Carved from Stone and Dream by T. Frohock

Author:T. Frohock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

13

Rafael sat on the hard chair, desperately trying to curb the tremors shuddering through his body. Ribbons of dried blood caked his wrists and splashed his forearms. His fingers tingled with the numbness of damaged nerves. But that could have been caused by Carlos, who’d slammed Rafael’s arms onto the metal desk and held him while Cabello’s hard hands violated every secret place of Rafael’s body.

Fuck them. Fuck both of them. He clenched his jaw and glared at Carlos, who sat behind the desk. I didn’t scream. It was a point of pride that he’d made it through the search without crying out. Stop thinking about it.

Unable to remove the jacket and shirt because of the cuffs, Cabello had simply cut them off. They’d left Rafael his undershirt and pants, but Cabello disappeared with the rest of his clothes, including his shoes.

Still, the room wasn’t cold. I shouldn’t be shaking. Concentrating on his breathing, he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly until he managed to regain control over his body. Get calm. That’s the first step.

Carlos lit another cigarette and dropped his match to the floor. The room was blue with smoke. It was worse than a cabaret on a Saturday night.

Rafael’s cheek itched horribly as his flesh tried to heal around the Grigori’s deep scratch. He recalled his papá’s illness when an ’aulaq bit off his finger. The vampire’s toxic bite had nearly killed Papá.

And Juanita said only an old nefil such as Papá could survive so much poison. But angels’ claws didn’t carry the same venom as a vampire’s bite. Thus far, the swelling on his cheek turned his words lopsided, and he had to be careful not to slur; otherwise, he seemed okay. Even the tremors were beginning to subside.

Carlos watched him through slitted eyes. “They say a nefil’s transition from their firstborn life into their second incarnation is the most dangerous. Did you know that?”

He’s trying to spook me, keep me on edge.

And it was working.

Fear curdled in his stomach and left a pain as sharp as hunger. Stop it. He had to quit letting Carlos scare him. Papá deals with the here and now.

Rafael suddenly understood why. If he dealt with the problem before him, he didn’t give his fear the power to debilitate him. What is it Miquel always says? Don’t blink. Don’t let them see you scared or they’ll keep using your fear against you.

Keeping his voice low, Rafael met Carlos’s gaze. “I’m not dead.”

“Yet.” Carlos puffed and grinned through the smoke. “If Samyaza has his way, you won’t get any further than the second death.”

The death from which no nefil can reincarnate. Rafael touched the angel’s tear in his ring. Although the nefilim usually reincarnated, their souls could die. The lonely sounds heard in abandoned places were said to belong to nefilim too weak to be reborn. Others were murdered, their songs unraveled by angels. Even his angelic mother, a high-ranking Messenger, had been given the second death by her kin. And what is a Grigori but an angel?

“Who is Samyaza?”

“The Grigori.

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