Page 148 of A House of Gold
Because I've seen the truth now, or a glimpse of it, anyway. And I know that whatever secret these seven angels are keeping, whatever knowledge got my grandmother killed, it's the key to everything.
The missing souls. The bloodline collection. The conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of Heaven.
All of it connects to that vision. To seven angels who are somehow one. To the fallen being reunited.
To the Morning Star.
32
The portal back to the House of Gold feels different, more chaotic.
I stumble through, Croesus's hand tight around my wrist, pulling me into the familiar golden hallways. My legs are shaking. My whole body is shaking. Behind us, the other six angels materialize one by one through their own portals, Seraph in a column of white light, Kael in smoke and embers, the others in their respective displays of power.
"My study," Croesus says shortly. "Now."
No one argues.
We move through the shifting corridors in tense silence. I can still feel the vision burning behind my eyes, seven figures that were somehow one, that voice speaking in harmony, the morning star falling falling falling...
"Don't," Croesus warns, his grip tightening. Through our binding, I feel his terror. "Don't think about it. Not yet."
But how can I not think about it? How can I pretend I didn't see whatever that was?
His study appears ahead of us, door with the serpent handle, the one that leads to the room where this all started. Where I negotiated my contract. Where I gave up a year of my life.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
Croesus pushes the door open. The room beyond is exactly as I remember, massive desk near the windows, bookshelves lining the walls filled with ancient ledgers, low-backed chairs positioned around the space. The walls are that brushed gold, softer than the rest of the house, and the tall arched windows show that eternal golden light.
But now there's something new in the center of the room: a large table with a three-dimensional map hovering above it. Seven points of light arranged in a circle, each one representing a House like the one he showed me earlier.
The seven angels file in, and suddenly, the study feels too small. Too crowded. The power in the room is overwhelming, seven deadly sins compressed into one space, each one radiating an energy which makes my teeth ache.
Croesus closes the door. The lock clicks with a sound like a coffin closing.
"Sit," he says.
No one sits.
They're all watching me. Assessing. Waiting.
I'm the only one still shaking.
"What did I see?" The question bursts out before I can stop it. "What was that vision? You all recognized it. You all know what it means. So tell me."
Silence.
Then Seraph speaks, his mirror eyes reflecting seven versions of my terrified face. "Some knowledge will get you killed, little sin eater."
"We just went through this. I'm already being hunted! Someone tried to erase me with void. Erase. Not just kill. My grandmother was murdered. I'm already a target!" My voice is rising, hysteria creeping in at the edges. "So tell me what I saw. Tell me why you're all so fucking terrified."
"Because Heaven can't know you saw it," Kael says bluntly. His ember-bright eyes are fixed on me with unusual intensity. "If the archangels discover you had that vision, you're dead. No negotiation. No mercy. Just execution."
"Yes, yes. You said that already. But why would they?"
"Because you saw something that was hidden for three thousand years," Dorian says quietly from where he's leaning against the bookshelf, wine glass still in hand. "Something that threatens the entire divine order."
"What? What did I see?"
