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

by Jonathan Yanez

Alan regained his feet and took another look outside. More of the statue was visible; what looked like a rusted, lichen-covered wing was taking form. At this pace, Ardat would be able to raise the entire colossal figure in minutes.

  “I’m sorry, Kyle,” Alan said, truly meaning his words, ”I have to stop her.”

  Alan bolted, taking a path that would lead him around Kyle and to what he hoped would be a vulnerable Ardat. As Alan reached out to grab her by the shoulder and swing her around to face him, Kyle caught his wrist.

  Alan urged his hand to move forward, but Kyle was just as strong as he was. “That’s the gift she gave me,” Kyle explained. “I can absorb any surrounding Nephilim’s powers. Yours included.”

  Again, Alan willed his hand to travel farther, but Kyle was too strong. The two men stared at one another for a moment before Kyle released his grip and pushed Alan backwards.

  Up to this point, Alan’s earpiece had been silent. Now, it squawked with Jacob’s familiar voice. “Dominic is down. I need a report. Has anyone been able to locate the Nephilim raising the statue?”

  “I know who’s raising the statue. I’m in—”

  Kyle ran at Alan with a wild punch. Alan easily ducked under the strike and sent an uppercut of his own toward Kyle’s jaw. Kyle saw the punch coming and turned his head to the side, just out of harm’s way.

  Grabbing Alan around the torso, Kyle grunted with exertion and lifted him over his head. One second, Alan was being lifted into the air; and the next, he was flying through shattered glass to the ship’s unwelcoming steel surface below.

  Somewhere deep down, Alan knew he was going to be all right. Not only was he incredibly strong now, but he was also physically immune to harm. At least, that’s what he wanted to believe. Alan said a silent prayer, hoping his body would hold up as well as his fist had striking Jacob’s stone form.

  Alan wouldn’t have to find out. With a jerking motion, his forward momentum stopped, and he was lowered gently to the ship’s deck. Bewildered, he looked around for an explanation. Arther smiled and gave him a wink as he released his telekinetic hold.

  Before a smile could touch his lips, Alan shouted a warning to the man who’d caught him in midair.

  Arther turned in the blink of an eye—still, it was too late. Kyle collided with Arther at a speed that sent them both flying into the airship still docked on the boat’s deck. The collision was so intense, the plane groaned and quivered under its force. Alan rushed over to help his friend, fearful of what he might find.

  The metal where the two Nephilim had stricken the plane was dented. Kyle was regaining his feet, looking down over a bloody, damaged Arther. Alan’s heart caught in his throat.

  “Kyle, what have you done?”

  Kyle stared at Arther’s broken, limp body and said with a shudder, “I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how strong and fast you were. I … I only meant to stop him.”

  Alan rushed past Kyle and knelt by Arther, but even before Alan checked for a pulse, he knew he wouldn’t find one. Arther’s body wasn’t as resilient as his or Jacob’s. Alan’s hand quivered as he checked for a pulse anyway. Nothing. Alan’s stomach turned as he witnessed death for the first time.

  Kyle fell to his knees. “Is—oh God, is he dead?” Anger should have been Alan’s first response. Instead, he only felt sadness for the man he’d already called a friend. “He’s dead, Kyle. You killed him. What did he ever do to you?”

  Kyle was ghostly white as he fumbled for words.

  “All available team members,” Jacob’s voice screamed into his earpiece. “Ardat is on the ship in the control room. I’m going to need all of you if we are going to stop her.”

  Alan took a moment to find his voice. There was no more he could do for his fallen friend. Danielle could only heal wounds, not raise the dead. Arther was gone. “Guardian, Arch is down. Angel is still with Valkyrie. There’s only me.”

  Jacob’s voice came back stronger than ever. Like a true leader, he took the news in stride. “You’re more than enough. Meet me at the end of the cargo ship. She’s in the two-story control building raising the statue.”

  Alan figured it was pointless to tell Jacob he already knew it was Ardat bringing up the statue from the ocean floor. Even more so, it was useless to tell him he knew where she was.

