The Helio Trilogy: Volumes 1-3

by Valerie Roeseler

  I thrash against the Fallen angel at my back to no avail while I growl at her proposal.

  Lilith continues, “How strong are you, pigeon? Would you be able to defeat your companion here?”

  My eyes widen. Solas deflates, regarding the ground, “We can’t fight each other.”

  She surveys his posture with a commanding voice, “You will.”

  He beholds her determination, “We can’t. We’re bonded…in a way.”

  Her face falls into a surprised glower. “In which way?” she grinds through her teeth.

  “No official sacraments have been made.” The shame in his countenance drives a dagger through my heart.

  Lilith appraises me with insulting inflection, “Well, well, little pigeon. Did you fall in love with a Fallen Warrior of Darkness?” I refuse to answer her. After a moment of consideration, she insists, “Very well. Then, I am sure you would not mind if I had your bond removed.”

  “What?” I utter in disbelief.

  Solas calls her bluff, “You can’t do that without a Virtue of Light, and you know, as well as I do, that they won’t enter the Darkness of Sheol.”

  She gives him a wan smile, “Oh, you are misinformed. A Virtue of Darkness is quite capable of removing the bond. It will be painful…beyond measure.” Her smile grows. “Think of a sickle, slowly scraping your insides…as well as removing your skin from your muscles.”

  I shout, “You can’t do that!”

  She responds, turning away from Solas, “I can, and I will. Take them to the hound coop.”

  The five Fallen warriors escort us from Lucian’s sanctuary of horror. When we meet the mouth of the cave, the Fallen take us in their grips and fly us over a burning city. Ash floats in the atmosphere from the smoldering flames engulfing every inch in sight. Where are we? I ask Solas through our connection.

  “Judecca. Where Lucifer’s kingdom resides.”

  What’s the ‘hound coop’?

  “Where disobedient hellhounds are kept… Antenora. It’s their backup in case of an attack breaching the outermost city of Babalel.”

  The acrid stench grows stronger as we descend into an open, dirt arena lined with large cages. Some hellhounds lay dead, flies swarming their carcasses and maggots squirming beneath their leathery flesh. We’re locked into two separate cages beside each other, yet far enough away we’re not able to reach one another. The Fallen stick around, guarding us for whatever reason.

  Solas inquires, “Still got that razor handy?”

  Lost it. I’ve got an idea, though.

  “What’s that?”

  Unflinching, I pluck a feather from my bound wings while the guards’ backs are turned. I use its serrated edge to saw against the ropes at the base. Before I can get far enough to matter, a child appears in the distance. He approaches leisurely, relaxed with his short, dark wings tucked behind him. His tan, cotton trousers and unbleached, long-sleeved shirt sag on his too small frame.

  One of the guards greet him, “What business have you, Holdan?”

  The child’s astonishing, silver eyes behold the guard inscrutably, “You forget your place, Torrance. Need I remind you?”

  Torrance replies, “The Queen has ordered us to guard the Princess with whatever means necessary. I am merely doing my job.”

  Holdan’s eyes meet mine, “Then, I imagine you know why I’m here.” Torrance nods once, stepping aside. The young boy, seemingly no more than seven years old, advances on the cage containing me. “Let’s get on with it then.”

  I scoot away from him, my wings meeting the back of the cage. “Please, do—”

  My cries interrupt my plea as he raises a palm in my direction, spewing Enochian words I don’t understand. The agony of my core being scoured with fire contorts my spine into impossible angles. Solas’ wails join my own. The Fallen Virtue of Darkness persists, despite our beseeching. My body begins to shake in convulsions. My vision goes dark, yet my consciousness remains with my increasing screams. An invisible inferno engulfs my entire being. The bond between us pulls tightly. Then it snaps, a sonic boom throwing everyone back, save for Holdan. I continue to shake, a coldness coming over me in the most unlikely environment.

  Holdan leaves the way he came, not uttering another word. The anguish I’m left in has me defeated. I lay in a heap. My silent tears are the only thing remaining to caress the pain.

