Wings of the Wicked

13

ON THE WAY HOME, WILL AND I SAID NOTHING TO each other, and I was glad for it. I parked in my driveway and shut the car off. Neither of us moved to get out, and my muscles just wouldn’t listen to my brain. I felt naked, silly, and ridiculous in this tiny dress and painful high heels, with all my makeup washed off my face. I pulled my hair out of its updo and shook it loose to cover my shoulders. It was barely midnight, but I felt like I’d been awake for days.

I opened my mouth to stay something to Will and turned to him, but he’d vanished from the car. Disappointment made me unwilling to move, but I forced the car door open and climbed out. As I went inside, I got a text from Kate. My battery was almost dead, but I read the text quickly.

Love u

I smiled weakly at it before dropping my phone back into my bag. I heard the TV on in the living room, so I doubled back, opting to go through the kitchen to avoid my parents, but I was too late.

“Ellie Bean?” called my mom’s voice. “Home already?”

I let out a long breath and went into the living room to face her. Thankfully, my dad was nowhere in sight. She was sitting on the couch with just the quiet glow of the television on her form and a mug of hot tea in her hand.

“Hey, Mom,” I said.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” she asked, holding her arms out as a cue for me to come sit with her.

I plopped beside her, and she set down her mug to wrap me in her arms and hold me close. I sank deep into her, finding peace in the warmth and softness of her robe and pajamas. A couple of leftover Christmas candles were lit on the mantel above the fireplace, and their rich scents flooded the room.

“The night ended not so great,” I said with a sigh, and laid my head down in her lap.

She stroked my hair gently, the way she used to when I was a little girl. “I’m sorry, Ell. You look so pretty in your dress.”

“Thanks.”

She paused. “Was Will there?”

“Yeah.”

“Was he rude to you?”

“No,” I said. “No, not at all. Things are just … complicated between us.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not tonight. What are you watching?” I looked at the TV screen for the first time and watched thousands of shimmering silver fish move in unison in front of the camera. Their perfection was beautiful, the symmetry of their movement almost hypnotic. I stared at the screen from my horizontal position, listening to a soft piano play as the fish danced their ballet lit by the sunlight filtering through the blue water. My mother’s hands brushed my cheek and my hair, gentle like feathers, and I felt like a little girl again, comforted by her touch.

“I love you, Mom,” I said softly.

“Love you, too, baby.”

I fell quiet again and gazed up at the TV as a diver floated into the wall of silver scales and fins. I let myself drift into senselessness, trying to forget how heartsick I was, to forget how to feel anything at all. The swarm of fish pushed away from the faceless diver and began to spiral around his body like spinning stars.

Will was sitting on my bed when I got to my room. He’d discarded his long-sleeved shirt and had on just his jeans and T-shirt. He looked up as I entered, and our eyes met for a moment. I sat down to his right side on the bed and reached up a hand to smooth out his disheveled hair, and my eyes fell to the silver chain around his neck. The chain slipped between my fingers, and I drew the crucifix out the collar of his shirt. My fingers brushed the silver against his chest, the fondness of my memories of it pressing down on my heart, and my gaze moved to his tattoos. My hand slid across his skin to trace the delicate swirls of ink down his neck and arm. The muscle beneath his skin rippled at my touch, and he watched me in silence. My finger followed each intricate line of ink, and as the memory came, the sadness in my heart sank into my stomach. I realized now that this was the old angelic language I’d forgotten long ago, and it was my true name tattooed down his arm. I brushed my fingertips across the script, and he trembled and took a deep breath.

“It’s my name,” I said softly. “I remember now. The language in your tattoo that gives you my protection, it’s my sigil. It binds you to me, makes you mine. It’s my name.”

His gaze followed my fingers and rose to meet my eyes. “Gabriel,” he said, his lips brushing my ear.

I fought back a tear as he said my true name and kissed my bare shoulder. I pressed into him and squeezed my eyes shut. He pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me, and kissed my hair.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “You’re right. I fear Michael, but I fear losing you so much more. I don’t want him to take you away from me, but if I don’t keep my distance, I will lose you.”

And then he drew away suddenly and left me cold. When I opened my eyes, he was halfway across my room, heading toward the window.

“Will,” I said.

He turned back to face me, but before he could speak, his cell rang. He gave me an apologetic glance as he took his phone out to answer.

“Ava?”

I felt like I was falling.

His expression became hard and worried. “Are you okay? Where are you? How many of them? No, no. We’re coming.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Ellie, we have to go. Orek ambushed Ava, and he’s fighting her in the mortal world. She can’t contain him by herself.”

I jumped up and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater. I was exhausted and I didn’t want to leave my warm house, but I had a duty to carry out. And Ava needed help. “Meet me in my car.”

He vanished. I pulled on the warmer clothes and then crept silently from my room through the Grim and down the stairs to the back door. I darted around the house on the concrete sidewalk and down the long driveway to my car. Will waited in the driver’s seat, and I jumped in the passenger side.

“Where are they?”

“Downtown.”

“Oh, God.”

Will sensed Ava and Orek at the precise moment that I did. He parked my car in a safe place, and we tried to gauge their positions. I focused harder on the reaper energy, and my eyes widened with shock as I realized that they were fighting somewhere above us.

