Page 115 of Forging Darkness

“No. We thought he was still with you. But if he’s not, where is he?” Ash asks.

Steel’s lips press into a hard line as his gaze finds mine. A sinking feeling has already started in my stomach and only grows with each second that passes. And by the time a half-dozen have ticked by, I’m not sure I want to hear his explanation.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“What do you mean you left him behind?”

Nova marches toward Steel with murder sparking in her green eyes.

“It wasn’t like that, Nova.”

Her pointed nail sinks into his shirt when she pokes him in the chest. “You said he’d be fine. You said you’d protect him.”

We’re on an airplane getting ready to fly over the Atlantic, straight to the Elders’ compound. After Steel and Deacon retrieved the orb and stashed it in some sort of box that concealed its power, the helicopter took all of us to a private airport in upstate New York.

They weren’t taking any chances with me this time. When we landed, an eight-person team of trained Nephilim marched forward and escorted me directly onto the jet. My babysitters-slash-bodyguards are currently stationed in front of every possible exit, as if I’m going to try to jump ship mid-air or something.

I mean, I could if I wanted to. Having wings rocks.

Reuniting with Greyson and Nova was joyful right up until Nova asked where Tinkle was.

“The last time I saw Tinkle, he was dive-bombing a couple of Forsaken as a pigeon. I told the idiot to shift into a dragon and barbecue the lot, but he didn’t listen to me. He was yelling about small packages reigning down the hottest fire or something. I was knocked clean out and came to in the cell in Whitehold. I just assumed he’d escaped and returned to you.”

I keep my mouth shut. I was gutted when I learned my little friend was missing, and spent the entire ride from Mont-Tremblant to the airstrip in New York fretting over him. I’m having a hard time not blaming Steel as well, so I know where Nova is coming from.

“You know what happens when you assume?”

Steel rolls his tongue over his bottom teeth, pushing out his lower lip. “Seriously, Nova?”

“It was true when we were six, and it’s still true today,” she says, but removes her finger from his chest and turns, slouching onto the bench seat next to me.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how long the two of them have known each other. Silver’s taunts about their romantic involvement rise up, whispering through my mind, but they are easy to push aside. In truth, Nova and Steel act much more like siblings than two individuals with a romantic history.

“We’ll figure something out when we get to the compound in Farafra. Right now, everyone take a seat,” Sable orders.

Steel glances at Nova and then at Ash. He gives me a lingering look, but he doesn’t say anything before striding toward the front of the plane and finding a seat near his brothers at an oval table.

This aircraft is ridiculous. It rivals a luxury hotel inside—only with low ceilings. Although, it hardly matters, because a transparent four-foot panel runs the length of the cabin, letting the mid-day sunshine straight in.

There are two bedrooms, a full bathroom and stocked kitchen. And that’s only what I noticed on the way in. I haven’t explored the front end of the plane yet.

Nova nudges me with her elbow. “How are you doing? Really?”

Ash leans forward to hear my response. I lift my gaze to Nova, shaking my head slowly and whisper, “The things that happened in that place.” I have to bite my lip to keep the tears from forming.

Nova’s perfect cupid’s bow mouth downturns. There hasn’t been time yet to fill them all in on the details from the last week of my life. They don’t know about the group of humans I found or what happened to them. They don’t know Steel was turned into a Forsaken and that I used my power to bring him back. They don’t know about Thorne, or that Seraphim even existed.

The truth is going to come out. I’m not hiding anything—there simply hasn’t been time to update the group yet. The Nephilims’ first priority is securing Steel and my safety and getting us locked down in the Council’s compound. Then the questions will come. It’s wishful thinking to hope I’ll only have to recount everything once.

The plane’s engine starts, and an angel-born pops into existence in the aisle in front of us. I let out a yip of surprise. He’s dressed in all-black tactical gear like the rest of my Neph babysitters. Without acknowledging us, he presses a hand to the communication device wrapped around his ear and says, “We’re clear.”

Flying should in no way be frightening to me, but my stomach dips when we shoot down the runway and take off. I’ve never been on a plane before, but I try not to let that show. Once we level off, the pilot announces over a speaker that our total travel time will be a whopping twenty hours, with one re-fueling stop when we reach land on the other side of the ocean.

We’re only an hour into the flight when Sable comes up to me, tapping my shoulder. I’m sitting at a table with Sterling, Greyson, Nova, and Ash, munching on cheese and nuts. We’re all laughing at Sterling’s failed attempts to throw grapes into the air and catch them in his mouth.

Sable tips her head to the side, where Deacon and Steel wait behind me. “We need to talk.”

Easing out of the seat, I follow Sable and the guys into the plane’s private conference room.

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