Angels Defying (Angels Rising Book 3)

by Harriet Carlton

  “Mentally or physically?”

  Imorean shook his head. “I don’t know. Both, I guess.”

  “I do not know. I suppose we will have to find out,” shrugged Michael. “What happened to Vortigern?”

  “I butchered it, Michael. I didn’t kill him. I couldn’t overpower him.”

  “I see. I am sad to know that I understood you properly. I hoped I had misheard.”

  “Yeah,” said Imorean. He swallowed hard and looked down. He felt sick and hot again. Once more, he saw the blood of his squad thick on the ground, turning green grass red. His world slowed slightly. Michael was back, but at what cost?

  A hand on his shoulder made Imorean jump. “I am sorry about your squad, Imorean. They had no place to follow you.”

  “That didn’t stop them though, did it? And now they’re dead. I couldn’t save them. Couldn’t keep them safe. He took them… He won,” said Imorean. He was shaking now. He felt sick, horribly sick. His knees were weak beneath him and after a moment all the strength was stolen from his legs. All the grief and adrenaline from the past few days was catching up to him. Had Michael not caught him, Imorean would have crashed down to the ground. Michael’s arms were tight around him and Imorean folded inward. His sobs felt strong enough to break his body. They had already broken his heart. All that was real was Michael. The world dissolved. Michael was his anchor in a place that had crumbled into nothing but ashes of burnt memory. Michael said nothing, but there was a sense of solid comfort in the Archangel’s presence.

  “I’m sorry, Michael,” said Imorean, holding onto Michael’s sleeves. “I’m sorry.”

  “For?” asked the Archangel.

  “I screwed up. Roxy, Colton, Mandy, Dustin and Toddy weren’t supposed to die. I was supposed to kill Vortigern and I couldn’t even do that.”

  “Imorean,” said Michael, lowering them both to the ground. “You did nothing of the sort. You did exactly as you were supposed to. You went after him. You tried. Killing Vortigern would have been a plus, but I had my doubts that you would be able. I should never have sent you after him. I was delirious at best when I gave you those orders. If the blame rests with anyone, it rests with me.”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore,” said Imorean, his voice muffled by Michael’s shirt.

  “I know,” replied Michael, sounding sad. “But Gabriel, Raphael and I will be here to guide you for as long as you need. We are your brothers. We will not abandon you.”

  The relived sigh in Imorean’s chest broke into a sob, and he closed his eyes, shutting out the world. He lost track of how many minutes he left his head resting against Michael’s chest.

  “What happens now?” asked Imorean, shuffling against Michael. “You won’t let Uriel kill me, will you?”

  “I am the commander again. With my return, the unrest in heaven will be put to bed. Uriel will be returned to heaven for a full examination and a full healing. Gabriel will come home. Raphael will return to his place as head doctor, where he belongs. You are an Archangel—you will not be killed. Period. Uriel was being remotely controlled. Vortigern does not make decisions for us. And he never will.”

  “Thank you,” whispered Imorean.

  “It is the least I can do. There is no way that I can repay you for what you have done for me. For all the angels. You have sacrificed more than your fair share.”

  Imorean bent his head further and heaved another sobbing breath. Everything crashed down on him again. In the back of his mind, he felt Michael rest a hand on the back of his head. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Imorean felt properly protected. The teenager drew a deep breath. These past few weeks he had not known if he would live to see the next day. Now, with Michael’s return, he could have security. Michael meant safety and stability. He could finally relax. Imorean found himself taken with the feeling that everything would finally be all right. A few more tears trickled down Imorean’s face. He knew though, that they were not altogether sad tears. The teenager lifted his head from Michael’s chest and looked back up at the Archangel.

  “I wouldn’t have made it this far if it hadn’t been for you. Thank you for not abandoning me.”

  “I could not have left you with no guidance at all, could I? To do so would have been nothing short of cruel. Though, it was difficult to guide you without the use of words. I know Ryan believed you were going mad.”

  “I thought I was too for a while.”

  “Rest assured, you were not. Ryan and I are not connected as you and I are. You can see things he cannot.”

