CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER ONE
GABRIEL STRUGGLED AGAINST the taloned fingers clasped around her forearms, tearing into her flesh. Under the acrid scent of sulphur was the copper tang of blood. Her blood. But not just hers. She made sure of that. Her palms itched as the crimson liquid dried on them. A crooked smile twisted her lips before a magnesium-bright flash seared her eyes, temporarily burning her tormentors from her sight, though their haughty visages were imprinted on her brain. Cold and harsh, the light still burnt her skin and scorched her hair.
Blinking, she saw it was a cruel halo of magic cast by the spear of one of the archangels who yet stood on the right side of Good. The light waned slightly, and his faced loomed over her. Their kind were neither male nor female, yet both. But he had clearly picked a preference, as had she.
"You're finished." His words were crisp and sharp.
A keening howl rent her ears and pierced her heart: her beloved grey guards — her gargoyles — being corralled and subjected to petrifying magic. The aching sound suddenly stopped, leaving an icy burn in her veins. She craned her neck, trying to lay eyes on them, their leathery wings and corded muscles. But all she saw were glimpses of grey lumps. Casting her gaze around, she glared at those who held her, then returned her attention to the man who carried the three blades. He wore the Moon on his head, like an upside-down bow strung between two horns, its silver dull in the faded light. He stepped closer.
"You can't kill me." Gabriel tipped her chin up, pulling her head back as he reached a bloody hand towards her, the fingers of which were wrapped around her blade. Her soul yearned for it as her own blood dripped down its dark facets. But instead of cutting her again, his knuckles ran gently along her cheek.
"I know." His eyes were flecked with red and infused with gold like the circle of death he held in his other hand. "But we can take your power and lock you away. Keep you from spreading your disease across the world."
"You think darkness and dungeons scare me?" A sneer she didn't quite feel played across her lips. "After you kicked me out of your gilded cage, your master put me in enough prisons. Yet here I am. Do your worst." She expected some retort from him. Instead his jaw clenched, and he stepped out of her field of view. A shard of pain pierced her back and an echoing scream tore from her mouth as she collapsed, and the light dissolved. She expected darkness to flood in to fill the space. Instead there was nothing.
