The Rose Witch - Chandelle LaVaun Page 0,77

into a ball was the fact that these were angels. Four of whom were older than time itself here. Whatever they were about to do, it was the clearly the only way to get this off of me. I kept hearing Malachi’s words in my mind, her death grows nearer…she will not survive. He’d been keeping that from me. I didn’t know how I felt about that.

Spot whined and pouted. His red and gold eyes looked up at me sadly.

I tried to smile at him but my teeth were rattling. My whole body trembled.

Angels weren’t supposed to harm mortals. They were supposed to protect us. Which meant the only way to protect me was to hurt me.

I turned my gaze to Malachi and held his glowing gold stare. His eyes were warm, but I saw fear flickering in them and it turned my blood cold.

“Just breathe,” he whispered and held his hands out to his side. “I’m right here.”

I nodded.

His wings stretched out wide and it took my breath away. He lifted off the ground, hovering a few inches in the air. Golden light spread from his body out to his sides. I glanced over my shoulders and found the other four angels looking the same way. The golden light poured out of them to form a circle around me. No, not just a circle. A pentacle. There were five of them, with Malachi standing at the top point.

The energy around me was warm and steady, like rays of sunshine. But the strength in it sent goosebumps across my body. I shuddered and turned back to face Malachi. Jophiel’s warning rang through my ears, keep your eyes on Malachi, that bond will help you see this through. So that was what I would do. I locked my eyes on his and clenched my teeth. I could take it, whatever it was. To survive this locket, I would have to take it.

Malachi nodded once, then he mouthed three…two…one…

Michael chanted words I couldn’t understand. His voice boomed and echoed around the boulders. Bright shimmering gold runes appeared in the air between each of them, but I’d never seen runes like them before. And then Michael’s chanting grew louder. Each word literally hurt my ears to hear. I cringed and hissed as sharp pain laced through my head.

Jophiel’s voice joined his but the sound was just as painful. And then Uriel and Gabriel. Little white squiggles danced in my vision. A piercing sharp headache throbbed in my temples. Malachi licked his lips and joined in the chanting. I ground my teeth together to stop myself from crying out. Their voices blended together into one shrill ringing sound, like nails on a chalkboard but ten million times worse. My eyes twitched. My sinuses burned.

A golden laser shot out of Malachi’s chest and slammed straight into mine. I gasped as it seared through bone. Blue light erupted from Lilith’s locket. That glowing crescent moon shined against his bare chest then bounced around as I shook. Sharp pain pierced each of my shoulder blades. I screamed but then two golden lasers slammed into my rib cage on each side, knocking the breath from my lungs.

The blue light grew brighter and brighter. It was getting hard to look at it.

The angels chanted and my head throbbed. Pressure coiled around my chest like I was being crushed by steel. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I screamed. Every nerve in my body shrieked and hissed. My muscles burned like I was on fire. My bones rattled like wild animals in tiny cages.

My feet lifted off the ground but the pain intensified. My vision was blurry. I glanced down and found the ground covered in those glowing runes.

I looked back up to Malachi and found his whole-body trembling. His muscles flexed. Sweat covered his bare skin. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes but he held my stare with blazing intention. His lips quivered as he chanted. Our crystal soulmate glyph in the center of his chest was bright red and pulsing.

The locket hissed like a tea pot. The crystal burned against my skin. A black cloud erupted from the locket and spilled into the air. It swirled and then shot straight for Malachi and slammed into a wall of white light. The black cloud bounced off and flew over my head. I didn’t look. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Malachi, but white light flashed in my peripheral vision.

The black cloud coiled around my