The Angel Trials- The Complete Series

by Michelle Madow

  20

  Raven

  The guilt in Noah’s eyes showed me I was right. He was the “First Prophet” Thomas had told me about.

  I stood there silently, waiting for him to explain. Luckily, he didn’t make a move for the door. If he did, I’d attempt to use my temporary vampire strength to stop him. Not that I thought that would work, since Noah was a trained fighter and all, but I’d definitely try.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about with Princess Ana,” he said slowly. “But I can explain about my past as the First Prophet of the Vale.”

  “Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Because Thomas said that the First Prophet—you—helped open the Hell Gate.”

  “And what did you say when Thomas told you that?” he asked.

  “I told him he was wrong!” I threw out my arms, amazed he even had to ask. “I told him you’d never want to release demons from Hell. But now that you’ve confirmed you’re the First Prophet, I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

  “You should believe me,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything, right here right now. I didn’t want to at first, because I didn’t want you to be scared of me. But I’m done hiding things from you, Raven. You deserve to know the truth.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “I do.”

  “It’s a long story,” he said. “We should probably sit down for it.”

  “All right.” I plopped down onto the couch and watched as Noah did the same.

  He sat close enough that we were nearly touching. I wanted to reach over and take his hand in mine so badly, but I resisted. It took strength—his body and soul called to me like a magnet—but I fought the pull.

  Instead, I clasped my hands over my knees, watching him steadily, and said, “Tell me everything.”

  Noah did tell me everything—from the first dream he’d received from the demon who had claimed to be the wolves’ Savior, to when the Earth Angel had ordered him to bring her back the teeth of ten demons he killed to prove he was worthy of entering Avalon. The story was long and twisted, and I hung onto every word with limited interruptions.

  “Now you know all of it,” he said once he was done. “I messed up. Big time.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “You did.”

  “I’m doing everything I can to make up for it,” he said. “So I hope you can find it in your heart to accept me anyway.”

  “I already have,” I said honestly.

  “Just like that?” He looked genuinely surprised.

  “We’re imprinted on each other.” I took his hand, needing him to understand how important our connection was to me. “You’re a good person—I knew that both before and after learning about your past. I know it because I can feel your soul. You’re the one who refuses to accept me.”

  “I accept you,” he said. “And I also accept that I’m not the best choice for you.”

  “I think I deserve a say in that decision.”

  He sighed and looked down at our joined hands, like he was struggling to decide if he should keep holding on or let go. He held on—for now. “I already explained my decision,” he said. “I don’t want to go through it again.”

  “Neither do I,” I said, since all of this drama between us was emotionally exhausting. I wanted to convince him to give me a chance.

  But when it came down to it, I couldn’t force Noah to want to be with me.

  If this was going to work between us, he was going to have to come to the decision to give us a chance on his own. We were both heading to the same place—Avalon—and the imprint bond between us was strong. We had time to let our relationship build. I was doing everything I could to allow that to happen.

  But if he continued being so stubborn about trying to push me away, that wasn’t the kind of relationship that would work for me long term, anyway. Being treated like that would make me miserable. It killed me to think it, because the imprint bond made me want to do everything possible to make things work between us, but it was true.

  “Anyway, now you know about my history as the First Prophet,” he said. “So what did you mean about you being Princess Ana?”

  He was changing the subject on purpose. But I did want to ask him about Princess Ana, so I went along with it.

  “Thomas showed me a recording of Princess Ana when she arrived to the Vale to enter the Bachelor-like competition Prince Jacen had for a wife.” I motioned to the television, which was now off. “She was me.”

  “What are you talking about?” Noah scratched his head, looking genuinely confused.

  “Princess Ana looked just like me,” I said. “We’re identical. And she was in the Vale when I was supposedly in Europe. So I think whoever took my memories had me pretend to be Princess Ana. They must have given me vampire blood—like Thomas just did—to give me the powers of a vampire princess. Then, once Prince Jacen eliminated me from the competition, they erased my memories and sent me back home. It would explain how I subconsciously knew what vampire blood can do for humans.”

  “It’s not a bad theory,” Noah said. “But it’s not possible.”

  “You didn’t see the recordings.” I reached for the remote Thomas had used, but there were no buttons on it—not even an on switch. What kind of advanced technology was this? “Once Thomas is back, I’ll have him show you. Princess Ana was me. I know it sounds crazy, but you’ll believe it when you see it.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said. “I mean it’s impossible because I know who Princess Ana was. She wasn’t you.”

  “All right.” I crossed one leg over the other, willing to humor him. “Then who was she?”

  He looked me dead-on and said, “She was Annika.”

  21

  Raven

  I sat up in surprise. “The Earth Angel?” I asked.

  “The one and only,” he said. “Before becoming the Earth Angel, Annika was a human blood slave in the Vale. She worked with a witch named Geneva to infiltrate the palace. Geneva helped Annika disguise herself as a vampire princess and enter the competition to win Jacen’s hand in marriage. Annika drank vampire blood to have the powers of a vampire princess, and transformation potion to change her appearance.”

