by C. S. Wilde
He’s showing off, Liam thought. Like a peacock displaying his feathers. The comparison made Hauk a little less grand, a little more insecure in Liam’s eyes.
Hauk craned his neck left, observing him. A shiver ran down Liam’s spine. The demon was a Behemoth, so he couldn’t read minds.
Could he?
“Let’s begin,” Hauk said, his expression revealing nothing.
Two bulky second-tier demons—Drakars like Jal, if the warmer way their essences felt was any indication—grabbed Liam by his arms and pushed him far from the fire, close to the edge of darkness in the warehouse.
Just when he thought they might start beating him, the demons released Liam and stepped away.
Hauk approached and halted beside him, watching the dark ahead.
“Come, pet,” he ordered, his finger calling for whatever stood in the darkness. The rattling of chains ensued, then stopped. Hauk rolled his eyes. “Come forward, or I’ll drag you out myself.”
The rattling clanged closer, and then a figure stepped into the light.
Had Liam’s guard been down, he would have gasped. But he wouldn’t fail in his mission, and he wouldn’t give that bastard Hauk the pleasure of seeing him shaken. So he faked complete nonchalance as he observed the Archangel before him.
A woman stumbled into the dim light. She had strawberry blonde hair a shade darker than Ava’s, but that was the only thing they had in common. Her face was longer, harsher than his Guardian’s, her eyes bleak and lost. She was also shorter and bulkier than Ava.
Her black armless bodysuit was cut all over by blades. Purple blotches peppered her exposed skin, including both of her cheeks. Her beige wings were in worse shape. The left one hung crooked behind her; the other had been chopped off at the first joint with a clean, long cut. A thick crust of blood coated the wound.
Why hadn’t she healed herself?
She couldn’t grow back her severed wing, but at least her bruises and broken bones could be fixed.
A low vibration caressed Liam’s darkness, coming from the obsidian chains around her feet and wrists.
That’s why.
The chains had been damned, which meant they could stop an angel’s healing. The rest of their powers, too. They could also burn through angelic essence, which explained the circles of rotting flesh on the Archangel’s wrists and ankles, where the chains touched her skin.
It was amazing the woman could even stand.
Blessed cuffs would’ve also neutralized her powers, but at least they wouldn’t harm her upon touch. Using damned cuffs was needlessly cruel.
“You tortured an Archangel,” Liam said matter-of-factly, his tone even.
Hauk chortled. “Obviously.”
“I assumed they were helping us finish the In-Betweens?”
“Us? You mean me. You’re not of the Gorge yet.” Hauk growled at Archie, who had stepped by Liam’s side. “I see your partner has shared too much information with you.”
Archie shrugged as if he had no care in this world. “Liam will pass whatever test you throw at him.”
“Will he?” A low growl rumbled deep within the demon’s chest. He then stepped toward the prisoner. “We’re all hungry snakes, eating each other up until there’s only one left.” Hauk took the woman’s chin and almost squeezed her jawbone. She bravely held a whimper. “Which snake do you think will survive, angel?”
She glared at Hauk with defiance. “I know you won’t.”
“Neither will you.” The demon let her go.
He then pivoted on his heel and kicked her right knee, sending her shrieking to the ground. Blood pooled where bone broke through skin.
The Archangel’s screams slashed through Liam’s ears, his chest, his very core, but he had to keep a composed demeanor. He had to control the urge to help her, control the raging fury that craved Hauk’s death.
The demon returned to Liam’s side with a bored look on his face.
“What did she do to be here?” Liam asked, his voice detached.
“She found out about my agreement with Talahel. She was going to expose us to the Throne, but her brothers betrayed her.” He waved at the whimpering Archangel kneeling in a pool of her own blood. “She needs to be eliminated. I figured you should have some fun with her before that.”
All sounds became muffled. Liam clenched his jaw so tight he feared his teeth would crack.
This woman fought on his side. Unlike most Archangels under Talahel’s command, she was good. For a moment, he saw Ava in her place, even if they weren’t similar.