  With one last look at Arther’s still form, Alan rose to his feet. He didn’t say another word to Kyle as the young man kneeled, motionless. Since realizing what he’d done, Kyle hadn’t moved. One look into his eyes, and Alan knew Kyle wasn’t completely lost. He’d have to pay for his actions, yet Kyle wasn’t evil at heart. Mislead maybe, but not inherently prone toward the life Ardat was leading him.

  With Arther’s death still weighing heavily on his heart, Alan moved across the ship to meet Jacob. In the few moments it took Alan to return to the ship's control room, Ardat had been hard at work. She’d doubled the rate she used to lift the statue; now more than half of the angelic Colossus was visible over the swirling water.

  The statue was indeed an angel. Head bowed and covered in a cowl, the angel held a sword hilt in both hands, the tip pointed downward parallel to its body. One large wing extended out to the right, while the other must have broken off centuries before during its descent. There was no denying the statue was in dire repair. Reddish-brown rust covered nearly every square inch of the form, and mollusks and sea moss in every shade of green had painted the statue from cowled head to sandaled feet.

  Danielle’s voice brought Alan back to reality as he skidded to a stop near Jacob’s stone form. “Angel will be okay. She’s out for now. She needs rest, but she’ll make it.”

  Alan’s mouth was dry, and he was unsure whether or not this was the time to tell them about Arther. He decided to err on the side of full disclosure, though, rather than rely on their assumption. “Arch is—Arch didn’t make it.”

  Danielle was silent. Jacob looked first to Alan, and then over his shoulder, squinting to see the airship they used for transport still docked on the opposite side of the cargo boat.

  “I’m sorry,” Alan said, not knowing if it was up to him to fill the silence. He could only imagine how they felt, having known the man for years on end. Alan had only met the smiling, telekinetic Nephilim days before. Even with their limited interaction, Alan knew he’d still need a time of mourning.

  “If we do not stop her,” Jacob said, “this will all be for nothing.”

  It was clear Danielle was crying; however, she fought through the tears to shout a warning to her surviving friends. “Whatever happens, you have to do it soon. I’ve been monitoring the Greek airwaves. They’ve spotted the statue rising, and their military is inbound. A first-response team will be here in minutes.”

  “Great. Secure Arch and Angel in the plane and prepare for flight. We’ll handle Ardat.” Jacob turned to Alan with a wild look in his stone eyes. “Ardat’s power is the control of gravity. That’s how she’s raising the Colossus. She’ll use the same power on us when we try to stop her. I’ll distract her while you bring her down. Be fast.”

  “He won’t have to be fast, Guardian,” Ardat said as she hovered in the air, emerging from the broken window. “I’ll come to you.”

  Her black hair and cape flapped in the breeze as she continued to lift the statue from the depths of the sea. Her right hand was outstretched, fingers curled as though she physically held a weight in her hand.

  Other than the constant gurgling of water, the scene had been silent. Now, a new noise met the combatants’ ears: the sound of choppers over the sea—steel blades slicing the ocean air, and with every passing second, the noise grew.

  Alan turned to see two large military choppers approaching from the Greek coast.

  “It’s over, Ardat,” Jacob shouted. “If the military doesn’t stop you, we will.”

  Ardat had lifted the entire statue from the water. She grunted as she hefted the fallen structure even higher and moved to place it on the ship. “Nothing is over. This is only the
beginning. Although we have never engaged in conflict, Guardian, believe I am more powerful than any Nephilim, angel, or member of the Fallen you have ever encountered. Now, with the celestial weapons behind me and mine, you stand no chance. Behold, the power that will claim your Heaven and Earth.”

  Through clenched teeth, Ardat lifted the entire statue high into the air. The figure was enormous, even bigger than Alan had first thought. From the statue’s feet to the crown of its head, it had to be equivalent to a high-rise building, weighing hundreds of tons.

  “Valkyrie,” Jacob shouted, “lift off—now! Get Angel and Arch out of here.”

  “Roger. But I’m not leaving without you two. I’ll circle around.”

  Jacob didn’t say a word. Instead, Alan saw him hunch low to the ground in a squatting position.

