Eternal Sin (Primal Sin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,13
fractured. The old manors are collapsing. Konstantin back from the dead would change everything. He has to go back for his wings, for us. It only needs to be a few days, at most. Do you know where Mikhail keeps the wings?” she asked him.
“I have a good idea.”
Samiel visibly recoiled. “You’ve known all this time?”
“I only recently suspected I’d found them,” he replied grimly, thinking of the crack in Mikhail’s chamber wall.
“Good.” The madam nodded. “I have a feather. The feather you gave me, Konstantin. Mikhail’s feather. I paid off a nephilim to confirm he uses feathers to lock his chamber door. If he has his rumored gallery of wings, then you’ll need a feather to get in.”
“You took that feather off me all those weeks ago to get inside his gallery?”
She straightened proudly. “I dreamed of breaking in and tearing them all down. Stupid, perhaps. But it’s not right that he keeps them.”
He liked the madam more and more. “That feather I gave you, I found it on the killing fields. I…” He glanced at Samiel and felt a twinge of regret for things that never came to pass. “I kept it all this time to give to Samiel.”
Samiel’s eyes widened, and his lips shaped a silent O.
He’d kept the feather for Samiel for so long. “I don’t think it’s Mikhail’s… it’s just an angel feather.”
“Well then…” She pulled the tatty feather from inside her tightly wrapped clothing and handed it out. “Whoever it belongs to, you’d better have it back, but you’ll need one to unlock his gallery, and you’ll need to wear another illusion to do it.”
He took the feather. She was right. Gods, he had to summon another illusion, this time one belonging to a guardian. It wouldn’t be easy, and it would require another sacrifice, but it could be done. As to whether retrieving his wings would finally rid him of the illusion? It could. Besides, they were running out of options. “I’ve never seen this Remiel. I need to know what he looks like. I won’t be able to imitate his voice. And if Mikhail has met him before, he could easily see my lies.”
The madam smiled. “I’m sure some human images can be found. They love photographing those feathered freaks. And it won’t need to be for long. A day or two, just to get you inside Aerie.”
“No.” Samiel folded his arms. “Jeseph will never allow it. And if Luxen finds out you’re even here—”
“Jeseph can go fuck himself,” Severn said.
The madam’s smile turned into a grin. “No one else will.”
“Exactly.” She was getting it. He knew there was a reason he liked her. “Lux doesn’t need to know.”
“You’re both insane,” Samiel exclaimed. “It’s not going to happen… It can’t happen.”
Severn’s grin grew. He sidled up to Samiel and eased a hand down his back, where his muscles were bunched in tension. Severn knew exactly how to relax him. He’d make him say yes to anything. “I’m going to need a great deal of power to pull this off.”
“No, Stantin.” His eyes flashed.
Severn took his hand and pressed the feather into it. “Ten years ago, I took this feather from the killing fields and brought it back for you. You dared me to get one. Do you remember?”
Samiel’s big eyes glistened. He wrapped his fingers around the feather, crushing it in his palm. “I wasn’t there the last time, when you created this illusion you wear now,” he said softly. “If I had been, I’d have stopped you then. Mikhail will kill you for real this time, and you’ll be gone again.”
Severn clutched Samiel’s face. For all his sharp teeth and demon eyes, the emotions were right there, mapped in the worry and fear, and by the gods, he wished he could feel it too. Feel for Samiel, because clearly the demon felt deeply for him. “You weren’t there because I thought you dead. I wore this illusion and got close to Mikhail for you. What happened, Samiel? You went into battle and never returned.”
A single tear gathered at his lashes and fell. “You don’t remember?”
“No, I…” The memory he’d sacrificed. The moment he’d given up to wear this damned illusion. That was it. Something had happened during the battle. Something to do with Samiel. Something terrible. And he’d given it up as the price to wear an angel’s skin. He could feel the truth now. Like a beast lurking in the dark, waiting to strike. “Tell me.”