  A sudden sense of unease spread in Imorean’s veins and he asked a question he had been longing and dreading, to ask. “Was Vortigern waiting for me?”

  “It was a two-edged attack. Uriel, acting as Vortigern’s puppet, used my sword to track you. As soon as I could, I shielded you from Uriel’s sight. On Uriel’s heading, Vortigern waited for you. Between them, they triangulated where you would be and set the ground to Vortigern’s advantage. Had I known that, I would never have sent you on that mission,” nodded Michael, dropping his hold on Imorean.

  Imorean nodded, then looked back up at Michael, his eyes narrowed in curiosity.

  “Halfway through our fight, Vortigern stopped treating me like a… like a game. He started treating me like I was a real threat. Why?”

  “Because you are a real threat, Imorean. You have begun to discover your power as an Archangel and those powers will only get stronger. Any Archangel is nothing to be scoffed at,” said Michael. “And in his arrogance, Vortigern failed to notice the one thing about you that makes you dangerous above all the other Archangels, even me.”

  “That is?” asked Imorean.

  “You are human. You experience human emotions, human reactions. You are closer to the world than me. You are closer to your world than I am to mine. When you saw him destroy your friends in front of you, he sparked human anger. In an ordinary man the emotion can cause damage, but when compacted into a human with all the spirit and soul of an Archangel it is sheer, unbridled power.”

  “Did you know that would happen?”

  “I knew that you would eventually learn to let loose. I did not know he would kill your friends,” said Michael, sounding deeply apologetic. “I did know however, when I saw you for the first time, that you were different and that I had made the right choice in bestowing my own nature upon you.”

  “Did you know when you saw me for the first time at my high school that I was the child you chose?” asked Imorean.

  “I have known all of your life, though I had my doubts that all the genes had been successfully transferred. It took a while for me to calculate how much of me was part of you. I knew long before you stepped into the conference room in your high school that you were the one I had chosen,” nodded Michael. “I have kept tabs on you all of your life, Imorean.”

  Imorean’s eyes suddenly widened and he couldn’t stop his mouth from opening slightly.

  “The green feather my mother found on my pillow when I was a baby, that was yours?”

  “Yes. My first visit to you. You were only a few months old.”

  “The feather on my cap at my high school graduation, yours too?”

  “Yes,” nodded Michael. “Come now, enough questions. There will be time soon for me to answer all of them, but now we have yet more to deal with. There is still a civil war that we must prevent.”

  The green haze that had shrouded them from the outside world wavered and dropped. With it, the fiery light left Michael’s eyes as they returned to their normal emerald green. Imorean looked around. They were still in the center of the stone circles. The cliffs dropped off sharply into the roiling sea. A few seagulls shrieked overhead, crying at the disturbance. Imorean thought with a pang of Mandy. His eyes landed on three still figures lying several meters outside the outermost stone circle. Raphael, Ryan and Uriel.

  “Ah,” said Michael, standing up. “My poor brother.”

  Imorean stood up with Michael and
walked across the grass, passing Raphael, to where Uriel was weakly stirring. Imorean swallowed hard as Michael spun his sword in his hand. The weapon was perfectly whole and restored to its deadly prowess.

  “I would not move much further if I were you,” said Michael, standing over Uriel.

  The dark-haired Archangel raised his head and looked up, his nose only inches away from the tip of Michael’s sword. Imorean saw his eyes widen in surprise upon seeing Michael. Behind them, Raphael sat up, helping Ryan to his feet.

  “Michael?” asked Raphael in a hushed whisper. Imorean could hear more than a flicker of relief in Raphael’s voice.

  “I confess myself disappointed,” said Michael, paying Raphael no mind. “I had not thought that leaving you in charge would result in the near death of my best student.”

  “I did as I was asked,” said Uriel, his savage grin back in place. “There are better masters in this world than you, big brother, and I have begun to serve them. Their plans are far greater than yours.”

  “I know,” replied Michael, his eyes cruel and narrow. “And now, I am going to send you back to heaven, where you will await your judgement.”

