Falling from the Darkness

by Sirena Noir

  Chase was lucky. He didn’t have that problem. He could sulk his life away in the darkest parts of the layers if he wanted.

  Aiden considered his friend—the one Chase had selfishly gotten to be with for three centuries. Dominic had promised to watch out for Chase. He hadn’t chosen to leave Cynnistear to come be with Aiden, but at least he was still working to protect Aiden’s twin.

  Shuddering, Aiden closed his eyes for a brief second. The thought of Chase alone in Cynnistear rolled every feather along his wing. He couldn’t think like that, especially in Nevaeh.

  No. Dominic would do as he promised. Aiden would never doubt his friend. Hopefully, Dominic knew how much he trusted him and how much he missed him. Without getting weird, Dominic was as much a brother as Chase was.

  The gates now loomed over Aiden, the glare from the brightness made them shine as if they were made from the sun.

  “Took you long enough. Where did you go?” Tristan pierced Aiden with his icy blue stare, leaning rigidly against the strong marble post just outside the gates. The lorean seemed to never relax, as if to do so would let the entire world collapse in on itself. “It’s better not to just leave, Aiden. With the Others and the Rogues searching for you and Chase, as well as the tablets, you need to keep me in the loop on where you go.” Hs nostrils flared as he tightened his jaw. “I’m serious, Aiden.”

  Aiden nodded curtly, biting back his first response to tell Tristan how he really felt. He wasn’t in the mood to argue. He’d been jerked all over by Sabre and the Council, making him tired and cranky. “I was called on an errand. Why the third degree?”

  Tristan regarded Aiden through narrowed eyes. “You know why, Aiden.” He lowered his voice for only Aiden, looking side to side as if there were nefarious angels in the light side of the layers. He leaned back, his faux nonchalance offsetting and putting Aiden on edge. “They were in your room again.” He widened his eyes and lifted his eyebrows pointedly.

  Aiden’s wings ruffled. He should be used to the invasions, but it was frustrating just the same. After all this time, they still thought he would be stupid enough to leave his half of the tablet in his room. Yet, no one would ever suspect that he carried it with him at all times. Even Tristan didn’t know where Aiden kept it.

  When he first arrived in Nevaeh, he had found a rare holster near the edge of the forest that lined the city. It had been covered by foliage, a piece of forgotten attire from the first war he assumed. It had fit between his wings perfectly, but hid under the feathers. It was a messenger’s pouch from ancient times, when assigned loreans had to carry secret messages to those on the front lines.

  Aiden had wondered what it would have been like to live back then. The ripping apart of layers couldn’t have been easy and the idea of warring for such a cause gave him goosebumps. He liked to think he was still part of the cause, keeping the prophecy from being fulfilled.

  Needless to say, Aiden kept the holster hidden on his back to remind him of the power of a secret. To help him remember why he was determined to end it all and keep the layers from mixing together.

  There were so many secrets, he couldn’t trust anyone completely. The burden of half-truths and plans grew, and he worried that soon he would be overwhelmed with the responsibilities of trying to save the worlds.

  Aiden cocked his head with a slight un-amused chuckle. He leaned with his shoulder against the opposite pillar from Tristan, folding his arms. The smooth white marble was cool against his skin. “Did they find what they were looking for?” A hint of arrogance laced his words.

  “You know they didn’t.” Tristan pushed off the post with his foot. He thrust a finger toward the pearly ground and hardened his jaw. “Where is it? Aiden, this isn’t a game. I know what you’re doing, and I can’t help you, if you keep everything from me. I want to help.”

  Aiden shrugged, thrusting off the column. He had to play this off before Tristan turned into the do-good angel they both knew he was and turned him in. Keeping things from the council in Nevaeh was considered out-of-bounds and was usually dealt with by assigning something distasteful for discipline. Aiden was supposed to want to do good things and even though the experiences weren’t uncomfortable for him at all, he wanted to fit in.

