Page 101 of Kiss of Magic

“Who are you?”

“I am Zeferestiel.” Kam waited for more but nothing else was forthcoming.

“And why are you here?” he prompted.

“This is where I emerged. I have been here once before, long ago. It has changed. This was not here then.” The man gestured at the ruins. “It must have been constructed after my internment.”

“Your…?” Kam shook his head, wondering why he was wasting his time. The man was clearly slow-witted. He let his blade dissolve. “Is there someone looking after you? Can I take you to a healer?”

“No. I am content. Besides, a healer cannot help me. They will grow back eventually.”

“What will?”

“My wings.”

“Ah.” Kam tried to be kind. The man must have wandered away from his carer in the chaos of the demon attack. “Your wings. I see. What happened to them?”

“The demons ripped them off. Every time they emerged, they were amputated again. It was most painful.” The man gave another radiant smile. “I am glad that part of my trial is done with.”

“Your trial?”

“The time I spent confined on the other side of the seal.”

A surreal feeling crept over Kam. A sense of disbelief. His breath caught and his mind yammered one thought at him.It can’t be true. It can’t be.

Yet he couldn’t help remembering the legend. The one that told of the lone angel who had held back the demons until the seal was locked. One angel who had sacrificed himself five thousand years ago to save Nush’aldaam.

As if from a great distance, he heard himself speak.

“May I see?”

And the stranger obligingly pulled down his robe to reveal two bloodied stumps between his shoulder blades.

Forty Seven

England

Lying on the altar stone, Dani went rigid. She was still holding Blake’s hand but now her fingers were stiff and unresponsive. Blake touched her shoulder but she stared unseeing into the night sky, her turquoise eyes wide and unblinking.

“Hey, Blue. You okay?” She didn’t answer but a single tear rolled down her cheek. Blake turned to Lenore. “You’re hurting her!”

“All is proceeding as it should,” Lenore said quietly. Blake resisted the urge to grab the old woman and shake her till her teeth rattled.

“She’s in pain.”

“She is releasing her blood-magic. Pain is a necessary part of the process.”

“Jesus Christ, don’t you care what you’re doing to her? She’s one of you, for fuck’s sake.”

“Yes, she is.” Lenore turned her yellow eyes on him and for the first time he saw her grief. “I wish there was another way. But just as Dani has accepted her fate, so have I. And so must you, hunter.”

She turned back to the altar stone and made a complicated gesture. Dani jerked, inhaling a lungful of air. Her body spasmed and her mouth opened in a soundless scream. Blake gripped her hand tighter.

“I’m here, Blue. I’m right next to you.” He kept talking to her, feeling utterly useless but determined to let her know hewas with her every step of the way. “Hang in there, baby. You’re doing great. Stay with me.”

“Blake,” she whispered. Startled, he leaned over her. Her face was stained with tears and she struggled to speak. Every word cost her as she croaked them out. “Something… to tell… you. Should have… told you… before.”

“Shh, don’t talk. Save your strength.”

---