“Is that true, Gwen?” I asked, looking at the succubus for confirmation. That seemed like something she should have known.
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’m not really that old compared to someone like her.” Gwen gestured at Gabriella. “As I said before, I thought it was all myth and legend.” She met my eyes. “Either way, archangel or not, she needs to be stopped.” She gave me a confident smile then that almost reached her eyes. “If we can stop Nadine, we can stop a fallen angel.”
Gabriella didn’t look so sure, and as I moved to ask her why that was, she unfurled her massive feathered wings. As they stretched out, white light began to shine off of her so brightly it was nearly blinding. I threw one arm up to protect my face while Gwen stumbled backward, hiding her own face from the light as Gabriella’s mace began to blaze with golden fire.
The sky overhead went silent, and the clouds parted, revealing a sun I hadn’t seen in what felt like forever. Perfect gilded light fell from the sky, cascading across the whole of the town, and Gabriella pointed her mace at me. For one, single second, I felt the whole of the archangel’s true power. She was a burning, all-consuming energy that could turn Hell into a slag heap for miles upon miles.
She was immeasurably powerful, and while I couldn’t be sure she was actually more powerful than Nadine, I knew one thing to be true. If Mammon was as strong as Gabriella, we weren’t going to be able to take her head on. No. We’d nearly lost everything fighting Nadine, and every time I thought back to our battle, to all our encounters really, I kept getting the feeling she’d let me win, that she’d been pulling her punches.
After all, how easy would it have been for her to kill me with a snap of her fingers? Only she hadn’t. It was a question I wished she could answer.
Mammon, well, she wouldn’t pull her punches. She’d been very clear in what she wanted from me. She wanted me, my town, and everything under the stormy sky. I was willing to guess that, based on Gabriella’s display, she was strong enough to get what she wanted, given enough time and effort.
As Gabriella’s flare of power faded, and the sky began to boom once more, another thought broke into my mind. Dred was fighting the archangels, and they all had to be approximately as strong as Gabriella, and unlike here, the angels were supposedly united in the battle against him.
And he was winning.
How the hell could we stop him?
“I see that you understand,” Gabriella huffed, her chest heaving for breath as the light from her skin faded. She turned exhausted eyes upon me. “Mammon will be at least as strong as I am, but unlike me, she will be used to wielding her power in this place. I cannot call upon the power of Heaven for long, and there is no way I could use it in battle without a great deal of effort. Hell drains me too much, and it is all I can do to show you that tiny glimpse of what I could do if we were in Heaven.” She gestured around us at the torn landscape of Hell. “Mammon, on the other hand, has been here for eons. She will be adept at wielding the forces of Hell against us. We should count ourselves lucky she didn’t level the entire town.”
“What I do not understand is how Dred could fight you.” What she’d said about Mammon worried me, sure, but at the end of the day, Mammon was one person. Powerful, sure, but still one person. Dred was fighting the whole of the host of Heaven, and he had an army with him.
“Dred possesses most of the Destroyer’s Armaments. They grant him power far beyond the ken of a mortal man.” Gabriella looked directly at Clarent. “You will have similar power if you can assemble the Builder’s Armaments. Then you will win because good always beats evil.” She nodded so furiously, I almost believed her.
“It does, does it?” Gwen asked, walking over to me and taking my hand. She was shaking like a leaf.
“Yes,” Gabriella said, fire in her eyes. “You are standing in the very place that proves that to be true. Hell.”
That was an excellent point, but I still had a hard time believing it. Still, dwelling on the coming fight with Dred wouldn’t help us. It would just overwhelm us. It was time to focus, and that meant we had to figure out who was left and then find a way to stop Mammon from taking over before something else happened.
“Okay,” I said, nodding to the angel. “Let’s do as you said and figure out who is left.”
“Thank you,” Gabriella said, moving to my side. “I am glad you trust my judgment. My sisters generally do not. I will not betray that trust.”
“Then they are fools,” I said, and the archangel smiled at me in a way that made me hope I was correct.
5
“Okay, so I’ve been wondering about something,” I said, turning to Gabriella as we made our way toward the town center. Gwen had gone ahead to gather everyone, and while she’d offered to fly me through the whole town, I was getting tired of getting carried everywhere and told her I’d just meet her in the square.
“What is that?” Gabriella asked, turning to look at me. She looked tired, and with every step we’d taken, I could see the bags under her eyes darkening. She still hadn’t quite seemed to have caught her breath either. Was that from trying to draw upon her power in Hell? I wasn’t sure, but I suspected it might be likely. Well, that would be another problem to try to solve.
“You said Mammon was the Archangel of Greed, right?” I said, tapping the cover of the book she’d given me. “And this talks about the Princesses of Hell, one of whom is Mammon. So we can assume the princesses and fallen archangels are the same.”
“I suppose,” Gabriella said, confusion starting to fill her eyes as she turned to look at me. “I’m not quite following though. Are you asking my opinion?”
“No,” I said, waving off the comment. “What I’m wondering is who the other princesses are.”
“I already told you I have no idea.” Gabriella furrowed her brow. “Why would I know?”
