Angels Falling

by Harriet Carlton

  Imorean narrowed his eyes and his wings twitched. “I know you, Michael. Whatever you’re hiding, whatever you don’t want me to find out, I know it’s something that you’ve caused.”

  A sheer fury swept over Imorean. Iciness fell behind it, searing through his blood. Michael’s eyes flashed and Imorean stiffened, a presence pressing against the side of his head. He shook himself. Michael wasn’t going to climb inside his mind quite so easily.

  “Go to Raguel, Frayneson. You have a mission to prepare for. The information I keep from you is my own business. As a new member of the Archangel Company, perhaps you should remember your place.”

  Imorean closed his eyes. Michael’s guard was down. He gathered his energy and pushed all his focus toward Michael. He centered himself, wings snapping out as he zeroed in on Michael’s aura. If this was how he had to find out the answer to his questions, then so be it. He had already been fired. He didn’t have much else to lose. In his mind’s eye, he could picture Michael. A flash of nerves. Something concealed. ‘Supposed to…’. Supposed to what? Something he was supposed to do – or supposed to have done? More information. He needed more information. Push Michael harder. Pressure him. Imorean leaned forward –

  Slam!

  A palm crashed into Imorean’s chest, knocking him clear off his feet. He landed hard on his back in the leaf litter and struggled to breathe. He inhaled without drawing breath and rolled onto his side. Air. He needed air. His lungs refused to cooperate. Every bit of breath had been driven out of him. Desperation clawed his insides, then a rasping heave of fresh air surged through his chest. A full-body tremble worked its way down Imorean’s spine and he looked up at Michael in horror. Neon green washed out Michael’s pupils, flooding his eyes with unnatural color.

  A low rumble sounded from inside Michael’s chest. All four wings flared out. “Do. Not. Test. Me. Frayneson. Go.”

  Imorean pulled himself to his feet. His sternum throbbed. He should have stayed down for a few more moments. His legs shook. Michael had only done this once before – they had sparred, yes, but a full-fledged attack… this hadn’t happened for months. Not since his first semester at Gracepointe. Whatever Michael was hiding … it was something he desperately didn’t want uncovered. Imorean raised his chin and met Michael’s glowing eyes. He detected the tiniest twinge of shame. He locked his jaw. He would find out the answer. If anything, this had only made him more determined.

  Chapter 59

  The farewell in France had been frosty. It was a kind of goodbye that made Imorean feel anxious. It hadn’t been a goodbye, really. A stiff nod from Michael and a few parting words had been all. He rested his chin in his palm and looked out the airplane window. Dresden, Germany. He and Raguel had set off early that morning from France and the rest of the Archangels had scattered to the winds. Raphael and Sariel back to Felsenmeer. Imorean swallowed. His squad – his friends – in Sariel’s hands …? And Michael and Gabriel embarking on another mission with Uriel at their backs. It seemed like a recipe for disaster. Complete and utter disaster. He swallowed. His mind seemed determined to focus on Michael. Imorean rubbed his forehead. He knew Michael was still furious about the overstep of boundaries the night before. He couldn’t say he blamed him. In hindsight, and had the situations been reversed, he would have been angry as well. It didn’t make the knowledge of Michael hiding things from him again any better, though. What could be so bad that Michael was refusing to say? Michael had already used him as bait for Vortigern. Was there something worse that Michael hadn’t told him? Was there something with this mission he didn’t know? Was it something that could get his squad killed? Was that why he had been fired? Imorean swallowed and a cold pit of horror formed in his stomach. He should never have left them. Heat washed his blood, somehow making the horror chill even colder. Guilt. More than anything now, he wanted to be back at Felsenmeer. Planning, working on the mission, leading the squad – making sure his friends were safe.

  From his peripherals, he saw Raguel shuffle a magazine page. Raguel. Imorean had almost forgotten he was there. He wondered how Raguel would react if he asked to change tack and go back to Felsenmeer. Even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew he would never ask to leave. He had chosen his path. Going back wasn’t an option. He gave a tiny shake of his head. He could already imagine the annoyance in Michael’s face. No, the request was best left unmade. He breathed and adjusted, turning more toward Raguel. He seemed quieter on his own, but somehow retained an aura of energy even when silent. He was a lot more like Gabriel than Imorean had initially thought. Imorean tilted his head a fraction. This was his first time alone with him and he was curious whether they’d work well together or not. If he was part of the Archangel Company now, he’d probably be doing a lot more of this.

