Angel's Redemption

by Rosalie Lario

  “They’re still alive, but they were taken to the Central Park tower. By the time we discovered what was going on, it was too late to chase after them.”

  Seth fought to calm his dismay. He could certainly understand why everyone was scared. Michael was, in effect, their leader.

  “We need to—”

  “Wait.” Ethan set his hand on Seth’s shoulder.

  Foreboding snaked its way through Seth’s body. He frowned at Ethan. “What?”

  A flash of pity lit Ethan’s eyes. “They took Lily too.”

  Dread slammed into Seth’s body. He fought the urge to double over at the churning in his gut. “Lily? Was she… hurt?”

  Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Unconscious.”

  Seth wiped his hands over his face as horror buffeted him. What had they done to her to cause her to lose consciousness? He didn’t dare think of it.

  “We must attack.”

  Ethan nodded. “Jason and Ruby are of the same mind. I flew out to their training session to inform them of what’d happened, and they are now gathering all the humans we’ve been training to organize an assault.”

  Seth gripped his arm. “No. We don’t have time to wait. There’s no telling what they’ll do to them.”

  He knew firsthand the horrors of being a prisoner of his kind. Torture. Pain. Those would be a given. His heart broke for Michael, who’d so recently undergone the same treatment, but even more so for Lily and Eva. He shuddered to think what the white-wings might do to them. Once he would have never thought his kind capable of the darker forms of torture, but he’d learned not to place any sort of trust in them whatsoever.

  They were capable of anything and everything. And they had his Lily.

  “Seth.” Ethan placed his other hand atop Seth’s, gripping it firmly. “I assure you, we’re going to do whatever it takes to get them all back. Safe and sound.”

  “That’s not good enough.” Giving in to the panic simmering at the surface, Seth pulled back and turned toward the door. “I won’t idly stand by while she’s torn apart by those monsters.”

  He got no more than three feet when Ethan yanked on his shoulder, swinging him back around. “Seth, no. Don’t do anything rash.”

  “Let go,” Seth snarled. His rage broke free, misdirecting itself at the man standing before him. “I’m going after her.”

  “We all are,” Ethan persisted. “Wait for us.”

  “No.” He shoved away, stalking blindly to the door. When Ethan’s hand closed over his shoulder once again, he shook him off and kept going.

  “Seth, no!”

  “Screw you.”

  Just as he reached for the door, Ethan slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

  Fury wound through Seth as he tried to dislodge Ethan. Deep down he recognized this was idiotic, that Ethan was only trying to help, but his fear of what was happening to Lily controlled him. He couldn’t simply sit back and wait for a plan.

  He would rather die trying to save her.

  “Seth.” Ethan gave a growl of anger and the two wrestled on the ground. “Seth, stop.”

  He didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Lost in his emotions, he kept fighting, kept going until Ethan’s mate, Tayla, appeared beside them and she spoke softly. “Seth, no.”

  The compassion and determination wafting from her accomplished what Ethan had not been able to. It got him to take pause.

  Fear and despair clashed within him as the futility of his struggle penetrated.

  Seth blinked back the tears that formed in his vision. “I can’t just leave her there, Tayla.”

  She bent to look him in the eye, and Ethan rose off him, crouching on his other side.

  “You don’t have to,” she said. “Ruby and the humans are headed toward Central Park now. Almost a hundred of them.”

  He rose up onto his elbows. “Right now?”

  She nodded, her eyes flashing with heat. “This ends tonight. We’re getting them back, Seth.”

  Relief settled around Seth like a blanket. He turned his gaze to Ethan, who gave him a grim nod.

  “Tonight,” he murmured in agreement.

  Thank the Heavens.

  Determination stiffened his spine as he sat up and allowed Ethan to pull him to his feet.

  “Before we go, brother,” he said to Ethan, “there’s something you must know.”

  Ethan’s brow lifted in question.

  “I discovered something. Something big.”

