Ryan stepped toward him, Kadia at his heels. “Hello, Imorean.”
“Hello, Ryan. Hey, Kadia.” He pulled Kadia into a side hug. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “How are you all doing? How was Peru? I need details and I need them now.”
“It was easy,” said Ryan, folding his arms.
Off. Imorean couldn’t help but stiffen. There was something off about him.
“Viracocha was pretty chill when we explained everything,” said Colton slipping his glasses further up his nose. “We just had to ask for what we needed. Though, finding the place was nearly impossible. We couldn’t have done it without Sariel.”
“The mission to Mexico was definitely way more dramatic,” laughed Kadia. “I was fully expecting another battle with gods and demons.”
Baxter nodded. “It was really good practice for Ryan, though. First mission and I’d say it went really well.”
Imorean felt his smile slip a fraction. “I’m glad it was a success. How was working with Sariel?”
Kadia gave a low groan.
Roxy shook her head. “Not a fan. He’s seriously an Archangel?”
“Unfortunately,” nodded Imorean. “Hates me with a passion.”
“I don’t think he likes any of us,” said Baxter. “Seemed to look at us like we were worth less than him.”
Imorean shrugged. “He does that. How long did it take you to get back here?”
“Around two – maybe three – days of straight travel,” said Colton. “I lost count.”
Imorean tilted his head. There it was again. Something wary in the way they were speaking to him. As though they weren’t quite sure what to say or how to say it. He caught his smile before it faltered. Surely, they were just tired or his separation from them was having an effect.
He turned to them and stretched his wings. “Have Sariel or Raphael told you anything?”
“About …?” asked Roxy.
Imorean swallowed, the bitter defeat of not finding his family resurfacing. “This place was a bust. Vortigern was gone by the time we got here.”
Roxy settled a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, Imorean –”
He cut her off. “But, we found Toddy. He’s still here. He’s alive.”
“You’re kidding!” shouted Baxter.
“Where is he?” asked Ryan. “Is he okay?”
“As far as we can tell, he’s fine,” said Imorean. “He’s waiting for an assessment by Raphael.”
Green cut across Imorean’s mind.The happiness he had felt seeing his friends again faltered as he looked at Michael. “Yeah?”
“Raphael is going to have a look at Toddy Davis now. Afterward, I expect to see you and Ryan’s squad at my briefing.”
“Sure,” shrugged Imorean. Vibrant irritation flashed past his mind. He straightened as Raphael walked up to them, looking worn and tired. There were dark shadows under his blue eyes.
“Hello, Imorean.”
“Hey, Raphael. You sure you’re good to check Toddy out?”
“Tiredness doesn’t affect my ability to sense damages,” replied Raphael.
Imorean looked at Roxy, Kadia, Colton, Baxter and Ryan. “Can they join us? They – Toddy –”
“Of course. I only ask that you stay quiet.”
Imorean opened his mouth to repeat Raphael’s orders, but Ryan cut across him.
“You all heard him. Get loud once and I’ll send all of you out.”
Imorean swallowed his words and Ryan met his eyes. Inwardly, he shook himself. He was no longer leader of the squad. It wasn’t his job to relay orders to them anymore. A touch of resignation, one stronger than he wanted to admit, rose in his throat. It would be a hard habit to break. He turned and followed Raphael toward the door leading the underground row of cells. Verdict time.
Chapter 65
The glass wall of Toddy’s cell had to be near soundproof. Imorean tucked his hands into his pockets and tried not to stare as Raphael sat on the floor, one hand on either side of Toddy’s face. Roxy and Ryan chattered quietly behind him, but about what, he didn’t know – he almost didn’t care. He blinked. Toddy … Toddy, who had been through so much – who knew so much – and who deserved more than anything to come back to the functional world with them. Toddy had to get out of here. Somehow, there had to be a way. Imorean blinked. Toddy, his first friend at Gracepointe. Toddy, who had told him the raw truth about his own existence. Toddy deserved so much better than this. A world better. Imorean jumped as a hand clapped him on the shoulder.
“Have they told you yet?” asked Baxter.
“Told me what?” asked Imorean, shrugging off Baxter’s grip and turning around. He swallowed. Was he the only one who hadn’t known how they were chosen to be hybrids? Had the angels told the others in his absence?
