan’s. “Anyway, with this news, you’ll be up and about soon enough.” He tracked back to the center of the room. “Michael, this was a long time coming.My knights are in place. It is your move.” His gaze finally settled on Nia. “It’s been a while, Rania Sostratos. Having an angelic mate will serve you well.” In a shimmer of silver, he was gone.
