Page 98 of Saints & Sinners

And I hated that.

“Now, for Matias Williams,” another Council member continued, their tone colder, “Effective immediately, you are hereby stripped of your Ascendant title and your position at Celestia. In accordance with the Seraphim Law, under sectionnine, your memories along with those of any relative’s privy to your role here, will be erased as dictated by protocol.”

Matias’s face paled. “What? No! You can’t do that—” He looked over at me, his eyes pleading for me to intervene. “Tell them, Grace! Tell them you were lying!”

But the Council was unmoved.

When Matias realized no matter what he said wouldn’t sway the Council, his expression grew rageful. “This is all your fault!”

I flinched.

“You’re a nobody, Grace, you hear me?”

I caught a glimpse of Hunter’s hands clenching into fists. He was containing his anger, but for how much longer, I didn’t know.

“You’re nothing!”

I kept my head held high before one of the Council members stepped forward, their hands glowing faintly as they reached out to touch Matias’s forehead.

Matias was prepared to put up a fight, but it was no use as he was grabbed by two Celestials who had taken the boys away in the first place.

He thrashed in their arms, my stomach churning, and a few moments later, I watched in horror as they took Matias’s powers and memories. His body slumped to the floor, unconscious.

“Grace Martin,” Cael said, turning to me with a disgusted look. “You may go.”

I nodded, barely able to move as I stumbled out of the room. The last thing I saw before the doors closed was Hunter’s face; his eyes clung to mine, unwavering, and I knew that this was his way of telling me we would suffer that same fate if the Council found out about us.

Chapter Forty-Eight

I slammed the dorm door shut behind me, and I barely registered the sound of Brandon’s voice as he jumped up from the sofa.

“Shit, man, you’ve been gone for hours. What the hell happened?”

Too much to even process.

Silas’s voice cut through next. “Matias?”

I clenched my fists—only to feel the cold bite of the Binding Chains tight around my wrists. “Matias,” I said, my voice low and flat, “had his memories stripped by the Council.”

The room went dead silent. For a second, it was like no one even breathed. Then Silas stepped closer, his dark eyes pinning me like a sharp dagger.

“And the Council?” he asked, but his voice was barely above a whisper. “Do they know about... you and Grace... the kiss?”

My gut twisted, but I forced myself to meet his gaze. I shook my head. “No.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, and I could see in the way his jaw tightened that he didn’t believe me.

Brandon scoffed. “Well, did they suspend you or anything?”

I raised my wrists, showing both him and Silas the BindingChains.

‘For fuck’s sake, Cain.” Silas shook his head. “For how long?”

I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t. My chest was too tight, my head too full of everything I’d just seen—Matias’s blank, hollow stare after they’d taken everything from him. How he fell unconscious to the ground. That could’ve been Grace. That could still be Grace.

I glanced at Brandon and Silas, then shook my head. “It’s been a long day,” I said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Brandon didn’t look anywhere done talking, but I didn’t give him the chance to speak as I turned toward my room. The second the door shut behind me, I pressed my back against it, dragging a hand down my face. My whole body felt heavy with everything I couldn’t feel and couldn’t do... couldn’t fix. I should’ve been thinking about Matias, about what his punishment meant for the rest of us. But all I could see was Grace, hurt and bleeding, and the fire in my chest burned hotter than anything I’d ever felt before. I’d risked everything going after Matias. I hadn’t even thought twice about it. And the problem wasn’t that I’d done it. It was that I knew if I had to, I’d do it again for her.

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