  *****

  What seemed like an eternity later, Seth soared over the Manhattan skyline with his fellow Fallen at his sides. Aaron’s mate, Samantha, who had the ability to temporarily mask her nephilim presence, had led the group of humans into their attack positions just outside the Central Park angel tower.

  They’d had no run-ins with Consortium Guards along the way, which said something. The human lackeys generally patrolled the streets at night to ensure the curfew was honored, but either they’d all deserted their posts after finding out that the angels meant to eradicate all of mankind, or the Tribunal had already done away with them.

  “Are you okay?” Ethan asked from beside him. He flew with an unlit flame torch in one hand and his opposite arm tucked around his mate, Tayla.

  Seth tightened his grip on the flame torches he held in each hand.

  “I will be,” he said grimly. As soon as he laid eyes on Lily once again.

  “Remember, our objective is to get to the angel tower as quickly as possible,” Ethan said. “Once they sense our presence, they will most certainly ambush us. The humans will be waiting right outside the tower with their lit torches in hand. With any luck, we’ll quickly make our way inside and open the doors to allow the humans inside.”

  That was their best chance of survival. Although there were almost two hundred angels on this world, they were split between angel towers all over the world. The Central Park headquarters would have the largest population of angels, but Seth doubted there would be more than twenty of them.

  With close to a hundred humans, all of them carrying weapons, the angels in the tower would be outnumbered.

  They stood a chance of actually winning this battle.

  Seth felt the moment they flew into the zone of discovery. The tickle along his spine told him other angels were nearby. They would feel the same, which meant time was now of the essence.

  Soaring quickly through the air, they approached the tower. The increasing vibration through Seth’s body told him some angels had left the tower and were now headed toward them as well.

  “Time to make the drop off,” Ethan called out.

  Ethan, Jason, and Nate shot down toward the ground, depositing their nephilim mates beside their human allies, who even now raced for the tower. Then they flew back up to join him and Aaron just as a group of five angels sped toward them, their own lit torches in hand. Their faces were all familiar, of course. Given the small number of his kind, they all knew each other. Seth tried not to think about that as he turned his flame torches on. Any familial bond they might have had was torn when he and his fellow Fallen had been condemned to death. Now, as far as he was concerned, the other angels were nothing but their enemies.

  “Now,” Seth yelled. He aimed at the white-wings, and the shootout began.

  The next several minutes passed in tense concentration as he and his brethren zigged and zagged through the sky, aiming flame balls at the white-wings while avoiding their answering volleys. One came so close to his wing that he could feel the tip of his feather singe, but thankfully, it didn’t catch fire. The flame was so intense that one little spark would be all it took to almost instantly incinerate him.

  “Give it up,” a white-wing yelled. “You’re outnumbered.” Almost the moment he made that statement, a lick of flame shot up from below, catching him around the ankles. The flame sped upward, burning him to a crisp.

  Seth allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction when the other white-wings glanced below them for the first
time and realized a small army of armed humans was in place just outside the tower.

  One of the angels aimed his torch toward the ground and shot it. Screams and the smell of burning flesh gripped the air.

  Then, the humans returned fire en masse… and all hell broke loose.

  Chapter Nine

  The leather whip cracked as it flew through the air, landing on Lily’s back with enough force to rip through her flesh. She screamed as blinding pain shot through her body, making her back arch helplessly as she swung back and forth on the manacles holding her restrained in the air.

  “You should have never betrayed your own kind,” the cruel voice of her torturer sounded out. Darius was an enforcer for the Tribunal, and an angel she’d once played with as a child. He’d always been drawn to inflicting pain, which meant he must be very happy right now.

  “You bastard,” Michael bit out. “Why don’t you use that on someone who can actually kick your ass?”

  Anger bristled from Darius, and for a moment, Lily thought he would turn the whip on Michael, but instead he flicked his wrist and sent it arching toward Eva. She let out a loud scream and convulsed wildly.

