“Oh, shit!” said Tom.
Nash jerked the wheel, and the angel jumped off the car and hovered above us. The car skidded to a stop. Nash turned around and looked at us. “Alright, we’re getting out. Grab the weapons. We can do this.”
I nodded.
We raced out of the car. Kiran opened the trunk, and we removed our weapons.
Angels and demons fought before us. More black blood speckled the streets than silver.
As soon as Nash grabbed his weapon, he ran into the fight and met swords with an angel. Nash’s toned arms brought the sword down on the angel. I remembered how it felt to be wrapped in the warmth of those arms, as his lips hovered inches from mine, before they pushed me away. They were capable of so much tenderness and yet so much destruction.
I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“I hate you,” said Chandra, “But you’re the only one who can kill angels. Stay behind me, and touch as many of those bastards as you can.”
Her blade cut into the body of the angel in front of her. She pierced his skin, and silver blood oozed out.
I lurched forward, ducked my head, and grabbed his exposed wrist. His wings burst into flames, and his were the loudest screams in all Sheol. I stayed near Chandra, careful not to breathe in the dust of his ashen feathers.
Kiran and Adrianna fought together. Silver and black blood covered them.
Tom was not far from where Chandra and I stood. The angel he fought wielded a silver axe. His shield clashed with the axe and sent sparks like falling stars down onto the street.
Chandra tore the hem of her dress until the skirt was right above her knees. “Look out,” she screamed.
I ducked, not knowing where the threat was.
Chandra’s sword forced the blade away from me and pushed the angel who wielded it back. The angel kicked Chandra in the stomach and sent her sailing across the field.
“Chandra!” I shouted. I dodged the blade in time.
I ran. I avoided the fighting angels and demons until I made my way to an alley and sank down against the wall, hidden in the shadows.
I looked across the field for Nash and the others, but I couldn’t make out anyone. They were lost in a mass of bodies and flashes of steel.
But I did see one face I recognized: Adriel. He was above the battle, scanning the skies, looking for me. But he didn’t have a weapon. He wasn’t wearing any armor because I asked him to take me back home, to the home I abandoned once again.
I wasn’t doing any good, hiding in the dark. It was my fault Adriel didn’t have his armor or a weapon. I looked to my right. There was Nash’s car. No one was around it.
I glanced to the left and the right to make sure no one looked my way. I raced for the car and slammed the driver’s side door shut. The keys were still in the ignition. Blood spattered on the windshield. I turned the key, and the engine sputtered. I hoped the car could get me to Nash’s house and back.
After I turned the car around, I sped off toward the house.
As I walked into the foyer, Sim padded down the stairs. She hissed at me. Her teeth were sharp and snakelike. I looked at her quizzically. She never hissed at me before.
I threw open the doors of the armory and pulled Adriel’s sword from the wall. The Twinblade.
The sword was heavier than I anticipated. Edged on both sides, the blade ended in two sharp points. Below that, golden wings made up the cross guard.
Chandra lifted the sword effortlessly from the wall in La Fenice. I could barely lift the sword above the ground. I dragged it up the stairs and out to the car.
I had to get it to Adriel. He was a Seraph. Once he had his sword, he would save my friends.
I turned the key in the ignition. The car made a loud screech, but wouldn’t start.
“Come on,” I urged.
I turned the key again, and the car sputtered to life. I backed away from the house and followed the road back to where I left Nash and the others.
I slammed on the brakes, but the car wouldn’t stop. The wheels assaulted the bodies of the fallen warriors and slammed into the fighters, sending bodies over the car. The car barreled toward the Pit.
The black abyss threatened to swallow me and Nash’s car for all eternity. The metal screeched as a javelin tore through the roof and into the ground.
The car stopped half way over the edge.
The breath was caught in my throat.
The long, steel javelin pierced the car and held the vehicle in place.
