“You may go. Gabriel returned yesterday and Raphael is holding appointments all afternoon, but if you see my brothers anywhere, bring them to me. I want to speak to all of you.”
Imorean gritted his teeth, but nodded, despite his annoyance. He stood up and walked out of the room. He knew Raphael would be barricaded up inside his own office. Gabriel, on the other hand, could be anywhere.
Imorean was looking at the floor as he exited Uriel’s office—the office that should have been Michael’s—and his gaze remained fixed on the wooden boardwalk as he moved. He barely noticed a thin figure leaning on the wall just a short distance along the hallway. He jumped as a hand rested on his shoulder, stopping him. He looked up and was hardly surprised to see Raphael. The black-haired Archangel stared at him in concern for a moment, as though grappling for words.
“How was it?” asked Raphael a few moments later.
“Awkward,” said Imorean. “He calls me into his office to ask me all of three questions, then lets me leave again. What’s up with that?”
“I know what he’s doing. He’s gauging you. We have some trouble.”
“What’s going on?”
“The angels are dividing. Some are supporting Uriel in his decision to yield to Vortigern. Others… others are siding against him. We may have a full-scale civil war on our hands soon.”
“We need to move quickly, don’t we?”
“As quickly as possible. The sooner the better. I propose moving forward in a few days.”
“Raphael, Uriel wants to talk to you.”
“Always,” spat Raphael. “Uriel. What right does he have? To come here and act like he owns the world… you could almost think he’s happy Michael’s… indisposed. To change everything we know. Everything we’ve fought for. It is a disruption of the natural order.”
“Do you really think he’s being controlled? There’s obviously something not right about him.”
“There’s a lot not right about him,” snapped Raphael, his hands curling into fists.
“I mean…” said Imorean, pausing. “Do you think he’s possessed?”
Raphael took a deep, shuddering breath. “It is a very real possibility. Like I said a few days ago, he hasn’t been right since the day he was captured.”
“What do we do?” asked Imorean.
“We move as quickly as we can. Do all we can for Michael. Stick to our plan,” shrugged Raphael, his shoulders dropping. “Did he want Gabriel as well?”
“Yes,” nodded Imorean.
“No idea where he is. He keeps going off on his own. If he’s not more careful, I’ll have lost two brothers in as many weeks.”
Imorean felt a rush of sympathy for Raphael. He knew this had hit the medical angel hard. For all his skill and experience, he had not been able to heal Michael.
Imorean turned as he heard a board creak. He looked up and mustered a smile for the first time in what felt like years. Gabriel was standing at the end of the walkway.
Imorean’s brows lifted in surprise as Gabriel approached. Michael’s twin had lost weight in just a few days. His skin had lost its color and his cheekbones were prominent. It was obvious from the dark shadows beneath his eyes that he hadn’t slept for several days. The paleness of his skin was accentuated by the dark clothing that he was wearing and the knitted wool hat on his head almost reached down to his eyebrows, making him look even thinner somehow.
“Gabriel,” said Raphael, turning to face his brother and walking hurriedly toward him. There was a moment of hesitation between the two brothers, as though neither knew what to say to the other.
“How are you?” asked Raphael at last. “You don’t look as though you’ve been taking care of yourself.”
“Oh, I’m perfect. Never been better,” said Gabriel, raising his eyes to meet Raphael’s. The sarcasm in his voice was almost tangible. “Why would I ever be upset in the first place?”
“Gabriel…”
“Let’s make this believable,” said Gabriel, smiling softly. He turned to Raphael, a new venom in his eyes. “Maybe if you had tried as hard to save Michael’s life as you are trying to be normal, he would still be here instead of in a coma. What does His Highness Uriel want us all for?”
“I have no idea,” replied Imorean, shaking his head.
“I suppose we should find out,” sighed Raphael, leading the way down the hall and back to Uriel’s office. Imorean wasn’t sure, but he thought that Raphael’s wings were lower and his head was down. Imorean swallowed. He had to wonder just how much of the brothers’ discord was an act and how much was genuine.
