Micha comes to me, bends down, and lifts me behind my legs and neck. I groan out as my brain pounds against my skull, and my stomach vibrates with pain. It's excruciating. I clutch Micha and whimper into his chest.
"Where are you taking her?" Luke asks, his deep voice commanding. I immediately look to him. To be honest, I forgot that he was here. He wipes his blood stained hands on his pants and steps towards us.
"Home," Micha says, not even looking at Luke.
"To the Veil?" Luke asks him.
"No. Her home."
"Let me take her. We have better resources in the sanctuary. She needs medical help."
"She's fine." It feels an awful lot like they're about to fight, and I don't want that.
"Put me down," I tell Micha.
"No," he answers me without even looking down.
"She said to put her down," Luke says
"I don't listen to you. I don't know what you're hiding, but we'll find out. Just leave her be," Micha says, taking a step away from Luke.
"She's mine," Luke growls, closing the space between them.
"Hey!" I yell, mustering every once of strength I have left.
"What?" They both ask me.
"Don't I have a say as to where I go?" I ask them. "I want to go to the sanctuary," I tell them sternly. I don't look at Micha because I'm sure he's livid with me. I reach for Luke and he pulls me into his arms without even caring about my broken body. My ribs cry out and my head slams against his chest.
"She belongs with me," Luke tells Micha boastfully.
"You're risking her life," Micha yells as Luke turns to take me back to the sanctuary.
"Just go," I say over Luke's shoulder, pleading with my eyes. Micha's shoulders slump in defeat.
"I'm taking her where she belongs—my home," Luke says, smiling through his face.
"I thought we were going to the sanctuary?" I ask Luke, but he brings his hands over my face and shushes me. I frown because his actions annoy me. I look over Luke's shoulder at Micha, confused.
Luke smiles at Micha angrily. As he steps, a rumble erupts from below our feet. I hold onto him for dear life.
Luke turns around so that we're facing Micha. My head hurts, and I'm having trouble not falling into meditation to heal myself. But, before I can think anymore, the pavement falls in on itself.
It's like a giant sinkhole in front of Luke and I. Luke places me on the ground beside him, but I hold his hand so I don't fall in. I can barely stand on my wobbly legs. Luke uses his other hand to rid himself of his jacket. What I see underneath stuns me to the core.
Giant, red wings spring out from behind Luke's shirt and widen, the feathers unfurling to a wingspan so vast, I've never seen the likes of it before. It's magnificent, but I'm confused.
He's an Angel?
Immediately I answer my own question. He can't be an Angel, so he must be a Demon. I try to run once it all clicks in my head. I try to get away from him on pure instinct, but Luke grabs me around the waist and hoists me into his arms.
"Micha!" I cry out for him to save me. But he's on the other side of the hole. I reach for him, but when I move forward, rubble falls into the seemingly never-ending pit.
"I'll find you!" Micha yells back to me. Before I can beg him to save me, Luke jumps in and flies down the black tunnel with me in his arms.
PART TWO
Micha
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Army
Her dark head of hair disappears into the black hole that sinks deeper and deeper into what I know is a portal into the Lower Veil. I crumble to my knees as I reach for her. I lean into the pit, but each time I try to dive in or grab her, electrical jolts spark from my hand through my body by the wall that the Demon erected. I don't understand how she couldn't feel his evil presence—it's basic Angel instinct.
Despite my better judgment, I unfurl my massive wings and try to push my way past the invisible force field and follow Annie. I bang against the air again and again. But even with the use of my stronger-than-normal wings, I'm too weak.
For the first time in my life, I'm stumped. I have to go back to the Archers and plead with them to help me get her back. I can't just leave her down there to rot in the Lower Veil with the Demons. I don't know how the Archers will handle knowing that I went out of my way to check on her when our direct orders stated that we were supposed to leave her alone for the rest of her life.
She's just a human, they said. She doesn't matter to us; it's not our job anymore, they said to me. If only they knew how wrong they were. Annie has always been something more to me. I don't know why or how or even if it's right or wrong for me to feel this way, but I'm done caring.
My anger with Rem hasn't faltered over choosing her to mate with that Tab kid. Sure, he has a promising future, and he's definitely determined, but come on, she's perfect for me. I pleaded with the higher powers to mate us, but to no avail.
And now she's gone.
It will be impossible for me to get her out of the Lower Veil without help. The Angels won't help unless there's probable cause, and I don't even know why he took her or what's going on in the first place. I don't know why this is happening.
I slam my fist against the ground, and the pavement shatters beneath my trembling fist, creating long stream-like divots of the asphalt. How could I let her pick him over me? I just stood there, my ego wounded despite the fact that it had no right to be.
What would Sara do if she saw how pathetic I am now?
I have to go to the place they kept speaking of—the sanctuary—and figure out what's going on. I shut my eyes and try to feel out where power lies. I search for a ping of power in this large world. My own emotions are too strong to feel past them, so I lean back on my heels and attempt to breathe through my anger, worry, and uneasiness. I search for the power Angels, even Nephalem, hold.
