Page 66 of Redeeming the Angel

Gabriel nodded.“Sylvis made it stationary and put a lock on it.Let’s get some weapons and—”

“No!”Akasha shouted in such a commanding tone that I finally realized why Delgarias referred to her asthe General.“We need to wait until our ranks and alliances are more unified.”

Xochitl and Zareth voiced their agreement, but Kerainne and Nik still tried to argue.

Surprisingly, Tanis, the rescued luminite captive, sided against going back for his kin right away.

“You can’t know how dangerous it is there,” Tanis had said.“The wastelands are so large and widespread that your armies could die of thirst and starvation before engaging in combat.And most of the captives have either been trapped in marble or are locked away so securely that it’s impossible to get near them.”

Alaine, the rescued blood mage, nodded as he spoke.

Still, the matter wasn’t settled until Delgarias and Jayden performed a vision-seeking spell and confirmed that it was best to leave the portal alone for the time being.

I offered to take Tanis back to Luminista, but he shook his head.“I already told Lady Jagwolfe that I’d rather remain here and help the Queen in the war.”

It wasn’t until he knelt before Xochitl and pledged his fealty that I realized he was referring to Sylvis, not my mother.

After Tanis and Alaine were given guest rooms and Zareth went to contact the mage university to get in touch with the blood mage’s family, Xochitl summoned drinks for everyone and sat next to Kerainne.

“You wouldn’t believe how badass Sylvis looked when her wings came out onstage, Mom!”

Kerainne grinned at her, though her green eyes were wide with astonishment.“Your wings came out in front of everyone?”

Sylvis blushed.“Zareth cast an obscuring spell, so the audience thought it was part of the show.”

I shook my head in wonder.“I didn’t think you had enough luminite ancestry to gain wings and ascend.”

“I didn’t.Not until the blood transfusion after I almost died in the battle in New Orleans.”

And that’s how we learned that Gabe was a blood mage.When he’d given his blood to Sylvis when she’d been wounded in the last battle, he’d changed her blood quantum, making her almost full luminite.I predicted some interesting implications for that development.

When Zareth returned to the dining room, Gabriel dropped another world-shaking bit of news.

“The Leonine and Jagwolfe matriarchs will be visiting in three days to hammer out the details of our betrothal agreement.”

Both Kerainne and Xochitl stiffened.I remembered all the suffering Silvara inflicted on Kerainne, her own granddaughter…and how that was partly my fault.My stomach twisted as I remembered how she’d reacted when Xochitl appeared in her welcoming hall.

Abomination, she’d called her.

I put my arm around Kerainne.“I won’t let her take you back.”

“None of us will,” Gabriel vowed, and everyone at the table voiced their agreement.

Xochitl met my eyes briefly before Zareth tucked her under his arm.Instead of suspicion or hostility, there was a glint of respect as she gave me a slight nod.

My earlier hope of winning over Xochitl morphed from a means to regain her mother’s affections to genuine desire to become part of her family.And not just Xochitl.I cared abouteveryoneinvolved in this multi-world war.

For the entirety of my long existence, I’d thought I knew where I belonged and what my purpose was.

Now I knew I’d been wrong.And I was ready to embrace these chaotic and special people and their dangerous purpose.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kerainne

Present

Lucian’s vow that he wouldn’t let my grandmother take me made me feel a reassurance that made no sense.She was ancient and far more powerful than him.If she wanted to, she could manipulate every being in this room to kill themselves, getting around the biological law that luminites can’t kill.Then I’d ascend to Luminista where I’d be arrested and locked up all over again.

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