by Zoe Winters
Rodolfo brushed past the warrior angel to attend to his adjustment angel duties.
Kurt still hadn’t recovered from earlier. He still gave her that look, and she was already calculating whether she could get him to release her with a quick roll on Rodolfo’s glass desk.
“Just let me go. I won’t ever come back to Heaven. I promise.”
He hauled her up off the powder blue chair and led her out the door. “You know I can’t do that. You can’t run around down there and not come back. You’d be a fugitive, and then I would be punished, too. He’d know you didn’t just get away from me.”
The warrior angels were always brought in to do the dirty work. They were unimaginably strong. Rodolfo would never believe she’d escaped. Kurt led her down the back streets, away from the prying eyes of the other angels, whose attention had been called away by the human spectacle on the main street. It was an exciting day up in Heaven.
“W-what happens in the black room?”
Kurt shrugged. “I don’t know.”
How could he not know? Wasn’t he one of the law officers?
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I don’t know. I’m not allowed in there. Only the angelic council goes in there. I don’t know what you did, but it must have been bad to rate this.”
Why had she come back here? Why hadn’t she stayed with Hadrian in his church? Maybe there was a way the vampires could have shielded her from the prying surveillance of Heaven if she protected the royal family. She could have been safe. But for how long?
They were getting away from town now and all the fancy mansions in this sector. She lived in the last sector, the one said to be most holy because you could actually see the mountains where the man upstairs was believed to live—though he could be anywhere. Perhaps he was invisible. Or a pure soul without a body. Or light itself.
Angeline wasn’t sure how far Heaven stretched. It was huge, and she’d never been outside her own sector. There was the main gate that everyone passed through, but then a secondary gate sorted angels according to sector and transported them there instantly.
They left the golden streets and moved through a large field, and then they arrived at a forest. The forest was too quiet. The trees were as lush and bright green as any other trees here—and Heaven was always suffused with so much light one could be overwhelmed by it—but something about the forest felt dark, as if Hadrian could be at home inside the tangles of trunks and tree limbs, never in danger of burning.
“This way,” Kurt said, tugging on her arm.
“W-why does it feel this way?”
“We’re getting close.”
Inside the forest, it seemed to get darker. Up above, the light was so bright, and yet it didn’t seem to touch anything in here.
They’d gone about a mile when Angeline tried to pull out of the warrior’s grasp, intent on making a run for it, but Kurt’s grip was firm. After about a mile of walking, a deep weariness set in. Angels didn’t get tired like this. They could sleep, but they didn’t need to. And yet at this moment she felt as if she could sleep until the apocalypse.
“Just a bit further,” he said.
The trees thinned to reveal a clearing, but it was still dark here, with heavy clouds overhead. She’d never seen a single cloud in this realm. Not once. There was no weather. It was perfect and bright, and everything was green, and nothing died or needed anything. There was no struggle.
But here, the air was a constant tangle of struggle. The air felt gnarled somehow. The electricity made her hair stand on end, and lightening lit up the sky as thunder rumbled as a constant background track.
In the center of the clearing was the most rickety-looking black staircase she’d ever seen. It seemed to spiral straight up into the clouds.
Kurt nudged her forward. He’d lost interest in the dark sensuality he’d wanted earlier. Now he was all business.
“I c-can’t go up there. It’ll collapse, or the lightning will strike me.”
“It won’t,” he insisted. “I’ve been up these steps thousands of times.”
She wondered how old Kurt was exactly. It was considered rude to ask an angel’s age. And when one existed in a state of timeless perfection, it didn’t matter. It was a rare occasion that one marked time while in this realm. For all she knew, time didn’t exist; the passage of it always seemed quite nebulous here.
“Can’t we just fly up?”
“It’s a no-fly zone. We can’t fly until we clear the top of the clouds.”
Kurt stayed behind her as she gripped the railing and climbed. It only took a few steps for her to realize that the staircase was made of tree trunk and limbs that had been created by some greater power to grow this way out of the earth with steps and rails all the way up through the clouds.
The stairs went for what looked like miles, and Angeline couldn’t bring herself to look down. As they neared the clouds, the air turned humid and thick, and a sense of vertigo swept over her.
“Careful,” Kurt said, steadying her.
“We could run away,” she said, a last-ditch effort at freedom, however weak.
“They would find us. You can’t outrun them, Angeline. The only out is to fall. And that’s provided they allow you that option. But don’t worry. You’ll probably be disciplined and sent back. Most angels come out of the black room and remain angels. You’ll learn, and you won’t make the mistake again. Whatever it was. They are merciful here.”
Most angels probably hadn’t been letting vampires drink their blood. And how could he speak of mercy while taking her somewhere known to traumatize their kind?
The clouds grew misty and thick as they ascended, but Kurt was right, the lightning arced away from them. At the top, Kurt extended his wings and Angeline followed his lead so they could continue on without benefit of solid ground.
In front of them, a giant black glass box floated, suspended in the air. Kurt escorted her to a platform outside the door. “This is as far as I go.”
