The Complete Archangel Wars Series: A Shared Universe Series (The Archangel Wars)

by Jonathan Yanez

  Dominic could feel the heat in his face subside for the briefest moment. “Wait, what did you just say?”

  “I said he burned it before he died—Hey, what happened to your glasses? You have a huge crack in—”

  “Never mind my glasses, do you still remember what was in the book?”

  Kyle nodded. “Yeah, sure. It was weird stuff. What required metals to make weapons, the precise temperature for the furnace, details on how to correctly temper the steel. It really didn’t mean anything, unless you were going to wage some kind of medieval war, I guess.”

  Dominic let out a long breath. He’d be spared from Ardat’s wrath. If the boy was telling the truth and he had memorized the Chronicle’s information, Kyle would be just as good as the Chronicle itself.

  Dominic tensed. He could hear the Nephilim coming before he saw them. At all costs, the boy had to side with him. “Kyle, our time is short. People are coming now who want to take you. We have only moments. Listen closely.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Running with Angelica was the most fun Alan had experienced in quite a while. Never before had someone been able to keep up with him. What had been a strictly solo form of transportation, was now a race between friends. Had the reason they were speeding toward the city college been any less tense, Alan would have almost laughed. No time for joy now, though. Angelica’s grim expression more than showed the peril they now found themselves in.

  As blurring city images passed, Alan followed Angelica at a dead sprint. Only when they were at the center of the college campus did Angelica call a halt. She chose a large grouping of trees and bushes yards away from any student to finally stop and talk into her earpiece. “Valkyrie, we’re here. Do you have an exact location on Kyle Brown?”

  “Hacking into government satellite feeds isn’t as easy as it sounds … That—that didn’t make sense. Hacking into government satellites doesn’t even sound easy at all. Hold on, and, uh-oh.”

  “What? What is ‘uh-oh’?” Alan asked. “‘Uh-oh,’ like we have the wrong campus, or ‘uh-oh,’ like we’re all going to die?”

  “‘Uh-oh,’ like Dominic Drencher is already walking Kyle away from the campus.”

  “Which way?” Angelica asked.

  “Go straight, then make a right at the last building. You’ll see a large parking lot. That’s where they’re headed. Be careful, guys.”

  Angelica nodded toward Alan, and the two took off again. Fear, more than anything else, pushed its way through Alan’s mess of emotions. Dominic was there. The same man who’d beaten him in his own home. Angelica was with him now, but he was still learning. He wasn’t ready for a fight with a demonic Nephilim. Not yet.

  Memories of being beaten up and bullied wouldn’t go away, and Alan hated himself for being afraid. He hated the past that he couldn’t forget; he hated feeling weak, but there was nothing he could do about the past now. He would always be haunted by those memories, no matter what he did. Before he could try anything to remedy these thoughts, though, Angelica stopped.

  Alan almost knocked into her. They were facing a smiling Dominic Drencher who stood only yards away. Beside him was another man who had to be Kyle Brown. The young man hugged his backpack, frantically glancing between Dominic, and Angelica and Alan.

  “Not here, Dominic,” Angelica said in a clear voice. “You know the rules. There are too many witnesses.”

  Alan looked around. Although the parking lot was nearly empty, plenty of college students still walked within view and hearing distance. A few even paused, sensing the tension of the moment.

  “Great.” Dominic smiled. “Then go about your way. Is that Alan Price? Why, Alan, you healed rather nicely, didn’t you? I’ll have to be more thorough next time.”

  Alan set his jaw as he did his best to combat the fear still lingering in his chest.

  “Well,” Dominic continued, “Kyle has made his decision, and he’s coming with me. So there’s nothing more to discuss, unless you choose to provoke this already stressed situation.”

  Angelica shifted her eyes from her enemy and motioned to Kyle. “I don’t know what lies he’s told you, but he wants to use you and your knowledge—”

  “Kyle Brown already knows,” Dominic interrupted. “We have an understanding. His knowledge, for everything he’s ever wanted. What would you offer him? A life of service, void of any vengeance and retribution he deserves to cast upon those who’ve oppressed him?”

  “No, I’d offer him a life he can be proud of; a future in the light, instead of the darkness you and your kind offer. Kyle,” Angelica said, “don’t go with him.”

  Kyle seemed confused as he made to speak, yet no words came out. Alan almost felt bad for Kyle as he stood with a bewildered expression, his head turning from side to side as he looked back and forth between the two parties vying for his allegiance.

  “Who came to you first, Kyle?” Dominic asked. “Who made the first move to save you from a life of being a nobody? I’m offering you power and a chance to pay back those who’ve stepped on you and belittled you your entire life.”

  Alan empathized with Kyle more than he thought he should; he knew what was going through the young man’s mind. Kyle’s life didn’t sound so different from his own. With a few things changed in history, Alan could have very likely been in Kyle’s position. Just as Alan opened his mouth to try to convince Kyle, Kyle spoke to Angelica and Alan.

  “Would you give me that? I mean, if this is all true and I can have power, can you give that to me? Would you?”

