Page 88 of Living Legend

Markus waved his hand around. “You believe an angel sold their soul to Lilith to bring down Heaven’s Gate?”

“We also believe the angel you speak of killed Keegan,” Elise chimed in, smiling. “Loyalty to Lilith can come in many forms. What better way than to kill one of your own?”

“You all are quite insane! What did Keegan bring to the table for her, for anyone?” Ariel exclaimed.

“His key!” Reese said swiftly, both words coming out like one. He let out a breath that sounded as if he was finally relaxing a bit. I heard Natalia take in a sharp breath, but when I looked at her, those honey eyes weren’t pained and cautious; they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Reese closed his eyes and then opened them again, watching the angels and demons all staring at him with curious but stunned faces. “Oh, fuck.”

I felt Dani and Elise’s eyes looking past me to Reese, who was now rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“Key?” Jonah looked confused. “His portal key?”

“Umm, well…yeah.” Reese stuttered over his words; his bow landed with a loud clang on the ground when he tried to readjust his seat.

“Young man, that portal key wouldn’t work in the hands of Lilith,” Markus explained, looking towards Natalia for confirmation. “Correct?”

Natalia nodded her head. “You are correct.” Markus nodded in satisfaction, until Natalia continued. “But in this situation, the key wouldn’t be used by Lilith. It could be used by another angel. The key could be taken over if enough Enchanters got involved— and she hasenoughof those in Purgatory. We both know those Enchanters are not too happy with angels.” Her words were shot back harshly at Markus.

“I beg your pardon?” Ariel seethed.

“Not everything is cut and dry, Ariel. I think it's time we all stopped thinking like that.”

“Keegan would never have gone to Purgatory without being instructed to,” I said, this time wanting the whole table to hear me. “He was new, he was fresh, he would do anything someone higher said.”

“Nicholas, no one would have sent Keegan there without supervision, knowing he was so new to The Skies,” Jonah said calmly. He was trying to explain something I clearly already knew, but the words from his mouth just didn’t make any fucking sense.

“But you did.” I watched as he tried to unravel my words.

“What did you say?” Jonah asked.

“You. Did,” I repeated. Each word pierced him as his face contorted into understanding.

Ariel opened his mouth before Jonah could grab his own explanation. “Mr. Cassial, you will not sit here and accuse Jonah of such ridiculousness…”

“It's true!” I practically combusted out of my chair. I looked directly into Jonah’s eyes and was immediately unnerved when he didn’t look upset, just taken aback. He was regal enough to want me to explain myself without jumping down my throat at the first opening.

“Nicholas, how have you come across such an idea?” Jonah asked calmly, having placed a hand on Ariel’s forearm.

“I…” The words got choked up. I knew exactly how I obtained the information, but do I throw others into this already boiling pot with me? My lips pressed together and then opened, trying to find the best way to express my knowledge, when a voice broke through.

“He got it from me,” Natalia announced.

Jonah looked over at Natalia and nodded, as if he was starting to understand. “Your unauthorized trip to Oculus.” His amber eyes peered over at me, hoping to receive verification. “You told me Natalia simply told you an angel had gone to Oculus, but you knew much, much more than that, didn’t you, Nicholas?”

“Yes. I…we’ve known all of it.” This was the all or nothing moment that was either going to solidify my suspicions, nullify them, or make me more confused than when all of this started. I clenched and unclenched my fists underneath the table. “None of us would deny a request from you, let alone question it. Keegan was new, like you said. He would have been an idiot to say no, so you sent him there! You sent him to his death to prove yourself to Lilith.”

“Young man, you are entirely out of line,” Markus accused.

“Oh, shut up, you old fuck, and let him speak,” Elise commanded.

“You didn’t even think twice when I mentioned an angel had been sent to Purgatory. You were so calm. You didn’t even…you didn’t even know his name was gone from the book until a few days ago…”

“And you did, Mr. Cassial?” Ariel growled.

Reese’s leg was bouncing under the table again in a more unhinged rhythm. I pressed my foot on top of his in hopes of stopping his knee from connecting with the table. I took a deep breath. “We may have gone into Jonah’s office and collected that information ourselves.”

“Youwhat!?” Ariel screamed, leaning over the table. His palms were braced firmly on the wood, his knuckles even a starker white than his already pale skin.

“You were watching Jonah’s office that day, so it was under your watch that this happened, right? You left two angels, regardless of stature, alone in a high executive’s office, did you not?” I could hear myself saying these things, and it felt good, but I could also feel my heartbeat start to drum harder. It was so bad, it started to hurt, but I pushed past it.

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