by Ember Hollis
Contents
Title
Copyright © 2019 Ember Hollis
Quote
Chapter 1: Heaven
Chapter 2: Christian
Chapter 3: Heaven
Chapter 4: Malek
Chapter 5: Heaven
Chapter 6: Heaven
Chapter 7: Heaven
Chapter 8: Heaven
Chapter 9: Heaven
Chapter 10: Heaven
Chapter 11: Heaven
Chapter 12: Heaven
Chapter 13: Heaven
Chapter 14: Heaven
Chapter 15: Heaven
Chapter 16: Heaven
Chapter 17: Heaven
Chapter 18: Heaven
Chapter 19: Heaven
Chapter 20: Heaven
Chapter 21: Heaven
Chapter 22: Malek
Chapter 23: Heaven
Chapter 24: Heaven
Chapter 25: Heaven
Chapter 26: Heaven
Chapter 27: Heaven
Chapter 28: Heaven
Epilogue
About the Author
Heaven’s Fury:
Pandorax Academy Book 2
By
Ember Hollis
Copyright © 2019 Ember Hollis
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
www.emberhollis.com
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
- J. K Rowling
Chapter 1: Heaven
I wake gasping, as suddenly and violently as if someone had just pulled me from the depths of a river, or the brink of an abyss.
A strange feeling of loss that I don’t comprehend shadows my mind, and I stare into the darkness, trying to orient myself. Something is troubling me, filling me with fear, but I can’t recall what it is.
Long moments pass as my mind chases faint remnants of memory. All I hear is my own harsh panting. Nothing bleeds into sight in the gloom, even though my eyes should have adjusted by now. In fact, I seem to be in complete and utter darkness. No yellow gleam of a streetlight or glowing red digits of an alarm clock breaks through it to remind me of where I am.
But how can it? Human technology doesn’t work here in Pando—
But no... I’m not at Pandorax am I? I’m not even in a bed. I’m lying on cold, hard stone in the dark… seemingly alone.
The thought of being left alone in a strange place should have been frightening, yet relief sweeps over me. I barely have time to be confused by it, before my memory comes rushing back like the cresting wave of an oncoming tsunami.
My Dad, Mikael, appearing like a ghost out of the forest.
Malek, armed like a Roman gladiator, telling me to get behind him.
Then, Mikael, slashing at the unicorn I’d just saved, uncaring even as he put me in harm’s way.
And the heartbreaking realization that I’d been wrong, that the one person I had left in the world who was family, had lied to me…
While Malek, Bane, Knox, and somehow even Christian, rush to my rescue despite being bullies who’d made my life a living hell.
When the final pieces of my memory falls into place, I leap to my feet, only to be wrenched back by something gripping my ankle.
I scream and try to kick it away, then realize I can’t. I’m chained to the ground like an animal, and the metal chain holding me is way too heavy to break. It’s almost too heavy for me to move.
The worse thing of it all is that I can’t even see it. I can’t see how long it is, or what else is around me. It’s as if I’m imprisoned in a void. There’s nothing to distract me but my memories. And the ones that assault me are horrifying.
I clutch my arms close to my chest and cover my face with my hands to block it all out. But I can’t stop remembering the metallic smell of the unicorn’s blood and the shrill squeal it made when Mikael harmed it. The scent was so strong, I can still almost taste it.
I shudder and shake my head violently. The ends of my hair slap against my face, reminding me of Mikael’s feathers, falling all around us like a shower of midnight blue snow. Blue had given way to jet black, sticky and dark with his own blood as they pushed through his skin, like tulip bulbs popping up in spring.
Black is just a color like any other, one I even used to like wearing. But the complete sense of wrongness that rears in me, even now at the memory of Mikael’s wings, is undeniable.
I can’t figure out why a simple change in color makes such a big difference. Except that it does. Black wings on any other creature, even a pig, wouldn’t have disturbed me as much. But seeing Mikael’s darkened wings was like seeing a cow with two heads, or a man walking with his arms and legs twisted the wrong way. The sight of them was so unnatural to me… unnatural, freakish… and incredibly wrong.
And even though I would have deduced it eventually, instinct tells me immediately what he truly is.
A Fallen angel… or a Falling angel, to be exact.
I moan and kneel down to press my forehead against the floor as I fight not to throw up.
Strangely enough, the amount of concentration the effort takes steadies me. I’m so focused on overcoming the nausea and making myself swallow the sour saliva that’s flooded my mouth, that I don’t even scream when a light suddenly drops to the ground beside me, like a star falling from the sky.
Feathers rustle as Mikael kneels beside me with an oil lamp in his hand. “You’re awake.”
I turn to look at him from under the tangled strands of my hair. He looks healthier than the last time I’d seen him. His cheeks aren’t as gaunt, and his eyes aren’t ringed with shadow. And his wings…
Even though it’s too dark for me to make out their color, I know his wings are almost totally black now. They gleam in the orange light of the oil lamp’s flame, glossy and liquid, with only a few patches of raw skin visible.
“Where are we?” I demand. “Why did you chain me? What… what do you plan to do with me?”
