by Amy Braun
I was conflicted about trusting Gabriel, but I did trust Sephiel. He wouldn’t let Gabriel hurt Dro any sooner than I would. Now that the Oath of Michael was made, it didn’t seem like something we should skip on.
Still, I took a step closer to the archangel. His expression never changed, even when I grabbed a throwing knife from inside my lucky jacket. I stopped in front of the chalk circle, bending at the waist so my face was inches from Gabriel’s. His expression still didn’t change.
“Betray any one of us, and I’ll kill you much slower than Michael will.”
This time, Gabriel did sneer. “Slower, maybe. But not as painfully.”
I grimaced, then stepped into the chalk circle. I didn’t start screaming in agony, so the spell must not have affected humans. I walked around Gabriel to the back of the chair and used the edge of my knife to undo the cuffs, releasing Gabriel from the chair. He stood up slowly, groaning and stretching his legs.
“I have forgotten how stiff these human vessels can become.”
He turned his head and waited for me. I sighed and walked to the edge of the circle. I stomped and kicked the chalk line until it smeared, then stepped out of the circle. Keeping my knife in my hand, I crossed my arms and waited for the archangel to step out.
Gabriel looked at the broken circle carefully, as if he was making sure there wasn’t a spell that would fry him the moment he stepped out of it. He extended one of his long legs, stretched it over the smudged line, and planted his foot on the concrete floor. Nothing horrific happened to him, so he swung the second leg over the line. Still nothing. Gabriel grinned and started walking toward us.
He frowned when he saw that none of us were smiling.
“Perhaps I was wrong in assuming that being human would be simple and entertaining.”
Sephiel began walking toward him. Dro was the only one who was able to smile hesitantly.
“Thank you, Gabriel,” she said.
“Thank him when he gets us there,” I said bitterly as I watched Sephiel stand in front of Gabriel.
The archangel looked at his brother, then placed his palm over his heart. Sephiel held his hand close to Gabriel’s and starting speaking in what I guessed was angel-tongue. As he spoke the elegant, musical language, his palm began to glow a dull gold shade. The light turned into a funnel that left Sephiel’s hand and went into Gabriel’s. The archangel’s hand glowed with the same light, but he didn’t seem to be in pain as it moved into his chest. After another minute, the glow faded from Sephiel’s hand. He lowered it to his side, looking at Gabriel directly. The other angel lowered his palm, and Sephiel gave him the slightest nod. He looked at me.
“The Oath-Binder has been placed on Gabriel. He shall lead us to the Heaven Gate and will bring us no harm, lest he wishes to suffer the consequences.”
I wondered what those consequences were, but something in Sephiel’s bright blue eyes told me not to ask. If I had to guess, I would say it revolved around death.
One spell now completed, Sephiel reached into the pocket of his white trench coat and began to draw the movens caeli.
He began started speaking in angel-tongue again, this time using magic to likely take down the wards he’d put up when we came here. I never knew the wards were powerful enough to block even the movens caeli’s magic. Having a powerful, clever angel definitely had its bonuses. I felt someone walk up behind me. I tensed until I knew it was Warrick.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” he asked once he was standing at my side.
“No,” I replied. “But that’s why I carry sharp things around.”
Warrick grinned, and I had to force myself not to smile back. Sephiel looked at us, holding the movens caeli with Gabriel. We all walked forward until we were hanging onto each other. I took Dro’s hand and then Warrick’s. I squeezed my sister’s hand and winked at Warrick.
The world exploded into thunder and gold light, and then we were gone.
Chapter 14
We staggered to a stop when our feet hit the ground. While the four of us were dizzy and gasping, Sephiel and Gabriel were completely relaxed and walking without a problem.
Damn angels.
I straightened, let go of Warrick’s and Dro’s hands, and took a deep breath. Crisp, morning air filled my lungs. The scent of a lush forest followed. I let myself refocus, and was staring down at the most amazing view I had ever seen.
