The Angel Trials

by Michelle Madow

  I leaned back, frustration rushing through my veins. He was trying to distract me. But I refused to let him succeed.

  “You’re not a Nephilim, are you?” I asked.

  “What makes you think that?”

  I matched his gaze with mine, wanting to show him that I wasn’t going to back down. “Because every time I ask, you change the subject.”

  He was silent for a few seconds, and I leaned forward, prepared to finally get an answer.

  “Tell you what,” he said. “Go lay down on the bed, turn off the lights, and close your eyes. Stay like that for ten minutes.”

  “And then what?” I asked.

  “Then you’ll fall asleep.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then come back out here and we’ll talk,” he said. “But it has to be ten minutes. I’ll be timing you.”

  “Fine.” I stood up and marched to the bedroom. “See you in ten minutes."

  Noah followed behind me.

  I spun around my heel to face him. He must not have been expecting it, because he ran straight into me. I stumbled, and he reached for my wrists to steady me.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “That’s funny,” I said. “I was about to ask you the exact same thing.” My wrists heated under his touch, and I swallowed, every cell in my body suddenly aware of how there were only inches between my body and his.

  “I’m making sure you actually get into the bed and turn off the lights.” His eyes were intense as they gazed into mine, and he spoke slower, as if trying to hypnotize me with his voice. Electricity sizzled in the air between us, and I found myself at a loss for words.

  Was he doing this on purpose to make me comply? Because I refused to let my attraction to him distract me. I had more important things to worry about—like saving my mom.

  “You don’t trust me?” I pulled my wrists out of his grasp and stepped back, breaking whatever connection I thought there’d been between us.

  “Regarding this?” He smirked, back to his typical couldn’t care less attitude. “Absolutely not.”

  I said nothing, because he was right—I had no intention of doing as he’d asked and risking falling asleep. But now I had no other choice.

  So I got into the bed and under the covers. The mattress was surprisingly soft. I also couldn’t help noticing that the covers smelled warm and woodsy, like Noah.

  He stood in the doorframe and watched as I tucked myself in. Not in a creepy way—it was more like how a parent would watch a kid to make sure they were obeying their bedtime.

  It was condescending, to say the least. So I glared at him, wanting him to know exactly how I felt about the way he was acting.

  Once I rested my head on the pillow, he smiled and flicked off the lights.

  He must have been right that I was tired.

  Because despite my desire to learn more about Noah and the entire supernatural world he’d dragged me into, my eyelids drooped shut and I fell asleep in seconds.

  Raven

  I was in a dark cell—the only light came from a candle flickering somewhere nearby. It was dark and musty, and my mouth tasted like sandpaper. But I screamed and screamed to be let out, my hands gripping the bars in desperation.

  “Stop that screaming,” a woman said from across the way. She was movie star gorgeous, and was wearing a tight sparkly dress that looked more fit for a club than a dirty jail cell. “Don’t you know by now that no one can hear you?”

  “You don’t know that,” I said. “We have to at least try. They have to know we’re here if we want any chance of being rescued.”

  “My family will find me and rescue me.” She sounded pretty snobby for someone in the same exact situation as me. “But your screaming won’t help, so you might as well save your breath.”

  Maybe she was right, but I refused to sit around and do nothing. So I gripped the bars tighter and screamed for help again.

  Suddenly, someone appeared in the hall between the cells. A short woman in a fringe dress that looked like it came from another era, her hair styled in a flapper bob. “Stephenie’s right,” she said with a menacing smile. “Not that her family will rescue you, because they don’t even know she’s gone. But she’s right that there’s no point in screaming. This entire prison is soundproof. All you’re doing is exhausting yourself and giving the others a headache.”

  She raised something in the air—a dart gun—and I screamed again as she shot a dart straight into my neck.

  Brightness filled the room, and my eyes shot open.

  My heart raced. I could still hear the screams lingering in my mind. My hand rushed to my neck, but nothing was there. And the dream—nightmare—was already fading. But I could still recall the sheer terror and helplessness that it had made me feel. I didn’t think I’d ever forget it.

  Now the lights were on in the room, and Noah was standing in the doorway. Even though he was still in his pajamas, he was on full alert, looking around the room as if a monster could be hiding around any corner.

  Had I just screamed in my sleep?

  How embarrassing.

  I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “What time is it?” I asked groggily, trying to break the awkward silence between us.

  “I heard you screaming.” He shuffled his feet, barely meeting my eyes. “I thought Azazel had found you.”

  “Azazel?” I asked, still in a daze after the nightmare.

  “The greater demon,” he said. “The older man in the alley in the leather jacket. The one who took your mom.”

  “Right.” My heart dropped at the reminder that my mom was missing. “No demon. It was just a nightmare. Sorry for waking you up.”

  “It’s past noon.” He ran a hand through his perfectly tousled hair. “You didn’t wake me up.”

  I glanced at the window—sure enough, light peeked through the blinds.

  He walked over and opened them, letting the natural sunlight flow into the room.

  “Did I really sleep for over ten hours?” I asked.

  “Yep,” he said. “Told you that you needed sleep.”