  “No!” Michael screamed, his voice heavy with anguish. “Leave her alone, you monster!”

  He struggled against his manacles, swinging his legs in an effort to get some traction. His wrists were already torn to shreds, and his frantic maneuvering only served to send rivulets of blood down his arms.

  Oh Gods. Lily closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the pain. She could well understand Michael’s panic. The two of them couldn’t die from this torture, as horrible as it might be. Eva, on the other hand, wasn’t pure angel like they were. A nephilim could be killed through torture.

  Where the hell had they taken Adam? Darius had shackled her, Eva, and Michael in this room upon arrival at the Central Park tower, but they’d taken Adam elsewhere to “question” him. Lily knew what that meant: They were going to torture him until he’d revealed everything he knew to them.

  Fury mixed with pain at the thought of what evils Adam might be undergoing right now. The knowledge that he could so easily be killed made her want to howl in agony. It wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve it.

  When Darius edged closer to Eva, Lily resolved to steal away his attention. Unlike the free hand he was using to whip her and Eva with, he’d decided it would be better torture for Michael to hang there helplessly and watch while the two of them received all the mistreatment.

  He was right. There could be no worse fate for Michael than to have to witness this, knowing nothing he did or said could help.

  So she’d have to help Eva on her own. Somehow.

  She summoned her courage and searched deep within herself for inner peace and calm. If she could withstand the fiery ravages of that hut, where she and the other Fallen had almost lost their lives, she could take whatever Darius decided to dish out.

  “Tell me something,” she snarled, twisting her head to seek out Darius’s gaze. “Were you born such a momentous asshole, or is it something you’ve worked toward all these years?”

  Darius’s face morphed with rage, and he turned back to her, driving the whip toward her back. It snaked around her side and onto her stomach, and a mewl of agony escaped her.

  Michael roared with anger and resumed his crazed attempts to get his hands free of the restraints.

  The ring of Darius’s cruel laughter filled the air. “Don’t bother. You’ll never get loose. I—”

  He cut off abruptly as an abnormal vibration stirred in the air.

  A prickling sensation crept along Lily’s body, tickling her spine.

  More angels approached the tower.

  A broken sound tore from Michael’s throat, and threads of cautious hope and disbelief filtered from him. Lily understood just how he was feeling. Because the sensation crawling along her back told her the same thing it told him: The rest of the Fallen were attacking.

  Either they were about to be saved… or they were all about to die.

  Darius stiffened, anger pulsing off him in loose waves. “Those idiots think they can stop us?”

  The note of arrogance dripping off him said just how ludicrous he found that, but only a moment later, the screams and yells of battle started. Echoes of fear drifted into the room where they were being held prisoner, and a man’s voice yelled, “Darius, we need you!”

  “What?” Darius whispered to himself. Frowning, he started across the room. He set the whip onto a wooden table placed against the wall and picked up one of the torches resting on it. Uncertainty wafted off him as he headed to the door. He opened it and stepped out without bothering to shut it behind him.

  Lily turned to exchange a glance with Michael. Pain lanced off her injured body, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it.

  Michael’s expression said it all. If there was ever an opportunity to escape, it was now.

  She allowed herself a glance at Eva. Pity wrenched her heart when she saw her friend was only barely conscious. Eva couldn’t withstand this torture much longer.

  Tamping down on her fear so as not to cause Michael further alarm, Lily whispered, “I can try to break my hand.”

  “The manacles are too tight,” he murmured, his voice flat with despair. “I fear it would accomplish nothing.”

  He was probably right, but it was better than just hanging here, helplessly.

  “My hand is smaller than yours,” she said. “It’s worth a try.”

  When he nodded his assent, she took several deep breaths in an effort to calm her fear. Granted, she was already in pain, but the thought of bringing more upon herself didn’t hold any appeal. She would gladly do it, however, if it meant they might be able to escape.

