Page 101 of The Healing Dragon
I look at Janelle but find nothing in her expression but fury. No guilt has had time to slip in, but I know it’s unavoidable. Taking her father’s life is damned to leave a mark on her soul.
Mel is beside her, looking at the body on the ground with growing disinterest. He leans over to her and says something in her ear. Then he crosses the distance to Brandon and me.
“She’s a lost cause,” Mel tells me, then turns to look at her. “What a shame. She would’ve made a wonderful addition to my ranks.”
Dexter lets out a long growl before rushing forward and picking up Lord Duelo. He tosses the once leader of Ignis into the air and catches him in his mouth. Dexter’s body is made of flames, making him partly transparent. We watch the body slowly disintegrate, consumed by the fire until he is nothing but ashes.
Janelle wields air to pick up the ashes and carries them high in the air until they are long out of sight.
“I don’t want your soul.” Mel stares at Janelle with something close to pride. “I want hers.”
“Her soul isn’t for sale,” I say.
“You boys, with your delusional state of thinking you make choices for them. It may not be for sale now but the day might come.” His voice trails off as LeeAnn joins us.
The fight has ended. Angels move around the guards, offering congratulations and checking on all the injured. Their healingmagic will have everyone back to normal in a couple of hours. However, LeeAnn’s face is filled with worry. She walks straight to Mel, but once a foot away, she looks down at her hands.
“Where is my brother?” Mel asks with a blank expression.
“He was called away,” LeeAnn says. She pushes her shoulders back and locks eyes with one of the most notorious creatures in the underworld. “Mel, I think he is in trouble.”
“What do you mean?” he asks in a low, hardly contained tone.
“I don’t know much but…”
LeeAnn’s eyes fill with tears. Her hands tremble and her breathing becomes shallow. I take a step back and realize she is having a panic attack.
“LeeAnn, breathe please.” Brandon moves to take her arm, but stops at Mel’s block.
I know my brother doesn’t mean to cause her harm. He likely believes that she requires a sense of stability in order to lower her heart rate. But Mel takes his proximity as a threat.
Mel pulls LeeAnn to his chest as swirls of black smoke from the ground envelops them.
“Hey!” Someone shouts.
A group of angels rush over at Mel. The smoke disappears and with it, has the demon and angel who stood there.
“Where’s he taking her?” Pedro asks me.
“She wasn’t feeling well. He’s taking her back home.” Brandon lies so easily and convincingly I wonder if I missed something for a second.
“She doesn’t fly often since she always stays at Fierno,” Pedro says, more to himself than to us. “She must’ve gotten sick.”
The look he gives me implies I should feel more at ease about falling sick after my first flight. Other angels murmur things about why a demon shouldn’t have been the one to helpher home. But no one else asks us anything else. They move to leave as they continue to discuss amongst themselves.
“You lied,” I say.
Brandon steps to my side, looking at the aftermath. “One problem at a time. Regardless, I truly believe he means her no harm. The way he acts around her makes me wonder if he suspects they have something in common.”
“What do you mean?”
Brandon looks around as if to make sure no one is listening. “Mel isn’t supposed to have a soul. He has made remarks about not having one. But when I look at him, I see a color. The same color is there when I look at LeeAnn.”
I stand there in stunned silence.
The idea that a demon from the underworld could’ve the same color soul as an angel is preposterous. However, I believe Brandon when he tells me what he saw. There are too many unknowns.
It seemed as if they just met today in front of us. For all we know, that was the first time they met inthislifetime.
