Chapter 17
Imorean followed Gabriel as the older angel twisted and whirled through the sky. The white-haired teenager couldn't hold back the laugh that rippled up through his chest as Gabriel led him through a cloud. The white vapors clung to Imorean's clothes for a brief moment after he exited.
“Stall, Imorean!”
The teenager grimaced as he flew straight up, then leaned backward in the sky. The air flow around his white wings came to a horrible halt and just before he began to fall, Imorean clamped them tight against his sides. He dropped, plummeting through the clouds. Imorean gathered his courage and closed his eyes, feeling the air rushing past him, hearing the wind fluttering through his feathers. He oriented himself so that he was pointing very slightly downward, then snapped his wings open. He rolled effortlessly out of the fall, banked and ascended back toward Gabriel.
“You had your eyes closed again, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“You drifted to your left during the fall. You can’t let yourself do that, Imorean. The smallest bit of hesitation or misjudgment may cost you your life.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s all right. I shouldn’t be hard on you. That’s Michael’s job. As time goes on, we'll start doing more complicated training maneuvers.”
“Are we going to come back out here?” asked Imorean, slipping around Gabriel and flying slowly as the Archangel caught up and flew next to him.
“Probably not. It's rather a long drive for me though. Quite soon this semester though, we will have all of you fly out in the open air.”
Imorean nodded, yawning a moment later. He wasn't used to flying for this long. His body was getting sore and he was starting to feel drained.
“Are you all right?” asked Gabriel.
“Yeah,” nodded Imorean. “Just feeling tired.”
“I see. You're going to want some food soon and a lot of rest. Flying always exhausts young angels. I'm surprised you've held on this long actually. Your endurance seems higher than most of the other new hybrids. Come on, let's head back down to the car.”
“Where is it?” asked Imorean. He still wasn't comfortable with the idea of looking down. He didn't want to know how high above the ground he was. He felt that if he looked down, he would somehow jinx his wings and send himself crashing down to the earth.
“Down there.”
Imorean didn't look.
“Do you remember that dive I said we'd take?” asked Gabriel, a mischievous smirk crossing his features.
“Well, yes,” replied Imorean hesitantly. He knew where this was going. He grimaced at Gabriel. The Archangel smiled back at him and nodded.
“Do your best to navigate the air currents as we descend. Don’t get too caught up in any fancy maneuvers. The wind currents will be coming at you very fast. I'll be right beside you if you get into trouble.”
“Okay,” nodded Imorean, looking around, busily gazing in any direction but down. His heart was beating faster in his chest, thumping against his ribs.
“Let's go,” said Gabriel, suddenly dropping down out of sight.
Imorean let out an involuntary yelp and looked down to where his mentor had gone. The Archangel was hurtling headfirst toward the ground at breakneck speed. Imorean remembered something that Colton had told him ages ago about a skydiver's terminal velocity being around 120 miles per hour. Was it possible that angels could go even faster? The thought of racing toward the ground at such a speed made Imorean tremble. He wasn't entirely sure though, that he was trembling in fear.
The white-haired teenager quirked a small smile and tucked his wings to his sides. He had wings. He could stop himself if he got into trouble on his way to the ground and Gabriel would be there. He had nothing to fear.
Imorean closed his eyes as his body suddenly felt as though it became weightless. Freefall took him. He dropped like a stone, his wings folded into a streamlined dive position, head pointed at the ground. All his vision seemed to blur white. Everything around him no longer mattered. All that mattered was the rapidly closing distance between his body and the ground and the dive that he knew he could pull out of.
“That's it! That's it, Imorean!” shouted Gabriel.
