by Elicia Hyder
“What’s the difference?” Cruz asked.
“Magma comes from the Earth’s core.” Anya nodded at the fiery pool. “This came from Nulterra.”
“But how, if the gate was destroyed? Nulterra wasn’t underground.” Fury looked confused.
“I have no idea.” I carefully scanned the surface to make sure any demons didn’t bubble to the top.
Anya stepped forward and pointed. “Warren, what’s that?”
I followed the direction of her finger, straining my eyes as they snagged on something dark in the lava. It looked like a stick, but there was no way a stick could—
Oh shit.
“My sword.” The handle was bobbing up and down in the lava.
“Shut up,” Fury said.
I flew over the lake again. Heat radiated from the surface. I extended my hands and used my power to lift the sword. As it rose from the fire, something else came with it.
The blade was still buried in the stone Fury and Anya’s father, Flint, had stayed behind to destroy. It had cost him his eternal soul to save us all.
Rather than hardening around it, the fire completely dripped off the sword and stone as I hovered over the lake. When the last drop hit the liquid-fire surface below, the ground shook once again.
I returned to the hilltop.
“Warren, man, I think you made it angry,” Kane said, taking a few steps back from the edge.
Huge bubbles ballooned across the surface, churning the lava over the edges of the circle. The surrounding earth cracked, and lava rushed through the fissures as they fractured the ground.
While the lake spread, its center thickened and compounded, quickly growing higher and higher. Lava spewed it in every direction, first like a fountain, then like a fire hose.
“He’s right. It’s gonna blow!” I shouted over the roar. “Everybody, run!”
I dropped the sword on the ground, grabbed the back of Fury’s shirt, and yanked her against me. Hooking my arm across her chest and under her armpits, I launched off the hillside away from the fire. Jett grabbed Anya, and they and Iliana caught up with us in the air.
Kane, Cruz, and the new guy ran down the shaking hill toward the trees. I touched my ear and called out to Samael. “The lake of fire is erupting. Evacuate everyone who’s close!”
“What?” he shouted back.
“Evacuate! Get in the air!”
Kaboom!
Lava blasted into the air. We were above it, but the guys on the ground were directly in its trajectory.
Iliana dove.
My first instinct was to follow her, but Fury would never survive it. I rose higher and watched in horror as my daughter rocketed through the fiery spray.
In a blink, an invisible shield ballooned out against the fire, like an umbrella opening against sheets of rain. Iliana stood on the other side of it, her arms stretched toward the wave of lava.
The fire oozed off the force field and puddled beneath it. The guys reached the tree line and jumped on their waiting ATVs.
I exhaled for what felt like the first time in my life. The supernatural volcano calmed, but the lava didn’t cool. It burned everything it touched, sending black smoke billowing into the sky.
“Holy shit,” I said, panting against Fury’s back.
Her arms covered mine as she coughed in the smoke.
On the ground, Iliana reached toward the sky.
“What’s she doing?” Anya called to us.
I had no idea.
Puffs of white began materializing and thickening in the blue sky above us.
My lower jaw dropped as I looked up. “My god.”
“What?” Fury asked, coughing some more.
“She’s creating rain.”
The white clouds turned dark as they swelled, and a large drop of water splashed square in the middle of my forehead. I laughed as I wiped it with my fingertips.
Rain poured down, extinguishing the flames in the trees. Jett and I lowered to the earth, settling on the ground with Fury and Anya. I released Fury and slowly clapped my hands as I walked toward my daughter. “Nicely done.”
Steam rose off the jungle as the flames died, but the liquid fire that had splashed onto the ground remained. It was unaffected by the water.
Fury knelt down beside a puddle of it. “It’s going to relight once the ground dries up!” she called over the rain.
I looked at my daughter. “I think you’re going to have to put it back.”
Iliana looked around the clearing. The fire had spread like finger paint blasted from a cannon. It was a mess.
