Angels Soaring (Angels Rising Book 2)

by Harriet Carlton

  “I thought so.”

  “That is the smell of demon blood.”

  “So, it was demons? That’s what we could see after we landed today?”

  “Indeed,” nodded Michael, studying the dark liquid on his hand.

  Imorean pursed his lips, feeling nauseated.

  “Squeamish?”

  “I’m not normally.”

  “That will pass with time.”

  Imorean looked away. In a way, it was easy to forget Michael’s ulterior motive was to use them as soldiers. The gravity of Michael’s world smashed back into him like a tidal wave and the ecstasy he had felt during flight was soured.

  “How is my brother?” asked Michael.

  “Gabriel?” asked Imorean.

  Michael nodded.

  “He was unconscious when we landed.”

  “I shall go and see to him tomorrow. You should go to bed, Imorean.”

  “I don’t think I could sleep now if I tried,” said Imorean, looking down and shaking his head. There was the sense again that Michael didn’t really want him gone. “It’s all a bit much to take in. Angels. Demons. War.”

  “I suppose if one is not born into it, yes, it could be a shock,” agreed Michael, tilting his head slightly.

  “I’m sorry, was that humor?” asked Imorean, raising an eyebrow.

  “I have already told you, it is not vital to my job for me to have a sense of humor,” replied Michael, looking at Imorean from his peripherals.

  Imorean could have sworn though, that the Archangel’s eyes were sparkling slightly.

  “What happened today … sir?” asked Imorean, his curiosity overwhelming him.

  “Demons caught on to our location.”

  “Do you think Uriel told them?”

  “And why, precisely, do you think that my younger brother would be feeding angel secrets to Vortigern?” asked Michael, an obvious snarl lurking under his voice.

  “Because he’s gone missing.”

  “How, in Father’s name, did you know about that?”

  “I had a dream about it, Michael. Then I heard you and Gabriel talking about it the next morning.”

  “Dreams, is it? You always know too much, Frayneson,” said Michael. In the darkness, Imorean nearly missed it, but he thought Michael had smiled very slightly. “It reminds me of someone … have you spoken to anyone of this?”

  “Only to my friends.”

  Michael sighed and folded his arms. “Well, seeing as you already know about Uriel, honesty may be my best policy … yes, he was captured and we have not yet been able to find him. I do not believe though, that it is my brother who fed the location of our flight path to Vortigern’s forces. It was not information that he was privy to, nor were the plans laid before he was captured. It is my belief that there is someone in our midst who is not trustworthy. Someone who is putting everybody at risk.”

  “Who?”

  “I do not yet know at this point. I ask that you do not mention to your friends the matter of which we have spoken. No one outside of the Archangels is supposed to know, but then again …”

  “Then again what?”

  “You should go to bed,” said Michael, his voice firmer now. There was a tone of command in it this time.

  “… Yes, sir.” He was annoyed at Michael’s lack of an entirely straight answer, but was also surprised and impressed that he had gotten this much information. This was probably the most he had heard Michael talk at once. The teenager turned away from the Chief Archangel and made to glide off the roof and back into his dorm room when Michael spoke again.

  “Imorean.”

  “Yes?” asked Imorean, stopping on the edge of the roof and flaring his wings.

  “When you return from your winter break, I would like to talk to you about a rather important matter.”

  “Why not now?” asked Imorean, inclining his head.

  “It is not the right time. Soon though, I think it will be. For now, I reserve my thoughts and my observations. Also, this subject will take a long while to discuss as it is not a conversation I would like to rush. Tonight is actually my last night at Gracepointe for a while, so we would not have the required time.”

  “Okay,” replied Imorean, nodding skeptically. He couldn’t fathom for a moment what Michael meant. “Where are you going?”

  “… I will be campaigning for a time. Some of my siblings and I have decided it is time for us to organize an offensive against Vortigern and his forces. Uriel has not yet been recovered. It is time I stepped in myself to see if I can find him. I have not personally entered the fray for some time. I may be able to intimidate Vortigern into backing down. Gabriel and Raphael can run Gracepointe for the next few weeks without me, I am sure of that.”