  “Don’t worry about Michael,” said Raguel, not looking up from the magazine.

  Imorean quirked a small smile. “How did you know?”

  “I know my big brother pretty well by now. Funny how a couple thousand years of knowing someone can do that to you. He can be nasty when he wants to.”

  “Too right,” mumbled Imorean.

  “Thought I was psychic for a minute, didn’t you?” said Raguel, closing the magazine and looking up.

  Imorean laughed. “A little.”

  “Nah. I’ve just been on the receiving end of Michael’s temper enough to know how it feels.” Raguel’s expression turned thoughtful and he raised an eyebrow. “So, Mike tells me you’re our new pyromaniac. What’s that like?”

  “What?” asked Imorean, shaking his head.

  “Fire powers. They’ve been missing that element for a long time. What’s it like?”

  “I –” Imorean paused. What exactly did it feel like to have fire powers? “Hot, I guess. I don’t know. I didn’t know for a long time that I had them. What’s your power?”

  Raguel raised his other eyebrow. “You think I have powers?”

  Heat caught Imorean’s cheeks. Not for the first time, he felt stupid – as though he knew nothing about the Archangels. “Sorry, I just assumed …”

  “No worries, kid,” laughed Raguel, dropping his eyebrows back. “Nature powers are reserved for the Upper Archangels. Lower Archangels don’t have them.”

  “I hate to ask this, but how did you become Archangels?”

  “A lot like you. We were chosen and we chose it. When we made the decision to join the Archangel Company, a lot of Archangel abilities were given to us. We just don’t fit into the Upper Archangel category because we’re not of the original five. You’re half Michael and half Inmerael, so personally, I’d class you as an Upper, but not everyone, meaning Sariel, sees it that way.”

  “A third,” said Imorean. He glanced out of the window as the airline’s landing gear deployed. He caught a brief glance of a city skyline. How many of those had he seen now? “I’m still part human. At least a third of me is human.”

  Raguel shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it evens out. Either way, don’t let Michael get to you. Focus on the mission for now. Talk with him afterward.”

  Imorean looked back out of the window as the plane touched down on one of Dresden Airport’s landing strips. From the surroundings, the airport seemed to be a short distance outside the city itself.

  “I don’t know why I get so torn up about what he says and does. It shouldn’t bother me. I don’t matter to him,” sighed Imorean.

  “Oh, don’t lie to yourself, kid. We all see it,” chuckled Raguel. The other passengers on the plane were stirring now. Imorean unbuckled his seatbelt as Raguel stood up, opening the overhead compartment.

  “See what?” asked Imorean,

  “Being dense, are we? ‘Course you matter to Michael. You should hear the way he praises you in meetings. Why do you think Sariel’s so jealous of you?”

  Imorean took his bag from Raguel and shuffled his wings. Raguel smiled at him, then turned toward the front of the plane. Imorean fell into step behind him, but couldn’t move his mind from what Raguel had
just said. If Michael really cared about him, why did he keep hiding things? Wouldn’t the truth be better off in the open? He shook himself. It wasn’t worth worrying about. Focus on the mission. He could corner Michael afterward. Houska, the possibility of finding his family, was ahead, and he couldn’t afford to be any more distracted than he already was.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  There was a chill in the air. Imorean raised his chin and pulled his wings tighter. The feathers lay flatter than usual against his bones. Evening had crowed in. He and Raguel had teleported to the German, Czechoslovakian border. Foothills surrounded them. They had made camp on a wide, forested bluff on one of the summits of the higher foothills. And now they waited.

  “My team will be here by morning,” said Raguel, shuffling next to him. “Shall I brief you now or later?”

  “Now might be a good time,” replied Imorean.

  Raguel nodded. “My team consists of eight other angels. I am going to partner you for the trip with Tadhiel. You’re quite close in physical age and he’s reliable.”