  With one last breath, she readied herself to try and wrench her arm free, but before she could act, a figure stepped into the room.

  Lily’s gaze shot to the woman standing at the door, and her body seized in disbelief. “Samantha.”

  “Thank the Heavens,” Michael muttered, hope skittering off him.

  Aaron’s mate gave them a grim smile, but her expression grew worried when she glanced them over and her eyes came to rest on Eva. She entered the room and closed and locked the door. Then she raced to the side table where Darius had deposited his whip.

  After shutting her torch off, she placed it on the table and grabbed a chair.

  “I crept in through a side entrance while the others kept the angels occupied up front,” she said as she dragged the chair to Eva. “I’d hoped I could get the front door open, but there are too many white-wings guarding it.”

  She climbed atop the chair and dug through her pants for a metal pick. Once she had in in her grip, it took all of a second for her to pick one of the locks binding Eva’s wrists.

  Eva cried out as her arm came free and wrenched her body in the process. Her eyelids fluttered, and her head lolled backward.

  “Shit,” Samantha muttered.

  “Beloved?” Michael whispered, his voice lined with fear.

  “She’ll be okay,” Lily assured Michael. She had to be.

  Samantha undid the other lock and tried her best to keep hold of Eva, but her dead weight brought both of them crashing to the ground.

  “Eva!” Michael jerked frantically against his manacles.

  “Easy, Michael,” Lily whispered to him.

  Samantha rolled Eva onto her back and scrambled to her feet. Her gaze shifted between Lily and Michael.

  “Him first,” Lily told her. Even if she hadn’t felt every bit of Michael’s despair, she would still understand his crazed need to hold his mate.

  Samantha quickly complied, dragging the chair to Michael and freeing him of the manacles.

  Blood oozed from the ruined flesh on his wrists as he rushed to Eva and folded her into his arms.

  A moment later, Samantha was in front of her, working on the manacles. One arm came free with a painful yank, and then the other.

  Lily moaned as she d
ropped to the floor, landing in a squat on her feet. Her back felt as if it were on fire, and the wound on her stomach from that final whiplash oozed blood, but she was still conscious and in one piece. She had to be thankful for the little things.

  Dizziness set in as she forced herself to stand.

  Fighting back a burst of nausea, Lily asked Samantha, “Have you seen Adam?”

  “No. I’ll go look for him next.”

  Samantha’s voice said it all. She didn’t hold out much hope of finding him alive. But no, Lily refused to accept that.

  “What’s happening out there?” she asked Samantha.

  “Ruby and the rebels gathered a team of humans. Almost a hundred of them.”

  Lily’s breath caught. No wonder the angels were panicked. The humans had to outnumber them by several fold. “They’re armed?”

  Grim satisfaction rolled off Samantha as she nodded. “Oh yeah. They’re trying to cause a diversion so one of the others can fly in and let them all inside the tower.”

  One of the others. Did that mean…?

  “Seth?”

  Samantha nodded. “He’s here.”

  An unexpected weight eased from Lily’s chest. Seth hadn’t been with them when they’d gotten caught, but she’d still feared the worst for him.

  Gods only knew what he was going through now.

  That knowledge propelled her toward the table, where several unlit flame torches rested beside the one Samantha had set down. Lily grabbed one and gave Michael a glance. He was still preoccupied with his unconscious mate, as he should be. She would have to do this herself.

  Lily headed for the door, calling out to Samantha as she walked, “Look for Adam. I’ll go find a way to let the humans in.”

  “Lily,” Samantha whispered.

  She turned to face Samantha.

  “Be careful,” her friend whispered.

  Lily heard in Samantha’s voice what she hadn’t said aloud. She was scared that once Lily went out there, they would never see each other again.

  “I will,” she told Samantha. She edged open the door just enough to see what was on the other side. The path was clear, so she slid out into the corridor and flipped her torch on.