“Ryan!” shouted Baxter, launching to his feet.
“Congrats,” said Roxy. She put a hand on his wrist, then stepped away as Kadia, Colton and Baxter gathered around him. She smiled. There was a warmth in the room.
“I – I’m squad leader?” asked Ryan. Roxy could see his big, dark wings quivering in her peripherals.
“You are,” nodded Gabriel. “I told Michael about all the progress you’ve made as a leader and all of you as a group. He agrees with me. The squad will do better with you in charge.”
A grin spread across Ryan’s face and Roxy gave him a soft smile. She was proud of him, even if it meant Imorean had been fired.
Ryan panted for a second, then drew himself to his full height and nodded at Gabriel. “I’ll do whatever is required of me.”
Gabriel laughed. “Don’t. Carry out the mission, but look after the squad. They’re your top priority. I wouldn’t like to see certain mistakes repeated.”
Ryan nodded and refolded his wings.
Roxy looked back at Gabriel. “So, we’re still going? Without Imorean?”
“Correct.”
Colton cleared his throat and there was a tiny whirr as his mechanical wings moved. “My Enochian isn’t that good, Gabriel.”
“That’s why we’ve enlisted help. Like I said, Raphael is on his way back and he’s bringing Sariel with him. Sariel will accompany you to Peru as a supplementary force while we refill the open rank in the squad. He can help you with the Enochian. Some of you have already met him, but a reminder for those who haven’t, he is abrasive, he is proud and he is rude. He will not like you and I do not believe any of you will like him. On that note, I suggest you get ready. I’m going to wait for Raphael and Sariel – I’m sure they’ll be tired. By the time you are finished in Peru, we will be ready to move on Greece. I’ll take my exit now. Have a good evening.”
Roxy watched him go and dropped her hand immediately to her pocket. Phone, phone, phone. Text Imorean. Arrested? Fired? How was he handling all of this? Nothing in that pocket. She turned, but a gentle hand on her elbow stopped her. She looked up.
“Got a message?” asked Ryan.
“Not that I know of. I just …” Roxy let her sentence trail off. There was a look in Ryan’s eyes. It was like he knew what she was thinking.
“You want to check on him.”
Roxy paused. She couldn’t tell if Ryan was asking a question or not. “Yeah.”
“Do what you want, but I can’t see him being that torn up.”
“Don’t say that, Ryan,” said Roxy. Heat rippled through her.
“Why not?” asked Baxter. “He’s probably right.”
“Whoa …” said Roxy. “Where’s this hostility toward Imorean coming from?”
“You heard what Gabriel said,” shrugged Ryan. “Imorean chose to go to Houska. He chose to go and do angel stuff – he didn’t choose to come with us. To support us. To lead us.”
Roxy looked around. There was a reservation over the others. “What is wrong with all of you?”
“Ryan’s got a point,” said Colton, his bright eyes darting away.
Kadia shrugged. “I think so, too.”
“What?” Roxy took a breath, trying to keep her temper from rising.
Kadia bit her lip. “It’s weird. He shows me the ropes here. Goes on about trust and working together. Then vanishes. He’s choosing something. And it’s not us. Like he’s running away from responsibility or –”
“Shut up.” Roxy set her jaw. “You don’t know him.”
Kadia launched to her feet. “No, I don’t know him! I never got the chance because he was always running off on some mission. I’m calling things the way I see them.”
Colton looked up. “Roxy, Kadia has a point. Imorean’s loyalties are changing. When he tested my wings … he hesitated in the plane until Michael spoke to him. I don’t understand why he would do that.”
Roxy forced a breath through her teeth. “You idiot. He didn’t want to throw himself out a plane with no way of stopping himself if he got into trouble. Even you got a parachute. You wouldn’t have wanted to jump if you hadn’t had one.”
Baxter cleared his throat. “We’re saying how we’re feeling based on what we’re seeing. What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong is that you’re misinterpreting what’s going on.”
Ryan scoffed. “He’s making choices. He chose this mission. He didn’t choose us.”
“Because Houska is where we think his mother is. He told you this himself, Ryan,” snapped Roxy, temper boiling. “I told all of you this last week! How can you blame him for wanting to go to Houska? He didn’t not choose us, he chose his family. Wouldn’t you do the same thing? How can we possibly blame him for doing something that we would do, too?”
