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“Really? And you’re here to let me go, just like that?” Ardat stood in shock at a smiling Gideon and a less-than-friendly Esther.
“Yep,” Gideon said as he rattled the keys to her cell with a nervous twitch.
“And the catch would be?”
“The catch is that if we let you go, you swear to protect Alan Price at all costs,” Gideon said.
Ardat’s surprise showed on her face. Before she could ask another question, Esther filled in the blanks. “The one thousand year cycle is upon us. With Gabriel back, we need all the help we can get.”
Ardat of course remembered the Nephilim, Alan Price. Her brief interaction with him had been nothing to forget. Things began to fall into place. His blue wings added credit to Gideon and Esther’s case.
“Let me understand this,” Ardat said, pacing in her cell. “You’re going to free me, the woman you are debating whether or not to kill. Then you’re going to make me promise you that I’ll protect someone who’s in Gabriel’s sights. The Gabriel—arguably the most powerful being outside of the Creator and the Usurper.”
Ardat noticed Gideon tap the air in front of him with an outstretched index finger as he repeated her points quietly in his head. “Yes,” he said after a moment, “that all sounds correct.”
She looked to Esther for help. The angel shrugged. “I think it’s as preposterous as you do. However, if Artemis told Gideon to do it … She’s never led us astray.”
Ardat couldn’t believe her luck. With one promise, these idiots were going to let her go. With a serious tone in her voice and a reverent stare, she looked each of them in the eyes and said, “I swear. I promise to protect Alan Price at all costs.”
Esther sensed her lack of sincerity, which was lost on Gideon as he moved to open the cell door with a huge smile plastered on his face. “Oh, this is going just like she said it would. Everything is going to work out just fine.”
Ardat gave a mental shrug. On the outside, she was solemn eyes and serious demeanor.
In the midst of his smiles, Gideon found the correct key, and Ardat’s eyes widened as he placed it into the lock. Just before he gave the latch a final twist, he paused. His gaze found Ardat’s with a foreboding expression she’d never seen from him before.
“You should know that Gabriel is with Alan now. His life is in danger.”
Ardat forced herself to smile and play along. “Of course. Tell me where they are, and I’ll set off right away.”
Gideon turned his hand and the lock opened. Ardat’s time in prison was at an end. “If you had any pause about keeping to our agreement,” Gideon said as he swung the bars, preventing Ardat from stepping out, “you should know that Michael is racing to rescue Alan. If you decide to do nothing, they’ll both die.”
Chapter Eighty-One
“This is a waste of time,” Alan said as he shadowed Gabriel. He’d followed the Archangel as promised to an area only a few minutes from the Temple. Although the time it’d taken to get to the place had been short, they’d traveled a far distance thanks to the use of their wings. Stripped of their wings, the two men and two women who accompanied Gabriel to the Temple were forced to use an alternate means of transportation.
Gabriel ignored Alan’s words. He stood quietly, examining their surroundings. Satisfied with the place he’d chosen, he stared off into the distance, seeming to have a conversation with someone.
“They’ll be here soon,” Gabriel said, snapping out of the trance he was in. “I wouldn’t want to start without them.”
Alan was tired with all the tricks and shadow-veiled words. “Who? Who will be here soon?”
Gabriel smiled as he motioned with his hand to a flat area only a few feet to their right. “Even though they can’t fly anymore, their gifts as members of the supernatural realm still come in handy.”
Before Alan could reply, there was a loud crack that sounded like a giant snapping his fingers. Alan took a step back as a hole formed in midair: a doorway opening. The four members of Gabriel’s clique stepped out, and as soon as they all stepped back through, the portal behind them closed with the same loud snap.
Although Alan was surprised, his mind quickly made sense of what he was seeing. Every supernatural being was given a gift. These gifts ranged from Danielle’s ability to heal others, to Angelica’s power over speed and water.
It was clear someone from Gabriel’s group could open portals and maybe even another could reach out and communicate with their mind. That was what Gabriel had been doing a moment before.
