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I laugh. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Turn my hair blue.”
“I do not want to see that. I don’t need my magic right now. I just need rest.”
He cups my face and strokes the delicate area by my temple. “Then rest.”
My hand closes over his. “Micah, I’m scared.”
“I’m scared, too.”
“How are you scared?”
“This is not a game we’re playing. It’s salvation or destruction. But we’re stronger together.”
“Are we?”
“We are.” He pulls me closer, turns me, and fits my back to his chest, the damn blanket between us, but that is not all that is between us. Not even close. The man with the red wings is between us, too, and I don’t understand who he is or why. And for reasons I can’t explain, I don’t ask Micah about him.
The Sacred Book of Nephilim
Fire will come in the dawn and in the fall of night. Fire will reveal destruction. Fire will reveal life.
Chapter forty-three
Iwake the next morning to the blessed relief of no aches and pains, blinking with the expectation of darkness only to be greeted by a bright beam of sunlight, which means it’s not daybreak. I jerk to a sitting position to find Micah in a chair by the fireplace, dressed in fresh black fatigues with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he says. “How do you feel?”
A memory of him wrapping the robe around me, my naked body between us, has me checking my robe to discover I’m all but flashing him. I yank the silk closed, and amusement dances in his eyes. “You still haven’t told me how you feel.”
Butterflies flutter about in my belly, and I swear I’m like a teenager with a crush right now. I think I’m actually nervous, but I manage a steady voice as I say, “Much better. Like new. Thank you for taking care of me. What time is it?”
“Ten. I let you sleep to allow the soto to work.”
My jaw goes slack. “No.”
He chuckles. “Yes.”
“No!” I throw away the blankets, kick my feet to the floor, and quickly find my footing. The schoolgirl is gone. The warrior has taken her place. My heart is racing. I have no time. I feel that in some cavernous part of me. Jeremy is coming for me and him. No one else dies for me. Micah will not die for me. It’s as he said, there’s one way to fix all of this. Kill Jeremy. I have to be ready. “Why did you let me sleep, Micah? I have to train. We have to go to the Diviner and the river and—”
He’s already in front of me, his hands on my shoulders, my nipples puckering beneath the silk with his nearness, with his touch. Apparently, the warrior in me is still a woman very much in need of this man. “You needed the rest. We’ll eat at the bay again, and then go to the forest.”
“You’re really taking me to the forest?” I ask incredulously.
“Every day until you’re ready to graduate to bigger things,” he vows. “Go get dressed. I’ll be here waiting.”
But I don’t move, and his hands stay pressed to my shoulders, the air thick and rich with all that transpired between us last night. I was naked in his arms. And right now, I want him. I want him desperately, but I’m terrified of us for so many reasons. What happens when he’s too attached to kill me if it becomes necessary? What happens if I kill him? What happens if our bond actually unleashes the serpent?
I rotate out of his arms and walk to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and panting out a breath. He fears everything I do, too, or I’d be naked right now. I need this damn serpent out of me. Now. I need to go fight. I push off the door and head to the shower.
Brunch consists of omelets and some kind of muffins made from the nutty grain I remember Micah mentioning. “Tell me about the Fray,” I encourage, feeling drawn to this event as the ultimate survival test that I have yet to prove I can survive.
“It’s held in the wastelands where magic and demons run freely, and not gently. It’s almost impossible to prepare for. You fight each other. You fight the elements. You fight demons.”
I laugh without humor and at myself. “And yet, I’m nervous about facing whatever is in the forest.”
“You are the Aza, Ember, and a certainty I know from the books is that you have powerful magic inside you. Reach for it and your dagger. You’ll be stunned at how those things overcome time and training.”
