Angelstone: Dark Angel #2 (Urban Fantasy)

by Peach, Hanna

No doubt they would barge in any second now or, if he was lucky, they would knock first. But they didn’t knock on Alyx’s door. Israel heard the dull echo of their knocking on his door and a muffled voice calling out his name. They were after him.

  Israel grabbed the top of the sill and swung his legs, knees tucked, so that his feet landed softly on to the sill. Spinning on his toes, then pushing out, he launched up and out of the window, grabbing onto the awning of the roof above. He pulled himself up and vaulted across the roof. Jumping backwards off the other side of the roof, he grabbed again at the awning above his window and swung himself back into his room. Just as the doors burst open.

  Marin and Jordan stood like an unfriendly wall, blocking his doorway. Great. Exactly what you wanted to see darken your doorway at the crack of dawn.

  “Can I help you?” asked Israel, standing squared towards them. He would not allow himself to be intimidated by them.

  “Why didn’t you answer?” Marin snapped at him.

  Israel shrugged. “Deep sleeper.”

  “You sleep standing up?” Marin growled, obviously not buying Israel’s explanation.

  Jordan stepped forward, holding his hands out as if to placate them. “We’re not here to start a fight. Now quiet down or you’ll wake everyone up.” He nudged his head towards Alyx’s room leaving no doubt in Israel’s mind that Jordan didn’t want Alyx awake for this.

  A prickle started in Israel’s neck. “Why are you here, then?”

  When Jordan spoke there was a grim look to his eyes that scared the hell out of Israel. “You need to come with us.”

  Chapter 16

  Alyx found herself smiling when she woke. She stretched out her fingers to find him and found cold sheets. She bolted upright. He was gone.

  Why did he leave? Alyx felt a wave of insecurity wash over her. What if he regretted last night? What if he regretted staying? What if he changed his mind? Her fingers tingled, cold and bloodless, and the warmth slipped from her limbs.

  She could slip into his thoughts. Since their time at Tara, she had purposely refrained from doing this for fear of what she would find, but right now she needed to know. Alyx closed her eyes and her mind found his.

  “...telling you. I have idea what you’re talking about,” Israel pleaded. His eyes searched the faces of the three Seraphim who held him captive in this strange windowless room, looking for some sort of indication that this was just some sick little joke.

  “Don’t play games with us, boy,” said Marin.

  “Marin, please,” said Tobias. “It is possible that Israel had no knowledge of his bloodline.”

  “Of course he’d say that,” Marin grumbled.

  “What right do you even have to accuse me of such a thing?” demanded Israel.

  There was a silence.

  “Mini.” It was Jordan who finally spoke. He had been standing to one side, not even looking at Israel.

  “How would she know?”

  “Dianne found it in her memory. Mini could smell the demon in you the very first time you met in the Hollows.”

  Israel remembered Mini sniffing the air when he stood at her cell in the Hollows. Had Mini been smelling him? Could they be telling the truth?

  Israel shook his head. It couldn’t be true. “I can’t be part-demon. I’d know.”

  “It would explain your extraordinary strength, your excellent eyesight, and would explain why Samyara is after you.” Jordan turned to face him. “Unless of course, you’re really working for Samyara and this Guardian thing with Alyx is some sort of elaborate demon magic trick to get within our community.”

  “That’s a lie.” Israel stood up so quickly, he knocked his chair back with a clatter.

  Within an instant, Jordan and Marin had their weapons drawn.

  “Gentleman, please. There is no need for violence.” Tobias held up his hands in a placating motion. “Israel, please look at it from our perspective. We don’t know anything about you apart from what Alyx has told us. You now know the location of Aradale and are in a position to discover the rest of the locations of the Rogue communities. If you just consent to proving your innocence, then we can go on as if nothing happened,” Tobias said.

  “What do I have to do?” Israel tried not to let his nerves show.

  “Let Dianne shift through your memories. We shall find out soon enough whether you have any alliance with the Darkened.”

