I don’t know why I’m still trying to be silent. It’s not like no one could hear him crash through the barn. The hole in the roof gives away my position, and I'm forced to move. The distinct clinking of swords in the distance grow louder with each second. I step under the hole in the roof to see what I can. A shockwave of tremors accompanies my disbelief. The amount of Fallen angels sailing and diving in chaotic patterns is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, but this is far worse.
Their insidious wings contrast against the pure white falling snow, which is blanketing the ground now. I knock another arrow and aim at one of the beasts above me. I open my hand, releasing the arrow, and it punctures the scapular of the angel’s wing. As he twists mid-air, I knock arrow after arrow and assault his falling form. When I'm out of arrows, I drop my bow and quiver, jump down from the loft, and rush into Andromeda’s stall. I uncover a broadsword from beneath the hay in the corner and mount her. “Ready, Ani?” She shifts her weight in response. “HA!” I call out, commanding her with the kick of my heels against her sides.
We charge out of the barn towards the gardens beside the manor. Eric rips the wings from a Fallen with his foot planted between the enemies extremities. Alice is on her back with a dark angel readying himself for the kill as he shifts his sword from hand to hand. I pull Andromeda’s reigns to the right and slice the angel’s arm off. I twist in the saddle and witness Alice spring from the ground. She nods to me, and I continue through the gardens to reach the open field on the other side.
Snow blankets the ground covered in blood, feathers, and dead bodies. The Griffins attack from above in full animal form. Their screeching battle cries pierce my ears. I spot Solas in the distance and squeeze Andromeda’s sides, urging her faster. White and red snow kicks up beneath us in dust clouds. I lean forward and ready my sword again. I slice through random black wings, throats, and arms as I pass them.
A female dark angel lands before us with her wings spread wide as she crouches down and snarls. Her ebony skin makes her red eyes glow bright with iniquity. Andromeda rears up and kicks at the beast as a powerful body slams into my side, taking me down. I hit the ground hard and lose my sword.
The dark angel that took me down sits on my chest and growls as he chokes me with his bare hands. His wickedness is like lightening through his fingertips. My hair swarms in my face as I squirm beneath his grip. His anger becomes my anger, and my lack of oxygen becomes the least of my worries. Reaching both hands above me, I rip my gloves from my fingers. I slap his ears in unison and watch as his equilibrium wavers. His grip never falters. I push my arms up between his and try to pry his hands away. When they start to give, I use my head as a battering ram and slam my forehead into his face—signature Ivy move when I'm in a bind. He releases my throat with a thunderous roar. Wrapping my leg around his waist, I roll on top of him.
“Ivy!” I hear Solas call out. I glance up just in time to catch the dagger he tosses me. “Duck!” he warns.
I lean forward and plunge the dagger into my enemy’s throat as Solas dives over us. When I sit back up, I twist around and witness Solas decapitate the female angel with the red eyes. His wide stance faces away from me, his breathing's labored, and dark blood streams off his outstretched Katana blade, trickling to the ground and staining the snow. The world seems to fall away in silence.
I rise from the ground, and he turns to me. “Have you seen Lucian?” I ask him.
“No. Have you?” he grits through his clenched teeth.
“No.”
He growls in response. I step closer to him with caution until our cold breaths entwine. His anger and frustration melt with my own as I touch his cheek. “Are you ok?”
His stern expression falls soft, “Yeah. You?”
“I think I’m ok,” I reply as I scan the carnage surrounding us.
“They’re retreating,” Solas says as I drop my hand from his face.
Looking to the sky, I watch as hundreds of dark angels flee. “That was too easy,” I note.
Solas sheaths his Katana over his shoulder. “They were testing us. That’s why Lucian never showed. He wanted to see what our forces were capable of. This won’t be the last we see of them.”
Three massive Griffins land next to us, causing the ground to quake. With a loud screech from each of them, I stare as they shake their bodies like wet dogs. The metamorphosis is breathtakingly frightening. The fur and feathers of their bodies disappear beneath their skin. Their claws morph into fingers then hands, breaking and reconstructing at awkward angles in the process. Their back paws transmute into bare feet, and all three rise naked before us.
I avert my eyes to Solas, guarding them with the cup of my hand. The last thing I want to do is witness Cass and Beck in their birthday suits again. I take my snow camo jacket off and toss it to Thea. She catches it and slides it on. Solas follows suit and tosses his to Beckett.
“What? Don’t act like you don’t want to see me in all my glory,” Beckett mocks.
“And what glory would that be, Becky?” Eric calls out as he approaches from behind. Beck mumbles an insult with a rumbling growl deep in his chest. Eric releases Alice’s hand to take off his jacket and give it to Cass. As the brothers tie the jackets around their waists to cover themselves as best they can, Eric's violet eyes bounce between Solas and me, “No sign of the Prince?”
“Afraid not,” Solas answers.
“Coward,” Eric grumbles.
“What do we do with them?” I ask, indicating the macabre scene surrounding us.
