Page 153 of A House of Gold
"This is going to be a disaster," he mutters.
"Probably."
"They're going to drive you insane. Drive me insane."
"Almost certainly."
"And if the bonds don't break, if you're stuck connected to all seven of us permanently..."
"Then we'll figure it out." I pull back to look at him. "Together. Like we've figured out everything else."
He doesn't smile. But his hand comes up to cup my cheek, and through our bond, I feel his love mixing with his terror.
"I'm going to be impossible to live with," he warns. "Jealous, possessive, probably violent toward the others when they–"
"When they what? Make me laugh? Make me feel safe? Make me want them?"
His eyes flash gold. "Yes."
"Then I guess you'll have to learn to share."
"I'm the angel of greed, Raven. Sharing is against my nature."
"Then this will be good practice."
He almost, almost, smiles at that.
Then the moment breaks, and reality crashes back.
"We should eat," he says. "Rest, if you can. The ritual tonight will be draining. And tomorrow..." He doesn't finish.
Tomorrow I fight an archangel using the combined power of seven deadly sins.
Tomorrow I either become a weapon strong enough to kill one of Heaven's generals, or I die trying.
"Thank you. For trying to protect me. For being willing to share even though it kills you." I manage a weak smile.
Through the binding, his love crashes over me like a wave.
"I'd let a thousand angels into your head if it meant keeping you alive," he says quietly. "Even if it destroys me. Even if I spend the rest of eternity jealous and miserable. As long as you survive."
Then he's gone, leaving me alone in the study with the hovering map and the weight of what's coming.
Seven bonds.
Seven deadly sins.
One human woman trying to become a weapon strong enough to kill an archangel.
33
The ritual is set for midnight.
I spend the hours before in my room, trying to rest. Trying not to think about what's coming. Trying to ignore the weight of dread that's settled in my chest like a stone.
It doesn't work.
Every time I close my eyes, I see the vision, seven figures overlapping, bleeding into one. I hear that voice speaking in harmony: the fallen must be reunited.
