Page 60 of Light

Samael gazed into his eyes for a long moment, searching. At last, his crimson eyes widened, and his lips stretched into a cruel smile. “To free your sons of their curse, I ask only two things.”

“Speak them.”

“First,” Samael held up a finger. “You or any of our brethren will never see your sons again. They must be raised in the absence of knowledge of our kind. When they die, their souls will pass on and rest as human souls in whichever realm they’re deemed fit for.”

“And the second?” Gabriel bit out, careful to give nothing that could be construed as an answer before the terms were laid out.

“And to release them from the curse your sibling placed them under,” Samael shot a dark look at Dina, “you must give me your fire magic.”

“Don’t,” Dina said, moving up behind Gabriel.

Gabriel spared her a glance but returned his focus to Samael. “If I agree to these terms, you will remove the curse that binds them to an early death?”

He swallowed sharp words resting heavily on his tongue, wishing there was any way to make this deal for his other half, but Samael would never agree to such a thing. He replayed the words in his mind, ensuring no loose threads could be unstrung.

“Yes.”

Gabriel nodded once.

“Gabriel, we can find another way,” Dina said, pressing against his wings.

“You’ve done enough, don’t you think?” The words silenced her.

“You have a deal,” he said, stretching a hand out to the Fallen.

Samael clasped it, digging sharp talons that grew unnaturally from the human’s fingers into Gabriel’s arm to draw golden blood. Lightning streaked overhead as Samael said, “And though you didn’t ask it, I’ll extend the same gift to all the men in your line.”

Thunder clapped as the sky went black and streaks of red rained down upon them.

Gabriel tore his hand free. “What do you mean? We made a deal to end the curse. My sons will not pay for it.”

“Agreed.” Samael’s teeth gleamed as another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. “But the curse was on the entire line, and you only bargained for your sons. I did you a kindness. Only the women will pay for Adalaide’s course.”

“You tricked me.” Gabriel lifted his spear, running a finger along its sharp tip. Nothing happened. He touched the metal once more.

Samael let out a bellowing laugh that seemed to rattle the very ground. He raised both hands as blue flame licked down his arms and ran along his fingers. His laugh grew, and the seraphim all stared in horror. A dark ripple of flame ran over blue, changing his flame as it went, to a deep crimson that was nearly black.

Inky sludge dripped from the man’s nose, and a shape formed, hovering just off the ground before them. He let his form grow, and the flame ran up the length of his arms, cresting over dark, jagged horns.

“Run!” Gabriel shouted, and they dashed out of the ruins of Pergamum as arrows of crimson flame shot for their wings. When they breached the line, they blinked out of existence.

Gabriel landed at the edge of Alaxia and dropped to his knees, head in his hands. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. He hadn’t the strength to fight anyone at the moment. She would die, and so would every woman in her line.

It was reckless, dangerous magic they played with, and Adalaide would pay the price for it.

When he had screamed his rage into the void of space, he lifted himself slowly from the gilded ground and trudged to the end of the hall.

“Aniel,” he rasped.

The seraph looked up from a book and, upon seeing his wretched state, stood and hurried to the door. His mouth turned down at the corners, clasping Gabriel’s forearm before ushering him inside.

Gabriel sat in the chair across from him and, after a long silence, said, “She will never forgive me.”

He looked up, meeting his brother’s eyes. There was pain and understanding in them. “I tried to protect her. I tried to do what was right, but she will die. When she does, she may not choose me a second time.”

And his sons would live, but he would never see them again. An empty foreboding filled him, a portent of what was to come.

A warm hand rested on his knee, and he looked up. Aniel touched his chest, then pressed a hand to his own and nodded.

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