by R. D. Brady
“So what’s the plan when we hit the hotel?” Laney asked.
“I though we’d take in a show.”
Laney’s gaze flew to Ralph. “What?”
CHAPTER 53
Thirty minutes later, Laney walked into the Illustra Theatre tugging at the skirt of her dress. Her go-bag did not include an outfit for a night on the town—it ran more to T-shirts, jeans, and Kevlar—so Ralph had picked her up a dress while she’d found shoes at the mall attached to the Illustra.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into wearing this,” she grumbled.
“Sorry, that’s all they had in your size.”
Yeah, not sure this is my size, Laney thought. The dress probably should have been put in the toddler section. She sighed. Well, too late now.
Laney took her seat in the balcony next to Ralph. The theatre was packed. Laney wasn’t sure how Ralph had managed to get them tickets.
The stage was lit with two bright spotlights, which focused on the enormous, fifty-foot-tall pictures of the show’s star—Drake Diablo—that flanked the sides of the stage. His legs were encased in tight-fitting leather pants. His black shirt had only one button buttoned, showing off a muscular chest and six-pack abs. Laney had heard of him, but had never been all that interested in seeing his show. He was a little too showy and impressed with himself for her taste.
He’d been Vegas’s entertainer of the year for the last fifteen years. And somehow, like almost every other Vegas entertainer, he had not aged a bit. Laney squinted. He must be at least nearing fifty, but he looked like he was in his late twenties—early thirties at the most.
The lights dimmed, and Laney glanced over at Ralph. He sat with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. Ralph had chosen the show, but he really didn’t look like a fan. She’d tried to pressure him into going directly to see the archangel, but Ralph had explained that the archangel wouldn’t be available until later.
Trying to tamp down the urgency that was welling up inside of her, Laney counted to ten. Sitting here was a waste of time. Of course, not doing anything until they met the archangel would probably drive her even more nuts.
The lights dimmed and went black. Music with a heavy bass began to play, drowning out any chance for conversation. Shaking her head at the missed opportunity, Laney turned her attention to the stage as Drake stepped out. He was as good-looking as his posters; light brown hair framed a well-tanned, perfectly symmetrical face with piercing blue eyes. With a sigh, Laney did her best to enjoy the show.
Over an hour later, Laney was leaning forward, holding her breath. The show had been incredible. Even with all the loud music and flash, it was hard not to be enthralled.
Laney glanced over at Ralph.
He sat with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. “Time for the big finale.”
“You’ve seen this before?”
Ralph nodded, and Laney stared at him in shock. Ralph had taken in a Vegas show before? When?
Drake’s assistants pushed a giant tank of water onto the stage. Drake smiled as he climbed the ladder next to it, wrapped in chains. With a grin at the audience, he jumped into the tank. The chains dragged him to the bottom. He turned from side to side, trying to undo them.
The giant clock next to the tank counted down.
Laney watched as Drake struggled in the tank. The assistants began to look nervous. Laney leaned forward with a frown. Was this part of the show?
A glance at the clock showed that a minute had passed.
In the tank, Drake went still—his eyes wide. One of the assistants screamed. People in the audience stood up.
“Get him out!” someone shouted.
A man from the wings ran out with a sledgehammer. He took a swing, but the glass didn’t break. Another two swings and the glass began to fracture.
Laney looked back and forth between the clock and Drake’s body, which floated, unmoving. Her hand covered her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Paramedics rushed the stage as the stagehand swung again. At last the glass broke, and water gushed out, along with Drake’s body.
The audience collectively gasped. A few people screamed.
The paramedics rolled the body onto its back and pushed against his stomach.
And then the body disappeared.
Everyone in the room went still.
Laney looked over at Ralph, who looked completely unimpressed.
“Looking for me?” a voice called out.
Sitting on a swing suspended thirty feet from the stage, Drake grinned down at the audience.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
“Holy cow.” Laney felt a little faint. “How did he do that?”
Drake stood on the swing and performed a deep bow before diving from the swing, tucking and rolling as he hit the stage. He leapt to his feet, his arms outstretched. Applause thundered back at him.
Ralph grunted. Laney looked at him in disbelief. “How could you not like that?”
“Laney, put on your ring.”
She looked at him curiously, then removed the chain from around her neck. As she slid the ring on her finger, she tensed in anticipation of the jolt from Ralph’s presence.
The jolt ripped through her, but she was all right with that. She had prepared for it. It was the second jolt she hadn’t been prepared for.
She gasped, staring at Ralph. “He’s the archangel?”
CHAPTER 54
Laney followed Ralph backstage after the show. She still couldn’t believe that Drake Diablo was an archangel. She wasn’t sure what she had expected an archangel to look like, but it certainly wasn’t Liberace’s not-so-distant cousin.
Noise assaulted them as they pushed through the stage doors. Drake had a line of groupies waiting outside his dressing room—women of all ages and ethnicities. All in short dresses, all focused on getting in to see Drake.
A group of groupies, she mused. Or is it a gaggle of groupies?
Laney started to settle against a wall down the hall from them, but Ralph took her by the arm and led her forward.