When I feel it, I open my eyes and sniff around like a dog. The hole is still in front of me, only now there are people congregating around it. Humans have no understanding of privacy, and their curiosity constantly rules them. They stare at my wings like I'm a monster.
But I don't let them stare long, especially once I see people with cameras start to emerge towards me. I fly straight up and dart behind buildings, out of sight. I follow the feeling of power and let it take me all the way to a large building in the residential area of the city.
There's a man standing at the front door, and he holds up his hand as I approach him with fast steps. He stands there in front of me as if he's waiting for me to explain my purpose. I roll my eyes at the way these humans are. I hate being on Earth with a burning passion. Unfortunately, it's my job to ensure their well being, so I'm required to visit every once and a while. I try to clip those visits short, though. Until now, of course.
"I'm here to see Luke," I tell the man, and he nods and drops his arm to let me pass by him. I let myself into the skyscraper, and instead of opting for the elevator, I barge into the left side stairwell and fly up to the top. Nobody takes stairs anymore, so I know I'm safe in here from prying human eyes.
I let myself out on the most top floor. It's eerily quiet, too quiet for my liking, but I have to save Annie, so I push my way in and ignore my sinking suspicions that something is wrong.
There's a desk in the foyer, Usually humans have a woman sit there and answer phones, but here, it's left vacant. I step behind the desk and rifle through her papers to see if anything looks odd. It seems like most of it is just schedules for Luke so I keep moving.
I let myself into what I'm guessing is his office and, oddly, nobody stops me. I keep walking around the room, exploring, searching for a clue as to why he's taken Annie. I look on his bookshelves, in his drawers, and then I go to his desk. It's actually very neat, which annoys me to my core.
Suddenly, there's whimpering from behind a door next to his desk. I debate what to do. The person behind the door sounds injured and upset, but I shouldn't care. I need to keep my mind on one track: finding answers
to save Annie.
But, in the end, the noise worries me so much that I walk over and open the door with my hand, stopping a few paces back incase the person is a threat to my safety. There's a young boy sitting on the floor, his mouth covered with silver tape, and his arms and legs tied together behind him way too tightly.
His eyes widen at the sight of me, and he squirms away like he's afraid. I hold up my hands to the side, so he knows that I'm not a threat. "I'm an Angel." I point to my black wings behind me to show him the truth in my words. "I'm here to help," I tell him, nodding very slowly. I reach down to him and start to rip the tape from him. He cries, as it sticks to him like a second skin. Unfortunately, it's on there good, so I pull as fast as I can and it comes off, but looks very painful.
"I just want to go home. I won't interfere," the boy says over and over between ragged sobs. Something has happened to him, and the fact that he's in Luke's office closet tied up is suspect.
"I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm an Archer. I can help you," I tell him, stepping back so that he has some space to breathe. I don't want this boy to be afraid of me. I want his trust. He rubs his arms up and down and massages his chin, thinking hard.
"They're gone, aren't they?" the boy asks, looking up at me.
"There's nobody here. Is that what you're talking about?"
"She's gone?"
"Who?" I question back, my voice hard. I step towards him as his eyes narrow in on me.
"Annie."
"What do you know about her?" I yell out, unable to contain myself. I reach for the boy and pull him up by his shirt collar so he's as close as he gets. He knows her name so this all must have something to do with her. "Sorry." I put him down on the desk chair and step back so I don't hurt him by accident. Anger boils from under my wings at just the mention of Annie.
"It's starting," the boy says, shaking his head sullenly.
"What's starting?" I ask back, wanting this child to just tell me what he knows. I'm sick of his strange words. I need answers, and I need them fast.
"The war," he says. "He's assembling the army, and soon they'll take over Earth."
"What are you speaking about?" I ask with harshness I didn't know my voice was capable of.
"Luke! The Demons want more land. There's too many to hold in the Lower Veil. They're taking over Earth."
"Oh Rem," I mutter under my breath. I walk away from the desk and the boy, needing to sort through my thousands of thoughts. I pace up and down the annoyingly red carpet and try to come up with a plan as fast as I can. If this child is right, then that gives the Angels reason to intervene. This could be all I need to save Annie. "Come with me. We need to warn the Angels. We need to fight back." I fly to the boy's side and grab his shoulder.
"It's useless," the boy says, trying to get free from my grasp. He rolls his shoulder back and my hand unclasps from him. He gets up from his chair and runs his hand through his sweaty hair, muttering something under his breath like a crazy person. "He has millions of Demons and Nephalem who will fight beside him. We're all going to die!" he yells, shaking from fear.
"Come," I command. I don't wait for his reply. I grab him under the arms and lift into the air. I fly so that the boy can't touch the ground and bring him with me out through the foyer and into the stairwell.
He screams about the end of the Earth. Heavy, loud sobs take over his body, and it feels as if he's laughing he's shaking so much. But I can feel the fear radiate off him. Since nobody is around, I pay him no attention and let him get it out of his system.
I climb to the roof and take the boy in both of my arms. I cradle him, his head on one arm, his knees across the other, and fling off the side of the building.