“What the next step is,” grinned Baxter. “Come on, Imorean. You’re miles away. Twitchy, too.”
Imorean shook his head and forced a grin. “Yeah. Sorry. Just a lot in my head at the moment. To my knowledge, we’re going down to Greece as a group to take on Zeus.”
Kadia tilted her head. “Isn’t he, like, Michael’s equal or something?”
“Their powers are similar,” nodded Imorean, the information resurfacing from a meeting long past. “It’s going be difficult. That’s why Michael wants us all there.”
“We’ll be ready. Will you?” asked Ryan.
“Of course I will be,” replied Imorean. There it was again. That sense of something off. It wasn’t the first time today he had felt it around his friends.
“Sure,” grinned Ryan.
There was something in his tone that Imorean didn’t like. Something that sounded like doubt. Imorean shuffled his wings. He froze as a few white sparks landed on the floor, fizzling into nothing. He could have sworn he saw all the squad hesitate, almost flinch. He shook his head. He wasn’t imagining that there was something going on … the only question was what. He opened his mouth to speak, when the door to Toddy’s cell opened up and Raphael walked out. Toddy was on his feet, stumbling back toward the far corner of his cell. Imorean opened his mouth, but Raphael held up a hand. His voice was tired, almost resigned, when he spoke.
“Outside, everyone. We’ll send Tadhiel back in.”
“What happened?” asked Imorean. Raphael’s tone and stance set him on edge. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He glanced back at Toddy, who had flopped down into a pile of blankets in the corner. Imorean could feel exhaustion through the glass.
“Is he going to be okay?” asked Roxy, lingering.
Colton stepped closer to Raphael. “He’s our friend.”
“I’ll tell you, but please, do as I have asked. I will not have an interrogation now. Go to the second floor. We will talk with Michael in private before the group meeting.”
Imorean paused as his old squad filed out. He could hear them complaining as they made their way outside. He stepped forward and followed them, Raphael behind him. A pit of cold foreboding settled in his stomach.
The night was cool, but Imorean barely noticed it. His friends were already landing ahead of him on the stone balcony above. He spread his wings and beat them a few times, tracking up to the second floor. Raphael landed just next to him and led off into the castle living spaces. Imorean stepped ahead of his squad, following Raphael. This was the first time he had actually been inside Houska. He should have tried exploring earlier, but, with everything else happening, it hadn’t seemed like a priority.
Raphael continued, leading the way through a small, glassed-in room and into the castle interior. Imorean followed, turning sharply as they were led up a short set of stairs into a wood-paneled room. He resisted the urge to shudder. Ram and deer heads hung on the walls, accompanied by a few stuffed game birds. It was a room that felt of death. Michael stood waiting in the center of the room, a strange shadow cast over his face. Imorean looked away. Even now, he didn’t want to be around Michael. A few days didn’t outweigh years of an altered life. He glanced over his shoulder
. Did the others know? He could hear them behind him, filing into the room.
“Shut the door, Kadia,” said Michael. “I would like for us to have this conversation in as much privacy as this castle can afford.”
Imorean folded his wings in tight and shoved his hands into his pockets, standing next to Roxy. Her presence was comforting. The door clicked shut and Imorean swallowed. It rang in his ears like an alarm bell.
“Well, Raphael?” asked Michael.
There was a pause. Imorean looked between Raphael and Michael. Michael didn’t look at him.
“We can’t take a risk with him, Michael,” said Raphael. “His body is fine. Better than expected in a situation like this, but his mind is another story. He’s fine at a surface level, but underneath … Vortigern has damaged him. Damaged him too much.”
Imorean heard Roxy gasp next to him. Ryan and Baxter shouted, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was reeling. Toddy … too deeply damaged? He couldn’t be!
“No. That can’t be right,” said Imorean, stepping forward. Anger rose in his chest. “I’ve spoken to him. He’s fine!”
Michael looked at him, green eyes angry. “Hold your emotions, Frayneson. Raphael, what do you recommend?”
“We have two options, but neither of them are good. The easiest is to …”
Michael took a deep breath. Silence hung and pulled taut. “Coup de grâce?”
