Page 172 of The Spider Queen
With a snarl, Thane stalked to his clothes and quickly pulled on his pants. “Now that we’re all dressed, you want to tell me what the hell you’re doing here?”
Gabriel’s eyes brightened as he said calmly, “The war has begun.”
Chapter 17
War? How could the war have started already?
The air rushed from my lungs, and my head felt like it was in danger of lifting off my neck and floating away.
Thane sighed. “Something to drink?”
Gabriel nodded.
Three tankards appeared on the table. Gabriel turned a chair around with the back facing forward and sat on it so that his wings could remain extended. Thane rolled his eyes. “You could just tuck them in.”
Gabriel flashed a smile. “But then I couldn’t goad you.”
Despite myself, I leaned toward Gabriel to examine his wings.
“You can touch them, if you like,” Gabriel offered.
My hand had been on a mission of its own to do just that. I pulled it back like I’d touched fire. “No, I—that’s okay.”
“It’s impolite not to touch them, now that I’ve extended the courtesy,” Gabriel said.
My mouth pinched. I felt like a chastised child.
“She doesn’t know the way of things,” Thane stated. “Not yet.”
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. The truth was, I was dying to touch his wings.
“Don’t touch the ends. They’re—”
“Ouch!” I stuck my finger into my mouth.
“Sorry,” Gabriel said, his tone contrite. “They’re warrior wings.”
The silver suddenly made sense. “Armor,” I breathed.
He nodded.
“Wow,” I said.
“Wow nothing,” Thane said, his eyes darkening, like he was ready to battle Gabriel.
We had bigger problems.
My finger had already stopped bleeding, and the wound had closed. Super spidey healing, apparently.
As far as the changes went, that was a pretty cool one.
“How can the war have already started?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to the dire situation.
“There was a…skirmish,” Gabriel said. “Between demons and angels. In angel territory. It was a direct provocation to war.”
“You were there?” Thane asked.
Gabriel nodded. “Stabbed a demon in his throat, and as he was dying, he said it was already too late for us. That Lucifer had everything in place. They’re storming the gates of Heaven as we speak.”
