Blood Dawn (Queen of Abaddon Book 3)

by Rae Foxx

  I stood, dusting off my ass as I peered out to see what happened. The blast was much closer to the gates of Abaddon. Had they been damaged?

  Gabriel threw his arms around me from behind. "Thank the Elysium," he whispered.

  I turned and hugged him tightly. "I love you."

  When no other blasts of energy came, I looked again through the gates. There was a body lying on the ground where the ward had been.

  "I think it's safe," I said. Without waiting, I moved myself to Abaddon. As much as I wanted to see who had appeared just as the blast went off, I had to show Luc I was safe.

  He stood at the gates, peering through. "Luc!" I called.

  When he heard my voice, his shoulders slumped. "Are you hurt?"

  I ran to him with open arms. "Not a scratch," I said. "Just tired and drained.

  He turned to look out of the gates again. "Who is that?" he asked. "The magical energy hit him full blast. I watched."

  We were just far enough away that we couldn't tell the features of the person on the ground. "I don't know. Let's go see."

  I focused my energy on moving me outside of the gates and beside the body, but I didn't move. "What the fuck?" I said. "I can't get out."

  Luc furrowed his brow. "Neither can I."

  We exchanged an alarmed glance.

  Murmurs from the Fallen behind us filled the air. They surged forward, questions peppering at us. Why couldn't they get out? Had the blast sealed us in? What would we do? Could anyone still get in?

  Michael and Gabriel appeared next to the body, and in seconds, both of them fell to their knees, the grief evident in their body postures. Michael gathered the body up and when the face turned and faced us, I was able to see who it was.

  Joel. He'd returned from the academy to help.

  And he'd never stood a chance. The magic had killed his soul, his aura, but it left his body intact.

  Gabriel turned and faced the gates. When we didn't come out, he blinked from his location to just outside. "What's going on?" he called.

  "We can't get out!" I pressed my face to the peephole. "None of us can."

  He backed up and looked at the gates. "The physical gates aren't damaged, but I can't see the magic. Can you?"

  Lucifer and I both backed up and peered at the magic that created the real gates of Abaddon. The physical gates were more for show, although they had to be tied to the magical one because when it had weakened, they had as well.

  I couldn't see it.

  "It looks as strong as I've ever seen it," Luc said.

  Well, apparently, he could see it. "So why can't we get out?" I asked.

  "I was able to come in before," Gabriel said. "Let me try now."

  He narrowed his eyes, but nothing happened. "No, it's like before all this happened. Can't get in at all."

  "What about our home?" I asked. "Maybe I can physically move from one side to the other." Part of our palace was inside the gates and part was outside. "Go check on Michael and Joel. I'll go see if I can get out that way."

  I tried moving with magic, and it was easy. I appeared in Lucifer’s and my bedroom. The door to the other half of the house was in here.

  It opened with ease, and I was able to walk through. Laughing, I ran through that bedroom, through the hall, down the stairs, and to the front door, which would put me outside the gates of Abaddon, though far away from where Michael and Gabriel waited for me.

  The door wouldn't open. "No!" I yelled. "This can't be."

  I ran from window to window, then tried the back door. None of them would open. No amount of magic I tried to use would let me blink out of the house, either.

  We were stuck in Abaddon for no discernable reason.

  I willed myself back to the gates and of course, that was no freaking problem. I appeared beside Lucifer.

  Gabriel and Michael stood just outside the gate. Both had tears running down their cheeks. "He's gone," Michael said. "There's no doubt."

  The female angel that had accompanied him to the Academy appeared before I could tell them we still couldn't leave Abaddon.

  "No!" she screamed.

  Gabriel and Michael ran to her and did their best to comfort her. I watched as they spoke, telling her what happened. My body pressed against the gates. I desperately wanted to be there, trying to do anything I could to help her. But that wasn't even an option.

  Luc's hand on my shoulder helped calm me somewhat.

  "What are we going to do?" I asked.

  He looked as lost as I felt.

  Turning to the Fallen, he addressed the crowd. "Go organize the demons. Prepare for the souls that will begin coming. I'd say the River is already flowing again. We sent all those souls to rebirth, but humans die constantly. They'll be coming along."

  "How do we know they'll get in?" Asmodeus asked.

  I shrugged. "We don't. But we should be prepared."

  When we turned back to see Michael and Gabriel, they were walking toward us slowly with the angel between them.

  "Lilith," Michael said. "It's bigger than just Abaddon."

  I raised my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

  Gabe patted the woman on the arm. "This is Charity."

  Lucifer and I recognized the name. He nodded his head at her. "I thank you for the use of your powers when I couldn't get mine."

  She waved her hand. "It wasn't exactly my choice, but you're welcome."

  "Ariel squirmed away from Joel and Charity at the Academy and took herself somewhere on Earth," Gabe said.

  Panic blossomed in my chest. "So, go get her!"

  "We can't," Charity said. "That's what took us so long to come back. We can't get to Earth. Only here, Purgatory, and Elysium."

  My eyes widened. "So, all the Fallen are locked in Abaddon and all the angels are locked in Elysium?"

  Gabe nodded. "It seems that way. See if you can go to Purgatory?"

  I turned to Asmodeus. "Try, please," I muttered.

  He disappeared.

  "I guess it worked," I said and stared at the spot he'd just stood. He reappeared seconds later. "Yep. Just not out of it. I was only able to move from there to here."

  "Do you think this is Ariel's doing?" I asked.

  Charity nodded. "I do. And the reason I think that is because we discovered we couldn't get to Earth once we left it before the coin was destroyed."