“Ah, you shepherded them together at last, I see,” said Uriel, as Imorean sat back down across the desk from him.
“Really didn’t take that long,” muttered Imorean. Gabriel was sitting next to him and Raphael was standing some distance behind them.
“Now, we have some business to attend to, so would you please take off your hat, Gabriel, so that we can get started? You know they aren’t allowed to be worn indoors.”
“Why can’t I wear it?” protested Gabriel. Imorean noticed that what little blood was left in Gabriel’s face had drained from it. Was there something that he didn’t want his brother to see?
“It’s against Upper Morvine’s policy,” said Uriel, looking down at a pile of papers on the desktop and shuffling through them. “You know that.”
“Well, I’m not a student,” said Gabriel.
Imorean swallowed as he saw irritation flash through Uriel’s eyes, accentuated by their dark color.
“Excuse me?” asked Uriel, capping his pen and putting it down on his desk.
“I’m not a student, therefore, I am not taking my cap off,” said Gabriel, leaning back and folding his arms. There was a low hum circulating in the room now and Imorean glanced around for a shield of some sort. He had a horrible feeling that the windows were getting ready to start shaking in their frames. Closer to the back of the office, Imorean noticed Raphael standing straighter and looking around in worry. He could feel the tension as well.
“Gabriel,” said Uriel, standing up. The windows were starting to quake. “You are over seven thousand years old. Much older. Stop being such a petulant child and take the damned hat off.”
Gabriel grinned. “Make me.”
“I’ll more than make you,” snarled Uriel.
As he spoke, Imorean got a good look at Uriel’s teeth and his jaw dropped. He closed his mouth quickly, before Uriel noticed.
Gabriel’s gaze dropped to the floor and he sighed. Slowly, he reached up and took the knitted hat off his head. Imorean gasped, Raphael’s jaw dropped and Uriel’s brow furrowed in fury as they saw what Gabriel had done. The Archangel’s once reasonably long, brown hair had been cut short and dyed bright, neon blue. It was a dye job even Roxy would be proud of. Gabriel looked back up at Uriel, his lips pressed together.
“And just what do you think you’ve done?” hissed Uriel. “Is this a show of defiance? If it is, Gabriel, I am shocked. I would have thought you would go for something more mature. If I had my speculations earlier that you were a child, now they are confirmed!”
“What? Don’t you like it, Uri?”
The windows were rattling loudly in their frames now and the metal filing cabinets were vibrating.
“Don’t ‘Uri’ me,” snapped the Archangel. “I am furious. If you can’t follow the rules here at Upper Morvine how on Earth do you expect the students to follow them? Just what in heaven’s name was running through your mind when you did this? What possessed you to make this stupid, idiotic decision? You wouldn’t have done this if Michael were here. You would go along with him no matter what he said! If Michael said ‘jump,’ you would only ever answer ‘how high?.’ How dare you undermine me! I am your commander! You will obey me!”
Gabriel launched to his feet, slamming his hands on the desk. “You’re no commander of mine!”
Raphael lunged forward. The windows shattered. Imorean leaped out of his chair, gettin
g out of the way of any flying glass. A filing cabinet fell with a loud crash! Then everything went still. The cabinets ceased. The windows stopped rattling. There was dead silence as the two Archangel’s squared up over Uriel’s desk. Nostrils flared, eyes bored into each other. Raphael leaned over the desk between them, one hand pressed on each of their chests. Neither Archangel backed down, Uriel’s furious, gray gaze holding Gabriel’s hazel one steadily. After a moment more, Gabriel lowered his eyes to the surface of the desk.
“You want to know why?” said Gabriel with a heavy, shaking sigh. He looked back up at Raphael and Uriel with teary eyes. “Because I kept thinking it was him in the mirror.”
Imorean’s heart constricted painfully as he rose to his feet. A wave of realization crossed Raphael’s features. Then guilt. The raging fury remained on Uriel’s face, marred by a small, mocking smile.