  Although, their so-called consequences sounded appealing right now. Maybe he’d have to deliver a message to the Council at HALO, or even better, go to the edge of Cynnistear as a guard. His heart raced at the possibilities. All the possibilities he wasn’t supposed to want. His heart slowed in disappointment. “So?”

  Tristan closed the distance between the two. “If you kill those girls then you’ll be sent to Outer Darkness.” He exhausted his breath with each hushed word. He stood up straighter and tightened his jaw. “If you can’t find them, you can’t kill them.”

  “I thought you didn’t want the prophecy to come true? Did you switch sides and not tell me, your closest and best friend?” Aiden feigned surprise, placing a hand on Tristan’s shoulder. Seeing Tristan ruffled made him happy and left him with a true grin.

  “If you were my friend, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Chase would never think of killing those girls.” Tristan shrugged off Aiden’s hand and walked away, through the gates to the edge of the city.

  “But I’m not Chase! And, he’s not here. He chose Cynnistear, remember?” Aiden started to follow Tristan, but stopped. The idea of going through the gates with such contempt made him pause.

  He needed to know if Tristan was truly upset with him, or just frustrated because Aiden had left him on the border of Nevada alone.

  Aiden pushed tentatively toward Tristan’s thoughts. But, Tristan had a sensitivity where he could tell when Aiden was trying to get inside his head. Not many beings did, but Tristan seemed to know immediately. Skirting the edges of Tristan’s conscious, Aiden only sensed irritation. Rather than push too hard, Aiden backed off.

  Hopefully, Tristan wouldn’t say anything to the other loreans. Aiden had a hard enough time fitting in as it was. But then, the fleeting hope of punishment and being sent to guard the borders of Nevaeh had him not caring.

  Except, he had to care.

  He grumbled a slight lorean curse under his breath. Stupid prophecy.

  Being “good” was overrated.

  Taking a deep breath, Aiden squared his shoulders and set off through the gates behind Tristan. He had a lot of talking to do to stop Tristan from outing his plan. And while he was at it, he had to re-convince himself that killing the players in the prophecy was the only way to make sure it wasn’t fulfilled.

  Watching the swing of Tristan’s wings, Aiden’s gut twisted. The prophecy had to end. The only way he could end it was to make sure all of the major players didn’t make it to the end game. There were two women and Aiden and his twin brother. The four pieces. If one of them died, the prophecy couldn’t be fulfilled.

  If the prophecy came about, then Outer Darkness would be split open and the fallen angels who had been sent there over the last millennium would be allowed out to devastate the worlds and destroy anything they desired.

  Stopping the prophecy was saving the worlds. All layers. All of earth. Aiden couldn’t think of anything he wanted more.

  Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to kill anyone he cared about.

  Chapter Three

  Tristan didn’t slow down. Aiden half-jogged a few steps to catch up to him, then walked just behind him. He wasn’t ready to walk equal to Tristan. Not when his own self-chastisement was so strong.

  A surge of power jerked him forward and then brought him up short. “I can sense Chase,” Aiden said, stopping, hoping Tristan would do the same so they could talk.

  Tristan stilled in his tracks on the white granite road.

  “What do you mean?” Tristan asked, not turning to face Aiden. His shoulders fell slightly, just enough for Aiden to notice, but not focus on. He had other issues to worry about, like the fact that he could sense Chase. Whatever was bothering Tristan would have to wait. They h
ad so much to talk about, and Aiden couldn’t have Tristan running to the Council.

  Aiden took two strides to meet up with Tristan before answering. Each step past the gates made Aiden cringe. He wanted to be good. He wanted to be like the other loreans, but he was so out of his element. It was harder for him than it was for Tristan, or for any of the other loreans. He had to fight himself to stay.

  But choices were made. His heart had chosen for him and his wings shown like a white peace flag between his heart and mind. He wasn’t a dark angel. Wanting to kill a girl didn’t mean he was bad, or dark.

  He didn’t even want to do it.

  He needed to.

  He had to break the prophecy and save the world. That in itself was good. And he would keep telling himself that to help ease the guilt over thinking he wasn’t as worthy to wear such alabaster wings.

  He was worthy.

