Page 169 of Wings of Lies
Rune dropped to the ground, giving the Nephilim permission to climb on. He was tall, so he wouldn’t have to climb much. I grimaced at the way he wiggled and dragged up Saraqael’s body. But at least we got them both, and she would never remember.
Before I took flight, I had one more question. “Did you kill Marcus?”
He met my gaze. “No, he ran away.” The bitterness that laced his words matched the regret in his eyes.
I’d have to hunt him down and kill him later, just like the Archangel. I smiled at the thought.
“Rune, run fast. Stop for nothing. I’ll see you at the gates.” I pushed off the ground, spreading my ebony wings, and raced against time.
The wind battered our faces. Tapping into my dark well, I let my shadows form a small barrier between us and the wind, still allowing me to see ahead.
The female pressed closer into my body, freezing. Initially, I thought it was the wind and the high altitude. But when the pink in her cheeks bled away and blue tinged her lips, I dove back into her mind and put on a burst of speed. My shadows played with her neurons, returning her to a stable temperature. Still, I couldn’t hold it for long, especially when half my shadows acted against my will, deciding to cover each one of her gashes to protect them from the forceful air and soak up her blood like wispy bandages.
The landscape changed, becoming more jagged and white. We were close.
Pushing myself harder, we barreled through the twenty-foot iron gates, Rune right on our tail. The moment they slammed through, I left them and flew to the castle, landing on the balcony of the king’s office.
“Sir!” I yelled, not wanting to kick in his door. But I would.
Fortunately, he was there swinging the curtained glass open.
“You got her,” he whispered.
I held back my burning question about who she was to him. The female didn’t have the time. “Sir, something’s wrong with her.” Myshadows covered most of her wounds for now. It’d only distract him, and they hardly bled because of my shadows and her healing.
“What do you mean?” His gaze raked up and down, narrowing on the dark wisps that slid across her skin.
I ignored his displeasure. “She’s been fluctuating in temperature. Burning hot, then frigid. And it’s getting worse.” I wasn’t about to tell him how I knew that. The shadows touching her were as much as he’d accept right now.
He lowered his brows, then thrust out his hand. “Her wrists. Give me her wrists.”
I did, pulling my shadows off her arms but still covering the gashes.
The king’s fingers lightly grabbed her hands, twisting. Her right wrist displayed inactive Binding Runes. I grimaced. Then he twisted her other wrist. Ice crackled against the stone balcony, and my shadows snaked around my palm and pressed into my eyes.
“Put her on my desk. Now.”
I rushed her over as the king threw everything to the ground.
“Release her from your shadows,” he demanded.
That was easier said than done. My shadows enjoyed protecting her before, but now… Now, they didn’t want to leave.
A fucking Reversal Rune.
“General Ronen! Your shadows!” Ice encased my boots, traveling to my knees.
I whipped my head up to the king and pulled at my defiant wisps, pulling harder than I should have to. They swarmed back to me, slamming into my core.
At the site of the female, the king’s pupils vanished into white. “Go to my vault. You know the code. Get my feather.” Icicles grewfrom the ceiling, and I knew he was using the rest of his control to keep them from erupting from the ground.
I luscelered there, grabbed it, and came back within seconds. The feather was pure white up until the very tip, unlike my ebony feather, which was stolen when they left me for dead. Heavenly feathers with the gift to give runes.
“Hold her down,” he commanded. “Counteracting a Reversal Rune will hurt.”
I placed my hands against her shoulders, and the king held her wrist steady. The moment the feather touched her skin, the female wrenched awake. With my shadows in her system, that shouldn’t be possible, but between her extreme pain and power level, this situation was anything but normal.
She wailed and shoved against my hold, nothing but skin and bones thrashing with little strength.