I climbed to the back and grabbed Adriel’s sword. I didn’t want to face what was out there, but I desperately wanted to get out of the vehicle that was two wheels in the grave.
I opened the driver’s side back door and climbed out of the car, skewered on the javelin. The front of the car tilted from side to side, and the wheels still rolled.
The earth shuttered as an angel landed in front of me. Around his neck was a silver horn. The angel with the silver trumpet, God’s messenger.
Gabriel.
I spun around, anger rose like a tidal wave behind my eyes. I used every bit of strength I possessed to point Adriel’s sword at Gabriel.
“That isn’t yours, is it?” Gabriel asked. “But you’re used to taking others’ things, aren’t you?”
My voice trembled despite my efforts to slow my breathing. “Get out of here,” I said, “you don’t belong in Sheol.”
“And you do?” He shook his head. “I came here to warn you. I do follow Raphael, but I don’t condone the reckless way he killed your parents.”
I gulped. My arms burned from holding the heavy weapon. “You came without him.”
Gabriel nodded. “You’re playing a game beyond you, girl. Raphael wanted you to gather the angel weapons. He wanted you to make those angels fall.”
“Why would he want me to go after his own followers?”
“His followers?” Gabriel shook his head. “The more angels you took down, the less who would stand up against him. He instructed his followers to retrieve their weapons, long before you started your quest.”
I squinted. “How did he know what I was doing?” But we were taking down Raphael’s followers. Gabriel was trying to confuse me and make me think Raphael had the upper hand.
“He watched you all along.”
Sim’s sleek body patted toward me. Her body morphed and stretched. The fur fell out in heavy clumps. Horns grew from her head.
A Jinn?
Not Sim. This was a demon. One that sided with Raphael and had been watching me the entire time.
“You should come with me, Lia,” said Gabriel. “Your soul is damned anyway. The Devil never keeps her promises.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not doing this for Lucifer. Don’t come any closer, or I’ll spit in your face. That should be enough to make you fall.”
“You’re a sinner.” Gabriel glared at me. “Whatever deal Lucifer made with you, it won’t matter. You’ve made angels fall. You don’t belong in Heaven. But it isn’t too late. You can join us.”
The Jinn circled me. I was painfully near the Pit.
The Jinn stood in front of me. I had barely seen it move. It gripped the Twinblade in its hands and bared its teeth at me. They were still pointed like Sim’s, but its mouth was much wider. My heart thumped like a beating drum, and I let go of the sword.
The Jinn crawled over to Gabriel, and the Archangel took the Twinblade from him.
“What do you say? They can’t reach us where we’re going. You can stop all this fighting.”
I thought of Mom and Dad. Maybe I didn’t deserve eternal bliss, but they did. “I won’t help Raphael close the gates of Heaven.”
Gabriel looked at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out.
Adriel landed in front of us. He had a silver blade in his hands. “Give me my sword, Gabriel.”
“You lost this weapon when you left your post, Seraph.”
“I’ll cut you to pieces,” said Adriel. “Years will pass before you’re
whole again.”
“You would attack your own? You should have fallen a long time ago.” Gabriel thrust the Twinblade against Adriel’s sword.
Adriel bent his knees and struggled against his own angel weapon, but he righted himself. The steel clashed and battered. Flakes of gold left the Twinblade, showing the silver beneath.
I set my teeth and waited for my opportunity to grab a fistful of Gabriel’s feathers and bring him to his knees.
The Twinblade came down on Adriel’s sword, and the sword shattered. Gabriel slammed his shoulder into Adriel. But Adriel turned and grabbed Gabriel around the neck. Gabriel dropped the Twinblade and elbowed Adriel in the face. Adriel staggered back. Gabriel reached for the Twinblade, but Adriel tackled him. They both went for the sword. Adriel grabbed the hilt of the blade.
Gabriel held the blade in both hands until silver blood oozed from his palms. One shaky hand released the blade and reached for the horn at his side. He raised the horn to his lips.