“Imorean, could you excuse us?” asked Raphael, not turning his head. Imorean nodded, all too happy to leave the office.
As the white-haired teenager passed Gabriel, he felt a wave of sadness, but also a wave of energy.
‘The woods.’
That was the message that cut across Imorean’s head. He stumbled as he walked out of Uriel’s office. The voice that had cut across Imorean’s head had been Gabriel’s, but there had been someone else’s voice in it as well. Someone who was supposed to be beyond the reaches of consciousness. Michael.
Chapter 47
Imorean wound his way back across the boardwalk to his cabin, running over what had happened in Uriel’s office. Both Raphael and Gabriel seemed to be deliberately winding Uriel up. Was that their plan? To agitate him? Again, he wondered just how much of the conflict was acting and how much was real.
“Hey there,” said Roxy. She was standing in the kitchen, clutching a mug.
“Hey,” nodded Imorean.
“How’d the meeting go?” asked Toddy, coming down the stairs. Imorean heard him long before he saw him.
“Not good,” said Imorean, collapsing onto the couch.
“What happened?” asked Colton, emerging from one of the other rooms in the house. Imorean couldn’t help but grin. His friends were emerging from the woodwork like termites. He had a feeling that the house had been relatively quiet before he walked in. Since his conversation with Colton on the boardwalk, he had felt mildly happier again.
“Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel seemed ready to bite each other’s heads off. They’re at each other’s throats,” said Imorean, opting not to give his friends the whole story. The way the three Archangels had been acting earlier would only worry them. He also kept to himself what he had noticed about Uriel.
“Surely Gabriel doesn’t resent Raphael for not being able to save Michael properly?” asked Roxy.
Imorean rolled over on the couch and looked up at his friend. He smiled slightly as he spotted Baxter scanning the fridge for anything edible.
“He doesn’t,” said Imorean, shaking his head. He bit his tongue and lied. “He’s just upset. Very upset. I don’t think he knows what to do.”
“Poor guy,” sighed Colton, looking away.
“Archangels aren’t supposed to be in the state Michael is. It’s little wonder Gabriel is taking it a bit hard,” said Roxy, shrugging.
Imorean sat up. “So, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you guys for a little while.”
Something in Imorean suddenly wanted to be as honest as possible. He wanted his friends. He wanted to stop feeling so lonely. He had several reasons for planning to leave Upper Morvine. Michael’s last order to hunt down Vortigern. Uriel’s highly suspicious behavior. Finding the rift that might save Michael. He didn’t have to tell them all his reasons, but to let them in a little bit… it would be a relief.
“About what?” asked Toddy, waltzing further into the room. Mandy and Dustin drifted into the living room moments later. Even Baxter jerked his head out of the fridge.
Roxy and Colton sat down on chairs across from Imorean. Toddy sat down next to him. Mandy sat down at the bar and Dustin leaned on the counter behind her. Baxter rested his elbows on the back of the couch. He had all their attention. Had so much really changed? Suddenly, he wondered if he really had lost all of their respect or if that had simply been a figment of his own imagination.
“Michael told me something before he…” Imorean’s voice trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Saying it, admitting it, was making it real.
“What did he say?” asked Roxy, knowing what he meant.
“He told me he had an assignment for me.”
“And that was?” prompted Mandy.
Imorean bit his lip. So far, he hadn’t felt able to so much as breach the topic of Michael’s near-death. Now though, he truly wanted to talk to his friends. This wasn’t something he could keep inside.
“He told me he wanted me to kill Vortigern.”
“Imorean,” said Roxy. Her voice was hesitant. “You just saw Vortigern put Michael in a coma just a week ago. He nearly killed the most powerful Archangel in existence and you want to go out and kill him because Michael told you to? How do you know Michael wasn’t just really out of it and wasn’t thinking straight?”
“I don’t. Look, I know it sounds nuts,” said Imorean, shaking his head. “But, yeah, that’s what he told me…”
“What if you fail?” asked Mandy.
