Read Online Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton - Free Book Online Page B

knew what I was doing.” What freaked me out the most was that I didn’t really need to think when I fought. My body just kind of knew what it was doing, and I was only along for the ride.
    â€œYou’ve had a lot of practice.”
    â€œBut everything else,” I said distractedly, looking down at the vicious swords in my hands. “It’s so fuzzy, still. It’s strange, because I know it’s all there, but I just can’t dig it out. I don’t know what I am.”
    â€œYou are the Preliator,” Will declared with an edge of authority to his voice.
    â€œI know who I am,” I said. “I can remember that, but I don’t know what I am. And I don’t know who you are.”
    Hurt crushed his stony resolve, surprising me. “I am your Guardian, your servant. I’m here to protect and guide you. That is my duty, and that is all that I am.”
    â€œHow old are you?” I asked, studying his face.
    â€œSix hundred.”
    My head grew foggy. “How old am I ?”
    â€œI don’t know exactly. A few thousand years, maybe. We have records of you predating ancient Rome.”
    I crumpled to the ground next to my car. I looked up at the enormous gashes and the dent in the Audi’s fender. My parents were going to kill me.
    â€œThis is all real, isn’t it?”
    â€œYes.” Will crouched down in front of me. He wiped at my cheek. The touch was soft, kind, familiar . His gaze was firm but gentle. “You had blood on your face.”
    I nodded toward my weapons. “Those swords are so strange looking. Why am I able to just make them appear out of thin air? Why do they light on fire? How? ”
    â€œThey are Khopesh, an ancient weapon,” he explained. I recognized the name from my nightmares. “They are exceptional blades—meant for slashing, not stabbing, but they get the job done. We are both able to call our swords through our power with angelic magic, but once they appear, they are here. We can’t conjure new ones, so you had better not lose either of them. We can will them away also, when we are holding them in our hands, or when we die. They disappear until we call them again.”
    He held his sword out straight, and it vanished right before my eyes with that same shimmering light. He opened his palm and conjured the sword once more to show me how simple it was, and then he willed it away once more.
    â€œThe fire around your swords is angelfire, the only thing effective enough to destroy reapers besides decapitation. Or destruction of the heart—that’s what those hooks on the backs of your blades are for.”
    I examined my swords. Sure enough, the tip of the blunt edge of each blade curved back into a hook that I imagined could do an extreme amount of damage if lodged in soft flesh. I swallowed hard, picturing what had happened to thefirst reaper’s heart when the hook had grabbed it.
    â€œIf a reaper dies by means other than angelfire,” Will continued, “its body turns to stone instead of burning up. Silver also burns, which is why our blades are made of it, but it doesn’t have the permanent effects of angelfire.”
    I nodded. “That’s what happened to the second reaper. Can you make the angelfire appear?”
    â€œNo. Only you can, because you are the Preliator.”
    I held both swords and wondered how I’d made them light up before. They had done it just because I’d wanted them to. Could I do it again, outside of battle? I watched the blades. Was it like an on-off switch? I let one word cross my mind and concentrated. On . Flames erupted around the blades, leaving the handles and my hands unscorched. They didn’t feel warm and they didn’t burn anything. I touched the fiery swords to my pant legs and felt no heat. I touched the flat side of a blade to Will’s arm. He looked at me oddly but otherwise did not react. Off . The flames vanished.