“What?” My heart skipped a beat as I looked over to him.
He stood with his hands on his hips. “It’s not contaminated.”
“Why do you sound like that’s a bad thing?” Zayne demanded.
Better yet, why did Zayne suddenly sound as if he were standing in a tunnel even though he was standing beside me? I looked over at him. His features were fuzzy—well, fuzzier than normal, and I...
“It’s full of goodness,” Lucifer spat. “It’s pure, and it’s getting all over me. I’m going to need to shower this crap off.”
That was good... That was beyond good and beyond what any of us had been too afraid to hope for. God stepped up. He or She or Whatever stepped up. Tears filled my eyes, but I...
“I bet you’re up there laughing, aren’t you?” Lucifer shouted. “Dusting me with the equivalent of a heavenly glitter bomb? Really?”
I stared at the snow as it gathered on my arm. It didn’t melt.
“After all I’ve done for you, this is how You repay me?” Lucifer continued to rage. “I’m going to have to take five showers and I know I won’t be able to get the stench of humanity and goodness off me.”
Zayne twisted toward me, a laugh in his voice as he said, “We did it, Trin.”
We had, but...
I tried to swallow, but my throat felt weird, like it was narrowing. “I don’t feel right.”
The sound of Zayne’s wings snapping back ended in his shout. I didn’t know why he yelled my name, but then I was suddenly in his arms and he was above me, his face going in and out focus.
“Trin! What is it?” Zayne wasn’t waiting for my answer. His hand swept over my chest and down my stomach. He halted and then yanked up my shirt, swearing. “You’re wounded.”
“It’s just...a punch.”
Zayne’s hand trembled against my stomach as he cranked his head around. “Lucifer! Stop your bitching and get over here!”
“What?” I asked, or I thought I did. I wasn’t sure as I struggled to lift my hand long enough to look down. I saw my stomach, but it looked weird. Like the skin was...like it was turning gray and spreading.
“What is this?” Zayne demanded. “What is happening?”
The blurred face of Lucifer appeared above one of Zayne’s wings. His head tilted and then he whipped around, disappearing out of sight.
And my...my head felt too heavy. It fell back, and I was staring beyond Zayne and the tips of his beautiful wings, to the snow that continued to fall. A numbness settled into me. A bone-deep knowing.
“What are you doing?” Zayne yelled at him as he turned me slightly to the side. “Lucifer!”
“I’m looking for—found them.” There was a pause. “Damn.”
“Damn? Damn what?” Panic crept into Zayne’s voice.
Lucifer’s voice was closer. “Were you stabbed with this? With one of these angel blades?” he demanded.
A faint golden glow reflected from the spike he held in his hand. “Teller had it,” I forced out. “And Gabriel...he only punched me.”
“That Warden must’ve given one to Gabriel, or he always had one,” Lucifer said. “He didn’t punch you. He nicked you with one of these.”
“That...” Zayne trailed off, and then his wings flared out. “No. No.” He twisted toward me, the arm around me tightening. “Trin. You’re going to be fine.”
“What happened?” Layla gasped.
“She’s fine. I’m going to make sure of it,” Zayne said. “You’re okay. I just need to find—”
“There’s nothing to be found,” Lucifer cut him off. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“There has to be,” snapped Roth, and I was glad to hear that the stupid demon prince and Layla were okay.
“It’s an angel blade,” Lucifer argued. “It’s—”
“Don’t say it,” Zayne growled. “Don’t you fucking say it.”
Lucifer fell silent, but he didn’t need to say what I already knew, what I felt in the sluggish beats of my heart. What had Roth said? Angel blades were deadly. They could kill anything, including another angel.
Including a Trueborn.
We knew this.
“You’re going to be okay.” Zayne cupped my cheek. I was aware of his hand there, but I couldn’t feel it. “You have to be. Okay? I just need you to hang in there. For me. Do you hear me, Trin? I just need you to hold out and I’ll figure out a way.”
You’re already dead.
That’s what Gabriel had said after he punched me. Except it hadn’t been a punch. He’d known. He’d known then he was going to lose, and he...
And he took me out with him.
That bastard.
I’d been willing to die to stop him. That’s what I planned before the angels arrived, but now, after winning? I wasn’t ready.
But I knew it was too late. Everything in me felt like it was...like it was giving up, shutting down and closing up shop.
I was dying, and I’d always thought dying would be painful, but this was...it was like falling asleep. My eyes fluttered.
“No!” Zayne shook me, startling me. “Don’t close your eyes. Don’t go to sleep. Look at me. Trinity, please. Look at me. Keep your eyes open. Trin, look at me.”
I looked at him. I blinked until his features came into painful focus, and I soaked in every line of his face, every plane and angle. Would I see him again? Panic exploded like a buckshot, but it was too late. “I... I love you.” I forced the words out, each one a labor. “I love you.”
“I know. I know you do, Trin, and you know that I love you. I’m going to spend eternity telling you that. You’ll get tired of hearing it.” His voice cracked. “I promise you that. You’re not going to leave me. I refuse to let that happen.”
But I was, and I couldn’t feel his arms around me. A heartbeat later, I couldn’t see him. Panic gave way to terror. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here, Trin. I got you. I’m right here. I have you.”
He did. He had me. I wasn’t alone. Some of the fear eased off. “Don’t let...go of me.”
“Never,” he swore.
“Please.”
“Always.” He sounded so very far away.