From the cell, there was a shuffle. Imorean looked up. The least he should do was focus on the task he had been given. It seemed Toddy was asleep, albeit lightly. Imorean inclined his head and extended his senses, wondering if he could get a better read on Toddy. If there was some emotion he could detect. If there was something would help him vouch for Toddy if the time came. Anything to distract him from thoughts of his family. He focused himself and pressed on Toddy’s mental state. For a moment, there was a horrible sense of blankness. Abyss and nothing. No emotion. He swallowed. Toddy felt cold, alien. Then one emotion rose. Small, little more than a flicker of feeling, but there. Relief. Toddy was relieved. A smile made its way across Imorean’s face. Human emotion. There was humanity left. Maybe … maybe Vortigern hadn’t ruined Toddy.
“‘Morean?” murmured Toddy, rolling over and opening his eyes.
Imorean perked up and made eye contact with him through the glass. “Toddy, you should be asleep.”
“And you shouldn’t be here at all,” sighed Toddy, limp gray wings shifting. “He … he’ll know you’re here now. Now that you’ve seen me and I’ve seen you.”
“I don’t think that matters all that much at this point,” shrugged Imorean. Of course, Vortigern knew he, Raguel and Raguel’s team were here. Vortigern had known from the moment that he used Toddy as a mouthpiece. Imorean swallowed. The final conflict between him, Michael and Vortigern was approaching. That was inevitable. This may have simply been a catalyst for it.
Toddy coughed once, then pushed up on one elbow. “I know why you’re here.”
Imorean swallowed and inclined his head. “Yeah?”
“Guarding. They’re scared of me.”
“That’s not true, Toddy.”
“Then why am I still locked up? I was an intended science major, Imorean. Don’t patronize me, please. I’m not an idiot.”
“It’s just a precaution.” Imorean looked away, guilty. His first instinct had been to lie. Maybe he had become more like Michael than he realized. He stood up and crossed the narrow hallway to the glass front of Toddy’s cell. It felt good to move. Toddy flashed him a small smile and pushed off the floor, shaking his wings. Imorean rested a hand against the glass as a few mottled, gray feathers fell from Toddy’s wings.
Toddy gave a quiet laugh. “Been happening for a while. Don’t worry about it.”
“What happened to you down here, Tod?”
“You mean you don’t think I’m jacked up enough?”
“No! That’s not what I meant,” replied Imorean, his voice sharper than he had intended. Toddy gave another small laugh and moved closer. Only a few feet away on the other side of the glass.
“Truth is, not much really happened to me,” said Toddy. “Vortigern came down and kicked the shit out of me a few times. Probably just blowing off steam. Did that to a lot of us down here. There are periods of time that I don’t remember – and I don’t know what happened to me, but I suppose, in a way, it’s best that I don’t remember. He wanted to try to use me to get to you, the Archangels and the squad. But I became pretty useless when he realized I didn’t know as much as he hoped. I think he kept me alive just so he could possess me and taunt you from, you know, inside me.”
“Tod, I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner. I should have tried harder.”
“Can’t argue with you there. What took you so long?”
Imorean swallowed. He didn’t miss the bitterness behind Toddy’s tone. There was no excuse for him not finding Toddy sooner. None. “I don’t even know. I guess … I guess I lost hope of finding you.”
Toddy looked away and half flared his wings again. Imorean’s eyes traced the falling feathers. “You don’t know what it means to lose hope, Imorean. I haven’t seen the sun in months. There’s been only me, Vortigern, and these four walls. The thought of you, Roxy, Baxter, Ryan, Colton, Mandy and Dustin was all that got me through.”