Baxter and Ryan glanced at each other. Roxy folded her arms. She saw Colton and Kadia shift awkwardly nearby. Silence fell.
“The bottom line is he chose not to come back,” said Baxter, shuffling.
“No. That isn’t the bottom line,” said Ryan. “The bottom line is that Imorean chose angels. He did exactly what he did in Iceland and chose Michael and what Michael wants. I’m just glad it didn’t result in getting anyone injured or killed this time.”
Roxy raised her wings, her jaw locked. She grabbed hold of Ryan’s wrist and tugged him toward the front doors. She could feel the eyes of the squad on their backs. Arctic air hit her in the face as the doors slid open. She would have to keep this brief.
“What?” asked Ryan, pulling his hand out of her grip.
“How many times have I told you not to bring up Iceland?” she asked. Her hand twitched and she resisted the urge to press it to her side. She folded her arms again.
“I’m making a point,” said Ryan.
“You’re making an argument,” she replied, trying to keep the bite out of her voice. Ryan had just been promoted. She needed to be happy for him.
One of Ryan’s dark wings flared and his primaries grazed Roxy’s. “Point, argument. Same thing. What I’m saying, Roxy, is that Imorean has been reckless and insensitive over the last few months, dangerously so. I mean, think about when he jumped out of that plane with Colton’s prototype wings. I don’t know what was going through his head, but what I saw was that kid being ready to throw his whole life out the window – throw it away – to please Michael. He hesitates and lunges. There’s no pattern to his behavior. That’s all he does now. I don’t trust him to keep us safe.”
Roxy pulled away from him. “That wasn’t it, Ryan!”
“Roxy, why do you think none of us except you trust him anymore? He got at least two people killed and Toddy taken prisoner.”
Roxy shook her head and looked away. “He’s had a lot happen to him. If push came to shove and we were in trouble, I know he’d drop everything to help us. He cares about us. All of us.”
“That’s not an excuse,” said Ryan quietly. “Our friends are dead and you still have faith in him. I don’t. I can’t. He was growing on me, but after all this, I don’t recognize him. He isn’t the person you knew, Roxy.”
“I believe in him. He changed more than the rest of us when we were all turned into …” She flared her wings. “… This.”
“That’s the Archangel in him. He’s not human anymore.”
“I believe in his nature, Ryan. He’s reckless, yes. Dangerous… yes. He’s had a lot happen to him. But I believe he’s still the person I grew up with. I believe that he’ll come back to who he was. Who he is, is still the same.”
“Think about him, Roxy. Just think. He has done nothing for the last year, except choose the angels, deepen his relationship with Michael and go off seeking danger. If the choice came down to it and he could only choose you or Michael to drop everything and help, who do you think he’d choose? I think I know the answer.”
Tears welled up in Roxy’s eyes. “Who are you to pass judgement, Ryan?”
“I think I’m someone who’s been watching. And I
think that you know what we’re saying is right, which is why it bothers you so much.”
Roxy shook her head, looking away from Ryan as he slipped his hand into hers.
“It’s time you stopped defending him. This little stunt he’s just pulled is evidence why. Much as you may like to think it, he doesn’t seem to need or want us.”
Rainbow wings shuffled as Roxy took a shuddering breath. Stop defending her best friend? The best friend she had ever had? The best friend who was currently absent and who had made no effort to come back. A dark wing draped over her shoulders and Roxy leaned against Ryan. She swallowed hard, stifling the burning in her eyes. Cold bloomed in the left side of her chest. She and Imorean were diverging. Life had set up paths for them and they were no longer running the same course.
Roxy ran a finger along the bottoms of her eyes. “Ready to go back in? We have a mission of our own that we need to get to.”
Chapter 60
“Imorean.”
Imorean shuffled his wings, rolling over. He wanted desperately to cling to sleep, to rest. He had been having a dream – a dream about Roxy. He didn’t want to let go. It was the closest he had been to her in what felt like weeks.
A hand shook his shoulder. “Imorean.”
