The Angel Trials- The Complete Series

by Michelle Madow

  I walked over to the doctor, placed my hands on his shoulders, and held him in place. He was so weak. So pliable. His entire body shook under my grip.

  The man never stood a chance.

  Bella marched up to him, uncapped the needle, and sank it into his throat. He stopped shaking immediately.

  Satisfied that he was under our control, I removed my hands from his shoulders and walked around him, joining Bella to face him. “Now,” I said, ready to get down to business. “Tell us how to reverse the spell between Azazel and his blood bound shifters.”

  Dr. Foster glared at us and pursed his lips together, but the potion forced him to speak. “There’s no way to reverse the spell.” Now that he was fully given into the potion, he smiled, seeming to enjoy telling us this. “It has to be broken. And the only way to break it is by killing the master the slaves are bound to.”

  “Azazel,” I muttered.

  “Yes,” he said. “To break this particular blood binding spell, you must kill Azazel.”

  9

  Raven

  “Rosella!” I smiled at her familiar face, happy to see her.

  The gifted vampire greeted us, shining with goodness. Simply being in her presence made me feel safe. She was radiant, even dressed in the boring white yoga outfit of the Haven. I supposed that was what happened when someone was turned into an immortal while still a teenager.

  Mary looked back and forth between us. “I’ve told you everything I know, and I’ve laid your choice out for you,” she said to me. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to our guests. The gifted humans surely have many questions. It’s my job as the leader of the Haven to ease them into their new lives, whether that be here at the Haven, getting them safe passage to Avalon, or getting them home.”

  “Hopefully they choose one of the first two options,” Noah said.

  “I agree,” Mary said solemnly. “For their sakes, and for their families.”

  “Go help them,” I said. “And thank you. For offering us a safe haven here, and for everything you’ve told me.”

  “I doubt this is the last I’ll be seeing of you, Raven Danvers,” she said. “You’re destined for greatness. I know it.”

  “You’re a psychic now too?” I raised an eyebrow, surprised.

  “No, no.” She chuckled. “It’s just a hunch. I’ve been around for a few centuries. After so much time on Earth, one tends to pick up on these things.”

  “It’s a good hunch,” Rosella confirmed, giving me a wink.

  I didn’t think blind people winked, but Rosella totally just had.

  Mary excused herself and exited the room, leaving Noah and me alone with Rosella.

  Rosella got situated on one of the chairs that overlooked the balcony window. “You’ve had quite the journey so far,” she said. “But I’m happy everything is working out so well between you two.”

  “What do you mean?” My cheeks heated, and I glanced at Noah self-consciously.

  “The imprint bond.” Rosella chuckled, like I was silly for not immediately knowing that was what she was referring to.

  I supposed I was being silly. After all, she was a psychic. She knew these sorts of things.

  Which meant she also might have answers.

  Excited energy jolted through me. Ever since Noah and I had imprinted, I’d had so many questions.

  Rosella must have known I needed to speak to her. That must have been why she came here right now, when we had time to talk.

  “You knew we were going to imprint,” I realized. “Back when we first came to see you on the Pier. That’s why you told us to go on the demon hunt together. Isn’t it?”

  Noah raised an eyebrow, apparently putting it all together at the same time as I was saying it out loud.

  “I’m happy to answer your questions.” Rosella held a hand up for me to slow down. “But one at a time, please.”

  I sat down on the bed and made myself comfortable. Noah did the same, taking the spot next to me. Immediately, our hands clasped together. Holding Noah’s hand was becoming second nature to me. As corny as it sounded, I truly felt stronger with him. His energy buzzed perfectly with mine.

  Together, we could get through anything this crazy supernatural world threw at us.

  But first, I wanted to know more about us.

  “Did you know we were going to imprint?” I asked Rosella, doing as she said and focusing on one question at a time.

  “I knew that if you joined Noah on the demon hunt, there was a high probability of it happening,” she said.

  “And you said I needed to go on the demon hunt with Noah to prepare myself for the Angel Trials.”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “But not just because of the imprint bond. The bond strengthens you, of course. But you’ve grown so much since that day we met on the Pier. You weren’t ready for Avalon then. You are now.”

  Warmth shot through me at her statement. Pride. Rosella’s belief in me meant a lot. I mean, if a psychic vampire believed I could do something, she must be right.

  Right?

  “But don’t get over confident,” she warned. “Everyone has free will. My sight shows me the future that has the highest probability of happening. It’s up to you to use your free will to create the best future for yourself—and for the world.”

  “I’m going to Avalon to save my mom,” I reminded her. “Not the world.”

  “I know.” She sat back, leaving it at that.

  Annoyingly vague, as I was getting accustomed to. And it was clear from her tone that she didn’t intend on giving me any more information.

  “Back to the imprint bond,” Noah changed the subject. “I’m a shifter. Raven’s a human. How were we able to imprint on each other?”

  I moved closer to him and looked to Rosella for an answer.

