A Crown Of Fire And Wrath (The Shadow Walkers Saga #5) - Sloane Murphy Page 0,14

can physically keep me here, but I also know he won’t stop me leaving.

“This is your home, little bird,” he says softly, and I feel my heart crack again.

“My home is on Earth now. Having my memories back doesn’t change that. It doesn’t change how I feel about the others. My home is where they are. I won’t hide here while everyone else tries to find out who is trying to kill me. You should know that better than anyone.”

He sighs at my words and shakes his head. “I do. We’ll talk about this later, after we meet with the council.”

“I’m not going to change my mind about this,” I tell him firmly. I owe him a lot. Everything really. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stay here from some sense of duty.

“You never do.”

The rest of the morning passes simply enough. I stay in bed, my body not feeling as happy about the shit we’ve put it through. Apparently, undoing the block took more out of me than I thought, plus, still a baby angel, which I’m remembering comes with more restrictions than I’m happy about. So, I rest.

Until the skies turn dark outside. The skies here never go dark.

Lightning cracks across the clouds as thunder rolls throughout Avalon. Loud enough to make the walls shake.

“What the hell is going on?” I ask as I walk into the main room and find Michael on the balcony.

“What do you think? He was never going to let me have you for long.”

“Levi.” I sigh, rubbing my eyes. “You lifted his banishment once. Just let him in.”

“I lifted his banishment to help you.” He doesn’t even look at me as he says the words, but his shoulders tense, his whole body is on alert.

“Keeping him out isn’t going to help anyone. I don’t understand why you banished him in the first time.”

“I banished him, because he broke the rules when he saved you,” he growls, turning to face me. “I banished him, because he got to do what I couldn’t. Like he always does.”

My heart about stops in my chest. I am not ready for this conversation right now. “Michael…”

Thunder cracks across the skies again, shaking the sky loft, and I try to find the right words, but I don’t have them so I try to appeal to the warrior I know he is. The man who loves his people. “He won’t give up.”

“I know.” He turns away from me again. “But just letting him in will hurt Avalon more than it will help it. It makes me look weak. That, that would hurt Avalon, and I’m not prepared to do that. I already let him back in once, if I do it again…”

“If you do it again, Avalon’s defenses won’t be shredded. He built them, he knows the weak spots. It’s his people protecting the city. If you think that they won’t bow to him. Even with Serafina in charge, he will always be their general. It’s who he is, it’s who they are. Even she will bow to him eventually. Better that it comes from you, than to have him make you have to give in. He was always going to come. You had to know that.”

“I thought I’d have longer. But you’re right. He’ll always come for you. And I always end up letting you go.” He unfurls his wings and pushes off of the balcony, shooting off into the distance towards where Levi would have appeared when he reached Avalon. Outside the walls that aren’t visible from here, the walls that the Death Dealers protect with their lives. Outside the magical barrier the helps to protect everything that Avalon is. Outside and locked out from getting to me.

I just hope they don’t kill each other before they realize how much it would hurt me to lose either of them.

What a fucking mess.

And I thought getting my memories back would make things easier. Instead, it just makes things more complicated than ever. That’s before I even dive into everything.

Fucking awesome.

Lightning and thunder continue to batter the defenses of Avalon, but I know that Levi is taking it easy. He has much more in his arsenal than that. This is his warning shot. He knew we’d know it was him. No one else can do what he does with such flare. He knew that Michael would have no choice but to go to him. I just have to hope that they can put aside whatever it is that was between them