“Evelyn's contacted Michael, and your father's on his way,” Alice says. “They'll take care of them.”
Solas wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side. “This won’t be the last of them. Ivy’s vision has yet to play out. We can rest for now, but we need to stay alerted for their next attack. I’m sure it won’t be for at least a few days.”
As our troop trudges through the snow back to the manor, I regard the bloodshed and fragments of angelic bodies. Thea informs us that we've lost many of our Griffins in the battle, but doesn’t seem daunted by the loss. My body begins to tremble from the cold as my adrenaline dissipates, and I hug myself tightly to keep from shaking.
After entering the house, no one speaks. I ascend the steps to the third floor alone. My thoughts are empty as I enter the bathroom and start the hot water of the shower. I want nothing more than to wash the dry blood and dirt from my body along with the images of the battle flashing in my mind.
Once cleansed of the evidence of battle from my body, it remains a stain on my thoughts. I rest in a chair on my balcony and light a cigarette as I watch the sky darken against the line of trees at the edge of the property. All proof of the slaughter's been eliminated. Michael and Azrael had worked swiftly during my reprieve. Now, over a hundred Griffins are erecting white tents and encampments that blend in with the snow across the expanse of the estate's acreage. I take a drag of my cigarette and attempt to release the tension within my body. The scene from the balcony gives the impression of watching a medieval film where armies prepare for a war ahead. And war there will be.
My serenity is short-lived when Cassius flies up the balcony with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He gives me a knowing grin. “Thought you could use a drink.”
“You thought right,” I chuckle, and he passes the bottle to me after opening it. I throw the bottle back and let a large amount of its burning liquid pour down my throat. Dropping the bottle from my lips, I cough and pass the bottle back to Cass as he takes a seat beside me. My eyes begin to water, and I take another drag of my cigarette.
“Michael's waiting for us in the basement with Evelyn,” he announces. Something in his tone makes me feel there's more trouble to come.
“Do you know what it’s about?”
He passes the whiskey back to me, and I take a smaller sip this time. “No. I imagine he has something to say about the amount of carnage we left for them to clean up.”
I sig
h and put out my cigarette in the ashtray on the table. “What did he expect?” He shrugs in response. I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s get it over with then,” I say as I stand.
Cassius follows suit, leaving the bottle on the table. “I’ll meet you down there.” I nod to him and watch him jump over the balcony to land in the snow three stories beneath us.
“Show off,” I mumble under my breath. His laughter rumbles through the quiet air as he veers around the side of the house.
Chapter 27
I'm the last to arrive as I join Michael, Evelyn, Solas, Eric, Alice, Cass, Beck, and Thea in the basement training room. Their backs are turned to me as they stare in silence at a large mass covered by a thick white sheet. For a fleeting moment, I wonder if they'd captured a handful of Fallen to interrogate.
Michael smiles in greeting as I approach the side of the unit I now call my family. He inclines his head, “Ivy.”
“Michael,” I nod with a slight bow. I can’t seem to help it when I'm in his presence. As if the gesture's ingrained in my subconscious and acts upon reflexive instinct.
“I have something for you. I apologize for the delay. I wish I could have had it to you sooner, but with the revelations of your visions, there were alterations to be made.”
Eyeing the mass, I wonder what could possibly be hidden beneath it. “What is it?” I ask with shy confusion, crossing my arms nervously over my chest.
He extends his palm, presenting the reclusive mass, “Take a look.”
I step forward and hesitate as I reach out to touch the canvass. I grasp the sheet in my fingertips and take a deep breath through my nose. Jerking the sheet away, it scrapes against the object beneath as it flops into a crumple at my feet. Gasps echo around the room, including my own. There's not one large object beneath the sheet, but seven. Images of my vision flash behind my eyes with a wave of nausea. I gawk at seven empty black armor suits. They're exact replicas of the armor I wear in my vision when Lucian takes me hostage, save for the added helmet. “I… I don’t understand,” I stutter without taking my eyes from the hollow army. “Why are there seven?”
“Why, for each of you, of course,” Michael boasts and begins to circle the armor. I follow his leisure steps around the hunks of dark metal to examine them better, and he continues, “You must understand, Ivy. I have been around a very, very long time. I have fought and led countless efficacious battles. I know and understand the enemy better than they do themselves.” He pauses and grins over his shoulder before resuming his promenade. “Lucian is a petulant child. He wants what he wants when he wants it. Presently, he wants to take his father's place as King of Sheol. To accomplish this, he needs you. He is impatient and will not wait for the right time to attack. This, I am sure of. In consequence of the attack today, he realizes he does not have a chance against your army, and his confidence in his legion has faltered. Lucian’s pride will get the best of him. He believes if he wants something done right, he should do it himself. He will come alone and when you least expect it.”
We stop between the armor and our onlookers. Solas mumbles under his breath, “The Ball.” We all turn our attention to him as he continues to stare at the hollow army in a daze.
I point out, “Why would he do that? We'll be surrounded by humans. There's too much exposure.”
“Exactly,” Michael says, pointing his index finger in the air.