Adriel let go of his sword and darted to me. He removed his shirt and tore it in two. He balled the shirt in his fists and pressed the fabric against my ears.
Gabriel brought his lips to the mouth of the horn and blew.
Adriel’s shirt did nothing to muffle the sound. My ears rang, and I knelt. I wanted to clamp my own hands against my ears, but instead balled them into fists. I couldn’t do that. I would touch Adriel’s hands if I did. My nails bit into my palms.
Gabriel stopped blowing his horn. He screamed and hurled the Twinblade into the Pit.
Adriel’s hands left my ears. He soared down. Down into the abyss.
No!
I brought his weapon here, it was because of me that Gabriel managed to get a hold of it. I couldn’t let him die because of me.
Tom’s words came back to me. Angels are bound to protect their weapons…as long as they aren’t fallen.
I jumped.
Gabriel bellowed, “No!” But his voice was lost in the fathomless depths of the Pit.
The wind rushed around me.
All it would take was one touch.
Too much space separated us. I couldn’t reach him. I had to push within. I let all the anger and pain boil inside me, and I pushed backward against the air. The force jolted me down.
I flew with him. I touched his bare chest.
Something awakened. An image flashed before my eyes. A woman knelt in a pool of silver blood, an open book before her, and the headless body of an angel.
Adriel’s wings burst into flames. His scream echoed in my ears, a desperate howl. His eyes flashed as he watched me fall beside him.
He took me in his arms, and warmth spread through my body. He flew up with the last of his blackened feathers and left a trail of ash over the Pit.
Epilogue
I sat alone on the edge of the Outer Region of Sheol. The sky was the same color it had been when I first arrived, but I could see a greater depth to it. The sky was shades of gray-blue. The angels came to Hell and brightened the atmosphere.
I stared out over the Pit. A week passed since they came.
After I jumped into the Pit to save Adriel, Lucifer released the demons of the Nine Circles into the Outer Region. The angels left after that. Nash and the others had a difficult time getting all the demons back into the Circles, but at least the angels were gone.
The sound of a car roared behind me. Nash got out.
“You walked here?” His hands were in his pockets.
“I wanted the quiet,” I said. “Besides, I don’t have my driver’s license.”
I had driven Nash’s car and would have felt pretty badass doing it if I wasn’t fighting for my life. I tried to smile, but couldn’t. So, I glanced back over the chasm that swallowed Adriel’s weapon and nearly swallowed him too.
“That didn’t stop you from driving my car,” said Nash.
“Looks like Bob got you a new one,” I said. The new car was fancy. Not that the old one wasn’t, but Bob always went a bit overboard. The silver horse galloped on the grill. The red paint shimmered in the new light of Sheol.
Beelzebub was the Prince of Gluttony after all. He lived everyday like the next would never come. There was something to be said of that, but I wasn’t in the mood for poetry.
“I didn’t know they would come here,” said Nash. “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“No, I should never have left.”
He looked at me.
“I didn’t ask to be what I am. But, now it’s my responsibility. I can’t sit by and let Raphael close the gates of Heaven. I can’t let him kill my friends.”
Nash’s ashy black hair was still, like a painting. That was so odd. No wind drifted through Sheol, making everything a still-life, like one of Dad’s gory masterpieces.
“When you jumped,” said Nash. “I thought I lost you.”
“You saw it.”
“I saw everything. Why did you save him?”
“I couldn’t bear to see him die. He saved me.”
We sat in silence, lost in our own thoughts. I didn’t know if Nash forgave me for leaving. My leaving hadn’t bothered him most. What bothered him more than anything was that I left without telling him and that I left with Adriel.
In the evening, Adrianna, Kiran, Tom, and Chandra came to Nash’s house. They always dressed in their finest, but this night was special. Wounds healed, and we celebrated our victory.
I told them that Raphael had been watching us the entire time, using Sim, or what I thought was Sim to spy on me.
