205 Lyre: Power Corrupts
205 Lyre: Power Corrupts
I point at him, my finger stopping just short of his chest. “One of your parents is a pure angel, no?”
Pressing my fingers against my forehead, 1
about something. Relax.”
thinking
“I’m not criticizing daddy dearest.” I wave a dismissive hand. “Most angels would stick “I’m not criticizing daddy dearest.” I w around to raise their offspring
not to, but certainly not the faultly because of the laws in place. It’s rare for one
of the human parent.”
“You look like you’re angry with me over something. I can promise you, I didn’t do anything.” He holds one hand up in the air, saying solemnly, “I scouted ahead but ran into no one and touched nothing. No ward was tripped.”
Bonding him to me would make things easier, but thinking of Aaron’s jealousy makes my head already throb. He was already a mess over a simple arcana infusion with Thom, and–2
“I said they were too weak to defend themselves.” I hold his gaze steadily. “Who do you think eradicated them?”
“The further I go, the more signs of angelic interference I find,” he murmurs. “And the App still hasn’t updated its mission. We’re here to find the agent of Chaos, no mention of Order’s involvement at all, which makes no sense. There’s clearly angelic work here.”
His polite way of telling me I’m full of shit, without wanting to go head–to–head on the
matter. I snort.
“And this community thought that would somehow exempt them from divine oversight?”
He nods.
“You, too?”
LYRE
“You said they weren’t bound by Plausibility or Causality,” he points out with a frown
“Wrong.” I smile faintly. “Balance. They didn’t approve.”
205 Lyre: Power Corrupts
Hmm. “Let me guess. Your father raised you with some vague notion of your heritage but never the specifics.”
He shakes his head slightly. “I still don’t understand why angels would be working with
all of… this.”
“Sit down. Rest for a while.”
I’d really thought he was over it by now. We’ve been working together seamlessly for a while, and he stopped flinching every time I looked in his direction. T
“But they were wrong.”
The effect of blood magic in this space is overwhelming the further we go, saturating the arcana in its taint. One would think such a level of corruption would be mirrored above ground, the earth incapable of nurturing the grass and trees, but it’s the opposite: blood magic, nauseating or not, is a source of energy.
My brows crowd together as I snap my head in Owen’s direction again, frowning at him without meaning to.
“Of course not.” The laugh that escapes me holds no humor. “Angels tend to gloss over the darker sides of their history. It’s inconvenient to be compared to Chaos.”
Owen must sense the weight of my gaze because he meets my eyes, only to have his widen as he takes a step back. “I didn’t do it.”
Though I might have to hold his hand all night.
My lips turn down at the thought before stepping away with Owen, far enough for Thom not to listen in if we whisper.
“Oh.” He pauses. “That makes sense.”
I sigh again, turning away from him to focus on the pale wizard swaying by my side. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the angel–descendant finally relax his shoulders. Nothing like the sudden urge to eat flies to ruin a relationship.
“They miscalculated.” I keep my tone purposely light. “They believed the further their bloodline strayed from pure angelic stock, the less interest Balance would take in
them.”
< 205 Lyre: Power Corrupts
I glance back at Thom, checking that he’s still conscious. Still breathing. Still with us. He meets my eyes and attempts a weak smile, and I wonder if he expects me to smile
back.
“No. He had no idea.” His eyes narrow. “He raised me as best as he could.”
It’s as if I’ve been infected by their pack mentality. We don’t have this kind of relationship.
A brief hesitation before he begrudgingly admits, “I have never met her.”
He slides down, back against the concrete, breathing hard. Sweat drips from his face. “Sorry.”
Sleep should help. And food.
“Ah… I see.”
“Correct. And because they weren’t, Balance could act. They were yet to be woven into the fate of the world, but also unprotected by natural laws.” She points a finger to the sky with a faint smile. “The great gods above don’t like when uncontrolled power
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