Page 60 of A Lost Light

I snorted. “Because I'm pretty sure you can't stop us. I mean, if you brought an entire army in here to murder us, then you'dget rid of the pocket world, sure. But that would cost you a lot of resources. And if you're so against wasting resources, then there's not a fucking thing you can do about our hitchhiking.Idon't even know how I created this place. And you're all angels without the ability to tap into the magic that is uniquely witch-created. So, good luck figuring that out.”

His nostrils flared, but he kept his expression calm and unreadable. I'd give him this—he didn't seem easily riled up by my attitude, my audacity, or my general lack of humility, the way his predecessor had been. “And,” he said, as if I hadn't even spoken, not acknowledging the fact that I had served up an annoying checkmate. “Should we be so divinely beneficent and forgiving as to simply take back our stolen property and ignore your existence, what would prevent you from causing us further… irritation?”

Aahil snorted from somewhere behind me. It was a distinctly jinn noise, one of haughty disgust. I agreed wholeheartedly.

“Well,” I said with a bland smile. “Given that you won't be taking back the nullifier when you leave, but will instead be letting us borrow it indefinitely, I suppose I will have reason enough to behave. Just to repay the favor. But then again, I can't absolutelypromisethat the universe won't once again force me to one day be in a position where irritating you is the least of my worries.”

He narrowed his eyes again. “You will give us the nullifier.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nope. I still need it. The rebels who are currently fighting to prevent genocide and corruption that would span two entirerealmsstill need it.” I narrowed my eyes right back at him. “If you insist on fucking with us, on taking back your little toy, you might be condemning the Magea and Planus realms. You know, where youdivineangel-types draw most of your power by pretending to be deities?”

He sighed, then waved a hand in a magnanimous gesture, like a god giving the mortal permission to speak. “And what would you have us do, then, witch? Interfere with your realm? Insert our authority where we have no business doing so? You make backward slights toward my kind for how we benefit from the perceptions of lesser beings. Would you not take affront if we were to interfere with their governance?”

That word—governance—made my skin crawl. Angels weren't deities. They weren't the silly religious messengers that many thought them to be. They were simply another race of beings from a different realm who somehow got a big ol' power boost from the misguided belief and devotion of their followers in other realms. But theywereextremely powerful and wielded some kind of magic that could manipulate life spark, a person's essence—souls, despite how much I hated to feed into the religious nonsense.

Until now, the angels had maintained a stance of aloof distance. They'd make the occasional appearance in the Planus realm or parts of the Magea realm, just often enough to inspire awe in their believers and perpetuate the whole game they had going on. But they mostly minded their own business and were serious about maintaining their distance. Would inviting them into our problems only replace the witch supremacists with an even stronger, more dangerous group of overlords?

I could see it in this angel's eyes. He wanted me to understand that his people could easily take over either realm, should they choose to. He wanted me to realize this. And to see that the only thing that made sense was to hand over the artifact and start bowing now, so they'd leave us alone.

A big hand squeezed my shoulder, Zhong's firm grip and solid aura grounding me as the fear took hold, and the world spun out from under my feet. This wasn't my place. This wasn't a decisionI should be making. I wasn't responsible for the future of the two realms. How had I ended up here?

Deep, withering blackness swelled into being behind me, and I took in a shallow breath, my mind racing as the darkness bloomed.

Chapter 35

Sunshine

Oleander was lost. I could feel it through our lifebond. Her emotions and her mind were in a chaotic state of unease, spiraling out of control. Something about this situation had made her distraught.

The angel seated across the room from her was the source of her unhappiness. I had rarely encountered angels in my existence before I was fused with my host, but I recalled how delicious their energy was. How the rare angel I had been able to catch and devour could sustain me far longer than a human or another supernatural being. The angel before me was radiating power. He would be a feast the likes of which I had not experienced in centuries.

“No, Sunny don't.” Another angel had grabbed my arm, his warm fingers wrapped around my bicep.Ourangel. “Don't do it,” he pleaded, his deep voice soft, but urgent.

I regarded him with a raised brow as I felt Andy squirm in her seat. Why shouldn't I eliminate the source of our witch's pain and displeasure? My host agreed with me. He might deny it, buthe had barely even put up a token of resistance when I decided to take over and handle matters myself.

Elijah's glowing blue eyes met mine, unflinching. Uncaring what I was. His angelic power was nearly as strong as the other angel's. But it had layers of darkness wrapped around it, tying him to Dyre, and to me. He would be delicious. But not nearly as filling as the other angel, since he was our creation. Besides, I knew Andy would be upset with me if I lashed out at the revenant for daring to challenge me.

Dyre was also attached to him. And putting up with my host's disapproval and sadness wasn't something I enjoyed.

Also, I did like the intensity of the blue eyes that stared into mine. So vivid and alive. It would be a shame if they no longer existed in this world.

“Why?” I asked, instead of draining every angelic soul in the room and using them to bolster my power to dizzying new heights.

Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but Oleander beat him to it. “Stand down, Sunny,” she said firmly, clear warning in her voice.

I sighed. “But he has upset you,” I reasoned. “He deserves his fate.”

She didn't look back at me, but she shook her head. “Not unless they attack first.”

The angelic intruder glanced from Oleander to me, and I smiled, slow and with promise, showing him the blue-black teeth of my host, which always unsettled people. His glowing golden power seemed to shrink, his aura pulling back from mine, as he sensed the predator in the room.

“What evil entity lives inside your necromancer, witch?” he demanded, shooting to his feet as if he could do anything to escape my wrath.

Oleander sighed. “Sit down. He's harmless. For now.” She looked over her shoulder at me, shooting me a glare. “Knock it off.”

My upper lip curling in displeasure, I retreated slightly, pulling in my aura, sharing our body with Dyre more equally. I knew that our eyes would change color, one black, one lavender. And for some reason, that also seemed to unsettle people. Mortals were so easily shaken by the silliest things. Even powerful mortals like these.

The angel glanced around the room warily, as if he expected everyone else to suddenly exhibit signs of possession as well. Andy cleared her throat, and he startled slightly.

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