A chill rushed Imorean’s chest. Mandy and Dustin were dead, and Toddy … Toddy didn’t know they were gone. Toddy and Dustin had been close – good friends. Heat pricked the backs of Imorean’s eyes as a memory surfaced. Toddy and Dustin sitting together on one of the couches at Felsenmeer, battling each other in a video game. The ghost of their laughter rang in his ears. It was a moment preserved only in hindsight. It would never live again. They were gone, never to come back. He swallowed as a sharp wave of guilt crashed over him. He couldn’t push further along this line of thought – for both their sakes. He leaned one shoulder against the glass and shuffled his wings, cutting Toddy off as he opened his mouth to speak again. He hadn’t meant to, but he had to try to steer the conversation away from Dustin and Mandy. Telling Toddy two of his friends were dead didn’t seem conducive to making him feel safe.
“Was Bethany here?” Imorean asked.
Toddy’s face darkened. “Oh, you bet she was. Delighted to see me down here, for sure. She said she saw you in Mexico.”
“Yeah, we were there. What was she here for?”
“She told Vortigern that she’d seen you. Seen what you were doing. They were in the cell next to mine and I overheard.” Toddy paused, as though considering his words for a minute. Imorean raised one eyebrow. “They were in there with your mother.”
“She was next to you?”
“Mhm. We spoke a couple of times. Through the walls. Couldn’t really hear each other. These things are almost soundproof. Became no point after a while.” Toddy looked around. “Not much point to anything down here. Existing becomes a burden.”
One corner of Imorean’s mouth twitched down and he looked away. “Was it Bethany who told Vortigern what we were up to?”
“I could hear her laughing as she told him. Something about beating him?”
Imorean laughed humorlessly. “I don’t doubt she was delighted to tell him. We’ve been trying to find a way to stop him. Or slow him down. How are you feeling, overall?”
“Stable. Weird, but stable. Everything feels kind of surreal – like I’ve just woken up from a nightmare and I’m trying to ground myself again. I guess, in a way, I have. I’m just looking forward to leaving.”
Imorean nodded and glanced at his watch. It was nearly five in the morning. A silence settled over them. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael should be here anytime soon. He swallowed. Michael’s verdict on Toddy would be absolute. Was there any chance of mercy? He took a breath and shuffled his wings. He would vouch for Toddy, of course he would, but how much weight would it carry? His human mercy versus Michael’s Archangel rationale. He jumped as Toddy broke the silence.
“Haroel.”
“What about him?” asked Imorean, confused. Their old professor from Gracepointe, Felsenmeer and Upper Morvine was nowhere nearby. Imorean couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him.
Toddy took a breath and stood a bit straighter. “Haroel. He was the one who made me, changed me. Chose me.”
“How do you know?” asked Imorean.
“Vortigern told me. I know, I know. Take everything he says with a grain of salt, but he has records of his own – shaky and patchy records, but they exist. He knows how all the hybrids were chosen.”
“What?” breathed Imorean. The how of his existence as the only part Archangel hybrid, if not the why. It was at his fingertips. “How? How do they do it?”
“None of us are supposed to be here. Michael and the other Archangels, they choose the hybrids and assign a maker for them. Haroel was assigned to me. They choose an area, a year and analyze the fates of all the children born in that area. They choose the ones who are supposed to die before they’re eighteen. Imorean, none of us are supposed to be alive.”
Imorean closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. Something green touched on the horizon of his consciousness. Michael was on the way, drawing close. Inbound. He pulled back and a muscle in his jaw twitched. This, this, was the knowledge that Michael had been blocking him from. A fury seized his chest. It couldn’t be right. Random chance would almost have been better
than this – his choosing had been premeditated.
“So, they chose all of us deliberately?” he asked, the words rising like bile.
“From what I can tell, yeah,” nodded Toddy.
Imorean shook his head. “But what about Bethany? How did she get past them? If we were all chosen so carefully, that doesn’t make sense.”
“Bethany is possessing the girl who was supposed to have gone to Gracepointe. None of us know the real Bethany. She’s long gone.”
“That’s sick,” replied Imorean. He didn’t try to keep the disgust out of his voice. “That’s really sick.”
“I know. Vortigern offered for me to side with them, but … I couldn’t do it. I don’t know which side is worse. The Archangels who conscript children from birth into their forces or the demons who destroy and possess people they want to use.”