Imorean glanced over. His tutor was diving beside him, wings pulled up tidily in the same position as his own. All of a sudden, Imorean felt the tug of an air current. He gently flared one of his wings and maneuvered away from it, then reestablished himself. Another jerked at his other wing and Imorean twisted his body sharply to one side, causing himself to roll. The roll though, didn't bother him, and Imorean simply flexed his other wing and righted himself. Somehow, he knew what he should do and when. It was as though he had done this before, thousands and thousands of years ago. Again, it was as though an ancient memory within his body had been awakened. He glanced at his wings. Every white primary was designed and curved with utter precision. Curled up at the very tip. Delicate and flawless, like a soft extension of his arms, and hands, the feathers splayed without separating. A perfect screen to buoy him up in the air. Wings that were designed to cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. The feathers themselves, angular and aerodynamically perfect. Like a pianist, they played the air currents to the rhythm of a powerful melody. Yet they were so much harsher than notes of music. They were an incredible combination of speed, strength and flexibility. Had he truly been a bird, Imorean knew he would have been the perfect hunting machine. An apex predator, designed for hours in the air. A true champion of the sky. In this air, in this moment, he was king. But why? Why had he suddenly found his affinity with the sky? Was it his angelic nature bolstering his liking for it?
Brown eyes turned back to the ground below. The trees below were starting to become quickly more focused now and Imorean knew it was almost time for him to start opening his wings and pulling out of his freefall.
Out of the corner of his eye, Imorean saw something, a strange, black shape. It fell at the same speed as them, if not slightly faster. Something about it made Imorean think of despair. Of the gathering dusk at the end of day. Night oncoming. It appeared to be alone. Powerful even in its solitude. He started to turn his head to make more sense of it. He could smell something burned, something rotted. Evilness. He wavered to his right, wanting, needing space between himself and the follower.
“Imorean!” cried Gabriel, zipping over to him and grabbing hold of him around the waist.
The white-haired teenager cried out loudly as Gabriel tugged him out of his dive. He thought he caught a glimpse of something black flashing through the sky just above them. The two tumbled over and over, their bodies a tangled mess of flailing arms, legs and wings, descending all the while, before Gabriel managed to pull both of them out of the freefall. They stopped mere feet above the trees.
“What was that?” asked Imorean, still feeling dizzied.
“Don't worry about it,” snapped Gabriel, much sharper than usual. “Follow me and follow me fast.”
Imorean, shaken by Gabriel's brisk tone, did as he was asked. He followed his mentor as the Archangel dipped down into the trees, well camouflaged by his tawny and green wings.
“Land here,” said Gabriel, still sharp.
Imorean looked around. They were still in the trees, but despite his confusion he did as he was told and folded his wings, landing heavily on the ground. A shock ripped up and down his legs, numbing them. He staggered and bent over, groaning loudly.
“Can you walk?” asked Gabriel.
“I think so,” replied Imorean, straightening and nodding. He looked at Gabriel in surprise. The Archangel’s voice was still more brusque than usual, and Imorean suddenly saw his similarity to Michael.
“Good,” sighed Gabriel, turning and leading the way through the remaining woodland.
“What was that?” asked Imorean again, hoping he would get more of an answer this time.
“A demon,” answered Gabriel simply.
Imorean’s blood ran cold. “What?�
�
“One of Vortigern's scouts. They've been trying for years to figure out where Gracepointe is located and I think they're getting closer to finding us. Don't worry, Imorean. Michael and I will get it sorted out. All we have to be concerned about now is getting you back to Gracepointe.”
“Wait,” said Imorean, stumbling after Gabriel. “Do they know where Gracepointe is? Why are they looking so hard? I thought we were well hidden.”
“Imorean, don't concern yourself about this. It's an issue you don't want to be sticking your nose into. It has to do with the system of the ancient sanctification of pieces of earth and the Enochian language which you haven’t learned yet. In short, it’s complicated,” said the Archangel, his voice gentler now, but still firm.
Imorean opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again when Gabriel narrowed his hazel eyes slightly in a small glare.
“Okay.”
“Thank you.” Gabriel turned and led the way through the woodland.
A moment or two later, Imorean found himself emerging on pavement once again.
“Ah, there she is,” said Gabriel, taking his car keys out of his pocket.