“He’s smart,” the brunette woman said with a stern, unchanging face. “He’s already figured out what we can do.”
One of the men, a large brute with tattooed arms twice the size of Alan’s, scoffed. “He doesn’t look that smart to me.”
Alan ignored the comment and directed his attention back to Gabriel with an expectant look.
Gabriel disregarded his gaze as he posed a question of his own. “Do you know why you and I flew away first? Why we all didn’t simply come through Crux’s portal?”
Alan was still taming his fury at what Angelica had experienced moments before. He was in no mood to play games with the Archangel. “Enlighten me.”
Gabriel’s eyes twinkled as he spoke. “It was so Michael could see you and I fly away into the distance. So he could taste the defeat over a length of time instead of it all being over as soon as we stepped into the portal. It’s the little things that I enjoy, Alan.”
Alan felt his stomach turn. Gabriel was a twisted being. Although he wanted nothing more than to go and be with Angelica, he knew she was in capable hands with Danielle. If he wanted to do something for his friend now, he could ensure an attack like that would never happen again.
“Listen,” Alan started, “I’m not sure what you think is going to come of all of this, but I already told you there’s nothing you can do to make me join you. Stay away from my friends or—”
The one with the muscles cut him off. “Or what? What are you going to do, shrimp?” The man took a few steps forward, clenching his fists.
Alan felt adrenaline shoot through his body as the promise of battle stoked inside his chest. The anger at what had been done to his friend was demanding an outlet. His rage was asking for a say in the matter under the pretense of righteous indignation.
Gabriel raised an extended hand toward Alan’s advancing punching bag. “Wait, Drake. Let him finish.” The Archangel turned to Alan. “Go ahead. You were saying that if we abduct one of your friends again, tie her down and beat her so badly she can’t even stand as she’s crying your name for help … what were you going to do?”
Alan was practically shaking now. Each word Gabriel spoke was another shovel of coal thrown into Alan’s internal furnace of rage. Never before had he felt this infuriated.
With one last phrase, the man Gabriel referred to as Drake ignited the powder keg inside Alan.
“He’s not going to do anything,” Drake said with a sadistic smile. “Not even if we went back and grabbed that cute little brunette with the glasses.”
Fury unlike anything Alan had ever experienced cascaded out through his being. From head to toe, he felt a deep fire burning, tingling into something he could only describe as rage in its most primal form. His anger took control. Blue wings shot out from either side of his back without Alan even having to think about them.
Alan’s eyes blazed as he charged forward. His target was Drake. The overly muscled Fallen Angel was obviously not expecting this, and neither was speed one of his supernatural gifts.
Alan met his opponent with every ounce of anger and strength he could muster. Throwing out his combat training along with all reason, his bloodlust told him to break the man. Alan hit Drake with a tackle, his head colliding with Drake’s ribcage.
On impact, Alan heard something snap inside his opponent’s body. The force he hit Drake with was so great, its momentum took them both through the air, crashing into the grass twenty yards from their prev
ious spot.
Alan lifted himself from Drake’s body. Their impact in the ground left a small crater at least a foot deep. Alan’s heart was racing as he stood with fists clenched, preparing for the counterattack. Drake didn’t move.
The other three Fallen members ran to Drake’s side. Alan readied himself to meet this new threat. Yet, just like Drake, they didn’t attack. They ran past Alan to Drake’s still form.
The woman with the serious expression pressed two fingers to her right temple and placed her left hand on Drake’s chest. A moment of silence passed. She looked at Alan with something like admiration before her gaze passed over him to focus on Gabriel. “He’s out cold with multiple rib fractures and a cracked sternum. There are already bruises forming over the impact area. How? How could he have done this?”
“Because he is War incarnate,” Gabriel said. “His anger in battle knows no rules or limits.”
Alan’s gaze moved from Drake’s still form to Gabriel. He knew he’d lost it. He knew he should be worried about the man he’d just put in the ground, but he wasn’t. “What are you talking about?”