Imorean swallowed. There was no answer he could give. The green at the fringes of his mind pulsed a bit brighter. Michael was nearly here. Toddy seemed to shudder and Imorean glanced at him, concerned.
“He’s almost here, isn’t he?” asked Toddy.
“Yeah. I’m going to wake up Tadhiel.” Imorean turned, but drew short as his companion stirred.
“I wasn’t asleep. You go on up above. We’ll be fine,” said Tadhiel.
“You’re sure?” asked Imorean, his eyes meeting Tadhiel’s. A flash of understanding passed between them. The words Raguel had said the night before raced to the forefront of his mind.
“Of course we will,” nodded Tadhiel. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Imorean gave a nod to Toddy and Tadhiel and turned down the long hallway, locking his eyes on the distant door. His heart skipped a beat in his chest. Annoyance. Michael was annoyed. Imorean took a steadying breath. He wasn’t the only one with actions to answer for. Michael had eighteen years’ worth of actions to answer for. It was time to face the music, however furious it may be.
Chapter 63
Dawn always had a different feel to twilight. Skies were lavender rather than graying. Imorean pushed open the door from the basement hallway and took a deep breath of new, morning air. Rather than air that was sterile and stale, this was fresh. Crisp and clear. He glanced around. Some of Raguel’s team was positioned on the second-floor balcony. They looked relaxed. Certainly, more at ease than they had been the night before. Raguel stood in the courtyard center. Imorean pressed his consciousness outward, brushing Raguel’s. There was none of the irritation or anger in him now. Only expectancy. Raguel shuddered and turned. Imorean pulled his consciousness back and gave a wary nod. Raguel grinned in response and stretched out a wing.
“Good morning.”
Imorean relaxed as Raguel brushed one of his wings with his own. Their argument from the night before seemed forgotten in the light of a new day.
“Hey,” replied Imorean, glancing at the sky. “Michael, Uriel and Gabriel are almost here.”
Raguel shook his head. “I forget that you and Michael have that connection thing. How’s Toddy doing? Did he seem different over the course of the night?”
Imorean shook his head. “Not that I noticed. He was pretty talkative this morning.”
“I’m no doctor.” Raguel opened and folded his wings again. “But I’d say that’s probably a good sign.”
“Raguel, why do you care?” asked Imorean. “Last night you were saying I should have killed him. Why does it make a difference to you how he’s feeling?”
Raguel paused and Imorean locked eyes with him. His words were harsher than he had intended, but he wouldn’t take them back or apologize for them. Why should he?
Raguel looked back at the lilac sky. “Just because Seraphim are not known for their active moments of mercy – more for our incredibly inflexible sense of justice – that doesn’t mean that we can’t show empathy or sympathy. He’s been in a tight spot. I have to pity him for that.”
“The question is, will Michael?” asked Imorean. He took a measured breath as a trail of green streaked across the lightening sky. A flash of something like fury mixed with shame seared through Imorean’s gut.
“Ask him yourself,” muttered Raguel.
White wings pulled closer to Imorean’s back as he forced himself to stand straighter. To say he was apprehensive was an understatement. There was a flash of color. Yellow, purple and green light rippled against the castle walls as Uriel, Gabriel and Michael landed hard in the courtyard. Imorean tensed as the three Upper Archangels straightened, shaking themselves. Raguel’s team stilled. Imorean bit the inside of his cheek. He felt as though he could have heard a pin drop. The anger hit him first, lurid green. Michael. A terrible mixture of fury and disappointment. Failed expectations. Imorean met Michael’s emerald eyes as steadily as he could. Michael was guarded. Angry. Imorean couldn’t sense much. He didn’t press Michael’s consciousness further. He didn’t want to. Brown eyes turned to Uriel. His aura was still confused, but he seemed more aware of his surroundings. Imorean turned his gaze further, to Gabriel, who looked concerned, a wary smile on his face.
Gabriel shifted and walked forward. “Hello, Raguel.”
Imorean felt Raguel soften next to him. Relief.
“Hello, Brother,” replied Raguel, brushing wings with Gabriel.
