Page 91 of Night of Death and Flowers

His lips curve, and the first genuine laugh escapes his lips, a sound so perfect I’m surprised it came from him.

THIRTY-FIVE

Azkiel

It’s been two days without a sign from the elders or the sister.

I walk out of the sacrificial chamber, grimacing when I notice the traitor sleeping between a stone pew and a statue, covered by the torn remnants of his robes. In him, I sense Astraea’s magic, so pure and beautiful that it pains me knowing some of it belongs with him.

Killing him will be so easy. The desire to do so crawls into my veins. All I would have to do is lean over and lay my fingers on his skin. It would also remove the guilt Calista will inevitably face when she has to choose her sister over him.

No. I need my witch in her right mind for when the elders come, and they will.

My palms twitch when I think about hunting them down. But that’s exactly what they want—us, away from the temple so they can carry out the sacrifice. I was a fool for not seeing it sooner, when I could sense Essentria’s creation magic in Calista’s sister, but I put it down to Arabella inheriting two of my sister’s powers.

The longer the elders hold the girl, the more I know Calista is not the prophesied one. That does still not explain why she holds my magic—power I can sense from here as it thrums out of control.

Rain lashes around me, creating puddles in the mud. The sun sets over the island, painting the sky in a deep orange.

I find her, sitting on the wall, hidden behind thickets of brambles, a dagger in her hand. Her eyes clash with mine when she spots me.

We’ve barely said a word to each other since she last pulled my buried memories from my mind, intruding into the darkest parts of myself. She’s so beautifully dark, filled with so much love and anger all melded into one, and I wonder how she can be real.

I hand her my cloak, and her eyes drag over my rain-slicked clothes, sticking to my body. I hold my breath for a moment, and she averts her gaze, then whispers, “Thanks.”

It’s such an overused word by mortals, yet when it falls from her lips, my heart unexpectedly swells. How does she manage it? To be ostracized by her family and society, yet somehow the flicker of life in her eyes burns far brighter than anyone I’ve ever known.

Such a beautiful contradiction.

“They still haven’t come,” she says, and eases her way off the wall. “Drake’s right. We should look for them.”

“They will come. We are winning right now.”

Her shoulders slump. “It doesn’t feel like it.”

“You should go inside,” I say. “I’ll take over.”

Her knuckles whiten as she tightens her grip on the dagger. “I’m good here. At least I’m doing something that may actually help, instead of being in there, with only my thoughts.”

I nod in agreement. “When I was in the Darklands, I spent a lot of time alone, thinking,” I explain and pull the hood of my cloak over her head. “Sometimes to the point of insanity.” I sandwich her icy fingers in my palms and look down at her. “When it would become too much, I’d close my eyes and listen to every sound, trying to decipher what each one was. I found it cathartic.”

“Isn’t it all tortured screams and crying in the Darklands?” she asks, and I almost smile.

“Occasionally,” I state. “Mostly, I can hear the haunting melody from the forest, and the winds dragging leaves across the grounds.”

My breath hitches when she curls her fingers around mine, the orange hues from the sun slathering her skin in a beautiful glow. Her body presses against mine, her heart hammering when she looks at me with those softening eyes.

I’m dying to kiss her. Just once.

She closes her eyes, taking in the heavy pattering of the rain, but it only lasts a minute before she opens them again. “I can’t breathe sometimes, knowing Ari’s out there somewhere.”

“She is alive,” I say, choosing my words carefully, because I cannot promise that she is unharmed. “When she returns, I will get you both out of here.”

“And Drake?”

The muscle in my jaw feathers when I think about him. “He is a traitor.”

“So am I. We did the same thing.”

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