The Helio Trilogy
Book 2
VALERIE ROESELER
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, businesses, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
Gilded Inferno
Copyright © 2016 Valerie Roeseler
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Valerie Roeseler
Editing by Kiri Roeseler
Cover Design by Valerie Roeseler
Cover Photography by Elena Vizerskaya
Book Design by Valerie Roeseler
www.valerieroeseler.com
ISBN-13: 978-1535360944
ISBN-10: 1535360941
AISN: B01M0PZ91U
First Edition: 2016
In memory of Victoria Pollard, and to all we have loved, who have left us too soon. We miss you, but you will forever live in our hearts.
Prologue
Solas
The night air is crisp with the scent of pine as pure white snow dusts the trees and blankets the grounds of the manor. I soar over the property, dark wings gliding me to a tree that will give a direct view into the entertainment room. Softly dropping to a crouch on an outstretched limb, I rest an arm on my knee and watch her through the red draped window panes. My gut warms and pulls tight in the direction of the house. She sits alone on the sofa next to the window, warm apple cider in hand, black hair flowing over her shoulder in waves, watching the fire dance in the hearth, deep in thought. The room glows with warm golden light from the thick Christmas tree near the corner of the window, decorated with gold and white embellishments. The soothing tones of a Christmas bell melody resonates through the glass to my ears, and I begin to hum along to “Greensleeves.” I know she must feel our bond, but with Jack two floors above her, she’ll tie the sensation to her bond with him. She’ll never know I was here.
So beautiful. I haven’t seen her in fifty-four days. What’s she thinking about so hard? If only her mind were open to me, I could know what has her so pensive.
All has been quiet on the surface since I’ve been in Sheol—keeping busy, following Lucian in the shadows, slaying demons and Fallen when they’re sent to scout her. It’s all I can do to keep my mind off of returning to her. It was a fools dream to stay away.
The distinct footfalls of a large frame vibrate down the stairs, and I recognize Jack’s gait as he descends to find her. I stepped aside when he was sent back to the surface from Paradise. She was never over him and will always love him, just as I know she will always love me. I hesitate, not wanting to witness their interaction, yet my heart yearns to stay. I’ll always love her. I never knew this type of love—Euros—until I was sent to guard over her eight years ago.
I should go.
I leap soundlessly from the tree, expanding my wings after clearing its snow dusted limbs, and head for the portal to take me back to Sheol as I revel in all that is Ivy Harris.
She’s metamorphosed into quite the woman. She’s fearless, passionate, intense, and carries more love in her heart than I’ve witnessed in any other being. She’s the storm that wipes cities off the globe. She’s the light in the darkness the damaged hunt for. Yet, she’s the end of the end. She is Death.
Chapter 1
Ivy
Cold steel caresses my palms as the darkness behind my eyes intensifies the sounds of the room. Sweat trails down my face. A slight breeze comes from behind my right shoulder. She’s close. With my amplified senses, if I concentrate hard enough, I can detect vibrations of air displacement when something moves. Her blade whispers from above me, coming down fast. My eyes pop open. I spin with both swords and knock the Katana from her grip. She’s weaponless, but never defenseless.
She punches her palms into my chest, stepping into the motion. I sail back across the room into the wall. The force of the collision causes me to drop my swords. Plaster falls around me as I land, and I can’t help but think these walls could use some better reinforcements. I jump to my feet. We charge each other without hesitation. She’s ruthless. I’m arrogant. Neither of us will cower.
Right before we collide, I step onto her right thigh as I grab her right forearm. I propel myself around and knee her between the shoulder blades. As her body falls forward, I twist us both to put her in a choke hold, locking my legs around her waist. She releases her wings. Her caramel feathers scratch my face like a million paper cuts as the strength of her wings thrusts me away from her.
I lay on my back and swipe the blood from my cheek. The hundreds of tiny lacerations mend themselves back into smooth skin, and a crack in my rib repairs itself. I chuckle deep, yet wince at the pain running through my body.
