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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Shadow City Page 31