"Let's make a deal..."
The words caressed Rainier's ears in the first kindness he'd experienced since Helios' maddened takeover of his mind and body, cutting through the layers of pain and the fog of a mind that had been Rain's for mere moments.
Rain's body did not so much pain him as it felt like it was snapping and burning and crushing against itself with every movement. Godflesh and mortal at odds with each other, yet still he forced himself to turn. To see what his attempt to escape, his attempt to end his suffering, had wrought.
Cassiel was dying.
Some corner of his mind had recognized the exhausted state in which she'd joined the battle. Dark, arterial blood seeped around the thin sword of Maledict's warrior. Her breath stuck in her throat with every strained gasp.
She was a healer, but rare was the healer who could heal themself, even amongst angels.
But the worst thing of all was that Rain felt he had a choice.
