For a moment I caught sight of the face beneath the hood and gasped as I recognised Gabriel. “Your sacrifice must be given freely. You must choose death and give your powers to me as you pass for the magic to cleanse you. And if you do, it will banish all of your pain, erase your heartache, consume your grief...and leave you pure and free of it in the afterlife,” he said. I blinked and realised it wasn’t Gabriel at all; it was Ryder.