  “Aren’t you worried?” asked Imorean.

  “Do I have reason to be?” asked Michael, raising one eyebrow.

  “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never fought a demon before, but I imagine it’s difficult.”

  “It depends on the demon … take your leave of me, Imorean.”

  “Yes, sir,” nodded Imorean. This time, he did glide off the roof, leaving Michael standing alone. Imorean circled for a moment, then turned sharply and flew quietly into his room. He was glad to find that Toddy still hadn’t come in and that he could slip into bed before his roommate arrived.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  White wings tightened against Imorean’s body. A violent wind tore through his clothing. The bite of winter was in the air. In the darkness, shadowed figures crowded and stamped around him. There was eagerness among them. They were waiting. Imorean looked up. Only stars were overhead. No moon. Darkness. His eyes strained through the pitch. A mountain ridge cast a jet-black shadow against a navy sky.

  Crack! Imorean stumbled and lost his balance. No one paid him mind. All eyes were still riveted to the ridge. Imorean looked up again. A low orange glow was smoldering behind the crest. He inhaled. Smoke and ash drifted down through the air. Fire! He turned to run. Claw-like hands grabbed onto him, hurling him upwards. Cheers and cries erupted as the fire broke over the ridge, a ferocious trail of death following it.

  White wings opened and Imorean ascended, racing away from the fire. Terror gripping every single nerve. He hovered. Brown eyes looked back at the inferno and reflected the flames. He could not look away. Out of the flames, leading the flames, part of the flames, a figure soared toward him. Two massive wings were ablaze. Imorean expected fear. He expected terror, horror and desperation. He did not expect a gleeful smile. The flames that licked the new figure’s wings fizzled to nothing more than a wisp of smoke and the ebony feathers seemed freshly oiled. There was no damage. Then Imorean noticed the eyes. They were gray and cold, utterly emotionless.

  White and black stirred the smoky air in tandem. Gray bored into brown and Imorean shrank away. A savage hand snatched at his shirt and Imorean found himself dragged eye to eye with the gray. Two words were uttered with a slow hate.

  “Never again.”

  The air spun and a boot landed in the center of Imorean’s chest. He fell toward the flames, wings fluttering uselessly at his sides. But his wings were no longer white, they had charred black, the feathers curling away from the muscle and bone. Before his eyes, they regrew. This time though, they were dark brown lined with pale tawny. Uriel’s wings. The sound of his own screams drowned out the roaring of the fire.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Imorean came awake with a cry as he half fell out of bed, his legs still tangled in the sheets.

  “Wassup?” asked Toddy, sitting up blearily.

  White wings heaved along with a thin chest. “Nothing, Tod. Nothing. I’m okay. Just fell out of bed I guess.”

  Toddy mumbled something unintelligible and flopped back down in bed. Imorean swallowed hard and pulled his legs free. He moved and sat back down on his bed. He was safe. He was at Gracepointe. He was nowhere near a man with gray eyes. He was safe, he thought again, desperately trying to reassure himself. A hard-beating heart f
inally began to calm once again. A small snore from Toddy made him smile. He was safe. So why had that dream felt so real? Why did he still feel that his blood was running too hot in his veins? Why was it that his wings had the lingering feel of smoke? Imorean’s heart leaped once more in his chest as one of his downy feathers fell away from his wing and landed soundlessly on the floor. It was blackened and charred nearly to ash.

