“Ariel,” began Alexa, her voice trembling, “I can explain—”
“It’s archangel Ariel,” said the big woman, her voice like the bite of a snake, “and don’t you forget that. Or have you abandoned our ways and replaced them with those of the order? Yes. I know about your excursion on the Angel Isle. Forming new allies?”
Heat rushed up Alexa’s face. “They’re not my allies.”
“Weren’t you with The Order of the First?”
“Yes, but—”
“My informants tell me that a sky-car dropped you and Milo off to the Angel Isle. Is that true?”
Alexa felt Milo shift next to her, but she kept her eyes on the archangel. “Yes, we were there, but only because—”
“Treason is punishable by death.”
Alexa’s eyes burned. “I didn’t commit treason. Just give me a second to explain—”
“I spoke up for you, Alexa.” Ariel’s eyes narrowed. “I was working on the High Council to lessen your conviction. They had agreed to let you go in my custody on a trial basis. Pity my efforts were for nothing. Imagine my surprise when I was told of your assisting the traitor Nathaniel with the breakout and destruction of Tartarus.”
Alexa recoiled. “No. That’s not what happened,” she said, feeling a tremor begin in her hands. “I didn’t help anyone escape. In fact, I was the only one left. I was left there alone.”
“You used an eagle to escape,” said Ariel. It wasn’t a question.
Alexa closed her free hand into a fist so Ariel wouldn’t see it shaking. “I did, but it was one of the prison guards. It offered to help me. Listen, please, we have the—”
“And you, Milo.” Ariel came closer to Milo, close enough to touch him if she had chosen to extend her hand. “After sacrificing yourself for the Legion, you choose to side with the order? With the deserters and traitors? Was I wrong about you? Were you in allegiance with them this entire time? Have you fooled us all? Have you always been loyal to your father?”
Milo sucked in a breath. “No. I’ve only ever been loyal to the Legion.”
But Ariel continued as though he hadn’t spoken. “We feared the worst for your sake, and now here you are. Why are you here? Are you turning yourselves in?”
“This is really not going like I envisioned in my head,” said Lance, and Ariel stared at him as though she’d just noticed he was there.
“Lance,” she warned, “why am I not surprised at your involvement. If I hear that you had anything to do with the missing sky-car…”
Lance sat back on his haunches and raised his front paws in submission. “I’ve pledged my soul to serve the Legion. Scout’s honor.”
Ariel sighed, and for the first time Alexa thought she looked drained. “I don’t have time for this.” Her gaze went around the factory. “We’re in the middle of a war—a war of worlds. You couldn’t have come at a worse time… to… to do whatever it is you’re doing.”
“That’s precisely why we came here,” said Lance, his eyes pleading. “We brought something that will help us win this war. But you must listen to us. You must give us a chance to explain.”
Ariel rubbed her eyes with a free hand. Her eyes found Alexa. “What are you talking about? Helen!” Ariel bellowed, looking over their heads, “get your team ready. We leave in two minutes.”
An angel with a tight chignon and a neck nearly as thick as her shoulders, gave a nod of her head and then bent in conversation with another angel male.
“As I was saying,” said Lance and cast a worried glance at Alexa and Milo, “we have with us the tool to bring down—”
“Wayne!” called Ariel to some angel on her far left, “don’t forget to tell Nijan about the changes.”
“This is going to take all night,” grumbled Lance. “Archangel Ariel,” he said, his voice loud, and waited until Ariel looked at him before he continued. “We have something that will make a difference. Something real, something tangible, something that truly works. Alexa?” Lance motioned for her. “Show her.”
“Right.” Alexa fumbled with the staff with trembling hands, regretting using so much duct tape. “Just a sec.” Alexa smiled nervously, feeling like a fool as she struggled with the duct tape.