  No. Alyx pulled herself back into her body. It pained her to know that Israel had to find out about his demonblood like that, alone in that dark room like he was a criminal. Her heart burned with fury at Jordan, Marin and Tobias. Then it turned to ice. If Israel opened up his mind… Alyx flushed with the thought of having all of their private moments exposed. She had to stop them.

  She flew from the room, throwing on her singlet and grabbing her sword on her way out. Alyx knew from her connection with Israel that he was underneath the building. Some sort of basement, she suspected. She sped through the corridors and down the stairwell, startling the Seraphim that she flew past.

  After racing up and down the whole bottom floor, Alyx let out a cry of frustration. There was no way down to a basement. No stairs, no lift… But there had to be a way down. She could feel Israel down there. There had to be a hidden stairway somewhere. But where?

  Alyx remembered the maps and layouts of Michaelea she discovered when she was searching through Elder Michael’s chambers. If anyone had a plan of Aradale, Tobias would.

  Alyx flew towards Tobias’s office, secure in the knowledge that he wouldn’t be there.

  Tobias’s door was unlocked. After checking that no one was in the corridor, Alyx slipped inside. She aimed straight for the few Threads that were rolled up on the shelf next to his inventions. Her fingers brushed hurriedly across the Threads.

  Nothing useful. No map. How could this be?

  A noise at the door made her freeze. Two voices. Alyx scanned the room for somewhere to hide. There was only the desk and that was too far away. The door handle turned. Alyx twitched in panic. She was about to get caught.

  An object on the shelf caught her eye, and she almost cried out with relief. She grabbed for the Miragecharm and activated it so that she blended in with her background. Just as the door swung open and Dianne and Jordan floated in. Alyx scarcely dared to breathe lest they hear her.

  “…and we’ll be there, Dianne. Don’t worry. He can’t hurt you,” Jordan was saying. He floated straight for the bookcase filled with mortal books that spanned across the wall behind Tobias’s desk, Dianne behind him. What was he doing?

  Jordan fumbled with something at one end of the bookcase. Alyx’s mouth dropped open when a section of bookcase clicked and swung out a little from the wall. A secret passageway. Of course.

  Adrenalin buzzed under Alyx’s skin as she watched them enter the dark passageway. The bookcase closed behind them.

  As soon as she heard the bookcase click, Alyx flew for the area where she saw Jordan fumbling. There had to be a lever or something… Alyx felt around the shelving but she couldn’t find it. She moved back and stared at the bookshelf. Could the lever possibly be a book? But there were so many books. It would take too long to try each one. Surely there was an easier way?

  Alyx drew her eyes across the spines and titles, praying that something would stand out... Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Darney… wait. Alyx remembered reading A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Darney was a character. Charles Dickens was the author. Could this be it?

  Alyx reached out and pulled back the spine of the book. She was rewarded with a click to her left.

  The passageway was dim and immediately turned into a dark set of stairs that curled around. Alyx followed them down. At the bottom of the stairs was a long dark corridor, lit only by a few scattered torches along the wall. The flames flickered as she passed, the only evidence of her movement. The Miragecharm made sure that even her shadow had disappeared. Along the corrid
or were doors. Which one?

  She thought she heard voices, faintly. Alyx moved forward towards a door. The voices were arguing. Israel. Israel was behind that door.

  Alyx deactivated the mirage and drew her sword. She kicked open the door. The inhabitants of the dark room jumped. Jordan turned his sword on her. Marin kept his trained on Israel, who was slumped in his chair.

  “Alyx?” Jordan lowered the point of his blade slightly.

  Alyx raised her own blade to meet his. “Let him go.”

  “Alyx, we just want—”

  “I know what you goddamn want and I’m telling you, you’re not touching him.” Alyx laughed but it wasn’t because she was finding anything about this situation funny. “I can’t believe I trusted you.”

  Jordan looked pained. “You still can, Alyx.”

  “Says the man pointing his weapon at me.”