“So, you’re Talahel’s henchman now?” Liam chortled. “Kind of pathetic.”
Hauk gave him a wide grin that engulfed the lower half of his face. “That’s what I want Talahel to think.”
“Why?”
“None of your business.”
A void swirled in Liam’s chest. He had to earn Hauk’s trust, no matter what. The words cracked as they went up his throat, but when they came out, they were glued back together. “What do you want me to do with her?”
“I was going to have you torture her, but since you’re so eager to enter the Gorge …” Hauk shrugged. “You know what to do.”
“T-the Order will hear of this,” the Archangel said, her voice rasping and weak.
“No, it won’t. Talahel will make sure of that,” Hauk assured her. “He plays right into Master’s game.”
Liam’s eyes widened. “This is all Master’s idea?”
“Everything is.” Hauk tapped his shoulder. “Go on, now. We don’t have time to waste.”
Sacrifices. So many sacrifices …
“Wait.” Archie stepped forward, fear stamped on his face. “Let me do it.”
“Why?” Hauk frowned suspiciously. “You’re already a part of the Gorge.”
“Yes, but Liam has been recently turned. We have to ease him into our ways, don’t you think?” The old man relaxed his posture slightly, but it was too late. Hauk’s piercing stare said the bastard knew Archie was trying to protect him.
“I’m fine.” Liam moved to unsheathe his sword before things got worse, but Hauk held his arm.
The demon stared straight at Archie as he ordered, “She dies by fire.”
Archie’s mouth dropped open. “But I’m a Behemoth. I can’t kill her with fire.”
“I know.” Hauk showed Liam the Archangel. “What are you waiting for?”
Every part of him shook, but he clamped his muscles harder.
There was no escaping this, and now he had to fix Archie’s mess. When one rides with wolves, one must learn to bite; the old man had taught this to Liam himself.
He should’ve known better than to let his fatherly instincts get the best of him.
“I’m not a child you need to protect,” Liam told Archie, his tone rough and angry. “I’m a demon now.”
Archie blinked, awareness shining in his eyes. He raised his hands in an apologetic manner. “Old habits die hard, I suppose.”
“Just get it done,” Hauk barked at Liam.
It hit him that this was it. There was no escaping what would come next. Hells, he had never killed an innocent, even when he went undercover.
“Please,” the Archangel stuttered. “Michael, you were the best of us. We fought together!”
Liam felt as if he stood at the edge of a cliff. No. He was already falling.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Michael is dead,” he growled, faking a hatred he didn’t have.
Sorry. He was so sorry.
He glanced at Archie, who watched him with worry. Liam wanted to run from here and take the Archangel with him, but he had to become a part of the Gorge today. It was either that or die as he and Archie fought some fifty demons.
Either way, that Archangel was dead. As much as it felt like the right thing, going down with her wouldn’t help their cause.
The Archangel’s lips trembled. “Help me. Stand with the Gods once again, brother.”
“No,” he said, the d
enial ripping him from inside out because all he wanted was to save her.
Archie must have known this would scar Liam forever. It was why he’d messed up trying to protect him.
“I’m done being on your side of the scale,” he said. “I’m with them now.” Liam pointed back to Hauk and the rest of the demons, causing murmurs of approval.
Fire burst from his skin, and an angry scream ripped through his throat. The demons probably thought he was furious at the Archangel, but no.
Only at himself.
Tears trickled down the Archangel’s cheeks. The flames around Liam shone in her honey-colored irises; eyes he would never forget.
He wasn’t doing this for the greater good. He didn’t want to save the world, not all of it.
Just Ava.
Shame and guilt corroded him from inside. The darkness spread across his body and essence, filling his eyes and sharpening his teeth.
“Michael, have mercy,” the Archangel begged.
Her mauled, crying face would haunt him to the end of his days.
“Wars were never won with mercy.”
He shot his flames forward, turning the Archangel into a shrieking ball of fire.
