“Didn’t they sleep together?” Addison interjected. “At least, that’s how it was in that movie, right?”
“They did,” Reniel answered as he polished off one bowl of shrimp and grits and went back for more. Addison’s jaw dropped as she realized how fast he’d consumed the first helping. “After her journey to Jerusalem, the queen returned to her own homeland, where she gave birth to a son, Menelik. Many years later, when Solomon angered God, the ring was taken from him. He lost not only the ring and its power, but Solomon’s kingdom was also lost, as well.”
“Wow.” She shook her head. “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
“Solomon turned his back on his beliefs, and wealth, possessions, and lust became his gods. They destroyed him. It was a just punishment.”
She could see that Reniel believed that, so she kept her mouth shut. Even if she didn’t understand all that had happened, it had no bearing on the present. Things were the way they were, and the past in the past. “So how did the Ethiopians end up with the ring?”
“When Solomon was stripped of the privilege of bearing the ring, he left it in the queen’s hands for safekeeping. He knew that even though he no longer had the power to wield it, that there were others who would do anything to unlock its power. He told no one what he had done, but we have always worked closely with the Order to keep it safe. As far as Ethiopia is concerned … they are privileged to have been born of Menelik’s bloodline. The Order is made up of those who are irrefutably descended from the king and queen.”
“So it sounds like we need to hop a plane to Ethiopia,” Micah chimed in from his place in his chair. “Not New York.”
“You will journey to Ethiopia after a stop in Brooklyn,” Reniel answered. “The order will want proof that Addison is the one. Only an Oracle can provide that proof.”
Jack nodded. “You want my great-grandmother to tag along.”
“Vivian has already been told of her part in your mission. She is waiting for you. I have already secured air passage for the four of you from New York to Ethiopia in three days’ time.”
Micah stood. “Well, let’s get this show on the road. Time waits for no man, right, Ren?”
“Wait,” Addison piped up, glancing down at Jackson’s t-shirt covering her body. “We were supposed to go to my apartment to get me some clothes. I’m tired of wearing borrowed stuff that doesn’t fit. Do we have time for that?”
Reniel nodded. “Your flight to New York will not be by conventional means. We leave when you are ready and not before.”
She frowned and turned to Jack. “Not by conventional means?”
Jack grinned. “What, you’ve never flown Angel Airlines?”
11
Fight Night
Addison seemed more confident dressed in her own clothes. With her messenger bag slung over her shoulder, she stood on the roof of Jack and Micah’s apartment—and Mama Jo’s, of course—watching Reniel with expectation lighting up her face.
Seeing all of this through her eyes, Jack could remember how exciting it had all been in the beginning, when the concept of war with demons had been new to him, and angels were strange and foreign creatures. Funny how experiencing it every day had numbed him. Having Addison around, asking questions and exploring and discovering, reminded him of how intriguing it all was.
“Okay,” she said, one hand on her jean-clad hip. “I know you’re an angel and all and I’m sure you’re super strong, but can you fly all three of us to New York at once by yourself?”
Jack couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the dirty look she gave him.
“I could,” Reniel replied with a smug grin and a shrug, “but I think it would be better for everyone involved if I bring in a little help.”
As he spoke, two more figures appeared on the roof, having just swooped down from the starlit sky. Addison gasped and backpedaled, one hand clapped over her mouth. Jack reached out to steady her as she banged up against his chest. Something else he’d forgotten, but was now reminded of in Addison’s presence—how magnificent angels were in their true forms.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “This is what angels really look like.”
Grabbing her shoulders, he turned her until she faced them again. When she gasped this time, it melted into a sigh of awe and wonder. Her muscles relaxed and she melted against him, staring up at the creatures stretching up ten feet tall. Reniel knelt between them and transformed, as well, his human form melting away and revealing his true self. His pristine white wings reached at least twenty feet wide, his skin like polished gold, and his broad, warrior’s body covered in Roman-style armor from head to toe. Glowing white eyes peered out at them from the openings in his helmet. A golden sword dangled at his waist, with a matching bow and sheath of arrows strapped to his back.
The two others, Jack recognized as Elle and another angel named Daniel. Elle’s skin glowed the shade of a moonstone, milky white and glittering with a beauty that rivaled the precious gemstone. Her black hair fell in perfect ringlets down her back, her Grecian style gown draping her body and pooling at her feet, her wings as white and wide as Reniel’s. Daniel, an angel of healing, glimmered the color of an emerald, with gold flecks dancing on the surface, the white glow of his eyes picking up a bit of the green hue, causing them to appear almost aquamarine. He wore a long tunic and matching pants, weaponless, his wings no less impressive than the other two.
“Oh, my God,” Addison whispered, trembling against him. “Is this what they really look like?”
“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled. “I know it’s jarring, but you get used to it after a while.”
She turned and gave him a smile that hit him full force in the gut. “I hope not. I’d hate to get to see something that beautiful all the time and become so blasé about it.”