  Ardat ignored Jacob and Alan for the time being and decided to make her move. With a swing of her arms, she used the raised statue like a baseball bat and, swinging wide, the newly resurrected sculpture arched along the clear sky and crashed into the two approaching helicopters. Danielle turned her plane to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike from Ardat. The two, less fortunate military helicopters took the blow, head-on. Metal screeched and parts flew in every direction. There were no explosions like in the Hollywood movies, but the helicopters spiraled out of control and hit the open waters with a heavy crash.

  At the same time Ardat struck at the helicopters, Jacob launched himself into the air. His Nephilim strength took him straight up as though he’d been shot from the very floor of the ship itself. Outstretched arms sought to collide with Ardat. Nearly within his grasp, Ardat brought her attention back to Jacob and Alan and, without any sign of physical motion, she forced the full power of her ability down onto her two enemies.

  Alan saw Jacob halt in the air for a brief moment, before rocketing back down to the cargo ship’s steel deck. But before he could move to help, an unbearable weight collided with Alan’s shoulders, forcing him to his hands and knees in a breathtaking pressure. Alan knew no visible or tangible weight was forcing him down; it was Ardat manipulating the gravity around him at a skull-crushing degree.

  Alan groaned. It felt like his spine was going to snap at any moment. Looking up, he could see Jacob in a similar situation. The Nephilim was on his back, staring up at Ardat with a look of raw determination. “You cannot win,” Jacob shouted. “The angels will rally against you, now that you’ve broken the treaty. By striking those helicopters down, and now us, you will pay for your sins.”

  Ardat laughed aloud. “Oh … oh … I’m sorry, you’re being serious. Peace? A treaty? Really? Living side by side with humanity was never an option. I was only biding my time until an opportunity presented itself. Now, since you spoke first, stone man, you can die first.”

  Alan’s stomach churned as he witnessed Jacob’s still form being moved to the center of the ship by invisible hands.

  Alan shook as he struggled to rise from his kneeling position and onto his feet. The weight was like nothing he’d ever felt; the boat’s steel deck dented and dimpled under his hands and feet, and Alan felt helpless as Jacob was moved to a position under the still levitated statue.

  For the briefest of moments, Alan met Jacob’s eyes. Instead of fear, they were full of peace, and acceptance for what was coming next showed across his face. “Be the man we already know you are, Alan. You still haven’t discovered all of your gifts. You have the ability to be so much more, if you only believe in yourself.”

  Alan fought to breathe, much less respond, as Jacob was dragged to the center of the ship. With a satisfied chuckle, Ardat let the statue fall.

  In that moment, time stopped for Alan: Ardat hovering above him, Jacob under the falling statue. His chest began to heat; his whole body felt like a furnace turned on high. From somewhere behind him, a crackling sound filled his ears. A blue glow of energy surrounded him as alien appendages began to form at his back.

  Alan wasn’t sure what to think. Michael told him no Nephilim had been able to fly; however, there was no denying what he now felt and saw. Blue strands of pure energy formed from his back into wings and spread out to either side. But even with the new revelation of his manifested powers, he was powerless to do anything to save Jacob.

  The statue, a monolithic object weighing somewhere in the hundreds of tons, fell on top of the Nephilim known as Guardian. The ship buckled, steel screaming underneath the pressure. Had it not been for Ardat forcing Alan to the ship's deck, he’d have been tossed off board and into the thrashing sea below.

  Blue wings beat all on their own, and once again, Alan found himself in shock. Not about the continuing evolution of his powers, but about the second friend he’d lost that day. As the ship continued to groan and creak under the statue’s pressure, Alan could hear Ardat tsk. “My, my, a Nephilim with wings. How strange. Too bad you will not live to use them.”

  Ardat motioned with one hand and brought Alan up off the ground at a level with her own hovering stance. “Interesting, indeed.”

  “Ardat, we … we should be going.”

  Alan couldn’t move his head, but his eyes shifted down to see Kyle dragging a limp Dominic Drencher behind him.

  “I agree,” she said.

  “What about Infinity?”

  “What about him?”

  “Well, the Telekinetic threw all of his copies off the boat.”