Eric fields the questions he reads across my face, “We won’t be able to use any of our angelic abilities to defend ourselves. But Lucian’s gifts are to influence the underlying corruption within human souls. He may use them against us. What he doesn’t know is how hard it'll be for him to find you in a crowd so large when there will be seven of us wearing the same thing.” He indicates the armor.
I set off pacing as I examine the armor again. The helmet covers the neck with leather, and from the jawline to the bridge of the nose is black metal. It guards the tops of the cheekbones, framing the eyes. More black metal lines the cowl to frame the face with a peak at the crown of the head. From the crown to the back of the neck, the cowl is leather and attaches beneath the back plates of the armor for removal.
I formulate a plan aloud, “Alice and I won’t be able to wear this on stage. He'll pick us out easier. We should wear the costumes we bought for the show. We can change after our set. And we can’t all show up at the same time. We don’t want him to know how many of us there are. We should separate, come in at different times, and from different locations of the coliseum after Alice and I get a chance to change. No one should be in their armor before then.”
“Your friends seem to be rubbing off on you,” Evelyn coos with delight.
“Yes. Well, I’m tired of this game. If Lucian wants me, he can come and get me. It'll be the last thing he does,” I snarl as the heat in my body rises.
Michael explains, “The layers beneath the folds have been reinforced, so there is no chance of vulnerability.”
“You mean, he won’t be able to puncture my lungs through the scales of the armor now?” I sigh with chagrin. His vague explanations are getting on my last nerve.
“Yes.”
Solas steps forward, “I would rather you avoid capture, and we take him down without a chance of losing you.” The Griffin brothers grunt in approval at his statement.
“Agreed,” Evelyn says.
Glaring defiantly into Solas' eyes, I lament, “I’m not running.” His unwavering gaze and the tension between us lingers.
He relents with exasperation, “If this is what you have to do, then I'll stay close by. I won’t let you out of my sight.” His anger is palpable as he pivots on his heels and storms out of the room.
Evelyn disperses the tension in the room. Clapping her hands together once, she directs, “Alright. The Griffins should be finished setting up their lodgings. We can all rest easy tonight. Lord knows we need it. You may find provisions in the kitchen. Please, help yourselves.” She rolls her eyes and mumbles under her breath, “As though you need to be told.” She grins at the triplets and continues, “Thea, I have your room ready for you on the second floor. Let me know if you need anything. As for everyone else, go rest up. We'll continue planning strategy tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cassius concurs with a bow. He slaps his brother on the shoulder and directs him towards the stairs. “Come, brother. Let’s eat.” Thea, Eric, and Alice follow them out.
“Do you need anything, Evelyn?” I ask, stepping closer to her.
She gives me a tight smile, “No, dear. There is something I wish to speak to you about, but it will keep. Get some rest, and we'll talk tomorrow.”
I hug her before turning to Michael and expressing my appreciation, “Thank you, Michael…for everything.”
“You are quite welcome. Safe travels, Ivy.” He bows out and disappears in a blinding flash of light. I bid Evelyn goodnight and return to my room.
The flames in the hearth dance and illuminate my dark room with a warm glow. Solas’ silhouette stands motionless as he gazes out from the terrace. Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms underneath his biceps to grip his shoulders from the front and rest my cheek against his back. Heartache, worry, fear, love, regret.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper against his unmoving frame.
“You have nothing to apologize for. This is your choice alone. I can't keep you from fulfilling your destiny. Nor can I sit idly by, knowing you're in danger.” He hangs his head in dejection.
A realization hits me like a bag of rocks, and I kiss his shoulder. “I don’t want you to worry, Solas. You won’t lose me like you lost your love before you fell. The moment of my vision is meant to be. I have no choice. But, I will return. I promise I will.”
Removing my grasp from his shoulders, he turns to me and squeezes my hands. His expression's full of worry as his husky voice utters, “History has a way of repeating itself, princess. And I can't keep from wondering that, although your capture's meant to be, maybe we…are not.”
Solas returns my touch with eager passion as his hands slide around my bottom and wrench me closer. He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his solid waist. He growls low in approval, and it sends chills of pleasure through my spine. The world falls away. Everything's right. I lose myself in his touch as he carries me into the dim lit room and lays me on the bed. His heartache turns to delight, worry to serenity, fear to assurance, regret to confidence, and through the night, his love never falters.
“We have a problem,” Alice laments. She stares me down as I chew my raisin toast breakfast. Her eyebrows are raised, and her arms are folded over her chest as she taps her foot in irritation.
I lay the toast down on my plate and finish chewing what's in my mouth. Alice doesn’t seem like she wants to enlighten me on the problem until I ask. “What’s the problem?”
She throws her arms out and shouts, “Cass and Beck have dates to the Ball!”
I'm puzzled by her outburst towards the situation. “Ok,” I drawl. “How's that a problem? They had to get dates to be allowed into the Masquerade Ball. We knew this.” My crooked smile grows at her over exaggerated surprise—eyes wide, jaw to the floor.
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