Page 92 of Wings of Valor
As the light fades, every angel around me stands still.
The demons who didn’t burn up in the blast halt their attacks. The Fallen angels who sided with them lower their weapons.
It’s like the entire world pauses.
Auriel is dead.
Dead.
I glance once more at the broken statue of Auriel’s body, still not quite believing it.
“It is done,” Remiel says. It’s the first time he’s spoken to me directly since he began chanting. He kneels over Auriel’s broken form, his lips moving with silent words I can’t piece together, then he picks up the flame-tipped staff. He looks strange holding onto it, his book still held in the opposite hand.
Mentally, I send out a message to my friends.
Auriel is dead.
The demons must realize this too, because half of them hop in the sky and take off without a second glance. The others turn to us, ready to fight once more, but with half of their survivors having disbanded, the army around me makes short work of them. Some they kill, some they capture for questioning.
They do the same with the Pure and Fallen angels who were on the wrong side of this war.
“I’ll need to question them,” Remiel tells me, as if sensing my thoughts. “I should be able to tell who acted purely under Auriel’s influence versus those who chose to take up arms against their fellow angels of their own free will.”
The battle might be over, but the work is only just beginning.
I turn and catch a glimpse of Castiel’s unmoving form. My legs move on their own until I’m crouching down beside him. Isadora is there, holding his hand. If my powers could heal Zeke’s wing, maybe I could do something there.
Digging deep, I coax my power forward, willing it to enter Castiel’s wound and save him. Please. Please save him. Tears fall freely as I stare at him, watching as the hole in his chest glows with pure sunlight. The light is far too soft, too dull.
“You did it,” he rasps, a smile tilting his bloodstained lips.
A sob tears up my throat at the pride I see in his eyes. “But I wasn’t quick enough.”
“Hush now,” he says, placing his free hand on mine. “You did good, Miss Hayliel. This old man is fortunate to have had the chance to get to know you.”
“There has to be a way,” I whisper, desperation clawing at me.
“What’s going on?” Zeke’s voice comes from behind me, causing the tears to fall even harder.
“Auriel got him with a blade,” Isadora tells Zeke, Raph, Theo and Mira as they crowd around Castiel’s form.
“I tried using my powers, hoping I could help him like I did with your wing.” It has to work. Then I see what Zeke just dropped on the ground beside me. His severed wing. I meet his eyes and find nothing but love there. “But how?”
“With all things, there are limits,” Remiel says as he approaches with Phiel.
“Thank you … for the privilege,” Castiel tells me, his voice weak, but I’m not ready to say goodbye.
“Please don’t go,” I whisper through the pain in my chest.
We must have used up all our miracles for the day, because a few minutes later, his eyes shut and they don’t open again.
A fresh wave of guilt and sorrow damn near drowns me. He died because Auriel sensed he meant something to me. If Castiel had never been kind to me, if he’d stayed away, maybe he’d be alive right now.
Someone pulls me up, Raphael, I think, and I burrow my head into his chest. “Are you injured?”
“Nothing that won’t heal.” He presses a kiss to my head.
“I hope you didn’t get attached to his perfectly sculpted chest,” Theo says, his tone full of false light. “That cut is gonna scar.”