  Alan already knew they were defeated. Angelica’s response sounded like defeat. “No, we cannot. On our side, only a select few are chosen. Kyle, trust me, ours is not a life you’d choose if you knew the sacrifice involved. I cannot give you vengeance, but I can offer you peace.”

  Kyle took a step closer to a smiling Dominic. “I don’t want peace. I don’t want to be weak or lonely anymore. I want to be able to stand up for myself.”

  “Well, there you have it,” Dominic said. “He’s coming with me by choice. The only way you can stop us now is through force.” Dominic paused as he looked around the school parking lot. “And we both know if you did that, dozens of lives would be lost, even if you could stop me. By the way, I’m being very generous when I say that. We both know even the two of you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  Dominic turned to Kyle. “Well then, it’s time for us to go.” He began to walk away with Kyle following close behind. “Toodle-loo, you two. I’m sure I’ll be killing you very soon.”

  Alan felt sick as he witnessed the two men leave; a bitter taste entered his throat, and no matter how many times he swallowed, it wouldn’t go away. Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you say anything? he asked himself. “We can’t just let them go. We have to do something,” he finally said.

  Angelica shook her head. “No, Kyle made his decision out of his own free will. There are too many people here who’d be injured or killed if we tried to stop him by force.”

  Alan stood with a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach as Dominic and Kyle vanished from sight. “So, what now?” he asked.

  “Now, we pray,” Angelica said.

  Chapter Forty

  Jacob paced the conference room floor. Alan could feel how tense everyone was as they awaited Michael’s arrival. For the second time that day, Angelica tried to apologize for letting Kyle leave with Dominic. “Jacob, I feel respons—”

  “No,” Jacob said. “It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We did exactly what we should have. They were just one step ahead, that’s all.”

  The room was silent again. Arther sat quietly between Danielle and Angelica, a frown and pursed lips distorting his normally cheerful demeanor.

  Just when Alan couldn’t take the silence anymore, the sound of the warehouse doors sliding open met their ears. Within moments, Michael walked through the conference room door, and immediately, the tension in the room eased. Michael’s green eyes were t
winkling, and a smile came to his lips when he saw the waiting group. “Wow, let’s take it easy in here, people. Nobody died. We’re going to be okay.”

  Alan felt the tension in his shoulders lessen. He didn’t know what to expect, but Michael’s calm attitude reassured him things would somehow be all right.

  Michael moved to take a seat at the end of the large conference room table. “Jacob told me what happened. None of you is to blame. You had no idea that the Chronicle was real, let alone could be found by the Fallen.”

  Danielle raised her hand at the opposite side of the table.

  “You aren’t in high school anymore, Danielle. You can speak freely.”

  “Oh, sorry. So I get that there was a book with instructions to make these weapons, but why wasn’t it destroyed when the weapons themselves were, and why give it to humans to protect?”

  All eyes shifted to Michael. Alan’s admiration for Danielle grew as he witnessed her usually mousy demeanor wither. She’d asked the question they were all wondering.

  Michael nodded and pursed his lips. “It does seem rather strange, doesn’t it? The book was kept from being destroyed, as a historical record rather than an instruction manual. It is a history on the art of celestial weaponry; we never thought that it would be used to make the weapons themselves. It was given to a trustworthy human family for safekeeping when the war in Heaven ended. We didn’t know they’d be found, and we never thought they’d side with the enemy. I guess after a matter of time, it was bound to catch up with us.”

  “But why humans?” Alan asked. The word “human” fell from his mouth as though it were an alien word and not one he’d identified with only days before.

  “They were the neutral species. We had no idea if or when another insurrection would occur, so in order to save our heritage and our traditions, our art, we’d entrusted it to a loyal human family.”

  Alan found himself agreeing with what had been done thousands of years before, despite their current situation. He couldn’t blame any race or species for wanting to preserve their way of life.

  “So where does that leave us now?” Jacob asked, still pacing.

  Michael turned around in his seat to make eye contact with the Nephilim leader. “Jacob, please sit down. You’re making me nervous.”

  Without hesitation, Jacob took a seat beside Alan.

  “Now, I go to meet with my brothers and sisters, and we decide whether we confront the Fallen.”

  “You decide? What is there to decide?” Alan asked.

  Michael frowned. “I know. If it were up to me, we would have already stepped in. You have to understand that, technically, the Fallen have not broken our agreement. They have not directly touched humans, angels, or Nephilim. If we’re going to break the rule that has kept our sides from open war for all these centuries, we have to do so wisely and with a unified front.”

  Jacob stood from the table, a wild look in his eye. “While you go and discuss the next step, the Fallen will be moving ahead with their plans. Let us buy you some time. We can stop them, or at least impede their progress.”

  Michael smiled again. “Yes, Jacob, you certainly can. Until now, they’ve been a move ahead of us. But no longer. They have the information to make the weapons, but they don’t have the materials needed. You can stop them before they get to it.”

  Arther spoke for the first time. “What material, Michael? Where was the metal melted from all those weapons placed? Deep within the Earth?”

  “No, it was fashioned into a large statue of an angel to memorialize all of those who’d perished during the war in Heaven.”

