Page 27 (2/2)

“It’s so to do with your father, isn’t it?”

I nodded “Right They helped ether My father sacrificed hiuy named Dustin Graves Samyaza – Dad – he used his actual blood to heal Dustin, to bring him back from the brink of death And when my father died, all the divine power locked in his body ca to me” I waved a hand around myself “That’s how this all started Samyaza died, Dustin ca the scent of fallen angel blood”

Florian had parked hi it closer to the edge of my bed, his brows furrowed as he listened intently “And this Dustin guy Where is he now?”

I shookthe apocalypse, and to acquire enough ical power to do that, he needed to perform a ritual, one that would re And that ritual needed five enchanted swords to happen And you knohat? It worked Dust saved the world The apocalypse came and went, and no one even noticed”

Florian stared atfor me to continue “So what’s the problem, then? We’re all alive The world is well”

I bit“Dustin vanished The price of the ritual was for him to be erased fro to be is anyone’s guess The problem is that those five swords vanished, too Scattered to the winds, basically And, well, I’s that own theoing to be very happy I had to leave the Boneyard to keep everyone safe”

Florian’s eyes flitted to either side of hiht words to say “Is that why you owe Belphegor a favor, then?”

“That’s part of it He stole the sword from another demon prince, which is its own can of infernal wor The Prince of Greed is very, very possessive”

“I’m almost afraid to ask about the other sword”

My breath rushed intofrom the pain it hadn’t yet experienced “The whole point of the ritual was to use swords froods of earth, one fro And they needed one froels, too”

I held out olden sword eers clasped around its hilt as it fully materialized “I knew that just any plain old sword fro powerful for the ritual, so that hat I asked for And the thing that showed up infrom the Vestments Also, it was on fire”

Florian’s e, open circle So were his eyes You could have heard a pin drop

I released the sword, watching it dissipate into puffs of glitter as it returned to heaven “The sword I borrowed – it belonged to an archangel”

Florian slapped his forehead

“It checks out with all the lore,” I said “Fla it in my hands that the sas different, you know? But yeah It went , just like the others, when Dustin completed his ritual But that doesn’tto coel – well, it’s only a matter of time”