by Sam Cheever
I laughed. “Come on, pal. We need to find my father.” I turned to my sexy devil. “You coming?”
“Try to keep me from your side, my princess.”
“I said don’t call me that.” I swung away in a fit of temper and stalked through the bedlam toward the spot in the distance where light exploded in powerful bursts high above the ground. As we moved away from the clearing, the only light in the night came from the fireworks above our heads.
Looking up I realized we’d found where the real battle was being fought. Compared to what I was seeing there, the other stuff was just a skirmish.
In the sky and on the ground angel fought angel. I located my father in the sky, one black and singed-looking wing making it hard for him to stay above the ground. He hung in the air in a lopsided way, favoring the burnt wing.
Still he held his light before him and it was a thing to behold, though it wavered a bit at the edges.
My gaze swung to the place, high above my head, where my mother stood with a shimmering chain on her wrist and Enoch, looking despondent and beaten, crouched on the ground before her. The dark angel’s arms and wings were spread around him, emitting a wall of light and heat that reached from him to my father. The light energy was pulsing against my father’s power, fraying it at the edges.
I assumed that Enoch’s formidable energy was being supplemented by my mother, who was incredibly powerful in her own right.
I decided there was only one way to help my father and I really didn’t want to do it.
I looked at Emo. “I have to take her on.”
He shook his head. “Not by yourself.”
My eyes found his and he read what I would do there before I could do it. “No, Astra!”
He knew me so well.
My voice came out in a choked whisper, I wasn’t sure he even heard me. “Take care of yourself, Emo.” I threw out a thin veil of energy and winked away, praying as I drifted through time and space that I wouldn’t end up in a tree or something worse—like something that moved and had big teeth.
I landed on the cliff behind my mother and immediately felt the pounding heat of Enoch’s power. It felt as if I was standing in the middle of a fire. Leaning forward I looked down to where I’d left Emo and Dialle. They were pounding on the bubble of power I’d wrapped around them. As I watched a huge gargoyle flung itself at the bubble and bounced off, landing hard on the ground at their feet and shaking its head as if stunned.
Emo lifted a finger and made a nice hole in the center of the ’goyle’s head. Then turned to look up at the cliff where I stood, shaking his head.
I grinned. I thought it was a pretty nice piece of work, magic out but no magic in. They were safe and effective at the same time. Prince Dialle didn’t look like he appreciated my efforts.
Go figure.
I shrugged and turned to the problem at hand.
My mother.
She hadn’t noticed my arrival but I suspected my father had because he seemed to be redoubling his efforts to get at Enoch. His light grew until it started pushing Enoch’s back but he strained visibly with the effort.
I studied the shimmering chain between my mother and Enoch carefully. My sensing power told me it was made completely of dark magic.
I knew from my studies that the chain could only be broken by the one who’d created it. Either on purpose or through that creature’s death.
I was betting Danika Phelps wasn’t going to release one of the Big House’s most powerful angels on purpose and I couldn’t even bend my mind around the other option. So I was really hoping there was a loophole in the rule.
As I studied the chain I became aware of a change in the air around me and I glanced down to see an empty spot where I’d left the boys.
“Shit!” I murmured and swung around.
Two devilishly handsome faces with devilishly scowling faces greeted me.
I shrugged and grinned.
Okay, so I’d have help. I didn’t want to admit to myself how relieved I was.
Unfortunately their arrival did not go unnoticed.
My mother turned and twitched in surprise. “Astra? What is the meaning of this?”
I stepped forward, counting on Enoch being too busy to help her with us. “Mother, stop this ridiculous play for power right now and release Enoch. You are way out of line on this.”
She smiled, slowly and sadly. “So I guess you’ve made your choice. You’ll side with him over me?” She glanced toward my father with a curled lip.
I shook my head. “How can you do this, Mother? He loves you. He’s always loved you. It’s been his downfall many times over.”
She waved a hand in disgust. “He is weak and simple, tied to the divine goal like a sacrificial goat. He disgusts me.”
The words were cruel and cold but I saw the lie of them in her eyes. She did love my father and I suspected that if she could find another way around it she wouldn’t kill him at all.
But getting what she wanted was more important to her than anything.
Enoch half turned toward us and I glanced his way. His face was pale and sadness filled his chocolate colored eyes. I read the regret that was clear in that gaze, knowing he would change the current situation if he could. He’d been duped by a beautiful and cruelly evil woman. Just as my father had all those years ago.
“I’m sorry, Astra. I have no choice. I must kill him.” His voice was husky with unshed tears and strained by weariness.
I stared hard at him for a beat and then shook my head, “You do have one choice, Enoch.”
He blinked as the meaning of my words became clear and turned away in shame.
My mother understood what I’d meant too.
I read her intention in her midnight eyes and lifted a hand to stop her. My power arrow hit an invisible wall and she laughed. She raised a hand and my legs buckled beneath me. I hit the ground and was immediately consumed by pain. My entire body felt as if it were being shot through with a thousand volts of electricity and set on fire at the same time. I was pretty sure my skin was being ripped off my body a little at a time and my organs were melting into my body.
