Destroyed by Onyx (A Dance with Destiny Book 4) (33 page)

“Ah, yes, ΄tis true. And you should know this best of us all, lovely Naga. You were wed to the father of monsters, were you not?” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Never have I seen a bond so strong, the severing of which nearly destroyed two mighty titans. The story will be told throughout all time, Little Fire—an epically tragic tale of two fragile hearts… and the ferocious Angels who owned them.”

“I am a foolish creature, to be sure. Blind, naïve, childish and volatile at my best, and… well, you already know me at my worst.” She gave his hand a tiny squeeze. “Will you please excuse me for just one moment?” She stood without waiting for his reply.

Jenevier knew he heard her coming, could hear her approaching steps. He turned his head slightly. She could barely see the sharp point of his nose peeking out behind that thick brown wall of tresses.

“Raphael?” she said timidly.

He did not respond.

She knelt down on her knees beside him. She couldn’t muster the courage to face him properly. “Forgive me. I am stubborn, capricious, and obstinate. I rarely think before I act, and never before I speak. Please do not hold my many flaws against me. I once found favor in your eyes, this I’ve been told.” Cold tears streaked down her bowed face. “Now, I only wish to find forgiveness in your heart concerning my poor treatment of you this day.”

She felt him twirling one of her dull silver curls in his hand.

“You were only defending the one you love,” he said. “No apologies should be made for courage and selflessness. Go in peace, little Naga. All is forgiven.”

“Gratitude,” she whispered.

Unable to raise her head to meet his gaze for fear of what she might find there, Jenevier stood to leave when she felt his soft tug upon her hand. Turning back, she was met with a gentle, beautiful smile.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, little sister. I know you have been told I favor you. Jophiel has a big mouth. Alas, it was much more than simple favor. I have been your fierce defender, Milady. Even when you didn’t truly deserve it.” He blushed slightly and turned from her. “I have watched you grow, been there for every blessed moment. Still, it’s hard to believe you’re a grown woman already,” he whispered. “I was listening to you yesterday… when you were visited by my brothers.” He squeezed the tip of her captive finger and met her gaze once more. “Don’t tell Jophiel I said this.” His deep voice lowered to a mischievous whisper. “But, you startled him. Your blade was at his throat before he even sensed you moving. Good girl.” He softly chuckled. “He’ll not be able to live that down for centuries. We have teased him mercilessly.” He winked at her then. “Between you and me, your blade would have definitely scarred his lovely flesh.”

“Do you really think he is lovely?” Without thinking, she reached out, tucking his dark hair behind his ear to better see his face. “I find him rather common. I mean, look at you. You are breathtaking. Women would kill to have hair as thick as yours. And all those long lashes… the loveliest I’ve ever seen, to be sure. Not only can Jophiel never match your beauty, his actions are vile and unrefined. He lacks the grace and elegance that effortlessly flows from you and Gabriel. He is roughhewn, where you are pure silk.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled it from his hair, jerking her forward. “Do you play with me, Kagi Naga? Do I seem as a gullible child to you? I am not your plaything. I will not melt from your words
or
your smile. Touch me again, and I will personally escort your tainted soul through the Nether.”

His terrifying growl shook her very soul. She felt it tremble within her. His face was so close she could smell his lily scented breath, feel its warmth upon her cheek. Fire burned in his heavenly eyes and ceased her lungs, freezing them in her tightening chest. Utter fear, the likes of which she had never known, paralyzed her. She collapsed upon him.

“Raphael, release her!”

She faintly heard Gabriel’s words, they seemed so far away.

“Why did you treat her thusly? Could you not clearly see within her mind, within her heart? She is as a babe, with no ill or harmful intent. She came seeking forgiveness and showered admiration and praise upon you. Look for yourself. Lower your defenses, Brother. She spoke to you the truth in her heart. She is not the Deceiver.”

Raphael looked down at the tiny girl lying limp across his knee. “She is blended, Gabriel. How can you be so at ease with her?”

“Just look, Brother. Open your eyes. She is not Apollyon.”

“You had to restrain her yourself,” Raphael said. “She was as an animal only a few moments ago.”

“She was protecting someone she loved. She could sense the hate boiling within you. She only thought you meant Daichi harm. It wasn’t for herself. Surely you sensed that.”

“There is no hate boiling within me,” Raphael grumbled.

Gabriel raised a single golden eyebrow and sent his brother a knowing glance.

“Well, there’s no hate boiling within me for Daichi… only the one he was made to replace. I mean, look at him, Gabriel. It’s uncanny, is it not? And
she
…” He nodded toward her limp form. “She blended with him. She is part of him. And part of that old blue devil lives within her. Why do you refuse to acknowledge that?” Raphael closed his eyes, painful memories creased lines across his brow. “I know the Deceiver well, Brother. Better than any other Angel. Do not speak down to me concerning him. He says what he knows you want to hear. He reads your heart and sings it to your waiting ears.” He looked back down at Jenevier and gently stroked her hair. “This she does as well.”

“I see.” Gabriel smiled knowingly.

“
What
do you see?” Raphael snapped, turning to look at him.

“Your noble heart wanted to hear her sweet words. You wanted her loving admiration to spill from those enchanting lips, just as it did.”

“What are you talking about?” Raphael growled.

“When she spoke true the words you had always wanted to hear, you named her Deceiver,” Gabriel said.

“Yes. So? That’s what
he
does.”

Gabriel only smiled again.

“Stop acting as if you know something you obviously do not,” Raphael hissed. “Your smugness is revolting.”

“Very well, Brother. As you wish,” Gabriel said, turning from him. “When she can walk once more, tell her I am waiting.”

Raphael glared at his retreating back. “She is of him. I know she is,” he grumbled. “Get up, Naga.”