“Then I fail,” said Imorean quietly.
“You’ve got an ulterior motive,” said Colton quietly.
Imorean’s mind immediately flew to Uriel. To the necessary restoration of the angel world. “Why do you say that?”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
Imorean shrugged. He had to lie. Maybe this had been a mistake. “Yeah. Honestly, I want some good old-fashioned revenge on Vortigern. He wiped out my family. I think it’s time I served him.”
“Imorean,” sighed Roxy, leaning forward and placing her head in her hands. “I know you miss them. I do too. But revenge won’t bring them back.”
Imorean didn’t respond. Instead, he looked down at the floor. Roxy’s comment had stung. Perhaps a lot more than she had intended, but it had hurt.
“I know,” sighed Imorean. “It was just a thought.”
“It’s never just a thought with you, Imorean,” said Roxy. “Put it out of your mind.”
“You know me too well sometimes, Rox,” said Imorean.
“So, what are you going to do?” asked Dustin.
“I’m going after Vortigern,” said Imorean. “That’s indisputable. I can’t ignore Michael’s last orders. I just need some help getting off campus. I think Gabriel and Raphael want to help me.”
“What do you mean?” asked Toddy.
“Gabriel sent me a message as I was leaving Uriel’s office this afternoon. He wants me to meet him later.”
“How do you know you can trust them not to go straight to Uriel about what you’re planning to do?”
Imorean thought of the covert meeting with Raphael and Gabriel in the woods. Much as he wanted to break down the barriers of secrecy and isolation, there were some things he wasn’t able to say. “I just know.”
“You won’t be leaving any time soon, will you?” asked Mandy. She sounded legitimately concerned.
“No, I’m sure I won’t,” replied Imorean, giving his friends a disarming smile.
“Well, Imorean, you do what you think is the best thing for you to do,” said Roxy. “But regardless of what you choose and when you’ll be going, I’m coming with you.”
“I’ve got to go,” said Imorean, standing up and not answering Roxy. As much as he wanted their support and their company on this mission, he just couldn’t expose them to the full weight of the risk he and his brothers were getting ready to run. He just couldn’t.
“Imorean,” said Roxy, chastising him.
“See ya,” called Imorean, crossing the living room quickly and ducking out of the front door.
He powerwalked away from the house, hoping that if R
oxy decided to call out the door after him he would be too far away to hear her. Imorean’s luck held and Roxy did not pursue him.
As Imorean made his way through the woods to the meadow, he had to wonder what it was that Gabriel wanted to talk to him about. As he approached the wide expanse of grass, he spotted the two Archangels waiting along the tree line.
“Gabriel, Raphael,” called Imorean, trotting up.
“Imorean,” said Gabriel, turning his head.
“You wanted me?” asked Imorean.
“Yes,” nodded Raphael. “We’re getting ready. I want to get us out of here tonight or tomorrow. As soon as possible. Uriel’s wound up and we’re getting ready to make a distraction at The Main.”
“Come on,” said Gabriel, walking off and tugging his woolen cap lower around his ears. Imorean followed Gabriel and Raphael through the meadow and into the woods on the opposite side. It was much quieter here and Gabriel ducked behind a thick tree. Imorean followed him and spotted three AL Packs on the ground, along with a few other items.
“Your pack. Fully prepped and ready to go. Sword, food, clothes, you name it,” said Gabriel, squatting down and motioning. “Also, here is a map of the area we believe Michael’s rift may be in. You’ll be carrying it.”
Raphael knelt down. “I hope you’re ready to navigate.”
Imorean nodded and gave them a small smile.
Gabriel shifted and sat cross-legged. “We are booked out of here on the first flight to Keflavik. It’s the closest airport to Reykjavik. Michael left you something to help you along the way. He had a gold credit card that I think he would have wanted you to have. It should see us through at least some of this assignment. Now, later on we’ll teleport to Bodø Airport.”
Angels Defying (Angels Rising Book 3) Page 31