Kane came and stood beside me. “She’s impressive, isn’t she?”
“She’s extraordinary.”
“Hard to believe she came from you,” Cruz said, walking up on my other side.
I shot him the bird, but he wasn’t wrong.
Iliana stretched her hand toward the puddle in front of Fury’s boots. It rose off the ground in a blob. Fury stood and stepped back by me as Iliana gathered all the lava around us and between where we stood and the original circle.
We followed her as she walked in the rain, as she moved the hovering and growing glob toward its original boundary. She lowered the fire back down into the lake, then released it with a splash.
Iliana shook out her hands as she looked around at all the other puddles. “This is going to take a while.”
“Come on. I’ll help you,” I said.
She smiled.
“So will I,” Jett added. Then he turned back toward the tree line. “Rogan!” He gestured him forward.
“I’ll man the prisoner,” Cruz said, heading back toward the ATVs.
I needed to call Samael. I touched my ear. “Samael, you guys whole?”
“We’re fine. What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Iliana put out the fire.”
“Is that why it’s raining?”
“Yep.”
“OK. We’re at Hannah’s village. We’ll see you guys later.”
Jett and Rogan took the right side of the lake. Iliana and I took the left. A half hour later, the four of us had wrangled all the eternal fire back into the pit. When we were finished, Iliana looked up. The rain stopped like she’d turned off a faucet.
“That’s so damn cool,” I said with my hands on my hips.
Fury and Anya had walked back up to the top of the hill. “Warren!” Fury called. “Come here!”
Iliana and Jett followed me.
Anya was sitting on the wet ground. Fury got on both knees beside her. Between them was the sword, stuck inside the stone.
Fury crooked her finger to beckon me forward. “Look at this.”
I bent between her and Anya. Fury was pointing to the hilt. The glowing impression of a hand was still wrapped around it.
Flint’s hand.
Anya put her arm around Fury’s shoulders, and they both cried. I walked back to Iliana and Jett to give the two sisters some privacy.
“What happened down there?” Iliana asked quietly.
“We learned the meaning of the word hero.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Someday, I’ll tell you all about it.”
She smiled up at me. “I already know the meaning of the word. Mom has told me everything you did for me, and for her.”
My eyes tingled. “I’d do it all again.”
When Fury and Anya had regained their composure, Jett walked over for a closer look at the sword. “Seems like it would have melted.”
“The sword’s made of helkrymite and was forged in Nulterra, so I doubt the hellfire would be able to destroy it,” I said, joining him.
“Helkrymite?” he asked.
“It’s a metal foreign to Earth.” I leaned down and grabbed the hilt. “Jett, can you hold the stone?”
He grabbed the dark oval rock with both hands. I pulled until the sword broke free. I carefully dusted off the blade with my hand, then stuck it into the scabbard strapped across my back.
“What do we do with t
his?” Jett asked, holding up the stone.
I looked down toward the lake. “Return it to where it came from?”
Jett handed it to me.
Iliana came and stood beside me. “Maybe you should let me.”
I offered it to her. “Talk about heroes,” I said with a wink.
She smiled, took the rock, and hurled it into the lake.
It bobbed at the surface for a moment, then disappeared with a hiss.
The sound of engines rumbled through the jungle behind us. We turned as another four-wheeler tore through the trees like someone had set the woods on fire.
It emerged from a path that hadn’t existed when I first came to the gate. The driver removed their helmet.
Nathan McNamara.
His passenger did the same.
Sloan.
Chapter Two
“Oh my god!” Sloan threw her arms around my neck when I was close enough. She cried. I was trying hard not to. “We thought you were dead.”
“I told you, I’m immortal.” I pulled back and smiled.
One whole patch on the side of her long bangs had turned white. There were crinkles around her eyes, and she had laugh lines, hopefully from years of happiness with our daughter.
“Is everybody OK?” Nathan looked panicked. The blast had been loud with lots of smoke, so they’d probably heard and seen it from wherever they’d been on the island.