I screamed in pain, my body clenching uncontrollably on the cold, rocky ground.
Beyond the bone melting pain, I was vaguely aware of the sound of shouting and of power shooting around me in a seemingly uncontrolled way.
There was a scream of pain and something heavy hit the ground close to me.
God save me, I couldn’t look to see who it was. Even if I knew I couldn’t help. I was melting on the spot and beautiful oblivion beckoned.
Something cool and soft lay across my cheek and I forced my eyes open and turned my head, screaming at the pain it caused.
I nearly cried out with a different kind of pain.
Like midnight silk, long black hair mixed with mine upon the ground. Seeing it lying there, a memory sharp and sweet returned to me. Tangled strands of red and black on a stark white pillow, deep within the ground in the land of the fairies.
Roiling toward unconsciousness, my body clenched with pain, my mind screamed the word my lips couldn’t voice.
It couldn’t be. My Dialle couldn’t be lying dead beside me. It was finally too much. I dropped into a blessed fog of release.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
No Rest for the Weary
Alas our lady tries to find, sweet succor from the pain,
But friends are still in need of her and call her back again.
Someone was calling my name.
I was pretty sure I was dreaming as hard hands dragged me across something rough that tugged at my clothes. The voice kept calling to me and a thought whispered across my mind that I was leaving someone behind. I started to fight the hands that pulled me away.
As the fog started clearing from my brain, I realized the crushing pain was gone. I slapped at the hands under my arms and forcibly cracked my eyes open.
Pain ripped through my skull, pounding along with my heartbeat, but othe
r than that I seemed all right.
Emo tucked his hands under my arms and helped me sit up and then stand. “I got ya, boss.” He smiled down at me, relief clear in his eyes. “You scared the hell out of me.”
I bent my dry lips in a parody of a grin. “If only.”
He chuckled.
I suddenly remembered Dialle and my gaze swept the area in an effort to locate him.
Reading my intention Emo shook his dark head. “He’s dead, Astra. We need to get you out of here.”
“No! He’s not dead.”
Mistaking my vehemence for irrational denial he gave me sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Astra, your mother blasted him pretty good.”
I pushed to my feet. “He’s not dead, Emo. He’s talking to me in my head. I need to get back to him.”
Emo grabbed my arm.
I jerked it away and glared at him. “I’m not delusional, Emo, he’s alive but not for much longer. I need to heal him. Are you going to help me or not?”
He sighed and nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
I reached down into the neckline of my filthy, tattered sweater and grabbed my cross, yanking it off over my head. “Use this, call for help. My father can’t hold them off much longer.”
He took the cross but he looked at it like it was a wriggling supra demon. “I can’t use this, Astra.”
I glared at him, “You have no choice, Emo. Just do it!”
His hand was shaking as he clutched the cross. I patted him on the shoulder and turned away, praying he’d do the right thing. Glancing quickly around, I attempted to get my bearings.
Emo had pulled me behind a large rock but we were only about twenty yards away from the cliff face where Enoch and my mother still fired away at the angels.
I pulled a protective bubble around me and ran back to where I knew Dialle lay on the ground, near death.
Thinking we were both dead or at the very least unconscious, my mother had turned back to the business at hand and wasn’t paying any attention to us. I knelt down beside Dialle and placed my hand over his chest. As I started driving my power into him I felt the daemon hickey on my neck spark and, as he grew stronger, flare into life. Finally he stirred beneath my hands and when he opened his eyes I placed a finger over my lips and jerked my head toward my mother.
He sat up, resting his dark head in his hands for a minute as his chest heaved. A moment later, he shoved to his feet with my help. Nodding, my devil pulled away from my sustaining grip with a frown. He looked so serious I couldn’t resist giving him a little nudge to see if he was back.
I shuffled my mental drawers. You look like you’ve seen a frog, Dialle.
Har, Astra.
I grinned. Sorry, just wanted to see if you were ready to kick some ass.
His lips curved upward in a sensuous smile. Is it kiss your ass time already?
Not kiss... Then realizing he was teasing me I shook my head. Shall we get this bitch?
He frowned in the direction of my evil parent. Are you sure you are up for this, Astra? She is your mother.
I tried not to let my feelings show as I nodded. Emo’s calling for backup, hopefully all I’ll have to do is distract her until they take care of Enoch.
He nodded. Then let’s do this so we can get back to kissing ass.
Dialle and I lifted our hands, pulling our power forward together and launching it toward my mother in a dense stream of deadly energy. If she hadn’t been tied to one of the Universe’s most powerful angels it probably would have finished her off. Instead, it just pinged off a very strong power bubble and blasted the rocky ground on either side of her.
But it certainly got her attention. She looked only mildly surprised to see us again when she turned around. We continued to fire at her as she headed for us, unbelievably, growing as she approached. By the time she got within ten feet she towered over us. I didn’t think royals were able to expand like the higher level angels did. Which meant it was probably a side benefit of being tied to an angel as powerful as Enoch. Dialle and I kept firing as we backed up.
She kept coming. The shimmering chain between her and Enoch just grew to accommodate the distance as she walked.