  Solas calls over to me, his own misery evident, “Ivy.” There’s nothing I can say. I let my eyes close, my lips trembling. He tries to reach me again, “Ivy?”

  My mumbles are broken, heartache and suffering pouring from me, “We’re never…getting out of here… It’s not like…it matters any…more… I came down here…for nothing.”

  A familiar voice, peppy and light, has the Fallen guards distracted from our open torment. “Finally! You’re a hard one to find, Ivy Harris. Oh, good! Looks like I’m just in time for the show!”

  Telly.

  Chapter 19

  Jack

  The Chamber doors loom before me, their dark red, wooden wings staring back at me. I study the curves of the feathers, the pores of the timber, the intricate lines carved into the most delicate details. The skin of my knuckles tingle as their lacerations mend from my fight with Eric, blood dried across their mounds. I can’t just stand here. I’ve got to move. I shake the irritation out of my hands and begin pacing.

  Sheol. I can’t get the declaration out of my mind. It’s a constant nuisance of repetition. My steps thud from wall to wall, echoing around me, and marking the marble hallway like a line in the sand. I have to get to her. She can’t be down there. I gave her the opal for a reason! For all that is Divine, Ivy, why did you have to go to Sheol of all places?

  Then it hits me. The answer I’ve known, yet kept in denial. Solas.

  Does she want me to come after her? My tumbling thoughts give me the sense of an impending answer I don’t want to face. Dammit, woman! I’m coming after you whether you like it or not! I’m your guardian! I never should have left you here.

  I throw my head back, ready to roar. Focus! This isn’t about me! It’s about Ivy. I’m her guardian above all. It doesn’t matter if she wants me back. It isn’t about what she wants, it’s about what’s best for her. All I need…is for her to be safe. Safe…in my arms…in my bed… If that’s not what she wants—

  Alice and Eric enter the corridor, hand in hand, readily supporting each other for Michael and Azrael’s wrath. Eric pops the question, “Anything yet?”

  “No.”

  He examines, “So, you really think she’s in Sheol?”

  I cross my arms over my chest to stop my fidgeting, then shrug, “Has to be. There’s no other explanation for our bond to be missing.”

  Alice’s sullen expression gives me pause. I look to her until she fesses up whatever it is she’s thinking. “You don’t think she had the bond broken, do you?”

  I counter with a quirk of my brow, “Why would she do that?”

  She looks away from me, regarding the scuffs on the marble floor. “Maybe she didn’t want a way for you to track her?”

  I stare at the top of her head in denial. Eric explains, “She hasn’t been herself. I don’t think any of us could guess what she is and isn’t determined to do…”

  I scoff before finishing his sentence, “To get to him. But how would she know how to do it? How would she know where to find a Virtue of Light?”

  The blinding light of Michael’s Divine arrival rattles the doors to The Chamber. We turn to attention as he exits and give him a single bow of our heads. His eyes are alight with anger as he addresses me, “You have been her guardian for a mere three months, and you have failed her.”

  Eric steps up to my side, releasing Alice’s hand, “We think she’s been sneaking out of the manor for weeks now. Only recently, she told us that a Reaper named Tallulah has been helping her. She lied to us and made us believe they were hunting the Prince of Sheol. We warned her that it would be best for her to heed your orders
and stay on the property, but she wouldn’t listen. I told her I wanted to meet this Reaper, but she refused. I tried to keep her here, but she attacked without warning and fled.”

  Michael peers from Eric to me. I want to shrink away from his glare, but stand strong. “Where were you when all of this took place? You should have been able to calm her down, keep her complacent.”

  Mother emerges from The Chamber, “I sent him to Sydney. I needed him to contact a friend of ours and see if he would be willing to help train Ivy.”

  He regards her over his shoulder, “And which friend would this be?”

  She gives him a wan smile, “Ezra, of course. He’s the most lethal Assassin of Light. I thought he could teach her a few things, not to mention, keep her busy here on the estate.”

  How does she know I was with Ezra? I can’t keep anything from her!

