Page 76 of Light Magic

“It’s okay. That will give us more time to train.”

“True.”

I frowned, thinking. “So, after my last mission, Rhodes came back saying I was a murderer and had allied myself to a demon. And, as far as we know, he started working on the sidelines to reform our society.”

She shook her head. “I would guess it takes a lot of time and patience to change someone’s mind, and if he was trying to gather an army, it was probably even harder.”

“But to what end? Kill Adona? Oh light, Adona probably thinks I’m a murderer.”

“Adona always told us to bring you to her,” Ylena said. “Like me, she thought his story was missing important pieces.” She turned her torso to me. “You said before that Rhodes was after something you had, not you. What do you mean?”

Why was I hesitating? This was Ylena, for light’s sake. “The Scarlet Hex Dagger. Apparently, the entire mission was to secure the dagger from Molraz. I took the dagger and hid it.”

“The Scarlet Hex Dagger? Why would he want it? Do you know what it does?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea, but if the dagger is important to his plans, it must be powerful.”

“That makes sense.” Ylena sighed. “And you have the dagger now?”

“It’s hidden.”

“Of course. Maybe we should study it and find out what it does. It could come in handy.”

I frowned. I didn’t like the idea, but maybe we should consider that. “First, we should focus on my training and a plan where we don’t use objects we don’t know.” She smiled at me. “What?”

“You’ve grown these past few years,” she said, her tone dreamy. “You’ve become a strong woman.”

“Emphasis on woman like a human.” I flinched at my words. There were times when I didn’t think I would ever be anything else again.

I took a deep breath. That was in the past. I was a full angel again, a cherubin, and with Ylena by my side, I now didn’t need to sneak into Elysium to find out what was happening.

With her insight, the handful of other angels who had come with her, and maybe some of my friends, we could stop Rhodes before he made a bigger mess of everything.

My heart squeezed thinking of Adona.

Thankfully, it sounded like she was safe and unaware of what was happening. I could only hope it stayed that way.

“Nonsense,” Ylena said. “You’re one of the strongest angels I know. I was always sure you would become an archangel someday.”

A sliver of pride bloomed in my chest. “Thanks.”

“We’ll fix this, and everything will be right again.” Ylena sounded so sure. “We’ll get Rhodes and his—” She pressed her lips tight and shook her head. “I still can’t believe this is happening. Rhodes is breaking my heart. I never expected this from him.”

I knew what she meant. I had never been close to Rhodes, or to any higher-ranked angel, only Ylena because she was my mentor, but I certainly had thought of Rhodes as a hero, a legend.

And now he was plotting against his own kind.

As we approached the inn, a new thought struck me and I felt ashamed I hadn’t thought about them before.

“Ylena, how is my family?” I asked her as I drove into a shopping strip across the road from the inn. We would leave the car here to be found.

“They are well,” she said. “Of course, your mother was shocked when the news of your betrayal came to light. I know they endure a little prejudice for being the family of a traitor, but I checked on them often and they were well.” She glanced at me. “And Adriel is sixteen now, getting ready to join the Guardians Academy.”

“What?” I almost squealed. Adriel hadn’t shown any signs required to join the academy. And by the light, she was sixteen already!

“She looks so much like you.”

That wasn’t a good thing right now. She was seen as a traitor’s sister and she looked like the traitor. The academy could be a brutal place, with brutal angels, and she would suffer there.

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