“Hey,” a few of the women called out as Ralph cut in front of them. Ralph ignored them and knocked on the door. He waited only a second before opening it.
Drake sat at his dressing table—one of those old-fashioned ones with dozens of light bulbs ringing it. He had two young women in very tight dresses pressed up against him.
Drake caught sight of Ralph in the reflection and raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve finally decided to take a vacation?”
Ralph grunted. “Hardly. We need to talk.”
Drake nuzzled the neck of one of the women. “Well, as you can see, I’m a little busy right now. Why don’t you try me in a few hours?”
One of the women pouted.
Drake smiled. “Actually, tomorrow would probably be better.”
The women giggled, and Laney struggled not to gag.
Drake craned his neck and met Laney’s eyes. “My, my, my, have you brought me a present? That is very considerate of you. And who might you be, my dear?”
“I’m the one about to throw up all over your dressing room if you keep talking that way.”
Drake paused—then his eyes locked onto Laney’s ring. The smile dropped from his face. “Oh, shit. You’re the ring bearer.”
CHAPTER 55
Drake ushered the two women from his dressing room with the promise of meeting up with them later—a promise sealed with a kiss. Laney looked at Ralph, who rolled his eyes. Drake kept his bedroom expression on his face until the door closed behind the two groupies.
Then all pretense dropped. “I’d say I’m happy to meet you, but I’m not.” He turned to Ralph. “Why is she here?”
“She can speak for herself,” Laney said.
Drake ignored her, his attention on Ralph. “Why?”
“The Fallen are making a play for the tree.”
“Which one?”
Laney started. Which one?
“Life.”
Drake let ou
t a dramatic sigh and flopped onto the couch in the back of the room. “What a pain in the ass.”
Laney waited for more, but apparently that was the sum total of Drake’s thoughts on the subject. She turned to Ralph. “This is our great hope? He seems kind of useless.”
Drake laughed. “I’m trying to be.”
Again Ralph rolled his eyes. “We need to know where the tree is.”
Drake let out a lusty sigh. “Why? Why not just let them have it? Aren’t you sick of always running around on these errands? There’s more to life than duty.”
Laney gestured around the room. “This is your grand life? A Vegas show?”
“It’s hedonism at its best—and why not? I’ve done my time.” He looked pointedly at Ralph. “More than others.”
Laney looked at Ralph as well. “What does he mean?”
Drake crossed his legs on the coffee table in front of him. “Archangels who guard the tree are supposed to spend their lives in solitude, focused on their task. It’s not a lot of fun.”
Laney eyed Drake doubtfully. “You spent time in solitude?”
He flashed a grin at her. “And now I’m making up for it.”
Ralph simply stared at Drake without a word.
Laney couldn’t figure out the dynamic here. What were these two? Friends? Enemies? Frenemies? “So there’s no contact with others?” she asked.
“Not while on duty,” Drake said.
Laney looked around the dressing room. A red lace bra hung from a dresser along the back wall. “And now you’re… what? On vacation?”
Drake and Ralph exchanged a look before Drake spoke. “I suppose you could say that. The previous guardian of the tree is given a sabbatical of sorts on Earth after their time is up. A way to recharge after their tour of duty.”
“For how long?”
“A thousand years,” Drake said.
Laney’s eyes went wide. “That’s a lot of recharging.”
Drake waved his hand and scoffed. “Hardly.”
“That’s the length of time an angel guards the tree,” Ralph said. “But it’s more than a vacation. They’re also the backup should anything go wrong with the next guardian.”
Laney tried to imagine what could go wrong. They were supercharged beings in a hidden location. She came up blank. “Go wrong? Like what?”
“Sometimes the angels get a little bored,” Ralph said.
“Or a little crazy,” Drake muttered.
“Crazy?” Laney asked.
Ralph shrugged. “It’s happened. An archangel ventures out. Occasionally a human or two catches sight of one of us. And then the stories grow.”
“Stories?” She struggled to come up with something that would fit the idea of an archangel hanging out among humans.
“The last one was known as Karasu Tengu,” Drake said.
Laney looked between the two of them. “I have absolutely no idea who that is.”
Ralph smiled. “He’s a Japanese legend. He is said to have lived deep in the forests around Mount Fuji. He could appear and disappear in a moment. He was believed to be half-man, half-bird.”
“Mainly because of his big nose.” Drake extended his hand from his own nose. “That thing was huge.”
Ralph ignored him. “Occasionally Karasu would help find a lost child or even make someone he thought deserved it get lost—”
“Or go a little mad,” Drake said not so quietly under his breath.
Ralph nodded. “True. He did not do too well at the isolation. And he only started playing little tricks at around year seven hundred. It’s understandable.”
“So he was recalled?” Laney asked.
Drake nodded. “Yup. And I took his place. So I got part of his term and then all of mine. Fun, fun, fun.”
Laney tried to imagine Drake spending centuries on his own. She just couldn’t do it. “So how do you go from archangel to Vegas headliner?
