Page 182 of Living Legend

"Admirable is a word for it."

She pressed her index finger to her lips, and it took everything in me to not walk over to her and replace her finger with my mouth, but she didn't want that from me.It’s because she thinks you don't want anything to do with her."With Jonah gone, how does that work? I mean, I saw it with my own eyes, his magic leaving him, but I mean…what now? Who do you guys bow down to now?"

I placed my hands in my pockets, shrugging. "To be determined. This hasn't happened before. I think there’s something in his office that will hold his magic, like a magical urn, until we find a rightful leader. Don't quote me on any of that. Ideally, no one is worried about that right now. It's about getting this place in working condition again, getting angels ready to fight whenever it's time. Be more prepared."

Dani smirked. "Still such a good soldier. You could probably whip demons into shape if given the chance."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'll pass, but thanks." I hated to ask it but I had to, given everything that had happened; I had to know. "Did you ever consider it?"

"Consider what?"

"What Markus told you to do? With Jonah and your dagger?"

She was quiet for a moment. For a single moment, she looked the most innocent she had ever looked in all the time I'd known her. She truly contemplated my question, thought back to her exact feelings before she gave me an answer. "Yes."

I wasn't shocked. "Why didn't you?"

She huffed, slowly circling the examination table. "Forgetting all the parts about Lilith taking away my angelic right, if you asked me a year ago if I wanted the equal powers of both an angel and a demon, I would have first questioned if it was possible, then stopped you mid explanation and just said hell yes. Now, knowing all that power wouldn't be for me, that it would be used for someone else to do unknowingly shitty things with, I just couldn't allow that." She drummed her fingernails on the table. "I thought about having that power, knowing that Jonah sacrificed himself to help me beat Lilith, but if I did what she wanted, I don'tknowhow to be both, use both sets of powers, without burning the realm down around me. I assume that’s what she wanted, so in the end, I still would have lost. It was better to fight and never give myself the option. Markus was a fool and Isabel? She is just a scared little girl filled with bloodlust."

I watched as she twirled her hand in the air as dark shadows manifested and her dagger slid out from nowhere. She held onto it as if it was a part of her -- maybe it was. "It's a connection to Lilith I wish I didn't have, but there aren't too many hell-made weapons anymore, so as much as I wanted to shred this into a million pieces, I can't. It has more to do."

"You're allowed to say you aren't okay either." I volley back her words.

She lifted one side of her mouth into a small smile. "Your concern is cute, but I'm peachy. Just your everyday identity crisis. I'm not the one having angels rummage through my stuff to find contraband and then having a high executive tell me ominous things before he passes on in my lap." She pointed the hooked tip of her dagger at me.

"Ominous is an understatement."She deserved better.

"Any leads on what it means?"

"Well, I tried asking my dad and that went about as well as it always goes." I rolled my eyes.

"I mean, I love a man of mystery, but as hot as your dad may be, he might have a little too much mystery for me. I would say just let it be, but we both know you won't."

I ran both my hands through my hair, pulling at the strands. "This is a fucking lot for one day."

She quickly walked over to me, shooing her dagger away and placing her hands on my shoulders, careful to watch her finger placement so she didn’t mess with my healing wraps. "A lot of people say things in death, whether it's nonsense or facts. I know because I've heard it all." She looked up at me from where she stood. She was so small and confident, as if she knew without a doubt that she had my full attention. "I'm going to admit, I think you are kind of adorable when you spiral, but this isn't the time for it. I know you want to go on this epic mind fuck of a journey for this information but focus on what’s in front of you. You said it yourself, what happened here today isn't the end. You need to be here and focused to get all these angels ready for whatever comes." Her face was so close to mine, I could feel small wisps of her breath. She let her voice descend into a low whisper. "Because if you leave it in the hands of your best friend, every last one of you is fucked."

I snorted out a laugh as she let me go but stayed in front of me, barking out her own laughter. Our laughter held up for a moment until we went silent again.

"So, you're staying in Oculus?" I asked as she fiddled with a piece of her hair.

"Yeah, it should be nice. Plot the next steps and all that. It's not like waltzing right back into Purgatory blindly would be ideal."

I rubbed my palms together. "I'm sure Lilith is pretty furious with you. Well, both you and Elise."

She hummed. "Yeah…Elise."

“Talk to her, Dani. You might understand the situation more if you just hear her out."

She waved her hand at me, as if what I said was inconsequential. She would never stop frustrating me. "I should let you see Natalia again or your dad. I just wanted to...you know…" She waved her hand in my general direction.

"Make sure I wasn’t curled up in the fetal position?"

"Yes that."

I chuckled and smirked at her. "How incredibly corny of you."

She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head at me, her curls bouncing and a few escaping around her face. "Don't look too deep into it. If we're on the sameteam, I’m allowed to care about a member of myteam. When this is all over, you will have a well-rounded story about how you teamed up with a hybrid, a living legend, and defeated the big bad monster. That will make your future angelic wife give you starry eyes -- it's quite impressive." Her expression never changed as she attempted to spell out my future. "But don't worry, you can leave out the part about us fucking."

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