Nausea made Imorean’s mouth run dry. Tomorrow they would move off to their final destination. Greece. They would have one final confrontation with Zeus – even now, that felt like a strange thought in his head – then they would start after Vortigern. Imorean bit the inside of his cheek. It was little wonder he couldn’t sleep. He turned his wrist and pressed the button on the side of his watch, illuminating the black face. Two in the morning. He ran a hand behind his head and felt the short hairs at the back of his neck. He should sleep, but he wasn’t tired. He was too stressed. Too worried. Angels were able to recharge by being on the astral plane. Was the same true for him? Bowing his head to rest on his knees, Imorean closed his eyes and pushed his own consciousness.
The air felt tense. Still. Supernaturally immobile. Imorean opened his eyes. The orange life of the forest below seemed dull. It was too quiet. Perhaps even the land itself had reacted to the presence of Vortigern. He stood, forcing his way out of his own body. He looked up and paused. There were more stars in the sky. Had he simply never noticed them before or was it that his human eyes could not see them this clearly?
He turned as he felt a second presence move nearby. Emerald. Mentally, he reached out. The edge of his consciousness pressed against another.
“Michael.” He didn’t speak the word. There was no need. He knew Michael could hear him. There was a ripple of green in the night air and Michael appeared on the rooftop. Neon green eyes flicked between Imorean’s astral body and his physical form.
“What are you doing up here alone?” asked Michael.
Imorean spoke aloud, words feeling slightly foreign even as he used them. But he needed this. He needed something human. Even on the astral plane, he needed to feel his own humanity.
“I couldn’t sleep. Didn’t want to really. Not after what happened with Ryan.”
Michael nodded and crossed the rooftop, his boots only ghosting the surface. Imorean gritted his teeth as Michael’s mind pushed against his own. Even in the motion, he could feel hesitation. A request, silently asking to search his emotions. Imorean raised his chin a fraction and closed his eyes as green flooded his vision.
A moment later, Michael relented and stepped closer. “You are conflicted. Why?”
Imorean looked up at him. “Why do you think? Ryan, someone who I’ve had on my team for over half a year now, tried to attack you … and I got in the way. I chose to get in the way.”
“And I appreciate it. You understand I would have killed Ryan without hesitation, do you not? You prevented a death tonight, Imorean.”
Imorean sighed looked away. A warmth rushed over him. He didn’t need to be looking at Michael to know he was being watched. Resentment rose in his chest. Why did Michael care so much?
“Let me show you something.”
Imorean turned back as Michael stooped, watching as he picked up the sword that lay on the roof next to his physical body.
“What about it?” he asked.
Michael smiled at him and pulled the first few inches of blade out of the scabbard. “Read it.”
Dark as it was, Imorean was glad his vision on the astral plane was sharper than normal. He swallowed as his eyes roved over the word just under the handle. Michael. He still had Michael’s sword.
“But it responded to me earlier?”
“I never reclaimed it from you after I loaned it to you earlier. It responded to you because it felt part of me. Part of me you may be and you may be more Archangel than you are human, but …”
“But what?”
Michael looked up, eyes on the stars. “You worry you are losing your humanity, but I assure you, you are not. You make all of your choices in the way that a human would. You base your choices and movements out of love, loyalty and humanity. These are things no supernatural creature can completely understand. Only a human would choose to spare. You could have killed Ryan. This sword, tied intrinsically to me, has killed many creatures, but you chose not to use it for that purpose. Tonight, your humanity kept Ryan from losing his life and kept me from taking the life of a student. You feel loyalty to your friends and there is nothing wrong with that. It is natural. Some angels may beg to differ, but I do not. Your humanity can make you stronger.”
Imorean swallowed hard. His eyes prickled. “There’s a lot going on in my head right now, Michael. I’m confused. I’m angry. Really angry. Because of you, there’s a part of my life I’ll never know. And that’s difficult to cope with. I’m still shocked. I’m still not happy that you chose me for this. I’m hurt, but ...”
There was a rush of anguish. Imorean couldn’t help but study Michael’s unsmiling face. Neon, green eyes seemed shinier than usual. He was tense, his brows drawn together in something deeper than a scowl.
“I hope, in time, you will come to forgive me.”
“Then give me time, Michael. Until then, let’s try to quit walking on eggshells around each other, huh? I can’t stand it.”
Michael looked back at him, one corner of his mouth pulled up. “I can do that.”
Imorean nodded, looking back up at the sky. The stars seemed brighter. “Thanks.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn arrived in rosy waves of pastel color. It was going to be a long day. Imorean folded his wings and double checked his AL Pack for everything. He had double and triple checked that the sword he had was now, in fact, his own. In his mind, he reviewed their travel plan. They would fly as a team to the outskirts of Prague, take a plane from Prague to Thessalonica in Greece. From there, they would cover the remaining ground from Thessalonica to Mount Olympus on their own. Imorean swallowed. He couldn’t shake a horrible feeling of foreboding. Mount Olympus. Where, according to their best intelligence, they would find Zeus.