  “I guess.” I shrugged, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of saying he was right.

  Suddenly, the front door banged open, and Sage rushed inside. She was already dressed and ready for the day, and she held up a knife, looking ready to fight.

  “Is everything all right in here?” Her eyes scanned the room, and she relaxed at the realization that there was no imminent danger. “Sorry,” she said. “I heard Raven screaming…”

  “You heard all the way from the house?” I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

  “Enhanced hearing.” She pointed to one of her ears.

  “Everything’s fine.” Noah’s voice was terse. “Raven was just having a nightmare.”

  My cheeks flushed, since something about the way he said it made me sound like a little kid. “After everything I went through last night, can you blame me?” I asked.

  “What you saw last night was nothing compared to the horrors that are out there,” he said. “Are you sure you’re up for all of this?”

  “I’m sure,” I said, although my voice wavered.

  How could I ever be prepared for the terrors to come? The truth was that I wanted no part in any of this.

  But with my mom abducted, I had no choice.

  “I’m coming with you.” I forced confidence into my tone. “Stop trying to talk me out of it.”

  “I wasn’t trying to talk you out of it,” he said. “I was just trying to give you the facts.”

  “Would you guys cut the crap?” Sage crossed her arms and glared at both of us. “Because I’m hungry, and we have a mission to start.”

  Raven

  Sage managed to find jeans and a tank that fit me decently, although I had to roll up the bottoms of the jeans to keep them from bunching up. She brought us some food from the main house—a variety of bacon, ham, and sausage. It looked like enough for six people, not thre
e.

  My mom would have had a fit at the all-meat meal. Tears filled my eyes at the thought of her, but I wolfed down the food anyway, more determined than ever to get started.

  “Where are we heading?” I asked once I’d had my fill. Sage and Noah were still chowing down—the amount of food they were consuming was strangely impressive.

  “We have some witch contacts in Beverly Hills,” Noah said after polishing off a piece of bacon. “They can use a tracking spell to locate the next demon for us to hunt.”

  “There are witches in Beverly Hills?” I didn’t know what I’d expected him to say, but it certainly hadn’t been that.

  “Not just any witches,” Sage chimed in. “The Devereux witches are the most powerful witches in all of California.”

  “And they live in Beverly Hills.” I chuckled. “The same neighborhood as my grandparents.”

  “Really?” Sage looked at me quizzically. “You didn’t strike me as the rich girl type.”

  “My mom’s always forged her own path, but a store and apartment in Venice Beach isn’t cheap,” I explained. “The initial investment had to come from somewhere.”

  “Makes sense,” Noah said, and then he re-focused on the food, continuing to inhale more food in one sitting than I thought was humanly possible.

  Which I supposed shouldn’t have been strange, since he wasn’t a human.

  “So, the two of you aren’t Nephilim, you aren’t witches, and seeing as you didn’t combust in the sunlight, I guess you’re not vampires either.” I rested my elbows on the table, studying each of them. They were too focused on their food to notice. “Since we’re all here, now seems like a good time for you to enlighten me on what you really are.”

  Sage nearly choked on a sausage. “You haven’t told her?” she asked Noah.

  “It was late last night,” he said. “She needed sleep.”

  “Now I’ve gotten that sleep,” I said. “And since we’re going to be demon hunting together for the foreseeable future, it’s only fair that you’re honest with me about what you are.”

  “Fine.” Noah looked at me pointedly. “But firstly, you should know that vampires don’t combust in the sunlight.”

  “So you’re vampires?” I studied both of them, my gaze lowering to the food on their plates. “But you’re eating food. I thought vampires could only drink blood.”

  “Vampires only need blood to survive, but they can still eat food for enjoyment,” Sage said. “But you were right before—we’re not vampires.”

  “All right,” I said. “So what are you?”

  “We’re shifters,” Noah said simply. “More specifically, wolf shifters.”

  I looked at him and Sage, trying to take in what he’d said. I guessed “wolf shifter” meant they could shift into wolves. I supposed the speed, the sense of smell, calling their family a “pack,” and their love for meat made sense with that. But there was one thing that didn’t make sense.

  “So you can shift… into wolves,” I started, the words sounding absurd as I spoke them out loud. “But you weren’t wolves when you fought the demon. You looked the same as you look now. Like humans.”

  “We can’t fight demons in wolf form,” Noah said. “Well, we could fight them, but we couldn’t kill them. Demons can only be killed with a heavenly weapon. It’s much easier to wield a weapon in human form than wolf form. Opposable thumbs are useful for holding weapons.”

  “But if we have to fight any other kind of creature, we shift,” Sage added. “Our teeth and claws are our deadliest weapons of all.” She smiled to show off her perfect teeth, as if proving her point.

  “If our teeth and claws could be turned into heavenly weapons, we’d be a force to be reckoned with,” Noah said.

  “Like Wolverine,” I said, trying my best to make light of all this craziness.

  “Who?” Noah cocked his head, looking genuinely confused.

  “Wolverine,” I said, slower this time. “From the X-Men movies?”

  He watched me blankly, like I was speaking another language.

