Chapter Eighteen
Keir stared at his reflection for a minute as though he were staring at a stranger. He fluttered his wings and gasped at the sight of the gray feathers as they moved behind him. He felt like they didn’t belong to him, even though they still moved at his command. He reached back and plucked a feather to look at it more closely. He held it in his fingers gently, turning it to stare at the dark plumage. It was real. It wasn’t a trick of the mirror.
He was tainted.
Keir began to shake. Tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks. He tried to be strong and not show weakness, like Michaelangelo advised him to do in battle. After all, this truly was a battle of good and evil. But he was losing.
The angel couldn’t hold back the sobs that wracked his body. His wings cu
