Page 57 of Crown of Blood and Vengeance

“They’ll never find you.” His voice dripped venom as he seized me then Poison, tossing us into Julienne’s room like discarded dolls. Julienne lay there unchanged, her face still deathly pale, trapped in whatever nightmare held her captive.

He slammed the door. I ran over, pounding it. “No! Balthazar open it.”

But I was greeted with a deadly silence. I clutched my fists and leaned my forehead against the door. What had I done? Mom was now condemned to oblivion. It was all my fault. I wasn’t even sure that noise was Angelo. It could be anything. For all I knew, it could be Lucifer summoning Balthazar.

I turned around and slumped down against the door, my body heavy with despair. Poison lay crumpled on the floor, while Julienne remained on the bed, lost in whatever spell held hercaptive. My mother got cancer before my healing ability had surfaced, yet I always felt guilty about that—as if I should have somehow found a way to save her. And now Poison and Julienne were just two more names on the growing list of people I had failed. The memory of my useless attempts to help them made my chest ache.

But maybe with my wings, maybe I could save at least one of them. An angel was probably more powerful than a vampire, so I made a difficult choice.

I knelt next to Poison’s broken form, drawing deep on my power until tingles of energy swept through my entire body. My hands began to glow with holy light, my wings creating gusts of wind as they beat against the sulfurous air. “Poison, awake.”

At first nothing happened, and my heart sank. But then a white glow, pure as starlight, slowly enveloped Poison’s body. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared up at me with a mix of curiosity and awe, as if seeing me—truly seeing me—for the first time.

“You healed me,” she whispered.

“Yes.” I dropped my arms. That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t drained like I normally was after healing. Something was different. When I’d drained Poison earlier—taken her power into myself—that’s when my wings had emerged. And now that same power was flowing through me, stronger than ever.

Poison clasped my arm, her grip urgent and intense. “You’re powerful. Archangel powerful.”

I laughed bitterly. “I’m hardly an archangel.”

She grinned as she pushed herself up, her movements still slightly unsteady. “No, but you contain a power that’s stronger than most angels.”

I blinked, my mind struggling to process her words. “I do? Am I stronger than you?” My voice came out smaller than I intended.

“No.” Her expression turned serious, almost reverent. “Not many angels are stronger than a Dark Angel. We get our power from Michael, but yours isn’t like mine. It’s a healing power like Raphael’s.”

I met her gaze, my heart pounding with the question that has burned inside me ever since I learned I was a Nephilim. “I’m not sure if Balthazar was telling the truth. But is Raphael my father?”

“Perhaps.” Poison’s eyes held ancient knowledge, a knowledge I was desperate to learn. “Nephilim’s are formed from a human and an angel, and based on your healing power, it could be him. You’re definitely stronger than most angels, and that’s saying something.”

I walked over to the door and slammed my fist against it. “But not strong enough to open this damn door.”

She came over and put her hand on my shoulder, her touch unexpectedly gentle for a Dark Angel. “Balthazar won’t open it until he’s ready.”

I rested my forehead against the wood, defeat washing over me. “I think I made a deadly mistake.”

“What?”

“I called for Angelo, then something shook this place. It was like an earthquake. Since I’ve been here, I’ve never felt anything like it.” I glanced around the room, taking in the cracks in the walls, the evidence of power that had ripped through the mansion. “Then Balthazar threw us in here, saying that they would never find us, but he didn’t say who ‘they’ were.” A tear slipped down my cheek. “But not before he promised to throw my mother into oblivion.”

She grinned, a fierce light in her dark eyes. “I believe it’s our rescue party. Angelo is coming for you. Don’t you feel him? And as far as your mother, you have the power to save her. Draw on your love for her. It takes a great deal of energy to restrain asoul.” Poison gestured toward my wings. “You have the power of an archangel. Call to her.”

That sounded too easy. But I was desperate to save her. I closed my eyes, thinking of the pure white ball that had danced in Balthazar’s stretched out palm. I closed my eyes, reaching for that well of power inside me. “Mom, come to me.”

Screams and cries of agony thundered outside the door, making the very air vibrate with torment. My heart clenched, the sound nearly stealing my breath.

I looked at Poison questioningly, fear making my wings tremble.

“Don’t stop.” Her voice cut through the chaos like steel. “You must save your mother before that door opens.” She edged closer to the door, clenching her fists as dark power radiated from her battle-ready stance.

“Mom, come to me!” My voice rang out with desperate power, echoing through the hellish chamber.

The door exploded inward, wood splintering like shrapnel. I braced myself for Balthazar’s rage, for his promised vengeance?—

But then I saw him.

Angelo stood in the doorway, his clothes shredded and soaked with blood both fresh and dried. Burn marks scored his arms and chest, the flesh still smoking from hellfire. His shirt hung in tatters, revealing wounds that even vampire healing hadn’t fully closed. But his eyes—his eyes blazed with a fierce determination that made even hell’s darkness seem to retreat.

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