Four gates had fallen.
The world was in danger from the angels who had orchestrated the downfall of those gates and had won.
Nevar had no doubts in his mind. The four who had taken him captive and had killed him were now free in the mortal world.
Free to fulfil their divine purpose.
Asmodeus had explained it all to him, relaying all the information they had gleaned from the Devil.
The four princes would seek to destroy this world.
Nevar wouldn’t let that happen. None on this island would. There had been a moment of silence following the revelation that the four princes of Hell were free, a stillness in which everyone had looked at each other and formed a pact without words. They would deal with the four princes together and protect the mortal realm from their wrath.
But first they needed to take back one of their own from Heaven’s clutches.
He pushed onto his feet, brushed the backs of his black shorts down, and took one last look at the ocean.
He would return here with her and he would teach her to swim.
He would see her laugh again.
Would see her smile.
He would feel her beneath his fingers.
In his heart.
Right down in his soul.
And he would never let her go again.
He wanted to spread his wings and fly back to the other side of the island, or call a portal to take him there, but he walked instead, conserving every drop of his energy and wasting none. He would need it all if he was to survive what lay ahead.
The soft sand crushed beneath his bare feet as he strode past the Hell’s angel meandering along the shoreline, keeping to the shadows as much as he could. The sun cursed him, blinding him as he turned the corner and there were no shadows to be found. He bore the wretched touch of the light and hurried towards the others.
Ahead of him, Asmodeus lay beneath a broad dark green canopy that they had set up on the island as a sort of infirmary after Nevar had insisted on being treated in the shade. He made a beeline for it and breathed a sigh of sweet relief when he ducked beneath the shadow of it, out of the sunlight.
“We need to introduce some therapy about that aversion into your programme,” Liora said as she looked up from healing the wound on Asmodeus’s left arm.
Nevar raised an eyebrow at that suggestion and stood over Asmodeus, giving his master all of his attention and ignoring how Liora huffed. He knew she was only trying to help him, but the thought of having to spend increasing amounts of time in the sunlight disturbed him. He was fine with living in the shadows.
“Are you close?” Nevar said to Asmodeus and he nodded.
“Liora will be done soon and we can be on our way. The others are ready.” Asmodeus grimaced as Liora’s purple ribbons of magic burrowed into his skin.
“Sorry,” she whispered and frowned at her hands where they hovered bare millimetres from Asmodeus’s arm. “It’s a tricky one.”
Nevar wasn’t sure that her magic had caused his master pain because it had been attempting to heal a nasty wound. He felt sure it had been caused by a momentary slip in her concentration, a slip brought about by hearing her male say that he was about to head off to Heaven with only a handful of allies against the entire army of that realm.
Erin had called it a suicide mission when he had wanted to go there before.
Perhaps she would be proven right about that, but he still had to go. He couldn’t leave Lysia there.
“I will not let anything happen to him, Liora,” Nevar said and she looked up at him, her hazel eyes brimming with the fear he could feel in her. “I swear it. If it is not going well, I will go on alone and send everyone back. Nothing will happen to Asmodeus.”
The dark angel huffed. “You speak like I need your protection. Remember who you’re talking about. I am your master and more powerful than you are, and I have been to Heaven now. I know I can hold my own against the strongest of their angels.”
Nevar almost smiled. “You are right, but I was attempting to reassure your female, not belittle you. I was being noble.”
“I appreciate it.” Liora withdrew her hands from Asmodeus’s arm and sat back. “But I already made him swear that he will come back.”
Asmodeus sat up and flexed his fingers, twisting his arm this way and that as he inspected her work.
“I will come back, Little Witch. You have my word on that.” Asmodeus leaned over and kissed her.
Nevar turned his back and stepped out into the light again, giving them a moment alone. He crossed the beach to the others where they had gathered by the fire pit and were deep in discussion. As he approached, Veiron broke away from Erin and Dante and came to him.
“I’m going with you,” Veiron said and held his hand up when Nevar went to speak. “You don’t get a choice. I’m going and that’s final. It’s even sanctioned by the missus. I can heal and you’re bloody well going to need someone with that ability.”
Nevar couldn’t argue with that. There was no way they would make it across the entire containment facility in Heaven without sustaining some injuries. Having Veiron there might just give them the edge they needed to succeed in their mission.
He walked with Veiron to the others and looked to Lukas, who was deep in conversation with the redhead he had brought to the island with the help of Veiron’s ability to cast portals. She smiled, her brown eyes shining at Lukas, revealing all of her feelings for the angel of Heaven. Einar had filled Nevar in about her, calling her Annelie and informing him that she was immortal now as she had gone through the trials together with Serenity so they could be with their angels forever. Lukas had brought her to the island to keep her safe.
The scruffy blond angel had been the one to come up with the plan they were about to execute. Apparently, he and Marcus had done it before.