  “Are you going to kill him, Michael?” asked Raphael. The black-haired Archangel had come up behind them and was standing at Michael’s shoulder. Both looked down at Uriel. The dark shadow had remained behind his eyes.

  “No,” replied Michael, dropping his weapon back to his side. “I will not be the cold-blooded murderer that he was getting ready to become by taking the life of Imorean. I do not kill my brothers. I have orders for you, Raphael.”

  “And they are?” asked Raphael.

  “Take this monster back to Upper Morvine. Assemble the angels there. Have an elite squad escort him back to the Pearly Gates and we shall wipe our hands of him. Take as long as you need. Prepare the angels of Upper Morvine for my return. Ryan, you will return to Upper Morvine with me and Imorean.”

  “What will become of us all now?” asked Raphael, looking between Michael and Uriel.

  “You will return to your former position. We still have a war to fight. We still need our best doctor and I have no desire to lose a brother. The demons will only grow stronger now. Vortigern will bring forth his best generals. They are fewer in number, but they are no lesser in quality.”

  Raphael nodded once, a steely look in his blue eyes. There was a rush of fluttering wings and in the blink of an eye, Raphael and Uriel were gone.

  Chapter 60

  It was twilight when Imorean stumbled outside the entrance hall behind Michael. Ryan too, looked drained. His face was pale and drawn. Imorean assumed he looked far worse. As soon as Imorean stepped onto The Main at Upper Morvine, he spotted two figures racing toward him. Out of reflex, he ripped his sword from its scabbard and held his ground. Next to him, Ryan jumped.

  “Relax,” said Michael, resting his hand on the flat of the blade and lowering it. Imorean looked beyond the end of his sword and his mouth opened when he realized he had nearly speared Colton and Baxter. Colton. Colton was alive! He’d lived!

  “My God!” cried Imorean, leaping forward and wrapping his arms around both of them. He had never been more glad to see his friends. As he stepped back them, Imorean noticed Michael pass by Colton and Baxter and move onward. They acted as though they hadn’t noticed him. Perhaps they hadn’t. Ryan greeted Baxter with a one-armed hug and Colton with a bear hug. Imorean smiled at the ginger-haired boy. The fierce animosity between them seemed to have been killed with Michael’s return. He was glad of it. Imorean turned to his friends.

  Baxter looked none the worse for wear. Colton however, looked smaller. Imorean realized that Colton had bandages wrapped around his neck. Imorean could only assume that they continued around his chest as well. There were no longer wings arcing up over his shoulders. He sighed and looked away. It was a brutal reminder that what had happened was his fault.

  “Everyone else is in some big meeting. They’ve been holding the students in the auditorium all afternoon,” said Baxter, still staying close to Ryan’s side. “The whole school’s been in a panic. Michael’s body vanished out of his bed in the hospital a few hours ago. Uriel absolutely snapped. Not going to the meeting was Colton’s idea. He said if there’s something big going on and Uriel still isn’t back–”

  Colton interrupted. “I figured it had to be something to do with you. I wasn’t going to miss you a second time.”

  “How did you know to come here?” asked Ryan.

  “It was where Imorean disappeared from,” shrugged Colton.

  “Where’s Roxy?” asked Imorean. He hadn’t wanted to ask. The question had leaped from his mouth before he could stop it. A horrible sense of foreboding washed over him. Roxy’s injuries had been more severe than Colton’s. What if she hadn’t made it?

  “She’s resting,” said Colton, smiling. “Raphael didn’t leave her side until today. If he had had any doubts about her condition, I don’t think he would have gone at all.”

  Imorean heaved a sigh of relief. A lead weight lifted from his heart. Anxiety began to remove her steel claws from his skin. Roxy was still alive. She was still here. He hadn’t lost all the family he had ever had. Not everyone had been taken.

  “Toddy? Mandy? Dustin?” asked Baxter, looking over Imorean’s shoulder, as though expecting them to materialize also. Imorean’s blood iced again. Baxter didn’t know. Colton must have assumed they were still alive. They didn’t know what had become of the rest of the squad. Panic rushed Imorean. He couldn’t stay here anymore. Where was Michael? He had to find Michael.