But it wasn’t as far as she went. As if there could be any doubt, he motioned toward the door.
Angeline hesitated. “H-how long did the others have to stay here?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you won’t be here long. You couldn’t have done anything too bad.”
His hand pressed against her cheek and that look of desire came over him again, He seemed to war within himself, as if he considered running with her. A part of her was willing to do whatever it took to escape this place, but another part wanted Hadrian.
Kurt’s vision cleared and he pulled away as if burned. “I have to wait until you go inside.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to. Just get through it. Then everything will be all right.”
She wondered if he tried to comfort all the prisoners. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. If she didn’t go in on her own, he or Rodolfo would shove her in, anyway.
The door slammed behind her with a clang. Angeline pulled on the handle, but it had locked. She watched Kurt through the darkened glass as he flew back to the other platform and disappeared down the stairs, then clouds rose around the building, blocking her view and making everything feel smaller and more closed in.
The air felt humid as the clouds became thicker outside the glass walls.
The black room was an apt name, because it was all it was. One giant black box-shaped room. There didn’t seem to be anything but walls, floor and ceiling. So what could be so scary and terrible about it?
She walked the perimeter. It seemed much smaller than it was. But then maybe she’d walked around it more than once. Even with the corners, it was hard to remember how much space she’d traversed.
After a while, the whispers started. At first they sounded like wind whispering through cracks. But there were no cracks. The room was solid. The whispers built and rose in volume, becoming more clear and overlapping on top of each other.
“Nobody else wants you.”
“You’re such a disappointment.”
“Unclean. How could we let such an unclean demon contaminate our holy place?”
“HE doesn’t want you.”
She wasn’t sure if “he” was supposed to be the man upstairs or…
The black room responded to her thoughts. “Hadrian will never want you.”
“If we toss you out, and he tosses you out, where will you go? Where will you go when nobody wants you?”
“We saved you. We elevated you. We gave you glory. You owe us.”
“You filthy piece of trash.”
“We are the only ones who will ever want you.”
“No one else would ever be able to forgive you.”
“Hadrian will never forgive you. You don’t deserve it. You tainted his goodness just like you taint everything else you touch. It all rots from the inside.”
“You’re lost. Why shouldn’t we let you fall?”
“You don’t deserve those wings. You don’t deserve anything.”
“You let him defile your blood. We saw everything.”
“We saw everything.”
“We saw everything.”
She put her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, but the whispers only got louder in response, moving past her weak defenses. The voices went on for hours. Over and over, the same words, the same indictments. All the things she feared about herself were spoken aloud in the darkness until she no longer feared it. She knew it was all true.
Chapter Six
Hadrian arrived at the penthouse several hours after sunset. Even with vampire speed, it took a while to get from Vegas to Cary Town, Washington. He hurried down the streets trying not to attract attention as he made his way to the Cary Town Luxury Apartments and the penthouse where the vampire king held his meetings.
The streets were lined with guards. Enforcers, as Anthony was calling them. Some were guardians and some were vampires, and they weren’t even trying to hide their presence anymore. In Vegas he’d seen more public vampire behavior than usual, even before he’d seen the news to get a full picture of how bad it truly was, but here, there was none of that.
The enforcers weren’t just managing the preternaturals. They were managing the humans as well, and they weren’t keeping their nature secret. A couple of human teenagers scurried past a vampire enforcer outside the front entry of Anthony’s building. Of course, there would be heavier security when Anthony wasn’t in the compound.
He didn’t meet with other factions on the royal grounds. He wanted neutral territory. Hadrian nodded at the guardian in the lobby as he made his way to the elevators. This guardian was more alert than previous guardians who’d held that post. Ordinarily whoever was behind the reception desk would be boredly reading a paper or a book or talking on the phone, but this one constantly scanned the lobby as if danger might suddenly materialize.
And maybe it would. If preternaturals had been outed, and the magic users as well, perhaps someone could just materialize in the middle of the lobby—though Hadrian was sure Anthony would have had wards put on the place to prevent such careless magic.
Father Hadrian jabbed the button of the cherry-paneled elevator, anxiously watching the dial crawl down to one. He wasn’t sure why he was so anxious. You know, the voice in his head chided. Was Angeline here? He hadn’t been able to contact her after she’d left for prayers, and he’d had to start traveling as soon as the sun hid itself from view and the dead sleep lifted off him.
He’d had to stop and feed once in Oregon to recharge his energy. Traveling long distances this way was difficult, but it was faster than by car, and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Angeline alone with the vampire king, though he couldn’t say why this should bother him.
Two guardians stood outside the single door on the sixth floor.
“I’m expected,” Hadrian said, when they gave him a skeptical look.
One of the guardians raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke into the electronic device circling it. He adjusted his earpiece, and after a few moments he nodded and stepped aside. “They’re on the roof beside the pool.”
“I’m familiar with it,” Hadrian said, annoyance creasing his brow.