14
Ava
The first thing Ava noticed when she stepped into the office was that Kevin seemed older. His red hair was sharply cut in a nearly military fashion, and instead of jeans and a black shirt, the “uniform” of every Selfless, he now wore a suit. But it was the eyes that made him look older. They’d gotten heavier since she’d last seen him.
The image of Kevin, bloodied and injured as he tried to walk on his own, swatting away any support Jal offered, flashed in her mind. Kevin had watched Gabriel murder the entire Nine-five, and he had barely escaped alive. He had also heard the Captain’s screams as the Archangel plucked her eyes out in her office.
All of that must’ve changed him into the somber Selfless who now stood before her.
The second thing she noticed was that Kevin had done well for himself. He had his own office in this new precinct. It was an ample space with three black leather chairs, a chrome-and-glass desk flanked by matching bookcases, and a white-tiled floor. The big windows revealed the city outside.
It was clear that as a healer and forensic researcher, Kevin had become a major asset here.
Her attention fell on a framed group picture of the Nine-five, which stood on the left side of the desk. It hurt Ava to see the smiling faces among the crowd, especially Liam, Archibald, and Kevin. The Captain stood in the middle of the group, a mask of seriousness stamped on her face as always, but a hint of a grin twitched at the corner of her lips.
Ava couldn’t help but smile at those carefree, happy people.
People Talahel destroyed.
Kevin plopped onto his leather chair and watched Ezra from behind his desk, making no effort to hide the bitterness that wafted from him in a sour fog.
The Messenger frowned in confusion since they had never actually met—at least not during Kevin’s current life as a Selfless.
“Of course I can get dirt on Talahel, dove,” Kevin told Ava. “It will be bloody hard, though. I tried finding damning proof on him after Gabriel’s death, but all evidence pointed back to Gabriel.” Kevin’s hand closed in a ball over his desk. “The Sword is smart, but that wanker will slip. And when he does, I’ll be ready.”
She smiled at him. “I know you will, Kev.”
He locked his attention on Ezra again, watching the Messenger from the top of his head to his fingertips. “Why is this tosser giving you the cold shoulder, Ava?”
Ezra hadn’t acknowledged her presence on their way here. Simply convincing him to come had been a mighty feat.
Ava cleared her throat. “He isn’t. We need to discuss certain matters, that’s all.”
“Hmm.” Kevin shrugged. “I suppose I’d be angry too, if I wanted something that will never be mine.”
“Do we have a problem?” Ezra crossed his arms and frowned in annoyance.
Kevin grabbed a pencil from his desk and tapped it on the surface. “Depends. Word through the grapevine is you’ve been filled in.”
Ezra stood beside Ava, his focus on Kevin. “Yes,” he finally said. “The light is grand, the darkness mighty, but the gray is freeing.”
“The gray is freeing,” Kevin repeated.
He’d become an agent for the Legion after being nearly killed by Gabriel. That plus Liam’s death had birthed an anger and bitterness in Kevin that didn’t suit him. Even worse, these emotions were eating him up from the inside. Ava hoped she could help him with that someday, when the world wasn’t burning all around them.
Kevin stopped tapping the back of his pencil on the desk. “I saw him yesterday, by the way.”
Him. Liam.
Ava’s heart tightened, and her breath caught in her lungs.
“I stopped by the Legion to deliver a report to Jal, then passed by Liam’s cell.” Kevin scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with both Ava and Ezra. “He’s doing well. He’s about to go off on a mission with Archie and that ought to do him good.” He began tapping the pencil on the desk again. “He’ll be himself soon. You just wait.”
Despite his words, Kevin wasn’t sure that would happen. As a Dominion, Ava could feel it. She wasn’t sure either, but she gave him a supportive nod nonetheless.
Ezra still glared sticks and stones at Kevin. “We thank you for your service, Selfless Davies. We’ll keep in touch. And be careful not to call any attention to your research.”
With that, he went to leave.
“You got nothing on him, angel boy,” Kevin grumbled.
