Although the island looked like any tropical island, as soon as Alexa stepped onto the white sand, which was more like tiny crystals than fragments of coral or rock, she knew this was an ethereal place. She could feel it, sense it in all of her being to the very pores of her skin. It hummed with a supernatural pulse that couldn’t exist anywhere but in Horizon.
The air wasn’t humid. It was dry. The sun gave off no heat. A familiar scent of salt water from the ocean filled the air around them, just like the pools in Orientation, and Alexa wondered if this was where the Legion gathered the water to fill the pools.
There was no sound of waves crashing against the beach. The water was unnaturally still, as though a thin layer of ice rested above it.
“Thank you for using a sky-car!” piped the pelican. And with a pull on the vehicle’s gear, the sky-car soared into the air and sailed across the sky.
“Are you okay?”
Alexa tore her eyes from the sky to find Milo staring at her. He was clenching and unclenching his fists, as though his hands didn’t work without his sabers in them.
“I’m fine,” she replied with a shaking voice, which only made her angrier with herself. With Milo’s worried expression, she knew he could tell how nervous she was.
“It’ll be all right.” Milo moved next to her, his voice gentle. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Alexa brushed past him. “I’m not some damsel in distress. I don’t need your protection.” The white sand pulled at her boots as she stomped across the beach.
Milo was next to her in a second. “Maybe not. But we need each other. This isn’t the Legion, Alexa. The Order of the First won’t follow the Legion’s rules. There’s nothing to stop them from killing us if they feel like it. This island is crawling with bad angels—the worst. Some worse than my brothers.”
“I never expected a welcoming committee,” said Alexa, staring at the line of trees that wrapped around the beach like a protective wall. “I knew the risks. And they are risks I’m willing to take.”
“Even your life?”
Alexa laughed softly. “What life? I died. Became an angel. And the angel life I had… I threw it all away because I was stupid. There’s nothing left for me. The Legion thinks I’m a criminal, and now, a deserter. I’m as good as dead in their eyes anyway. So, what does it matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Alexa’s skin prickled, but she kept her eyes on the strange crystalized sand. “Without the Holy Fire, we really need this staff to do what the oracle said.”
Milo’s shoulder brushed against hers as he walked. “The easy part will be to be accepted. The hard part will be to find the staff.”
Alexa knew Milo was right. The island was huge. They could have stashed the Staff of Heaven anywhere.
“I just wish…” sighed Alexa, kicking up some sand with her boot. “I wish we could have had some extra help with the Legion. Did you hear anything? Any news?”
Milo kept a respectful distance between them. “While you were in the Healing-Xpress, Cathy told us about the Legion’s plan.”
Alexa looked at him curiously. “What plan?”
“The Order of the First intends to conquer all angels and destroy humanity,” said Milo. “They want to purge the mortal world of humans—to cleanse it, as they put it.”
Alexa’s mouth went dry at the tone in his voice, and she clenched her hands into fists. “That can’t happen.”
“I agree,” said Milo. “And the only way to stop them is—”
“To remove them.”
Milo gave a slight nod of his head. “If the Legion doesn’t stop them, sooner or later they will be ruled by the order. Which is why the Legion’s not taking any chances. They’ve separated into three different groups. The first group is made up of archangels and highly experienced angels and oracles. Their job is to stay in Horizon and guard all newly appointed angels. The second unit’s job is to hunt and kill all the members of The Order of the First.” Milo’s expression darkened. “And a third unit will go after Lucifer themselves.” He looked at Alexa. “The Legion’s been training and preparing the angels for war.”
“War.” Alexa’s skin prickled at the word.
The promise in it pulled her stomach tight, and fear washed through her. War equaled death, and Alexa felt sick in the pit of her stomach at the thought of all the angels who would lose their lives in this war. But she knew the Legion couldn’t let Lucifer and The Order of the First destroy humanity. Innocent lives. Children’s lives. She would have fought alongside them if she could. If the Legion had let her, she would have given them all she had.