“What the hell was that?” I groan.
Theodora crouches over me with her hands on her knees, grinning. Wisps of russet hair fall from her ponytail around her temples and the back of her neck. “A means of escape. Your wings are strong. Use them.” She holds a hand out to help me on my feet. “You said you were tired of everyone being easy on you during training. I admit I was more flexible with you when we began two weeks ago. Since then, I’ve seen improvement and decided to stop babying you.”
I roll my eyes in jest. “Well, I appreciate that. I knew I could count on you to be tougher on me, since you’re more beast than woman,” I smirk, referencing Beckett’s description of her.
We head up the training room stairs for the manor’s kitchen. Thea shakes her head and mumbles with a small smile, “I’ll kill him.”
I laugh lightly. Not only has Thea loosened up around us, but she's also starting to sound like us as well. When I first met her, she was extremely stiff and spoke as if she was from another century. Just the other day, I heard her curse for the first time. We’re bad influences.
Classes for the fall semester ended two weeks ago. I’ve been training with Thea every day since. Thankfully, I managed to pass my classes. I’m sure Alice had something to do with it. Cassius and Beckett are elated they passed their first semester of college. They continue to stay at the manor with their twin sister, Theodora. Alice and Eric remain guests as well, refusing to leave my side as their presence offers more protection. Protection is the last thing I need.
Since Jack and my father, Azrael, rescued me from Sheol, life has been stagnant. I’ve had plenty of time to start feeling normal again—as normal as I can be. My relationship with Jack has backtracked to before our first kiss. It’s given us time to talk about what happened while we were apart.
Jack spent twenty-four days in Paradise after the Qeres poison took over his body and killed him. Four of those days were spent unconscious while a Virtue angel, named Ariel, removed the poison and healed his body. I asked why she wasn’t able to do the same for his mother, Evelyn, when she was dying from a smaller infection of Qeres. He noted that because Ariel resides in Paradise and Evelyn had not been called to ascend, there was nothing Ariel could do for her. He mentioned certain rules the Angels of Light have to abide by; thus, leaving Evelyn without help. The more I thought about this, the more suspicious of Michael I’ve become. Being an Original Archangel, he should have had the authority to help Evelyn, yet he didn’t.
Jack spent the following three days demanding where Michael was, wanting him to explain the messages from his friends and family. After finding Michael, he explained about the Fallen residing in Evelyn’s manor. Michael also revealed my relationship with Solas, thus explaining Solas’ past and my connection to him.
Enraged, Jack went to a Dominion angel named Merrick, who’s the highest ranking of many Dominions regulating missions to other angels. Jack pleaded with Merrick to let him return to the surface as my guardian, but Merrick found out about Jack’s incomple
te bond with me. Jack was thrown into Bastille—a temporary jail for angels within Paradise—until Merrick could determine what price Jack should pay for his crimes. Michael intervened with the judgment, claiming that Jack would be an asset in capturing Lilith and sending her to Purgatory. After sixteen days in Bastille, Jack was released, then appointed as my guardian since my previous one fell three years ago.
When Jack returned the night of the Greek Masquerade Ball, he confronted Solas about deceiving me, threatening to rip his wings from his back for hurting me. Solas explained how I never gave him a chance to tell me the truth. At the time, I was so angry with him that I couldn’t see the situation for what it was. Now, I realize it was my fault. He tried to tell me on multiple occasions, and I thwarted all his efforts, his past didn’t matter to me. I was wrong.
Solas is still missing. Sometime during Thanksgiving night, as I laid wrapped in Jack’s arms, Solas left a note on my balcony. He requested I not search for him as he would never be returning, and spoke of my future, determined he was not meant to be a part of it.
Well, screw that! How dare he? Of course, I’ll search for him! And who the hell does he think he is, telling me he’s not a part of my future? Total bullshit! Solas may be hell-bent on stepping out of Jack’s way and letting us be together again, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a part of my life.