“Everyone’s fine,” Iliana announced as she walked up beside me with Jett. Her face was streaked with soot and rain.
Nathan carefully looked her over. “We heard an explosion.”
“That would be my fault. The gate’s more of a volcano now.” I turned toward him and opened my arms. “Nate.”
With his hair now more silver than blond, he looked so much like his dad. He greeted me with a strong hug. “Damn, it’s good to see you.”
Sloan still cried beside us. “It’s been so long.”
“For me, not so much.”
She gripped my arms, and her eyes sobered as she studied me. “You haven’t aged at all.”
I took a deep breath. “Because I’ve only been gone two days.”
She blinked.
“Two days?” Nathan asked.
“We figured out how the Morning Star escaped the Thousand Year Prophecy. He all but stopped time in Nulterra. We only spent one night there.”
Sloan covered her mouth with her hand. “Then this has been more of a shock than a happy reunion.”
“It’s been both, but yes. An unbelievably huge shock.” I looked at our daughter. “She’s all grown-up.” I could hardly believe it. We were all silent for a moment. Sloan wiped away more tears.
Nathan put his hand on my shoulder. “On the bright side, you can finally be together.”
“True.” I reached into my pocket. “And to think, an hour ago I was really excited about having these.” I let both sanctonite stones, the Father’s blood stones, dangle from my fingertips.
Sloan grasped them. “You found them.”
“A lot of good they’ll do.” They should have allowed me to help raise Iliana, but now…
When Sloan finished looking at them, I offered one to Iliana.
“For me?” she asked.
“It was meant for you all along. It’ll still help with headaches when you’re away from other angels.”
“I’m never away from other angels, but thank you.” She smiled as she took it. Her eyes doubled when her hand closed around the stone. “Whoa.” She almost dropped it.
“Everything OK?” Nathan asked, alarmed.
Iliana clasped the chain around her neck. “It’s zingy.”
“It’s a powerful stone,” I said.
“I can tell.”
Nathan craned his neck to look past me. “What the hell happened here?”
“The gate?” I asked.
“The lake of fire,” he said.
“I’m not really sure. We tried to seal it.”
“Looks like you boiled it instead.”
Iliana shrugged. “We kinda did.”
“The explosion set everything on fire and nearly killed us, but someone”—I looked at Iliana—“saved the day.”
“She’s pretty good at doing that,” Sloan said.
Nathan touched my shoulder. “She gets it from her dad.”
I smiled, and he hugged me again.
Fury and Anya joined us. All emotion had left Fury’s face. Not surprising since her entire life had been one long exercise in hiding her feelings. Ironically, it was probably the only thing holding her together while the reality of our current situation sank in.
“Fury,” Sloan said with a tearful smile. She approached her with open arms, and Fury embraced her. It was weird. And wonderful. “I’m so glad you’re OK.”
“You are?” Fury asked with a forced, dry smile.
“Of course.” Sloan glanced at Jett before taking Fury’s hand. “You must be as shocked as Warren by all this.”
“Shocked doesn’t scratch the surface of what I’m feeling.”
“I really can’t imagine.” Sloan tugged on Jett’s sleeve. “But we like this son of yours. He’s a good man.”
For a second, Fury looked ready to vomit again, but it passed quickly.
Jett—Malak—stood close behind Iliana, quite obviously ready to spring into action at any threat. He smiled gratefully. “Sloan and Nathan helped John a lot when I was younger.”
“Thank you,” Fury told Sloan, her voice cracking with emotion.
“No need for thanks. You’d have done the same for me.”
“Uhh.” Nathan’s head tilted. “Would she though?”
The anguish engulfing us all broke, and we laughed. Sloan shoved Nathan’s shoulder and rolled her eyes. For the briefest moment, it was just like old times.
And yet, nothing like them.
