'What an idiot.'
Uriel sighed, the breath quickly turning into a hollow chuckle.
He kept his eyes closed as he shook his head.
Miquella looked up at him with a radiant smile, as if she were aware that he finally understood. "You're the kindest of them all."
Uriel ran a hand through his flaming hair. "I am also the most foolish."
"Synonyms."
Uriel flashed the barest hint of a smile at her words and reopened his eyes. 'So that was why Mariah didn't want me to go…'
'How kind of her.'
"Is it going to hurt?" he asked Miquella.
Miquella's smile widened. "More than anything. Your Will may collapse in on itself from the agony."
"But you'll come out strong."
The weight on Uriel's chest didn't diminish, but it didn't increase either. He stared at the flames that roared for his embrace with a steady gaze.
As steady as it seemed, though, Miquella could see flickers in their depth. Flickers of doubt.
"Are you afraid? Of pain?"