Dad—no, Mikail, I’ll never call him Dad again!—Mikael cocks his head to the side.“What difference does it make?” he asks. “No one in Pandorax will find you here. And there is no way you can escape.”
He reaches out to me. Before I can cringe back, he yanks at the metal, cracking open the circlet around my ankle. I immediately scuttle back, relieved at the lack of dead weight holding me down. Then my back hits something soft.
I spin so fast, I almost levitate. Behind me is another unicorn, a foal this time. It’s still alive, but barely breathing. I gasp as I run my fingers over its fur. It’s as cold as the stone beneath us.
“I couldn’t carry a full-sized unicorn,” Mikael explains. “I’m not quite up to my full strength yet. But I will be. As soon as you purify this one.”
I shake my head, horrified. “No! I won’t, you can’t make me, I wo—”
“If you don’t, it will die in agony, forced to live its last few hours as a Nightmare. You will suffer too, I imagine, since you won’t be able to escape it. You might even kill it yourself, if you’re driven out of your mind by its Darkness. And then I’ll have to find another to drink from, since I’m not quite done Falling,” he says. His voice is calm and logical, and the sound of it fills me with fury. “Would you prefer that, or will you save us all the trouble and take away its Dark
ness now?”
My hands tremble as I cup the little unicorn’s nose with my palm. Its hard to see, with my back to the lamp, but somehow I can tell… its hide is almost completely Dark.
“We don’t have much time left,” Mikael says, affirming my suspicions. “Before it wakes as a Nightmare. And if you do purify it, I’ll let it live, once I’m done.”
“How many?” I ask. The words are barely audible, even to my ears. But I’m afraid that if I raise my voice further, I’ll start to scream, and I’m not sure I’ll ever stop.
“How many what?” Mikael replies.
“How many times do I—” my voice hitches so I try again. “How many times will it take?”
“Not that many. Twice at most, if I’m not mistaken.”
I hear a smile in his answer, and it sears right through me. Was this the real reason he’d brought me to Pandorax, I wonder. My chest aches at the thought, but there’s no use dwelling on it now, with precious seconds ticking past.
I close my eyes and bow my head, reciting the spell under my breath as I take in the Darkness from the unicorn. It streams into me, joining the rush of turmoil that I’ve taken in from all the other unicorns. I hold it all at bay while I pull more out of the unicorn, keeping it all from affecting me… until it just becomes too much.
The last thing I sense before I slump down over the little foal are Mikael’s hands, picking me up once more, then snapping the metal chain back around my ankle.
Chapter 2: Christian
“Any luck?”
Noah’s voice is grating against my ears, like a fly buzzing incessantly against glass. I want to swat him away, except that if I move, I’ll jolt out of the half-wakefulness I’m maintaining, and we can’t afford that. So instead, I allow a frisson of power to escape my control and lash against him.
“Ow!” he yelps. I feel Bane approach my side and stifle the urge to allow more pustules to erupt on Noah’s skin. It would be so easy, and a fitting way to vent my annoyance against the werewolf. But it’s a slippery slope to losing control. Plus, Bane wouldn’t let me get away with it.
“Put your powers to better use,” he tells me, his voice dark and stern. “We need to find her, and soon. None of my creatures have seen her, and Malek and Knox haven’t found any trace of them either. Chiros has Desmond reaching out to the angels, but you know how they are about the Fallen.”
The thread of worry in his normally cold voice makes me want to send a pustule his way too, but I steel myself and just suck in a breath as I push even deeper into the Mirror World around us. But try as I might, there’s no hint of Heaven in here. No lingering scent of sunshine, no half-seen flick of rose-gold hair.
I would have caught the lingering echoes of her presence if she was anywhere to be found. Which makes me think that she’s either awake, or still unconscious and unreachable.
If only I had a more tangible connection to her… something more lasting than a mere strand of hair. Taking her essence from it’s caused it to disintegrate more quickly, and the link between her and it is already fading. Soon, I won’t even be able to use it to scan for her presence.
In anticipation of that, I quickly manifest more dreamscapes in the Mirrorworld, tossing them hither and tither around Pandorax like giant bubbles, just in case she visits the academy in her dreams. They’re not locked to any one person, so I’ll have to sift through the random snippets of consciousness that trespass into them in the hopes that one of them belongs to her. Time and energy-consuming, but it’s the best I can do. Plus, considering all she’s gone through here at Pandorax, I’d bet my bottom dollar that she can’t escape it, even in her dreams.
The short span of silence while I work is broken again by the sound of Noah pacing and talking.
“You are sure she’s still alive, right, Bane? Because Madam Wilkins just told us the Dome isn’t working anymore. I can’t bear to think that she might be right under our noses, hurt or dying! If only I could pick up her scent, but how can anyone when they’re flying? And everything smells like Darkness and unicorn blood out there anyway…”
The boy is like a broken record! I’m a hair’s breadth from giving him sores in his nether regions when something familiar tugs at my attention.
I immediately shift my consciousness fully into the Mirrorworld, then slip into the dreamscape that’s captured my notice.
