Page 5 of Oath-Maker

Ian’s jaw locked hard. “For good reason. Not the least of which had been killing Merek.”

“About that. You’d better sit down.” I gestured toward the bed, which was the only furniture in the room on which one could actually sit.

Ian glanced at the bed and then back to me, unamused and looking for all the world like he wanted to escapeeverything. I understood. “Just tell me.”

It seemed no one was in the mood for small talk. It was probably better this way.

“The Guardian took his mask off this morning,” I started, “and to be honest, I think it was obvious beforehand, too. It’s Merek, Ian. He’s still alive.”

A journey of emotions passed Ian’s features. I knew them well, had experienced every single one of them not an hour ago. Hurt, confusion, denial. Shock. That was a big one.

It was Jessa who spoke first. “That’s impossible.”

I shook my head. “It’s not. The paladins who went with him the night of the attack didn’t return with a body.”

“He was still within Alastia’s walls,” Ian argued, a fight now in his eyes. “Wecouldn’tretrieve Merek’s body. Those paladins swore he was dead.”

“They also said Lucius did it,” I said, not wanting to bring up every little point, but in this case, it was necessary. “They confused a rare demonic power for something only Lucius could do because they didn’t know better. Because our people have fought needlessly for decades.”

Ian forced a hand through his messy hair. “I don’t believe this.” But I could tell from the way his expression was falling that he did. Because it made sense. And, in hindsight, the way the Guardian had fought, his movements and the way he carried himself, ithad beenMerek all along.

“I was in denial, too, until I saw him with my own eyes,” I said.

Jessa let go of my hand and crossed her arms over her chest. “Merek wouldn’t work with the enemy.”

“If the Fallen came to him and he didn’t know any better, Merek would fall for it,” I argued. “Look at all of us. The Fallen aren’t all that different at face value.” I lifted my arms to show off the red markings. I had apparently been a Fallen. I might still have been. Not half-demon like I’d thought, just a demonic-adjacent aura. Like Jessa. Like Merek now.

Not a true celestial. Not a demon.

Fallen celestial-kin.

Ian chuckled hollowly. “Next you’ll tell me the Light is evil, too. That our oaths actually mean nothing at all.”

I hesitated to speak long enough that Ian held my stare until his anger and disbelief burned away into exasperation. I lifted my hands before me. “I don’t know that for sure.”

“But you suspect,” Ian accused me.

I thought back to Basara’s words, the Fallen celestial who’d created me. To everything we’d learned over the last four days. “I don’t know what I suspect anymore. All I know is that Lucius has only ever tried to protect this world by keeping the tear over Alastia shut. Then the Guardian came through with you all and opened it.”

“And you and Lucius shut it again,” Jessa said. “You did, right?”

I nodded as a flash of all the possible futures I’d seen skipped through my mind. It left me breathless even now. This magic, potentiality, was incredible—and terrifying. “Yes.”

“Then how did the Guardian open another tear over the Singing Hills?” Ian asked. “And how long are we going to stand here talking before doing something about it?”

“Lucius can’t use that much magic in this state,” I said. “He needs rest. There’s a contingent of soldiers being sent to hopefully capture and remove any enemy beachhead. Until then… I don’t know how he did it, but Merek opened a tear. Maybe he’s got beings more powerful than paladins working for him.”

“Luckily, you do, too,” Ian admitted, although a scowl twisted his mouth. “Demons.”

I leveled him with a stare. “You know as well as I do that paladins can be just as strong, if not stronger, than demons. We’ve been training to fight them our entire lives, Ian.”

“We have a handful of paladins left, Ayla.” He gestured widely at nothing in particular, but I understood his sentiment. “To defend all of this. Paladins who are still coming to terms with fightingfordemons.”

“I know.” I knew everything he meant, and all the things Ian wasn’t saying and wouldn’t. I’d already had every argument with myself before the attack yesterday. Demons and paladins working together against a common enemy was one thing. But that common enemy had just been revealed to be previously one of us.

Ian’s best friend. My ex-fiancé.

Ian turned for the door and took several paces toward it before spinning back to me. “And your solution is to marry the Angel of Death?”

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