Perhaps this was her only way to truly show her loyalty to the Legion once and for all.
“What about us?” inquired Alexa, her voice a little weaker than she’d wanted. “Did she mention anything about you or me? Does the Legion still think I’m part of the order? Are they looking for me?”
“I don’t know,” answered Milo, and Alexa could have sworn she heard something like sympathy in his voice, which made her cringe inwardly. “That’s all Cathy said. It’s lucky that she told me any of this. As a Scout, she probably got most of her information through her own informants. She’s not privy to the information above her station.”
“So, she spied on her own Legion.”
“She’s a Scout. That’s what they do,” agreed Milo. “If she had heard something about either of us, she would have told me.”
Alexa felt a little pang in her chest at his words. It was stupid. She knew the Legion had discarded her like an old shoe, but there was still the hope that Ariel believed her, that the archangel had managed to convince the others of her loyalty to the Legion, that this whole thing had been a terrible mistake.
“You told me that your father is moving around in some sort of enchanted castle,” said Alexa, changing the subject. “How do they know where to find him?”
“With the Veil.” Milo’s face tightened. “It’s a way to locate him. The most extensive tears have the strongest pull. So, they’re searching the largest rifts, the greatest holes in the Earth’s magnetic fields, where the most dangerous demons are pouring through from the Netherworld.”
“We can use that as well,” said Alexa, her hope rising in her chest. “Once we have the staff, we can look for rifts in the Veil too. At least it’s a way to track him unless you have a better idea.”
Milo was silent for a moment. “Maybe. And then there’s the blood of the willing demon. We need that before we track him down. Did the oracle say how we were to obtain the demon’s blood?”
Alexa felt her small bubble of hope burst. “No. I guess any demon will do. It doesn’t say what kind of demon. Just demon.”
“But a willing one,” said Milo. “I don’t want to sound too cynical, but our chances of finding a demon who’s willing to give us its blood are… slim.”
“I know.” Alexa knew the third ingredient would be the hardest to find, maybe even impossible. “Who knows. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” She tried to smile, but her lips just gave a nervous twitch that probably made her look like she was going mad.
Alexa didn’t like the way Milo was staring at her, so she pulled her eyes away and gazed at the miles of white beach that surrounded the island. For a moment, she could almost make herself believe that she and Milo were here on vacation. Almost.
“Did we make a mistake coming here? Where are the angels?”
Milo freed one of his spirit sabers. His grip was tight. “There’s only one way to find out. Come on. I remember seeing a path through those trees over there.”
Alexa wove her way across the beach following Milo. The white sand crystals crunched under her boots, and the sound of their tread echoed around them. It was the only sound. It was unnatural, another reminder that she was far from the security of the Legion.
Alexa couldn’t stop a shiver from tracking down her spine as her fingers grazed the hilt of her soul blade. Their plan wasn’t much of a plan. Would Nathanie
l believe them? Was he even here?
Her mind drifted to the piece of paper that lay hidden in her pocket. Perhaps the oracle had put too much faith in her. Perhaps this mission should have been someone else’s.
The note.
If she was searched and the angels found the note… the note that described how to destroy their Lord of Darkness…
Alexa halted. The sudden realization of her mistake sent a cold pounding through her.
“Milo. Hang on.” Alexa reached into her pocket—
And then the forest screamed as a horde of angels came crashing through the tree line towards them.
CHAPTER 14
MILO SWORE, LOW AND VICIOUS, and if Alexa wasn’t so terrified at the mass of angels galloping towards them, she might have laughed. But she barely had time to blink as she stared at the tip of a blade pointing in her face.
Twenty angels surrounded them. The scent of lemons and something sweet that Alexa couldn’t identify stuffed itself up her nose, and the forest went still again.
The angry frowns and grimaces of strangers flared everywhere. There was nothing she or Milo could do—nowhere to run, even if they wanted to. She would feel the sting of blades before she could stop them. Even if they’d wanted to change their minds and go back—there were too many. Dear souls, there were just too many.
