Page 50 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

Thirty-Two

LUCILLE

I widened my stance and palmed a dagger. My mom mirrored me, our footsteps crunching in the snow as we circled each other. The full moon, tinted purple from my dream-walking power, shone a spotlight on our front yard.

She brushed my hand, sending a concentrated dose of love to influence me, but it stopped short, hitting the flaming barrier surrounding my mind.

When I didn’t immediately tackle her in a hug, she raised a brow. “Your shield is impressive.”

I shrugged. “Lucifer taught me well. It also helps I saw Sam not long ago.” His extra energy served as a jump start to my power, making everything easier.

My mom lowered her hands. “Sam? Hell’s head healer? ”

“Yeah.” I went for the cheap shot and slashed down with my knife toward her shoulder.

She dodged, narrowing her eyes. But I wasn’t sure if it was from my attack or my response.

“Why did you need to see Sam?”

“To replen—” I stopped myself. My mom wouldn’t like knowing she was siphoning most of my energy.

Except, I’d lasted all day before the drain hit me at the end of training with the guys. Whatever my father was doing definitely helped.

She swiped my legs from under me, and I slammed into the snow-packed ground. She used the opportunity to straddle me, holding her knife to my throat. “To what?”

I let her stay there, smirking. “Sucks not being in the know, doesn’t it, Mom?”

“Lucille Chiara, tell me what I want to know.”

“Not until you answer some of my questions,” I said, flipping her over with a maneuver she showed me and leveling a knife to her neck. “Are you a dream-walker?”

Her brows lowered. “No.”

“Then where did my powers come from?”

“Sweetie, powers can manifest based on the Weaver’s design.”

“Even for me?”

She nodded. “I’d assume so.”

But she didn’t know . “What about your research? What did you find?”

Her hesitation made me suspicious. Mom only hesitated when she was trying to avoid the truth or soften the blow .

“Only a few lines about a rare type of angel.”

“What did they say?”

“Lucy—”

“What did they say, Mom?”

She stood and sheathed her dagger. “Dream-walkers were a rare type of dark angel that could invade dreams and memories and alter the known and unknown. But there was nothing more detailed than that.”

I sat up. “I thought there were only seven types of angels. Are you saying I’m a dark angel?” Whatever the hell that meant.

“No. You are a born angel with similar powers to a dark angel, it seems.” But something in her tone made me pause.

“What aren’t you saying?” The soft rustle of tree branches filled the quiet as I waited for her answer. She chewed on her lip, and I scoffed. “Stop thinking about a way to sugarcoat it and just tell me.”

“Their book said they were taken care of for their sinful natures.”

“Taken care of ? Like killed? Tortured? Put on an island, runed and bound, never to be thought of again? Whose book did you read this from?”

My mom tilted her head to the night sky, searching between the stars with a fierce stare. “Michael gave it to me when I asked him to find books on the history of angels.”

“Like he’s a reliable source,” I muttered, sounding like my father when I confronted him and Cato. “Why did you choose Michael? I understand the prophecy scared you, and that’s why you hid me from Lucifer. But why him? And why let us suffer through his abuse for so long? ”

My mom turned toward our house. “I was told it was the only way.”

“The only way for what?” I stood, rubbing my face.

“I made decisions that I believed were for the greater good, and realized I was wrong too late,” she whispered, her voice strained. “All I want is to protect you, Lucille, and prevent what’s to come. I’m trying to make this right.” She gestured between us, still unable to meet my eyes.

“How are we supposed to prevent anything if you won’t tell me what you’re hiding?”

She gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Some of my secrets are too shameful to share.”

“Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to,” I shot back, ready to scream.

“I have given you as much as I can. Tell me why you’ve been to Sam?”

I closed my eyes, squeezing my hands into tight fists. Every cell in my body thrummed with frustration. I wanted to throttle my mother. To rage at her until she revealed all her dirty secrets. She answered some of my questions, but not nearly enough.

“I don’t know how to control my powers and used too much too fast, so Sam had to give me an energy boost,” I gritted out.

Maybe I was petty or a hypocrite, or perhaps I knew nothing good would come from telling her the whole truth. But at least it wasn’t an outright lie.

“Does that happen often?”

“No,” I lied anyway. But my response was too fast, and she caught it, her eyes narrowing .

“Lucy—”

The dream dissolved, and I woke to a slobbering wet tongue attacking my face, saving me from an interrogation.

“Okay, okay, I’m up!” I exclaimed, pushing away Rune’s big head.