  “To make herself look like me.” I was breathless as the pieces started fitting together even more—and startled as a shattering realization fell into my lap. “But you were still in the Vale then. You’ve known I looked like Princess Ana this entire time.”

  I didn’t want to believe he’d kept something so huge from me. But after learning all of this, it was the only thing that made sense.

  “I never met Annika when she was pretending to be Princess Ana,” he explained, and I breathed slightly easier at the confirmation that my instincts about him weren’t totally off. “In the Vale, the wolves lived outside of the vampire city. We didn’t see anything that happened in there. I first saw Annika during the war at the Vale. By then, she was back in her true form. Trust me—if I’d known Princess Ana looked like you, I wouldn’t have kept it from you. I swear it.”

  “Thank God.” I held his gaze, my voice strong. “I was beginning to worry I was wrong in trusting you.”

  “You can trust me,” he promised. “I’m on your side, Raven. Always.”

  There were so many unspoken words between us—so many intense emotions. His hand still held mine, and at that point, his touch was the only thing keeping me grounded as the world as I knew it crumbled around me.

  A part of me wanted to kiss him again and make this entire mess go away—if only for a little while. And despite everything he’d said earlier about not wanting to see where this went between us, I could tell from the way he was looking at me that he wanted to kiss me, too. I could literally feel his desire through the imprint bond and hear our hearts beating in time together.

  I leaned closer, and he did the same. It was like we were drawn together, and when his lips finally brushed mine, my heart leaped. I wanted to climb into his lap and melt right into him. Everything about him called to me
—his taste, his scent, his touch. With my temporarily heightened vampire senses, it was more tempting than ever to let go and lose myself in the moment—and to him—completely.

  But I pulled away, not allowing the kiss to progress any further.

  In the span of a single second, he looked hurt, confused, and finally, resolved. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Don’t apologize.” The last thing I needed was another reminder about his decision not to be with me. “We’re just so close to figuring out the connection between Princess Ana and my missing memories,” I said in a rush. “And as much as I want to just kiss you and make this all go away, it doesn’t work like that.”

  He smiled mischievously and traced his thumb along my palm, sending warm tingles shooting through my body. “Are you so sure about that?” he teased.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t help myself—I laughed. This playful side of Noah was one I rarely saw, and I wanted to keep this version of him with me always.

  Was this what he’d be like if he wasn’t constantly carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders?

  “All right, then.” He pushed a few strands of hair off his forehead that must have fallen there when we’d kissed. “But after distracting me like that, you’re going to have to remind me where we left off.”

  “Annika taking transformation potion to disguise herself while she was pretending to be Princess Ana.” The seriousness of that implication suddenly set in—thanks to the lessons Noah and Sage had given me during our drives—and I immediately snapped back into focus. “Since Princess Ana looked like me, the transformation potion Annika was drinking was brewed with my blood. But transformation potions have to be used within twenty-four hours of being brewed, or they won’t work…”

  “And Annika was in the palace, disguised as Princess Ana, for over a week.” The playfulness that had been in Noah’s eyes a few seconds earlier was instantly replaced by horror. “Geneva would have needed daily access to your blood to keep up Annika’s charade.”

  That name—Geneva—sounded so familiar. She was like a fuzzy image that refused to come into focus. But as hard as I tried to remember what she looked like, it was like trying to recall a forgotten dream.

  A dream. That’s how I knew her. I’d seen her in a cell, and my hands were wrapped around the bars…

  “She locked me up somewhere,” I realized. “Some kind of jail.”

  “How do you know that?” His grip on my hand tightened, his eyes wide with hope. “Do you remember?”

  “Not really.” I lowered my eyes, knowing it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. “I think I might be having dreams about what happened when my memories were erased. But when I wake up, I can barely remember them. All that’s left is a flash—a feeling. But the name Geneva is familiar. And in the dreams, I’m pretty sure I was trapped somewhere. I was holding onto bars that looked like they were part of a jail cell. But that’s all I can remember.” I shrugged, wishing I could give him more.

  “As much as I hate it, it makes sense.” Noah’s eyes blazed at my mention of being kept in a cell. “Geneva needed your blood each day to brew Annika’s transformation potion, so she would have had to keep you somewhere. Probably the same place she was keeping the royal vampire whose blood she was giving to Annika. In separate cells, obviously. To make sure you stayed alive.”

  Even though it hadn’t happened, I shivered at the thought of a vampire draining me dry. “Why do you think she was keeping that vampire prisoner?” I asked.

  “How else would she have gotten his or her blood?” he asked in return.

  “Thomas thinks the vampire royal who was giving Annika blood was in on the plan,” I said. “Not just in on it—he thinks that vampire devised the plan to spy on the Vale.”