“This must be your sister. The resemblance is uncanny.” Sloan stuck out her hand toward Anya. “I’m Sloan.”
“Anya. It’s nice to meet you, Sloan.”
“You as well. This is my very inappropriate husband, Nathan.”
Nathan and Anya shook hands. “Welcome home,” Nathan said.
“What a strange new home it is,” Anya said, dropping his hand. “What year is it?”
Nathan hesitated. “Today is Wednesday, August 15, 2032.”
Hearing the number took my breath. “Shit. Seriously?”
“Afraid so,” he said.
“Do we have flying cars now?” Anya asked.
“No, but we do have self-driving ones,” Sloan said.
Anya’s mouth gaped. “Really?”
“Not a hundred percent automated, but yeah. And most cars are battery powered with solar-paneled exteriors,” Nathan said. “We haven’t seen many on this island, but back in the States, they’re everywhere.”
“Have you really been here for eleven months?” I asked, remembering Iliana had said they’d come over when they found out we were alive.
“We’ve been here in shifts. Iliana’s been here the whole time, but Nathan and I have taken turns between here and Asheville.” Sloan and Nathan exchanged a curious glance. “Our son just started his senior year of high school back at home.”
“Your son?” The question was louder than I intended. When Iliana was born, Sloan’s ruptured uterus had been removed. More children shouldn’t have been possible. My eyes darted to Iliana. “Did you heal your mother?”
Iliana looked confused. “What?”
“No, no,” Sloan said. “We adopted Luca after we couldn’t find any family members of his in Italy.”
My brain was having a hard time connecting the dots.
“Luca is the son of the woman Azrael kept alive at Echo-10 in New Hope,” Nathan said.
My head snapped back. “Oh.”
When Cassiel and I had been in Venice—only a few months prior, for me—we’d been hunting an undead serial killer that had been set free from Nulterra. Vito Saez preyed on humans with the abil
ity to see angels. He’d been in the process of murdering his last victim when we found him—a pregnant woman in Venice, Italy.
Days before the trip to Nulterra, Azrael had shown Fury and me his wild and dangerous plan. He was keeping the woman on life support at Claymore headquarters to swap her baby with the Morning Star once Adrianne gave birth.
I turned to Nathan. “But if you have Luca, what happened to the Morning Star?”
Nathan flashed a worried look at Iliana. “You didn’t tell him anything?”
“I didn’t want to overwhelm them. I thought I’d wait until we got back to the resort.”
“Tell me what?” I remembered the hesitation surrounding the questions about my father, Azrael. “What happened?”
Sloan was bordering on tears again. Nathan looked everywhere except at me.
I clenched my jaw. “Someone needs to start talking fast.”
“Azrael’s blood stone.” Nathan’s voice cracked a bit. “You’ve had it this whole time.”
I actually had two of them. One around my neck. The other in my pocket. I assumed they were the same stone, magically duplicated somehow in Nulterra. It had been inside Azrael’s safe at the Claymore base that had been part of Fury’s waking nightmare in Ket Nhila, the Bad Lands. The base had vanished, but the second stone had survived.
“What are you saying?” Fury asked.
Sloan visibly swallowed. “Without the stone, Azrael’s memories of the supernatural world faded in the first year you were gone. He lost everything, including his memories of the Morning Star.”
I ran both hands down my face.
“It started before Adrianne gave birth,” Nathan said. “I told Sloan everything I knew about Adrianne and her baby. Around the same time, the nurse at Claymore…” He looked at Sloan. “What was her name?”
Sloan lifted both shoulders. “That was too many years ago to remember.”
“Dana. Her name was Dana,” I said.
They both stared at me. One more reminder of how much time I’d lost. For me and Fury, it had been less than a week since we’d met Nurse Dana at Claymore Worldwide’s headquarters in New Hope, North Carolina.
“Yes. Dana,” Nathan said. “Azrael had instructed her to contact me and tell me everything if anything ever happened to him—”