He straightened and looked up. Michael was across the courtyard, running final checks of his own. A door on the second-floor balcony opened, and Imorean looked up. Roxy, Ryan, Baxter, Colton and Kadia emerged. They looked tired but in good spirits. A small smile crept onto Imorean’s face and he let go of his pack with one hand to wave to them, but the movement fell flat as Ryan turned and glared at him. Imorean went back to packing, hearing thuds behind him as they landed on the stone floor of the courtyard. Vaguely, he heard Ryan’s voice, but paid him no mind. Other angels were starting to appear now. Raguel and Gabriel sailed down from the third floor. A few members of Raguel’s team flew overhead. Imorean’s hands trembled slightly as he fastened his AL Pack around his waist and checked the straps on his sword.
“Hey.”
Imorean spun. He hadn’t heard or felt Roxy approach. He smiled at her, but couldn’t help feeling apprehensive. “Hey.”
Roxy tucked her hands into her pockets and smiled at him. “He may not say it, but Ryan’s sorry about last night. He made a real idiot of himself.” She sobered. “I think we all kind of overreacted.”
“Michael could have done a bit better with his line delivery,” replied Imorean. “Won’t lie, it definitely sounded like he wanted Toddy dead.”
“Right?” said Roxy, a small laugh touching her voice. “I think he gave all of us small heart attacks.”
Imorean smiled again, then looked away and allowed the emotion to slip from his face. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”
Roxy sobered. “I’m confused. I thought you would never side with Michael against us about anything … then you go and defend him.”
“I just don’t want to see anyone else hurt, Roxy. Not Michael, Ryan, Kadia, Baxter, Colton, you. Not anyone. And if Ryan had reached Michael with a sword out …” Imorean bit his tongue. Something told him that repeating Michael’s words from the night before wouldn’t be a good idea. “… I don’t even want to think about what would have happened.”
Roxy nodded. “I understand that. You’re not his lapdog, you know. I can’t get my head around you and Michael’s connection, but that’s okay. I know you’re close with each other. It doesn’t mean you’re his lapdog.”
A small laugh escaped Imorean’s chest. �
��Thanks, Roxy.”
She smiled at him, then tilted her head toward Michael. “I think it’s time to go.”
Imorean turned. Michael was looking at him, Gabriel at his side. Raguel was gathering his own team together.
“See you in the air,” he replied, grinning at Roxy.
Chapter 67
In spite of having flown under his own power for months now, Imorean still wasn’t fond of planes. There was something about the pressurization that disconcerted him – in addition to the fact that if he got into trouble in the air, he could generally help himself. On a plane, there was no help to be found. He swallowed as the pilot’s voice crossed the intercom, announcing their descent into Thessalonica’s airport.
“Last bit now, huh?” said Imorean, looking over at Michael.
Out of his normal, militant style of dress, Michael looked odd. Foreign. Imorean darted a glance down at his own clothes. Come to think of it, he looked strange to himself in jeans and a normal shirt now. It just wasn’t what he was used to anymore. He looked up as Michael hummed noncommittedly as an answer. Imorean resisted the urge to groan. State of dress aside, Michael was back in fine form.
“I hope you are well-rested,” said Michael, his voice tight. “We will fly across the Gulf of Salonica tonight to arrive near the Olympus Range in the morning. We will arrive, followed by Raguel and his unit and will wait until Ryan and his squad have caught us in the small hours of the morning. It is in our natures that Archangels are faster than normal angels and much faster than hybrids. It is only natural that we will arrive earlier than Ryan and his own. We will bide some time outside the town of Sarkis for a day or so on the edge of the Olympus Range to ensure Ryan’s squad gets the rest they need and has time to draw ahead of us into Zeus’s area.”
“Won’t Zeus know we’re there?”
“Perhaps.”
Imorean nodded, then paused. There was something off about Michael’s tone. What wasn’t he telling him this time? Imorean jumped hard as the landing gear rumbled under the floor of the plane. Perhaps he was imagining it. Granted, it was almost a relief to be talking about their plan. It made everything feel as though it was close to the end. He drew a breath. In a way, everything was drawing to an end. They were nearly in Greece, nearly upon Zeus. After that, the only remaining task was to stop Vortigern. Stopping him … Imorean swallowed. No small task. His mother and siblings were still held captive. Surely, he and the other Archangels would be able to work out a way to stop Vortigern and get his family free? Green pressed against the side of his head and Imorean quieted his own thoughts.
“Was there something wrong with talking out loud?” he asked, glancing over as he sent the thought toward Michael.
“I thought you would prefer it if I did not broadcast your fears to the others. Your family will be fine. Stop worrying. Focus on the task ahead. We will find them.”
“Glad to see it’s at the top of your priorities. It’s easy for you to say all that, Michael. It’s not your family that’s involved.”
Imorean winced as soon as the thought formed. He looked over at Michael, whose face had turned unreadable. When the reply came, Imorean flinched. Even Michael’s words were sharp.
“My family has been involved in this now for far longer than yours. You have no right to belittle that.”