She didn’t move.

He placed his hand upon her back and shook her. “Gabriel’s waiting for you. Get up.”

Still, she did not respond.

“Why do you try my patience?” He grabbed her curls, jerking her head back.

Her limp body slid to the floor.

“Naga?”

He picked her up. She was like a doll in his arms, a tiny, porcelain toy.

He tenderly brushed back her curls. “Jeez… Gabriel, come get her.”

His celestial brother did not respond.

“You did this to yourself, you know,” he whispered. “Why did you touch me? Why did you speak words from my heart? Do you think me a fool? Did you believe I would be ignorant of your intentions?”

Her eyelashes fluttered. Raphael waited until her lids were half open.

“Naga.” His voice was firm but not overly harsh. “Why did you touch me? Never touch an Arch. Do you understand me?”

Her voice was groggy, small. “Apologies. I didn’t know. I have touched your brothers all. None of them hurt me.”

“How did you touch them?” he demanded, a little too much bite in his words.

“Wha-what? I know not. The same as Gabriel and I holding hands while we watched the dawn. We just touched.” Her head stopped spinning long enough for her to sit up, shakily. “People touch, Raphael. It’s completely natural.” She rubbed her temples, grimacing. “Ugh, my head is killing me. You have taught me a hard lesson, Brother, one I’ll not soon forget—steer very clear of Raphael, the crazy dark Arch.”

He kept her upon his lap, pushed all of her curls back behind her shoulders. “Naga, tell me. Why did you touch me?”

“In truth, I wanted to see what your beautiful hair felt like. And… I wanted to see your perfect face, the whole of it. Not just your profile,” she said, fighting the coming tears. “I only wanted to look upon you properly. Why did you
think
I touched you? I didn’t don my claws or lift my wings. What did you believe I was intent upon, if not admiration?”

He turned her chin, forcing her to look directly at him. He stared deep into her black eyes. And there they remained… until she grew so uncomfortable she began to struggle in his arms, trying to stand, to run, to flee.

“What are you doing?” she cried. “Stop it!”

Gabriel came back inside. “Raphael.”

“I did not harm her,” he said, pushing her off his lap.

Jenevier ran past the golden-haired Arch and out to the balcony railing. Her chest was heaving for want of more air.

“Are you well, Naga?”

She spun around to face Gabriel. “What’s wrong with him? Is he mad? Has he lost his Angel wits upon the way? What did he
think
I was doing?”

“Raphael is… cautious. He has his reasons. Come. We must talk.”

She plopped down in a chair, sighing. “Why, all of a sudden, am I so interesting to you
all
? I sought word of you, any of you, for years. Not one of you cared enough to even let me know of your existence. Now… now that I’m like
this
…” She waved her hands to encompass the whole of her colorless body. “You find immense joy in torturing me. Not only do you now show yourselves and speak, you traipse right into my chambers as I sleep. All of you. As if, pulling me from my dreams only to immerse me in
your
nightmares, is a completely natural thing to do to an unsuspecting soul.”

“Yes, it must seem thus to you,” Gabriel whispered. “Alas, we have always known you, Kagi Naga, always watched you from afar. None more so than Raphael and Uriel. They find you curiously fascinating.”

She snorted. “Well, that’s just lovely. I find them extremely irritating. But… not as much as Jophiel.”

He chuckled. “Yes, well, Jophiel can be a bit more of an acquired taste. He is actually quite entertaining once you know how to take him. He has a delightfully wicked sense of humor.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll just take your word for it.”

She fell silent. Gabriel watched her for a long moment as she absently picked at her clothing, head down.

“Naga, you must make a decision,” he finally said.

She didn’t look up. “About going to Sheol?”

“No. That is no longer possible. Since Daichi healed you through the night, the coldness has all but left you. If you
could
enter his realm now, Shamsiel would easily claim you, never let you go. The darkness yet remains, but it is far removed from your heart,” he said. “No. I come concerning more personal things.”

Her heart leapt, she could literally feel it in the back of her throat.
This can’t be good
, she thought. “Personal? Like what?”

“Your wings.”

“M-my wings? What about my wings?”

“They are required of you, little one.”

“Required? You mean… you came to take my wings?” If she hadn’t been without color, Gabriel could have surely seen all the blood drain from her face. “W-will I d-die?”

He gave her a sympathetic smile. “No. I will not tear them from your back as Shabriri did your friend, Vittorio.”

“But you will take them, all the same,” she whispered.

“I will,” he said. “
If
you can live without them.”

She stared out at the beautiful lavender field, still sparkling with morning’s dew. Painful memories flooded through her mind. The headache Raphael had gifted her turned into a throbbing migraine.

What have my wings brought me? As many smiles as tears? Or were there always more tears?
Jenevier had still not regained the whole of her lost past. But much of it had returned. Well, bits and pieces of most of it.
How bad will it be, really? From what I can recall, diamond wings equal blood… lots of blood. Why should I miss such miserable things as that?
She drew in a jerking breath. “I can,” she whispered. “I can live without my wings.”

Gabriel’s breath hitched. “I will admit I did not expect that answer, nor did I expect it quite so quickly.”

“Are my claws required as well?”

“They are.”

“Wow… I must tell you. I’m going to miss them, terribly so.” She sighed. “Very well, then.”

“That’s it?” Gabriel gaped at her stoic profile. “Just like that? No other questions? Not even a tiny argument?”

She looked him in the eye. “You claim to have the power to turn me to ash. I but touch Raphael’s hair, just his hair, mind you, and he… I know not… squeezed my brain or something. If it’s my wings that cause your shadows to continually cross my door, then take them. I need them not.”

He tenderly stroked her cheek. “You, Little Fire, are far stronger than I. Are you not even going to ask me why?”