  Because if he wasn’t, then what was it all for?

  “It means,” Aiden looked around for listening ears before continuing. It was a busy part of Nevaeh, with loreans coming and going on assignments. He grabbed Tristan’s arm and pulled him closer. “It means that I can feel him without actually being with him.” Like right then. He could sense Chase, wherever he was and the sensation was heady. He missed his brother more than anything every day.

  “You’re crazy. The elder loreans are going to give you a teaching job at HALO if you don’t pull yourself together.” Tristan half-shrugged, narrowing his eyes in severe doubt.

  Aiden scoffed. “Now that is crazy. You know as well as I do, they would never want me around their precious students.” He took a shaky breath and waited until Tristan met his gaze dead on. Then, Aiden said what he knew needed to be said. There was no use pretending anymore. “I’m a dark angel in a light angel’s body. You know it, and they know it. Maybe I should just accept it. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? That’s what you’re trying to tell me. You don’t want me here. You’d rather have Chase. Admit it.”

  Aiden had to stop fighting it. This was who he was. Why did Tristan always try to shove the good passive aggressively down his throat? Aiden didn’t need his help feeling insecure about his role in their world. Everywhere he went he was reminded of how he failed daily as a light lorean. Even if he were to go to Cynnistear, he wouldn’t fit in there either. He wasn’t completely dark. And he wasn’t completely light. He was stuck somewhere in between with no reprieve from either side pulling at him.

  Tristan stiffened, his nostrils flared and the tips of his wings lifted off the ground. “Aiden, quiet. They’ll hear you.” He never argued what Aiden said about him wanting Chase there instead.

  Aiden knew he wasn’t wanted. He didn’t need Tristan to admit it out loud. But knowing it didn’t make it sting any less.

  Tristan watched a few passersby with suspicion, giving them a grim smile to placate them as they nodded a greeting his direction.

  Aiden scoffed and tossed his hands in the air, not caring who saw. “And so what? I’d be kicked out? Sent on another assignment so they can rummage through my things?” He needed to get his anger under control before he went any deeper into Nevaeh. Anger was a sentiment not allowed in the lightest layer. He backed up a few paces toward the gate. But he was still too far away to feel safe enough to have his emotions.

  He would have given his right wing to be able to get inside Tristan’s mind and know exactly what he was thinking.

  Tristan was too good. Too clean and pure. Too light. How he had managed not to turn Aiden in to the Lorean Council was beyond Aiden’s knowledge.

  It was no secret Aiden was one of the twins from the prophecy. Everyone knew it. And everyone treated him differently because of it. Just like it was no secret that everyone in their world was searching for the tablet.

  The Council had always given Aiden crap assignments, worried about him and losing their precious prophecy twin. If they found out what he had planned, they would lock him away and never let him out of the light.

  Aiden let the heaviness of his half of the tablet calm him. As long as it stayed hidden between his wings, he could deal with whatever came his way. He could go on ignoring the elders’ attempts to ransack his room every time he left, hoping to find something they hadn’t found in hundreds of years.

  The air stilled and a chill ran down Aiden’s body. Something changed around them. Aiden had never experienced a cold chill in Nevaeh before.

  Aiden cocked his head slightly. “Do you feel that?”

  “What now?” Tristan stilled, his eyes darting around them. “What is that?”

  Spinning on his heel, Aiden surveyed the area. Not sure what he was looking for, but something was different, and in Nevaeh, different stood out. Perhaps he’d see it before anyone else. “I don’t know. It’s… Something is wrong.”

  “I know that feeling. I’ve felt it before.” Tristan’s eyes widened. “I just can’t place it.”

  Aiden swallowed hard. “Me, too.”

  Except, Aiden could place it. He’d felt that ominous feeling before right before the Rogues attacked HALO three hundred years ago. His stomach hardened and his limbs felt heavy. There was no way they could break the parameter of Nevaeh, could they? There were guards. And Cherubims. Seraphs.

  But even those could fall.

  Had a lorean from Nevaeh traded sides and let Rogues in?

