“No, I mean I see her standing still. In a forest, or along the riverbank, or up on the hillsides. She has her head tilted, as if she’s listening or sniffing for something.”

“Looking for something else to eat,” Mallian said.

“You really think she has to hunt for her meals?” Vince asked. “She reaches out and takes what she wants, when she wants.”

“It’s this place she’s created,” Mallian said. “There’s no forward motion, no change. Nothing degenerates, but nothing grows different, either. Maybe she’s searching for change she’ll never find.”

“You’re changing,” Vince said.

“I’m dying,” Mallian said. The words hung in the air, heavy and loaded, ringing in the sudden silence. The Nephilim snorted and looked away, trying to distance himself from what he’d said.

Vince also looked away, but he wasn’t sure why. He had never heard Mallian sound so vulnerable or defeated. He was embarrassed for the Kin, as well as feeling a surprising surge of pity. For a creature so strong and proud, being trapped here like this must be the ultimate nightmare. Vince couldn’t kid himself into thinking that he was helping keep Mallian alive. The berries he dropped into his mouth, the occasional chunk of raw meat he caught and fed him, were nothing compared to the fuel he should be imbibing. It had been months or years, and the Nephilim was still alive.

If he was dying, it was because he was losing the will to live.

“Ascent seemed to work really well for you.”

“Fuck off, human.”

“I’m hearing that a lot today.” Vince stood and smiled in Mallian’s direction. He didn’t expect a smile in return, and he didn’t get one, but something about Mallian’s expression had softened.

I have to remember who he is.

Vince remembered Mallian crushing people’s heads in Mary Rock’s house in London.

He wants to expose the Kin to the world.

He was the reason he and Angela were a universe apart.

And in doing so he’s happy to risk war.

He might be trapped and withered, defeated and dying, but the Nephilim was still a monster.

“I’ll bring meat next time.”

“I’ll be here.”

Vince smiled again and walked away.

* * *

Sunset came late that day. The sun hung above the western hills for what seemed like hours, and Vince sat by the small stream just downhill from his cave to watch. He leaned against a fallen tree and dropped off a couple of times, startled awake by a fly landing on his nose, and a loud exuberant call from some indefinable distance. At least not every Kin here is in pain, he thought, but he wasn’t sure how long that would last. He didn’t think that every Kin had fallen prey to Grace yet, but most had. They carried the scars to prove it.