  Ardat shrugged. “Oh, well. I had thought about using the ship to make our escape, but now that the local authorities are involved, that’s no longer an option. I’ll lift us from this place.” Ardat’s dark eyes turned back to Alan. “First, though, I’ll need to take care of this one.”

  Alan struggled against his oppressor’s invisible hold. It was useless; the demonic woman holding him at arm's length was too powerful. Alan watched helplessly as she brought up her left hand, palm open, raising Kyle, Dominic, and the statue. With her right hand clenched into a fist, she slammed Alan back down into the deck of the cargo boat.

  All Alan remembered was metal floor after metal floor slamming against his body as Ardat drove it through the ship’s steel floors and into the cold sea waiting below. Alan’s last thought wasn’t about dying or how he planned to survive, it was on retribution for his friends who lay dead and beaten. One more chance. I just need one more chance. I can be the person I’m meant to be. I know that now. I just need one more chance.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Alan blinked in a struggle to open his eyes. He was lying on his back, staring into the ceiling of his own bedroom, in the warehouse. His first thought was of astonishment at the lack of pain after experiencing the harsh treatment from Ardat. The second thing he remembered was the loss of Jacob and Arther, as well as Angelica’s perilous state.

  Alan sat up, bracing himself for the inevitable pain from the battle to wash over him. But nothing happened. He reached a hand over his shoulder to touch his back where the wings had sprouted … nothing. Did you imagine it? Did you really have wings?

  Alan didn’t have time to think further on the matter, he had to find out whether Danielle and Angelica were all right.

  Standing, he added a dark green shirt with his jeans and walked to the door barefoot. He paused as his hand touched the cold metal of his room’s doorknob. Voices could be heard on the opposite side of the steel door. Alan paused for the briefest moment, trying to discern who the voices belonged to and what they were saying. With no answers forthcoming, Alan gripped the knob and turned it.

  There were many more than two voices. An army of men and women met his eyes as he stood gawking in his doorway. People he didn’t know walked up and down the warehouse halls, talking excitedly as they entered and exited the kitchen, ran toward the training room, or carried equipment in from the front entrance.

  Alan walked down the hall in a daze, while people rushed around him, all eager to be at a certain location at a certain time. Some made eye contact, a few even nodded in his di
rection; still, no one stopped to offer an explanation.

  Alan searched the multitude of faces for someone familiar, yet there was no sign of Danielle, Angelica, or Michael. Just when Alan was planning to stop the next stranger to ask them what was going on, he heard a familiar voice. It was coming from the open training room door, and it was Michael.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  “No, it’s too dangerous,” Michael said, shaking his head. “I can’t spare anyone else, not now. Nephilim and angels from across the globe are scouring the world for Ardat and the location she’s forging her weapons. Everyone who’s not involved in that search is meeting here. We need a plan, and we need to prepare.”

  “I totally agree, sir,” a strong male voice said from the front of the assembled group, “but when we do find them, we will be at a great disadvantage. Not only will their Nephilim outnumber us nearly two to one, but the weapons they’ll possess will also be something not even angels can survive when wounded.”

  Michael rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand as more voices added to the first. He knew they were right, but what bothered him the most was knowing these men and women would follow him into battle, regardless of the odds. They were only sharing their opinion now. No matter what, they’d follow him. The burden of the lives of so many weighed heavy on his shoulders. The reminder of the lives he’d already lost felt heavier. “The knowledge of celestial weaponry is lost to us. Those who do guard the remaining weapons will not waver in their allegiance. Even if we tried to take them by force, the ancient ones would destroy us. They serve only the Creator now, and have for centuries since the war. Besides, who would go? You?” Michael pointed to one of the speakers. “You?” He pointed to another.

  The room quieted. Despite the subject being discussed, Michael’s mind turned to those he’d lost: Jacob and Arther. Good men, great Nephilim, he’d known for years. Then, as if witnessing someone else’s thoughts, without any control over his own ideas, Michael pictured Ardat, the angel he once loved, the woman who’d been corrupted by the Usurper himself. Now, she’d done this twice—first siding with the rebellion in Heaven, and now mounting a plan that could possibly mean the end of the world as they knew it. She was so far from the woman he once knew and loved. The thought of someone changing so drastically sent a shiver down his spine.