Page 109 of The Scribe (Irin Chronicles 1)

This is why the angels fell.

He woke slowly;the sun shining through the blacked-out windows cast eerie shadows in the room. Ava was still draped over his torso, exhausted by their lovemaking. Most of the dye had rubbed off during the night, leaving the red-brown henna patterns that mirrored his tattoos. His immediate reaction was to wake her and claim her body again, but he knew she needed sleep. He covered her with a light blanket and wrapped a towel around his body before he walked downstairs.

“Any change?” he asked Rhys, who still sat by Leo’s bedside, drowsy in the brighter light of the second-story room.

“He’s cooler. The wound is healing. He started getting some real sleep after you two quieted down.”

“We weren’t that loud.”

“It wasn’t the sound, it was the energy, for heaven’s sake. You forget how young he is. If his body had let him, he would have gone charging into the night, desperate to find a woman.”

“Sorry.” Malachi pulled up a chair opposite his friend.

“No, you’re not.” Rhys’s gaze flickered down to Malachi’s hands, still stained from the henna dye. His eyes widened. “You marked her.”

“I did.”

“Malachi—”

“It was necessary.”

“No, it wasn’t. She doesn’t know the other half of the ritual. You’ve given her half your magic with nothing in return.”

“Don’t say that.” He glared. “Don’t ever say that. If she was yours, you’d understand.”

Rhys opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. After a few tense moments, he said, “You’ll be weak.”

“And she’ll be strong.”

“This is the worst time for you to indulge in sentimental—”

“It was necessary, Rhys.” He bit back the urge to yell. “When we spoke to Jaron, he said something.”

“What could he possibly have said that would make you risk your life—?”

“It was a warning. One of her, Rhys.” His friend fell silent as Malachi spoke. “One of her. Thousands of us. She was sent to me for a reason. I have to protect her.”

“We will all protect her, brother.”

“I’m counting on that. If anything happens to me… I’m counting on that. Do you understand?”

Rhys’s eyes finally met his intense gaze. “I understand. I would treat her as my own blood. You know this.”

“Thank you.”

“But seeing as you’re her one true love, you’d better make this promise unnecessary. Doyouunderstand?”

Malachi grinned. “You think I want to give her up after I’ve just found her? Think again. You’d have her forgetting me in no time.”

His brother cleared his throat and forced a smile. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“You need to get her out of the city.”

“Has Maxim called?”

“No, but I know he keeps an extra car not far from here. With unknown Fallen activity and so many Grigori in the city, that’s probably the safest route. If you can just get her out of the city, you’ll buy yourself some time.”

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