  Alan tried to think back to his high school history class for any mention of a large statue of an angel appearing anywhere in history, but he came up blank.

  Without being asked, Michael answered the question they were all thinking. “There’s a list once compiled during the infancy of the world; a list whose sole purpose was to document man’s most marvelous achievements. We call this list, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. However, they’re not what history would have you think. The Great Pyramids of Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus each hold a secret to our past. When it comes to the Colossus of Rhodes, the history books are close, but they were manipulated to hide the truth. After all, the best lies are those founded on truth.”

  Alan leaned back in his chair, looking from left to right to see if anyone else found it ironic that an angel was talking about lies. No one did; they were too involved in Michael’s story to care.

  “The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of an angel, not the Greek sun god, Helios, like history would have you believe. All accounts say the Colossus was lost to us in a great earthquake in 226 BC, but they’re wrong. Years ago, the Fallen destroyed the monument to our dead and cast it into the ocean in an attempt to bait us into another conflict. The event had been difficult for us to endure, but we’d managed to check our tempers.”

  Alan pressed farther back in his chair and let a long breath escape his lungs. From the very little he knew about the Colossus of Rhodes, it’d been lost and never discovered. Now, only hand-drawn depictions remained. If he chose to believe Michael’s interpretation of the story, there was no evidence to argue otherwise.

  “So, we go to where the Colossus once stood. To wherever the Fallen had hidden it,” Danielle said.

  “If they aren’t already there, they’ll be there soon. They’ll need the metal to form their weapons,” Jacob agreed.

  “Before I go, I’ll provide you with the coordinates to where the Colossus rests,” Michael said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. There are those of my kind who want to avoid open war at any cost. Yet even they will think twice when I tell them that the Chronicle is now in the hands of our enemy.”

  Jacob motioned everyone to follow him as he headed for the door. “Right, there’s no time to lose.”

  Alan stood to find Michael staring at him. “A moment, Alan?”

  Alan looked at the others, who shrugged. Danielle spread her lips wide, showing her teeth in the universal sign of: “Whoops, looks like you’re in trouble.”

  Alan sat as the others left the conference room and shut the door behind them.

  Although the room was spacious and brightly lit by overhead bulbs, Alan couldn’t help feeling as if the room shrank in Michael’s presence. Light seemed to radiate off him like the sun shimmering on water.

  “Alan, how have you been adjusting?”

  Alan wanted to seem optimistic, but at the same time he didn’t want to lie. “I’m glad I’m here, although it’s been a rough transition. I just wish I’d had more time to prepare before all of this happened. Everything’s moving so fast, and I … I …” Alan couldn’t bring himself to share with Michael that he still felt depressed. The feelings of fear and anger he’d dealt with his whole life hadn’t just stopped with the revelation of his powers.

  Michael spoke the words into existence, so Alan wouldn’t have to. “Alan, it’ll take time. Who knows? The harsh yet true reality is, these feelings may be something you’ll always battle with.”

  Alan looked up into Michael’s green eyes, surprised by the lack of comforting words. “I just want to be honest with you. You may struggle with these problems for years to come. But know you’re only given what you can bear. You’re strong, Alan Price; that’s why I chose you. You have yet to discover your full potential.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  “And why don’t we just send Alan and Angelica ahead of us, like before?” Danielle asked.

  “Well, they’re fast, but still not fast enough to walk over water,” Jacob said. “I only know of one person who was capable of doing that.”

  From his seat, Alan looked up with surprise. In a very unlike Jacob way, the leader of the Nephilim had made a joke.

  Jacob winked at Alan, then turned his attention back to Danielle. “Plus, even if th
ey could get there before the rest of us, I don’t know how much good it would do. Ardat is sure to have more than just Dominic raising the statue from the ocean. She knows we’ll be there. She’s smart. She’ll send only the most powerful dark Nephilim she has at her disposal.”

  Alan readjusted the seat belt across his lap and chest. He’d never flown before. Every time the plane shuddered, Alan was sure the next second would bring flashing warning lights and oxygen masks tumbling from their overhead containers.

  Danielle and Jacob sat across from him, talking. Arther and Angelica were piloting their plane as they headed for the Colossus of Rhodes’ final resting place. According to Michael, the statue was deep in the bosom of the ocean, just off the Greek island of Rhodes where the Aegean and Mediterranean seas met.

  Alan knew he had to do something to take his mind off the constant jarring and swaying of the plane, or he was going to drive himself mad. “Who is Ardat?”

  Jacob looked up with a grim smile as he unbuckled his harness and stretched. “Ardat is one of the strongest Fallen. So far, she’s remained low-key during her sentence here on Earth. I guess now we know what she’s been up to.”

  “She was also Michael’s girlfriend,” Danielle said, adjusting her glasses. “I mean, whatever the equivalent is for two angels in love. I think the term ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ still works.”

  Jacob nodded. “Ardat sided with the Usurper when the war in Heaven started. She was his right-hand strategist, ruthless on the battlefield. I don’t know if the Fallen are yet ready to break the rules and openly combat us, but we have to be prepared for anything.” Jacob motioned Alan to unbuckle his harness and stand.