Wings of Vengeance (Hidden Wings Series Book Five)

by Cameo Renae

  “What happened?” she cried.

  I shook my head. “His wings were severed before we arrived.”

  Alaine assessed his wounds and immediately kicked into nurse mode.

  “Take him to my room,” she instructed. “Kade, could you please put him to sleep?”

  “I already have. He feels no pain at this point,” he said, carrying Samuel inside.

  “Mark was stabbed with a Fallen sword,” I added. “It went straight through his left shoulder and out his back.”

  She walked over to Mark and asked him to lift his shirt. Blood was still oozing from the wound. She pressed around it, but he didn’t flinch.

  “I’ll need to stop the bleeding before you can rest. Dom, please take him to my office.” She looked at me. “Emma, can you please go to the kitchen and ask Miss Lily for some hot water and clean towels?”

  “Of course,” I said, quickly jogging back.

  When I stepped into the kitchen the light was on, and there was a pot boiling on the stove, but Miss Lily was nowhere to be found.

  “Miss Lily?” I called.

  No answer.

  I walked to the back door, wondering if she’d stepped outside, and pulled my dagger from its sheath. With Lilith able to enter the barrier, I wasn’t going to take any chances.

  “Fool me once,” I whispered to myself.

  Opening the back door, a fresh breeze hit my face. There was a faint scent on the wind, but it dissipated before I could verify what it was.

  “Miss Lily?” I called, but outside was peaceful and quiet.

  As I stepped back into the kitchen, I heard a soft thumping inside the pantry. Gripping the dagger tightly, I walked over and placed my fingers on the knob. I tried to calm my nerves by saying a quick count to three, then swung the door open and clicked on the light.

  Fear tightened its coils around me, and I almost couldn’t breathe. My body became tingly as I looked at the back of the pantry. Miss Lily was on the floor, tied up with a large piece of duct tape over her mouth. Her eyes were filled with dread.

  I ran over and carefully peeled the tape from her lips.

  “She was here,” she wailed. “The demon was here. You need to check on your friends.”

  As I untied Miss Lily, I was swept up in a tornado of panic and apprehension, twisting me out of control as I realized my greatest fears were becoming reality.

  “Go, child. Run!” she urged.

  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, out of the kitchen, back out the hall, and flew up the stairs.

  “Jeremy,” I screamed. “Jeremy!”

  Courtney stepped out of Caleb’s room with a crinkled brow. “What’s going on?”

  “Where’s Jeremy?” I panted, stopping almost at the top.

  “He went to the kitchen with Miss Lily. She called him down because she had some snacks for us.”

  I grasped my chest and nearly buckled on the stairs.

  Would this nightmare ever end?

  “Jeremy,” I breathed, almost losing it.

  “What the heck is going on?” Caleb asked, walking out with a game controller in his hand.

  “Jeremy,” I pushed out. “He’s missing. She has him.”

  “How do you know he’s missing? He just went to the kitchen a few minutes ago,” Caleb replied.

  Before I could answer, I dashed down the stairs toward Alaine’s office.

  I knocked and then stepped inside. Alaine was carefully threading a red hot needle.

  She glanced up quickly at me, then back down at her task. “Is Miss Lily bringing the towels and water?”

  My emotions got the best of me, and I broke down. I’d let him down. I was supposed to protect him.

  “Lilith took Jeremy,” I sobbed. He must have been terrified, and I wondered where she’d taken him.

  She stopped what she was doing and stepped toward me. “How? What happened?”

  “She got inside the house and tied up Miss Lily. I can only assume she shifted into her and called Jeremy downstairs. When I went to the kitchen, I found Miss Lily tied up in the pantry, and Jeremy is gone.”

  Alaine’s eyes shifted toward the phone on her desk. She hurried over to it and dialed a number.

  “Alex, this is Alaine. Is Lia still safe?” she asked.

  “All right, keep an extra watchful eye on her. Lilith’s taken Jeremy and I’m almost sure she will find a way to get to Lia. Don’t trust anyone. She’s a shifter.” She paused. “Okay, be safe. I’m going to send Thomas to you.”