Yes, Jack’s back. No, we’re not together. Will I ever be able to be with Jack again? I can’t forgive myself for giving up on him. Does Jack even forgive me?
After a nice cool shower, I stow away to my favorite place in the manor; my balcony. I smoke a cigarette as I run my fingers through my wet hair to help it dry faster. The snow has stopped for now, but I’ve learned to love winter. After weeks in the stifling heat of Sheol, I hate the heat. I still refuse to light a fire in the hearth. For the last month, I’ve done everything I can to distract myself from dwelling on Lucian’s inevitable return, my mother, Lilith, her whereabouts, and my need to find Solas. Between training with Jack and the Griffin triplets, taking Maximus for rides on the estate, and helping Evelyn decorate the manor for Christmas, I’ve succeeded in repressing my anxiety.
I feel my bond to Jack pull stronger behind me before he touches my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “Hey, Sunshine. How was training?” he asks as he takes a seat and pulls out a cigarette to smoke with me.
I shrug my shoulders, “Alright, I guess. I’ve got a lot coming to me. Thea is definitely tougher on me than you guys.” I give him a crooked smirk.
Jack leans forward on his elbows, his grin sending butterflies dancing in my stomach. “Dinner’s almost ready. Mother worked really hard to make it perfect. This is the first Christmas Eve dinner we’ve had since my father’s been gone. It means a lot to her to have a family again.”
Me too.
I hesitate to push what could be a sore subject, but I’ve always been curious. “You never told me what happened to your dad.” Jack leans back in his chair, releasing a cloud of smoke from his lungs as he studies me. “I don’t even know his name,” I prompt.
“His name is Camael—Cam for short. He’s one of the seven Original Archangels.”
I raise a brow, “Like my father?”
Jack nods, “Yeah.” He takes another drag of his cigarette. “He’s General over all Arch warriors. They call him the Angel of War. He’s the one in the painting you saw in The Chamber.”
Wow.
I let that sink in. “So, what happened to him?”
He puts his cigarette out in the ashtray on the table, “Nothing bad. He was called back to Paradise for a mission about sixty years ago. We didn’t have any warning. Didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
“I’m sorry, Jack.”
He sits back in his seat again, “It is what it is.”
“Did you get to see him when you were—”
“—It’s a big place,” Jack shakes his head. He stands up and offers me a hand, “Besides… I was in a hurry to get back.” He gives me his million dollar smile.
I take his hand. The familiar tingle and calmness of his touch surges through me, and I tuck my hair behind my ear with a small smile. I’ve learned to block my empathic ability and am thankful I don’t have to sift through what emotions are mine and not others. We walk down the stairs to the dining room where Evelyn’s setting the last of the food on the table.
She slaps Beckett’s hand as he reaches for a slice of glazed ham, “I don’t think so. You’ll wait until everyone gets here.” Beck shrinks back in his chair, embarrassed at being reprimanded.
Jack takes his usual seat between Cassius and me as Thea pulls out her chair across from her brothers. I ask, “Are Alice and Eric coming?”
Beck answers, “They should be here soon. They just finished up their Christmas shopping.”
“Goodness, that girl can shop,” Evelyn mumbles.
Thea and I giggle silently, well aware of what a shopaholic Alice can be. I refused to let her take me Christmas shopping. If I had let her go, I would’ve drained my savings. I hope she’s not going all out on everybody.
We hear Eric’s Charger pull into the cul-de-sac before Alice comes bursting through the room, “I’m so sorry we’re late, Evelyn.”
Evelyn dismisses, “It’s alright, Alice.”