  “You’ve never heard of X-Men?” My eyes widened—he couldn’t be serious.

  He said nothing. Apparently, he was being serious.

  “Have you been living under a rock for your whole life?” I asked. “I mean, I’d get if you haven’t ever seen one of the X-Men movies, but to have never heard of them? That’s crazy.”

  “I’m not from around here.” He stared at me, and I closed my mouth, getting a feeling that if I said one more word he was going to blow a fuse.

  “Sorry.” I pulled at a piece of bacon on my plate, even though I was full. “I wasn’t saying it to be insulting.”

  “I’m not insulted.” He sneered, as if the possibility of being insulted by someone like me—by a human—disgusted him.

  “All right then.” I turned to Sage, hoping she’d be more open to answering my questions. “The others in the main house—they’re wolves too, aren’t they?” I asked.

  “Yep,” she said. “We’re all members of the Montgomery pack—the most powerful shifter pack in California.”

  “By that, she means the richest,” Noah said, and I gave him a small smile, hoping that his entrance back into the conversation meant that the awkward disagreement before was forgotten.

  “My brother—Flint—is our alpha,” Sage continued. “I’m the beta, which means other than Flint, the rest of them submit to whatever I want.”

  “Including Noah?” I raised an eyebrow at him. Even though Sage was a badass, I couldn’t see him submitting to anyone.

  “No.” He sat straighter, serious again. “I’m not part of the Montgomery pack.”

  “Oh,” I said, although I felt stupid the minute after, since I should have figured as much. If he wasn’t from here, it made sense that he wouldn’t be in the pack. “So, where’s your pack?”

  His eyes darkened. “I don’t have a pack,” he said.

  I wanted to ask more—to ask what happened to his pack—but something about his expression made me stop. Whatever had happened must have been bad. And I was finally getting answers from him. The last thing I wanted was for him to shut down again.

  Still, the more I learned about Noah, the more curious I was about his past.

  “Noah’s a guest here,” Sage explained, breaking the awkward silence that had descended upon the room again. “As long as he respects Flint, he’s not bound to our chain of command.”

  I opened my mouth to ask my next question, but Noah spoke first.

  “Are you done?” he asked Sage, glancing at her empty plate.

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “Good.” Ignoring me, he walked over to the coffee table and retrieved his knife, shoving it inside a pocket in his jacket. “Because we’ve answered enough questions for one morning. It’s time we hit the road.”

  Raven

  I finally had a chance to collect my thoughts on the ride to Beverly Hills, and the first people I wondered about were my grandparents. Since I’d called the police last night before disappearing with Noah and Sage, the cops must have arrived to an empty apartment.

  What did they think had happened? The only logical thought process was that I’d been abducted by the same person who’d taken my mom—especially since my phone had been left behind. Surely the cops had notified my grandparents by now?

  They must be so worried.

  Once we were back at the Montgomery compound, I’d figure out a way to contact them to let them know that I was okay. But what would I tell them about Mom? I couldn’t tell them the truth. I also couldn’t lie and say she was fine—they’d realize once she wasn’t there to speak with them that she was gone, and they’d want answers. They’d go to the cops. But obviously the cops couldn’t get involved, given how this was a supernatural problem—not a human problem.

  I had no idea what to tell them. Hopefully Noah and Sage would be able to advise me on the best course of action.

  Eventually, we pulled up to a mansion three t
imes the size of the one my grandparents lived in. It had to have been the biggest on the block—if not one of the biggest in all of Beverly Hills.

  “One more thing,” Sage said to me as she got off her bike. “Last night, one of the witches in their circle was killed by Azazel. If the sisters seem upset, that’s why.”

  “Oh no,” I said. “That’s awful.”

  “I doubt the witches will be thrilled that you’re here, so just stay quiet and let us do the talking.” Noah hopped off the bike and turned to me. “Is that something you’re even capable of doing?”

  “Of course I am.” Irritation coursed through me at the way he was talking down to me again. He’d already made it clear last night that he thought I was a burden. There was no need to treat me like crap on top of it.

  But he also had a point—sometimes I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut.

  “At least, I can try,” I added.

  “Good.” He held out a hand, and I stared at it, unsure what he was doing.

  Was he helping me off the bike?

  It sure seemed like it. Which was strange, because he hadn’t helped me off the bike any of the other times that I’d ridden with him.

  Sage raised an eyebrow, but she said nothing.

  Not wanting to make a big deal about it, I lowered my hand into his, allowing him to help me down.

  His skin was warm to the touch. Was that a wolf shifter thing, or a Noah thing? I didn’t know. I had so many more questions for him, but obviously now wasn’t the time. So I just gave him a small smile in thanks before running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to have something to do with my hand after removing it from his.

  He turned around and headed toward the door, as if not wanting to acknowledge that he’d helped me at all. He knocked, and the door opened seconds later.

  A petite blonde who looked around my age stood inside. She wore a cotton tracksuit, and her eyes were red and puffy, as if she’d been crying.

  “Amber,” Noah said her name warmly. “Thanks for seeing us on such short notice.”