Brown eyes slid unwillingly open. Imorean turned. Raguel stood over him, little more than a shadowed outline in the darkness.
“We’re getting ready,” said Raguel.
“I’m up,” muttered Imorean, swinging his legs out of his hammock. Still groggy, he gathered his things together, pulling his backpack onto his shoulders and stooping to pick up his sword.
“I hope your blade is sharp. We don’t know exactly what we’re going into.”
“Did it last night,” replied Imorean. “I’m ready.”
Raguel laughed quietly. “Michael seems to have taught you well so far. Let’s see if it pays off at Houska.”
Imorean nodded and glanced at the sky. The navy blue of night was yielding to a gray dawn. Low-bellied clouds. Humidity in the air. It would rain today. He tensed as he heard a stick snap. His hand twitched, nearly flexing for his sword handle. Other shapes stirred in the trees. Mentally, he reached out to Raguel then relaxed, sensing the presence of other angels. Raguel himself didn’t seem to feel unsettled. This had to be his team. How many were there? Imorean paused for a moment. Eight presences? Possibly more? He swallowed. Would eight be enough to take on one of Vortigern’s strongholds?
“Raguel,” said Imorean, strapping his sword’s buckles closed across his chest and at his hip. “Is this everyone?”
“Yes. Why?”
“It … well, it doesn’t seem like a force capable of taking on a castle.”
“Raguel.”
Imorean turned as one of Raguel’s team exited the trees. He was tall, borderline thin, with a close crop of hair on his head.
“Iriel,” said Raguel.
Imorean tilted his head as the two of them brushed wings. He had always found something intimate about the movement. These two were familiar with each other – intensely so.
“Have you met Imorean, Iriel?” asked Raguel.
“Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure,” replied Iriel, turning. “Michael’s hybrid?”
Imorean laughed quietly. “Which angels know me and which don’t?”
“Most of the Host in the field knows of you,” said Iriel. “The others … Cherubim and those behind the gates. Well, perhaps not.”
Raguel reached up and placed a hand on Iriel’s shoulder. “Iriel is my second in command for this mission. Solid as a rock. Are the others ready?”
“When you are,” said Iriel.
“Good,” nodded Raguel. “We’ll do a brief introduction, then we’ll go.”
Imorean took half a step closer to Raguel as the remaining seven angels made their way out onto the treeless bluff.
“Counting you and me, there’s ten in total of us,” said Raguel.
“Okay,” nodded Imorean. He still wasn’t convinced. Ten? To take on a castle, no doubt crawling with demons? It just didn’t seem possible. He flashed a small smile as Raguel’s team fell into line. For the most part, they were dark featured, as though they – like Raguel – spent a lot of time outside.
“From left to right, Iriel, who you just met. Tadhiel, he’s just joined us. Youngest of the crew. He’s the one you’ll be partnering up with. He’s our medic, but a wiz on the battlefield, too.”
Tadhiel was small and slight, only a few inches taller than Imorean. A bright smile flashed across his face and Imorean returned with one of his own. He couldn’t help noticing that his own smile felt as though it lacked the brightness that Tadhiel’s had.
“Yahoel has been with us a while. He, Akriel and Zuriel are over there. They joined us a few decades ago from the Choruses.”
Yahoel looked older than most of the other angels in Raguel’s group. Akriel and Zuriel seemed polar opposites of each other. One was dark-haired, dark-skinned and dark-eyed. The other, pale, blond and pointed. Imorean stiffened. There was a similar kind of arrogance to Akriel and Zuriel that surrounded Sariel.
The paler of them laughed. “We preferred swinging swords to playing harps.”
Raguel flashed a smile. “Thank you, Akriel. Theliel, Haniel and Ruhiel have been with me almost as long as Yahoel.”
Imorean took them in in turn. Theliel had an odd tuft of slightly thicker, black hair at the front of his head, while the sides were almost bare. Haniel had a regal air to him. Ruhiel, a large, prominent nose. They all smiled or nodded a greeting.
Imorean nodded in response, but couldn’t hold back a tiny flinch as Raguel clapped a hand on his shoulder.
Raguel seemed not to notice. “And you all know of Imorean.”
“Heard of him,” nodded Haniel.