  “Thomas is wrong,” Noah said. “The plan was Annika’s. Geneva was working for her.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, although I could tell by the confident way he’d said it that he was.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” I ran my fingers through my hair, amazed by how perfectly this was falling into place. “Because if Geneva was creating transformation potion with my blood, I’d bet she was the witch who gave me the memory potion, too. Which means she can create an antidote, and I can get my memories back.”

  “No,” he said. “She can’t.”

  “Why not?” I frowned.

  “Because Geneva’s dead.”

  22

  Raven

  “What?” Everything was coming together so nicely, and then he had to drop that bomb on me.

  “After the Hell Gate was opened, Geneva sacrificed herself to close it,” he continued. “Of course, that didn’t put all the escaped demons back inside, but it stopped more of them from getting out. If she hadn’t sacrificed herself, the demons would have had the numbers to take over the Earth immediately. We wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

  I took a few moments to let his words sink in. “Well, then I’m grateful for her sacrifice,” I said slowly, meaning it. Because of her, everyone on Earth had a fighting chance. That was worth more than anything. “But with Geneva dead, I’ll never be able to get my memories back. Right?”

  “We don’t know for sure that she’s the one who erased your memories,” he said. “But she was the strongest witch in the world. If anyone could have created a potion capable of erasing weeks worth of memories, it would have been her.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. If we were right—which it seemed like we were—it made sense that Geneva had created the memory potion. And the only witch who could create the antidote was the witch who had created the potion.

  Which meant I’d never get my memories back.

  “What are you thinking?” Noah asked. Our hands were still clasped together, and neither of us was making any move to pull away.

  “I’m thinking that I should be okay with the fact that I might never get my memories back,” I said. “I mean, it seems like Geneva locked me in a jail cell. And while I don’t remember what happened there, in my dreams I’m always terrified. Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t remember.”

  “Maybe.” Noah didn’t look convinced.

  “But I’m not okay with not remembering,” I continued, allowing the anger I felt to seep into my tone. “I don’t think I ever will be. Those weeks were just erased. Whatever happened to me—no matter how awful it was—I want to know. And I hate that it might always be blank.”

  “I understand,” Noah said, and from the way he was looking at me, I could tell he did. He could probably feel what I was feeling through the imprint bond. “When we get to Avalon, maybe Annika will be able to help fill in the blanks for you.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, knowing he wasn’t going to like what I had to say next. But I needed to ask. “Are you sure Annika’s trustworthy?” I asked.

  “She’s the Earth Angel.” He looked at me like I’d gone nuts. “She was shown the way to Avalon by the angels in Heaven themselves. She’s raising an army of Nephilim to defeat the demons—to stop them from killing all supernaturals and taking the Earth for themselves. The fate of both supernatural and humankind is on her. She’s the one person in this world we can trust more than anyone.”

  “But she had Geneva imprison me for my blood, and she walked around looking like me for days.” I shuddered, not liking the thought of someone using my body as a disguise. It wasn’t actually me—it was just an illusion that made her look like me—but it was still weird. “If she’s as good and trustworthy as you say, why would she do that to me?”

  “I don’t know,” Noah admitted. “It doesn’t match up with what I know about her. But she has to have a reason. I’m not going to pretend I know what that reason is, because I don’t. But once we get to Avalon, you’ll be able to ask her yourself.”

  “I know,” I said, since as much as I hated it, he was right. With Geneva dead, Annika was the best person to help me fill in the blanks from where my memories had been erased.


  But that didn’t mean I’d ever be okay with what she did.

  “Plus, Rosella told you that you have to go to Avalon to save your mom,” Noah added. “So you better not be backing out of it now.”

  “Oh, I’m still going to Avalon,” I said. “I didn’t come this far—and risk my life multiple times—for nothing.”

  “Good.” He smiled. “Just wanted to make sure.”

  Electricity buzzed between us, and I desperately wanted to kiss him again. But before I could, the door to the media room swung open.

  Noah was instantly at his feet in front of me with his slicer in hand, ready to fight to protect me.

  But he didn’t need to. Because Thomas marched inside, holding a vial of light blue potion in his hand—truth potion. Sage followed behind him.

  I stood as well, not wanting to be the only one sitting down.

  “I just had an interesting conversation with Sage about your history as the First Prophet of the Vale.” Thomas glanced at Noah’s slicer like it was an annoyance that didn’t belong in the room. “Put your weapon away. There’s no need for such hostility between us—not after I just saved your girlfriend’s life.”

  Noah put the slicer back in his weapons belt, although he remained on guard.

  “I take it you’ve had time to fill Raven in on everything you kept from her?” Thomas asked. “Because she was mighty clueless when I spoke with her earlier.”

  “Yes.” Noah glared at Thomas as he spoke. “She knows everything now.”

  “Good,” Thomas said. “Because I have important information to give you, as I want to work with you and not against you. But first, you’re going to have to prove you’re trustworthy.” He held up the potion, making it clear what he meant. “Can you do that?”

  “I already went through all this with Flint.” Noah sounded annoyed more than anything. “Sage was there. Ask her.”