“Maybe when I came into my powers, so did she?” I ask.
“Could be. I’ve seen you with a sword during the final battle, so I know you find one.” Stella nods. “You must have one to defeat Sammael.”
“Is that what you’re looking for?” Quinn asks. I nod. “Who is Sammael?”
“First, maybe you should tell us what Aiden has told you,” Shay says.
“Not much, actually. He’s told me about Nephilims, our abilities, purpose, and he’s been training me. He said that it’s time I was put on a mission, but he didn’t elaborate on what that would be.”
“Do you know that he’s the one who kidnapped me?” I ask.
“I thought you went to Europe?” Quinn shakes her head. “What, Aiden? No, that can’t be right. He would never do anything that terrible. He’s been with me almost every single day since I’ve been out of the hospital. When would he have time to kidnap you?”
The rest of my friends look at each other.
“I thought he was good, too, but I know it was him who took me from prom. He held me in a special room until I got my wings.” I sat up and move to the edge of the couch. “But I escaped.”
“It just doesn’t sound like him, but you would know who your captor was.” She shrugs. “I know in my heart that Aiden would never do anything like that. Perhaps he has a twin or something. He loves me and I him. I see the good in him. Zoe, you and I have been friends since grade school. I would never do anything to hurt you or betray your trust. I hope you know that.”
“We will agree to disagree on Aiden’s integrity. Since I won’t be able to sway you, just be careful. That’s all. I’m looking out for my friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Quinn stays silent and from her facial expressions, she’s a bit mad at me. And that’s fine. She can be.
“So, Little Stella-san,” Sidelle says. “Where do you think we should start looking?”
“Paris, France.” Stella pulls out her laptop and powers it on.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “Because that’s a long trip to be guessing.”
“Almost positive. I’ve been looking online, and it’s the best guess I have. There are a few more places we can look if it’s not there.” Flipping the screen to me, I see a picture of a stone angel standing high on a pillar. Under it, it says that it’s “The Armed Peace Angel” and stands guard over the entrance at Parc Monsouris.
“How are we supposed to get there?”
“You can fly there,” Sidelle says.
“I don’t have money for however many tickets.”
“No, silly.” Sidelle chuckles, shaking her head. “We have our own wings.”
“Zoe, you have wings, too?” Quinn asks, and then turns to Sidelle. “And you?”
“Yeah, I just got them on my birthday.”
“What are you exactly? And what does that make Sidelle?”
“I’m an angel.” We are throwing a lot of information out in the open for Quinn to hear. I would hate if she tells Aiden anything, but she is my friend, and I have to trust her. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. I need to trust in that. Plus, we haven’t really told her anything Aiden doesn’t already know.
“Sidelle’s a fairy,” Kieran says. “Can you try opening a porta, so we don’t all have to fly there? It is a very long trip across the ocean. And I don’t think some of us will all make it there.”
I smack his knee. “Hey, just because I’m new at this—”
“I meant Shay,” Kieran coughs.
“If that fails, we probably can use the company jet,” Cali offers. “I’m sure Vash won’t mind.”
“All right, everyone into the backyard.” Sidelle ushers us off the furniture. “I need to create an archway, and we’ll see how it goes.”
We march to the back of the house and open the sliding glass door. Sidelle strolls to one of the trees and gently caresses the trunk. She’s whispering something and pats its bark. Quickly, she snaps off a few branches and bends them back and forth, softening them up. She steps to an evergreen and does the same thing.
Once she’s done, the branches intertwine together and form a long branch. She calls up some green glamour and molds each end into the ground, forming a tall archway. Again muttering in a foreign language, she waves her hand up and down and across the opening. A cloudy film appears, unlike all the other times I’ve used a porta.
“It’s not working correctly.” Sweat drips down Sidelle’s face. “It should be, but for some reason, it’s not.” She drops her hands. “We’ll have to take the jet.”
“Maybe the wards here are too strong,” Kieran says as he pats Sidelle’s shoulder.
“How are my sister and I going to take a trip to France?” I ask. “Doesn’t it take like ten hours to fly there?”
“I guess we need to figure out who all has to go because Zoe and I could go by ourselves,” Kieran says. “The only reason we need the plane is for Vash and Shay.”
“I’m not letting Zoe go without me.” Shay steps in front of me.
“Shay.” I gently turn him to face me. “I’ll be okay. Kieran will take good care of me. I need you to watch over Stella while I’m gone. Nothing can happen to her.” I turn back to my best friend. “We can fly faster than a plane?”
He nods.
Shay’s mouth flattens. I know he doesn’t like it. We’ve always said that we would be there for each other. But with less than two weeks before all hell breaks loose, I really need to kick my search into high gear.
I think he knows this, too. Ever so slightly, he nods. I mouth, “I love you,” and then face Kieran. “Why can’t we just appear there like I’ve seen you do?”
“You’ve never been there in real life. You need to know exactly where you’re going and seeing it in photos and movies is different.”
“I’m going with you, too,” Sidelle says. “We’ve had eons to learn about every nook and cranny of earth. So you need to do this the old fashioned way until you’ve lived as long as us and can pop in and out of places.”