Eric follows Alice to their seats across from Jack and me with Evelyn at the head of the table between us. Evelyn places her hands on the table, palms up, and everyone connects hands as they close their eyes and bow their heads. She says grace in the native angelic language, Enochian. The beautiful sounds flow like music to the heart. I still don’t understand the words, so I open up my mind to let their emotions flow into me through our connected touch. The immensity of love and loyalty become overwhelming. I have trouble blocking their emotions again. My body grows hot. My heartbeat thuds loudly in my ears. Evelyn releases my right hand as Jack and Cassius let go of each other, and I’m thankful for losing the connection to everyone. Except for Jack. Worry, love, longing.
Jack leans into my ear and whispers, “Everything ok?”
I nod my head and plaster a reassuring smile on my face as I give him a sidelong glance. Food is passed around the table. We fall into comfortable conversation. Thea announces her plans to enroll at Red Meadow University with the rest of us and join her brothers in the Criminal Justice department. It suits her well. She can be quite intimidating. She’s adamant that she can teach others a thing or two. Cass and Beck are planning a trip to The Keep to check in on the remaining Griffins and Fallen who have chosen to stay in hiding now that they’re considered rogues of Sheol.
Evelyn plans on reaching out to Michael because we haven’t heard from him since the night I was rescued from Sheol. She worries there has not been news on the whereabouts of Lilith. In the back of my mind, I wonder what Solas is doing. It’s Christmas Eve, and I wish he were here.
After Alice retires to her room to finish wrapping gifts for everyone, Eric joins the Griffins for a drink in the parlor in the left wing of the manor on the second floor. I try to stay away from the parlor in efforts to reduce my drinking. When I drink, I think. When I think, my troubles tend to crash down on me.
Jack follows me up to the third floor where our rooms are located across from each other. He’s slept next to me almost every night since my return from Sheol. His calming presence has kept my nightmares away, but I worry that it’s thwarting my visions. I haven’t had a single dream, omen, or premonition since. I’m worried about Solas and long for a glimpse of him in a vision that just hasn’t come yet. I have no way of finding him in Sheol—if that truly is where he is. Crossing my arms over my chest, I break the silence between Jack and me, “You know… You don’t have to stay with me tonight.” I avoid his eyes as we continue down the hall.
He’s silent a moment. “Who ever said I had to?”
Guilt pours over me, but I hide it well. “You know what I mean. I haven’t had any nightmares in a long time. I think I’ll be alright. Besides,
I think it would be better for us.”
We stop at my door, and Jack places his hands on my shoulders with a heavy sigh. “I’m not trying to push you, Sunshine. I want us to be together again, but I know you need time… Time is all I’ve got,” he grins with a wink.
“Thanks, Jack,” I nod, looking at the space between our feet.
He kisses the top of my head. “Goodnight, Sunshine.”
“Goodnight.”
As I enter my dark room alone, my emotions threaten to surface, bubbling in my chest. With my angelic hearing, I can hear sounds traveling through the house, reminding me that I’m never really alone. Cass, Beck, and Eric’s jovial laughter comes from the parlor. Wrapping paper crinkles as Alice wraps gifts in the room next to mine. The shower runs in Thea’s room on the second floor, and the fire in the entertainment room on the first floor crackles and hisses. To drown everything out, I snatch up my iPod and stretch across my bed on my stomach to find some Christmas music to soothe me. I rest my head on my crossed arms and stare through the French doors at the quiet snow glowing in the moonlight.
I fantasize a raven landing on the wall of my balcony. Knowing my efforts are useless, I open my mind to send thoughts to Solas. Where are you Solas? I miss you. Please, come back. How dare you leave like that! A tear trails down my cheek, and I turn my head into my arms as I try to hide the sound of my sniffling from others in the house.
Black, cavernous, stone walls stretch on for what seems miles. It’s hot and damp as I slink further into the dark, using every bit of my heightened senses to stay alerted. The smell of sulfur and iron mixes in the air. I trail a hand over the cave wall, and it comes away with blood. A thundering growl vibrates through the corridor, sending quakes of tremors beneath my feet.
The Helio Trilogy: Volumes 1-3 Page 40