Alexa willed the strength of her body and her mind. She did not allow herself to flinch when she beheld the twenty angels standing around them, tall and lean and bearing their soul blades. Run, her body screamed, but she held her ground.
“Don’t even think about drawing that blade, lesser angel,” said a female angel with heavy brows. Her dark eyes moved to Alexa’s hand that had been reaching for the note. “Move your hand away or I’ll gut you.”
Alexa dropped her hand. She moved her gaze around her, taking in the scene. Their ages, body shapes, and genders all varied as much as their skin colors. But their eyes all held the same open hatred and fury.
All these angels wanted to destroy humanity—kill innocent children, the elderly, the sick, everyone. They didn’t discriminate. Instead of a chill, the heat of anger surged through her body. When Alexa realized she was about to do something she might regret, she immediately took control of her temper. Still, she could feel the rage powering in her bones, her core.
A male angel stepped forward. Light shivered on the jagged metal of his blade. The dark sword in his hand was angry looking, making it look more like the swords Alexa had seen the Nephilim use rather than an angel blade. But where the Nephilim were all dark, this angel was all light and fair. His light hair complemented his light-colored eyes. He was thick and broad shouldered, every bit an angel warrior, but Milo was a few inches taller.
The male angel’s eyes flickered to Alexa and lingered there. And then in the next second, Milo stepped closer to her with his powerful, predatory ease. He regarded the male angel’s cold scowl with unruffled authority, and his fingers tightened around his saber.
“If you move your sword hand,” he said to Milo, “you’ll be dead before you can even finish raising it.”
The other angels all crept closer, their blades glimmering in the sun, anxious to use them. Milo’s jaw twitched, his eyes darting around at every angel, but he remained silent.
The male angel watched them with a dubious expression. “Names.”
To Alexa’s surprise, by the time her lips had parted, Milo spoke up.
“Milo, and this is Alexa.”
Alexa moved her eyes along the angels for any flicker of recognition at the mention of their names but found none. The band of angels had the demeanor of officers; their eyes shined with confidence and indignation. The female angel with the blade in her face lowered her brows in a frown, but Alexa only saw a deep loathing, nothing more.
“We’re here to join the order,” said Milo, his voice strong and true and filled with confidence. “We seek protection from the Legion.”
“I don’t trust them,” spat the female angel with the blade in Alexa’s face, her breath sour and hot. “They smell like Legion spies to me.” She pushed the blade against the skin of Alexa’s neck. “Give the order, Brent, and I’ll cut her down.”
Alexa glared at the female angel, her anger resurfacing. She looked to be in her early thirties. She was thick and strong, and no doubt had years of training over Alexa. Still, there was nothing more she wanted at that exact moment than to punch her across the face. But she knew the moment she moved, the angel would slice open her neck with a flick of her wrist.
“It’s not up to you, Naja,” answered Brent. “Don’t spoil the angel meat just yet.” At that, Naja moved the blade from Alexa’s neck, but to her dismay, she stayed right in her face. Too close. It only angered her more.
Brent’s eyes moved to Milo’s neck. “I know who you are. Only one angel has a mark on his neck like that.” He cocked his head to the side. “Lucifer’s infamous estranged son.”
“It doesn’t matter who I am or what you think you know about me.” Milo lowered his sword until the tip rested in the sand, his posture casual. “We seek refuge. We came here to join your cause. Everything’s changed. What I used to believe… what I thought it meant to be a guardian. Nothing’s the same. Nothing’s what I thought it was. They lied to me. To us. We’ve been banished when we’ve only ever wanted to help the Legion. And now the Legion wants us both dead. We have nowhere else to go.”
A distant smile touched Brent’s lips. “The Legion wants us all dead. Why should we care about two strangers? How do we know you’re not spies? Why come to us now and not before? You must admit showing up here now is a little unusual. Don’t you think?” He hesitated for a moment. “Why did you come here. The truth now.”
