Chapter 24 #2
The world around us dissolved into laughter for a split second.
“Your little friend? The one who mooned over you for months at that abbey? Who carried in roses to the stable, and built that ridiculous shrine? You know there’s a whole sect that does pilgrimages there.
Ashtad haunted the place for years, and the roses bloomed in every season. ”
I didn’t know about that, I protested. But yeah, that sounds like him. I smiled. I guess he had a crush.
“He’s not the only one. Now, focus. I don’t have long,” Rumple told me, gripping my shoulders and turning my attention to a lesson.
He showed me how to see the exchange, by pulling energy through me and placing my own mental hands on the ropes of light that he envisioned for me, and wrapping imaginary fingers around them.
Then he commanded me to move the power through the ropes.
To tighten my grasp to keep the blaze of power from leaving me, and then how to let out the tiniest amounts.
“These are the skills all High Angeli eventually grow into, little one,” he said. “We spoke of this in passing. You already hear thoughts, yes? And you can speak the language of power now?”
It still hurts. And makes me so weak.
He hummed. “Like your muscles on Earth, these powers will grow stronger with use. Rest in between attempts.”
Attempts at what?
“Knowing you, to turn the bathing rooms into chocolate fountains,” he joked.
“When you wake up, try not to drain all of Sanctuary like you’re drinking dream fondue.
” I smiled, loving the humor in his voice.
It made him seem more like the Rumple I’d played with and trusted for so long.
“Using a similar sort of energy exchange as I’ll teach you now, you will be able to make yourself invisible to others.
Eventually, you’ll be able to slow time. ”
You did that on Earth for me, didn’t you? I guessed. He went still. When you told me to protect. That was you.
His words were a thought so quiet, I wasn’t sure I heard them correctly.
Ah, to have Her voice mistaken for my own.
Mother would laugh. “Never mind that. Time manipulation is the last skill you’ll attempt.
Or one of the last. For now, when you need more power, Little Sacrifice, you do it like this,” he said brusquely, and showed me how to pull the cords of energy through me, while I hummed a note I’d never heard before.
My throat stretched to fit the tone inside my dream form, and I felt it changing me as I managed to mimic Rumple’s honey-rich voice, but an octave above.
“So beautiful,” Rumple sang into my ear. “So much power. It feels good, doesn’t it? Feels like you should have it.”
It felt more than good, more than sensual. It almost felt forbidden, like I was playing at being the Singer of All Songs. That’s enough, I thought, and realized he’d said the same thing, at the same time, our voices a strange, doubled tone.
Had we been merging? I didn’t ask; I knew. But not a mating merge. This felt more like an apprenticeship. Like he was teaching me this skill for a reason. I wasn’t certain I was brave enough to ask why.
“We’re out of time, little one,” he murmured, pushing me away. “You need to wake. Save your realm. And don’t come back. I can’t… I don’t know if I can let you go again.”
I don’t want you to let me go, I thought, as he disintegrated into particles of shining dust and began to flow away from sight. I will find a way to save you, Rumple. Rafe. I will bring you home. He didn’t answer, but I whispered into the void, “We belong together.”
“Feather! Feather!”
My eyes snapped open, and I saw a face I didn’t expect, or even remember at first. “Percy?” I managed to rasp.
He helped me sit. My body felt like an empty pot that had been scoured with steel wool, but Percy’s expression looked like someone had scrubbed all the joy from his soul.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What happened? How long was I—”
He held up one hand. “Only a few minutes. You… I could sense something changing in you. Your energy. I don’t know what you did, but the lights in the hall dimmed and they haven’t gone back.
It’s colder, too,” he explained, and I realized he was right.
He pulled the bag I’d brought down here out and drew out the blanket, wrapping it gently around me.
His wings were extended slightly, and I got the feeling he was hiding something from me.
“I think… Feather, I think we should go. It’s too late. ”
I jumped to my feet, though I felt dizzy for a long moment afterward, and peered over his shoulder. “Righteous!”
Righteous sat propped up in one corner of the room, legs splayed out, his arms folded around his ribs. He was naked, with only his wings to cover him.
And they had been broken. The feathers were shredded, almost, some cut with a blade on the sides of the shafts, with jagged marks on the stems as well, as if someone had tried to saw through them and failed.
Every feather was stained with blood, smut, and ichor.
His hair fell over his face, but the skin I could see was bruised and battered.
A line of dark, shining blood dripped from one ear.
I ran to him, pulling the blanket away from my own shoulders and wrapping it around him, covering him.
He wasn’t even shivering; his skin so cold it felt like the marble floor beneath us.
“What did they do to you?” I gasped, and he mumbled something through split, swollen lips. His skin was dry, and I hissed at Percy, “Bring me the bag, the water. Now.”
Percy joined me, wiping at the tears that spilled down his face. “They kept me isolated and didn’t feed me much… but this. This is horrific. This is against everything Sanctuary stands for.”
“But I bet it’s legal,” I snapped, grabbing the flask and uncapping it to hold the end to Ry’s mouth. “Just a sip,” I murmured, and his tongue darted out, lapping up the first few drops.
Percy was quiet for a moment. “You’re right. I’m sure they passed whatever law or rule they needed to, when the High Angeli weren’t paying attention.”