  Chapter 22

  Imorean gazed out of the window of the cafeteria, glad that Gracepointe had provided them with warm, winter uniforms. The temperature outside had gradually plummeted over the last few weeks and there was a distinct, frigid bite in the cold air now. It was far colder than anything Imorean had ever experienced before. He mused for a moment on the changes he had noticed over the past few weeks. To say that the atmosphere at Gracepointe was different without Michael around was almost an overstatement. Imorean had a feeling that he was one of the only ones in the entire school who knew that Michael was missing, so perhaps he was overthinking everything. It seemed though that all the staff members were edgier, more irritable. Gabriel, in the few times Imorean had seen him, had looked exhausted. Imorean wasn’t sure, but he thought that security was a bit tighter. He assumed that all the details he had noticed must be normal. Michael, their chief source of protection, had left Gracepointe. He was glad to find though, that his nightmares had finally started to abate. He still saw the gray-eyed figure weave in and out of his dreams, but he had always seemed distracted. It was as though something else was going on. Imorean repressed a shudder. To say he was relieved was an understatement.

  Imorean returned his attention to the present, pushing thoughts of Michael and his own nightmares to the back of his mind. The large, airy cafeteria was emptier than usual. One group of students, the ones from Virginia, had already departed for Christmas break. Imorean was immensely jealous of them. Colton and Dustin had left with them and Imorean found himself missing the two boys. He hadn’t spoken to Dustin for some time, but still found himself considering the other a friend. He hoped everything was going well for them. He was glad though, that Bethany too had gone. Good riddance to her.

  “Hey, you,” said a voice, catching Imorean’s attention. Roxy, Mandy and Toddy were approaching, carrying trays of food.

  “Hey,” replied Imorean, turning in his seat and taking a sip of coffee. He had started drinking it more frequently as the weather had turned colder. It made him feel closer to home somehow.

  “Are you as excited about going home as we are?” asked Roxy, sitting down.

  “I certainly am,” nodded Imorean. As he spoke though, a tremble ran through his body at the thought of seeing his mother and siblings again. It was not an eager feeling. He was scared, genuinely scared.

  “Gabriel pinned a memo on the board this morning. Did you see it?” asked Toddy, folding his big gray wings tightly against his back.

  “No. What was it about?” asked Imorean, absently running one of his primary flight feathers between his fingers. He itched to be back out in the open air.

  “We have a safety brief today about how we are to act while we’re home,” sighed Mandy, resting her chin in her palm.

  “Oh, great,” huffed Imorean. Of course, there would have been a catch. They couldn’t just go home and act like normal students while on break, could they? “When is it?”

  “He’s giving it in here in a few minutes,” said Toddy, checking his watch.

  “Well, at least he’s not going to drag us across campus to the auditorium. I really don’t want to brave the cold today,” said Imorean, shrugging. Even though he had had them for weeks now, it was still a strange sensation to feel his wings shrug with his shoulders.

  “What do you think our parents will do?” asked Imorean, furrowing his brow in concern.

  “I don’t know,” said Roxy, looking down and frowning.

  “I can hardly say mine will be thrilled,” sighed Toddy.

  “I have to say, I’m thinking about not even telling mine. I don’t know how they’d react,” sighed Mandy, frowning at her breakfast.

  Imorean bit the inside of his cheek and looked back out of the window. What would his mother say? How would any parent react knowing that they had a… a freak for a child? The familiar, cold band of nervousness clamped tight around his stomach as he thought of showing his mother his fate.

  Before he had the chance to dwell on it more, the door to the dining hall opened and a cold draft of air swept through the large room.

  “Sorry about that,” called Gabriel, pausing just inside the door as he addressed the students.

  Imorean looked at his mentor with expectant eyes and knew all the other students were doing the same thing. He was apprehensive about what Gabriel had to say. If he was meeting them in person, it couldn’t be good.

  Gabriel walked up the center of the room to the head table. Once there, the Archangel leaned on the corner and faced the remaining North and South Carolina students.

  “Okay, guys, I know you’re all excited about going home. I’m excited for all of you. I already gave the Virginia students this same spew, now it’s your turn. I am going to have to ask a few things of you when you return home and there are a few rules I’m going to have to impose on you that you won’t be happy about. I urge you to make the best of it though, and not let these regulations bother you. First, you are not to talk to anyone outside of your family about what has happened here at Gracepointe. That goes without saying. Believe me, if you do, the world could be pitched into chaos and you students will be in the thick of it. Demons would be all over you before you could blink and that is the last thing we want. Second, we angels will be putting up a shield around all of you. No member of your family will see your wings until you decide they are ready. You are under no obligations to tell your family about your change if you do not want to. Personally, I think it would be a good idea to do so, just so that there are no secrets between all of you.”

