by Maya Nicole
"When it's your time, the door will open for you."
"That doesn't answer my question." I rolled my eyes at the ceiling and the voice laughed again.
"You are your father's daughter."
Dad. Where was he? I opened my mouth to ask but the room started to spin.
A distant phone ringing woke me. My eyes adjusted to the dim light. Asher and Olly were on a bench seat by the window, Olly with his head in Asher's lap. Tobias was in a chair next to the bed, his cheek resting on his hand.
My tongue darted to my dry lips and I raised a hand to them. I stared at the heart rate monitor clamped onto my finger and then at the IV taped to the top of my hand.
"You had surgery," Reve's quiet voice said from right next to the bed.
I startled and my hand went to my chest where I could feel thick bandages through the rough material of the hospital gown. I turned my head in the direction of his voice.
I had thought he had gone off to die.
"Tobias saved me. He claims he owed me for saving him." He was whispering and his voice came closer. "The short time I projected visions weakened me quite a bit though. I won't be able to get out of this form until I go feed. I wanted to wait until you woke up."
"Reve." My word came out more as air. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Reve."
My brain felt a bit foggy and I didn't understand what he meant by feed. I shifted in the bed and winced and sucked in air as pain radiated from my chest down to the tips of my fingers.
Tobias stirred in the chair and his eyes slowly cracked open. He blinked several times and then sat up straight and leaned forward, taking my hand.
"You're awake." I just nodded in reply and looked back to the other side of the bed where Reve was. Or at least where I thought he was.
"I'll be back," Reve said. "I love you, Danica."
I felt the stirring of air near my face and knew it was him. I love you too.
Tobias stood and walked around the end of the bed to a rolling tray that had a pitcher and cup. He poured water in the cup and put a straw in it.
He pushed a button on a controller and my bed moved so I was sitting up a little. It hurt, but I was desperate for water. After a few sips, I let out a sigh and cleared my throat again.
"My dad."
Tobias put the cup back and sat back down heavily. He looked over at Asher and Olly, still sleeping and oblivious.
"I should wake them up." He stood again and shook Asher's shoulder.
Asher jerked awake, jostling Olly's head, almost causing him to fall off the window seat they were on.
"My dad," I repeated. His face was the last thing I remembered.
Tobias sat back down and took my hand again. Asher and Olly both stood behind him.
"Where is he?" I felt a tear slip down my cheek. It was a feeling I was becoming well acquainted with.
"Dani." Olly sat on the edge of my bed and took my other hand. "We don't know where he is. The other archangels have been looking for him, but he vanished."
"Is he dead?" I felt my chest tightening as the words left my lips.
"Reve thinks she took him to Inferna." Asher stayed behind Tobias and looked at all the wires and tubes hooked up to me.
I wanted him to come to me, to touch me, but didn't know if I trusted myself to make any requests. What if everything they felt and did was because I had somehow manipulated them into it.
I didn't want to be like my mother.
"We have to go find him." I shifted again and tried to sit up but Olly put his arm out to stop me. "Please. We have to."
"I know, but we don't know where he is exactly and you need to heal."
"Heal me then," I said, grabbing his hand and putting it on my chest. "Heal me now."
The motivation was there. The command was there. His eyes softened and he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
"She used some kind of demon bone knife. I can't heal the wound. Rafael can't either. You lost a lot of blood. They had to give you a transfusion of angel blood. That seemed to stop whatever autoimmune response you were having too because your temperature is back to normal."
I hadn't even been aware it was abnormal since it spiked to crazy high levels. How long ago was that? What day was it?
"Does the creator, or God, or whatever he's called, sound a bit like Morgan Freeman?" I wasn't going to say anything about my dream, but it was out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Asher snorted and I looked at him. A smile crossed his face. "He sounds like whatever you want him to sound like."
"It felt so real. I-"
A loud rumble came from outside and the ground started to shake, the bed and machines moving. Olly and Tobias jumped up and rushed to the window with Asher.
"What is it?" I gripped the sheets and the shaking subsided fairly quickly.
The three angels stood at the window, staring out. A loud siren started blaring in the distance. At first it sounded like someone was lying on a car horn but then the sound became familiar. A sound that I had only heard in movies.
"An air raid?" Maybe this was another part of the dream I was having.
"Is that a motherfucking dragon?" Asher backed away from the window. "Holy shit, it's a fucking dragon. Dragons are real?"
My heart stopped. "It's a hell serpent. She said she wouldn't use it. I have to stop it!"
I didn't know how I'd stop it, but if I could command it to stop, maybe it would.
Tobias turned and he and Asher made their way to me, stopping me from getting out of the bed and yanking off all the wires and tubes.
"Uhh, guys!" Olly was still looking out the window. "It's headed this way."
The hospital room door slammed open and a man with quite the head of long blond hair pulled into a braid rushed in. He had a sword at his hip and looked all business. His eyes landed on me then went to Olly.
"Michael, what's-" Tobias started.
"Get her back to the academy. She'll be safe there." He was looking directly at Olly. "Do you understand, boy?"
"Yes, sir."
"She can't die. Not yet." With that, he turned and left as quickly as he'd appeared.
Not yet? What the actual fuck did that mean? I didn't have much time to think on it because my machines started beeping as things were unhooked. Olly scooped me into his arms and I winced.
Was the hell serpent coming for me? I shuddered as we entered the hall where there was a flurry of activity with doctors, nurses, and patients rushing around. The building shook again and I flinched as a plastic light cover fell from the ceiling in front of us.
I'd like to think I could have stopped the creature with a command, but who was I kidding? The only experience I had was practicing on John and commanding the two human security guards. A bus-sized hell serpent was something else entirely.
Asher, who was somehow keeping his shit together, opened the stairwell door and we followed Tobias up the stairs to the roof. It was for helicopters, but tonight it would be our launching pad.
A screech filled the night sky along with all of the sounds you'd expect when a giant, dragon-like creature was ravaging a city.
We had to be over thirty stories high. I clung to Olly's shirt. His wings came out just as the head of the serpent came into view. It was either smart as fuck or somehow was tracking us.
We took off from the roof just as it let out a screech and fire poured from its mouth. The entire top of the building went up in flames.
I knew this was just the beginning.
To Be Continued...
Coming in December! Transcend (Celestial Academy Book 3)
Available for preorder
https://books2read.com/u/3np96P
Coming in December! Transcend, Celestial Academy Book 3
Available for preorder
https://books2read.com/u/3np96P
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