Page 5 of Witch's Rebirth
"What do you want to know?"
"What is it? How do you get it? Where does it come from? You know, basic fucking information."
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Deja, I don't think you're in the best state of mind to-"
"To what, Seth?" I spun to face him, the full force of my emotions dangerously close to boiling over. "To plan a strike back against our enemies? Because I'm female, you think I'm letting my emotions cloud my judgement?"
"That's not what I said." The hard edge returned to his voice and I liked it. Maybe too much.
"It's what you thought." I crossed my arms, regretting leaving my peaceful spot in the forest with Astrid. Seth wasthisclose to getting a slap for trying to infantilize me.
"You have no idea what my thoughts are." His lip curled. There he was. The good old Seth who didn't hold back.
"Then if I'm wrong, give me the information." I retorted. "Don't handle me with kid gloves like I'm about to cry or kill someone just because I'm pissed off."
His eyes narrowed, the storm in them raging. We held each other's gaze for a tense few seconds before continuing on our walk.
"The kiss is essentially an angel's magic in a super concentrated form," he explained. "It will kill the first unpure thing it touches.”
“Unpure, meaning?”
“Anything not created by God,” he answered. “Only Archangels can create it, but anyone can use it once it’s in their possession."
"How would witches get it?" I asked. "Before we left San Francisco, Diana mentioned having one. She was going to use it to end me for good."
"I have no idea," he confessed. "Some kind of deal had to be made. Both sides think they're getting what they want but only the angels are benefiting."
"Killing off demons in the easiest way, having someone else do their dirty work for them," I speculated.
"Exactly," he confirmed.
My gut twisted with every negative emotion possible. Fear, anger, anxiety and worry. How many of these things were out there?
"Can anything stop it?" I asked.
"Only the powers of another angel," he replied. "Or as we recently learned, a fallen angel can pull it off too."
We entered the house, which was eerily silent. I didn't even notice before then there was always some kind of noise associated with my guys when we were all together. Usually Sal banging around in the kitchen, Ash making coffee or pacing around his study. Sometimes Raum even sang in the shower to make me laugh. But now there was only deathly silence.
"They're up in the master bedroom," Seth murmured.
I paused at the base of the stairs, steeling myself for one moment to prepare for seeing Raum in a way I never had before. A gentle brush of fingertips along the small of my back came and went so quickly, I almost thought I had imagined it.
Part of me was comforted by the soft touch but every other part flared up in anger. This was not the time to stew in this ridiculous physical connection between Seth and I. That was all it was and all it ever would be. I didn't evenlikehim. It didn't matter if my guys accepted him as ade factodemon, he would never be one of mine.
Right before the hunters attacked us, we learned that Seth was a descendant of Beelzebub, one of Hell's rulers and the original three angels Ash fell with. Beelzebub used his blood connection to heighten Seth's demon abilities in his heritage, including the seductive powers of his incubus ancestors. Whether by chance or design, the physical chemistry between us was off-the-charts hot. And I hated every second of it.
I trudged up the stairs, ignoring him behind me.
The master bedroom felt sterile like a hospital room. Sal sat across from the bed with his forearms on his knees and his head in his hands. His aura flickered with volatile sparks. I could feel how pissed off he was before I entered the room. Ash stood looking out the window at the battlefield below.
And my Raum.
I couldn't hold back the sob that tore from my throat as I ran to his side. No amount of breathing exercises could prepare me for this.
He looked dead. His skin was pale, clammy, and far too cold. His closed eyes were encircled with dark rings. A wide bandage wrapped around his torso where the angel's kiss tore through him like he'd been gored by a horned animal. The only indication that he was still alive at all was his faint, shallow breathing.
"You can try healing him. It should work on the physical wound." Ash approached the bedside, standing across from me and looking almost as dead as Raum. His normally bright eyes were dull, lifeless and tired. He leaned one hand against the wall as if he could barely stand. That battle, not to mention counteracting the kiss, must've taken everything out of him.