  Michael nods once in agreement, then addresses me, “What makes you believe she’s in Sheol?”

  I hesitate to answer. “Our bond is missing again.”

  “Have you spoken to this Reaper she claims has been assisting her?”

  Alice recounts, “We have. But she claims she’s never met Ivy before. I think she was telling the truth.”

  I interject, “I don’t believe her. I think we should send Beck to tail her and find out what she’s up to.” Eric agrees in silence with a slight nod in my direction. I add, “I think the surest way for us to find out if she’s in Sheol is to ask her father to pull her into the Veil.”

  He considers the option a moment. “I agree. It will be the safest way to find exactly where she is before I send you to retrieve her.”

  “Even if she’s in Sheol?” I ask.

  “Yes. Let us not make this a habit, though.”

  I bow to him, “Thank you, Michael.”

  Michael takes his leave, doing whatever is necessary to contact Azrael. Eric and Alice depart to inform the Griffins, and I traipse through the kitchen to the basement below. Gearing up for my trip to Sheol, I strap on every type of weapon in our arsenal, save for a few grenades I keep eyeing. I smell my mother’s perfume before she quietly enters the training room. I keep my focus on the task at hand.

  After long minutes of stillness, Mother declares, “I don’t think you should go to Sheol again, Jack.”

  Staying calm, I slide four daggers into my boots. “I can’t leave her down there, Mother.”

  “I don’t expect you to, but can’t the Griffins go in your place?”

  “This isn’t their responsibility.”

  She counters, “They took an oath for her. It’s just as much their responsibility as yours.”

  No longer able to keep my anger at bay, I spin on her. “I’m going. They’re rogues. If they get caught, that’s more guilt hanging over my head.”

  Her eyes begin to water, “Do you not see what’s happening to you?”

  I roll my eyes with a scoff. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  As I pick up the sheath of my broadsword, she lays a gentle hand on my forearm. “Let me see your wings.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to show you something.”

  The sadness in my mother’s eyes pacifies my aggression. My furrowed expression falls by degrees, and I lay the sheath back down on the table. Her touch leaves me as we walk to the center of the room. I ask, “What are you showing me?”

  Her voice is tender, “Let me see your wings.”

  I sigh. My vision illuminates to a blinding, white light, and just as quickly fades away as my wings break out wide. A tear slides down her face. “What is it?” I pose.

  She walks around me, sniveling. When she stops directly behind me, she glides her palms over the arches of my wings, guiding me to lay them down. Mother’s gentle touch caresses their downy, “Do you know why our wings are green?”

  I try to view her behind me, searching for an answer to where she’s taking this conversation. What does that have to do with anything right now?

  She recites, “It’s a symbol of paradise, harmony, balance, hope, safety, and honor.”

  “Yes. I know all of this.”

  “Do you know why the Fallen have black wings?”

  I tell her, “Because we mourn upon seeing the color black. It symbolizes war, contamination, rebellion, corruption, anger, and desire.”

  Mother spans my right wing out wide and pulls it before me to see. Her free hand sweeps over the feathers at the tip, separating them. Her soft-spoken voice trembles, “Oh, Jack. Do you see?”

  At first, I think it’s a trick of the light, yet I can’t deny my own eyes. Shame sinks over me, weighing me down. The tips of every feather along the bottom of my wing appears dipped in tar. I blink to my mother for an answer. “Why’s this happening?”

  “Have you not noticed your increased aggression? Every time an Angel of Light enters Sheol, their essence is tainted. The longer you stay, the more corrupt your essence becomes…until you fall.”

  My words come out a mere whisper, “I can’t just leave her there.”

  She puts a hand to my cheek, her eyes holding as much love as a mother could ever have for a son. “I know… Just promise you’ll be careful if it comes to that.”

  “I will.”

  The sun sits high over the estate, warming my skin as I sit by the pool to smoke. The wait for Azrael’s return has me on edge. I ponder my mother’s assessment of my tainted wings. While there’s no cure to repair the damage that’s been done to my wings, I will be wary of my temperament from now on. I realize the growing anger inside me, but never did I think it a possible consequence of entering Sheol. Yet, if I were asked if I would do it again, my answer would be with resolute certainty. In a heartbeat.