“Well, here’s what I was thinking,” I said, pointing at the book again. “Maybe all the fallen archangels became princesses?”
“It is possible,” Gabriella said carefully. “But we have no way to be sure. Mammon would be the person to ask.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that, but in the meantime, maybe you could just tell me who the archangels are that fell?” I asked, watching her fidget uncomfortably.
“I suppose,” she said, biting her lip and looking away. “It isn’t something I like to talk about, and it happened a long time ago…”
“I’d like to hear it anyway,” I said, touching her arm. “I’m sure your memory of it is fine.”
She glanced at my hand for a second before nodding once. “Very well.” She cleared her throat. “Seven archangels fell. Lucifer and her six generals.” She held out her hands, and seven figures of golden light appeared before us. The first stepped forward, coalescing into Mammon, only she looked different.
Her skin and hair were still silver, but she looked less angry. She was clothed in a golden dress similar to the one Gabriella now wore and held what looked like a quill pen in one hand and a measuring scale in the other.
“Let’s start with Mammon. She was the Archangel of Greed, and her job was to balance the scales of fortune so that no one went without. Essentially, she was the guardian meant to keep the claws of greed from getting their hooks into the angelic host.” Gabriella gestured at the figure, and it disappeared into the ether. “The rest did similar jobs.”
“Okay,” I said, but as five of the six remaining figures stepped forward so Gabriella could explain who they were, Sam came sprinting toward us. Her face was flushed red, and her eyes were a mixture of horror and anger.
The moment she saw us, the pink-haired blacksmith pointed one trembling finger at Gabriella. “You!” she snarled, face twisted in anger.
“Samael?” Gabriella asked, one eyebrow shooting up in confusion. “Why are you here?”
“Oh, like you don’t know!” Sam snapped, moving forward until she was nearly nose to nose with the archangel. “You were there!”
“I can�
�t remember,” Gabriella said, shaking her head as color filled her cheeks. “It was long ago, and you know how I am with remembering things. Here today, gone tomorrow.” She shrugged like the fact she couldn’t remember what had happened to Sam was a moot point. “But I’m happy to see you, sister!” With that Gabriella leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Sam and pulling the blacksmith into a monstrous hug. “I’ve missed you terribly.”
“You missed me?” Sam said, shoving the archangel away, and before I’d realized what had happened, Sam had unfurled her massive black-feathered wings. I’d forgotten how impressive they were, and as I stared at the blacksmith, I remembered she was a fallen angel, and what’s more, she hadn’t wanted to talk about the details.
“I did,” Gabriella nodded fervently. “I miss all my sisters, you especially Samael.” She smiled. “When Michelle put me in the stockade because I messed up the battle plans and cost us the western flank, you were the one who brought me water.” Gabriella took a deep breath. “I will never forget it.”
“Me either,” Sam said, and her features had softened slightly as she stared at Gabriella. “But why are you here? You shouldn’t be. That was the deal.”
“I don’t know about any deal,” Gabriella said, that familiar confusion filling her features. “Michelle sent me on a very special mission.” She touched her chest. “I have been scouting the world for the Builder so I can bring him to Heaven.”
“You can’t bring him to Heaven, why would Michelle send you… oh.” As Sam said the final word, her body seemed to deflate. “They’re losing, aren’t they? Like really losing?”
“Yes,” Gabriella affirmed. “Dred has most of the Armaments, and with them, most of the power he needs to take over Heaven. The Builder is the only chance to save us.”
Sam took in the words, seeming to mull them over before looking right at me. “If what she says is true, we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Wait,” I said, watching Sam carefully. “I knew you were a fallen angel, but well, I guess I never really thought about what that meant before.” I took a deep breath, gaze flitting from Gabriella to Sam and back again. Part of me wondered what else Gabriella knew, but most of me wondered just what Sam had been hiding this whole time. “And I thought your name was Samantha.”
“Look, Arthur. I’m still the same person,” Sam said, giving me a very clear “back the heck off” look. “The same girl you’ve been sleeping with. The same girl who made your armor. This doesn’t change that.”
“Wait, you slept with him?” Gabriella asked, her eyes widening. “Why?”
“It’s fun,” she said, glancing at Gabriella and shrugging her shoulders. “You should try it sometime.”
“But doesn’t he steal all the blankets?” she asked, and the concern in her voice was a lot stronger than I’d have expected.
“Not that kind of sleeping, dummy,” Sam said before turning back to me. “But I’m still me.”
“Yeah, I get that, and I don’t care about your past one bit,” I said before Gabriella interrupted me.
“Wait, you don’t mean?” Her cheeks got flame red. “You mated with him?”
“Yes, get over it,” Sam said, fixing me with a molten glare. “Both of you.”
“Look,” I said, “I just think you telling me more about who you are might help, especially with Mammon on the loose.”
Sam’s eyes got big. Really big. “Mammon is on the loose?” She took a deep breath. “Is that why everyone vanished?” She looked up at the sky and took another breath. “How is that possible?” The way she asked it, I wasn’t sure she was actually asking for an answer.
“I found her trapped in a statue.” Gabriella turned and gestured back toward where the statue had been. “I woke her up.”