There’s a little girl in it, a tiny sprite of a thing with a messy cloud of pale hair around her face. She’s crouched beside a banister railing, looking between the bars. Below her are a couple, a beautiful young woman who looks like a grown up version of the girl, and a handsome man dressed all in black, both shouting and gesturing violently at each other. I don’t pay much attention to them, until a vase falls off a table beside the man, and I realize on further inspection, that it was knocked off by his large, leathery wings, concealed under a heavy glamor spell. Interesting… but still, not my main concern.
When I approach the little girl, she turns to me and I immediately recognize the dark amethyst glitter of her eyes.
“Heaven?” An odd combination of relief and fascination runs through me at the sight of her. What a tiny thing she used to be, all arms and legs and pinkish gold hair. Almost like a doll.
The little girl lifts a finger to shush me as shadows creep over her, almost hiding her from view. “Don’t, I’m not supposed to be here. Mommy said to go to sleep.”
“But we don’t always do what she says, do we?” I say as I crouch down beside her. I reach out to touch her before she can fully retreat, anchoring her presence beside me. It’s usually not a good idea to approach a Dreamer while they’re in their own dreamscape, especially when they’re deeply asleep the way she seems to be now. But this is the first I’ve seen of Heaven’s consciousness, and I need her to help me figure out where she is.
The little girl frowns at me, then shakes her head somberly. “No.”
“Good.” I look back down at the couple. The room they’re in flickers, and for a moment, I think I glimpse the interior of Malek’s room.
What’s the connection? She can’t be physically there…
A second later, the man hits the woman hard, sending her falling to the floor. Heaven withdraws into the shadows with a small gasp.
Ah. I see. This must be a memory of some sort.
“Don’t be afraid,” I tell young Heaven, reaching a hand to her. “No one will hurt you here. In fact, I’ve come to help.”
She stares at me suspiciously, recognition flickering in her eyes. Then she turns to look beyond the railing again, and when I follow her gaze, I see myself, looming over a more grownup Heaven, backing her into a corner as she cowers away, naked beneath a thin sheet.
Though the figure has my face, the rest of it looks more like a satyr, with horns on its head and fur on its legs. It struts towards her exaggeratedly, thrusting its hips out in a lascivious manner. I catch a glimpse of a huge, dripping member, just before the satyr reaches out and rips the sheet from the grown up Heaven, then starts to ravish her.
“Hey, it wasn’t like that at all,” I protest, turning to the girl beside me. She’s grown up to Heaven’s proper age now, and glares at me fiercely from behind loose waves of tangled hair. “It was seduction. I didn’t force you.”
“Didn’t you?” she twists her lips scornfully and raises her brows. “Maybe you can’t even tell. Has anyone ever wanted you first, without you making them feel the way you want? How is that any different from you physically forcing them?”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. Around us, images come and go like flickering licks of flame. A canvas tent. An oil lamp. A pool of dark liquid on the ground. A broken arrow and a dead white dove lying on a rumpled blanket. Just beyond my line of sight, a metal chain gleams and rattles on a stone floor.
Heaven’s almost fully aware now. I can tell, from how she recognized me, and how shrewd her eyes look. It’s a far cry from her usual expression of hurt, or furious resolve. Her face resembles the way it did when
she’d kissed Bane, not because she wanted to, of course—at least, I hope it hadn’t been—but because she’d known I was watching. My little lamb thought she could make me jealous. Me, Conquest himself! I fight the urge to laugh, then reach for her. But she knocks my hand away.
“Nobody actually wants you for you, Christian,” she tells me. Her eyes have become hooded and dark, filled with contempt and vindictive glee. “Least of all me.”
My chest tightens like an iron band has encircled it, and a rush of heat sweeps through me from head to toe. Before I know it, my powers are straining at my finger tips, and I’ve taken a step closer to her.
Heaven’s eyes widen in fear even as her lips part and desire floods her face. For a moment, I see another girl in her place, her face a mask of horrified terror mixed with ecstasy as she writhes on top of me.
The sight jolts me and I scramble to gather the ragged shreds of my control before they truly escape me. When I refocus on Heaven, she’s staring at me with a wary expression on her face.
“And to think I came here to help you,” I growl out, angry at what she’d reminded me of. It doesn’t matter that she’s not fully aware. Not if this is what she truly thinks of me.
Heaven opens her mouth to say something, but I lunge forward and grab her before she does. I can already see the last vestiges of sleep leaving her. The natural progression from being fully aware in a dream is to wake up, and I’m not going to allow her to do that without getting something useful out of her.
“Just remember who used their powers to find you when we come get you,” I hiss in her ear. Heaven’s body grows rigid as I push my consciousness into her, allowing myself to feel what she feels and sense what she senses.
Salty, metallic tinged air rushes into my nostrils, and I open her eyes to see that she’s lying on her side, in a deep hole in the ground. Beside her is the Fallen angel chewing into the neck of a dying baby unicorn whose body is half-stained Dark. Quickly, I track my eyes over him, then turn to look down at Heaven’s body.