Imorean gave a pinched smile, but his mind was elsewhere. A demon? All the way out here? And the mysterious general called Vortigern searching for Gracepointe? Imorean swallowed hard as bile rose in his throat. The name itself made him feel sick. Vortigern. The name stuck horribly in his head and burned like a brand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Imorean,” said Gabriel.
Imorean opened his eyes blearily. Gabriel was nudging him insistently.
“I know the seats are comfy, but you can't sleep in my car. Your bed in your dorm is waiting for you.”
Imorean yawned. “Yeah.” He couldn't remember falling asleep in Gabriel's car. How long had he been asleep?
“I'll arrange for some food to be sent up to you. It's my fault you missed dinner, after all.”
“Thank you, but I don't think I'll even be awake long enough to eat it,” replied Imorean. He was exhausted. He didn't remember ever having been this tired before, not even after the trip over the Atlantic to Gracepointe. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Sleep was still fighting to pull him back down.
“Come on.” Gabriel tugged him to his feet and helped him out of the car. “I'm bending the rules doing this, but I don't think you could drag yourself across campus if you tried. You’re too exhausted.”
Before Imorean could even ask what Gabriel was talking about, his vision flashed white and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. As Imorean opened eyes that he didn't know he'd closed, he found himself standing in front of his dormitory's door.
“Thank you,” sighed Imorean tiredly.
“You're welcome.” Gabriel smiled and winked mysteriously. “Tomorrow is Sunday, so make sure you get well rested. I don't want you to miss anything important on Monday.”
“All right.” Imorean ran a hand through his hair. It felt windswept and somehow fresh and clean. He liked it.
“Good evening,” said Gabriel, turning on his heel and walking away down the dormitory's corridor.
Imorean didn't reply, instead he opened the door to his dorm room and trudged across the room to his bed. If Toddy was awake and if he greeted him, Imorean didn't hear him. Instead, he flopped down on his bed, fully clothed and fell immediately to sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was late evening. The final flickers of gray twilight filtered in through a narrow slit. It was too dark to see the surroundings properly. Imorean looked around, his eyes seeking anything in the dim light. His heart pounded hard in his chest. He was afraid. He could taste it in his mouth. But what was there to fear? In the shadows, something moved. Imorean scrambled backwards, his back crashing into a wall. Stone? Was that what held him inside? There was a low groan and something crawled into the meager light pouring in from the crack in the rock. Uriel! Beaten and bruised. His eyes were sunken in and ringed with black, like the hollow sockets of a skull. There was not life in them, but an oncoming death. Imorean leaned forward, hesitant to approach. Skin purple with one continuous bruise. Imorean gasped as Uriel shuffled his wings. Or what was left of them. The feathers had been sliced away, leaving only the greater coverts and downy plumage. Imorean looked at Uriel in horror. Why didn’t he do something? He was an Archangel! Surely, he could get away!
“He’s exhausted and overpowered,” whispered a voice at Imorean’s shoulder. White hair fell into Imorean’s eyes as he turned, blood freezing. Cold, gray eyes stared into his own, practically glowing through the shadows. In the darkness, Imorean could just make out the outline of another male figure. This one seemed to have taken into himself all of the life Uriel had once had.
“They are not all powerful,” hissed the man, gliding forward, feet hardly touching the floor.
In the weak light through the window, Imorean watched as the gray-eyed figure approached Uriel. One booted foot lifted and stamped down hard on Uriel’s exposed face. Held in place by an invisible pressure, powerless, Imorean could only release a strangled, horrified cry that matched Uriel’s note for note.
Chapter 18
Imorean woke with a start just before his covers were ripped off the bed. His eyes flashed open and for a split second, he grappled through his memory to know where he was. The blurriness of sleep cleared and the fear of his nightmare faded. It was only a dream and he was safe in his bed at Gracepointe. What was happening to Uriel couldn’t have been reality. It just couldn’t. Imorean looked up to narrow his eyes and to glare tiredly at the culprit holding his blankets hostage. The white-haired teenager was unsurprised to see Toddy standing next to his bed, an eager grin on his bright face.