“When I send you all up there, Marcus will have to move quickly to get the cell open and then free you.” Lukas looked from him to the others who would be accompanying him. Marcus and Veiron. Asmodeus joined them too, falling into line with the other two males. “I haven’t used this technique to send more than one demon up to Heaven in a single go before, so I’m not sure whether you’re going to end up in the same cell or not.”
Marcus shrugged, lifting the blue-edged silver breastplate of his armour. “It makes no odds. I will use what remains of my angelic powers to force my way out of the cell and find the others and free them. It might work to our advantage if we do end up in separate cells. I will probably end up releasing some nasty demons in the process of finding them and it’ll keep the angels busy.”
Apollyon glanced up at the sky. “I will help keep them busy too. My team will provide the distraction and give you a chance to take her back.”
It was a risk. Heaven would be expecting them and would shield the fortress, setting up the dome over it that would stop Apollyon and the others from entering but wouldn’t stop Heaven from sending out masses of angels to fight them.
Apollyon would need to lead the others into the main fortress, beyond the protective shield, if they were to create a big enough distraction to draw most of the angels in Heaven to them and away from the containment facility.
The male had reassured Nevar that he had an ace up his vambrace that would allow them to make it through the barrier. Serenity had looked nervous then. It seemed Apollyon had used that ace before and had ended up plummeting to earth, unconscious and depleted of power.
Amelia had weighed in at that point and announced that she would be the one breaking into Heaven because her technique, blasting the crap out of the wall with her power until it collapsed, used less energy and had proven effective before. Nevar and the others had agreed with her plan, much to the chagrin of Apollyon. Nevar had reassured him then by telling him that they needed his power in the battle and in what would come after it. He was no use to them unconscious and out of the fight.
Einar and Lukas would go with Amelia and Apollyon. Those four would d
raw the eyes of their enemy to them, while Nevar’s team freed Lysia. Once they had her, they would join forces and then it got complicated.
They had to convince Heaven to leave her alone.
Marcus and Apollyon had convinced that realm to leave Amelia alone. He only hoped that the eight of them could convince them to leave Lysia in their care.
Nevar wasn’t going to hold his breath.
And he wasn’t going to back down either. If Heaven refused, then he would do exactly what Asmodeus had sent him there to do all those months ago after they had formed their contract.
He would tear that realm down.
“Ready?” Lukas said.
Nevar nodded and stepped away from the others, placing adequate distance between them so they didn’t get caught in the blast.
Asmodeus and Marcus joined him.
Veiron bent and dropped a kiss on his son’s head. “Be a good boy for your mother now, understood?”
Dante wriggled and reached for him, pressing chubby fingers to his cheeks and then gently slapping them. Veiron smiled, took Dante’s arms and pressed another kiss to each of his hands.
“He’ll give me hell and you know it. He hates it when you’re away.” Erin looked as if she was putting on a brave face as she smiled at Veiron. It wobbled on her lips.
“Come here, Sweetheart.” He pulled her against him and kissed her hard.
Asmodeus rolled his eyes. Nevar shot him a you’re-one-to-talk look. Hadn’t his master just done the same thing with Liora, stealing a moment with her that would reassure them both, strengthening their bond before he went off into battle?
Nevar called his armour, replacing his shorts with the violet-edged black pieces, and pressed his hand to his chest.
They would be together again and as soon as they returned to the island, Serenity and Liora would work the spell that would restore their blood bond. He hoped that bond would be the key to showing Lysia that she wasn’t alone. He was with her again and he would never part from her. Never.
The bond Liora would restore with her magic would be permanent. Unbreakable even by death.
Lysia would never lose control again.
Veiron finally joined them and Lukas drew in a deep breath and held his hands out in front of him.
“This might sting a little.”
Veiron looked on the verge of making a quip when the golden beam of light shot down and covered them. The big Hell’s angel threw his head back and roared as his body transformed, growing three feet taller and turning black all over as his demonic side emerged. The red feathers fell away from his wings, revealing the dark leathery membrane beneath, and his eyes glowed golden as his teeth all sharpened and turned crimson.
He wasn’t alone in his reaction to the light. It burned through Nevar like an inferno and he gritted his teeth against it, fighting a losing battle to contain the roar of agony that blazed up his throat. He unleashed it as his body followed Veiron’s lead, changing against his will, the black shadows sweeping over his skin as his claws became deadly talons and his horns shattered his skull and emerged.
Asmodeus growled beside him, his head thrown back and lips peeling off his enormous fangs as the inky darkness consumed him too, unleashing his other appearance.
Marcus raised an eyebrow at all of them, seemingly unaffected by the burning violent light.
It pulled them upwards and Nevar twisted and writhed as he tried to get his body back under control and shut down the pain. Another reminder that he was no longer an angel.
When he had travelled in the light as an angel, it had felt warm and comforting.
Now it felt as if it was tearing him apart.
Fuck. How many times had he sent a demon to Heaven via this method?
Maybe karma was paying him back for it, condensing the pain of all those demons into one soul-destroying burst aimed at him.
Asmodeus grabbed his arm as white light surrounded them and tugged him into his embrace. Nevar tried to push away, not interested in getting that close to his master, but Asmodeus refused to release him.