We stood on a hill, looking at sloping, green mountains covered with tall, thick leaved trees. Thin lines of cloud masked the dull gold light of the rising sun. The trees in front of us were perfectly green, but the farther we looked, the more blue the landscape became.
It was breathtaking.
My sister took a step forward. Gold sunlight splashed across her face, weaving through her snow-white hair and making it glow. She looked like she had just stepped out of a fairytale.
“It’s beautiful here,” Dro breathed. “Where are we?”
“Mortals know this place as Olympic National Park,” Gabriel answered. “Once the Gates were opened, the magic hiding under those trees was awakened. The forest is irresistible to all those who cross its path. What you are looking at is the Heaven on earth we have created.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “The angels guarding it will know we’re coming anyway?”
Gabriel shook his head. “There are no angels guarding this place. They are all searching for the daughter of Lucifer. But there will be illusions. Images to prevent you from destroying the Gate of Heaven.”
Well, that sounds fucking great.
“All right, so where exactly is the Gate?” I asked.
Gabriel stared at me. “You are looking at it.”
My eyes went from him to the vast, sweeping mountains that stretched to the horizon. I whipped my head back at him.
“Wait, there’s no actual physical door? All of this is the Heaven Gate?!”
He nodded. “This place was created to be one of spirituality and belief. It was made for those seeking serenity and peace. You cannot find those things in steel and iron. They must surround you, comfort you, and fill you. That is what powers the Heaven Gate.”
“How the hell are we supposed to shut it, then?”
The archangel looked at me with sad, heavy eyes.
“You must burn it all to the ground.”
We stared at Gabriel with horror. I looked at the landscape again. The sunlight was starting to burst through the thin clouds, spilling gold light onto the blue tinted mountains. It was like the forest was waking up, yawning and stretching as the dawn’s light warmed it. The smell of crisp pine needles and fresh air soothed my lungs. I wasn’t a very calm person, but even I could feel this forest working its magic on me. It would break my heart to see it destroyed.
But it would hurt me even more if Lucifer got his claws into it.
“Do not fear for mortal souls,” the archangel went on. “I assure you that the entire area is cleared of innocent life. It was shielded from human eyes upon its opening. Even the animals are beginning to flee. They sense the abnormality of this place, and have no desire to continue residing in it.”
That didn’t make me feel better.
Dro started shaking her head. “There must be another way,” she said. “There has to...”
She trailed off when she saw Gabriel’s regretful face. “There is not.”
He took a step away from us, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed over the mountains and trees.
“The Heaven Gate is a structure made by angels, and can be broken as easily as a structure made by man. All you need to do is find the weak point.”
Gabriel paused for a long time. I couldn’t see his face, but I wondered what he was thinking. He was bound to the Oath of Michael and couldn’t hurt us, but that didn’t mean he wanted to go along with it. This place obviously meant a lot to angels. He couldn’t want to see it turned into a pile of ash.
“You will find a waterfall near the middle of the forest,” Gabriel fi
nally went on. “It is in a clearing surrounded by a pool. The pool is enchanted with heavenly magic. You must set the water ablaze with heavenfire. The fire will then spread quickly through the rest of the forest. It will consume it to the borders, and shall not stop burning until the entire Gate is scorched.”
Gabriel turned back to us, no emotion on his face. He walked back to Dro. “Focus on using your angelic abilities, if you can. They shall lead you directly to the pool. Do you think you can conjure enough heavenfire to ignite the water?”
Dro bit her lower lip, looking like she wanted to cry. “I... I think so.”
He watched her face for a minute, then reached into the pocket of his coat. I jerked my hatchet off my hip and got ready to throw it. Gabriel held up his hands. One of them held a clear glass tube about three inches long with golden caps on the ends.
“Peace, Constance Ramirez. I am not revealing a weapon to use against you.”
When it became clear that I wasn’t going to lower my arm or relax, Gabriel began to move in slow, controlled motions. He unscrewed the cap on the top of the bottle, then filled his free hand with heavenfire. This time we all tensed up. Even Sephiel, who placed the Oath-Binder spell on Gabriel, shifted his feet in case he needed to fight his brother.
