Free Beloved Purgatory (Fallen Angels, Book 2) by Katherine Pine Page B

beautiful and somehow sorrowful plant that had
brought me back to life after Onoskelis killed me.
    I heard my voice before I'd
realized I'd spoken. "The Ruka-Hayim ."
    "Yes," Forneus replied. "It's a charm that
will give you the appearance of a spirit, so it will be difficult
for my kind to track you, or to even notice you when they see you."
He lowered his voice. "And they will see you. I don't foresee a
moment in your future where you won't be hunted."
    His comment should have frightened me, but I
was too entranced by the otherworldly plant.
    He closed the locket, draped the silver
chain in his fingers and lifted it. "Never take this off, Devi.
Wear it always."
    Jasmine grabbed his arm. "What are you
playing at?"
    "This will protect her," Forneus
responded.
    "Don't take it." Jasmine looked to me
desperately, as if I had the answer to some question she hadn't
even asked.
    "Are you sure that's what you want?" The
devil interjected. "I'm not asking for anything in return, and
without it she will be targeted relentlessly."
    The angel tore his gaze from the locket.
"You should take it, Devi."
    "See?" Forneus grinned. "The angel doesn't
like it either, but he, at least, recognizes its necessity."
    "You don't give gifts," Jasmine replied.
    "No, I don't. And this isn't a gift." Slowly
he closed the locket. His purple eyes met mine, almost as luminous
as the stone he'd hid in common silver. "However, it comes without
any expectations or strings, and she needs it. You know she
does."
    Forneus threaded the chain between his
fingers and lifted it over my head. I didn't see him put it on. My
eyes were on Jasmine--the way her hands flexed at her sides when he
stepped closer, and the blood she'd drawn from biting her lip
straight through as he fastened it behind my neck.
    Forneus inhaled deeply and recovered a
handkerchief from his coat pocket. "Clean yourself," he muttered as
he handed it to Jasmine.
    Goosebumps spread over my back. The chain was
cool and small. Still it felt heavy, like stones were piling up on
my shoulders, like I was bound by some invisible chain to
Forneus.
    His voice echoed in my
mind: I don't give gifts .
    The devil smiled. "It looks lovely on you,
Devi."
    "It doesn't suit her." Jasmine growled at
the offensive object. That deep, dark sound emanating from her
shocked me more than anything else.
    Forneus chuckled, seemingly unaffected. "Oh,
I think it does. I even added Black Cohosh to the charm, because
she's such an annoying bi--."
    Jasmine kicked the devil in the shin.
    I sucked in a breath.
    "It does suit her," the angel whispered from
behind.
    It took me a moment for his words to sink
in, and then I really wished they hadn't. "Are you calling me a
'little b' now, too?"
    The angel stepped back. "No, never."
    My chest heaved. Was he stuttering? Did
angels stutter? What did that mean? Was he lying?
    "Look," the angel continued, "that's not
what I meant. It's just--"
    "Don't take it too hard, Camael." Forneus
interrupted. "She and the demon aren't capable of appreciating
something that possesses such subtle beauty."
    I glanced at the angel. He somehow seemed
whiter--probably because his luminescent skin was in front of a
broken drinking fountain mounted on a 'cream' wall. But somehow
that wasn't it. Had my accusation confused him?
    "I don't understand," I said.
    Forneus brushed a strand of hair from my
face and tucked it behind my ear. "Of course you don't. You don't
need to understand a thing. Just don't take it off."
    I shivered. His waxy fingers seemed to have
left a residue on my skin. I rubbed the spot his fingers had
absently touched, but the itchy, stiff feeling remained.
    The angel stared enigmatically at the spot of
skin the devil had just touched. Jasmine snarled at the necklace,
as if she were about to bite it off my neck.
    Forneus looked way too happy about all of
this. "I should go get settled into my new office. What time did we
schedule our meeting for tomorrow? Two o'clock? I'll see you then,
Devi,