What had happened to the real Sim? I hoped she wasn’t on the streets hungry. Perhaps another family took her in.
Adriel wasn’t with us, not that Nash invited him. I hadn’t seen him since the day after the battle. His feathers were gone, all turned to ash. The bones of his once beautiful wings protruded from his back and made him look more like a demon than an angel. Sadness crowded his eyes, so deep that I could not fathom it. It made me want to cry with him. He was bound to Sheol.
I knew this wasn’t the end, but at least we defended our turf.
The angels would come back for me. Raphael would come for me.
As a precaution, Bob instructed demons to ward every inch of Hell with protections against angels. Angels had never entered Sheol before.
I didn’t tell them what I saw, as I fell into the Pit. The images were strange, and I still didn’t understand what they meant. Something familiar hit me when I touched Adriel.
“So, they know about you,” said Tom. “If we leave Sheol, they’ll come for you. The wards won’t hold forever, and they only last three years. Then, we have to wait another three years before they can be replaced.”
“We’ll figure something out,” said Nash. “For now, let’s enjoy this meal.” His confidence was so steadfast that some of it had spread to me.
I was in danger. An Archangel was after me, but I can make angels fall. I was part of a war over Heaven. But something in me changed. I could feel it. My past goals seemed unfathomably small. So much more was at stake.
But I wasn’t alone.
The light flooded through the windows. The sky was brighter since the angels emerged from the clouds.
The world is a clarinet, and its music pierces.
Excerpt
If you enjoyed
THE WINGS OF HEAVEN AND HELL,
look out for
THE SEVEN ARCHANGELS OF HEAVEN
Book Two of the Arcadian Steel Sequence
By L. M. Peralta
Prologue
THE reedy branches reached to the ashen sky. A slash of light hung among the clouds where the angels descended, their wings white and thickly feathered. The shining armor and Arcadian weapons they wielded gleamed in the light above them.
Never again would Adriel feel that eternal warmth or the tickle of feathers against his back. He was in a world of never-ending gloom from which he could never leave.
He trekked across the lands beyond the Angel District. Headstones were
embedded in a vast plain of barren soil. In the distance the earth met the gray sky.
Adriel didn’t dare think what was beyond that, the Circles perhaps. He thought of the cruel punishments Lucifer enacted on accursed souls, and for once, he felt pity. As an angel, he never held sympathy for the damned. They were damned for a reason, but now that he was damned too, these thoughts came readily to his mind.
Adriel avoided the grave markers that patterned the ground like gory stepping stones. Dust stung Adriel’s nose, and sweat stained his brow.
He walked with a heavy stone upon his shoulder. The physical weight of it caused him little struggle, but its symbolism carried much weight.
He was fallen.
His stone would rest among the others. His name etched upon it. The marker was not like a headstone found on Earth, in remembrance of a loved one. It was not to honor what he was. It served as a symbol of his shame, of his fall from grace.
Adriel sank the stone into the ground, packed beside three others. Although he did not struggle, he did notice the weight of it. That had never happened before.
His hands were reddened from gripping the gritty surface of the stone. That had never happened before either.
He sighed as he beheld the sky.
A place of unimaginable bliss and serenity loomed far above him, and its gates were locked to him forever.
He didn’t blame Lia, but he wondered if, given the chance, he could have retrieved his weapon and flew out of the Pit. But the Pit would have swallowed him up like a black hole. The farther he descended, the stronger the pull down would have been until he was lost in an endless fall. The pressure would have torn the feathers from his wings and the skin from his body. He would live through all that pain for an eternity.
What was worse, the pain or this hopelessness?
The air around him changed. Soft footfalls padded across the dry, cracked earth.
Adriel turned his head.
Nasriel approached him. He wore a black suit and a black shirt like a mourner at a funeral.
The Wings of Heaven and Hell (The Arcadian Steel Sequence Book 1) Page 25