“… You’d kill him? What kind of monsters are you?” shouted Roxy, launching forward. Imorean grabbed her shoulder, even though everything in him screamed at him to follow her. Michael curled his upper lip, turning to lock eyes with Raphael. Imorean felt the air shiver with a familiar pulse. Mental communication.
Baxter’s voice shattered the silence. “Uriel was caught by Vortigern too, but you never considered offing him!”
Colton stepped forward, artificial wings twitching erratically. “You can’t do this!”
“He’s our friend!” shouted Roxy. Imorean took a step back as she tore his hand off her shoulder. “This isn’t right!”
Through a gap in the squad, Imorean saw movement. Ryan was reaching backward, hand going to the hilt of his sword, teeth bared and eyes locked on Michael.
“Stop!” Imorean shouted, his hand flexing.
A hesitant shudder. His sword rattled in his scabbard on his back. Fractions. Not seconds. He had fractions. Imorean gritted his teeth. Heavy and solid, his sword smacked his palm. Ryan shoved forward, sword lowered for an upward, offensive attack. Time felt that it slowed. Imorean saw Michael’s eyes finally flick up, shock then fury crossing through them. His hand flexed, the hilt of one of his swords appearing from thin air.
Quicker. Imorean had to be quicker. If he didn’t move, someone would die. He knew it. Faster than Michael. He had to be faster. A whiteness ringed his vision. His shoulder met Michael’s ribs, knocking him off balance. Something sharp nicked his primary feathers, shearing two of them away from his wings. There was no time to acknowledge pain. A clatter of metal on stone rang behind him. Good. Imorean raised his weapon, wings flared outward, and Ryan’s sword crashed into his own. A low growl tore through his throat. Heat raced up his palms and he pushed back against Ryan. He snarled and shoved with all his might. There was a crash and the world blanked fully into white. Heat rushed his veins. Ryan’s weight fell back. Imorean blinked. His vision cleared back into color. Hands – Michael’s hands – were on him, one supporting him from the shoulder, the other wrestling his sword from his grip.
Imorean shook his head. His ears rung. The stone floor was charred with a scorch mark. The skin under his watch burned and stung. He pulled the watch off his wrist and raised his gaze as he rubbed the area. The skin was hot to touch. Ryan was being helped to his feet by Roxy and Baxter. Kadia and Colton stared at him in shock. There was a touch of horror in the air. Distrust. Anger. Frustration. Imorean swallowed. Their emotions were for him. He could feel it. Reality pressed down like a weight. He shoved Michael off, standing shakily on his own. He took a sharp breath and looked at Raphael, who stood several paces behind Michael, stamping out a few white flames that had reached the carpet.
“You said we had two options, Raphael. What’s the second?” asked Imorean.
He couldn’t look at the others. He had just sided with Michael in an argument concerning the fate of one of their friends. He hadn’t backed them. In spite of everything Michael had done, all the fates he had changed, all the ways he had altered his life ... he, Imorean, had still planted himself between his own friends and Michael. Imorean kept his eyes on Raphael. He had no right to look at his friends.
Raphael shook his head and gave the carpet a final stamp. “We can alter his memory. This is quite experimental at the moment and does not always succeed. It can result in death upon failure. Were it a success, he would forget everything about angels, demons, Gracepointe, Felsenmeer, Houska, all of you. He would lose an entire year of his life and be reverted to the life he knew after he graduated from high school.”
“Dangerous,” murmured Michael.
“What?” snapped Roxy. “That’s not dangerous! That’s the best possible outcome for him!”
“He would be an unplanned risk,” said Michael.
“Risk?” yelped Roxy. “What risk?”
“That he might blow their cover while they try to get rid of the evidence of what they’ve done to us,” sneered Ryan, clutching his sword. Imorean tensed as Ryan spoke.
“I meant dangerous on behalf of Toddy Davis. Now, put that away, Ryan,” said Michael. “You are not going to do anyone any damage tonight.”
Ryan hesitated and Imorean glanced at him, then Ryan laughed. “You’re right, Michael. You’ve got your lapdog here to carry out your commands.”
