Extinguish Read Online Free PDF Page A

much for the upper hand . Her confidence wavered for a second. "No?"
    "You smell sort of like dust. No offense, but I much prefer the sunlight on you."
    She eyed him curiously as he stood there, hands in his pockets again, waiting expectantly. "Is that how you know I’m coming? You can smell me?"
    He cracked a smile. "No."
    "Then how?"
    He tapped his temple with his pointer finger. "I’m still wired into the network."
    Her eyes widened at his confession. "You hear us?"
    "Not nearly as strong as before, but I can still hear most of you. The volume’s just turned down a bit low these days."
    "How is that possible?"
    He gave a slight, casual shrug. "Just because I was exiled here doesn’t change what I am at the core."
    " But. . ."
    "But what? You thought I lost it all when I fell?"
    "Well, yes. You don’t look like one of us anymore."
    He let out a laugh, the boisterous, cheery sound surprising her so much she took a step back. "You see what I want you to see—no more, no less. I don’t have much use for the wings down here. There’s no point whipping it out if I’m not going to use it, if you know what I mean."
    "But you have them?" she asked curiously. "You still have your wings?"
    He raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head slightly, studying her. Minutes of strained silence passed. Serah managed to remain silent along with him, but she couldn’t stop herself from habitually fidgeting under his gaze.
    Everything unexpectedly changed with a crack of thunder. The ground shook viciously, cracks forming as if the land was being ripped apart by an earthquake. Instinctively, Serah glanced at her trembling feet before looking back at the gate. A loud gasp tore from her chest and she immediately retreated, the sight of him frightening her.
    Massive black wings erupted from his back, partially blending into his surroundings like menacing shadows. Only when lightning hit did she see how truly expansive they were. The biggest wings she’d ever seen flashed before her eyes, glimmering in the light before being swallowed up by the darkness again. His sharp features were somehow sharper, inhumanly beautiful yet frighteningly dark. Red swirled in his black eyes, matching the sky above.
    Serah closed her eyes as she looked away from him, stealing a moment to steady herself.
    She’d seen him once before, ages ago when he'd been the blue-eyed angel up above. As God’s favorite, he'd spent most of his time near the throne, a place those like Serah weren’t permitted to go. He rarely appeared to anyone, few even knowing what he looked like until his notorious plummet. Serah had been there with her brother Samuel when the wa r first erupted in a field, not unlike the one Michael often took her to. Lucifer had materialized in the middle of the battle, right in front of his brother.
    Samuel had protectively grabbed ahold of her and zapped them out of there within a matter of seconds, shielding her from the brutality of the oncoming fight. Lucifer had been cast into Hell by nightfall, and Michael had taken his place as Prince before the sun had risen on that part of Earth the next day. Although that battle ended quickly, the war still waged, the fight between good and evil enduring over millennia.
    Serah reopened her eyes and glanced back at him, tension receding from her body when she saw the simple human figure standing there, head still cocked to the side, eyebrow still raised.
    "I suppose that answers my question," she mumbled.
    He laughed again, softer this time, subdued. "I suppose so."
    "I don’t understand, though. Others lost their wings."
    "They were stripped of their immortality," he said. "It’s why they all bled as they fell."
    Serah blinked rapidly as she processed that. "They became human?"
    "In a sense, yes, but I was cast down here in this form. I'm cursed to remember, when everyone else gets to forget."
    "Is that why you’re doing this? Why you’re still fighting after all this time?"
    He shrugged casually again