Page 46 of Frosted Torment

Her eyes lit up with pride. “With guidance from the spiritsand the angels, I created a ceremonial bundle to use during the wolf ceremony.”

“I’ve heard about sacred bundles for Native celebrations.”

Ena shook her head. “Sacred bundles are for my people. The one I put together is not the same, but it is similar and sacred for the angels.”

I swallowed hard, my throat felt dry, and I blinked as my eyes stung. “You helped save Baz.”

Ena’s big smile illuminated her face. “It’s beautiful to watch the transformation every time it’s done.” She raised her gloved hands, allowing the thin material to catch the light. “And these keep me hidden,” she said.

My eyes narrowed as I ran my fingers across the thin material. “These are what, silicone?”

“There’s an old priest who has lived on the ranch for decades,” Ena explained. “He’s also a scientist. And since my abilities produce an energy that’s like runway lights for demons, he and Nakoma made these gloves to mute that energy.”

As she spoke, I couldn’t help but reflect on the energy in me and how it sent out a locator signal to both angels and demons. I let go of her hands and took a few steps back. “What other powers do you have, Ena?”

She grinned with infectious enthusiasm. “I can manipulate the air for one. I call them enhancements.”

I laughed softly, a sound that danced through the air. “So that’s why we didn’t need the gun.”

“To some extent, yeah.” She walked down the path to Nevaeh and Dawson’s house. I watched her go as she rattled on about the wards and the cover that the trees provided.

A moment of envy flooded my chest. Her beauty and herintelligence were captivating, a stark contrast to my own sense of purposelessness. Ena embodied her heritage and powers with ease, whereas I still struggled to find my place in the world.

I was a curse from a petulant angel who was hell-bent on destroying humans. He, or the demons, were going to use me as ammunition to end us all if I didn’t find a way out of this. Once I caught up to her, we walked in silence for a few minutes and I began to think about how much of a family Ena and my friends had become.

My relationship with Jossy, Ivy, and Lex wasn’t genuine like I’d thought. They befriended me to see if I had divine secrets tucked away inside, and now, what was I to them? Not only Vincent, but Jossy and Lex made it clear that my safety was a priority so the world wouldn’t go boom.

“It must be nice to have a connection to who you are and where you come from,” I said, wanting to delve deeper into what she knew about this world.

“Sure, but learning that I could manipulate air wasn’t easy,” she mentioned with a whisper. “But aren’t you here to figure out those things for yourself, too?”

“I’m not sure how far I’ll get if I don’t get my soul back, especially with demons after me. Not to mention this guy in my head?—”

She stopped walking and pivoted with her palm up. “What guy is in your head, Noa? Nobody said anything about that.”

Realization hit me straight in the chest because I got too comfortable with her. “Forget I mentioned it, Ena. Please.” I walked ahead, but she caught up and grabbed my arm.

“I need details,” she pressed. “With Maros and his demons attacking us, I need to know who’s in your head.”

Frustrated, I grabbed at my hair and let out a groan. “I don’t know. And I haven’t told the others, so you can’t say anything.”

“You didn’t tell Baz?” she asked, giving me a curious look.

“I haven’t had a chance. Two days ago I was going to my birthday party and now I’m in the middle of fucking Oz.” A sharp jolt of pain shot through my skull, and I doubled over. With wide eyes, I turned to Ena and choked out, “We need to run.”

She stood tall, and her expression turned grim. “Why, Noa?”

“He’s coming,” I admitted as shakes ran through my body.

“Who’s coming?” Ena looked around with her palms out in front of her. She began circling me, darting her eyes in every direction.

My scar throbbed, and my mouth twisted as I strained. “The man in my head, and unless you want me to pass out right here, we need to move now.”

I took off running at breakneck speed through the forest, Ena struggling to keep up behind me. The memories of a cherry blossom tree and a raging waterfall flashed before my eyes like a warning sign, igniting sparks of fear in my mind. With every stride, I pushed myself harder, determined to outrun this terror. But as we approached a fallen tree and tangled brush blocking our path, the fear set in.

“On it!” Ena called out and thrust her hands forward, launching the tree deep into the woods.

She’d somehow summoned a gust of wind so strong that it picked up scattered underbrush, giving us a cleaner path out of there. We rounded a small curve as I continued to blink through images flooding my mind. As soon as I stepped into a wide-openclearing, mowed into a perfect circle encased in a line of trees, the images stopped.

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