  She hung up the phone and looked at me. “Lia is safe, and Alex said he’ll be staying close to her. I’ll send Thomas immediately.”

  “Thank you.” I sniffed. “But what about Jeremy?”

  Alaine placed her hands on my shoulders. “You found Samuel, and I know you can find Jeremy.”

  Her head lifted toward the door, and when I twisted back, Miss Lily was standing there.

  I gasped. “What about the water and towels?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it. You go ahead,” Alaine said.

  Miss Lily held out her hand to me. “We can do this together,” she said. “But we’ll need to go somewhere quiet.”

  I took Miss Lily’s hand. “My room,” I said.

  As we stepped into the hallway, Kade came around the corner with blood on his shirt.

  “Jeremy’s gone.” Saying the words made my tears fall once again. I was an emotional wreck, and they were on automatic pilot at this point.

  “I’m so sorry.” He walked up to me and wrapped me tightly in his arms. “We’ll get him back.”

  I was trying to pull myself from the guilt I’d placed on my shoulders. I was accountable for his life, but I also knew I couldn’t have been in two places at once. The pain in my chest wouldn’t stop, and I needed to find a way to channel it into finding him.

  Kade pulled away just enough so he could lift my chin. “We will get him back,” he promised, and I couldn’t help but believe him.

  Once we were inside my room, Miss Lily instructed me to lay down comfortably on my bed. She pulled up my desk chair, sitting next to me.

  “Emma, this is not going to work if you don’t relax,” she whispered.

  I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, relaxing my knotted muscles.

  Kade quietly closed the door and stood next to Miss Lily. I reached out to him, and he took hold of my hand. I craved the way his touch made me feel.

  “You’ve got this,” he breathed.

  I smiled at how much he believed in me. He never failed to pull me from despair, no matter how dark the world was around me.

  Was the creator watching our desperation? I knew we weren’t the only ones fighting a battle. There was a delicate line, a balance of good versus evil. For it was fact, one would never be able to know what evil was unless good existed, and vice versa. In life, we each had our paths to take, and decisions to make.

  I was in control of my destiny and would do my part to make sure the evil around us was defeated. I’d been elected to take this path. It was my life, and no matter how much I wanted to give up, there were lives whose destinies connected to mine. I couldn’t give up on them.

  Miss Lily’s voice became soft as she slowly went back through the steps of hypnotism. I obeyed, and in a matter of minutes was being swept back into another nightmare.

  I stood in an open, familiar room, my pulse racing madly. I didn’t want to be here after the nightmare, but I had to find Jeremy.

  Terrified screams were muffled by thick glass. Fists hammered against an unbreakable enclosure.

  I gritted my teeth and turned around. At the far corner of the room was a ten by ten, thick glass box. Jeremy and Lia were trapped inside, screaming. It was then I noticed Jeremy was wearing the exact outfit he’d worn today.

  Lia’s eyes were bright red and puffy. Tears flowed down her cheeks, as the water from the top of the box turned on, filling their glass coffin.

  “We’re gonna die,” she bawled, repeating the
words over and over.

  “We’re not going to die. Emma will come,” Jeremy replied. But I could tell by his eyes, he didn’t have complete faith in his own words.

  Lilith entered the room with three more towering Fallen and a six Darkling.

  I automatically ran over to my best friends and tried to slam my fists against the glass, but my hand went directly through it. I was a helpless watcher, again.

  Jeremy shivered against the frigid water, which had reached their knees. He grabbed Lia and held her in his arms, trying to console her. Lia was too far gone, and I could see death in her eyes. She knew it was coming.

  I had to find them. Where the hell were they? I’d never seen this room in my life.

  “Emma, slow your breathing. I need you to focus on your surroundings.”

  “I don’t know where I am,” I cried. “I’m in a room I’ve never seen before.”

  “This is only a dream. Do not give into it. I need you to focus even harder and pull yourself outside of the walls, and go even further. Fly above the landscape. Find out where you are.”