“Now, Alexa,” said Lance from the corner of his mouth, “everyone is watching… do it now…”
“I know,” she hissed, “it’s this damn duct tape. It’s sticking to my fingers. I just—crap—I just need a minute. I’ve got part of it off—”
“Here, let me help.” Milo reached out his hands, fingers barely grazing the tightly wrapped garbage bag and then pulling away. He met Alexa’s eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
A dark-skinned male angel slipped through the surrounding crowd and stepped forward. “We’re ready, archangel Ariel,” he said, towering easily over Milo. He gave Alexa and the others an empty stare. “The archangel Metatron is at the front line. His troops are ready and waiting.”
“Good,” answered Ariel. “Thank you, Gabriel. You may tell the archangel Metatron that we are on our way.” Ariel raised her voice and it echoed above all other voices and sounds. “TEAM LEADERS!” she called, and the silence was immediate. “The time has come. Get your troops ready. We march now.”
There was a heartbeat of absolute silence, and then the faint noise of angels shouting orders filled the factory. The ground trembled like a small earthquake as every angel moved at once. The factory was a confusing mess of shouts and milling angels. Cool night air leaked in through the open front doors. Black CDD uniforms were everywhere along with the wink of silver metal blades and swords. The stench of fear and sweat caught Alexa’s nose, and her insides twisted.
She turned to Ariel. “Archangel Ariel… if you could just let me explain—”
The archangel’s sword rested before Alexa’s eyes. And in one quick flick of her arm, she sheathed her sword behind her back.
Her eyes rested on the three of them. “Tie them up!”
“What?” shouted Alexa. Her head felt as if it were full of swirling smoke. “NO! Wait! We have the Staff of Heaven!” But Ariel had already turned away and was halfway across the factory floor, thousands of angels running in her wake.
Rough hands grabbed her, and before she could fight back, she was pushed down hard against the ground. The staff slipped from her hand as she tried to break her fall. Her shoulders screamed in pain as James yanked her arms back and tied them around a metal post beam. She felt a body fall next to her as two thick angels forced Milo down and tied his hands. Her heart broke at the sight of an angel female securing Lance with a metal chain around his collar. She secured the end to a bracket in the concrete floor, and the four of them walked away without a glance or a word.
“You can’t tie me up! I’m a Scout! This is a disgrace! I—I can’t do chains!” Lance grabbed the chain in his mouth and began pulling franticly, whimpering between growls.
Hot, angry tears fell around Alexa’s face as she pulled on her restraints, but even her supernatural strength made no difference. It was like trying to pry open a rock with her bare hands. It was hopeless.
“We’re too late,” said Milo. His head was bowed, but Alexa could see his eyes welling up in what looked like grief and frustration. “It’s over.”
CHAPTER 19
SHOOTING PAIN SHOT ALONG ALEXA’S ARM, and agony blanketed her senses. The more she pulled at her restraints, the deeper they cut into her skin. It was as though they were designed that way to keep their prisoner from trying to escape.
Alexa didn’t how long they were tied up. Minutes? Hours? The Legion had left them behind while the rest of them risked their lives to save the mortal world from Lucifer’s darkness. She should be there, fighting with them. They all should, not left tied to a post like discarded animals.
What if no one ever came back for them? What if Ariel was killed in battle?
Frustration more than pain overwhelmed Alexa to the point of screaming whenever the wire cut into the soft f
lesh of her wrist. The wetness around her fingers told her the cut was deep, and if she continued, she would saw off her wrist bone.
She had no other option but to sit there, letting the wound gnaw on her strength, trying her best not to feel like a failure. But worse than that was the growing panic—panic that all their efforts had been in vain.
Her gaze moved to the garbage-bag-wrapped staff on ground next to her. She had ripped off a significant piece when she’d been pushed down to the ground. Light leaked from a large tear in the makeshift disguise, illuminating the ground around it like a flashlight. If only Ariel had seen it, she thought. If only she had given her a moment to explain.
Her only comfort was Milo’s hard shoulder that pressed against hers and his own grunts of effort as he tried to break free from his restraints. But then her comfort evaporated as the guilt settled in.
No one spoke after the last of the angels had disappeared through the front doors. They all wallowed in their own misery and thoughts. Alexa could feel the tension between them, thick and dangerous. Lance lay on his stomach, his head between his paws and his eyes wet, looking like he was about to be sick.
