Page 147 of The War of Wings
“I didn’t ask, and he didn’t offer any information. He just said it was important.”
I flipped the leather cover open, blinking hard at the first page. And there were words, just visible in the moonlight.
The story of Katia and Rhedros
My jaw tightened as I closed the cover of the book, trying to rein in the emotion suddenly clogging my throat. “Thank you, Nell.”
“Of course,” she answered sincerely before pushing to her feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to protect a lot of people from being scarred for life.”
I swallowed hard as Nell made her way back toward the beach, her figure swallowed by the bustling energy of camp. My hands gripped Tyrak’s book, where the answers of so many of my questions were written out on paper. But I tucked it into my own pocket. What good would reading his words do me now? Katia and Rhedros were dead. It didn’t matter if I had their story when all that was left of them were their crowns.
Staring at them now, I pushed down the guilt. I conjured the image of Heaven in my mind, as it had been before the Occulti desecrated it. I still didn’t know how it worked, how I moved between realms. But I squeezed my eyes shut, willing every fiber of my being to cross the barrier between here and there. For the first time, no one was relying on me. For the first time, I was crossing realms because I wanted to, not because I had to.
And I did it. I fucking did it!
That sweet air filled my lungs. Wildflowers brushed against my legs. The sun shone on my skin. I slowly turned in place, taking in the sight of the field I stood in, of the rolling hills, the sparkling blue sea, and…
I fell to my knees when I saw the town. The homes appeared unscathed. People strolled down the sidewalks. Some sat in their gardens. Soren’s castle stood tall, the waterfall spilling from its highest spire catching the sun and turning it into a stream of glittering light. And soaring high above it all, with glimmering, opalescent scales, was Adorex.
A single tear tracked down my cheek at the sight of her slow, lazy wingbeats. I wasn’t sure how she’d ended up here, but I decided it didn’t matter. It didn’t. She was here, in the sunshine, where she deserved to be.
Heaven was restored, and it somehow looked even more beautiful than it had before.
Down there, in that little town, were so many of the people I loved. The people who’d molded me, who’d pushed me, who’d loved me. The relief and the comfort that unfurled within me stole my breath away. It worked. It really, truly worked.
But I couldn’t help but think about the one soul who would forever be missing from here, who’d never again see the light of day or the glow of the moon. Never again would he call my name, tell me he loved me, make wild and impossible promises.
My fingers flexed around the crowns, my pulse suddenly throbbing in my hands. No, that wasn’t my pulse. It was the crowns.
The gems laid within the metal glowed and dimmed, just like the rubies in Aegrabane’s hilt. I cocked my head, bringing Katia’s diadem close to my face. What was it with gems in the Holy Realms?
Maybe they were being called home to the Saints’ Realm. That was where they belonged, after all.
With one final look at the town, I closed my eyes. Finding a spot of warmth in my chest that pulsed in time with the gemstones and my heartbeat. That had to be something, right?Take me to the Saints’ Realm.
I opened my eyes, blinking at my new surroundings, at a blue sky I’d seen once before.
Nine houses were arranged in a circle. No, they weren’t houses, they were estates — palatial — the kind of structures I’d only read about in books. Each was massive, with sprawling lawns and gardens and terraces dripping in blooms. Each one was different from the next, like they were their own individual worlds separate from each other. And it wasn’t hard to guess which one belonged to each Saint.
Faldyr had a garden lined with steel blades that jutted from the ground. Tolar’s home had columns plated in gold adorning the front. Noros’ appeared to be well kept, too, with its red brick façade, even though he hadn’t been here in years. But I supposed it would’ve been restored with the rest, whether Noros lived or died. What would happen now that he was dead?
Everything seemed to glow faintly, like somehow light had been harnessed and shaped into something physical. I felt that same glow within my own chest, and it grew brighter as I neared the center of the circle, where two homes sat side by side. One was a dark shade of pewter, and the other I’d seen before. It was beside it that I’d woken up after killing Malosym.
But my attention was quickly dragged away by the figures standing in the middle of a courtyard between the two houses.
The Benevolent and Blood Saints.
Chapter 59
Petra
It was Onera who I saw first, stepping out with a beaming smile on her face. “You’re back! Welcome home, Petra,” she hummed, folding me into a hug.
“Home?” And despite the ache still clinging to my insides, I let myself savor the warmth of her embrace, wrapping my arms around her, the crowns still in my hands. Her smile greeted me again as she pulled away, a deep breath leaving her as she stared down at me. As good as it felt to bask in her light, I started to squirm under her stare. “I, um, thought you might want these back,” I said, holding up the crowns.
One brow raised as she looked to where Aanh stood a few feet away. An unreadable look passed between the two of them. “No, those are yours,” Onera said with a knowing smile.
“I don’t feel right keeping them,” I stammered, holding them out to Onera. “I think they belong here.”