“You woke up the Archangel of Greed?” Sam asked, swinging her gaze to Gabriella before sighing loudly. “Of course you did.”
“Wait, you know about Mammon and the Princesses of Hell?” I asked, fixing Sam with a questioning look.
“Perhaps,” Sam said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t matter though. If Mammon is here, we’re screwed. She’s way too powerful for us to beat. Not as we are, anyway.”
“It doesn’t seem as though our conversation is making either of you more confident,” Gabriella said, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. “I apologize for that, but you both shouldn’t worry. Michelle would not have sent me to find you if you could not win.” Gabriella smiled brightly.
“Yeah, sure,” Sam said, giving me a “we will talk later” look. I nodded back, glad I was finally starting to understand the whole “unspoken conversation” thing the girls did from time to time.
“You’re right,” I said, looking at Gabriella and nodding even though I wasn’t so sure. Gabriella was powerful, but every time she spoke, I got the impression the others didn’t have a high regard for her. Worse, Mammon had called her the dumb one. While part of that might have been unrelated to Gabriella, I had a hard time believing it. Still, no good would come from telling Gabriella any of those things. No, it’d be better to just take her at face value until I couldn’t any longer.
“I’m glad to be of assistance!” Gabriella said, right before she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a crushing hug that smashed me against her breasts. “I’ve never been right so much in such a short time. It’s quite refreshing. Usually, I just get told how wrong I am.” She released me and pouted slightly. “But that doesn’t matter now. I’m on a roll!”
I rubbed my face while the angel practically bounced with excitement. Part of me felt like I should reply, but I just didn’t know what to say. Instead, I just nodded and moved toward the town’s square while Sam sidled next to me.
Already I could see Gwen standing there looking pissed. Only I was sure it had nothing to do with Gabriella or me and a lot more to do with the fact we had almost no one left. At the same time, the sight of the assembled group made me smile. The core group was still together.
“Hey guys,” I called, waving at them as I approached. “How’s it going?”
“Not well,” Crystal, the resident jack of all trades, replied. She smacked her palms on her pants for emphasis. “My lumberjack apprentices just vanished.” Her face was covered in sap, and her hair was tied into a severe bun that let me know she’d been working in the mill. Otherwise, her hair would have been in a ponytail.
“My apprentices are gone too,” Sally, the alchemist said, and the carpenter Maribelle gave a thumbs up.
Annabeth, our sculptor, didn’t say anything, but then again, she’d had no apprentices.
“My sister is gone,” Buffy said, crossing her arms over her chest and stamping one foot in a way that made her look like a petulant child. “Not that I mind her being gone, but the way she left… without so much as a goodbye? It’s just rude.”
“She is?” I asked, somewhat surprised the goblin’s sister had vanished. She’d been a staple for so long, and between her and Buffy, they handled the entirety of the town’s fledging trade. That was going to be a serious blow to the town’s economy since between the two of them they’d struggled to keep up with everything.
“Yes,” Buffy said, uncrossing her arms, fidgeting, and recrossing them. “Just vanished in a flash of silver light.”
“All the other guards are gone too,” Sheila, our guard captain, said as she stood next to Crystal. “How are we going to defend a town with just me? It isn’t like the Darkness has stopped attacking us, and now we don’t have anyone to shoot the beholders with the bows.”
“Well, on the plus side, we’ll have enough food,” I said, trying to put a positive spin on it even though Sheila’s words were cause for concern. The way we fought beholders was by hitting them with explosive arrows. If we didn’t have people to do that, we’d be in trouble.
“We have enough food, but no one to cook it because the chef is gone. So, unless you plan on eating Annabeth’s grass porridge, we’re probably in trouble in that regard t
oo,” Gwen said, taking a deep breath. “But we’ve worked with less. We can just rehire people.”
Everyone started grumbling, and while I was trying to be positive, I knew we were in trouble. Starting over was no fun, but by the same token, we hadn’t lost Sam, Maribelle or Sally. They were our main crafters, and the backbone of our economy. Sure, we’d hurt for a while, but at the same time, we could come through this stronger than before.
I was about to say something to that effect when a trumpet blast echoed across the horizon. I turned toward the sound as the back gate opened with a flourish to reveal a woman dressed from head to toe in purple and gold. She had hair like spun ruby and flawless milk-white skin. Her gold-flecked purple eyes flitted over us before settling on me.
“Arthur Curie,” she said in a voice that reminded me of the girl at HR when she told you taking a vacation day was absolutely out of the question. “You have been summoned before the Council of Guild Leaders. You are required to travel to the Royal Centre at once to hear the charges leveled against you. Failure to show up will result in the confiscation of your lands.”
6
As we followed the guild herald, Tamia, through Royal Centre toward the guild offices, I couldn’t help but grind my teeth. I’d just saved the entire Graveyard of Statues from the Darkness, and as thanks, these asshats were summoning me to talk to them? Sure, it could be good, but I was willing to bet it wasn’t, not when they’d threatened me if I didn’t show up.
The Builder's Greed (The Legendary Builder Book 2) Page 4