Ava gasped. Not only was Kevin at the bottom of the hierarchy, but he had just insulted the Messenger. Also, Kevin had been a Dominion before being a Selfless, thus under Ezra’s command.
The Messenger didn’t turn back. “I can’t know for sure if you used to be Cassiel, but if you were, you’ll regret this when you die. We were once good friends.”
“Were we? Do forgive me, my Messenger,” he said mockingly. “I lost all the memories from my past life, you see.”
Ezra left without a word.
Ava shot Kevin a chiding glare, to which he simply shrugged, and then she was running after the Messenger.
She caught up to him just as he reached the sidewalk.
Ezra’s wings spread behind him in a golden flash. Sunlight turned his feathers with golden tips into shimmering jewels.
“I’ll fly to the Order if you don’t mind,” he said quietly.
He clearly wanted to avoid this conversation as much as Ava, but the more they did, the further apart they would grow.
“Fine,” she said. “So will I.”
Her wings flashed behind her. A few people passed by, but they paid them no attention since Ezra and Ava were masking their essences.
He shook his head. “No, it isn’t safe. A fall from a considerable height, even with your shield, could be deadly.”
“Well, I’m feeling adventurous today.” She focused on the sky, assuring herself she could do this.
Deep in her rift, Ava felt her beasts of light and dark watching, daring her. A mix of eagerness and fear took over.
Heavens, this was a terrible idea, but with one deep breath she remembered that flying was no different from moving her fingers. Light and dark, hands and wings, they were all a part of her.
Besides, she was done failing everyone she cared about. Failing at everything she did.
Ava needed a win, and she needed it now.
With one boost, she went up. Her wings flapped in perfect synchrony, once, twice, so many times she lost count.
When she zinged past the tallest skyscraper in the city, a victorious howl erupted from her throat. The air became chillier by the second, but Ava didn’t care. She was free and she was flying.
Finally!
There was no world down below, no worries and no hurt, just Ava alone with the deep blue.
“Stabi
lize!” Ezra shouted from behind, his wings flapping faster than hers.
The weight of the world she’d abandoned crashed upon her. It wasn’t just Ava and the sky anymore.
She grudgingly nodded and spun into a lying position, dashing into the horizon. Heavens, this was beautiful.
The city down below never looked so small, the sky above never so blue. At a distance, sunlight reflected on the ocean, turning it into a small sun in itself.
Ezra quickly caught up, gliding beside her. His earlier frustration had morphed into pride that flowed from him in warm puffy waves.
“You’re doing well!” he yelled over the breeze that guided them.
Even after all the hurt she caused him, Ezra still encouraged her.
He still cared.
Ava didn’t deserve the Messenger. No angel in the entire Order did.
They pierced into a low hanging cumulus. Tiny droplets broke onto Ava’s skin, and she reveled on their coolness. When she and Ezra shot out, remnants of the cloud followed their tracks for a fleeting moment.
“I’m sorry I left you at the Legion,” she blurted. “My meeting with Liam didn’t go as well as I expected.”
Ezra bit his lip and looked away. “I assumed as much. I just wish you would’ve told me.”
“How could I?” she cried. “You’ve been relentlessly avoiding me!”
He raised one eyebrow at her. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I’m a high angel, remember? I sensed you didn’t want me around, so I stayed away. But I am sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
The wish to cry bubbled in her throat. Ezra had kept his distance, not for him but for her. Ava didn’t know what kind of angel she was now, but she hoped one day she would be like him.
“Thank you.” That was all she could say without bursting into tears.
Ezra winked at her, then turned left, a cue for her to follow.
They crossed the sky freely, the way only birds do, sometimes plunging in synchrony only to rise again in a swift, fast-paced dance that left Ava breathless.
Her back began to ache because she wasn’t used to flying. Her wings flapped with a lag from left to right, and Ava couldn’t stabilize her course anymore.
She pointed to a nearby skyscraper. “I think I need to land!”
