Shadow City (41 page)

Max went to Scooter. He was still breathing, but just barely. She looked at Ilanion and Giselle. “Can you heal him?”

They both could hardly stand. Oz had taken over helping Giselle walk. She refused to be carried. Ilanion swayed.

“Of course,” they said in unison.

“We should do it here and now. The coliseum will remain standing until we leave. No one will bother us here,” Ilanion said. “He doesn’t have much time left.”

Max heard the words he didn’t speak.
If he can handle the healing.

“Do it,” she said, and lowered herself to the ground. Spike came to lie beside her, propping its head in her lap. She was really going to have to figure out if the Calopus was a boy or a girl.

Alexander sat behind her and pulled her against him. She leaned back gratefully. Her belly hurt. Or, rather, it hurt more than everything else, but the numbness was wearing off and her body was turning into one big mass of agony.

Tyler and Oz came to sit, too. They laid Thor on the ground. He was healing, but it was going to be a while before he woke up. He needed food soon. A sugar IV would help him a lot. Max had brought a med kit with her, but it was back at Ilanion’s compound. That would have to be soon enough.

They watched as Ilanion removed the bandages from Scooter’s wasted body. The wounds were putrid, the edges black and green. The hole in his chest was the size of Max’s fist. She couldn’t believe he was still breathing.

Next, the eagle mage took the silk from the tiny box and shook it out. It glistened like diamonds and fire. He laid it over Scooter’s body. Then he had Giselle hold the horn to Scooter’s forehead. Last, Ilanion cracked open the box holding the heart and lifted it out. It was still encased inside the diamond. He inserted it through the hole in Scooter’s chest and nodded to Giselle. She let go. The horn remained in place.

Ilanion splayed his hands on Scooter’s stomach and chest. Giselle put her hands on top of his. They both began to chant. Black and gold ribbons of magic snaked around the dying Scooter.

Nothing happened. Minutes ticked past. Then an hour. Then two. Long before then, Max drifted to sleep, soothed by Alexander’s warmth and the steady beating of his heart.

She didn’t have any idea how much time had passed before he shook her gently awake.

“Max. It is done.”

She blinked her dry eyes and stared. Scooter knelt in front of her. A tiny horn protruded from his forehead, and his silk traced a brilliant diamond pattern through his scales, which gleamed brightly. His hair was silky black once again, and his eyes were back to their blue-flecked obsidian.

“You’re whole,” she said, and rolled her eyes at herself. Talk about stating the obvious.

“Thanks to you. You didn’t give up.” He took her hand. His body resonated with life and magic. Healing energy poured through her, and her pain evaporated as strength and vigor returned.

“Oh, wow. I always forget how good it feels not to hurt,” she said.

“I forget how good it is to be alive,” Thor said. He was standing behind Scooter with Giselle and Ilanion, both of whom had also been healed.

“Ain’t it grand?” Tyler said, and then fell silent.

Niko
.

Max sighed and stood. It was time to go home. Now that she was healed, she just might be able to manage it.

“Will I see you again?” she asked Scooter, realizing suddenly that he had no reason to stay near Horngate or even on Earth any longer.

He smiled, and his expression was full of secrets. “You will,” he said.

“Why does that sound vaguely like a threat?” she said with a rueful grin.

“You’ll see me, too,” Ilanion said. “Come visit anytime, and I want to come see this Horngate for myself.” He pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I let the Korvad go on for too long. If not for you, I might never have fought them.”

Max didn’t get the chance to answer. Suddenly, they were all in the abyss—including Spike. A moment later, she was back in Scooter’s underground den, just him and her.

She raised her brows at him, her stomach tightening. “I thought I got to go back home now.”

“In a moment,” he said, and he chuckled as Spike wandered through the wall and sat beside Max.

“She is fond of you,” Scooter observed. “There are few of her kind left. Have a care with her.”

“I will,” Max said, scratching the beast’s ears. At least now she knew the animal was a female. “Why did you bring me here?”

“To say that I’m sorry about your loss. Niko was important to you.”

Tears burned in Max’s eyes, and she closed them, her throat tightening. “He was family. Losing him is like losing a piece of my soul.”

“I know. But there is one more thing you should know,” Scooter said slowly.

Max sniffed and swallowed. “What’s that?”

“Each angel has a manner of dying peculiar to his nature and being. As you might imagine, they keep it a close secret. Even if one of your angels is truly dead, then the other is not. No two angels can be killed in the same manner. But I doubt that either is permanently dead.”

Hope flooded Max. “Why do you think so?”

He shrugged. “Call it intuition. That doesn’t mean they will wake on their own. They were deeply hurt. They will need help.”

“What kind of help? What do I do?” she demanded. Maybe she didn’t have to lose as much as she thought.

“I don’t know.”

“You have to know something. You’ve lived forever, and you’ve traveled across worlds. You have to have
some
idea.”

“I wish I did. I will look. For you, I will do that.”

He took her hand, turning it over and touching the scar on her palm. Inside was the feather Tutresiel had given her. “You are bound to them. Perhaps not with vows, but they are tangled in your heartstrings. They are yours. If anyone can, you will find a way to lead them home.”

“You really are a master of cryptic horseshit, aren’t you?” Max complained. “That doesn’t tell me anything. Is that the best you can do?”

“You could always find another angel. Ask.”

He smiled a taunting smile. Max’s fingers curled into a fist. She wanted to hit him. Then she smiled, too. He was back to himself. She could hardly believe how stupidly happy that made her.

She opened her mouth to say more, but suddenly, she was back in the abyss, Spike hugging her leg. After a moment, she realized that Scooter wasn’t going to take them the rest of the way. So she thought of Horngate. Of her family there. Of Tyler and Thor and Oz and Lise. Of Oak and Steel and Flint. Of Tris and Kyle and her parents. Of Giselle. And of Alexander. She smiled, and it tasted bittersweet.

A split second later, she went home.

Fantasy.
Temptation.
Adventure.

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