Page 57

Story: Kiss of Death

His snarl quickly falls away as his eyes land on me. “Fucking hell.”

He throws himself at us, wrapping himself around me and my sister. I let my eyes fall shut as I bury my head in Wren’s neck.

“You were dead,” I tell her, and she nods.

“I was.”

Pulling back, I laugh. “If you were dead, then how aren’t you now?”

Gael clears his throat. “I think I can answer that.”

“As can I if you’ll let me through, assholes.” Wraith’s voice has me snapping toward Gael, who steps back to reveal my mates.

I break away from my sister and Brenden, rushing into his arms and clinging to him. Cassianand Donovan are there too, tugging me from Wraith so they can hug me too.

When I pull back, I find Nex standing there. I shake my head, the pain of our broken bond still radiating through me. “How?”

“You,” Wraith says as he presses against my back. “You’re a necromancer, Audrey.”

I shake my head, never taking my eyes off Nex. “Necromancers haven’t existed for…I don’t know how long, but it’s been a long time.”

“You’re right, and if it’s something that only three-quarter-blooded gods can be, that makes sense,” Wraith presses.

“And Wren?” I ask, knowing she’s no necromancer. Nor did my magic raise her from the dead like it did for the others.

Gael’s the one who answers. “She’s a phoenix.”

That’s what finally has me tearing my eyes away from Nex. “So, I raise the dead, and she comes back from the dead?”

“So it seems.” Wraith chuckles. “We’ll deal with all of this later. Everything might have died down over here, but that’s not going to last for long. I can already hear the fight moving toward us. The angels who were here when you went supernova snuck away while we weredistracted—likely going to tell Michael of the new developments.”

It’s only then that the sounds of the battle reach my ears once more. I was just so focused on what was going on around me I lost track of everything else.

“What do I do?” I ask Wraith, frowning as I turn toward the undead angels.

“You command them. They’re your army, after all.”

Can it really be that easy?

“Kill the angels fighting for Michael,” I tell them, my voice reverberating with power as it echoes off the building—even though I barely spoke above a whisper. The power resonates in the voice that’s mine but not, commanding them to my will.

As one, the zombie angels step forward, heading toward the sounds of the battle.

I watch them go, shaking my head. Not only did I raise them from the dead, but I can control them? That’s insane.

My eyes catch on to Nex, and I realize how stupid I’ve been. I knew the entire time that he was trying to push me and Brenden away. I knew he thought he was protecting us.

Did he hurt us in the worst possible way? He sure the fuck did, but he’s also been trying to make it up to us—not that I’ve given him much of a chance to do so.

I almost lost him today. Something inside me broke when I realized he was dead. That Wren was dead.

I can’t continue to hold on to the hurt or cling to my pain. It’s not just punishing Nex, but me and Brenden as well.

I throw myself at Nex, and he hugs me close as my tears fall once more.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” I murmur into his neck.

“No. You have nothing to be sorry for.” His voice is firm, and this is probably something we’ll never agree on.