Page 147 of A House of Gold
That's not possible.Idris's voice is sharp with panic in my mind.She shouldn't be able to, during a sin absorption, there's no way.
"But she did," Croesus says grimly. He's pulled out of me, is pulling me against his chest, both of us still naked, but that doesn't matter anymore. "She saw something. Something that shouldn't be possible to see."
"What?" I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter. "What was that? What did I see?"
"Nothing," Seraph says quickly. Too quickly. "You saw nothing. It was a hallucination from the lust, that's all."
"Don't lie to her," Kael snarls. "She saw it. Somehow, during the absorption, she saw."
"Enough." Croesus's voice cracks like a whip. "We're not discussing this. Not here, not now, not with her."
"Why not?" I pull back to look at him, even as I feel the shaping of the forty-eighth tattoo on my body. "What did I see? What does 'the fallen must be reunited' mean?"
"Some knowledge will get you killed," Caspian says quietly from the shadows. "This is that knowledge, sin eater. Stop asking questions before you learn things that make you a target."
"I'm already a target! Someone killed my grandmother, sent collectors after me."
"And this is worse," Seraph interrupts. His mirror eyes fix on me, and for once, there's no contempt there, just fear. "This is so much worse than anything your grandmother uncovered. If Heaven finds out you saw that vision, if they discover you know even a fragment of what it means..."
"They'll execute you," Dorian finishes softly. "Not imprison. Not threaten. Execute. Immediately. No trial, no mercy."
I look around at the seven of them, seven fallen angels who are all, for the first time since I've met them, united in their terror.
"What did I see?" I whisper.
"You saw the truth," Lysander says quietly. His purple eyes are haunted. "A truth that has been buried for three thousand years. A truth that would shatter Heaven and Hell if it ever came to light."
"And we're not telling you what that truth is," Croesus says firmly. He starts gathering my clothes, helping me dress with gentle hands. "For your own protection."
He's right, Idris adds.Ignorance is the only thing keeping you alive right now. If the archangels knew what you saw...
"They'd know we're closer to the truth than we should be," Kael finishes. He's pacing again, smoke rising from hisshoulders. "They'd know the conspiracy goes deeper than missing souls."
"They'd know we're dangerous," Seraph agrees.
I'm dressed now, but I'm still shaking. The lust is purged, completely burned away by whatever I saw in that vision. But I'm left with a different kind of hunger.
The hunger for answers.
"You're all terrified," I say, looking around at them. "Seven of the most powerful beings in existence, and you're all absolutely terrified of whatever I saw. That's how I know it's important."
"That's how you know it's deadly," Croesus corrects. He cups my face, forces me to meet his gold eyes. "Promise me you won't pursue this. Promise me you'll let it go."
"I can't."
"Promise me, Raven. Please." Through the binding, I feel his desperation. His bone-deep fear of losing me. "I can't protect you from this. None of us can. If you start asking the wrong questions, digging in the wrong places–"
"Heaven will kill her," Caspian cuts in. "And we'll be forced to watch. The treaty prevents us from acting against archangels directly. We couldn't save your grandmother. We won't be able to save you."
I look at Croesus's face, at the fear and the love and the helplessness written there.
And I lie.
"Okay," I whisper. "I promise. I'll let it go."
Through the binding, he knows I'm lying. But he also knows he can't stop me.
None of them can.