“Come on, Imorean,” he said, beaming. “You can’t sleep the day away. We want to know.”
“Know what?” mumbled Imorean, flopping back down on his pillow and ignoring the way the muscles in his back protested with soreness. He wrapped his wings around his body like a bat, ready to go back to sleep. Imorean closed his eyes again and moved to roll over and face the wall, but Toddy took firm hold of one of his wings. The makeshift blanket was torn away.
“Come on, Imorean, stop being such a party-pooper. Roxy, Mandy, Colton and, of course, I, want to know where Gabriel took you yesterday. What did you two do all day?”
Imorean sighed heavily. He was truly exhausted and desperately wanted to sleep for just a few more hours, but knew all too well that Toddy would not relinquish his hold on his blankets or his wings until he consented to his demands. The white-haired teenager quirked a small smile and sat up, glad when Toddy let go of his wing.
“So, what are you so desperate to know?” Imorean yawned as he asked, distorting the words.
“Where did you and Gabriel go yesterday? What did you do? Details,” said Toddy.
“Oh, come on, Toddy,” said Colton, emerging from their ensuite bathroom. “He just woke up. Let him get a shower and something to eat before you pump him for information.”
“Fine,” replied Toddy, tossing Imorean’s blankets back onto his bed.
“Thank you, Colton,” said Imorean, standing up slowly and turning toward the bathroom, still too tired to wonder when Colton had arrived in their room. He felt filthy. His sore, stiff muscles protested, but Imorean did his best to ignore them. He would have to see if any of his friends had any painkillers in their dorms.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Imorean,” said Toddy.
Imorean looked up, a forkful of scrambled eggs halfway to his mouth. Toddy, Mandy, Roxy and Colton were all looking at him with expectant, wide eyes. Imorean sighed with a smile and dropped his fork back to his plate. He pushed his plate away, glad he hadn’t been feeling particularly hungry anyway.
“What?” he asked, resting his elbows on their table.
Toddy drummed his hands on the table. “Storytime.”
“Spill,” said Roxy, her eyes wide and eager.
“And don’t leave out a single detail,” said Mandy with
a grin.
“What do you want to know?” asked Imorean, shuffling his wings slightly.
“Where did you two go? What did you do? Come on, don’t keep us in suspense any longer, Imorean.” Toddy leaned forward, his bright eyes eager.
“If it’ll get you to quit fangirling,” laughed Imorean. “Gabriel woke me up at five o’clock yesterday morning, bundled me into his car and drove me off campus. I think he said the drive was about four hours or so. I gotta say, it certainly felt like it. We stopped at the bottom of this really, really high cliff. Gabriel said the name of it, but I can’t remember what it was called. Anyway, it turns out Archangels can teleport –”
“Wait?” asked Roxy, holding up a hand. “Teleport?”
“Apparently,” replied Imorean, nodding. “He grabs hold of me and the next thing I know we’re standing at the very top of this cliff … I think I nearly wet my pants. I was terrified.”
“I bet you were,” said Roxy, her brow furrowing in sympathy.
“Yeah,” nodded Imorean, his voice dropping slightly. “But Gabriel waited a few minutes for me to get over all the shock and everything, then nearly gave me another heart attack when he tossed me off the edge of the cliff.”
“What?” yelped Mandy. “He threw you off the edge?”
“It was truly a shining moment for him,” nodded Imorean.
“What if you didn’t open your wings? What if you had just fallen and kept falling? You could have died,” she snarled, sounding angry now.
“I guess he just banked on me responding naturally,” replied Imorean, shrugging slightly. “Or, in our cases, responding unnaturally.”
Imorean quirked a small smile as Roxy, Toddy, Mandy and Colton all exchanged looks with each other.
“What was it like?” asked Colton, his big blue eyes wide.
Angels Soaring (Angels Rising Book 2) Page 16