“Seems we’ve hit a hiccup, doesn’t it,” said Gabriel. “Tell us what happened.”
Imorean opened his mouth to reply.
“Not you,” snapped Michael, crossing the courtyard. “Raguel is the leader of this mission. He will speak to Gabriel.”
Silence rang in the air. Imorean swallowed his response and nodded. He felt himself shrink as Michael stood next to Gabriel, who hesitated, then put his hand on Raguel’s wing and steered him away. Imorean lowered his eyes to the ground. He could feel Michael’s furious gaze boring into him.
Michael’s voice skimmed the fringes of his mind. “Outside. Now.”
Imorean nodded. He heard Michael’s wings open and did the same. He glanced up as Michael lifted off, taking to the pale sky, then dared a look at Gabriel and Raguel. Both stared back at him. Concern. He gave them a quick smile. Michael was hiding the full range of his anger well. Imorean pushed off the ground, air catching his feathers as he ascended, climbing higher into the sky, over the roofs of Houska. He tilted his wings and looked at the ground below. Michael had already landed and was standing on the fringes of the forest surrounding the castle, arms folded. Imorean tilted his wings and circled down. The time in the air hadn’t been enough. It had done nothing to calm his nerves.
Leaves crunched under Imorean’s boots as he landed a few feet behind Michael. He swallowed and pulled himself upright. Michael’s anger crashed over him like a wave as he took a step closer. He folded his arms, mimicking Michael’s stance.
“I don’t get why you’re mad.”
Michael spun, green eyes flickering between natural color and neon. “You do not understand …? Do you not realize what you have done?”
Imorean took a breath. “Enlighten me. I’m sure you see my sparing Toddy differently than I do.”
“Sparing him? Sparing him?” Michael ran one hand through his hair. Imorean took half a step back. “Imorean, you have not spared him, you have damned him and the rest of us! You have given away our position! Everyone’s positions! I told you that you were playing into Vortigern’s hands by doing this. I told you!”
“I know! Do you think I don’t know that?” Imorean’s wings flared. Heat lashed through his chest. “How is this any different to me showing Bethany mercy in Mexico? Mercy is mercy is mercy!”
“Bethany was already working for Vortigern. That is a fact. Your mercy to her there was just as idiotic as here. Bethany was always going to feed Vortigern information, regardless of the situation. You sparing Toddy has shown Vortigern how weak you truly are. How motivated you are by love and emotion. Do you think he not will use this against you? And the rest of us if he gets the chance?”
Imorean paused then shook his head. “It doesn’t matte
r. It’s done now. I don’t see how my choice affects Toddy in anything other than a positive way.”
“Vortigern has held him for months. Internal wounds do not show on the surface, Imorean. Look at all the problems we had with Uriel. Look what Uriel did to me, what he tried to do to you. Mark my words, Toddy will do the same if he is not dealt with.”
“‘Dealt with’?” shouted Imorean. “He isn’t an animal, Michael.”
“Not yet. But once the effects of what Vortigern may have done to him set in, he will become one.”
“How can you say that? How can you possibly say that?”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “Check your humanity, Frayneson. It is a weakness Vortigern will be all too happy to exploit for you. Now, remain on guard duty for Toddy with Tadhiel until Raphael and Sariel arrive with Ryan’s squad tomorrow evening. We will move from here directly to Greece to quicken this process. Speed is the only chance we have now after your blunder.”
Michael stepped off, his wings starting to unfurl. Imorean reached out and caught him by the arm. He couldn’t keep the snarl off his face. His wings were opening slowly again and he tried desperately to fold them back. His hands were shaking.
Imorean redoubled his grip on Michael’s sleeve. “A blunder like not telling the whole truth?”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “I do not know what you mean.”
Imorean could hear the defensiveness in Michael’s voice. “Yes, you do! I know, Michael. I know how you chose me. How you chose everyone.”
Michael paused. “How long have you known?”
“This morning.” Imorean let go of him. “Toddy told me. I – all of your hybrids – we were supposed to die, weren’t we?”
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