Page 13 of Oath-Maker

Their library probably had all the answers we needed and then some. We’d just been so clueless at the time of the Fallen’s very existence. And why would paladins ever need a cure for light sickness when we’d been trained from the start that all demons were evil and deadly?

“What exactly are we looking for?” Jessa brushed her fingertips along dusty book spines as we traversed the stacks.

“Well, they’ve already searched this space for a light sickness cure, so I doubt we’ll find that.” I walked a bit ahead of her. We hadn’t really had a strategy when we’d gotten here. Nor had we found one in the minutes since. “I was hoping to find something on the Fallen, or any history prior to the Veil opening. The older structures exist, and so do stories of angels and demons.”

“Do you think demons and celestials visited prior to destroying Earth?” Jessa asked.

I shrugged as we walked. One book caught my eye, a history of demons. It wasn’t all that thick a book, nor was it very old. Had this been brought over from the demons’ previous world? “It’s possible. Anything is. Seems like tears in the Veil can happen anywhere. What I want to know is what kind of a foothold the Fallen actually have, and if, therefore, the Guardian’s claims of destruction are actually founded.”

Jessa’s voice was small when she said, “The battle yesterday was pretty destructive. There was a lot of pain.”

I turned and held a hand out to her, which she gratefully took. “Are you doing okay?”

She nodded in small motions as she squeezed my fingers. “It helps to have an outlet and a focus.”

The fight, she meant. And now our immediate future. I could tell we both just wanted to rest, though.

“Can I help with it at all?” I asked, considering her. In the past, there hadn’t been much I could do but hold her until the pain stopped, the both of us isolated away from it all in my apartment. But we were in the middle of Alastia, and I wasn’t so sure that leaving was the best idea, even if it meant helping her.

She squeezed my fingers again and then let go. “No, I don’t think so, unfortunately. It comes and goes in waves. On the upside”—she cringed—“I feel very powerful right now. Like I could take on a dozen Fallen alone.”

I smiled softly, but I hoped it didn’t look as hollow as it felt. Jessa’s magic being super-powered by all this pain and suffering was not really the blessing she was trying to make it out to be. “I’m sure you could. You’re not going to have to, though. I’ll be by your side.”

I wasn’t leaving my paladins again. And if at all possible, I hoped to save those still sworn to the Guardian, too.

“Good,” Jessa said before she smirked and added, “Queen of Alastia.”

I nearly rolled my eyes. “Nothing’s changed.”

She took off along the stacks again, looking at each shelf in turn. “Everything has.”

“You know what I mean.” Jessa was right, though. I spun on my heel and took in the stacks of old books, feeling despair start to filter through me. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything here. I wanted to, but I think this place has already been scoured.”

Jessa nodded and stopped to lean back against a large book stack. “What now?”

I fitted my tongue between my molars as I thought. I was way too hyped up to sleep despite exhaustion weighing on me. Lucius was running out of options and time and, with the deadline of the Guardian’s messenger showing up by morning, we all were, too. If Lucius was going to succumb to light sickness and leave me in charge, I had no idea how I wanted to go about resisting and fighting the Guardian and the rest of the Fallen. I’d led the Order for a while, but that had been out of necessity and most of the “battles” we’d gotten into had been minor in comparison to yesterday’s siege.

I didn’t want to face the Fallen without Lucius. I didn’t want to facelifewithout him.

Light sickness. My mind skipped back to the ancient temple beneath Alastia where Basara had lured me during the Guardian’s siege. Where the Fallen who’d created me had given my mate his light sickness.

Basara had made that temple her home, it seemed. Maybe it had answers?

I grabbed Jessa’s hand. “Come on I have a better idea.”

Her brow furrowed between her blue eyes, but she followed me without hesitation. Sneaking out of the palace was difficult now that I was the queen, but we were able to get by with convincing Command Garnet that the trip was necessary and that we were more than capable of defending ourselves. Besides, I’d rather guards stay with Lucius. In the end, we settled on a small contingent of four guards accompanying Jessa and me, despite my arguments that Lucius had often left the palace alone before.

Alastia was still recovering. The remnants of fires still smoked and demons were working through the night even now to repair roofs and homes enough to make them livable. It was heartbreaking even though we’d won that battle, and not just because another was on the horizon. Not long ago, Lucius and I had walked these streets disguised. He’d shown me how amazing his people could be, that not all demons were evil and out to destroy both celestials and humans alike.

Now, there was just pain. Recovery. And fear.

Jessa stayed pressed into my side for most of the journey from the palace and through the streets to where the temple was. Only when we’d begun descending beneath the city’s streets, far below the surface, did Jessa let go. Her body relaxed and she sighed.

“Is it that big of a difference down here?” I was happy to see that might be the case but sad that she’d have to go all the way down here to find peace. It made me question just how much Jessa dealt with daily in ambient empathy.

Jessa nodded as she lifted her palm. Radiant light, tinged just the slightest bit red, flitted between her fingers like a glowing string. “Yes, I think the earth drowns it out some.” She held her hand before her and spread her fingers. The glowing string moved fast, churning quickly over itself in her palm until an entire glowing radiant sphere of light hovered before us. It lit up the dark stairs that were climbing down. Palace guards flanked us in front and in back and carried torches of their own.

“Wait here,” I said to them at the foot of the stairs once we’d reached the bottom. I craved privacy after being surrounded at the castle, and I was also afraid of Jessa’s power being influenced by any uncontrolled emotions the guards might have.

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