Keeper of Crows (Keeper of Crows #1)(58)

“Magic has nothing to do with it.”

Gabriel was about the same size as Michael, built the same. His tattoos flowed gently. When he looked up, his eyes softened to a caramel color. “I’m not him.”

“I know. You look so much alike, and while there are things you share, like the tattoo thing, you aren’t him.” Gabriel’s chin lifted a tick. “You’re glad not to be him.”

“I am.”

“Pride isn’t a sin anymore?” I smiled.

His eyes burned, scorching the caramel and charring it. “I’m not proud. I only do what I must because that’s what I was created for. Nothing more, nothing less.” He looked away, effectively dismissing me.

It was the saddest thing I’d ever heard.

His eyes snapped to mine again. “Why would you feel sadness for an archangel?” he scoffed.

“I don’t feel sadness for an archangel. I’m sad for you, that you think you’re only valuable for one reason, when there are so many things that make you amazing.” When he opened his mouth to protest, I held my hand up. “You aren’t Michael, and I’m not in love with you, but you’re worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. As a friend, I think you should hear that once in a while.”

“We’re friends?” he asked quietly.

“Duh. Now make me superhero strong so I can kick some devil ass.”

He chuckled lightly. “You’re the strangest human I’ve ever met.”

“Because I’m the first you’ve taken the time to get to know,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“Come on,” I instructed, waving to him. “Make me strong again. I’ll warm up my ass-kicking skills on you.”

His brows raised. “I’ll make you strong, but only because I don’t want to hurt you, human.” When his thumb brushed my forehead, it was like a line of frost had been drawn. I wasn’t burning from flame, but from ice. I was turning to stone. Pure strength, better than adrenaline, coursed through my body and I reveled in the feel of it. Soon, the soreness was gone. The fatigue vanished.

Literally bouncing on my toes, I told him, “I need you to bottle that just for me. This is like a thousand energy drinks, only it won’t explode your heart.”





27





We fought, blade against blade, until Gabriel was breaking out in a sweat, his body coated in a beaded sheen. The crows watched from the windows, each bird’s eye focusing on the way the blades sliced through the air before they found their mark. “I gave you too much strength,” he grunted, shoving me away from him.

I just grinned. “I love it. I’m not sure there’s such a thing as too much.”

“Every human loves power. It’s your nature.”

“It’s not yours? You don’t love what you do? You’re an angelic warrior with pretty wings, for crying out loud.”

“My wings are ‘pretty’? That’s the word you’d use to describe them?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with pretty?”

He shook his head slowly. “Nothing. I’ve just never heard them called pretty before.”

“Never?”

“No. Never.”

“Hmm. They are, you know,” I said with a shrug.

He just smiled, his cheeks flushing. “I see it now.”

“See what?” I asked, catching my breath.

“I see why he’s so taken with you.”

Uh. How to respond? Gabriel was definitely a friend, but he would never be more.

“I know that,” he hissed, charging at me with a look of fierce determination on his face. I didn’t mean to embarrass him. As I raised my sword to block his blow, the block beneath my feet shifted to the side. Actually, the whole castle did. Dust from the grout above us flurried onto our heads.

“What the hell was that?” I asked breathlessly. Another jolt and the world lurched again. Screams erupted outside. The crows took to the sky, cawing loudly.

Flinging the large wooden door open, I ran outside. The Earth shook again. No, not Earth. Purgatory. Purgatory was being attacked. The veil shimmered with each jolt. Dark flashes filtered across the sky, like macabre northern lights.

“It’s him,” Gabriel said, sword at the ready, standing by my side.

“I’m not ready!” I yelled over the commotion.

“Did you really think he would wait until you were?”

I wanted to run, scream, or cry. Maybe all three.

“You should go inside,” Gabriel said softly, turning me to look at him. “This is my assignment.”

“What is? Battling the devil?”

“No,” he said, smiling slightly. “Defending the Keeper of Crows.”

My mind flashed to Michael, but I remembered that I’d taken the position from him when I threw him from this gray place.

The ground jolted again. “Get Lucifer’s sword and cloak it! Then relax the veil and let him fall into this place. He’ll expect you to strengthen the barrier. He won’t expect you to let him in.”

Everything in me wanted to make the veil stronger than titanium, to keep Lucifer away from this place and away from Gabriel, the sword, and the souls below.