  “Not coming,” he said in choked voice. Gently, he placed a hand on Baxter’s shoulder and moved forward, passing between his two friends. “Excuse me.”

  “Imorean,” called Colton. “We made that decision on our own. You couldn’t have stopped us even if you had been able to try.”

  Imorean stopped and swallowed hard. Ahead, he could see Michael waiting patiently for him. Imorean turned back around and looked at Colton.

  “Why did you go after Vortigern? You should have known that there was no way you could have beaten him.”

  “We hoped we might find a way,” sighed Colton. “It was Roxy’s idea. She didn’t like the thought of you running off and sacrificing yourself.”

  “I should have known,” replied Imorean, his voice shaking. How like Roxy that was.

  “Thank you,” said Colton. “I would be dead if it wasn’t for you, Imorean.”

  “You’re my friend, Colton. You don’t have to thank me,” replied Imorean, preparing to turn away again.

  “How did they die?” asked Baxter. “Was it quick?”

  Imorean surprised even himself as he laughed. He could hear no humor in his tone, only bitterness.

  “I don’t know how Dustin died. He was gone before I arrived, but I saw his body. It was a Quonach. He’d been savaged. Mandy was stabbed, and Toddy… Toddy is… I don’t know.”

  Imorean watched Baxter lower his gaze, as though shamed by his own question. There was anger in Ryan’s face. As though Imorean had said too much. He didn’t care. Imorean raised his eyes to meet Colton’s. The small boy looked at him unwaveringly.

  “Thank you for doing all you could,” said Colton. Colton’s voice was laden with guilt and sympathy.

  “I’m glad I was able to at least save you and Roxy,” sighed Imorean, his shoulders dropping down. “I need to go. I might see you both later.”

  Imorean turned away, not waiting for his friends to respond. He realized as he drew closer to Michael that his hands were shaking.

  “Recounting horrible things is never easy,” said Michael. “Particularly when they involve our friends.”

  “I wonder why,” snapped Imorean, drawing level with his mentor.

  “Do not be rude,” replied Michael. “I was merely making comment.”

  “Sorry,” sighed Imorean.

  “There is nothing to apologize for,” nodded Michael. “Come on. We will meet with our brothe
rs and the rest of the student body. When that is over, go to the teachers’ lounge and rest for a while. Gabriel and I will find you in there later.”

  Imorean nodded. Exhaustion was starting to catch up to him.

  Chapter 61

  Only a short time later, Imorean found himself sitting in one of the large, winged armchairs in the teachers’ lounge. Michael had revealed earlier that evening to the rest of the students that he was back to full health. Uriel had been taken to heaven to be freed from Vortigern’s control. Michael’s return had been welcomed with open arms. Now all they were waiting for was Gabriel’s arrival. The world was restored. At least, that was the seeming surface.

  Imorean curled up into a ball and looked at the fire burning in a nearby grate, allowing his wings to sprawl. One extended fully and stuck up over the back of the chair, the other rested dully on the floor. For the first time since he had reunited with Michael, he was alone. Michael and Raphael were elsewhere. Imorean was sure that they had told him where they had gone, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him where they were. Now that he had stopped moving, the hollow feeling inside him had seemed to grow. He felt like a shell, as though there was an ocean of unnamable emotion shifting and turning inside of him, yet around him all the world was still and unmoving. Imorean drew a shuddering breath. He had tried to see Roxy earlier, but her condition was still too unstable for her to be able to accept visitors. Imorean sighed. If she was still unsteady, there was no indication of whether or not she would make it through. Had he come all this way just to lose his best friend in a hospital bed? Imorean’s thoughts churned and changed tack again. Michael had returned, that was a good thing, but his family and half of his squad, his friends, were still dead. He missed them all terribly and there was nothing he could do now to keep his mind from dwelling on it. He needed something to do, something to distract himself. Imorean was glad of the fire burning in the grate. It gave him something to look at. In a way, it kept him from thinking too much about the absence of his friends and family. The flames were mesmerizing. His element. The flickering tongues of orange could have been his to command.