The metal door clanged against the brick when he reached the top, and Hadrian cursed as all eyes turned on him.
“I can’t begin to tell you how late you are,” Anthony said. “And usually, that’s Cain’s role.”
“I came from Vegas. It’s not as if I can teleport.” The whole gang was there. The werewolf pack alpha, Cole, and his demon mate, Jane, along with their pup, Noah. Werecat Greta and her sorcerer, Dayne. The demon leader, Cain and his mate, Tam. And Anthony’s human mate, Charlee, with their baby, Sydney.
The baby was a year old now and sat on the ground, cuddling with the pup and pulling on his ears. Noah growled at her good-naturedly and licked her face. The pup was a werewolf, one of the stronger ones—so strong he’d been born in his fur instead of human form. He wouldn’t shift to human for several more years.
No one at the table appeared happy to see Hadrian.
“Where’s your angel?” Anthony asked.
“I thought she’d be here,” Hadrian said.
“It looks like she stood you up. You’re of no use to me without her. Guards!” Enforcers that lined the wall like gargoyles, stepped forward.
Cain stood then. “We need to focus on what’s important, and Father Hadrian isn’t. We’ve got bigger problems right now.” The enforcers stepped back against the wall, waiting for further direction.
Hadrian was surprised to see the demon coming to his defense. Even Tam didn’t seem overly upset with him. Out of everyone there, Cain and Tam had the biggest reason to hold a grudge. Hadrian had helped the group’s last enemy kidnap Cain’s mate the previous year. But Cain and Tam were too old and world-weary to care much about revenge. Those two might be his only allies.
Hadrian slipped into the chair next to Tam. She slid him a bundle of stapled paper, the same as everyone else at the table had.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said, turning her attention back to her mate who was still trying to keep Anthony from executing Hadrian.
Anthony glared at Father Hadrian, not willing to relent, even with the demon leader in his face.
“Look, if we’re able to move on, you should be able to,” Tam said.
It was true. Hadrian had only wanted to usurp Anthony’s police state, but he’d had a hand in almost killing Tam.
Anthony growled.
“Even without the angel, I have information that might interest you, but I can hardly share it if I’m dead,” Hadrian said.
“I doubt very much you have anything unique that my intelligence officers haven’t been able to glean already.”
Hadrian shrugged and stared him down. He’d remain silent until Anthony caved because if he knew the vampire king, he couldn’t resist having one more piece of information to file. Father Hadrian flipped through the packet of papers to see list after list:
Major hot point areas of riots and vampire violence, places the king had sent enforcers to try to take more control. Areas where magic users were gathering and joining power that the rest of the preternaturals should avoid. Plans to finish the infrastructure he’d been putting into place on the sly in all the major cities in the country. He wanted to control everything.
Hadrian growled. Nothing he’d done had slowed Anthony Burgess down one tiny bit. Instead it had energized him, driven him with even more purpose than before.
Sydney gurgled and clapped her hands delightedly as the wolf pup pounced on her, then she shrieked.
Cole growled from the table. “Noah, play easy with her.”
The pup looked up guiltily and then went back to licking her face while her fat fingers tangled in his fur. Her baby fangs popped out, and Hadrian shuddered at the display. So unnatural. She shouldn’t have been allowed to see her first night. Guaranteed, Anthony wouldn’t be so gung ho ab
out his plans to control the world if she weren’t so fragile and in need of protection.
Hadrian went back to the packet of papers which detailed the damage control various factions were attempting in order to simmer down the political uprisings. There were also details of what the humans were planning. From all accounts, the humans were gearing up to fight.
“What’s this about therians disappearing?” Hadrian asked. The way Jane gripped Cole’s arm wasn’t lost on him.
Anthony continued to glare, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I give up with you two,” Cain said. The demon turned to Hadrian. “Therians are disappearing everywhere, but they are especially disappearing in areas with a strong witch and sorcerer base. We think they are being imprisoned and used for their blood to work stronger magic which will no doubt be used against us if we can’t stop this petty infighting and neutralize them.” He shot one last glare at Anthony and went back to his seat on the other side of Tam.
“Fine,” Anthony said. “What do you know, Hadrian?”
Hadrian looked up from the papers. “Right, because I’m going to tell you so I have nothing else to keep me from execution. That’s smart. I may be young still by vampire standards, but I’m not that stupid.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Enough!” Cain shouted, shooting a glare at each of them in turn. “I have better things to do than listen to you children carry on this way. Hadrian, what do you know?”
Hadrian hesitated. It wasn’t that he was afraid to die, necessarily. It was more that he didn’t particularly welcome it, and sitting in the middle of the lion’s den where everyone hated him, with no protective angel in sight, weren’t odds he liked to play.
Cain grew impatient. “If Anthony tries anything with you right now he will answer to myself and the rest of the demon world. Now talk.”
Out of all the people on the roof Hadrian should think about trusting, Cain was at the very bottom of the short list. The demon had spent an impressive length of uninterrupted time torturing the hell out of him to gain information on Tam’s whereabouts.