Darkness swallowed them.
The fire subsided.
Nevar shoved Asmodeus off him and lost his footing in the pitch black, landing on his backside.
Asmodeus snorted. “You can thank me later.”
Nevar reached out with his senses and realised that only he and Asmodeus occupied the cell. His master had grabbed him to ensure they ended up together. Their similar forms and the contract between them must have made them feel like one entity to the light, confusing it.
He heard Asmodeus shuffling around and muttering beneath his breath. Nevar got onto his hands and knees and crawled towards the sound of his voice. He loosed a muffled grunt when he hit something solid, pressed his hands against it and used it to aid him onto his feet. A wall?
He followed the sides around until he bumped into Asmodeus.
“No door?” Nevar said.
“Marcus warned me we would not be able to sense it.” Asmodeus’s voice sounded even deeper within the dark chamber, edged with steel. “I do not like this.”
Nevar didn’t like it either, but they were stuck here, voluntary prisoners of Heaven until Marcus freed them. He hoped it wouldn’t take long. He leaned his back against the wall, feeling his powers already draining. The detention block had safeties built into it, and one of those was that the cells drained the powers of the demons they contained, until they were barely conscious and only able to answer the questions the angels posed to them.
Not a threat.
They needed to get out of the cells before they were completely stripped of their powers.
Dull light illuminated the cell, revealing grimy white walls that enclosed them in a hexagon. There were thousands of these cells, split into clusters. Each small cluster of around fourteen cells formed a circle with a central area and a path that intersected it. That path curved with each block of cells, forming a ring. There were hundreds of rings of cells, with more cells in each ring as they expanded outwards from the centre of the detention block.
Which ring were they in?
Nevar hoped Lukas had some ability with the light and had been able to place them in cells close to the central white tower.
Lysia would be there.
Brighter light flooded into the room and stung his eyes. He squinted against it and the rectangle came into focus, fading to reveal the centre of the courtyard and Marcus. The former angel stood with his left hand facing towards them, his silver half-feather half-leather wings furled against his back.
The dark-haired male smiled. “I thought you would be in the one with a special blocker. You both must be high on Heaven’s interest list since you had a gold door.”
Nevar followed Asmodeus out of the cell and looked around him, taking in the other cells that formed the rest of the circle. Some of the doors were black, meaning they were occupied by demons. Some were blue, meaning they were empty. Across from them was a red door.
Another special blocker.
“You think we should let him out to play?” Marcus’s smile widened as he eyed the door.
Something banged around inside the cell.
“Erin would never forgive us if we left him here.” Nevar headed towards the cell and Marcus followed him with Asmodeus.
It wouldn’t be long before Heaven realised they were here and they were free.
Marcus held his hand out again and the door faded. Veiron snarled and stooped as he squeezed through the narrow entryway, his demonic form far too large for the small cell. He beat his leathery wings and rose to his full height, towering over all of them.
“Middle,” he grunted, his voice deeper and rougher than normal.
Middle?
Nevar realised he was talking about their position within the containment facility. He beat his black wings to lift himself up to Veiron’s eyelevel and scanned the rings of cells. They were dead centre in the rings, still a long way from the bleak featureless white tower that rose
in the middle of them.
They had to move quickly if they were going to make it there before they were spotted. The angels who guarded the detention block were some of the strongest in Heaven, and rarely left their posts.
Marcus set about releasing demons from the cells that were occupied. They didn’t stick around to thank him. Several rushed off together on foot, sprinting around the ring. The remaining two took flight, rising high above the facility.
Alarms blared.
CHAPTER 30
Nevar took the shrieking wail of the alarm as their cue to get moving. He beat his wings and shot over the first ring of hexagonal white cells, heading towards the central tower in the middle. Lysia. He was coming.
Asmodeus caught up with him, falling in beside him, still in his black form like Nevar. His broad obsidian wings beat the air as he flew, the breeze tousling his black hair and sweeping it back from his horns. His master’s violet eyes fixed on the tower too and narrowed.
Veiron grunted as he flew past them, his larger leathery wings beating the air and easily carrying his extra weight in his black demonic form. He pointed off to their left.
Luck was not with them.
Six guardian angels approached, their silver-edged royal blue armour bright in the white light of Heaven and their pale-blue-silver wings steadily beating the cool air, bringing them swiftly towards them.
Marcus shot up into the air high above them, glared at the cells below and swept his hand out in a wide arc.
Every black door that Nevar could see opened and demons piled out, roaring and snarling as they rushed the angels on the ground.
Veiron broke away from them and Marcus joined him, heading towards the six guardian angels still pursuing them. Nevar let them go and set his sights on the twelve who had appeared ahead of him, blocking his path to the tower.
He called his curved obsidian blades and gripped them tightly in his black, clawed hands as he flew hard towards them, refusing to slow. Asmodeus beat him to them, easily cutting down three in one fluid movement, disabling their wings and sending them dropping to the ground. How the hell had he done that?
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