Angelfire
Page 92

I froze. Something heavy settled on me, like a great power, but not my own. It weighed down on me like a thick blanket of snow and just as cold, with an immense strength that seemed to slow down al my senses and even time itself. I turned my head to look behind me, fearful of what I might see, and my body fol owed my gaze.
A silhouette shaped like a man stood in the hold's entrance at the bottom of the stairs. His black form was etched in the light from the deck, and feathered wings spread wide as if he'd just landed. He stepped closer to me, the light bil owing around him so that I could at last see his face. He didn't appear much older than me or Wil . His white wings folded into his back and vanished. His power rol ed from him like a storm, but he felt like a black hole, sucking in every last bit of oxygen, so I was left feeling dizzy and il .
"Hel o, El ie," the reaper said, his voice smooth and cool as chil ed butter. "I am Bastian."
32
I STARED HELPLESSLY AT BASTIAN'S HAUNTING face. His smoky black power pul ed at mine, like fingers combing through my hair and brushing my face gently like flutters of eyelashes. His eyes were the brightest, most unnatural blue I had ever seen, a toxic cerulean. He seemed so familiar to me, as if I had met him before, but I couldn't recal when or where. Even his energy, at a level deep below what I felt on the surface, seemed familiar.
"Red is a good color on you," he said at last.
Bile rose in my throat. I was drenched in Geir's blood. The dirty, salty smel revolted me. I held my breath, desperate to keep from retching in front of Bastian. "Where's Ivar? Where are my friends?"
"Ivar is destroying the angelic vir on the upper decks. They're lost to you now."
No! I wanted to scream, but no words escaped my lips. I cried out and rushed forward, swinging my blade, but a blinding wal of black power hit me al over and launched me back through the air. I crashed into the far wal and climbed to my feet with my arms and legs aching. Bastian's power had bruised my skin and torn the cloth of my shirt, but the pain and wounds vanished in seconds.
"I'm not here to kil you," he said.
I glared. "No? Wel , I'm stil going to kick your ass."
He watched me, his eyes examining me so thoroughly, I felt like an animal on exhibit at a zoo. "How charming. I am so pleased to final y meet you."
"We've never met before?" I asked, surprised. Then why did I feel certain that I knew him? Surely I'd met him in a past life. His face . . . He was so familiar.
"No, my dear," he said, his voice soft, but I heard him perfectly over noise of water rushing into the hold, swal owing my shoes.
"So you thought you'd swing by with your buddies and kil us al ?" My fingers clenched my sword tighter.
"I'm here for the sarcophagus and that is al . If I kil you now, then al this would have been for nothing."
"Where's Cadan?" I asked. "He decide to sit this one out?"
Something dark flickered in Bastian's smile. "He and I don't quite share the same sympathies."
I studied his face, trying to find any emotion to read, but he revealed nothing. "Just fight me already!"
His form blurred, and he appeared suddenly right in front of my face. His voice was a whisper, seething with malice. "I know what you are."
"What?" I asked without thinking.
Bastian drifted away from me, spreading his white feathered wings wide. "Your very presence breaks al the rules."
My body locked up until I felt like I was about to break.
"What are you talking about?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"You hide among the humans you love, and in doing so, you gamble with their lives."
My temper flared. "I'm not gambling with their lives!"
His smile darkened to pitch-black. "Don't be angry. Selfishness is only a side effect of living in this mortal world. It's very human, don't you think?"
"Humans have taught me compassion," I said. "The best parts of me exist because I was taught to love and to be kind. What can you say? That you've only kil ed and tormented creatures weaker than you?"
That smile faded. "For one so very ancient, you certainly are naive. Do you think you're better than me? You know even less about me than you do about yourself. Little girl, you are barely any different from me."
And he vanished, blurring from sight. I stared at the space he had just occupied. Was he lying? Did he real y know what I was? Fear lapped at my ankles in the form of swel ing, icecold seawater. I shook my head, steadied my nerves, and splashed up to the main deck. I swung around the cabin and spotted Nathaniel just as he hurled the sarcophagus over the side of the boat. My heart leaped for joy--but crashed right back down again when I saw Ivar dive into the ocean after it. A shadow passed over my head, and I spun around, preparing for attack. Wil landed. Spreading out from his back was a pair of ivory wings-- wings! I staggered away from him in shock. The feathers glistened in the moonlight, pearlescent. They were absolutely beautiful. He looked like an angel towering over me, and his electric green eyes met mine for a brief, terrible moment. He folded his wings above his back and spread them wide again before shakily returning them to his body. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Al I could do was stare at him as he col apsed to the deck, holding a hand over his chest. When I saw darkness spreading over his shirt, I knew he was badly hurt.
"Wil !" I screamed, running to his side in terror. He doubled over and his wings stretched over us, cloaking us in shadow. When I reached for him, he pul ed away from me, his face showing more than just his physical pain. I wanted to hit him hard for keeping the fact that he had wings from me, but as soon as I saw them, I remembered them as if I'd seen them only yesterday.