  “Alyx,” the relief in Israel’s voice was palpable. She looked over to him. He had straightened up in his chair and some life had returned to his eyes.

  “Did they hurt you?” she asked.

  Israel shook his head but his eyes still watered with pain. No, they may not have hurt him physically, but the revelation that he wasn’t completely human… that he contained within him blood of the creatures that he hated so much… God, Alyx could only imagine how this was tearing at Israel’s insides. And for him to find out this way… Alyx’s stomach churned with guilt. Part of this was her fault. She should have just told him.

  “Of course we wouldn’t hurt him,” Tobias spoke gently. “We just need to make sure that he’s not going to compromise the safety of this community.”

  “By probing his mind? What you did to Mini was bad enough,” Alyx growled, directing this at Dianne, who hung back in a far corner.

  Dianne drew herself up, trying to hide her unease. “If he has nothing to hide…”

  “No,” Alyx snapped. “Invading his mind… it’s a violation. Israel has had a rough past. I won’t let you make it public.”

  “It wouldn’t be public, it would just be us,” said Tobias.

  “It doesn’t matter. I won’t let him do it.”

  “Perhaps we should let Israel decide what’s right for him.”

  Everyone’s eyes turned to Israel. His mouth moved as if he was about to speak, but no sound emitted from him. His gaze found Alyx’s. She could see in his eyes that he was torn. Torn between wanting to clear his name and having all of his secrets revealed. Like their intimate night together.

  What would it mean for the two of them if they allowed that to become public? If this was in front of the Elders, they would both be punished. But the FreeThinkers… would they accept a relationship between a Seraphim and a mortal? No, not just a mortal… a part-demon. Alyx felt the blood drain from her face. Even if the FreeThinkers accepted their relationship, it wouldn’t be long before someone made a connection with the prophecies. The secret about the significance of their child, if she truly was pregnant, would be revealed.

  “Can I have a moment alone with Alyx, please?” Israel said. “I’ll give you my answer after that.”

  Dianne and Marin began to protest, but Tobias held up his hand to silence them. “I think that is safe enough. There is no way out of this room apart from that door.” Turning to Israel, Tobias said, “We will stand outside and wait. You have two minutes. Then, we would like an answer.”

  Israel nodded. Tobias herded the others out.

  As soon as Alyx was alone with Israel, she flew to his side, sheathing her sword. “Israel?”

  He took her hands in his. “Alyx, they think I’m part-demon. They’re wrong. I’m not working for the Darkened. You believe me, don’t you? You don’t think our bond is a trick, do you?”

  Alyx shook her head.

  A small smile lightened his face for a moment. “I want to prove it to them.” Alyx couldn’t help the soft cry that slipped from her lips. Israel’s face darkened. “But you don’t want me to do it.”

  “They’ll see... us. Everything. All of it.” She couldn’t bear to hold his gaze at that moment. Alyx burrowed her forehead against their hands. She felt him slip his fingers under her chin so that he could tilt her face towards his.

  “Tell me the truth, Alyx. Are you embarrassed about what we did?”

  “What? No. You think... no, Israel. That’s not it at all.”

  “Then why not? If it’ll clear my name...”

  “Israel, that night, everything between us... it should just be for us. If we let them see it... it won’t be ours anymore.”

  “But that’s all that will happen. They’ll just see it.” Israel laughed. “Perhaps seeing a bit of skin will help remove the rod stuck up Dianne’s ass.”

  She laughed, but she quickly cut it off. “This isn’t a time to be joking, Israel.”

  “Hey,” Israel leaned his forehead against hers and brought their hands up to his lips. “They can’t know how we felt in those moments. They can’t know what was in my heart, your heart... They can’t take that. That is still ours. Forever.” He kissed each of her fingers entwined with his. “I want to do this to clear my name. But I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

  Alyx whispered, “There must be another way...”

  They pulled themselves apart as the door opened. Tobias, Jordan, Marin and Dianne returned silently into the room.

  “Well?” Tobias said. “Have you made up your mind?”

  Israel opened his mouth to speak.