  “What will we be doing?” Imorean shuddered inwardly. This was happening.

  “Me and the rest of the team will be serving as an attack group. A diversion. I hope that we’ll be able to lure Vortigern and his forces out far enough for you and Tadhiel to slip into Houska to see if your mother is down there. Me and my team have a bit of fun. Come to Houska, and its victory celebrations all around.”

  “Do the others …” Imorean hesitated. Eight other lives. He was asking eight other angels to risk their lives for his family. “Do the others know what we’re here for?”

  Raguel looked him up and down and Imorean stiffened. The air had suddenly turned tense. He shifted his gaze away.

  “You really think we’re just here for your family? Imorean, we’re here for other things as well. Vortigern keeps a lot of his battle plans at Houska. Vortigern himself might be there. We’ll be striking right where it could hurt him. Did you think that Michael would send us in just to rescue humans? Humans that could be horribly damaged. Maybe you don’t know him as well as you claim to.”

  A quiet laugh slipped Imorean’s lips. No. He didn’t know Michael nearly as well as he thought he did. He should have expected an ulterior motive. There was a shift in Raguel’s presence.

  “You’re still human, you’ll need sleep.”

  “I’ll be fine,” replied Imorean. The reply had been sharper than he had intended. He glanced at his watch to try to soften the words. Eight in the evening. He gave an awkward laugh. “It’s too early for me to go to sleep really.”

  The last fingers of dusk were filtering from the sky. The first stars were visible. He swallowed and looked south-east. Apprehension that had nothing to do with the sudden tension between him and Raguel surfaced. That was their direction, their heading. Houska. His mother. Rachel. Isaac. Toddy. They were all there. They had to be. Imorean jerked back to the present as Raguel spoke, words sharper now.

  “No. We’ll be leaving before dawn, travelling over the day and hitting Vortigern hard just before twilight. You’ll need sleep. I can watch until the rest arrive.”

  Imorean cut himself off as he opened his mouth to speak. The atmosphere around them pulsed. Raguel’s wings shifted and Imorean felt something burgundy ripple through the air. He could practically smell Raguel’s annoyance.

  “Imorean,” said Raguel. His voice turned authoritative. “This is my mission. Listen to my orders. If you can’t listen, if you endanger us or even look like you’re going to, I’ll send you back to Felsenmeer without hesitation. Set camp and rest.”

  Imorean bristled, downy feathers on his wings rising, but stepped back as Raguel snorted.

  “You’re not taking charge of your squad, you’re not on a solo mission and you’re not with Michael anymore,” said Raguel. “You’re part of my team. Not leader of your own. I need you to work with us, not against us. Disobeying an order here could mean death for us all. Remember that, would you?”

  “Sorry,” replied Imorean. “I’m not exactly used to being on a team.”

  “I know, but I need you to think differently. I need you to adjust. Quickly.”

  Imorean nodded and shook out his wings. “Okay.”

  White, falcon feathers twitched and Imorean pushed down his frustration. This was a different dynamic. He had to remember that. He took a breath and turned away, moving back toward the forested area of the bluff. He glanced around, looking for a good place to set everything down. Two trees near the edge of the copse looked good. Imorean moved toward them, but before he set his AL Pack down, he took a deep breath of air. It was clearer here than it had been in Dresden or Rome. The evening haze around the foothills was familiar. A similar one loved to settle down around the low summits of the Blue Ridge – but it wasn’t home. It wasn’t the same. It didn’t pull on his heartstrings or make him think of the isolated mountain communities he knew so intimately. It only served as a reminder of how far he was from them. Home. He missed it. More than words could say, he missed it. A small smile crossed his face. If he squinted, he could almost pretend he was back there. But it wasn’t real. Imorean shook his head, the frustration that had gathered in his chest finally dying. Raguel wasn’t at fault for this situation, he didn’t deserve to be snapped at. Michael, for all his ulterior motives, didn’t deserve his spleen either. Vortigern was the reason they were here. Revenge, rescue. That was why they were here. There was no room for discord.

