Page 22 of Reaper Unhinged
Lianel’s expression was grave, almost as if he was imparting a death sentence. “A place they call Limbo.”
Limbo? The no-man’s land filled with ancient spirits that the Beyond had decided to forfeit.
“I know it. We can leave now.” I looked up at Cassius, who nodded curtly.
“You misunderstand,” Lianel said. “The Beyond has its plan, which we will execute in seventy-two hours. The potential of a power source is too slim for us to expend any resources on it.”
Wait, was he saying what I thought he was saying? “You expect me to do this alone?”
“We do not expect you to do anything. You wished to have an opportunity to save your world, and this is it.”
My world. Not theirs. Mentally, they’d already left.
“Lianel,” Cassius said. “If we send a team then—”
“Silence!” Lianel’s voice was a boom. “You will follow your orders, Cassius. You will prepare the Flagship.”
Cassius inclined his head stiffly. “Lianel.”
“Seventy-two hours’ grace,” Lianel said to me. “That is all we are willing to give you.”
Cassius’s jaw ticked, and then he grabbed my arm and tugged me from the room. The door closed behind us, and he towered over me, eyes blazing.
“Are you sure you wish to do this?” he asked.
My stomach trembled, but I raised my chin. “I have to.”
He clenched his teeth. “For the first time in eons, the desire to ignore orders is a burn in my veins. This feels wrong.”
It wasn’t the only thing that was wrong. I needed to tell him about the Edge, and I needed answers about Uriel. “Cassius, I wasn’t able to save the core souls. I didn’t have access to retrieve them from the librarian.”
He frowned. “Was I wrong to assume that you have Uriel?”
“He didn’t make it into the Edge.”
“You were allowed admittance to the Edge alone?” He looked confused. “The system must be glitching. Only pure celestials can command the librarian.”
Which was why he’d told me to take Uriel with me. Made sense now. Shit, I hadn’t even considered that when I’d leaped into the shimmer.
“Uriel would have been able to access the core souls,” Cassius said. “Why did you not take him into the Edge?”
“We were attacked by malignant, and he stayed to fend them off, and when I was ejected from the Edge, Uriel was possessed.” I studied his expression, noting the confusion clouding his eyes.
“That’s impossible. A pure celestial can’t be tainted by malignant.”
“I know, but he was, which means…”
“No. That can’t be right. Our celestials are pure, born of divine light.”
“Right, okay, maybe, but there’s something different about Uriel. There has to be, or a malignant wouldn’t have been able to take control of him. He deserves answers.”
Cassius placed his large hand on my shoulder. “Succeed in your mission, and I’ll get you the information you want.” His eyes narrowed. “I promise you.”
I believed him. “Thank you.”
He nodded curtly. “In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to stall Lianel and give you a few extra hours. I can’t ignore orders, but I can take my time executing them.” He smiled, and it transformed his somber face. “Good luck, Seraphina Dawn.”
I was going to Limbo.
