Page 41 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Opening my essence to her, I let her pull from my shadows. She used them to suffocate Ni’s flame enough to breach her wall, only to have a fiery whip come lashing toward her face. Before it landed, a wall of Glory erupted as a shield, stopping Ni’s attack .

And then I felt a sharper pain in my chest, like someone had stabbed me. The hellion’s emotions were nothing but a whisper in my mind.

Look at Lucille! I demanded.

Rune turned her head to the cliff’s edge. Lucille swayed on her feet, dropping to her knees, her eyes fluttering like they couldn’t stay open. She glanced behind her and back to Ni, then down to the ground, frowning at something.

Put Ni down, I ordered Rune, snapping out of our connection just as I cleared the tree line, and Ni slammed a line of fire next to Lucille.

The cliff edge crumbled beneath her, and she plummeted.

My shadows dove for her, racing with a desperation that matched my own. Her unconscious body careened toward the starry black lake, and time seemed to stretch as I watched her fall. My shadows caught her moments before she hit the water, curling around her fragile frame like a protective cloak.

I swept her into my arms, holding her tight to my thundering heart, each beat too fast, too hard.

Her fading warmth intensified the painful tug—and it hit me. This wasn’t the first time I’d felt a pull from the bond. It was just the first time it had brought me pain. I usually kept our bond blocked.

Like when she collapsed after her run and Rune brought her to the infirmary. At the time, I didn’t think anything of the pull. But if I had let my barriers down, I guarantee I would’ve felt a similar agonizing warning.

It was Divine Wasting. She had overused her powers, pushing her body and soul to their limits .

My shadows darted into her nose, frantic to find any way to help as we raced toward Sam. I couldn’t heal, but I could stimulate or suppress parts of her brain. That didn’t mean I could wake her from unconsciousness or ease the agony tearing through my chest.

“You do not get to leave me before I’ve had a chance to know you.” I brushed her wavy hair back with a shaky hand, needing to see her face. “Do you hear me, Hellion? Please, open your eyes.”

I touched different neurons, sending energy to them, hoping it’d do something. Her toes twitched. Her fist squeezed in her lap. But nothing helped. Nothing stopped the weakening of our bond as she faded.

I had witnessed plenty of death, most of it caused by my own unwilling hands, bound to the will of a power-hungry angel.

One drop of blood from my victims allowed me to rip into their minds.

Two drops paralyzed them. Three could shut down parts of their brains.

The more blood I had, the more I could strip them of everything they were.

I watched them die. I watched my best friend die.

Each death left a mark—a wound carved deep into my soul and onto my back.

But never, until this moment, had I felt the agony of half my soul dying.

It didn’t compare.

Nothing ever would.

Just hours ago, she’d been laughing, filling my chest with that fucking flutter, making me question the bitterness I’d carried toward her. Now, she was taking with her a part of me I hadn’t even known I needed .

“Be a pain in my ass, Hellion. Give me a reason to be irritated,” I whispered, clutching her close as I tried to steady my breath. “Just open your eyes. We’re not finished.”

Suddenly, her fist burst with a bright yellow light, cutting through the shadows that covered her like clothing.

And then I felt them.

The throb of pain in her hand. The scrapes on her body. The ache in her face and feet. I felt her exhaustion. Her soul, a little more energized. But more than anything, the sharp, suffocating rip in my chest faded.

I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, then dropped my forehead to hers, feeling her warmth slowly return.

“Seven Hells.” I inhaled the sweet scent of winter berries, the familiar fragrance grounding me as it steadied the chaos in my heart and calmed the shadows within me.

I didn’t lose control. I didn’t dive into emotional fits of rage. I didn’t worry beyond clear thought. My power and position didn’t allow for that. I had painstakingly built a wall between my emotions and thoughts so I would never be ruled by my them again.

But that wall was crumbling—and it was all because of her.

Once we arrived at the healers’ wing, I shouted for Sam, only wanting the best to care for her.

He snapped his head up from a half-hidden bed, handing off items to another healer before rushing down the line of cots and privacy curtains.

“Let me see, General,” Sam demanded, searching through my shadows .

I pulled them back—but kept them covering her private areas—listing off the events, her injuries, and ending with the yellow light in her fist.

Sam unclenched her hand and pulled out a small translucent crystal, visibly relaxing. “I gave her my energy to use if she ever needed a boost.”

“Thank you,” I said, the words tasting unfamiliar on my tongue. “It saved her life.”

He nodded, then extended his arms to take her from me. I hesitated, overcome by a surge of irrational fear.

His gaze softened. “Let me do my job, Ronen. Or the little energy keeping her alive will have been for nothing.”

Reluctantly, I released her, every muscle in my body protesting as I followed Sam into a private room at the back of the large hall.

He laid her on a bed with care, his pendant glowing faintly as he pressed his hand over her heart.

A stream of yellow light shot into her body, causing her to arch and her mouth to open in a silent scream.

I turned away and tuned into Rune instead, tightening my hold on my shadows before they did something stupid.

Rune walked beside Lucifer, her attention fixed on Ni, who was restrained in ice, her hisses muffled as Alexei and MJ dragged her toward a cell in the dungeons.

“Get General Ronen down here, and find out the state of Lucille,” Lucifer snapped to Alexei and MJ, standing in front of the thick black bars. “This demon will answer for her crimes after we bleed the truth from her.”

Demon?

I frowned, nudging Rune closer to the scene, and finally saw the black veins crawling up Ni’s neck.

She had turned.