Page 115 of Lourdes & the Mafia
“Even our generals become wayward sometimes, Amore.”
“Right. Sure.” I clear my throat, turning back to Ramiel. “So the fallen angel—”
“Thuriel,” he supplies.
“What does he want?”
Ramiel takes a breath. “He wants you, vidente. Though for reasons I cannot fathom.” He runs a hand across his face. “I have been out of touch with the world for quite some time. I had no idea he had even fallen. Or why. Though it’s safe to say it was recent and brutal, if his wings are of any indication.”
“Right, so a fallen angel wants me for my magic. We don’t know why…” The words freeze as I catch a flash in Ramiel’s gaze. “We don’t know why, do we?”
He sighs, leaning back in his seat. “I don’t know exactly why, but… I do have a theory.”
“Well?” Lorenzo demands when Ramiel goes quiet. “Don’t leave us in suspense, brother.”
“I think the magic hidden deep within Lourdes and your entire line is angelic in nature.”
“Pero, estás loco!” My head begins to reel. I can’t imagine a world in which that is true. Me? Angelic magic?
“Your abuela destroyed the evidence, of course, but it is just a theory. It could explain why your magic is stronger than any other vidente to exist. It also explains why he’s after you, although not with specifics.”
I open my mouth to argue, but something holds me back. It’s fucking insane, and yet... I can’t help but toy with the idea that it’s somehow true. That somewhere, long down the line of my witch family, angelic magic was mixed.
Would there be any other explanation as to why a fallen angel would want me in the first place? My abuela did say that our line did favors for powerful beings until we hid from them. Could she have meant angels themselves?
It’s…
It’s not so far-fetched.
“So you believe me,” Ramiel observes.
I let out a slow breath. He always seems to be very in tune to what I’m feeling. Or maybe I just have an expressive face. Whatever the case, I do. I believe him.
But what can I do with that information? Probably nothing at all.
“I do.”
He nods once. “Thuriel has never been much of a threat—”
“The spear through your chest begs to differ, brother,” Kane interrupts smoothly, a dark expression settling over his face.
Ramiel sighs. “I was going to add a ‘but’ in there before you interrupted.”
Kane huffs.
“But falling, particularly so soon, changes you. You go about your new life lost, angry. That’s no excuse for what he’s done and he will pay for his crimes, but I can’t begin to understand what’s going through his mind at this moment.”
“I can,” I whisper. The three stare at me and I look up, breathing out the one word he uttered with so much hatred. “Retribution.”
Against me.
Against them.
And if Ramiel, the strongest one among us, was felled so easily, what hope did we have?
But maybe… maybe there is hope. Maybe I am that hope. After all, it’s me he wants. It’s my magic he wants. For what, I don’t know, but maybe I can use it somehow. To figure out why. To figure out where he’s hiding.
And to figure out how to stop him.
