Page 2 of Fated Angel

Gabby clamps her mouth shut, frustrated that he’s right.

Frustrated that it means…

“We have no choice,” Colt says, his voice heavy. “We have to use the obsidian.”

Gabby takes his hand, needing his strength to anchor as a tidal wave hits her. She’s not sure if it’s adrenaline. Denial. Or inevitability.

“You’ll need to be careful,” her father says. “The obsidian is dangerous.”

She shoots him a glare. “No way.”

To her surprise, her father’s lips twitch. “I’m glad to see you appreciate the seriousness of the situation.”

Gabby turns to Colt, her mind trying to process what it would really rather not. “The obsidian’s in seven pieces. And the location of each shard is outlined in the parchments we retrieved back when this all started.”

He nods. “The riddles need to be deciphered. Then we’ll have to retrieve each one.”

A frown pulls down Gabby’s brows. That will all take time. And as her father pointed out, time is in short supply.

The door opens and Gabby’s aunt, Sierra, rushes in. “Gabby!” She comes to a stop. “Oh, hello Gabriel.”

The faint echo of ice in the welcome is undeniable. Sierra’s just as protective of Gabby’s mother as she is. And Gabriel left her to raise Gabby alone.

The Archangel nods. “Sierra. How is…your sister?”

Gabby grits her teeth. Her father can’t even say her mother’s name.

“Shell’s going well,” Sierra says, her voice clipped. “She’s stronger than you think.”

“It’s her strength that drew me to her,” he says quietly, making Gabby’s stomach tighten.

Gabriel almost sounds…wistful.

Gabby shakes her head—she doesn’t have the headspace for this right now—then turns to her aunt. “Is everything okay?” she asks, tensing even further. People rushing into a room is generally a cause for concern in her world.

But Sierra smiles. “Good news.” Her smile grows wider. “We’ve deciphered the parchments. Which means we have the general location of the seven pieces of the obsidian.”

Gabby blinks. Colt goes still.

Her father arches an arrogant brow. “Fate has once again smiled down upon you.”

It would appear so.

Sierra clears her throat. “There’s a catch.”

“Of course there is,” Gabby mutters.

“We believe the Cult have accessed the information. Blaise detected a watcher spell right after we deciphered the parchments. It was faint, but there. Someone was using magic to look over our shoulders.”

Colt mutters a word Gabby’s never heard before, but can easily imagine its meaning. “We can’t afford to let them get their hands on any of the seven pieces.”

If the Cult gets hold of even a shard of Darkness… The thought makes Gabby shudder. “We need to get to them before they do.”

“Except we don’t know which one they’ll go after first,” Sierra points out.

Gabby repeats the curse word Colt just used, making his eyebrows shoot up. “Aramaic?” she asks.

His eyes twinkle. “Farsi.”

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