Instead of using the heavenfire to torch us, Gabriel turned his hand, putting the gold light into the bottle. He filled it until the bright gold fire consumed the entire bottle, then screwed the gold cap back on. The heavenfire in his hand snuffed out. He looked at the gold flames licking and dancing the edges of the glass tube. It was like a contained bonfire. Gabriel held the bottled heavenfire out to us.
“If you find your heavenfire is not powerful enough, use this. As it was created by an archangel, there is no possibility it shall fail.”
Dro looked at the bottle of heavenfire hesitantly. She didn’t want to touch it. I took a couple steps forward and took it from the archangel’s hand. I waited for it to burn me, but all it felt like was a warm glass tube. I looked at Gabriel again.
The archangel gave me a sad, resigned nod. He bowed his head to Sephiel, looked at Dro one more time, then started to walk away. He moved past us without saying a word. I turned on my heel and looked at him.
“Why are you finally helping us?” I asked. “Can you get back into Heaven once we close the Gate?”
Gabriel stopped walking. “No. None of us will be able to. Not even Michael. If you close the Heaven Gate, all of us will fall and remain on earth in our human bodies until we die and pass through Saint Peter’s Gates.”
The archangel turned. Sunlight warmed his face, making his tanned skin look truly gold. It brightened his sandy blond hair. His eyes were even more radiant, turning into two golden suns themselves. I finally saw how glorious of an archangel he was.
“Once, I would have followed Michael to the end of time. I believed in everything he said and did. He promised us the Heaven Gate would never be opened, and Lucifer would never be able to defeat the Heavenly Host.” He looked at Dro. “Then we heard of the hybrid. We were told she was a monster, a fiend straight from Lucifer’s seed. I was willing to believe it, until she healed me and I saw the pureness of her spirit. It is unparalleled, and unquestionable, as is your love for her.”
Gabriel slumped. “Being an archangel has become too complicated and confusing. I no longer feel the strength or authority I once felt. I do not believe that Michael can stand against what Lucifer has created. I have watched over humans for thousands of years, and have come to one definite conclusion.”
A sad smirk crossed his lips. “They are better adapted to deal with complications.”
Then he was gone. Gabriel blinked out of existence. Warrick looked around, as if he expected him to return. Max wrapped his arm around Dro’s shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Sephiel stared blankly at the mountains. I looked down at the bottled heavenfire.
The gold flame danced around the glass, teasing and aching to be released. It didn’t seem like much, but it was from the second most powerful archangel known to exist. With Dro’s heavenfire, I didn’t think we’d have to use it, but I wasn’t going to throw it away. I tucked it in the inner pocket of my lucky jacket, right above my knives.
“Come on,” I said. “We should start walking down the hill.”
Sephiel was the first one to move. His steps were sluggish and silent. Warrick started after him. Dro clutched Max’s hand as they followed him.
I hung back, taking a final look at the beautiful, dreamy landscape. A heavy sadness filled my heart. The next time I saw this place, it would be nothing but fire and smoke...
Shortly after Mateo left, the guards came in. They knocked me out so I couldn’t fight. I didn’t know why, until I woke up in a steel bathtub.
I blinked my eyes open, feeling the water under me soaking my clothes. The steel was cold against my spine and the back of my legs. The tub was about as long as I was and filled up to my arms with lukewarm water. I was still trapped in the basement, so the steel tub must have been brought in while I was unconscious. The zip ties around my hands and feet had been replaced with thick rope, probably because Emilio didn’t want me bleeding out before he had his fun. I tugged the rope acting as handcuffs on my wrists. which were trapped behind my back. I bent my hand awkwardly to feel the knot with my fingertips, the rope chafing my wrists as I twisted my hand. The knot was secure, far too tight for me to loosen. I writhed in the tub, trying to push myself out of it. I tried rolling hard to dump the tub over, but it was too heavy for me.