  Tears welled in my eyes at the thought of leaving my terror-stricken besties. I had to remember this was only a dream. I needed to find them before it came true. I focused on the doorway Lilith had entered and felt my body being quickly thrust forward. It pushed me directly through a muscular Fallen. I flinched before I hit him, but continued to float directly through him and out the door.

  I was taken down a long, dark corridor. The place had an old, musty smell. A thick layer of dust had settled on the floor, and years of cobwebs hung in every corner and crevice.

  At the end of the hallway was a window. I could see trees in the distance, and hoped it would help me find the exact location. I thought I was going to stop at the window, but I passed right through it and continued outside.

  As I looked back, I saw the house. It was a dilapidated three-story home, in the middle of nowhere. Dead vines desperately clung to the wood sidings, and the lawn was wildly overgrown. As far as the eye could see, in every direction, were the same damn trees.

  I willed myself upward, and as my body carried me further, I could see a road. I headed toward it and followed down it, trying to find some clue. Then, I saw a mile marker. I pushed myself faster down the road and after a few miles, knew exactly where I was. It was around seven miles north from Alaine’s home.

  I wanted to explode with excitement, knowing I’d solved the next clue, but I needed to wake up and let everyone know.

  “I need out,” I said.

  “Up.” Miss Lily spoke.

  As soon as I opened my eyes, Alaine was standing next to me.

  “Did you find them?”

  “Yes,” I said, proud of my sleuthing. “There is an abandoned house about seven miles up, and two miles in from the left side of the highway. You can’t see it from the road because trees are surrounding it. That’s where she has him.”

  Alaine’s worried look didn’t change. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Lia’s missing,” she breathed.

  It was as if someone had stuck a sharp needle into the middle of my hope balloon and deflated it.

  “How?”

  “Alex said he had his eye on her the whole time. She was with her dad, heading to the hospital, when two Fallen attacked him. Thomas showed up just in time, but after they had killed the Fallen, Lia and her father were gone.”

  “Oh no.” I couldn’t breathe again.

  “Thomas went back to the house and found her dad, sound asleep in his room. He’d been there the whole time. She’d shifted and used his likeness to lure Lia out.” She reached out and squeezed my hand.

  “Thomas and Alex are on their way back. As soon as they arrive, they will follow your lead. I wish I could come with you.”

  “No,” I said. “Everyone here needs you.”

  “Mark is resting, and I’m on my way to tend to Samuel. If you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “No, thank you for bringing him back.” Her smile warmed me, then she hurried out of the room.

  I turned to Miss Lily. “Thank you for helping me again. We wouldn’t have been able to find either location without your help.”

  “I’ve only opened your eyes, child. Now, it’s your duty to rescue your friends. I have faith in you, Emma. I know you will find them and bring them home safely. All of them.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  She leaned over and squeezed me into a tight hug. “I’ll head downstairs, and make sure to have some warm blankets and hot food ready for everyone. And, I’ll be bolting the doors, so don’t come in the back way.”

  Miss Lily left the room, and Kade offered me his hand. He pulled me off the bed and into his arms.

  “You know where to go?” he asked, not releasing his arms from around me.

  “Yes. I just hope we aren’t too late. I could barely handle the looks on their faces. It’s killing me I wasn’t there to save them from being kidnapped.”

  He pressed his forehead against mine. “Just stay strong. We will find them and bring them home.”

  Loud voices boomed downstairs. It was Alex and Thomas. They’d already returned. Kade gave me a quick kiss and took my hand. “Let’s do this.”

  “Let’s do this,” I repeated.

  DOM WAS SITTING ON THE bottom stair in the foyer, attempting to wipe the Darkling blood from his blades.

  “Dude, why do you even bother?” Alex huffed. “We still have Darkling to slay.”

  “Because I want the stinkers to see the glint of my blades before it dismembers them.” He stood and swung his blades around his body like a fire dancer.

  I was impressed and he noticed.