Akriel chuckled softly, the sound acidic. “Michael’s base. We know about him.”
Raguel started to laugh, but covered it with a cough. “Unnecessary, Akriel.”
“Base?” asked Imorean. He sighed internally. There was something in the tone that dug at him. Raguel’s veiled laugh didn’t make it any better. Were hybrids really so looked down on? Or was it just him?
“Akriel didn’t mean it to offend,” said Zuriel. “It’s just … well, it’s become a common nickname for you.”
Imorean shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
Akriel and Zuriel glanced at each other. Imorean looked between them and furrowed his brow. Raguel nudged him.
“Best not to ask.” Raguel turned back to the team, the air around him turning quick and businesslike. “We fly for Houska today. We’ll stop no less than two miles from the castle and attack as the sun sets. We’ll come in from the western side and try to keep the sun on the castle itself. Imorean, as I told you last night, you’ll partner with Tadhiel. I think you’ll work well together for a short while. Stay together.”
Imorean nodded and shifted a step closer to Tadhiel.
“Prisoners?” asked Haniel. Imorean paused and looked back to Raguel. His normally warm expression was icy.
“Rescue ours if there are any there. Of theirs, take none. I don’t want liabilities.”
Raguel’s team nodded in what looked like a single movement. Imorean swallowed. There was something merciless in the motion. Trained. Remorseless. Killing. It was an act all these angels were familiar with. He wasn’t. Burgundy flashed across his mind and he looked at Raguel, who watched him with a masked expression.
“I briefed you all last week. You already know the score. Everyone ready?” asked Raguel, turning away and flaring his wings.
Another unified nod. Flashes of feather color brightened the morning as the team followed Raguel’s movement. Imorean copied them, opening his wings. Everything seemed as though it was sliding down an oiled slope. His mind turned to Roxy. Where was she? Were they leaving, too? Was she feeling the same way he was? Apprehensive, borderline fearful? How long would they be travelling for? Were they safe? Was Sariel already wit
h them? Raguel turned toward the southeast. The team formed up behind him. Imorean took a position at the back corner of the group. He swallowed. His heart rate shot up. His family. Toddy. Houska. Vortigern. He was on the way.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Twenty wings thrummed the air. Imorean steadied himself as the air eddied around him. There was something sublime about flying in a group this size. They didn’t conform to the air, the air conformed to them. Power settled on them as they flew at near astral speeds. A few strands of hair fell across Imorean’s forehead as the air continued to shudder. The temperature started to drop. The sun began its descent back toward the horizon. Imorean almost wanted to smile. Were they not flying toward one of Vortigern’s bases, this would have been enjoyable. They were above the world, there was a warm sun on their backs and stratus clouds stretched on ahead of them, creating their own endless landscape. But it wasn’t enjoyable. The situation was what it was. He swallowed and closed a gap that formed between him and Tadhiel. They were flying toward something ugly. Sick and ailing. He could smell it.
Imorean looked up as Iriel shouted something to Raguel. He swallowed as Raguel’s wings tilted. Descent. Houska was below. Heart thundering, He followed. Clouds swallowed them and he moved closer to Tadhiel. Their wings nearly touched. Tadhiel looked up and Imorean held his gaze. He blinked as Tadhiel nodded at him, then clapped his wings together and pulled up out of the formation, coasting above them. Imorean swept up behind him. His heart leaped in his chest. He tilted his wings and drew even to Tadhiel. He glanced over his shoulder. Raguel and the others had vanished beneath the clouds. Imorean felt his primaries touch Tadhiel’s.
“Down now,” whispered Tadhiel.
Imorean nodded, not knowing how Tadhiel made himself heard over the sound of the wind. He pulled into the lead and adjusted his wing angle. White vapor closed around him. He could feel Tadhiel at his back. Cold, damp clouds broke and Imorean gritted his teeth. Houska Castle, the place that had almost consumed him, the place Vortigern had tortured him with, loomed ahead. Stone and hard edges. A horrible fury scorched through Imorean’s chest and his wings snapped up. He dove, sword still in its scabbard on his back. Reckless and heedless. He ignored Tadhiel’s cry behind him. White ringed his vision. Heat seared through his body.
Angels Falling Page 38