  If I could only speak to her again. I don’t know what I would say. I’m disappointed, confused, and offended that she didn’t think she could come to me. With everything we’ve been through, you would think she’d know how much I care about her. I would do anything for her… Even if it was helping her find Solas.

  Cass approaches from the garden, “Have you heard from Beckett?”

  I quirk a brow against the glare of the sun to see him better, “No. Is he tailing Tallulah yet?”

  Cass shakes his head. “We haven’t seen him all day, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  My head falls back as I close my eyes, fighting a proverbial migraine. “I need him to tail the Reaper.”

  He adds, “Yes. This is not like him. He is good at keeping us informed of his whereabouts.”

  “When’s the last time anyone’s spoke to him?” I inquire, taking the last drag of my cigarette.

  Alice strolls from the side door of the kitchen, then passes the garden with Eric and Thea to join us at the pool, “I know where he is.”

  “Where?” I solicit.

  She shakes her head, a laugh on the verge of spilling from her lips, “He’s with Becky.”

  I rise from the lounge chair, “The drummer?” She nods.

  Thea motions to Cass, “I know where Becky’s house is. Do you want to come with me?”

  Cass states, “Yes. I don’t know how well he will handle his sister being a… What do you call it?”

  Eric chuckles, “A cock block?”

  “Yes! A cock block,” Cass smiles at Thea.

  She shakes her head and leads him away, “Come, brother. I wouldn’t want you to miss this.”

  In the distance, I hear the pure muscle of an engine with at least three hundred horsepower, blaring techno beats through the stereo. Surveying Eric for a reaction, his face lights up. He points towards the sound, “Is that…”

  An eager smirk grows on my lips. It almost feels foreign. “Yup.”

  “That cheeky bastard,” Eric jokes.

  We race to the front of the manor to await the arrival of our guest. Alice takes her time, prying for an answer, “Who is that?”

  Eric hooks an arm around her shoulders, “You’ll see.”

  Two seconds later, the gates open t
o the estate, permitting entrance to a black beauty. The jet black SS Chevelle with two broad, white stripes, running from its hood to its trunk, skids to a stop in the cul-de-sac. A nimble and energetic Aussie pops out of the driver window, throwing his arms out wide, “G’day geezers!”

  “Ezra!” Alice shouts. She charges for his open arms as he comes around the car, leaping into his embrace.

  “Ally Bean! It’s been too long,” he replies.

  Ezra sets her back on her feet, and she asks, “What are you doing here?”

  Eric and I approach them, and I repeat, “Yeah, what are you doing here?”

  He shrugs, “Sydney’s getting crowded. Wanted to come help find your girl.”

  My mother exits the house, “How have you been, Ezra?”

  “Ripper, mum,” he accounts, joining her for a long overdue hug.

  Mother turns to me, “Azrael is here as well.”

  Ezra’s eyes grow wide, “Why do you need the Angel of Death?”

  I clear my throat. “He’s Ivy’s father.”

  “Bloody hell,” he mumbles in wonderment.

  We make our way inside the manor, meeting Azrael in the entertainment room. He greets us with an impassive nature in his tone. Mother nears his presence, “Thank you for coming, Azrael.”

  His voice bends with stern accusation, “Yes. Ivy could be in great danger if you are correct in her location.”

  Eric interrupts, “Do you know of the Reaper, Tallulah?”

  Azrael’s violet stare bores into Eric, “She is no concern to me. It is my understanding she is with Roman.”

  He counters, “Ivy claimed that Tallulah was helping her hunt Lucian. We tracked her down, but Tallulah insisted she has never met Ivy. I could not determine whether she was lying, but Alice believes her words to be true.”

  The Angel of Death considers, “I shall find her myself and assess her honesty.”

  I demand, “We don’t have time for that. Can you pull Ivy into the Veil to establish her location?”