Imorean opened his mouth to respond, but bit down on his words as Roxy laughed quietly. He looked at her. Roxy. His Roxy. His best friend. The one person who had always sided with him no matter what. And the person he had just sided against. She met his gaze and Imorean stilled as she looked him up and down, her eyes lingering on his own. Then she shook her head and turned to Raphael. Something in Imorean’s chest crushed inward, crumbling and dissolving into dust.
“You better try that memory thing, Raphael. Toddy deserves another chance,” said Roxy.
Raphael nodded. “I agree, Roxy. Michael, this is the course of action I would like to take. As Roxy said, it is the best possible outcome for him.”
“Then I support your decision,” nodded Michael. “However, you must find time to carry this out before we leave for Greece tomorrow evening.”
“That doesn’t leave me time, Michael. Nor does it leave me time to make sure Toddy is safe.”
“Then figure it out, Raphael. Do what you need. You brought Diniel. She can help. You may hold onto Sariel and Uriel if you feel the need. Remiel is also available if direly needed.”
“We’re leaving tomorrow?” asked Imorean.
Michael looked at him, expression unreadable. “Yes. Vortigern is approaching Greece. If he decides to try to convince Zeus into an alliance, the results could be disastrous. We have to move faster.”
“That gives us no time to say goodbye,” said Colton, his voice shaking.
“We will take Toddy into protective custody. I’m not going to do anything until you’ve all said goodbye,” said Raphael. “Michael, I will work with him after Greece.”
Imorean breathed a sigh of relief he didn’t know he had been holding and smiled at his friends. Roxy wasn’t looking at him. Colton met his eyes, then looked away.
Michael cleared his throat. “Very well. Now, I have another meeting to hold at which you are all required. I only hope that none of you will see fit to make another ill-judged attempt to injure me.”
Imorean stood still as the room emptied. His wings quivered. He had just saved Michael from injury. He should feel better about himself than this. He had fought with Ryan before … but this was different. He swallowed.
“Imorean.”
“Yeah?”
“You coming?”
“Yeah,” nodded Imorean. “Yeah. I’m coming.”
He started off after Colton, but he was gone before Imorean even reached the threshold. He stopped. He didn’t want to hurry after them. It was obvious they didn’t want him near them.
Chapter 66
The mountains were pitch dark. If Imorean hadn’t known they were there, there would have been no way of knowing they even existed. There was no moon. He sat still under the stars, the metal roof cold under his thighs. Silence reigned. Nothing in the forests moved. No wildlife chirped. He took a breath. The meeting had gone without incident. He would leave with Ryan’s squad, Michael, Raguel, Raguel’s team and Gabriel tomorrow. Raphael, Sariel, Uriel and Diniel would follow behind them once Toddy had been made safe. Imorean closed his eyes. He didn’t want to go back down into the castle. He swallowed and rested his head in his hands. Vortigern – Vortigern who had his mother and siblings alive and in his grip – was drawing on their horizon. Greece was their final stop before they challenged Vortigern. Imorean’s mouth ran dry. Was he ready? Could he face off with Vortigern if his mother, his family, were there? He took a shuddering breath. Discord between him and the squad, discord between him and Michael. How much more fighting could he stand? Part Archangel he may be, but he still felt human. Overhead, a few, distant stars winked down at him, as though they were holding secrets he could never fathom. Secrets. The word turned his mind to his former squad. His friends.
Roxy’s laughter and Ryan’s insult still rang in his ears. Had he really become Michael’s lapdog? Granted, he’d gone on missions with him and always tried to work with him to the best of his ability, but he only did so in order for them to be successful. It was all part of a larger plan – taking down Vortigern, bringing his family home. Righting some of the world’s wrongs. He closed his eyes and took a breath of the cool, night air. He couldn’t help how close he and Michael had become … and even still, still, he owed him. He was still alive because of Michael. His fate had been altered. His very death had been prevented by Michael. His present and his future were what they were because of Michael. What should have been, whatever his plan and fate had been preordained as, would never be. When did this all get so confusing? He swallowed. Perhaps the squad really was safer under Ryan’s command. Ryan didn’t have the same connection that he did with Michael – Ryan was better able to keep them safe and free of Michael’s influence. Imorean took a deep inhale. It was better like this. He was already separated from them by nature of existence. Wasn’t it only right, logical, that he was separated from them by command as well?
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