Another power arrow joined ours and Emo soon came shoulder to shoulder with us. They flanked me and the three of us gave my mother everything we had. Other than a quick ripple in the protective bubble when Emo upped the ante, she hardly seemed fazed at all by our impressive efforts.
I wondered again what the source of her incredible power was.
Our backs came up against the giant rock Emo had used to shield us moments earlier and I realized we’d have to split up to get around it.
Together we were barely holding off her power arrows. Separated we were dead.
“Where’s the cavalry, Emo?” My voice sounded just a bit shrill.
He shrugged.
I peered suspiciously at him, “You did call them right?”
Frowning, he handed the cross back to me.
The air behind my mother exploded with light and she turned, shrinking rapidly back to normal size. Throwing me one last look, she said, “We’ll finish this later, Astra,” and returned to Enoch.
We ran after her.
Giving a happy little yell, I high fived Emo as I looked at the sky above. The air above the ledge where we stood was so filled with the celestial army that we could barely look into it. Their light burned the night away and seared outward to cleanse the skies of another, more sinister kind of darkness. More importantly, Myra’s familiar form floated beside my father’s.
Dark worlders screamed and roared below the ridge, hopefully dying by the hundreds as a deadly white energy speared them from above.
I prayed the king and his guard had the good sense to take cover. Knowing King Dialle, I was pretty sure those particular rats were already streaming back toward the Court.
My mother was only momentarily stunned. She turned to Enoch. “Call your dark army and let’s finish this.”
Enoch stood at the edge of the cliff. He whipped his massive wings once, and then again, and pulled his horn from under his shimmering robes, lifting it to his lips.
The horn blared across the skies, bringing answering tones from all directions, and the sky was suddenly even more congested than before.
The dark angels’ energy was slightly less bright than the Celestial Army’s, but certainly no less powerful.
Enoch turned to my mother. “It has come to this, Danika. All of our planning and plotting. You deceived and turned against me and now angel fights angel in the skies.” His dark head dropped to his chest and he shook it, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
A bright light flashed down on him from the sky and he cried out, lifting his face and raising his arms to meet it with his own power. He briefly pushed the force of attacking angels back, but they quickly started gaining ground again. Their combined energy was extremely powerful, and he was tired and less motivated.
He turned his head and gave me a sad smile. “I am sorry, Astra. I don’t think I could have killed him in the end.”
I nodded and stepped forward, half tempted to stop him, but knowing it was for the best. “Go in His love, Enoch, if not with His blessing.”
His eyes streamed with tears and he gave me a brief nod.
Then he turned back toward the celestial army and lifted his arms and wings high into the air. He raised his face to the sky as if in supplication and dropped his light. He didn’t make a sound as he was consumed by the white light of the celestial army.
Too late my mother realized what he was doing. “No!”
She watched him fade away and quickly severed the chain between them so she wouldn’t follow him to Hades.
Then she turned to me, her eyes dark and filled with anger. “This isn’t over between us daughter.” And then she was just...gone.
I slumped to the ground. My heart was filled with such pain I wasn’t sure I could endure it.
The battle raged on in the sk
y but the dark angels were sorely outnumbered and I knew it was only a matter of time until they were subdued.
Emo and Dialle both knelt beside me and each placed a hand on my shoulder but other than that they just let me grieve.
A warm light filled the air around us and I looked up to meet my father’s tearful face. I leapt into his arms. “He was sorry in the end. He didn’t want to kill you.” Most of all it seemed important to ease my father’s pain a little.
He nodded and gave me a sad smile. We held each other for a few more moments and then Myra joined us. She patted my father on the back and gave him a sad smile. Then she offered him the best comfort she could. “He died honorably, James.”
My father nodded and swiped at his wet cheeks. “How goes the battle, Myra?”
She straightened her slim shoulders, returning gratefully to a role she was comfortable in. “The last of the dark ones have been taken to Peter. I doubt he’ll treat them kindly.”
My father shook his head. “It’s such a shame.”
I looked at Myra. “Hey, what took you so long to get here?”
She rolled her eyes, “Enoch had someone on the Council. He instigated delay after delay. Making us report and explain and then report and explain again.”
She smiled at Emo. “It wasn’t until Emo launched that very shaky and colorful request that we were able to convince Him that we were being delayed on purpose.” She looked at my father, “It was Vance.”
Emo and I both laughed, “Vance?” I said, wrinkling my nose. “No wonder he turned bad with a name like that.”
Myra glared at me. “Behave yourself, Astra. Anyway, Cherubim Vance should be on his way to see St. Peter by now too.”
My father sighed. “What of your mother, Astra?”
I shrugged, “She’s probably in the shadows by now. But before she left she let me know she wasn’t finished with me. Happy thought that.” I frowned.
Prince Dialle stepped forward. “I’ll send my guard in to search the shadows Seraphim James, we’ll find her.”
My father nodded. Turning to Myra he said, “Have the mess down there cleaned up and see to the report on those witches. I want a full accounting of their activities in the big book. They must pay for their actions when they arrive at the gates.”