  Something slid from his AL Pack, landing heavily on his foot. Imorean glanced down – his phone. He swallowed. He hadn’t checked it since he and Michael had split up in Italy. There hadn’t been time. He reached down and picked it up. Dead. He wondered if he had any unread messages. Probably. No doubt his friends wanted an explanation about where he had gone and why Ryan had suddenly taken his position. But here, in the middle of nowhere, there wasn’t exactly a charging outlet. He slid his phone back into one of the pouches of his Pack and withdrew his sword. It needed cleaning and he wanted it closer at hand from now on. He glanced back to the south. Raguel was illuminated from the side by the setting sun, casting a long shadow across the bluff. Houska, his family, Toddy and Vortigern were ahead of them.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Even in summer, Felsenmeer could still get cold. The bright fire in the lounge fireplaces was warm and pleasant. It should have been comforting. Roxy folded her arms. There was something unsettling about this evening. The air felt tense, like a balloon ready to burst. Even the burning fires didn’t do much to ease her. Gabriel stood in front of one of the fireplaces, looking pensive. He hadn’t looked like this for some time. Roxy looked at Baxter, Colton and Kadia, each sitting quietly on the furniture. They could feel the tension, too. They exchanged a glance and Roxy met Colton’s eyes, feeling jittery. The automatic doors slid open and Ryan stepped inside. Roxy smiled and felt a rush of relief as he entered the massive foyer. Now that they were all here, maybe Gabriel would start.

  “Hey,” Roxy said as Ryan stopped next to her.

  “Hey. I got your text. What’s going on?” he asked, shaking out his wings.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  Gabriel shifted his weight and turned to face them. Roxy adjusted her bright wings and met his eyes. There was a definite heaviness in them.

  “Hello, Ryan,” he said.

  “Hey,” said Ryan. “Everything okay? We haven’t met like this for a while.”

  Gabriel laughed quietly. “I have good news and bad news. Which first?”

  Roxy glanced between Gabriel and Ryan for a moment.

  “Well, guys,” said Ryan. “Good news or bad news first?”

  Baxter and Kadia looked at each other. “Let’s have bad first.”

  “Agreed,” said Colton.

  “Same,” nodded Roxy.

  “Right …” Gabriel sighed. “Imorean won’t be back. Not for a while.”

  “Has something happened?” asked Roxy, a spike of fear in her chest. What if her best friend – if
they were still best friends – had been injured? Was that why he wouldn’t be back for a while? What if that was why Gabriel looked so worried?

  “No. He’s fine. Well, aside from being arrested by the Cherubim and put in a cool off tank for a night, he’s fine.”

  Roxy’s mind ground to a halt. “What?”

  “Minor arrest. He might be an international criminal. Michael didn’t specify. But he’s fine. He’s been bailed, don’t worry. However, Imorean has been placed on a new assignment. He’s been attached to Raguel’s unit and will be going to Houska Castle.”

  “Without us?” snapped Ryan. There was a slight flush to his face. “Why?”

  Colton sat upright. “We’ve been training for the Peru mission since he left.”

  “I don’t think he’d just leave us, Colton,” said Baxter quietly.

  “No! Colton’s right!” snapped Ryan. “We’ve been training for Peru for weeks. What are we supposed to do? Just wait until he’s done running around Europe?”

  Gabriel shifted his wings and Roxy swallowed. There was still weight to his eyes.

  “He hasn’t said anything to you, I’m guessing?” asked Gabriel, clearing his throat.

  Roxy shook her head. “I’ve only heard from him once since he left.”

  Brown and green wings twitched, awkward. “Imorean chose to go to Houska.”

  “The little –”

  “Quiet, Ryan!” snapped Gabriel. “Yes, Imorean chose to go to Houska rather than return here. And Michael fired him. He is no longer in charge of this squad.”

  A chill ran through Roxy’s blood. Imorean? Fired? She looked at Ryan. Were they still a squad? Would they be sent back to Upper Morvine? Summer was almost over – students would be going back to the campuses soon. Would they rejoin them? Gabriel’s voice grabbed her attention.

  “The good news is that, congratulations, Ryan, you are now the new squad leader. Michael is working on getting another angel or another hybrid to join you – possibly both. Within the next two days, you will be going to Peru, guided by Archangel Sariel.”