Gabriel motioned to Drake’s still form. “As a member of the Fallen race, Drake was granted invulnerability.” Gabriel smiled. “Well, I guess, near invulnerability, as you have so wrathfully shown us.”
“I … I didn’t mean to—”
“Yes, you did,” Gabriel said. “And rightfully so; he threatened the people you love.”
Alan’s breathing was beginning to slow, his anger gradually receding into whatever deep hole of his being it’d come from.
“It’s only going to get worse, Alan. This is just the beginning. I can teach you how to harness your power.”
Alan shot an eyebrow up. “You mean you want to control me.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I want you to reach your potential and, yes, I would like you to join me, but that choice remains yours.”
Memories of Angelica’s face were enough for Alan to restate his purpose. “It’s not going to happen. And if you ever again touch someone I care about, I’ll put you in the ground like I did to him.” Alan pointed a finger behind him to Drake’s body.
“Are you threatening me, boy?” Gabriel asked in a tone that sounded like a volcano promising to erupt.
Alan knew, outnumbered and alone, he should be scared. In truth, he was. It was only the thought of his friends that made him stand his ground. “Not a threat, Gabriel. A promise. I promise that if you ever again touch someone I care about, I’ll make sure that’s the last thing you ever do.”
Alan thought the Fallen Archangel’s response would be wrath unlike he’d ever seen. Every muscle in Alan’s frame tensed. His wings stood ready to wrap himself in a protective cocoon or lift him into the air and take flight at a moment’s notice.
Instead of battle, Gabriel turned to words; the last thing Alan had expected from him was a story. “No doubt you know how all of this works. There is a law that keeps the Fallen from killing humans and their angelic counterparts. So they have turned to recruiting humans to do their will—Nephilim. Angels have done the same thing, and so a shadow war has begun on Earth. But times are changing, Alan. With my return and the Four making their one thousand year cycle, those rules won’t apply anymore. It’s open war, Alan.”
Gabriel turned his back to Alan, motioning him to follow as he spoke. The angel chose a path that would take them up a steep slope. “Humans can’t see the supernatural now; not unless we decide to show them ourselves. Michael and his followers, of course, have forbidden this, and any Fallen who step out of line are dealt with.”
Gabriel’s eyes looked distant as he recalled the past, the present, and the future. “The celestial weapons have been found, allowing the side that possesses them a distinct advantage over the other. And now, Alan, now things are going to change again. We are going to kill each other—with or without weapons, a lot of people are going to die.”
Gabriel stopped at the edge of the slope and looked down into the distance. A large city splayed out in front of them for miles on end. Alan could see tall buildings, cars running through the maze of streets, and he could even hear chatter if he leaned forward and concentrated.
“I know this is not the best of examples, but you can grasp the point,” Gabriel said. “You could rule a city a thousand times the likes of this one. You would have a place of honor among the inner circle. You’d only answer to me.”
Alan took a deep breath. Gabriel had somehow made him pause. His deception was something unlike Alan had ever experienced: he was managing to tie in threats with promises wrapped in that same silky smooth way he had of speaking.
“No,” Alan said. “No, I won’t. You’re wasting your breath.”
Gabriel’s eyes were still on the far-off city as he spoke. “I wonder what would happen if one of the Four were killed.”
Alan knew Gabriel didn’t expect an answer. The man was toying with him now.
“It’s never happened throughout history,” Gabriel went on. “The Four have always been given their powers, and they’ve made their choices. The power that lives within Four has been too great for anyone to kill. In the past, all Four have never stood on the side of the Darkness to bring about the Apocalypse. Once they all make their choice, there’s usually a battle, and then their powers are taken and another thousand years pass until the cycle is repeated.”
Gabriel turned his eyes from the city and studied Alan. Alan understood what the Fallen Archangel was doing: he was speaking to himself out loud, prodding Alan with fear.
