The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,176

him. All he has to do is, one by one, meet each of their eyes and pull them in. I mean, it's possible, right?"

"But it would take a hell of a lot of aether," Luke said. "The problem is that I'm not sure an angel could hold enough. That's the only reason Sia can do it. She can use so much more aether simply because she can hold more than any of us."

"Unless he drained a few before he started talking," Bel said.

I couldn’t explain why, but that made all the little pieces of conversation from this morning start to fall into place. "Didn't you two say they had a holding room built into the corridor version of the frat house?" I asked.

"Yeah," Sia said. "They pulled people across and used the wards to keep them from blowing away. It was built onto the outer walls of the house in the world above it. Why?"

I looked over and met her eyes. "Because I keep hearing people say they want to see an angel. A real one. What if that's how they’re doing it? What if they have unskinned angels holding their prisoners in the corridor, and anyone who sees them is told they were given a privilege?"

Sia nodded once. "Don't move."

And then she was gone. Without even needing to stand, she just slipped into the corridor, leaving a vacancy between myself and Bel. The big guy slowly shook his head, making it clear he didn't like it, but before he could even complain, she was back.

"There's an angel in the back room," Sia hissed. "I mean, the glowing silhouette is indicative of the shape they have on this plane, right? Because this one had wings."

Nick heard, and wasn't subtle about leaning over to say, "Sia, Ron, Bel, and Sam. Just go. If you don't find anything, meet us outside when this is done. Luke and I will stay and see what this is all about. If anyone gets into trouble, summon us."

"Sounds good," Sia said, reaching over to grab my hand.

On the other side, she grabbed Bel's, and he grabbed Sam's. That meant when she pushed herself in the corridor, she all but dragged us with her. Instinctively, we all threw up a shield to block the winds, and then we stopped to look around. Here, there was no holding room. All around us, I could see the glowing silhouettes she'd been talking about.

In the corridor, the aether of life was an illumination. Every person sitting in that room looked like a neon-colored shadow. There were no specific features, just the general shape of them. The interesting thing was that while I could see the gray walls of the building, it didn't block me from seeing the silhouettes in the rooms behind them, and she was right. Somewhere behind the podium where Gabriel was speaking, there was definitely an angel.

"There," I said, pointing.

We all moved that way. Yes, there were other people in the building, but none in that specific room. Whoever this angel was, he looked like he was reading something, leaned over what could possibly be a desk. And while people moved in the halls all around him, not a single one moved towards the door of his room.

"Me first," Bel said.

Sia sighed, but she wasn't fast enough to stop him. Instead, she just followed, and the rest of us slipped across after her. One by one, we entered the room, ready for an attack. But what I saw was not at all what I was expecting.

The angel sucked in a breath and looked up, clearly startled. But his face looked like what I saw every time I looked in the mirror. His skin was almost the exact same purple color as my own, but while mine was mixed with silver, his seemed to be mixed with gold. And the scarring! Facing him, we both had it on the same side: my right and his left.

For a moment, no one moved. In truth, I couldn't. I'd been told this guy existed, and while I'd believed Sia, it was different standing before him. His eyes were wide in shock, but I had a feeling mine were no better. This was me. The angelic version that I could've been if God had moved me instead of him. I was standing here, staring at what my life could've been like if I hadn't been so lucky.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

He just shook his head as if trying to deny my existence.