  “Since the Hell Gate opened, the supernatural world has been changing,” Rosella began. “The universe always wants to maintain balance between good and evil. Without good, people destroy themselves. Without evil, they have nothing to fight for. It’s like yin and yang—both sides are necessary to complete a full circle. The opening of the Hell Gate shifted that balance. Changes in the supernatural world are how the universe is reacting to move the balance back to its natural state.”

  I stared at her, taking it all in. “So Noah and I imprinting on each other will help… rebalance the universe?”

  How could we—two people in a world of billions—matter that much?

  “My sight has shown me that it’s not just you and Noah who are experiencing these changes,” she said. “There are others as well.” She looked to Noah, as if he might have the answer.

  “Sage and Thomas,” he said instantly. “They imprinted on each other, too.”

  10

  Raven

  “What?” I turned to him, both shocked and happy at the same time. “You never told me that.”

  “Didn’t have time.” He shrugged. “We’ve been a bit busy since I rescued you from that bunker.”

  “True,” I supposed. He’d also told me he was going to tell me what had happened to Sage. I was worried for her. Terrified, actually.

  If she were dead, he’d have told me. Right?

  Of course he would have. And I would have felt his grief through the imprint bond.

  So at least I knew Sage wasn’t dead. I’d become close to her since she’d helped Noah rescue me from Azazel. I might even go as far as saying she was the sister I’d never had. And we were only just getting to know each other. Losing her now would be devastating.

  But she wasn’t here, either. Which was worrying.

  I also didn’t know how long Rosella had with us, and she was finally giving me answers about the imprinting. This was something I’d wanted to know for a long time.

  I needed to focus on one thing at a time.

  Focusing on one thing at a time was the only way I was getting through life right now. If I tried to think about everything at once, I was pretty sure I’d lose myself in
a deep hole of anxiety and fear.

  “So something happened to me and Thomas to make us able to imprint on shifters?” I asked Rosella.

  “Not just you and Thomas,” she said with another knowing smile. “The entire imprint bond process as a whole has changed. You see, for centuries the supernatural community has stayed pretty divided by species. The vampire kingdoms, the wolf packs, and the witch circles like living with their own kind. Yes, there are exceptions, like we have at the Haven. But even here, species tend to stick together. Now supernaturals need to come together to fight against the demons. And what’s the best way to bring people together?”

  She paused to look at Noah and me, waiting for an answer.

  “A common enemy?” I guessed.

  “Yes,” she said. “But something else is stronger than that. Love.”

  “So it’s not just me and Noah, or Sage and Thomas.” I sucked in a breath, endless possibilities rushing through my mind. “Shifters can now imprint on anyone?”

  “So it seems,” Rosella confirmed.

  “Wow.” Noah sat back, shocked. “That’s… different.”

  “You’re unhappy about it?” I moved slightly away from him, unable to help feeling hurt. This change was what had allowed him and I to imprint on each other. Shouldn’t he be grateful?

  Unless he was going back to all that crap he’d spewed back in Thomas’s penthouse about how it would be “better for me” to have a “normal relationship” instead of mating with a wolf shifter. He better not be going back to that.

  Because no one was the boss of me. As long as he wanted to be with me, I could decide for myself if I wanted to be with him.

  “No.” He shook his head and pulled me closer, reassuring me that it wasn’t what I thought.

  It made me feel better, but I was still confused.

  “So why do you sound disappointed?” I asked.

  “I’m not disappointed,” he said. “You just have to understand. In the supernatural world, things have been the same way for hundreds—sometimes thousands—of years. A shift like this is huge. It changes everything I’ve ever known. Everything my ancestors have ever known.”

  “I think that’s the point,” I said. “Like Rosella said, we need a shift if we want to beat the demons. This evolution in imprinting is the shift the universe knows we need to help us win.”

  “Apparently so,” he said. “I know I’m not always the best at expressing how I feel, but I’m happy about this change. How could I not be? It brought us together. So don’t you ever think otherwise. Okay?”

  I just stared up at him with love and nodded. If Rosella weren’t sitting a few feet away watching, I would have kissed him.

  From the heat rushing through Noah’s deep brown eyes, I knew he wanted the same exact thing.

  But we both managed to restrain ourselves. Because sure, the seer was blind. But she’d totally know what we were up to. And that would just be weird.

  “Well, it seems I’ve overstayed my welcome.” Rosella pulled herself up from her chair. “It’s best I see myself out now.”

  “No.” I sat upright, not wanting her to leave. Well, I did sort of want her to leave so I could have alone time with Noah. But the seer had knowledge and answers. I wanted to know everything she knew. I couldn’t let her walk away so easily.

  “Yes,” she said. “Thomas is coming up to tell you both something very important. He’ll be here soon. It’s a conversation best for the three of you to have alone, without me present.”

  “Does it have to do with Sage?” I asked.

  Noah tensed up next to me. He was just as curious.

  “It does,” Rosella confirmed. “You’ll want to hear it. And before I go…” She paused and turned her glassy eyes in my direction, seriousness taking over her features. “I wish you the best of luck in the Angel Trials. It’s not going to be easy. But whatever you learn when you get to Avalon—no matter how hopeless or impossible things might seem—you must always believe in yourself. You have a gift, Raven. When you put your mind to something, you can accomplish anything. Don’t ever forget that.”