  There must be another way…

  “Wait,” Alyx called out. She turned to Jordan. “Remember the other day when the MemoryThief almost touched me? Didn’t you say that that the MemoryThief chanted that little poem about my most divine memory so that it would conjure up the happiest moments of my life and bring them to the forefront of my mind so that she could steal those particular moments?”

  Jordan looked mildly confused. “Yes, but—”

  “If you could do the same thing to Israel but referring to the Darkened, then you would bring forward only his memories relating to the Darkened...”

  “…and you would only need to shift through all of the memories of my experiences with the Darkened,” Israel said catching on.

  Alyx glanced around at everyone’s faces. They had to say yes. It was the only way to prove his innocence and keep their privacy.

  Tobias looked to Dianne. “Would that work to satisfy us?”

  Dianne frowned. Alyx groaned inwardly at Tobias deferring to Dianne. Surely she would never let up that easily.

  But then Dianne nodded. “It would certainly save me a lot of time and energy shifting through all his memories if we could just isolate those related to the demon-kind.”

  * * *

  It took Dianne over an hour to shift through Israel’s memories of the Darkened.

  Finally she pulled her hands off him and slumped down into the only other chair in that dark room. “The boy is telling the truth. I see nothing here that links him to the Darkened.”

  “I told you he wasn’t lying. He didn’t know anything about his demonblood,” Alyx said, glaring at Dianne triumphantly.

  Dianne frowned. Then a strange glint came into her eyes. “What his memories don’t tell me, however, is why you kept the knowledge of his demonblood from him.”

  The blood drained from Alyx’s face. What would she say? What was her excuse? “I… I…” she muttered. Then a realization struck her. “Wait, you couldn’t possibly know that from Israel’s memories.”

  Dianne’s smile dripped with fake sincerity. “Of course, you’re right. But thank you for confirming to me something I only suspected.”

  Alyx’s stomach dropped. Oh, stupid girl. She had just been tricked into revealing it herself.

  “You knew?” The accusation came from Israel. Alyx cringed. When she looked at him, her heart broke. “So it’s true.” His face twisted with her betrayal. “I have demonblood. And you never thought to tell me.”

  “Israel, I…”

  B
ut he didn’t let her finish. He stood up, his chair falling back with a clatter, and stormed past her and out the door. Nobody moved to stop him. Alyx stood frozen for one long moment. What had she done? Why hadn’t she just told him? A single tear fell from her eye and the sensation of the warm liquid on her cheek was enough to snap her out of her stillness. She flew after Israel, calling for him to stop.

  Chapter 17

  Alyx caught up to Israel out in the forest of the Aradale property. He was laying into a tree trunk with his blade, splinters of wood flicking out from his constant attack. The wind seemed to carry Israel’s fury as it caught the splinters and pulled off leaves from the trees around them in a circular gust.

  “How long have you known?” he yelled without turning to her.

  “I...” Alyx’s mind scrambled for what to say. Should she lie to soften the blow?

  “How,” slash, “fucking,” slash, “long?”

  Alyx felt all the potential excuses and lies dribble out from her. Her shoulders curved forward around her as if they were trying to shield her from the consequences she knew she had to face.

  “Mayrekk told me,” she said. “Before I came for you in the Hollows. There is something in the prophecies about... us.”

  Israel threw the sword at her and she jumped. It struck the ground near Alyx’s feet with so much force that the blade buried itself almost halfway deep into the earth. He hadn’t been trying to hit her. But it was close.

  Israel began to pound into the tree with his fists, growling as he did. The wind howled louder. He began to leave behind glistening red marks where he hit the bark. His punches became a furious crescendo until he collapsed forward over his knees with a yell.

  Alyx took a step towards him. She flinched when he snapped around. His eyes glinted with a hardness she had never seen turned on her before. His hard breaths shook his shoulders. His fists, now dripping blood across his knuckles, hung in tightly wound balls by his sides. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was... afraid to. I was trying to protect you. To keep from hurting you.”