Page 58 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 57

Rebecca

Rebecca dropped her shoulders, shaking out her arms. They had resumed practice in her front yard, and after several hours of Azazel’s bossy instruction, she was over it.

“I don’t want to train anymore,” she said. “I want to find Elizabeth and end her.”

Are you ready to face her, Light?

A tremor that had nothing to do with the cold racked Rebecca. “What choice do I have? If we wait for her to come to us, she’ll have the advantage when she does. Every day, more of my sisters may be dying. We need to unlock the lance and find her so I can end her once and for all.”

“No,” Azazel said. “Once you unlock the lance, I will use it to end her myself.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “If I’m truly the chosen one,” she said the words in air quotes, “then I need to be the one to stop her. Unless you don’t believe she’ll usher in the end times.”

“Samael will be responsible for the end times.” As he said it, Azazel’s face changed, his eyes going blank for a moment.

“Az? What is it?”

His brow dipped, and his vision cleared. “Something’s happened. I’ll return shortly. ”

Rebecca stepped forward, but he was gone before she could get to him. She stomped her foot in the dirt. Why hadn’t she gotten the special ability to disappear at will when she unlocked her gift?

Her phone buzzed, and she looked down. Simon.

She hadn’t heard from him since her text about the cameras, and her stomach twisted at seeing his name. She wasn’t ready to talk to him, to hear from the man she had once trusted with every fiber of her being, who she now knew was capable of such a violation.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself from opening and reading his text.

I’ve just woken from surgery. You were the first person I thought of, and you’ll be my last thought before I close my eyes tonight. You may never trust me again, and I deserve that, but I only ever wanted the best for you, Firefly. I hope you trust in that.

Rebecca closed her eyes. Firefly had been the name that broke her father’s Obscura spell all those years ago when she learned the truth. Since then, it held a special meaning for her—until Simon used it on Allie.

She understood a little better now, though. Being someone’s soulmate—and knowing she wasn’t the first—shed new light on her circumstances. For the first time, she could see why Simon hadn’t thought of it as cheating. A laugh escaped her. Their problems were so much bigger than cheating.

A cool breeze ghosted across Rebecca’s neck. Something was coming, something vile.

And it was coming for her.

She wasn’t sure how she was so certain, but Sophia's words came back to her: The ocean speaks if you know how to listen.

As air magic was her strongest gift, would it tell her things if she listened? She let her senses come to life, taking in her surroundings.

Spinning in a small circle in the snow, she watched all the elements folding together to make up her world. Air danced between physical objects as moisture solidified, drifting to the snowy earth. New life pressed against its weight, testing for places to break through and absorb the sun’s radiant energy. And atop it all, kinetic energy was absorbed and redistributed .

Her breath caught. She bit her lip, honing all her senses on the energy propelling life forward, and thought back to Sophia’s explanation of how time worked. If she could master this skill, she could be useful in the coming fight.

Rebecca raised both arms, pulling at the newly whole ember in her chest. It warmed, prepared to do her bidding.

She lifted her hands, taking in her world, when a pair of black-tipped ears appeared, followed by a long orange snout. A fox spied her moments after darting across her path and froze. She smiled, and the creature continued on. As the energy it expelled fell away, she caught it, wrapping it between her fingers and holding it fast.

In her small bubble of time, she flicked one finger against a frozen tree branch and watched in wonder as the ice coating it bounced once and hung suspended in mid-air. It remained that way for several seconds before it resumed its downward trajectory and landed on her shoe.

It was moments, but she squealed in delight. This was a skill worth mastering.