  Gabriel paused and Imorean raised one eyebrow. He knew that rules were going to have to be imposed on them, but he had a feeling that the worst news was yet to come.

  “This is the news that I have for you that I think may be most difficult for you to deal with. You will not be allowed to return home on your own. For the flight and throughout your stay at your homes, you will be guarded and watched over by one of the angelic staff from Gracepointe.”

  The cafeteria erupted into angry clamor. Imorean nearly slapped himself. Gabriel had mentioned that to him weeks ago. How could he have forgotten?

  There was a loud bang as Toddy slammed his hands down hard on the table and shot to his feet. He was breathing hard and was shaking. Imorean’s mouth opened in surprise. Toddy was normally so even-tempered. He watched in stunned silence as Toddy locked eyes with Gabriel.

  “How can you do this to us?” shouted Toddy, his voice bouncing off the stone walls.

  Gabriel stared silently across the room. Imorean’s brown eyes flickered between Gabriel and Toddy, then there was a pulse and Imorean flinched as it swept over him. Toddy buckled and sat down heavily. The dining hall dissolved back into angry cries.

  “I can’t believe this,” spat Toddy. “This is supposed to be our time away from these bastards.”

  “This is ridiculous!” shouted Roxy, her wings snapping out in irritation. “We don’t need guards!”

  “They’re just doing this to keep us confined,” hissed Mandy.

  Imorean himself didn’t say anything, choosing instead to glare at Gabriel. The young Archangel looked resigned and was pinching the bridge of his nose. This seemed to be something that he had encountered before.

  “Quiet!” shouted Gabriel a few moments later. Wings fully flared, Gabriel looked much bigger than he really was. “I know you are not happy with this turn of events. I’m not either. I know this is supposed to be your time at home away from us, but please understand that this is for your own protection. We believe that having one of Gracepointe’s staff will also make revealing your win
gs to your families easier. They may ask you questions you don’t know how to answer that the staff here will. I have a roster of who you will be travelling with. These rosters will be posted in your dorm lobbies, along with your leave date.”

  Imorean shook his head angrily and glared out the window, drumming his fingers on the table.

  “I forgot all about this,” he sighed as Gabriel exited the cafeteria.

  “You knew?” barked Roxy. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “Yeah, I knew, but I forgot. It happens, Roxy.”

  “Sorry,” muttered Roxy, not sounding sorry at all.

  “Our winter break is supposed to be our chance to get away from all these angels. I can’t believe what they’re doing. I bet this was Michael’s idea,” grumbled Imorean, shaking his head. He wasn’t as angry though, as he had expected. Perhaps having an angel with them would be a good thing.

  “You’re probably right,” huffed Roxy, pushing her food away from her. “I was looking forward so much to a few weeks without angels.”

  “So was I,” replied Toddy. The boy sounded oddly tired and all his former venom had been sucked out.

  “All I wanted was to be normal. Just for a few weeks,” sighed Mandy, pushing her breakfast away now. Imorean knew how she felt. He had lost his own appetite, too.

  “There’s not much we can really do about it though, is there?” sighed Imorean resignedly, his anger dying. “At least they’re shielding our wings for a while.”

  “There’s no way my parents are going to hear about these,” said Roxy, tucking her rainbow wings close to her sides. “No way.”

  Imorean frowned in sympathy.

  “I don’t know. I might tell mine,” said Mandy quietly. “I’ll have to think about it a bit more. What about you Imorean?”

  “I think I will. Me and my mom have always been close, and I think she deserves to know about them. I won’t tell her too soon, though. Maybe after Christmas.”

  “Good idea,” nodded Roxy.

  “On the bright side,” said Imorean, smiling tightly and pushing his white hair out of his eyes. “At least we’re still going home. They haven’t tried to cancel our break or anything.”