Page 25 of Into the Abyss
“Easy,” Caim said.
When he rested his hand on my arm, I yankedit away from him.
“I think, what our demon friend means,Raphael, is if youwantedto heal her, would it bepossible?” Caim inquired.
Caim gave me a conspiring grin that set myteeth on edge. I’d become more accustomed to working with theseangels since the gateway closed, but I didn’t overly like either ofthem.
“No,” Raphael said and rose. “I couldn’t.Just like I cannot rouse them from whatever state they’re in, Icannot fix the damage done to their bodies while they’re trapped inthe Abyss.”
My gaze fell to where I’d left Wren bundledin blankets against the wall of the cave. We’d moved into the areaover a week ago and discovered the cave shortly afterward. We’dbeen using it as a place to store the game we killed, and someslept in it.
It had taken some time, but we’d finallylocated everyone and carried them deep underground to hide them.Some people and demons were a mile or more from camp when the jinnstruck. How the insidious demons managed to trap them all, I didn’tknow, but we were the only four who escaped them.
We’d encountered no enemies and saw no signsof them as we worked, but I didn’t doubt the jinn had some way ofwatching over their victims. They wouldn’t want to miss out on thefun.
Wren’s vulnerability almost knocked me to myknees as I watched her chest rise and fall. I couldn’t fight thisenemy as I had countless others. I couldn’t charge in to save her;I could only stand here as she fought a battle I couldn’t see.
The smoke from the fire we’d lit deep withinthese rocky recesses, drifted down one of the side tunnels oncurrents of air. Mara inhaled a shuddery breath, then a thin trailof blood trickled from her lips and she went still.
“See if you can heal her now,” I commandedRaphael.
He gazed from me to her and back againbefore kneeling to rest his hand on her forehead. I sensed hispower swelling until it beat against the walls with a dull whompingsound. Though no breeze stirred the air, the dancing fire leaptinto the air and cast sparks throughout the cave.
Raphael’s wings rose as the beat of hispower increased until the large cave quaked with it. Pebbles anddirt skittered down the walls and broke free of the ceiling, but Ididn’t feel them when they pelted my skin and coated my hair.
Then, Raphael’s wings lowered. “There isnothing I can do.”
“Fuck!” I spat, and before I could restrainmyself, I drove my talons into the wall until I was wrist deep inthe rocks.
I yanked my hand free and stormed over tokneel at Wren’s side. Brushing her pale hair away from her face, Irested my fingers against her cheek.
“You have to come back to me,” I whisperedto her, but she gave no sign she heard me. Resting my hand over herheart, I took comfort in its reassuring beat.
“Magnus might be able to do something frominside the Abyss,” Caim said.
“If the jinni doesn’t turn on him and killhim while he’s in there,” I grated from between my clenchedteeth.
“She is different than the others,” Caimstated.
“Caim—”
“I will remove Mara’s body and place it withthe others,” Caim said before I could question him about hisstatement.
He hefted Mara’s body over his shoulder andcarried it deeper into the cave, which wound miles beneath theearth. When this was over, and we could come and go from this cavewithout worrying someone might see us, we’d better dispose of thebodies; but for now, we could only hide them.
Gazing at all the bodies gathered in thecave and wrapped up in blankets to ward off the damp chill of thisbelow ground dwelling, I realized the humans couldn’t withstand thejinn’s effects as well as the demons did. The jinn slaughtereddemons too, but demons were stronger and would hold out againstthem for longer.
As I thought it, Erin’s fingers startedtwitching on the ground, much like Mara’s had about an hour beforeshe died.
• • •
Magnus
“What created the Fault in some jinn?” I asked as wetraversed the Abyss.
“Thousands of years ago, a jinni found theirChosen outside of our line. Not only did that bond change some ofthe jinn, but it also infused our line with something other thanjinn blood.”
“And what blood was that?” I asked.