  A smile grew on Dom’s full lips as his jade green eyes caught me looking.

  “Kade, better watch your girl. She was checking me out.”

  My eyes narrowed at him. “I was not. I was watching the movement of your blades.” I shrugged. “I’m mildly impressed.”

  “Emma, you can tell me how you truly feel.”

  “Dom, if you keep talking you’ll catch a glint of my blade,” Kade grinned. “Or, maybe Emma can give you another secret handshake.”

  “No way,” Dom huffed. “That day, she bruised not only my body, but my ego, with that over the head toss. That one will go down in the books.”

  “That was pretty epic, Emma,” Thomas said. “I’ll never forget it, and I will never let Dom forget it either.” He nudged Dom on the shoulder.

  “Okay, we have to leave,” I addressed the group. “We’ll be flying about seven miles north, to an abandoned house. I don’t think Lilith will be expecting us. She has no idea how we found Samuel, so right now, we have the upper hand. They will be on the first floor, in one of the back rooms. The first one inside will need to disjoint the plumbing to stop whatever water is filling up the box she will have them in.

  “What the hell is she going to do?” Alex questioned.

  I exhaled. “She’s going to try and drown them.”

  “Damn.” He shuddered.

  “About a mile away, I’ll go invisible. If everyone grabs each other’s hands, we can go in without being seen.”

  “I’ll do it for the team,” Dom said, and the rest agreed.

  “Let’s move,” I urged. “And we’ll need to fly like the wind.”

  In a matter of seconds, we were outside and in the air. I took point and led them north. In the back of my mind was a speck of doubt. What if I was wrong? What if I didn’t see what I thought I did and couldn’t find them? But as fast as the questions came, I squashed them. I couldn’t deal with doubt.

  The air was cool and the sky began to darken. As we took flight, I glanced behind me and was taken aback. Kade, Dom, Thomas and Alex—the originals, were flying, their majestic, white wings spread wide. It brought me joy to witness their reward; they had more than earned their wings.

  Less than a year ago, Alaine was leading them and I w
as just a scared, weak girl, trying to survive. Now, I was leading them, with my Archangel Grandfather’s dagger in my grasp and wings of my own.

  We neared the mile marker and the turning point, and after a mile in, I held out my hands. Kade took my right hand and Dom took his. Thomas came forward and took my left hand, and Alex took his. I called my gift and we all disappeared, flying silently in the sky.

  “Emma, tell me if you start to get weak,” Kade whispered.

  “I will, but I’m feeling stronger than ever,” I said, feeling myself out. I’d had more than enough time to rest, and we were nearly there.

  We curved left, and at the same time my stomach twisted as we inched closer to the nightmare house. I prayed it was there, not because I wanted to see it, but because I knew my friends needed to be rescued.

  “I see something,” Thomas said.

  About a half mile ahead, barely seen amidst the towering trees, was a roof. The amulet immediately heated on my chest. I knew there would be Darkling, but as we soared above the house, we witnessed dozens of them circling the ground outside.

  “Stinkers,” I heard Dom breathe.

  “To the right,” Alex’s voice alerted.

  A Fallen was soaring in the sky above us, and I noticed another, just a few hundred yards away from him.

  “Let’s land on the roof and go in through one of the top windows. Don’t let go until we’re all inside,” I said. “If any of them see us, we’re screwed.”

  As we neared the roof, I noticed how rickety it was. Large portions of it were sinking, and some areas were completely rotted away. We gently touched down and each one found their footing.

  “Alex, you go first,” Kade said.

  Keeping our hands connected, with Fallen hovering above us, and dozens of Darkling below, we made our way toward the edge of the roof. I was in the middle, concentrating on keeping invisible.

  Alex found an open window and made his way inside. Once he was in, it was Thomas’s turn, and it was getting hard to stay connected. As he twisted to make his way inside, his foot slipped. Because I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t anticipate what happened next.

  His entire weight pulled me downward, tugging my hand away from Kade. I fell backward, letting go of Thomas’ hand, and they all became visible.