Page 20 of Light

Aniel dropped his gaze to the floor.

Long moments passed where Gabriel considered what it must be like to spend eternity waiting for a soul who had died before she had the chance to bond with him. What if, at the end of it all, she didn’t choose him?

An echo of the pain he felt on the mortal plane shot through him. Here in Alaxia, pain, sickness, and death did not occur. But emotions such as anger and sadness existed across all planes, and he was beginning to learn they could be worse than anything physical.

Aniel finally met his stare and nodded once.

So much was imparted in that one gesture. It was the hope that bloomed eternal against all odds. The hope that even in an uncertain existence, where nothing was guaranteed, and pain and suffering were sure to be long bedfellows, Aniel chose to believe all would be set right in the end.

Gabriel set the chalice down and squeezed Aniel’s arm. “Thank you, brother.”

Chapter 16

Adalaide

Adalaide took shallow breaths, sucking in around the brick settling atop her lungs.

“Be still,” Jophiel said, placing both hands over the wound piercing her chest.

Light began to glow under Jophiel’s cupped fingers, and she spoke softly. As she did, Adalaide took deeper and deeper breaths, inhaling with relief. What might have surely been a fatal wound was stitching itself together quickly, and the poison lingering in her chest was rapidly dissolving into nothing.

When Jophiel had finished, Adalaide sat up, touching the tender flesh below her breast. She could feel a bit of scar tissue settling under her ribcage, but her lungs were blessedly free of fluid.

“Thank you,” she panted, taking in another deep breath.

Jophiel patted her arm. “Next time, we will be better prepared.”

Adalaide inhaled sharply. She wasn’t sure how many more of these kinds of attacks she could withstand. Was this to be her life now? Fighting demons and nasdaqu-ush, as Jophiel had called them, every other night?

She was worn thin.

In less than a fortnight of Jophiel’s tutelage, she’d learned to expand her gifts tremendously, pulling from nature rather than expending her own lifeforce, but even with all her abilities, demons and nasdaqu-ush—when they came by the dozen—were a daunting task.

She’d taken to sleeping all day and fighting or training all night, and already, her muscles felt more toned.

Her raging fire was more controlled, and she’d learned to harness water in new and interesting ways.

Despite it all, something pulled at her chest, an ache that would not subside, and no matter how she filled her nights, she thought of the tall, handsome stranger who had darkened her door only once, never to return.

Jophiel glanced out the window at the rapidly swelling orb peeking over the horizon and back to Adalaide. “Rest for the day. I will be back before nightfall.”

Adalaide nodded, wincing as she stared down at her destroyed waistcoat and corset. “Help me remove these before you go?”

Jophiel nodded, helping her slip out of her overcoats and gingerly removing her corset and undergarments until Adalaide was blessedly nude. Jophiel turned away, unbothered by her nudity, and moved to the door. “Sleep, Adalaide. You will need it.”

Adalaide stretched out on her bed, letting soft yellow streaks paint her skin as she reveled in the warmth of the morning sun. It relaxed some of the tension.

Bits of dust, caught in the light, swirled through her fingers as she raised them, twisting until they formed an infinity loop in the air above her.

A draft from the window wafted through the room, sending goosebumps across her skin, and she watched as her loop dissipated, flecks of dust dropping lazily to her bare skin. They fell in a strange pattern, settling over her new scar as if to inspect the damage.

She laughed, watching them scatter as she ran a finger down her smooth stomach, sending the particles of sparkling dust into the air once more.

Smiling, she rolled over, wrapping herself in the blankets and closed her eyes. For just a moment, she imagined her angel was in the room with her, his arms wrapped around her as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 17

Gabriel

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