And when she threw out her angel senses and hearing, she could no longer hear the distant murmurs of cars and humanity drifting in from the open doors. It was as though the world had stopped.
Alexa tried her best not to think about the constant throbbing from her wrists or the shot of pain like tiny sparks of lightning through her arms and shoulders from the constant pulling and yanking. Somehow they needed to escape.
“You’d think with our angel superpowers we could break free from these simple bonds,” said Alexa. “What are they made of anyway? Kryptonite?”
She felt Milo’s shrug brush up against her shoulder. “Really hard plastic?”
“Ariel could have had us executed, but she didn’t,” expressed Alexa, her voice loud in the echoing silence and her mouth dry.
“Your point being?” Milo cocked his head so that his hair brushed against Alexa’s temple.
“That part of her still wants to believe in us.” Alexa pushed forward and yanked at her restraints with all her might. “If—only—we—could—get—away—” she said between her teeth and then gave up pulling. “We can show her the staff. I should never have used so much stupid duct tape.” Alexa kicked the staff with her foot. It rolled a foot away, opening the tear more through the bag, and stopped.
Lance lifted his head up from his paws. “I thought I was helping.”
“You were,” said Alexa, feeling guilty. “This isn’t on you. None of this is your fault. It’s mine. I’m the idiot who set him free.”
Milo nudged her with his boot. “Don’t go there again. There’s still a chance to fight Lucifer. They think he’s here somewhere close by, right? If they did manage to figure out where his castle would reappear, we’ve still got time. We can still do this.”
“That’s really great, Milo,” said Alexa, trying to keep the cynicism from her voice but doing a poor job, “but you forgot one major problem.”
“What?”
“Blood of a willing demon,” answered Lance.
“Right, how can I forget,” Milo said, too quietly.
Alexa leaned back and her head bumped on the cold metal post. She had left Horizon somewhat gratified and collected, having just stolen the Staff of Heaven, but every passing second wound her tighter. Her mind kept going over her plan, finding giant holes in it. Everything was falling apart. She had been so sure—so convinced Ariel would have listened to her—that now just thinking make her cringe at her own stupidity. Of course Ariel wouldn’t listen to her. She was a convict. Worse, a convict that the entire Legion believed had aided and abetted Nathaniel and his order to escape from Tartarus.
Alexa looked through the open doors to the street that lay beyond, silent and ominous. She kept expecting to see Ariel bounding through the doorway. Surely a part of the archangel believed her? But Ariel never came through the doors. No one did.
The staff was useless to them if they couldn’t use it. The bonds around her wrists were angel proof. There was no way they could rip them off.
She felt that nothing but action would lessen her feelings of guilt and grief. She ought to set out on her plan to find and destroy Lucifer as soon as possible. But Alexa had failed—failed to retrieve all of the three ingredients required to destroy Lucifer and send him back to purgatory.
She hoped, prayed, the Legion would figure out another way to send The Lord of Darkness back where he belonged.
Alexa hit her head on the metal post, wishing she’d never found that note the oracle left her. Milo and Lance wouldn’t be in this mess if she hadn’t. Why had the oracle left it for her? Why her and not another more competent angel?
But then another part of her, a voice of belief in herself, told her she’d been chosen for this.
It wasn’t faith that had made the oracle write that letter. Perhaps he had seen it in one of his visions of the future. Perhaps he knew Alexa was the one. Perhaps he saw her beat Lucifer…
Excitement surged through Alexa like an adrenaline kick. She didn’t know how she knew. She just did. She was certain they were going to get out of here. They were going to destroy Lucifer. The oracle had seen it!
Suddenly everything became clear, as though she was looking at life with a different pair of eyes. Her confidence bloomed inside her, brimful of the conviction in the oracle’s premonition.
“Ha!” laughed Alexa in delight, realizing only afterward how loud and crazy she sounded, but she didn’t care.
Lance looked from Alexa to Milo. “What’s wrong with her?” he said with the corner of his mouth.