“Mikhail was stuck in his Maker Hall, carving himself into pieces to make the new Novices, so I’ll give him a partial pass on this.
But I’ll be having strong words with Gavriel when he gets back here,” I vowed.
“Some leader of Sanctuary he is.” Righteous mumbled something, and I put one hand behind his head, tilting the flask up for a second so he could take a small swallow.
Percy’s voice was choked as he watched. “Are you… You don’t think you can save him, do you? I can only perceive the thinnest threads of his soul energy now. He’s almost gone.”
I glared at him. “I don’t care if he’s dead, unmade, and swimming around in the Abyss. I would put him back together again.” Percy scrambled away on his knees, scuttling backward like a crab.
“Your eyes,” he whispered. “Why do they look like that?”
I didn’t know what he meant, so I ignored him and kept feeding liquid into Righteous’s mouth. “Go guard the door,” I said after Ry seemed to fall asleep again. “I’ll come out when he’s healed.” There was no other way that I would leave this room.
Percy stood and walked to the door, speaking softly. “I had heard that Righteous was unkind to you.”
“He was my friend on Earth centuries ago, and he earned my forgiveness back then, though he didn’t know who I was at first when we met again.” I pushed Ry’s hair back on his face, worried at his shallow breathing and the pallor of his skin. “Guard the door? This may take a while.”
I didn’t think Percy could stand one more shock today. And seeing, or hearing, what I was about to do to save Righteous might be the last straw.
Finally, he left, leaving the door open the smallest crack.
I took a deep breath and held my hands on Righteous’s cheeks.
“Hey, Ry. I don’t know if you can hear me.
I know you’re hurting. Percy says you’re close to dying.
I have news for you—you’re not allowed to die.
I have plans for you that include a lot more back rubs and chocolates.
You haven’t groveled nearly enough to get to hear about the other plans. ”
His eyes seemed to sink in on themselves, and I scanned his body in the dim light. Had he stopped breathing? Had he given up?
“Ry, wake up! Ry!” No response. I ducked my head down, and breathed into his ear, ignoring the dried trickle of blood by my lips.
“If you die on me, you’ll never get to hear what I want to do with you, a gallon of warm maple syrup, a pair of padded handcuffs, and a baby pool filled with whipped cream.
Please, Ry. Ashtad. I’m begging here. I need you to wake up and let me heal you, so we can figure out how to tell Mikhail you’re going to be my side piece. ”
A tiny furrow appeared between his brows for a moment, and he sucked in a slight, shuddering breath. I pressed my lips to his forehead in relief, sent up a prayer, and began to sing.
I sang the song of healing I’d sung to Glory and Heart, but this time I did so while I visualized the flow of the energy in Sanctuary. When I concentrated, I could see it in my mind’s eye: a gentle, pulsing current of glowing power that ran through every surface, and even the air.
Eyes closed, I turned my head to the ground, and saw a small ribbon of brilliance being drawn from me, wherever my body touched the floor.
Not that way, I mentally corrected, and noted a curious thrum in the air.
It almost felt as if Sanctuary were asking a question.
I brought the lesson Rumple had taught me in the dream to the forefront of my mind, and then, as if I had given a clear instruction, I felt small particles, like burning flecks of glitter, press against my skin and move into me.
In seconds, I felt refreshed. In less than a minute, I felt full to bursting, like I’d overeaten and drunk gallons of water. If I wasn’t careful, I would pop.
I settled my hands on Righteous’s face again and sang, picturing the energy moving out of me and into him, letting the words of the song instruct the energy as to its purpose.
As long as I kept my eyes shut, I could see the brilliance moving through him, into his bloodstream, and deeper.
He’d sustained serious injuries to his vital organs and his wings, and the energy seemed to pool in those places.
I began to empty out, and I reached back to Sanctuary again, and asked for more.
Sanctuary acquiesced, and the room became warmer, the lights brighter.
I pulled on the ribbons of soulfire, for that was what it had to be.
It felt just like the energy Mikhail had shared with me, but richer, more complex.
As if it were made of pieces of the souls of every High Angelus who’d ever flown the hallways here.
Where did that thought come from? I sang, and let the memories of thousands of long-departed Angeli pass through my mind like a movie.
“Feather.” Righteous’s voice brought me back to the present, and I blinked, my eyes crusty with…
“Glitter?” I mused, rubbing at them. The sand in my eyes was tiny flecks of energy that shone and sparkled. I wiped it away, and let my hands move over Righteous’s wings, ignoring the wonder and fear in his eyes as he watched me.
“Are we in Heaven, Feather?”
“Does it look like I have a rechargeable vibrator here?” I snapped, trying not to cry. “Do you see any puppies? Is there a shirtless rowing team carrying me on a palanquin and feeding me frozen raspberries dipped in dark chocolate? No, Righteous. This is not Heaven.”
“Has to be,” he mumbled, his eyes falling shut. “You’re here.”
He was still broken, but asleep. And now I only needed to heal bones. Even though I felt like a rubber band that had been stretched too far, I made myself a conduit again, sending a burst of power into his wings, then his legs.
And then the room went dark.
Rumple’s words—try not to drain all the power from Sanctuary—echoed in my mind, and I bit my lip, wondering if he hadn’t been joking after all.
Too late.