“Kieran, if anything happens to her—” Shay begins.
“Nothing will happen.” Kieran leads me away from our small group. “We’ll go there and be back here in a couple of hours. I promise.” He motions for Sidelle to step to my other side, turning to me. “Are you ready, Zoe?” He takes my hand. “I need you to concentrate on your Light. You haven’t ever traveled this far. Take Sidelle’s hand and focus. Wrap it around yourself. Feel it in every cell of your body. Now, think of it expanding like a bubble and include Sidelle and me. Once you have that, picture the Eiffel Tower in your mind.”
Heat warms our linked hands. When I look down at them, they glow with purple Light. Sidelle’s hand is pulsing with her green glamour. Kieran’s has a slight yellow tint.
“You can do this, Zoe,” Kieran whispers.
I know I can. My back tingles, releasing my wings. They don’t hold back any longer. The force of their freedom affects my angelic power. Purple thrusts from my body, and along with it my wings encase us. And we launch into the sky.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aiden
“Aiden?” Quinn walks into my room. “Oh, good. You’re here. Your sister didn’t know but let me in anyway.”
“Do you need something?” I slam the book closed.
“Am I interrupting you?”
“Nope, just doing some reading about ... never mind.” I slide the spine away from Quinn’s view. “What’s up?”
“I ran into Zoe at Coffee Grind and then decided to spend the day at the beach with her.”
I nod for her to continue.
“We went to Kieran’s house after.” My body involuntarily flinches at his name. I hope she doesn’t notice. “Zoe said that you were the one who held her captive. I didn’t believe her of course. But why would she lie about something like that?”
I motion for her to sit on my bed, but she remains pacing the room.
“She would know who held her prisoner, righ
t? Well, she said it was you. I just can’t believe that. You wouldn’t do anything like that. Would you?”
“How could I have done something as horrible as taking someone against their will? You’ve been with me on most days.”
“That’s what I told her, too. I know you. You aren’t that kind of a person.”
“Come here and sit.” I take her hand and guide her to the bed, trying to calm her down. “Quinn.” My fingers lock with hers. “You do know me, and I would never hurt anyone.” She nods. Her body is tense, and tears run down her cheeks. “Stop crying. I didn’t do what she’s accusing me of.”
“I know.”
“What did she say exactly?”
“She didn’t go into detail about her captivity.” Quinn wipes her face. “But she’s now off on some mission trying to find a sword. Kieran and Sidelle went with her to Europe to look for one.”
“I see.”
“Do you know anything about that?”
“Not a clue.” My thumb rubs the top of her hand in a soothing pattern.
“I hope she finds what she’s looking for. Stella said that a great battle is coming soon.” Quinn moves her body to face me. “Did you hear about that? Is that the mission you were going to tell me about?”
“Ah, well, the cat is out of the bag now. Yes, there is a fight coming. No one knows exactly when, but I have a feeling it’ll be in a couple of weeks. Maybe less.”
“That’s what all the training was for?”
“Yes, to prepare us to win against the opposing side. I assume that Zoe or her friends told you who we would be battling?”
“Someone named Sammael, but, come to think of it, no one ever said who he is. They wanted to know what I’ve been doing with you.”
“Did you tell them?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? We haven’t done anything wrong. I told them that you have been training me to use my Nephilim skills.”
“Are you going to meet up with her again? After she comes back from Europe?”
“Not sure. We didn’t make any plans or anything.”
“Well.” I shrug. “If you do see her, could you find out if she finds a sword or not?”
“Sure.” Quinn’s voice is hesitant.
“I’m just curious if she does. It’d be cool because then we all have swords for battle.” I lean against the headboard, trying to act casual. “Did you have a chance to show her yours?”
“No, they needed to hurry and then off they went. But yeah, okay. I’ll pop over to Kieran’s tomorrow and find out.”
“Great. They’ll be prepared for the upcoming fight then, too.” I move Quinn closer to me. “So tell me more about Zoe’s sister.”
“Kieran said that she’s a Vate and can see the future. No one seemed to know anything more than that.”
Interesting. I check my phone for the time. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but I have an appointment to be at so no training today.” Quinn doesn’t need to know she has helped me enact my plan. Now, I have to get the fourth part of it going.
Me: Will you meet me for coffee?
I eagerly wait for Morgan’s response. Quinn left a couple minutes ago. That was a close call, but I think she was satisfied with my answers.
Morgan: Time?
Me: 10 minutes
Morgan: What’s so urgent?
Me: Are you going to meet or not?
Morgan: Fine
Of course she will meet me. I dropped her like a bad habit, and she didn’t like that very much. She’s only good for kicks. Well, she does have some redeeming qualities, like ... hmm, I can’t think of anything. She does give Zoe grief that no one else can do, which I do like.
Driving to Coffee Grind—the only shop that serves a good cup of Joe around this quaint town—doesn’t take long. I don’t have to wait for Morgan; she’s already sitting on one of the high back chairs. The place is rather busy for a late Friday evening. It is one of the few places for all walks of life to hang out without driving into the Cities.
