Page 71 of Commanding Flame and Shield
When her breath finally stopped coming in gasps, Sarah pulled away from his embrace, and her eyes shot desperately from mine, to his. Awe and denial crossed her features and then her gentle voice cut the air like steel.
“I never thought I’d see you again, Commander.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
BOUND
AUGUST
“You know me?” My voice sounded much more authoritative than I felt.
Sarah gave a tentative nod, and glanced warily at Alvara, who looked like the Goddess she was, armed to her teeth, green eyes glowing and hands worn with battle scars.
“I know you both. You were there when the hierarchy fell.”
Alvara and I locked eyes.
“The hierarchy stands,” Alvara’s voice was ice through the air. “Has always stood.”
“It stands now. But no, my lady. It has not always stood. There was a great battle of forces, many lifetimes ago. And I saw it fall. As it is posed to do now.”
Alvara narrowed her eyes and stretched out her hand. “Show me.”
“I cannot.”
“What do you mean?”
“The memories are…bound. You are welcome to try, my lady. But you will not succeed.”
“Memories can only be bound—”
“By an archangel,” Sarah finished her thought. “Or by Lucifer, or the Lord himself. Yes. But I fear they don’t want us prying too deeply into the past of light and dark.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“How do any of us know what we know?”
“Something triggered you.”
Sarah nodded slowly, eyes traveling between the two of us before they narrowed, likeshewas skeptical ofus. “I don’t...I don’t understand—”
Sarah was cut short by Fae's sharp voice. “Ally. What is this?”
Aphaea and the others stood, staring at the mess of bloody symbols on the cement brick wall. Like an upside-down goal post, littered with x’s and o’s. Ally turned her head to the side, eyes narrowed with focus. She stepped forward, hand outstretched to read the bloody mess.
Sarah’s small voice sliced the air again. “It’s the sigil of Raphael.”
“Inverted. She’s right.” Ally turned to me, eyes wide. Terror creeping into her expression. “August. They’re attacking our healers. They’re attackinghealers. An inverted sigil—August it binds the power behind the symbol. They’re not just attacking healers, they’rebindingthem. They’re attempting to bind Saint Raphael himself.”
“Can an archangel be bound?”
Tears filled her fierce eyes. “I don’t know. But they certainly seem to think so.”
“We need to get to Aren.” It was all I was sure of. “Can Sarah come with us to Grayshell?”
Alvara narrowed her eyes, full lips pursed into a fine line. She walked to the wall and set her hands in the blood. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she focused for a moment, watching the way the night had unfolded. I caught snippets from the reading. Snippets of the memories stored there. The demon that killed Sarah was nearly identical to the one that had run Aren through. Whatever they were, they served the same cause. Watching Sarah defend herself was worse than finding her dead. The way she fought with all she had. It wasn’t enough. Alvara’s eyes weren’t any calmer when she turned towards us, and she b-lined to Sarah. She snatched her wrist up, her red fingers pressing to the pulse point in one wrist and wrapping through her other hand in an intimate embrace. Sarah didn’t resist and returned her intense gaze. She knew Ally’s gift.
Her eyes fluttered again, and then she stepped away, expression calm.
