Keeper of Crows (Keeper of Crows #1)(52)

Gabriel stretched his wings wide and lifted me off the ground. “There will be a tribunal. Tonight. And you will pay for hurting her.”

I didn’t hurt her; I loved her, but I’d pay all the same. Gabriel would never understand. He would never concede an inch of his position that he was right and I was wrong. His eyes only saw in black and white. Shades of gray were lost on him, worthless hues that clouded the eyes of the weak.

He was taking me to Marum, a secret, bottom-level domain of Heaven itself, where punishment would be decided and meted out by one of the seven angels charged with the task. It was why the fallen chose to leap to their possible deaths, onto the earthen plane. Marum was a place of nightmares for our kind, and mine was just beginning.

“You have to go to her, Gabriel.”

I could hear his teeth grind together.

“She’s still weak. Malchazze will kill her.”

Gabriel smiled from above me. “But she isn’t weak. I strengthened her. I gave her an Angel stone, as well.”

That was why her mind had been so quiet. The stone cloaked her thoughts. “Why would you do that?” I roared, rage pulsing through my veins. I wanted to tear him apart, piece by piece, peeling away an inch of his flesh at a time.

“I did it to protect her from you, and to make her strong enough to physically fight for herself. It was the only way she could survive him.”

“I can’t feel her, Gabriel.”

He shook his head as if cobwebs had formed within it. “Neither can I, but she sealed the veil. She did what she knew she was capable of doing. Carmen only needed someone to believe in her.”

“And I suppose you were the one who bolstered her confidence?” I growled.

“Of course I did,” he spat, lowering us through layers of clouds, each darker than the last. He let go of me and I fell to the ground, to the top of a snow-capped peak. Dark clouds swirled around menacingly.

“Kushiel!” Gabriel called out.

The clouds swirled faster until Kushiel’s white wings appeared from the center of the storm. “You called?”

Gabriel smiled. “Michael has fornicated with a human. More specifically, with the daughter of Malchazze.”

Kushiel’s gaze was feline, predatory as he reached to his side, sliding his palm over the burning leather of his whip. It was made of hellfire, and only he could wield it and contain its power. He used it to break angels. I was next. “After the tribunal, you’re mine,” he promised.

I looked at Gabriel, whose prim look of satisfaction made me want to tear him apart, limb from limb. “Find a way to get to her.”

“She controls the way in and out now,” he said. “She has to open a doorway.”

I shook my head, staring at the blood seeping red through the pure snow beneath my knees. “She’s in danger. If you really care about her at all, as an innocent, please help her. Someone can help her or give you the power to do it.”

He turned his back, flapping his wings once, twice. His feet lifted from the ground and I stood on my knees. “Help her!” I pleaded.

Gabriel wouldn’t look at me. “Help. Her. Gabriel!”

Kushiel grinned at me before winking. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

I wouldn’t. I was getting the hell out of Marum, one way or another. Conjuring flame, I willed it to burn the Elysian cord. The bitter wind, filled with bits of snow and frost swirled, extinguishing the flame every time I lit it. Rising to my feet, I started down the mountain. I had to get into the trees below, where the fire might stand a chance. It would take days to get there. Fear fueled my feet. Fear and love. I had to get to her before Malchazze could hurt her again.

CARMEN



Slowly, Malchazze’s body turned to ash, a flaking husk of a soul. I cupped my hands like I’d seen Michael do and blew a long breath at the corpse. It flecked away slowly, and then all the pieces of him took flight, disintegrating in the air before reaching the ground. A wave of nausea threatened to take me under. What would happen to the earthen body of the man Malchazze used to occupy? What do I do now?

Screaming and wailing from below the castle answered the thought. First, I would kick the Lessons out of the city, but not before allowing them to clean it up. I wish I had something more comfortable to wear. As I walked from the balcony, the sound of swishing and sighing fabric as it caressed the stone floor stopped. The corset was gone, as were the skirts. In its wake was a flexible, black, metallic second skin. Chain mail, but so fine it wasn’t something a human could create. I jogged and it didn’t hold me back. I swung my arms up and down, side to side. It hugged me, but allowed the movement. The fine hair along the back of my neck danced in delight. I reached up to find a high collar…of crow feathers.

I was the Keeper of Crows now.

Jogging down the stairs, I ran for the exit, for room to breathe. The castle was stifling in a way I didn’t understand. Maybe it was Malchazze’s lingering presence. I called to the sky for a single crow. When one looked down, I held a finger out, silently ordering it to land. When the bird’s feet wrapped around my skin, it was a gentle hold.

I stroked its feathers, walking toward the breach in the wall where the Lessons were. I called them to stop and they obeyed. They were out of sight, but the commotion came to an abrupt halt. The screaming ended. The sounds of terror, already a memory.