Milo shrugged, looking puzzled. “I’m not sure.” He leaned forward and turned his head so that he was facing her. “Alexa? Are you feeling okay?”
Beaming, Alexa looked around the factory. “It’s gotta be here. I know it is. I know it. I can almost feel it.”
“What is? What are you talking about?” asked Milo, his voice full of concern.
“The tool for our escape,” she said. “It’s here. It’s here! In here with us! We just haven’t discovered it yet. But it is here. Has to be.”
Lance and Milo shared a look, and then Lance said very carefully, “Alexa… did you hit your head or something? There’s nothing here but us. And unless you can melt your metal bonds with your mind, we’re royally screwed. We’re even more screwed if demons find us first. Imagine? We can’t even defend ourselves if the Legion doesn’t send someone to retrieve us. It’s almost as though they left us here to die—on purpose.”
Alexa ignored the concern in his voice. Her confidence grew like a giant bubble in her gut, squishing out all previous fear and doubt. There was no more second guessing, only certainty, piles of it.
With her angel heart hammering in her ears, her eyes rolled around the floor and the ceiling, stretching her neck as far as it could go. She searched frantically for that special something—the device that would help them escape.
“I never thought it’d end this way,” lamented Lance, and he sniffed. “I’ve still got so many good years in me… my dream of becoming The Scout of the Millennium—gone—instead, I’ll be devoured by demons. They’re going to ruin my perfect fur. I mean… have you ever seen fur this thick and glossy? I know a few demon females who’d kill to get their hands on it. Now it looks like they’re going to get their chance.”
Alexa’s gaze moved to the white dog. “Lance, will you shut—” her eyes widened. “Oh. My. God. Lance!” Alexa shot forward, and winced at the pain in her shoulder, forgetting about her restraints.
The dog flipped his ears up. “What? Why are you smiling? Do I have something in my fur? This isn’t funny, Alexa. We’re in really deep, in case you’ve forgotten. Milo… does she look delusional to you? Please tell me she’s not going crazy on us. That’s all we need now, a demented angel who sees the fun at being devoured by demons.”
“Shut up, Lance! Your collar!�
�� shouted Alexa.
Lance narrowed his eyes. “What about it? It’s new. You like it? I thought the yellow would bring out my eyes. You think it’s not manly enough? Great. I knew I should have gone with blue—”
“It’s loose, you dummy!” laughed Alexa. “When she attached the chain to your collar, she mustn’t have paid attention to all that fur of yours. She thought it was tight around your neck when in fact it was just an illusion. She never checked it. Your collar’s loose!”
“She’s right,” said Milo, a smile materializing on his face as he leaned forward, staring at the yellow collar. “You have a two-inch gap. Try slipping it off.”
Lance was still staring at them like they were nuts. “O-o-k-a-a-ay.” He mumbled something too low for Alexa to hear as he stood up. He lowered his head and started walking backwards until the chain went taut. He pulled his head back, and with a final yank, his collar slipped over his head and plopped to the ground with a thump.
Lance stared at the collar on the ground, sniffing it once. “Well, would you look at that? It’s more yellow than I thought. I think I can see a little orange too, right there in the stitching—”
“Lance!” growled Milo and Alexa together.
The dog gave a start. “No need to shout. You nearly gave me heart failure. Okay, I’m coming.” Lance bounded over to Milo, and with his teeth pulled out one of Milo’s sabers. With precision that impressed Alexa, Lance held the sword’s blade with his teeth and sawed off Milo’s bonds.
“Thanks.” Milo grabbed his saber, and Alexa felt a slight tug on her wrists while he went to work on her bonds followed by a glorious release.
Alexa pulled her arms forward, rubbing her wrists. “Thanks. A little longer tied with those things and I think I would have sawed through my bones.” She pushed herself to her feet, already feeling the tingling of her skin stitching itself back around her wrist. She felt eyes on her and turned. “What?”
Milo sheathed his saber. “How did you know about Lance’s collar. Anyone could have missed it. I did. Hell even he did.”
The Lord of Darkness Page 18
