Ronan

Chapter Five

There was no telling at which point in Rosa's life she'd started keeping secrets from Ronan. She'd obtained the prophecy at some point in time. Equally, there was no denying she knew more than she should. So as the redhead screamed in fiery pain and agony, Ronan was thrust full force into her memories. Their minds clashed as the machine whirled, his dark magic planting its roots in her.

Want—to—stop—fighting.

But Ronan was right. Instinct forced her to fight, even as it brought her more pain.

He saw the tears snag at the corner of her eyes before an image of the heavens, her memory of the heavens, blurred with the room they stood in now.

Her resolve melted as Ronan made his way to the very beginning. Through her eyes—her experiences—her life appeared to him in full. He saw everything, he felt everything, as if he were living her life himself.

The very beginning.

"Meg?"

No response.

"Are you awake?"

Again. Nothing.

Go time.

Wings tucked at her back, Rosa slipped out of hers and Megan's shared bedroom door and out into the night, tiptoeing so as not to wake her sister up. Meg had made her thoughts on Rosa's investigation perfectly clear. The less she knew about it, the better.

The angels rarely ever got a chance to see the heavens at night. They weren't allowed out of their rooms after curfew. This world was an unfamiliar place in the dark. But things happened. Dark things. Rosa was sure of it.

And I'm going to prove it. Somehow.

She made her way across the cobblestone, doing her best to blend into the shadows. Rosa, for the most part, was unremarkable. She never garnered too much interest. Come to think of it, she liked it that way. It made life easier. She slipped by without any trouble, doing what needed to be done.

She made her way around the courtyard with ease, looking for something revealing. Something forgotten. Maybe a lever or something of the sort that turned the barrier off. There had to be something. Rosa knew what she'd seen. She knew she hadn't imagined it.

She'd kept her eyes open during the last banishing. She'd seen the look on Nadine's face as she'd cut through bone and feather. The older woman had delighted in the gory.

Rosa couldn't get that look from her mind. She couldn't look at Nadine—or any of the fates for that matter—the same since.

As a fellow angel had been banished from the heavens forever, she'd passed through the usual purple veil protecting the heavens from the outside world with ease. And Rosa knew what she saw. That veil hadn't been there at all.

As her fingers grazed over the purple of the barrier, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

Now you've done it.

She whipped around to the mistress Nadine.

Definitely screwed.

So, so dead.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Nadine demanded.

Rosa stifled a gasp, blood running cold. Don't let this be it. Deer caught in headlights, her skin paled. She searched the older woman's expression. I'm inconveniencing her. If the darting of the older woman's eyes were anything to go by, she had places to be, something she needed to do. Except she'd spotted Rosa on her way there and now duty called.