“You see, Alan. The Four are so very powerful, even an angel is thought incapable of killing them, though many have tried in the past, both Fallen and other. But none of them have the power I now possess. I haven’t been idle while I’ve hidden here on Earth since the war in Heaven. Shall we see? Shall we see what happens when I kill you?”
Alan knew it was another rhetorical question, yet he wanted to answer. He took a step away from Gabriel to prepare himself for any attack to come. His wings crackled and waved in the afternoon air. “Let’s see. Let’s see what happens when you try, Demon.”
A wicked gleam crossed through the Fallen Angel’s eyes, a look Alan had always known was there, but had been hidden thus far. Gabriel stood straight, his already impressive height seeming to lengthen on command, and wings, not quite white but grey, shot out from his back. Hands opened in front of him as flames burst from his palms and licked at the surrounding air.
Alan was ready. The feeling that impending danger brought was back, and a fresh wave of pent-up energy raced across his body. Alan had never played football in school, but he could imagine this was what players felt like at the opening kickoff of a major game.
Gabriel stood seven yards in front of him, more and more flames licking his hands and even the ground around him. Heat began to fill the distance between Alan and his enemy, growing in intensity so quickly that within seconds, Alan was blinking against the flames. Everything told him to take a step back, when Gabriel nodded the slightest bit, and Alan realized it was a ploy to summon his attention.
Too late Alan wheeled around to see what his other captors were doing, turning just in time to catch a fist to the left side of his face. Drake was still down, but the other man, Crux, the one with the ability over portals, hammered Alan’s face with a series of blows.
Pain was present, but Alan was kicking himself harder mentally for allowing himself to be so easily fooled while his brain was jostled as he tried to counter the blows. One quick thought to the pulsing blue wings of energy behind him and his supernatural appendages slammed closed around him like a flower before it blooms.
Crux was in the process of sending another strike to Alan’s face, when Alan’s wings snapped shut and the Fallen Angel’s fist made contact with a sharp crack.
Crux screamed as electricity traveled through every inch of his body in the matter of a millisecond. With a loud snap, he was sent flying across the grassy knoll. The smell of burne
d flesh was strong. Alan dropped his wings and wrinkled his nose at the stench.
Alan refused to make the same mistake twice. A quick check around him and the rest of his enemies were accounted for. To his left, Gabriel was still giving him that same wicked smile, flames continuing to grow around him. To his right, the last two Fallen stood side by side. The woman with the tight brown bun on the back of her head, and the blonde who seemed to be changing right in front of him.
Alan did a double-take, blinking to make sure he was seeing straight. The blonde woman was transforming into something else completely. She dropped to all fours, her skin expanding and growing as hands became crude hooves and her head morphed into a long, twisted snout with horns.
Alan’s mouth dropped. The biggest bull he’d ever seen pawed the ground in front of him. Although the creature was a bull, without a doubt the animal was mutated with yellow skin and horns too long to be real.
Come on, man, what did you expect? You know people who have fire coming from their bodies and others making portals through space … of course this one can change her appearance.
As Alan was just beginning to grasp the Fallen’s powers of transformation, the mutant bull charged. Alan threw his current train of thought to the side as something inside of him pushed forward, and before he realized what he was doing, he was matching the bull’s stride, step for step. Something deep down was eager to race onward and meet this new threat, head-on.
Alan knew what this feeling was: it was linked to his power of War. Two months ago he would have run from this entire situation. Now, a sense of purpose, maybe even delight, pushed him onward at a sprint.
The yellow bull’s horns were two long spears only feet from impact, and Alan prepared himself to grab them, one in each hand. With any luck, he was stronger than the charging Fallen. He’d be able to lift her up and toss her into the air.
His plan failed. Searing agony unlike anything he’d ever experienced numbed his mind; an ice pick of frozen pain dug deep into his brain as the bull made contact with his body.
The Complete Archangel Wars Series: A Shared Universe Series (The Archangel Wars) Page 29