“At last,” a deep, accented voice crooned. “You’re awake.”
My body tensed and went cold. I looked up, seeing Emilio standing over me. He was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt. He wore his belt with the golden rose buckle, and had a red rose pinned to the breast pocket of his jacket. The only things off about his outfit were the thick electrician’s gloves he wore.
There was no smile on his face, nothing but rage in his dark eyes. The desire to hurt me, to make me scream for mercy, then hurt me some more.
He took the same chair Mateo had sat in and dropped it next to me. From where I was lying, I could only see his head and shoulders. He stared at me with more hatred than I’d ever seen from anyone before. It took all of my courage to hold his gaze, but I did it. Mostly because I wanted to do one more brave thing before Emilio murdered me.
It seemed like forever before he said, “You broke my son’s heart.”
The words were spoken so blandly I almost laughed. He said it the same way he would say, ‘The sun is shining today,’ or ‘I wish this person wouldn’t scream so much.’
But I didn’t laugh. Emilio wasn’t finished yet.
“You betrayed my loyalty. You took away a substantial profit from me. You disappointed me.”
My heart beat faster as he bent lower, shadows crawling over his face. “I treated you like a daughter, and you turned out to be no different from your father.”
Emilio pushed his arm over the rim of the steel tub. My eyes widened when I saw the thick electrical cord in his gloved hand. It was cut off at one end, revealing a mess of copper wires. I sucked in a breath, edging away and pushing against the wall of the tub. Emilio put the copper part of the wire in the water.
For the first second, I was numb. Then it was like someone had flicked on a switch and replaced the world with pain. Sharp, snapping agony cracked around my skin. Blood churned and broiled in me. My lungs and heart thrashed violently. My eyes and brain felt like they were going to explode. I could even feel the pain in my teeth. My body arched and thrashed rapidly, splashing water everywhere. I was trapped in a huge static shock.
As soon as it started, it was over. I didn’t realize I had been screaming until I inhaled and felt the rawness in my throat. I couldn’t tell if I was shaking because of the pain, or because I was terrified.
“That’s for not accepting my offer, my dear,” Emilio said. “All you had to do was give up your weak little sister, and you wouldn’t ha
ve to suffer all of this.”
I moved the binds around my wrists, flicking the knot with my fingertips and trying to tug it loose. The knot wouldn’t budge. I’d pulled it impossibly tight when I was being electrocuted. I twisted my hand again, struggling with the knot–
Water slid into the open cuts on my wrists. I forgot the knot and moved my wrist.
The knot was hopelessly tight now. Whoever tied me up focused on making sure I couldn’t untie the bind itself. They didn’t focus on the actual loops around my wrists. The knot was tight, but there was a little bit of give at the intersection of the bind. I gave up on the knot pulled my hands apart, working to tighten the knot and slide my hands free of the loops.
Come on, come on–
He moved the wire again, this time hovering it just over my left breast. He let it hang there, watching as my chest heaved. I tried to calm down, but I was breathing too quickly. My chest rose and fell, teasing the wire. I yanked my hands farther apart. The rope dug into my skin. Water stung my wounded hands. My arms trembled as I struggled to pull my hands out–
Fire exploded in my chest as it was filled with piercing, sizzling pain. The shock went straight to my heart, making it beat faster than I ever knew it could. My nerves were on fire, agony rushing through my veins and arteries until I thought they would burst. Electricity crackled through my brain, like someone was snapping flaming elastic bands on it. This time I knew I screamed, because it was the only way I could breathe.
Emilio held the wire there for what felt like forever, even though it must have only been a couple seconds. When he lifted it from my chest, I heaved and dropped onto the bottom of the tub. My body quivered, throbbing with pain and sending jerky ripples through the water. Tears slipped out of my eyes. I felt numb, hardly able to feel my fingers. The ropes seemed a little looser than before, but what good was that going to do if I was half paralyzed?