Oliver lay stretched out on top of the bed, clothed in winter running gear with a smug smirk gracing his face.

I shot him a glare. “Were you the mastermind behind this?”

“The wake-up call, no. Poking Rune and encouraging her to lick you with her nasty smelling drool, possibly.” He shrugged, smiling. “Alexei and Ronen are waiting outside our door to run with us.”

“Why are Ronen and Al—” I cut off. “Extra protection,” I answered for myself, staring at our canopy as thoughts of last night swirled uncomfortably in my mind. My palms began to sweat just thinking about it, my heart rate picking up speed. How could I face him today after…

Hell, after nothing! It’s not like we did anything wrong. We exchanged a few words, and he gently touched my scars. That was it. I groaned. Why couldn’t that be it?

Rune whimpered, snapping me out of my thoughts. She sat on the bed, peering down at me with her cute tail coiling.

“We’re all waiting,” Oliver sang.

I responded as any best friend would—with the middle finger.

He snorted, then proceeded to rip off my covers and shove me off the bed.

I landed in a heap on the hardwood. “Ass.”

“The prettiest ass you’ve ever seen.” He leaned over and gave me a noogie .

“That’s debatable.” I swatted him away.

“Too right. We have the heartthrob hustler and the scrumdiddlyumptious general on the other side of the door.”

Rolling my eyes, I stood, then walked to my closet and changed, wishing my stomach wasn’t in knots.

Despite my nerves, our run with the general and Alexei wasn’t half bad.

Ronen led us at a steady pace, teaching us breathing techniques and how to hold our bodies when we got tired, while Alexei chimed in behind us.

With their help and encouragement, we ran the entire ten miles.

Although we had a slower time, I didn’t feel the slightest bit drained—but my lungs still burned.

Afterward, I met up with my father in the greenhouse. He sat next to me, hunching over in his nicely pressed suit.

I touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Dark bags sagged beneath his bloodshot eyes. “I’m fine. Shield.”

“I am,” I said hesitantly.

Lucifer nodded. “Good. Escape my hallucination and twist it into one of your own.”

He started the same way he always did, using my reality against me to make it seem like it wasn’t a hallucination. But this time, I felt his cold presence behind the scenes. Whether intentional or not, I didn’t know.

I waited on the bench for the illusion to play out, staring at the clear ice glistening in the golden sunlight. Rays refracted rainbows against the stone path. A smile tugged at my lips, enjoying the warmth at my back and the prism of color. But then the scene blurred and everything changed .

If I hadn’t already felt my father’s tampering, I would’ve known it was a hallucination by that alone—and the fact that I no longer sat in the greenhouse. Instead, I stood in my seven-year-old bedroom, and Michael had his black dagger raised right above the younger version of myself’s exposed back.

My father decided to let my subconscious take over instead of controlling the illusion.

“Do you know why you’re being punished?” Michael asked, lowering his mouth to my ear. “Helpless wimp.”

Young Lucy trembled, clutching at a stuffed animal rabbit. “Because I accidentally used my powers again?” she whispered.

I closed my eyes, wrapped the melody of my hallucination power around my mind, thought about fear, and pushed it toward the cold presence lurking in the background. My purple, frilly bedroom faded, replaced by the greenhouse and my father holding his head in his hands.

“Lucifer?” I touched his shoulder. Had it really been that easy to remove myself and push my power on him?

He didn’t move or even acknowledge me.

I let go of the song whispering in my ear and touched him again. “Father.”

He twisted and blinked. The movement was slow, his eyes glossy as if he wasn’t mentally present. Standing, he wobbled and steadied himself on the bench arm.

“You did a good job, my sweet Lucille. But I need some rest. We’ll practice in the Shard Field tomorrow.”

Did he just compliment me?

“Do you need help? Should I take you to Sam? ”

He shook his head. “No. Get to training. I don’t need any help.”

I frowned after him, watching his retreat.

“Oh, Moira did not look happy after the general told her we were skipping training to go with him and Alexei,” Oliver said as we walked down the hall. “I bet tomorrow our punishment is gonna suck. Well—” He paused. “More than it usually does.”

“Mhmm.” I nodded absentmindedly.

Was my father sick or just extremely stressed? Was that why he switched the hallucination to the easier version?

Oliver said something as he pushed on the stone to open the hidden door that led to the castle roof.

“Mhmm, yeah,” I replied, not paying attention.

Something was up. Any other day, I would’ve never been able to escape that fast. Sure, he was my teacher, but he was the master of hallucination.

Oliver said something else.