He winced, feeling even worse now as he watched her walk toward Reniel, one hand outstretched in curiosity. The angel knelt and lowered his wings, letting her explore, touching and stroking the feathers, staring at her reflection in his golden skin. He could remember his own awe when encountering Reniel’s angelic form for the first time, but he saw the memory so distantly, it felt like a lifetime ago. Like someone else’s life being played for him like a film, and he couldn’t connect with the young boy named Jack who had grown up thinking Reniel must be the coolest thing on the planet.
“Don’t be afraid, Addison. I’ve got you,” Reniel said, his voice large and booming as he lifted her beneath her arms and propelled her into the air in one clean motion. Elle did the same with Jack, and Daniel followed suit with Micah. As the seconds passed, New Orleans grew smaller and smaller beneath them. The rushing of the wind swept over them, plastering Jack’s shirt to his chest and muffling all the sounds of the world below. They went higher and higher, the lights of the city now no more than tiny pinpoints as they hurtled upward. He turned his head toward Micah, who had his eyes closed and seemed to be praying that Daniel wouldn’t drop him. His partner never did care for travel this way … he couldn’t bear a plane ride, let alone hurtling through the air without a seat, or several shots of vodka to calm his nerves.
Glancing to his left, he was struck dumb at the sight of Addison. Her hair had come loose from its topknot and floated on the wind, surrounding her face in a haze of red strands. Through them, he could see her face, serene and peaceful, tilted up to the stars. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. Secure in Reniel’s hold, with her back turned against his chest, she spread her arms wide and smiled, seeming to revel in the feeling. Now this … this he had never forgotten. The wonder of flying never got stale, and he knew just what she felt in that moment.
Suddenly, they were swallowed up by wispy, white clouds and the wind stilled. They came out above them, where the night looked even clearer and the stars brighter—free from the distracting city lights. The three angels turned east and continued on their set trajectory, the rustle of their wings beating against the still night air
the sole sound through the stillness.
“This is amazing,” Addison called to him as Reniel swooped closer to Elle. “Do you get to do this often?”
Jack grinned, remembering his bizarre childhood. “When I was little, I did it all the time.”
“All the time?” Reniel snorted, but kept his eyes focused straight ahead as he flew. “The kid thought I was a pack mule. ‘Again, Renny, again, again!’”
Addison giggled at his imitation of young Jack’s voice. “I think it’s so weird that so much goes on in the world every day that impacts the lives of so many people, and they don’t even notice it,” she mused. “I mean, even I never noticed. Angels and demons really do live among us and we interact with them every day. We just took off from a roof in the middle of downtown New Orleans and no one even noticed.”
“People are more distracted than they used to be,” Jack explained. “They get so consumed with their lives that they forget to open their eyes and look around. If they wanted to know the truth about the world, all they’d have to do is look up.”
“Just look up,” she repeated his words, seeming to think them over. “I like that,” she said after a while. “Words to live by.”
Their gazes locked and held, and for a moment, nothing else existed for Jack. His breath caught and held as the moonlight danced in her hazel eyes, causing them to glow. Her lips parted and her eyes widened in fear, yet, she didn’t look away. Her anxiety was mirrored in his own eyes. Whatever existed between them could never last, and they both knew it. That didn’t stop him from wanting her with every inch of his soul.
Without warning, he caught the movement of a dark shadow flying at them from Reniel’s left side. He opened his mouth to warn the angel, but it was too late. Addison seemed to register Jack’s distress in the instant the dark form made contact, throwing Reniel off balance. Her scream split the air, and then faded away as she dropped through the clouds, arms and legs flailing as she hurtled downward.
“Addison!” Jack thrashed in Elle’s hold, one arm extending even though he knew he could do nothing to save her.
“Hold on!” Elle said, her voice echoing on the night as she dove. Still holding him under one of her arms, she reached down with the other as they flew through the clouds. Behind them, he heard the sound of Reniel drawing his sword. Grunts and clashes of metal indicated that the warrior angel battled with whatever had attacked them.
Jack’s heart hammered in his chest for the few seconds it took for them to come out the other side of the cloud. Confidence that Elle could catch Addison in time didn’t stop the very real fear that stabbed through him at the sight of watching her plunge toward death. The white wisps of cloud cleared, and he panicked when Addison was nowhere to be found.
“Oh, my God,” he whispered as his eyes darted back and forth, searching for the beacon of her red hair down below them. “She couldn’t have fallen that far so fast.”
Yet, she was gone. Not fallen … simply vanished.
“Jack,” Elle murmured, giving him a little shake. “Look up.”
He obeyed, and found his breath stolen from him at what he found.
Addison wasn’t below them because she’d risen, arms extended and hair fluttering as if whipped about by a current of wind. The whites and irises of her eyes had gone black, her skin pale as a ghost’s. Levitating upward, she lifted her arms higher, her jaw clenching as she rose. Elle and Jack followed, breaking through the clouds again as she did. They hovered near Micah and Daniel as she neared Reniel and the dragon-like demon he wrestled with.