  The Rogues were loreans who would do anything in their power to complete the prophecy. They had to let the angels from Outer Darkness out. They had others they worshipped in the fallen state and they needed to release the evil in the darkness to give them the worlds they wanted so desperately.

  On the other end of the spectrum, the Others wanted to end the prophecy more than they wanted to find the light. They were hard core and on desperate to make sure nothing happened to their precious order.

  While they wanted the same things Aiden did, he had to maintain control. When someone had to keep things secret, he didn’t trust that person as far as he could wing-check them. But the Others were mostly from Nevaeh and the Rogues were mostly from Cynnistear.

  Rogues wouldn’t be in Nevaeh anymore than Aiden would be in Cynnistear.

  Dark couldn’t exist where there was light.

  Aiden’s heart pumped faster.

  A few loreans darted past. More rushed with urgency from the buildings and surrounding towers. Thoughts slurred and mingled together loudly as he searched their minds, until he was surrounded by loreans.

  Except, he wasn’t the one surrounded.

  Whispers floated on the air, falling softly like a cloud around him in hushed tones mixed with gasps.

  “He returned.”

  “He was lost.”

  “What is he holding?”

  “How did he get here?”

  Aiden pushed himself through the colors of white, cream, and pearl colored wings to the front of the crowd, next to the gate, needing to know what was happening.

  “Impossible!”

  “I thought he was fallen.”

  More words mingled together, getting lost in the throng of angels. Aiden wasn’t sure what was said aloud or mentally anymore, the voices were so loud.

  The chilling feeling calmed and Aiden was able to concentrate fully again.

  Although it left him with many questions. After three hundred years, he knew that whatever he’d felt, was not normal. It wasn’t okay. Whoever had brought the sensation with them, wasn’t a full friend of Nevaeh. They weren’t complete as a lorean.

  He wasn’t quite through the mass when Rais barked at him from the gate. “Aiden! Aiden Hawthorne!”

  Rais was the leader of the Nevaeh guard, and not one Aiden ever wanted to go up against. He was intimidating, even as a light angel. His iridescent white wings glistened with a shine that was rare even for a lorean. His dark blond hair was long enough to shadow his piercing green eyes. But his stature, both in size and rank, even in their world, was esteemed.

  Heads swiveled and loreans shuffled out
of the way as everyone around Aiden parted, giving him space and room to move. He wasn’t sure what was going on, or why Rais called him out of the crowd, but he wasn’t going to let on that he was nervous. Keeping his shoulders square and his head high, Aiden approached Rais, his eyes quickly going to what had caused the commotion.

  An angel lay on the ground, curled around something. His wings were white, but had a slight gray tinge in the tips and the feathers were ruffled and askew. His clothes were tarnished and ragged, not at all what the common lorean wore now. He looked like he had just come from the fiery depths of Cynnistear or Outer Darkness.

  But in no way was that possible. He wouldn’t have survived.

  Healing loreans pushed past Aiden and surrounded the angel. They were minimalist healers. Not many knew where the real healers were any more. He’d once heard rumors that there were less than a handful left in all of the layers, but he’d never gotten confirmation on that rumor.

  Tristan pushed to the front of the crowd alongside Aiden and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the side. “What’s going on?” He studied Aiden’s face intently and then looked past him to the center of the disturbance.

  “I don’t know,” Aiden said, trying to read the thoughts of the angel on the ground before giving up and looking at the guard for answers. He had a feeling Rais wouldn’t know either. And it was hard to imagine that the angel on the ground was the source of the feeling he’d had, even if there was something… unsettling about him.

  Rais looked coldly at Aiden, staring at him as though it were Aiden’s fault the angel was outside their gates. It was a staring contest neither of them was willing to fail. Finally, without breaking eye contact, Rais spoke. “I need you to tell me how he got here.”

  It was a trick question. It had to be. Aiden had never seen that angel before. He shrugged and gave a dismissive snort. “You tell me.” How far would he be able to push the disrespectful tone? He didn’t appreciate being put on the spot like he was to blame and he certainly wasn’t going to stand for it.