"What the hell!" The boy screams as we free fall towards the black pavement. I have to admit, I let my wings stay tucked for longer than necessary just to shut the kid up and scare him into silence. But finally, my wings spring out and pump one time to get us moving back up. After another moment, the boy passes out in my arms, and I fly in peace and quiet.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Act of Persuasion
I'm able to make it to the Veil in record time. To say that two trips in such a short period of time didn't take a toll on my body would be an understatement. Luckily, the boy remains asleep for most of the ride. As I start to maneuver my way down the aisle of the Archer's Castle, he starts to stir in my arms.
"It's okay," I tell him, so he doesn't get upset right when he awakens. I've memorized the aisles of our communities, so I watch as the boy's eyes flutter open and then widen in alarm.
"You're not going to kill me, right?" the boy says, frowning up at me. Although it's clear he's scared, he's able to put on a pretty brave face. He squirms a little, and when he looks down and sees that there is no floor, he clings to my shoulder.
"No," I tell him honestly. "What's your name?"
"Hare," he answers hesitantly, his voice a bit shaky.
"Well, Hare, I need you."
"Me?" he asks, his eyes showing just how confused he is.
"I need you to tell my fellow Angels what's happening on Earth. I need your help, because I need to get Annie back. I have to save her."
He pauses, as if he needs time to mull over my proposition. "I'll help you," he finally says. "But I want to help you save Annie, too. You have to promise that I can come. My sister is down there, too."
"Fine," I answer, because I need him. He'll just hold me back and be slow, and I'll have to pick up the slack, but one more body helping me get to Annie is better than none.
"So, you don't have ground or anything?" Hare asks as he looks over my shoulder at the landscape of the Veil.
"Not in this area. When we get to the castle, you can walk." I laugh because the castle is really the only area that has floors, which is only because we fight there and it sucks falls straight into the air. I guess we're kind of lazy.
"What am I going to have to say to them?" Hare asks as we get closer and closer.
"Just tell them what you told me," I tell him. "Don't be nervous."
"Easy coming from you," Hare says back to me, a smirk on his face. He goes quiet as the castle comes into view from behind the white air. It's really not all that special, but the first time someone comes to visit, he or she always displays the same shock and awe.
Unlike castles on earth, the Archers Castle is triple the size. This might be because the seven of us live in it, though not by choice. It's awfully constricting and despite its large stature, it's too cramped for my liking. The walls are stark white with little lines to accent doors and windows.
"Why is everything white?" Hare asks as I hover above the ground.
"Rem likes the Veil to be clean. We have perfectly clean air and perfectly white, well, everything," I explain as I place him on the ground. I'm not sure what day it is, but I pray that there are no visitors around.
Hare wobbles a bit on his legs as he gets acclimated to the ground. I have to admit that the air and feel of the ground beneath your feet is different than Earth, but it's still funny to see. Like a deer on newborn legs. Sometimes I'll look out from my window in the castle and watch the even some Angels struggle to get used to our little plot of land.
Although, I almost quit when a child fell off the side of the ground. Angels always think that they're invincible, like Annie did when I brought her to Earth the first time. The kid walked right over to the side and slipped and plunged into the air.
"I've never seen anything like this," Hare mutters in awe, his eyes darting from floor to roof of the castle.
"You've never been to the Veil, right?" I ask him back, using my hand to direct him towards the towering castle doors. Hare wordlessly shakes his head no. There's no moat, unless of course you consider the white air as its own protection. There's no drawbridge or anything like that. Just a simple white door in the front.
I raise my arm and open the door for Hare. He steps inside, and I follow behind him, my nerves on high alert as ant
icipation runs through me. The front room is all for looks. Most of the bottom floor is, since the tours are all down here and not where the living quarters are.
Luckily, to get upstairs you need to be able to fly, as there are no stairs or anything human like that. Archers are all adults, so we don't have to worry about the portable stairs that children use until their birthdays.
I watch from inside the front door as Hare walks in circles around the room. He pauses to admire the dangling chandelier that's never been used before: we have no need for the artificial light. Actually, I don't even think we have electricity up here.
Sometimes, the Domineers get a little carried away with human influences. Personally, I think it's useless, but that's just my own prejudice. Hare stops at a display case near the back exit and stares at the artifacts found in it.
I fly to his side to see what has caught his attention. This case has one of my favorite objects still encased in its original sheath: Rem's golden sword that he used to take over the Veil, complete with sparkling yellow jewels embedded in the handle. After staring at the thing for hours, I've been able to notice something quite spectacular.
"Do you see right above where the blade meets the handle?" I ask Hare, pointing to the spot through the glass.
"By the diamonds?" he asks back.
"Yes. If you look carefully to right above that little diamond in the middle, you can see some blood from Rem's battle," I tell him, proud of my observation.
"No way," Hare says, bending down so his forehead is pressed firmly against the glass. I watch him squint and turn to try to get a good look. "Wow," he mutters when he finally sees it, his eyes glued to the case.
"Pretty awesome, huh?"
"Definitely."
"Come. We have to talk to the Archers. I'm sure they know we're here by now," I tell Hare, pushing his shoulder so he turns in the right direction.
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