Keeper of Crows (Keeper of Crows #1)(51)

“He has the sword of Lucifer,” I said quietly.

Gabriel’s fists clenched around the leash. “How?”

“Malchazze promised him her soul.”

“We have to get back in there. We have to help her.”

“How?” I asked. How in the hell would we get through the stone barrier she’d erected between us?

“We have to make a plea. Just...let me get rid of the dog.” He walked to the elderly bird lover and asked her to hold his leash for a moment, muttering in angel that she loves the dog and should take him home.

“That was uncalled for. She’s too old to care for him.”

Gabriel laughed. “The dog is old as well. They’ll make great companions. You worry too much about small things when we have much greater things to worry about.”

“When did we ever care this much about one soul?” I asked.

“She’s a good person. Beneath her harsh words, she is good. Carmen didn’t ask for any of this. She is an innocent.”

Was she? “She shoved me out a fissure.”

Gabriel threw his head back, laughing as he walked toward a thicket. “I bet she did. She certainly is a feisty one.”

A growl erupted low in my chest. Not for the first time, I wondered if perhaps Gabriel cared for her in the same way I did.

“I don’t. Our relationship is friendly, whereas yours is... passionate. Though, I worry that when we make our plea, that may be a determining factor and a negative one for Carmen.”

“I won’t lie about it, Gabriel.”

“I should hope not. The truth will be known.”

Away from human eyes, Gabriel took my hand. If I had wings, the contact wouldn’t be necessary, but my wings were stuck in Purgatory with Carmen. I just hoped I could get them all out of there.



It had been far too long since I walked the streets of Heaven, golden and soft beneath the skin of my bare feet. The eyes of many angels caught on my form until they saw my face. They initially assumed I was among the fallen, that my wings had torn away when I fell from grace. In a way, I was. I fell, just not from Heaven. Many eons ago I was charged with protecting someone, and I failed because I was distracted; a distraction that I’ve paid for in spades.

I may not have fallen from Heaven into Hell, but being thrown into Purgatory was a hell in its own right. My wings were torn away when I entered that place, and the crows became my only companions.

Heaven knew I loved Carmen, and Heaven knew we’d physically sealed our union by making love. I knew the rules and that relations with humans were forbidden, so it was only a matter of time before punishment was meted out. This time, I hoped it earned me a one-way ticket back to Purgatory, back to her. Realistically, I knew it wouldn’t be allowed, but someone had to get her out of there.

A light breeze stirred. I heard the moment my oldest friend sniffed the air. Gabriel’s feet stilled and the smile he wore slowly slid from his lips. His countenance darkened as his wings violently shredded his shirt. Like a bull seeing the color red, his nostrils flared. “What did you do? I smell her on you.”

“From your reaction, I’m assuming you already know.”

His lips thinned. “I want to hear it from your lips. Tell me how you took advantage of her.”

My shoulders, forgetting they bore no wings, flexed, tearing the scars open again. Red hot pain seared my flesh, two ribbons that would never heal. Two twin paths of warm blood trailed from the wounds. “I did not take advantage of her.”

“Oh, because, let me guess,” Gabriel mocked. “You love her. You’ve only known her for minutes, Michael. She’s so young. She was raised by Malchazze. She’s never had love or affection. You weren’t the first she used to cool the ache in her heart, and you won’t be the last. Carmen is a spoiled child trapped in the body of a woman. She wields it well, but you should have known better.”

“She deserves better than me, I know, but I was tired of pushing her away when I wanted nothing but her. Judge me if you must, but I won’t yield. I love her.” It was the only truth I did know.

Gabriel spat at my feet. “You know nothing of love. Love is putting someone else’s needs above your own. You have only ever considered yourself since…”

“Say her name!” I roared.

“No.”

“Say it. You want me to grovel? I will. I am sorry. Eulalia… My failure to protect her? That was an accident. I’ve paid years of penance for trying to help her mother when I should have been watching over her. You didn’t know that, though, did you? You assumed I loved the woman, but I didn’t. However, in trying to help Eulalia, I knew that her mother had to be helped first. She was possessed by a powerful demon, so I took her to a priest and held her down as he exorcised her. The act took two days; time enough for me to lose focus on my charge, and for the bastards to torture her thirteen-year-old body to death.”

Gabriel’s jaw ticked.

“I wonder why in Heaven they omitted that part of the story, Gabriel?”

He shook his head and then lunged, catching my throat in his hand. Within a second, he lowered me and wrapped Elysian cord around my wrists. “This time is different, Michael. This time you broke the rules knowing the consequence. This time, you chose to fall.”

Shoving me forward, I glanced behind me at the beautiful gates, solid and made entirely of pearl, shining and welcoming. I’d almost made it inside them. But in that moment, I knew I’d never see them again.