I swagger past Morgan, faking that I don’t see her. She needs to get my attention. I feel her gaze on me, but she doesn’t call my name. The place isn’t big, so a few steps later I’m nearing the back wall. Turning, I spot her and she waves.
“Oh, there you are,” I say. “I didn’t see you sitting there. You’re more gorgeous than I remember. Did you change your hair?” Her eyes cut into mine. “Thank you for meeting me. I wanted to apologize for our breakup. I know you took it pretty hard.”
“Are you trying to get back into my good graces?” Morgan crosses her long legs. “Your new fling cut you loose?”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
“Then you’re not seeing Quinn?”
“Not in the way you think.”
“Always so cryptic with you. So, you want to get back together with me? When did you realize that I’m exactly what you’re looking for?”
“I’ve always known you were meant to be with me.” I give her my most dazzling smile, the one that melts souls. “Besides, you and I are one in the same.” She motions for me to sit on the loveseat. I snag her hand and pull her body closer to me as we crash onto the cushions. “Will you take me back?” My breath tickles her ears. “Please?”
“I should let you suffer more.”
“But you won’t, will you? Say you’ll be mine again.” I squeeze her hand and trace along her jaw line with my other. She’s thawing; her body is giving her away. “As a celebration of us getting back together, I thought we could reacquaint ourselves. A nice road trip so we can talk and then when we get to our destination, we can do other things to reconnect.”
“Oh, I love where this is going.”
Of course she does.
“What do you say? Next weekend we go someplace special.”
“All right, but this better not be a trick or anything.”
“It’s not.” I seal our bargain with a scorching kiss. The only way Morgan will know I’m serious.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Zoe
My head tilts back so I can take in the full height of the Eiffel Tower. I’ve only seen this monument in pictures. They don’t do it justice, and we don’t have time to gawk, as much as I would like to.
“So, where’s this park with the statue?” I look around and notice that we arrived at the Champ de Mars, and the only reason I know that is because in middle school I wrote a paper about it.
“I know where it is,” Sidelle says. It’s crowded today because it’s the weekend, so our sudden appearance goes unnoticed. “You still doing okay and can keep yourself invisible?”
“Yes,” I say.
“Good because it’ll be the fastest way to get there. Traffic is horrible this time of day. Believe me, I once lived here.”
“All right, you lead, Sidelle,” Kieran says. “Follow her closely and don’t deviate.”
I make myself invisible and turn to my friends. Kieran has his wings out, and we take back to the sky. Soaring above the Seine River, we head in the opposite direction, past the Le Jardin du Luxembourg and toward the Les Catacombes de Paris. Kieran points the landmarks out as we fly over them.
Up ahead lays green grass and a small lake within the gardens of Parc Montsouris. Sidelle descends, and we land near a bronze angel with wings opened wide. It’s patinaed in green, and her left-hand rests on an unsheathed sword. With her other hand gracefully on her hip and her face looking away, she’s very casual in her stance. But the wings are ready to whisk her into a battle.
“What do I do?” I notice that the angel is robed in a long gown. The pillar she stands on is quite tall. Good thing I have wings because a ladder wouldn’t reach her.
“What do you feel like you should do?” Kieran asks. “I don’t think we’ll be of much help.”
“Maybe fly up there and touch it, and see if it calls to you,” Sidelle suggests.
I do as she proposes and when I’m level with the beautiful angel, my body thrums with excitement. My hand hovers
about the one that is holding the hilt. Light cascades around us, and I think I’ve found my sword. The moment I touch it my palm heats, but that’s all that happens. I lift my fingers and wrap them around the handle. Nothing. I gaze at my hand and back to the sword.
“I don’t think this is my sword,” I say.
“Why do you say that?” Kieran asks.
“Just a feeling. I felt it heat up my hand, but maybe that’s from the sun. She’s made of metal and basking out here in the summer months; she’ll be hot.”
Disappointment washes over me. My sister said that there are a few other places to look, so there is still hope. I pull out my replacement phone, a late birthday gift from Kieran, to text her and get the next location.
Me: Not it. Where’s another place to look?
We walk around the colorful gardens, waiting for my sister’s response.
Stella: bummer that wasn’t it. I was almost positive it was. OK. Try Rome.
I show Kieran and Sidelle the text. We should have gone there to begin with since it’s where the Vatican is.
My Light is brought forth, and we head to Italy. We land at the Colosseum, another place I’ve always wanted to visit. Finding an angel with a sword here is going to be like searching for Waldo in one of those books.
“Any chance either one of you know where we should start looking?”
“This is a holy city,” Kieran says. “We should start at St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s one of the largest churches in the world that stands for Christianity. We’ll make our way toward other angel statues.”
I nod. It’s the best plan for now. I try using my Light to find my sword, but there are too many potential places and too much ground to cover. The streets are littered with crosses, angels, and other symbols of the religion.
It’s interesting that as I fly over each building, my brain knows what it is and provides me a brief historical summary.
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