Page 27 of Wings of Strife
Zeke rubs a hand down his face and sighs. “It’s not the first time she caught me snooping around. She also saw me coming out of the file room, or at least coming from that hallway. I played it cool then, but she saw through my shit. The good news is, I don’t think she ever told anyone.”
“And the bad news?” I ask, unsure if I want to know the answer.
“Well, this time she caught me in the act as I was trying to access the locked cabinet with the amulets inside. She demanded to know what I was looking for, not so subtly threatening me if I refused to tell her. I didn’t see that I had a choice, so I just told her I needed a couple of amulets. She used her father’s key card to access them.”
Raphael folds his arms across his chest. “I mean, it’s not great, but that doesn’t sound as bad as it could’ve been, so why are you acting so weird?”
“Because she took an extra amulet for herself and forced me to invite her here.”
Dead silence fills the space. We just spent the last week making this place secure and safe from outsiders, and already he jeopardized that.
“I’m sorry. What?” Raphael says, his eyes a stormy-blue.
Zeke groans. “I know, I know. It’s fucking stupid, but I didn’t have a choice, alright?”
Raph steps toward him. “This is way more than juststupid, Zeke. This could put everything at risk!”
“Don’t you think I fucking realize that? I didn’t go out of my way to get caught, Raphael. It just happened.”
Before things have the chance to get physical, Hayliel steps between Raph and Zeke. “Everyone needs to calm down. Yes, this isn’t ideal, but we can’t change it now. All we can do is plan. So, what do we do now?”
Zeke nods. “She sent me a rune, one she assured me would help prove her loyalty.”
“And you trust her?” Raphael asks with a laugh of incredulity.
Ignoring him, I ask a question of my own. “What kind of rune?”
“She hasn’t fucked me over yet, has she? Besides, we have the amulet and the pouch of whatever the fuck it is we’re hoping will help us against the demons.” He grabs his slate, swiping through until he finds whatever he was looking for. “This is what the rune looks like. I couldn’t find much about it online, but from what she said, it’s a judgment rune and we’ll need to add a drop of our blood to the paint.”
“Because that’s not fucking suspicious,” Raphael mutters, and while I agree with him, it’s definitely not the time.
“If you’re that worried, then keep your blood in your veins and shut the fuck up.”
The air around us chills, dropping several degrees as tensions mount. I understand where Raph’s coming from, but everything I’ve heard so far makes me believe we can trust her. Why else go to all this trouble?
“Can I see that?” I ask Zeke, wanting a closer look at the rune on his slate. He hands it to me without question and I survey the thick lines. It’s not one I recall seeing before, but that doesn’t mean much. We’ve been trying to find out more about Hayliel’s wings for months and we haven’t gotten anywhere. Information tends to disappear in Silver City.
“You can have my blood,” I say, handing him his slate back.
“Mine too,” Dina agrees.
Raphael looks at me like I’ve just kicked his knees out.I’m sorry. I think this is worth trying.
Hayliel watches Zeke, who still can’t look her in the eye before she shrugs. “If it works, maybe it’ll help us trust Castiel’s motives too, right? I’m in.”
“Great,” Zeke says dryly, like he hates that it’s come to this. “It’s settled, then. If we work fast, maybe we can have it ready before she arrives.”
Dina grabs the small can of paint we’ve been using to mark the other runes around the cave and pours some into a small cup. We all prick our fingers, letting a few drops of our blood mix with the paint, and then Zeke draws the image on the stone near the entrance.
When he finishes, Raphael assesses the symbol. “What exactly does the judgment rune do again? How will we know it worked?”
Zeke shrugs, which only pisses Raph off more. “No idea. Mira just says we’ll know.”
Raphael scoffs. “Right. Let’s all just put our faith in this mysterious Mira angel and ignore the threats and secrets she’s holding over your head.”
“That’s enough, Raph. Let’s just focus on the things we can control right now,” Hayliel says, surprising all of us. My friend looks hurt, but a small touch of Hayliel’s hand has him shaking it off. Zeke, though, looks floored by her sticking up for him.
Fuck. I really need to talk to him about what he saw the other night. I would have done so sooner, but he’s been avoiding us like the plague. As much as I think it’s silly, I can understand it. This entire time he’s felt like Hayliel chose us over him, so walking in on our little love fest, especially in his personal training room, probably didn’t help matters.
