Flames curled through the torn flesh as Luc attempted to force the damage back together, piece by shredded piece. The resistance to his efforts concerned him. Beneath his grip, Nadia convulsed, and silver-violet light unexpectedly burst from beneath her skin, colliding violently with his angel fire. The ground trembled beneath the pressure of opposing energies twisting together, and dust fell from above.
Crimson and gold threaded through her light until Luc could no longer tell where his power ended, and hers began.
Her magic wrapped around his flames with incredible accuracy, cooling as he restored. Tendons rewove beneath their combined force. A mere instant later, his fire sputtered, then died out. Miraculously, her healing still progressed. Blood flowed backward across her palm while the wound sealed itself behind the retreating blade as Thamiel slid the knife free.
Then her hand was whole once more.
Nadia sagged against him, trembling, completely whole except for the faint silver-violet mark glowing under her flesh.
Luc stared, uneasy, until it vanished altogether.
An hour ago, she had minimal training and was unaware of the skills she possessed. Yet through the course of the healing, she’d snuffed out his fire and repaired the remaining damage with her own energy. What did that make her but more powerful than he?
The balance had shifted dramatically.
* * *
Nadia didn’t like the way Luc suddenly viewed her, as if she were a novelty circus act he was wary of.
“Luc?”
He shook his head, exchanged a speaking glance with Thamiel, then accepted the knife from the daemon. With a snap of his fingers, the blood sizzled and vanished into a puff of smoke.
“I can’t enter the room, but you’ll want to remove all traces of your blood from the altar and the ground, pet,” he advised. “It wouldn’t do for someone to have a single drop.”
“I’m not sure how to burn it as you did.”
“Simply picture it in your mind and touch your finger to it.”
She retraced her steps to the book, locating droplets along the way. Considering she was powerless when she walked into the chamber, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps something had awakened when The Liber Inchoatus had. It would definitely explain the insane light show.
Sal was dead by her hand.
How did she feel about taking a life?
She couldn’t quite say. How was one supposed to reconcile their actions, other than console themselves that they’d saved Luc from certain harm?
“You aren’t to mourn his loss, Nadia,” he said roughly. “He wasn’t human, and he tried to murder both of us. He’d have gone after Thamiel had he succeeded.”
“I know.”
Running her fingertips across the leather to the glowing section of the design, she shook her head. Her hunt for this book had taken forever, and if Sal was to be believed, it required three others to help decode its contents.
Should she tell Lucifer?
“You already did,” he replied, having read the question.
“I don’t think I’m going to get used to this mental connection anytime soon.” Nadia faced his direction but didn’t move from her spot.
“Did Salvokos mention who the others were?” Luc asked. He appeared solemn and distracted rather than curious.
“He called them by what they were, rather than by name. He didn’t have a clue who they could be. Or if he did, he held off saying.”
When she would’ve revealed what she knew, he stopped her with a slight head shake.
“Thamiel, we have to protect this location. Contact Kaldria and tell her to summon the Mages to the nearest safehouse. We need a surefire spell to cloak this chamber.”
“It shall be done, my liege.”