Jack watched in awe as the black beast with the body of a lizard, wings of a bat, and flicking tongue of a snake wrapped itself around Reniel, attempting to tear his throat out. Two others appeared on the horizon, shadows flying, silhouetted against the moon. As Reniel thrust his sword into the belly of the one attacking him, Addison swiveled on the air to face the other two. She wasn’t afraid or unsure … in fact, this had to be the most confident Jack had ever seen her. With her black, unblinking eyes, she glared at the approaching demons and thrust her hands toward them, palms out. They screeched and snarled as some unseen force stopped them in their tracks. Spreading her fingers, she trembled, her head lowered. Then, without warning, her head snapped back up again, her hands closing into tight fists. The second her fingers closed onto themselves, the demons screamed and burst into flames. Their wings caught first, and the fire spread in a rapid rush down toward their shoulders. Addison turned away from them as they fell from the sky, writhing and screaming in agony while the flames devoured them until nothing remained but ash and smoke.
Reniel floated nearby, watching Addison with the same expression of shock he and Micah wore. His partner had forgotten his fear of heights and flying for the moment.
“Incoming!” Daniel bellowed, one arm still holding Micah tight as he pointed toward the east.
Jack heard them before he saw them. The metallic sound of their wings beating and their low, hissing whispers preceded their appearance. But then, they were there, bearing down upon them, at least one hundred more of the draconic creatures. Reniel was silent and confident as he reached into the sheath at his back and withdrew ten of the massive arrows. Notching them to his bow, he raised his arm and let them loose. All ten reached their intended targets, sending the demons back to hell in bursts of white light similar to a fireworks show. Reniel repeated the motion, taking out another ten as the swarming horde came closer.
“There’s more of ’em,” Micah pointed out.
Jack looked both left and right—they were surrounded.
Addison turned to the east, her arms already outstretched toward the demons flying at them from that direction. Her lips parted on a deep, guttural cry as the same invisible barrier seemed to halt the creatures. She screamed as if in pain as she opened her palms and then clenched them, using much more strength and power to set one hundred of the demons on fire than it had for just two. As balls of orange flame dropped out of the sky and disintegrated into ash, she dropped her arms. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes slid closed.
“Get me closer—she’s gonna fall!” Micah boomed over his shoulder to Daniel, who already flew them in her direction.
“Is she okay?” Jack asked as Addison fell into Micah’s arms. With her head turned inward toward Micah’s chest, Jack couldn’t even tell if she was conscious.
“She’s fine, podna,” Micah said. “Just tuckered out, is all.”
He nodded, turning his gaze on the other horde approaching from the west. “Good. Elle, have you ever played catch before?”
“I am sorry, the games of humans are not known to me, but I believe I understand the basics of throwing and catching,” the angel responded, glancing down at him with a confused frown. Beside them, Reniel fired another ten arrows into the swarm he’d managed to whittle down to twenty.
“Works for me,” he answered. “In this game, you have to throw and catch.”
“You don’t mean …?”
“Throw me straight in the middle of that swarm,” he confirmed. “And I swear to God, if you’re not on the other end to catch me when I come out, I’m going to be so pissed.”
“I think I can manage it,” Elle said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, before hefting him up onto one shoulder. After swinging him around three times, she released him, sending him rushing toward the black cloud of demons with all the force of a cannon.
Jack waited until the burning in his throat and chest had reached an almost unbearable limit. Closing his eyes, he braced himself as the swarm swallowed him up, surrounding him with writhing bodies, tails, and tongues. He winced as claws ripped at his clothes, tearing his skin, but forced himself not to let the pain distract him. Daniel could heal his body when it was over. He waited until he’d reached the center, when he thought his throat would catch fire from the power building there. Then, he unleashed a roar so powerful, he feared it might tear him in half. The force of it rippled out from his core, racing outward on visible w
aves that hit the demons like a sonic blast.
They dropped like flies, falling from the sky in a shower of black body parts and ash. He found himself back in Elle’s arms the moment the sky had cleared. The angel had come through, after all. He sagged in her arms as fatigue caused his muscles to turn to jelly. He didn’t think he’d ever used so much power at once before. This had surpassed even the use of his inner light, and had left him weaker than he’d felt since becoming a Guardian. Reniel had taken care of the rest of the demons, the skies now clear.
The knowledge they were safe stole what remained of Jack’s coherence. Just before he slipped away, he locked eyes with Micah’s. His partner still clutched Addison in a protective hold as they resumed their flight. He nodded and smiled at Jack.
“You did good, podna.”
12
Family Affair
Addison woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. As she opened her eyes and fought to regain her equilibrium, she recognized that her spectacular flight across the heavens had come to an end. Instead of the strong arms of Reniel cushioning her, she found a mattress. Despite its comfort—and that of the downy blanket covering her—her body ached all over, as if she’d just taken a beating, even though she couldn’t recall engaging anyone in a fight.
Groaning, she stretched to loosen the tension in her muscles, then tossed the covers aside. Feeling her way in the dark, she found a nightstand beside the bed and a lamp, which she switched on. The circle of yellow light illuminated a small but tidy room decorated in shades of red, black, and gray. Standing, she turned in a slow circle and surveyed the room.
A teenage boy’s room, she realized as she took in the posters of Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, and half-dressed girls plastered over the walls. New York Knicks and Yankees memorabilia lay scattered about; a desk littered with text books, comics, and a few novels; a rack holding a set of free weights in the corner.
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