Milo kept his calm demeanor. “Because,” he said, and he looked at Alexa, his eyes sparkling, “because she and I are…”
Alexa’s stomach tightened. Her horror achieved new depths as she realized he couldn’t say it. Those two words. Not even as a lie. He couldn’t say the words. Heat rushed up her neck to her face and she felt the angry tears behind her eyes before she could control them.
Don’t let them see me cry, she thought. Not now.
Alexa pulled her eyes away from Milo and, with surprising control, mastered her tears before they got them both killed. She could feel Brent’s eyes on her, but she stared at the white sand, afraid that if she met his eyes he would see the lies in them.
“You’ve been banished because of your affection for one another?” Brent’s voice was suddenly filled with understanding. Alexa looked up at him. He was watching her, and whatever he saw in her face seemed to convince him. She couldn’t help but wonder if Brent had been a victim of forbidden love. Somehow, she felt as though he had.
“We have,” said Milo. His voice was so sincere, his face so convincing, that Alexa found her anger shedding from her like the casting off of old clothes. She met his gaze—those light gray eyes so bright in the sun. But she also saw a shadow of grief and something else she didn’t understand.
“They’re lying,” argued Naja, jolting Alexa’s attention back to her. “They’ll say just about anything to keep us from slaughtering the Legion’s filth. I say we feed them to the eagles. I’m sure lesser angel flesh will taste the same to them,” she scorned, her face transforming into something more feral than angel. She reminded Alexa of Willow.
A few angels sneered in agreement.
Brent watched them both with great interest. “It’s not up to us to determine their fate. Nathaniel will know what to do. Take them.”
Brent turned on his heel and made for the line of trees.
Alexa found it strange that they weren’t disarmed. Maybe they knew there was no hope of defeat. They had passed the first test, more or less. At least they were still alive.
Alexa felt a small surge of relief wash through her, and the tension in her body loosened a little. Before Alexa could look at Milo, Naja was in her face again.
The angel female lifted he
r chin and smiled at Alexa. “Don’t look so smug. You’re not out of the woods yet. If you think you’re safe now, you’re in for a major surprise. Others have come here uninvited, and it didn’t end well for them. But I’m sure you know that already. Don’t you?” Her smile widened. “Now move.” She shoved Alexa forward brusquely.
It was difficult walking in the sand, but Alexa was grateful that she didn’t fall once. Although she did come close a few times, she always managed to steady herself. At least her pride was still intact.
Brent led them and the band of angels up the sand dunes and to the trees. Milo and Alexa walked behind a group while the remaining angels came up from behind, seemingly to keep them from changing their minds and running away. She thought of the water, the oceans of water that surrounded the Angel Isles, and wondered again if their means of escape was a mere dip in the ocean.
She threw a few covert glances at Milo, but the angel was staring ahead as they climbed out of the sand and entered the forest. His eyes were distant, and he had a slight frown, as though something in his head was troubling him.
Brent and his band of angels ushered Alexa and Milo through a jungle of trees and onto a narrow trail. The eerie silence was getting to her. No one spoke. The only sounds were their echoing tread crunching the pebbled path. There were no animals. No bugs. Even the leaves of the trees lay still. Even in this ethereal place, Alexa thought she would have seen at least a few living creatures. Naja had said there were eagles, probably the giant white ones that the angel escapees used to flee from Tartarus. So why not other types of birds?
No one spoke as Milo and Alexa were led through the forest. Up ahead, Alexa could see that Brent had his head bent and was conversing with another male angel with striking red hair. The two angels appeared to be in some sort of heated discussion, seemingly forgetting about their prisoners.
They began the long, spiral climb that led up and around the tallest mountain. The narrow path was flanked by towering trees and some kind of bush that looked like bougainvillea shrubs. They were all bursting in reds, oranges, and pinks—stunning in the sun.
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