Angelus Read Free Page B

regret ended the sentence.
    â€œWell, that is true,” Nina agreed. “But sometimes,” she whispered, “there are exceptions.”
    She was one of them.
    Nina had been a normal human girl once, and a very ordinary one except for a crucial detail: she’d been able to speak to the souls of the dead. That talent had earned her a place at Westwood Academy, but it hadn’t earned her any real friends. Until Angela Mathers came along. Then the wheels of Nina’s fate had been set in motion. She often wondered if there was anyone who had died as many times as she herself had. First, she’d died because of a demon. Then, she’d died trying to save the Jinn Troy and her niece Juno from another demon. Juno had explained it was that act of sacrifice that had allowed Nina to resurrect. Nina’s soul had then been placed in the body of a crow—just like Fury’s.
    Nina glanced up again at the large black bird watching her from the treetops. Fury clacked her beak and preened nervously at a few feathers.
    Yet a crucial difference already lay between them. Nina could change her shape. She only had to be a crow when she found it useful.
    It was unprecedented. No Jinn familiar had that kind of talent.
    If you’re satisfied, Fury’s sweet girlish voice interrupted Nina’s thoughts again, we should leave. We don’t have much time to infiltrate the Tower. I didn’t risk my life finding that mirror for nothing.
    The large crow flapped its wings in emphasis.
    â€œShe’s right,” the other voice in the trees added. “I’m sure the longer we wait here, the sooner an angel might spot us.”
    Nina peeked worriedly at the starry sky. That was true. But—and she looked back down at the baby oak tree—she was glad she’d risked coming back so soon. Seeing the sapling confirmed everything for her. Even though the world was literally falling apart, there was also another change slowly but surely taking place and fighting the destruction. At last, a Revolution had begun. Was Angela responsible?
    If only Nina could ask the souls buried around them.
    But they were gone. They’d already been harvested by the angels who’d stealthily infiltrated Luz. The last souls on Earth who could help the Archon were locked away somewhere, silenced. Tonight, if she could, Nina would find out exactly where, and soon she would free them. No matter what it took. That’s what she was here for, after all. She sighed with relief remembering how Father Schrader had offered to help her and Juno. Hopefully, he was all right scouting at St. Matthias Church alone. Nina had a feeling about tonight, and when she had a feeling, nothing good usually happened. But they couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, either.
    â€œIf only Auntie could help us,” the voice in the trees said, sighing with regret. “She would know what to do next.”
    â€œI know,” Nina said, sighing with her. “But the only thing we can do now is to think like Troy would think. Father Schrader said we have to get the mirror, and that it might be in the Tower. Fury confirmed it’s there. We’ll have to worry about where all those souls might be and how to free them later. This might be our only chance to get that mirror back.”
    A great whoosh of air erupted high above them.
    Nina threw herself against a tree trunk, breathing hard.
    Fury and the little Jinn high up in the trees stiffened like statues.
    Slowly, like a dream, an angel winged his way throughthe everlasting night. He flew so gracefully, the spectacle threatened to still Nina’s heart for good again. She recognized in his slender hands the arrows that terrified Fury so much. They gleamed faintly with energy. Fury had almost been shot down by one a few days ago, shortly after they’d all entered the cemetery through the Netherworld Gate again.
    The cemetery had once been inundated with crows. Now, most