  Gabe flipped the coin in his hand. It was bent and black. "That part worked, by the way."

  I stared at the coin as it went through the air. "So you were on Earth at the academy and realized Ariel wasn't there. Then what?"

  "We knew she wouldn't come back here. Joel went to Elysium to see if there were any angels that could help us look for her on Earth. There were a handful, the ones that were nervous about being here. Then he couldn't get back to me. I was casting a net, trying to feel for Ariel on Earth."

  I nodded. "So, you went to Elysium to look for him?"

  "Yeah, and then couldn't get back to Earth. He came here to tell you and..." More tears rolled down her cheeks.

  "So, we can't get out of Abaddon. You can at least be in this neutral space." Luc indicated the open space between Abaddon and Purgatory. "We might need angel help moving souls from Purgatory to Abaddon when they start coming again. The river has stopped flowing.”

  Michael nodded. "We'll help. But for now, we're going to go take Joel to Elysium. He deserves a proper funeral, and everyone needs to know what happened."

  "Meet me in our chambers as soon as you can," I whispered. "I love you both."

  Gabe blew me a kiss and Michael smiled sadly. "You know we're at the end of the line, right?"

  I nodded. "I know. We're out of resources."

  Our daughter was alone on Earth. If there were any angels or Fallen there, as soon as they tried to leave, they'd be locked out forever.

  And there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it.

  Epilogue

  Ariel

  The cat tasted good, but eating it meant I was covere
d in blood. I'd been able to find food in trash cans for days and days. I wasn't sure how long I'd been hiding in this big city, but I didn't dare use my magic.

  The first few days, I'd gotten anything I wanted with my magic, but I'd scared an old lady. She screamed at me and called me a witch. She scared me so much. I stopped using it. If she screamed loud enough, the bad people might hear her and come find me. I knew that the only thing that made her stop was the snarling hellhound my mother had left to protect me. To humans, he would look like a regular dog, but I knew better.

  They'd killed my Dad and stolen my Mom and brother.

  "Hello, dear."

  I snarled and crouched down, ready to run. An old lady stood on the other side of the trash can. She had dark skin and a bunch of wrinkles. And she held a big blanket. "Aren't you a pretty girl," she said and smiled.

  My Mom always told me how pretty I was. She said I was powerful and smart, too. But if I used magic, this old lady would scream and the other Mom and Dad, the bad ones, they'd come and hurt me, just like my Daddy said they would. I stamped my magic down, harder and harder. If I hid it deep inside, maybe she wouldn't know I had it.

  "I'd love to take you for a nice warm bath and some clean clothes," she said. "Would you like that?"

  I looked down at my dirty hands. Mama loved giving me long bubble baths until my fingers turned all wrinkly. "I like baths," I said.

  Her eyes wrinkled up as she smiled, and her teeth were shiny and white. She seemed nice enough. And she didn't know about the magic. Besides, if she wasn't as nice as she looked, I could always run away.

  "Okay," I said. "I'll go to have a bath."

  She wrapped the blanket around me. I sighed. I hadn't realized how cold I was. "Do you have sweets?" I asked. "I haven't had sweets in a long time. Not since my Mama made my birthday cake."

  The lady chuckled. "I have lots of sweets. I keep some in the car. Come get buckled in and I'll get them out for you, okay?"

  If I hid my magic well enough, maybe this nice lady would let me stay with her until I was big enough to take care of myself. I pushed it down harder and harder.

  We drove for a long time, but I didn't care, because she had all kinds of yummy food in her car. I ate cookies and chips, and she stopped and handed me back a cheeseburger.

  When we drove through two big gates, I got nervous. "What does that sign say?" I asked. My Mama had been teaching me to read, but she'd driven past it too fast.

  "It's the New York Home for Troubled Children," she said. "It's a place where they'll make sure you're safe and cared for. They'll give you lots of warm baths and keep your tummy full. Would that be okay?"

  I considered her words. "I guess so. For now."

  I'd locked up those bad people pretty tight. As long as I hid my magic, they'd never find me here.

  Don’t Worry… That’s not the End

  Now, It’s Ariel’s Turn

  Nothing is going to keep Lilith from her baby.

  Except Maybe a Little Demon, Coming of Age.

  Check out all the Books By Rae Foxx

  Bloodwood Academy

  Year One: Shifter: Ivy’s Story

  Semester One

  Semester Two

  Semester Three

  Semester Four

  The Bloodwood Academy Novellas

  Howl and the Moon

  Finn Noel

  The Misfit Shifters

  Bloodwood year Two: Scarlet’s Story

  Zero Fox To Give

  For Fox Sake

  Fox Chance in Hell

  Pirate Cove Academy

  Under

  Breathe

  Fire

  The Queen of Abaddon

  Birth of A Demon

  Gates of Death

  Blood Dawn

  The Child of Abaddon

  Prick of the Knife

  Thrust of the Dagger

  Stab in the Back

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  About the Author

  Born and raised in Atlanta, Rae Foxx moved to Arizona when she reached adulthood. When Rae isn’t writing, she works part time at a Pilates studio. Her favorite spot is on the couch watching horror movies while sneaking cinnamon rolls. She’s endlessly searching for the perfect cup of coffee.

  Rae Foxx writes salty, sarcastic heroines and alluring men who love them. Her books revolve around paranormal and supernatural harems where a girl can have all the men and romance she wants.

  Adventure? Check. Romance? Check. Hot heroes? Double check.

  Oh, and Hufflepuff all the way.