Imorean shrank back in his seat, stung. Michael was right. Sometimes it was still easy for him to forget that all angels were related by blood, not just by bond. Brown eyes darted over to Michael and Imorean pushed an apology toward him, but Michael seemed to have closed off. The plane’s wheels touched the runway. Greece.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Even the setting sun felt bright. Imorean raised a hand to shield his eyes and wished that sunglasses were a part of their equipment. They really should be. He took a few steps away from Michael, Gabriel and Raguel. They were busy poring over a map anyway. Raguel’s team was gathered nearby, talking amongst themselves. Imorean wondered if he should join them. Inwardly, he shook his head. He turned away, taking in as much of the scenery as he could. In spite of the stunning brightness, Imorean smiled as he looked around. Even from the parking lot outside of Thessalonica’s airport, he could make out some of the scenery. Low mountains reared their heads in the near distance. He could hear gulls. They were near the sea. He turned as Roxy and Colton came up behind him. Ryan, Baxter and Kadia stayed a short distance away.
“Mountains right on the water, warm air, picturesque sunset. Yeah, I could live here,” said Roxy, smiling. “I mean, really, I’d live anywhere that didn’t involve me freezing to death daily and got snow in the height of summer.”
Imorean laughed. “Talking about Baffin Island? It’s not that cold.”
“Says the half-Archangel who can’t feel cold,” replied Roxy, rolling her eyes.
“I just wish we would slow down for a day or so to see some history,” muttered Colton. “One of the most ancient places and cultures in the world and we’re flitting right through it.”
“Maybe we’ll have the chance to stop after we’re done here,” said Imorean with a shrug. “I would have liked to look around Rome after Michael and I finished there, but –”
“But you got arrested instead,” said Roxy, elbowing him gently.
“Then let’s just be glad we’re only here to bargain with a god and not steal anything from any Cherubim-guarded sites,” grinned Imorean. “You ready, Colton?”
Colton hesitated. “I don’t know … I’m worried about the flight across the gulf.”
Imorean opened his mouth to reply, but paused as Ryan, Baxter and Kadia made their way over.
“You’re going to be fine, Colton,” said Ryan. “If you need a break, we’ll figure something out. There’s got to be boats crossing throughout the night.”
“He’s right, Colton,” said Imorean, glancing at Ryan as he spoke. “You’ll be fine.”
Ryan stared at him and Imorean returned his gaze carefully. At odds. They would always be like this. Imorean blinked. He could feel how tense and how wary Ryan was. He offered him a small half-smile.
“I’ll see you guys across the bay at Sarkis, yeah?”
“Sure,” nodded Ryan.
“See you tomorrow,” said Kadia with a quick smile.
“Imorean!” called Michael. “We need to go.”
Imorean nodded. “See you guys.”
“Fly safe,” said Roxy in a quiet voice.
Mentally, Imorean reached out to her. She was worried. He pulled her into a quick hug. “I will if you will.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Black water. Imorean adjusted his wing angle, accounting for an eddy off the water’s surface. He looked up ahead. Michael didn’t seem affected by the water, the wind currents or even the suffocating darkness that had descended around them like a blanket. Thessalonica had dropped out of sight. Even its lights no longer tinted the sky purple. No ships lingered on the horizon. If he dropped behind any further, Imorean knew he would no longer be able to even see Michael. Only the distant stars gave light. It was not a comfort. It was a light that served only as a reminder of how far they were from anything. Surrounded by water. Imorean took a short, sharp breath. Anxiety latched onto his throat. If something were to go wrong here …
A wingtip brushed his and Imorean looked up. Gabriel. A rush of reassurance came from him. Imorean gave Gabriel a brief smile, glad of his presence. Of all the Archangels, Gabriel was the one best able to empathize with human emotion.
“Not much further now,” called Gabriel, his voice laced with a calming quality. “We’ll be there soon.”
“You’ve made this flight before?” asked Imorean, shifting his wings so he was closer to Gabriel.
“Only once, but I remember it well.” Gabriel glanced up at Michael. “We had lost Inmerael only a thousand years or so prior, so the injury was, for us, still very fresh. We flew to Olympus from Mesopotamia to see if any of the newly forming Greek gods would be willing to ally themselves with us.”
> “What happened?” he asked.
Ahead, Michael’s wings tilted and he slowed. Imorean pulled up, allowing for the decrease in speed. Gabriel drifted away, swooping up to avoid Michael.
“We suffered our worst defeat since Babylon. We came in too overconfident. I made the decision to come in with only the Upper Archangels. It was the first time that we had gone into a conflict with only four of us. It was meant to be a show of strength,” said Michael. “They would hear nothing of an alliance. We were beaten badly and it took many centuries for us to find neutral terms with one another. Even then, it was only when the people’s belief in them began to weaken. Today, by and large, the few remaining demons posturing as Greek gods want nothing to do with us. They are content provided we stay a considerable distance away from them.”
“Won’t our coming after Zeus mean war with them as well?” asked Imorean.
Gabriel circled around, settling into position at Imorean’s left side. “Zeus is one of the only ones of the Greek gods remaining. He poses a threat, but not a major one. We’ll be fine as we are.”
“I have my doubts about this,” said Imorean. In the darkness, it was difficult to tell if Michael or Gabriel were even listening.
Angels Falling Page 43