Keeper of Crows (Keeper of Crows #1)(60)

“You have to leave this place to heal, don’t you?”

He nodded, again wincing, a sheen of sweat on his brow and upper lip. “I can have them take you,” I offered, ticking my head to the crows. If it were possible, I’d take him myself.

“I know you would. Let them carry me.”

Calling them by the thousands, I helped Gabriel to his feet.

“Lucifer?” he asked haltingly. His eyes were glassy, feverish.

“Dead.”

“How?” His mouth gaped open, more blood webbing at the corners.

I leaned my forehead against his as the crows swirled around him, giving him the memory. His eyes widened as he took in the scene. “You used his sword against him? But that doesn’t make sense… an angel can’t die from his own sword.”

“You saw it, through my eyes. He was dead, lifeless. That should get me a bargain with Heaven. You tell them that!” The crows I called lifted him into the sky and I relaxed the veil just enough to let them through.

His blood dripped from the sky above me until he crossed the barrier and disappeared, nothing but feathers fluttering angrily in the air.

Lessons and the remaining crows continued hunting down the demons that were still trapped. I walked away from the castle, energy and power still coursing through me. I’d never hunted before, but there was a first time for everything.



*

When only tar puddles remained, the Lessons stilled and waited for further instruction. I asked them to line up, dispatching each with the sword of Lucifer. The demons had used Purgatory as a dumping ground for long enough, and while they’d helped me send the ones who created them back to Hell, I was done with those assholes.

The ones who attacked the safe house Michael and I stayed at seemed cognizant, aware of who we were and what they were doing. I realized now that was because my father made them that way. The Lessons were blank, mindless soldiers used as pawns. But beneath it all, they were people. They were bad people, but did they deserve to be used like puppets? No. If they deserved to burn, it was best to get on with it.

The sword hummed in my hand as I shoved it into the heart of each Lesson. When I came to Dimitri, it emitted a high-pitched howl, as if sensing my connection to him and the fact that I enjoyed ending him for good. He was hollow, a void. He’d become his own worst nightmare, a puppet for my father. Something easily discarded. Trash.

He would never hurt another person or soul, living or in the in-between. When his soul flew from his body, I watched as a crow swallowed it whole and dove into the concrete beside me, the stone rippling like water.

I didn’t linger on him. He wasn’t worth it. I kept killing them until it was second-nature; until their gray skin was cut cleanly and the birds knew the routine well.

The Lessons had no orders but mine, which meant they never fought back because I wouldn’t allow it.

When there were no more Lessons, I called a single crow to me. Number two hundred thirty-five. “Fly to Gabriel.”

Was he healed? Was he dead? Where was Michael? The questions flitted through my mind. Did Gabriel hear me when I told him Heaven owed me a bargain? I had killed the one their warriors couldn’t, and now I wanted Michael. I wanted out of here and I wanted to be with him, without consequences.



*

Having returned from Heaven, Gabriel waltzed down the invisible steps an hour later, stepping onto my balcony. “How did they heal you so fast?” I asked him.

“It wasn’t fast. Time works differently in Heaven. It passes differently on Earth, too.”

“Did you tell them?”

“The host of Heaven celebrates your victory.”

Heaven could celebrate all they wanted. I wasn’t happy.

“Did you tell them that I want something in return for having killed him?”

“Heaven rarely strikes bargains, Carmen,” he said softly, his toes stepping up to mine.

“The fact that Lucifer is gone should force an exception.”

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want, Gabriel.” I held his stare until he looked above, communicating with someone or something.

“There is a condition,” he replied, his eyes darkening in anger. Gabriel didn’t like it any better than I did.

“Name it.”

“You have to serve here for two thousand years, and then return to Earth to live out the rest of your natural life. Then, and only then, can you be together. If you and Michael have contact before you’re released, Michael’s soul will be forfeit.”

I inhaled sharply. “Two thousand years? My body won’t be alive on Earth by then. I don’t want to be a skinwalker like my father.”

He shook his head. “Remember – time moves differently, Carmen. Your body will be alive and waiting for you.”

“Serve here, live my life back home, and then I can be with him?”

“That’s the deal.”

I stared at Gabriel. “How long can I be with him? Is there some fine print you aren’t reading to me?”

He smiled sadly. “Nothing is being hidden. If you serve here and then live your life on Earth, you and Michael can be together for the rest of eternity.”

“In Heaven?”

“Wherever you both decide. Heaven. Earth. Purgatory.”

“Fuck that. I want out of this place, and when I get out, I’m not coming back.”