Page 81 of Saints & Sinners

The corridor was dimly lit with flickering celestial runes, and as I rounded a corner, a slab of gold-lined stone caught my eye. It stood tall, etched in angelic script that practically glowed.

The Angelic Code.

I swallowed, stepping closer and letting my fingers brush the carvings. I scanned the rules, already familiar with the first few due to Joe’s influence. But it was the fifth and final one that hit me the hardest.

V. The Heart is the Weakest Flesh

NoCelestial shall pledge their heart to another, form romantic ties, nor pledge themselves to a mortal, a Nephilim, or even a fellow Celestial. To do so is to forsake the divine order.

To love is to fall. To fall is to be forgotten.

My breath stilled.

I read it again. And again.

A part of me wanted to laugh at the cruelty of it all. The timing. The irony. I stepped back; the words burned into my mind.

“Grace?”

Shit.

I turned slowly to find Joe standing at the end of the corridor, his jaw clenched, and his eyes shadowed with frustration.

“What are you doing here?”

I forgot the rules. I ignored his question. I was here for one thing. Planting myself firmly in his path, I demanded, “Why did you move me to another dorm?”

He took a few sharp glances around the halls before grabbing my arm and pulling me into a nearby empty room. Inside, shelves lined the walls with ancient-looking books. Some even glowed faintly, and I shivered at the energy they radiated. It was as if pulling at something inhumane. My gaze swiftly caught on a dagger with a mark eerily similar to the Riftkeeper symbol and the initials D.S. carved on the handle.

“Whose is that?” I asked, but Joe didn’t answer me as I turned to him.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why don’t you answer me for once?” I snapped. “Why did you move me? Why do you keep doing this?”

“You shouldn’t have been put in that dorm in the first place,” he said, his tone clipped, but even I could see through him and how much emotion was behind each of those words. “And you know that.”

“But it wasmychoice,” I said weakly, pressing the tips of my fingers to my chest. Ever since Joe left me at Celestia, nothing has been the same. At least when we were constantly moving towns, cities, schools and all, we stayed the same. United. Celestia had placed a barrier between us, and I didn’t know howto go back to before.

“Go back, Grace. If a Council member sees you here without having been authorized, you could face consequences.”

Consequences be damned.

Joe went to open the door, but my voice stopped him short.

“Do you know why I went out in search of Riftkeeper’s?”

Joe’s knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on the door handle.

I took a step forward despite facing his back. “I wanted to prove I was strong enough to go against one.” It was the partial truth. I couldn’t mention Hunter’s brother, not after everything that had happened. “I don’t know if that makes me a hero or a fool, but I did it, and I would do it again if I had to.”

My chest was heavy with the memory of that night. I could still smell the blood on my hands. The sickening iron scent wouldn’t leave from beneath my bed of nails, no matter how many times I’d wash them.

“Grace,” Joe sighed. “All of this isn’t to punish you. I just—” He paused, but I shook my head, knowing there was no reasoning with him.

“I’m the one who told Hunter about finding a Riftkeeper hideout, not him. I dragged him into it. He didn’t even want me to go in the first place, so please, for my sake, don’t let him get in trouble.”

Joe kept quiet.

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