  “I won’t,” I said, although breathlessness clawed at my chest.

  Everyone kept telling me to believe in myself—that I could do things others couldn’t because of my stubbornness.

  It made me scared about whatever I was going to face when I got to that island. Because sure, I was stubborn. But I was still human. And I didn’t feel ready for any of this.

  But I had to be. Not just for myself, but for my mom. For Noah. For all those gifted humans who’d been trapped in that bunker. For everyone in jeopardy from the demons who wanted to take over the world.

  I just hoped I was enough.

  Because I sure didn’t feel like it.

  11

  Raven

  Someone knocked on the door exactly a minute after Rosella left the hotel room.

  “Thomas,” Noah said his name loudly. “Come in.”

  Thomas marched inside, wearing his suit covered in Cassandra’s blood. His eyes raged with determination. And he didn’t comment on Noah’s knowing he was the one at the door.

  Probably because thanks to Noah’s supernatural sense of smell, he would have known it was Thomas even if Rosella hadn’t told us.

  “What’s going on?” I sat forward, ready to hear about Sage.

  “Bella and I just had an educating chat with Dr. Foster,” he said. “To save Sage, we have to kill Azazel.”

  “Save her?” I looked back and forth between Thomas and Noah in confusion. “I don’t know what happened to her. One moment Azazel had both of us in the bunker. The next, he threw me in with the other gifted humans and teleported away with Sage. That was the last I saw of her.”

  “We learned a lot when we were searching for both of you,” Noah said.

  From there, he continued on to tell me everything he and Thomas had learned and gone through with Sage while they were planning their rescue mission for me.

  Dread filled my heart as I listened to the story.

  “So you’re saying Sage isn’t Sage anymore?” I pressed my lips together, praying I was wrong.

  “Blood binding to Azazel took away her free will,” Thomas said. “I saw her. It was…” He paused, his eyes far off, and shuddered. “She can’t stay that way. I won’t allow it.”

  “She won’t,” I promised. “We’re heading to Avalon tomorrow. Once we’re there, we just need to get one of the Nephilim—or the Earth Angel herself—to kill Azazel.” It was all we could do, since only a Nephilim or the Earth Angel had the power to kill a greater demon.

  “True.” Noah shuffled on the bed, not looking at either of us. “Except there’s one small problem with that plan.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Demon teeth.” He looked straight at me. “I need ten of them to get to Avalon. The demon in Chicago was supposed to be our final one. But you know how that turned out.”

  I nodded, since that demon ended up being Azazel in disguise, abducting Sage and me. Needless to say, his tooth wasn’t acquired on that mission.

  “Well, it’s a good thing one of us can keep a level head during a crisis,” I said, shooting him what I hoped was a mysterious smile.

  “What do you mean?” He scrunched his eyebrows together, looking genuinely confused.

  “I mean that while you were fiercely and invisibly killing demons in that bunker, I realized how important their teeth would be.” I reached into the pocket of the bunker jumpsuit I was still wearing and pulled out a pointed, yellowed tooth. “So here you go. One demon tooth. The final one to your collection of ten. Just what the Earth Angel asked for.”

  He looked from me to the tooth and then back to me again. “Have I told you yet that I love you?” he asked.

  “You might have said it back when you rescued me in the bunker.” My cheeks flushed, still not used to those words coming from his mouth. “But trust me, I’ll never get sick of hearing it.”

  He t
ook the tooth from my hand, his skin brushing my palm in the process. Jolts of electricity tingled through my skin at the contact.

  “You’re going to be the best Nephilim the world has ever seen,” he said.

  “You think so?” I tilted my head. I hoped he was right, but I was still so unsure of myself.

  Before he could answer, someone cleared his throat. Loudly.

  Thomas.

  I pulled back from Noah, ashamed. Here we were, together, imprinted on each other, and telling each other how much we loved each other. It was hard not to get so wrapped up in him. But we were being completely insensitive to Thomas’s situation with Sage.

  Thomas might want everyone to think he was as hard as his machines and that he had no feelings. But I knew better. Sage was his world. It was written all over his face with the way he was wistfully watching us.

  “Sorry,” I said, lowering my gaze. “And thank you too—for helping Noah save me and the other humans in that bunker. I know that must have been hard, since you probably wanted to save Sage first. But we’re going to Avalon, and we’re going to save her. She’s like family to Noah, and now she’s like family to me. I promise we won’t let her—or you—down. We’re going to get her back. She’s going to be okay.”

  The more I said it and made myself believe it, the more I hoped it would become true. That was my gift, right?

  “Of course she’ll be okay,” Thomas said. “But in the meantime, I have to see if there’s anything I can do to help prepare Cassandra’s funeral pyre. I’ll see both of you tomorrow.” He turned and swiftly exited the room, not giving us a chance to get in another word.

  The door clicked shut behind him.

  I faced Noah, my heart hammering in my chest at the realization that we were alone—truly alone—for the first time since he’d rescued me from that bunker.

  “I want you to stay with me tonight,” I said quickly, before I lost my nerve. “If you want to, of course.”