Page 31 of Wolf of Ashes
He’s fucking gorgeous in all his smiling darkness.
At some point, we’ve stopped walking. The panthers are milling around us and beyond the sound of their soft paws, I sense the movement of angels. I left the Serene Commander alive so she’ll either be true to her word and command the angels to leave me be, or she’ll break her word and have them searching for us.
What confuses me right at this moment is that, while we’ve been talking, the keeper has brought me back along a corridor I was sure we already passed through.
I recognize the ornate mirror on the wall opposite us, the fissures through the plaster on either side of it, and the way the slim, wooden console sitting in front of it has bumped away from the wall.
“We’re going in circles.” I tilt my head at the keeper, confused as he continues to gleam at me. “You said you needed space to try something, but we’ve walked down this corridor before. What are you doing? Why are you risking keeping us here?”
He can’t be lost, can he?
Or worse, betraying me?
I tug away from him, distrust rising within me, but again, his hold on me is like iron.
His lips press firmly together, his smile vanishes, and he sighs. “We’re here because you have resolved to deny your wants for your needs.”
My brow furrows. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
He considers me with eyes that are surprisingly soft. “For the very reason that you have the strength to stay the course, I will give you the closure you seek.”
Now I consider him warily, my lips pursed.
He gives me a small smile. “You proved your determination to me by denying your fury. It takes deep strength to reject what you could take in the present because you’re resolved to achieve a greater purpose in the future. Because of that, I will give you what you want.”
I’m stiff as he turns me toward the mirror and pulls me back against his chest.
His right arm rises at my side, hand turned palm up.
Energy crackles around his fingertips, but not sapphire light like the dark warlock’s power he uses to create the illusion of clothing. This is emerald green. The tendrils grow in strength and waft across to the mirror.
When the light spreads across the reflective surface, it becomes molten like a pool of silver, swirling at the edges.
Our reflections disappear and within it, a new image forms.
We’re looking down at a scene, our view closing in on a body lying on the overturned earth. It’s wrapped in a white cloth. Angels surround the body, one of them dropping a shovel to the earth beside it before she stretches out her back and rubs her forehead, smearing dirt across her face.
The body is Zadkiel’s. His eyes are closed, but there’s no mistaking the shape of his face or the color of his hair.
His skin is gray. Lifeless.
In the next moment, the angel who was holding the shovel adjusts the cloth, pulling it over his head. She gestures to her sisters and then they lower him into the grave beside him.
“He’s really dead.” My whisper is bleak. A part of me wants to rage at fate for stealing his death from me.
It wasmyright to kill him, not anyone else’s.
“Something powerful ended him.” The keeper growls at my ear. “The angels within this Cathedral are a danger, but it is thatsomethingthat we should evade now.”
“Yes,” I whisper. I have enough battles ahead of me. I don’t need another enemy.
I have my closure. Zadkiel is dead. I’m alive.
And I want to stay that way. The growing brightness within the vision that the keeper’s showing me indicates dawn is on the horizon. Soon, I’ll have to contend with sunlight. Traveling in the shadows will become much harder.
The keeper points at the solid wall behind us. “Our exit is here.”
My brow creases. “That’s a wall.”