Drake leaned back in his chair, placing his feet on top of the dressing table. “Trust me, if you spent centuries on your own, you’d be looking for a lot of human interaction too. And what better place than Vegas? The place never sleeps, there’s always new people winging through, and the weather’s a hell of a lot better than New York.”
“How long have you been here?” Laney asked.
Drake shrugged. “I don’t know—about twenty, thirty years.”
Laney’s jaw fell open. “And no one’s noticed you haven’t aged?”
Drake flashed her another smile. “It’s Vegas, baby. Nobody ages.”
Ralph grunted. Laney looked between the two of them. Ralph and Drake couldn’t be more different, and yet they were both archangels. How on earth was that possible?
She turned to Ralph. “But you age.”
Ralph nodded. “I’ve chosen to. I could easily choose not to.”
Drake got to his feet. “A much better choice, in my not even slightly humble opinion. Anybody want a drink?”
Laney and Ralph both shook their heads.
Drake walked to the refrigerator in the corner and pulled out a beer. Flipping off the cap, he took a deep drink before speaking again. “No one notices anything in Vegas. Besides, with all the plastic in the entertainers around here, no one needs a flotation device when swimming. So let’s just say that when it comes to denying the hands of time, I’m in good company. I just don’t have to pay a surgeon.”
Laney pictured the Copperfield poster she’d seen on the way in. Drake wasn’t wrong.
“Well, we need to know where the tree of life is,” Laney said.
Drake gave her a killer smile that she was sure had set legions of girls swooning. He walked over to her and traced his finger along her chin, waiting until she met his eyes.
“Absolutely not.”
CHAPTER 56
Mount Hermon, Lebanon
Back to where it all began. Further questioning of Max had at last resulted in a location: Mount Hermon. Victoria had relayed the information to Elisabeta, who had only raised her eyebrows in response. A short time later, they had switched planes and headed across the ocean.
Mount Hermon—the place where the Fallen angels had originally touched down. It was located between three warring countries: Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Elisabeta had flown them into Lebanon. From there, they’d taken two helicopters to the base of Mount Hermon.
Victoria looked out as the helicopter touched down. She had kept Max’s hand firmly grasped in hers the whole trip. She knew the tree of life wasn’t here. It couldn’t be. So why had Max led them here?
Victoria helped Max out of the chopper. Three jeeps were waiting outside. Gerard walked over to Victoria and Max. “You two are with me.”
They followed behind him. As they walked toward the Jeep, Victoria met Max’s eyes. He nodded toward Gerard meaningfully. Victoria stumbled for a moment, realizing what Max wanted her to do.
They climbed into the back seat of the Jeep, and Gerard and another Fallen—a man of Spanish descent named Hakeem—took the front seats. Victoria knew the drive would only be about twenty minutes.
Ten minutes into the journey, once she was convinced that neither Fallen was paying attention to them, she leaned down to Max and whispered. “Are you sure it’s him?”
“Yes. He can help us.”
Victoria studied the tall blond Fallen. She’d seen no inkling of kindness in him—only deference to Samyaza. But when she peered into Max’s eyes, she saw the conviction there. She nodded. “Okay.”
A few minutes later they pulled to a stop. Elisabeta’s group had arrived ahead of them and had already started down the short mountainous path to the remains of the temple. Victoria climbed out of the Jeep, feeling sore. She was not made for these trips anymore.
She took Max’s hand and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “You’re sure?” she asked one last time.
“Trust me.”
As Victoria peered down at him, she realized that she did.
Gerard came around the car. “Let’s g
o. We need to catch up.” He gestured for them to walk ahead of him.
Victoria did, falling in step behind Hakeem. She walked silently for a few minutes with Max beside her, debating when to make her move. Up ahead, she heard Elisabeta speaking. Her stomach clenched. There was no more time.
She slowed and fell back to Gerard’s side, then stopped.
He stopped too, and frowned. “What are you doing? Keep walking.”
She reached for his face, keeping his gaze locked on hers.
He reared back.
“Don’t,” Victoria said softly, and Gerard stopped moving.
“What are you doing?” he repeated.
She placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the energy stir inside her. “Helping you remember.”
CHAPTER 57
Gerard felt as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Then he inhaled, and the scenery around him began to swirl and disappear. His breath rushed back to him as the world around him came to a dizzying stop.
He looked around in wonder, holding his head. It was the same… but different. Why? What had changed?
Victoria was gone. Max was gone. Samyaza was—
He paused and squinted. There was a group on the summit, a large group—perhaps two hundred men. He rose to his feet and walked toward them.
His shoulders tensed as one of the men turned around and looked at him. Or rather, at the space he occupied. The man’s eyes glided right past him with not a flicker of acknowledgment. They can’t see me.
As Gerard walked forward, he felt a sudden jolt of recognition. He knew these men. Kakabel, Aaron, Baraquel, Gadreel, Ramuel, Turel. Their names flowed through his mind in an unending stream as his eyes darted from face to face. He knew them all as well as he knew himself.
He stopped when he saw the tall Fallen who stood between Tamiel and Penume. He knew the man well. His name was Batraal. He is me.