“Highly observant of you,” Ireplied.
Normally Caim would have smiled at me before coming up with some wise-ass response. Instead, his face remained oddly distant, and no amusement shone in his eyes. “Bale is onherway.”
Wren’s fingers twitched at her side, and her pacepickedup.
“What is it?” I asked Caim when I sensed the strain behind hiswords.
“Raphael found something while searching for you,” hestated.
“What?”
“I don’t know all the details yet. I was asked to return to you so the others could follow me and find youeasier.”
Raphael could have uncovered any number of things while he’d been searching for us. Most of those options weren’t pleasant. The snapping of a branch caused Wren to pull her knife from where it hung at her side. I surged forward to stand by her side as I searched for any hint of a possibleattack.
I relaxed and smiled when Bale emerged from the forest. Her fire-red hair swayed against her ass as she walked. The reddish hue of her skin resembled that of the humans when they stayed too long inthesun.
“The ouroboros,” Bale said as she sauntered toward us. “I hopeit’sdead.”
“Was there any doubt I wouldn’t destroy it?” Iinquired.
Bale grinned, Wren scowled as she returned her knife to its holster, and Caim chuckled. I glanced at the angel, having no idea what he found so amusing, but he’d forgone his seriousness of only seconds before to smile back at me. He gave a pointed look between Bale and Wren and wiggled hiseyebrows.
“There was some doubt,” Bale replied, drawing my attention away from the infuriating angel. “After all, you’re not as skilled at hunting and killingasme.”
“Everyone else would disagree with you,” I assured her, “especiallytheouro.”
Bale studied her nails as if she were bored. “I will give you that it was probably adifficultkill.”
“I have to add that I was unable to see when I sliced itsheadoff.”
Bale dropped her hand, but amusement shone in her lime-colored eyes when they met mine. “Bragging isunattractive.”
“Then you must be the ugliest woman alive!” I retorted, and shelaughed.
In truth, Bale rarely bragged about her kills and was one of the most stunning women I’d ever seen. Her smile revealed her teeth, but unlike when she was pissed, her razor-sharp fangs weren’t visible. At nine hundred and eighty-six, she was younger than me, but almost every bit aslethal.
Her eyes flicked toward Wren before returning to me. Then, her gaze shot back to Wren and settled on my bite marks. Wren’s hand went to the handle of her knife again, but Bale’s attention had already returnedtome.
Questions swam within Bale’s eyes, but I gave a subtle shake of my head. I wouldn’t discuss Wren with anyone else. Wren continued to grip her weapon as she focused on the woods. Caim made some strange laughing cough into his hand, before clasping his hands behind his back and assuming an innocentdemeanor.
“Where are the others?” Wren asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice as she searched theforest.
“They’re coming,” Baleanswered.
“What did Raphael discover?” IaskedBale.
“He tells me it’s nothing good, but he won’t reveal anything until we’re all together. He’s on his wayherenow.”
As soon as she said it, Raphael swooped out of the trees to land five feet away from Caim. Whereas Caim was all that was dark, Raphael was all that was light. His white-blond hair fell to his broad shoulders, and like the rest of the golden angels, his eyes were a violet color. After they were thrown from Heaven, all of the fallen angels’ eyes had turnedblack.
When he’d first come to Earth, Raphael had worn a white robe, but he’d discarded it after a month. Since then, he’d taken to wearing the same clothes as the rest of us. His plate of silver armor still adorned his chest over top of his brown shirt. A broadsword hung at his side; the azure jewel in its hilt reflected the sun across the forest floor and caused a blue light to flash over the rotting leaves. Taller than me, Raphael stood around six-seven.
No emotion showed in Raphael’s eyes as he surveyed Wren and then me. “It is good to see you are both well,” he said in hisclippedway.
When he stretched out his wings to knock the gold dust from them, he revealed the circle of golden feathers inside his right wing. The golden feathers created a pattern that resembled a sun symbol. I had no idea why he had that pattern; perhaps all the Heavenly angels were marked in such a way, but I’d never asked. I didn’t care to know any more about the angels than Ialreadydid.
Raphael shook off the rest of the dust and closed his wings against his back. No spikes adorned his wings, which were rounded instead of pointed like those of the fallenangels.