“The rooftops!” I cried, and sprinted into an alley.

We climbed a fire escape and spotted Orek’s massive body plainly visible several rooftops away. I didn’t see Ava. I took off like a shot, both my Khopesh swords in hand, alight with angelfire, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, praying the busy street below wouldn’t take notice.

Orek was atop one of the tallest buildings on the block, six stories above the street. When we got close, I saw that he had Ava pinned beneath one of his powerful hind legs.

“Ava!” I cried.

Orek swung his giant dragonlike head and long neck to look at me with his pale, unseeing eyes. His nostrils flared and his jaw dropped to hiss at me. “Preliator! About damned time. I’ve grown bored with this one. She doesn’t scream.”

He stepped off Ava and stomped toward me. The front of Ava’s body was soaked red, and she wasn’t moving. She had to be alive, since her body hadn’t become stone in death, but she was very badly hurt.

Orek’s wings spread wide and menacing, and for a moment he looked twice his normal size. “I was hoping you could make it tonight.”

“Ellie,” Will said in a low voice. “I’m going to distract Orek. Make sure Ava is okay. Get her out of the way so she can heal without further damage.”

“He’s after me,” I said back. “I’m the one he’ll follow. Let me distract him.”

Will called his sword, the silver shimmering in the city lights. “Not a chance.”

He charged forward, his blade sweeping, and the nycterid reaper reared up like a dragon. They collided; Will’s sword cut through flesh as the reaper’s jaws snapped at his body. The giant reaper moved fast, limbs striking and stomping, wings and tail lashing, keeping Will’s blade from striking a deadly blow. Orek’s teeth gnashed lightning fast, nearly taking a chunk out of Will with each strike. I darted toward where Ava lay as Will and Orek fought above and all around me. I pulled her to the opposite edge of the roof, clear from Orek’s thrashing tail and stomping feet.

Her stomach had been slashed open. Her skin was ashen, and blood soaked her clothing and flecked her face. Her eyes drooped and her teeth clenched in pain.

“Ava?” I called to her, brushing her wild hair out of her face. “Ava! Stay awake. It’s Ellie. Can you hear me?”

Her lips moved, and she sputtered something unintelligible. She looked up at me, clutching the wound in her abdomen. “I’m … I’m not …”

“That’s good,” I said. “Keep talking. Keep your eyes open.”

I checked on Will, who had various cuts on his body, and whose shirt was torn and bloodied. Orek had Will’s sword sticking out of his shoulder.

“I’m not … ,” Ava tried again.

“You’ll be fine!” I said, applying pressure to her wound. She squeezed her eyes shut, knocked my hand away, and scowled. “I’m not … going to die … you moron.”

I blinked at her and then gave a nervous laugh. I pulled at her shirt and saw that her wound was closing. When her breathing started to return to normal, I wished that I’d brought something for her to eat in order to speed up the healing process. Will always got better faster when he ate, and after every battle, he ate a lot.

Ava sat up and picked at her torn-open shirt. “Damn it,” she growled. Then her eyes shot wide. “Look out!”

I spun and ducked as Orek’s jaws came gnashing down. Ava and I leaped apart, and his snout smashed into the rooftop between us. We scrambled to our feet and got out of the massive reaper’s way. Orek lifted his skeletal head slowly, growling, bleeding rage and blood, chunks of concrete falling out from between his teeth. As the reaper recovered, I looked around desperately for Will, but I couldn’t see him. Orek rammed into my body, slamming me to the ground, and I screamed as the dagger-sized claw on Orek’s wing drove through my shoulder and deep into the concrete beneath me.

Orek’s neck snaked back and forth with a dark hunger as he surveyed my wound. “You murdered my Eki. Now I am going to take your head off with my teeth.”

I grimaced through my pain and lit my sword. I swung with all my might, and the blade hacked through Orek’s wing. He released me and screeched. The force of his claw releasing my body sent me sliding across the roof. He wavered on his hind legs, his balance thwarted by the catastrophic damage to his wing. The angelfire burned through the leathery membranes and hard bones so violently that the reaper shuddered and whined in agony. He staggered back and lashed suddenly with his teeth, clamped down on his wing, and ripped the damaged half from his body. The torn chunk of his wing shimmered and erupted completely into flames as the angelfire destroyed it.

I clutched the bleeding wound on my shoulder, grinding my teeth as the muscles and veins repaired themselves.

Orek charged at me and I held my sword, ready to defend myself. Will appeared out of nowhere to my left and pounded his fist into Orek’s head. The nycterid’s jaws snapped and crunched air, questing for soft flesh. His tail swung, nailing Will in the chest and sending him rocketing through the air—and over the side of the roof.

“Will!” I shrieked, and threw myself to the rooftop edge.

He plummeted toward the ground, and his white wings sprang free and beat powerfully, righting his body in midair. He hit the middle of the street on one knee, wings spread their full sixteen feet, his sword in hand. Cars swerved to miss him, spiraling into one another, grinding metal against metal as horns honked and tires screeched. A cacophony of screams erupted around him as people scattered in every direction. Those who didn’t run stood in shock, staring at the winged boy who had just fallen from the sky.

Will rose and looked desperately up at me. Darkness crashed over on me like a great wave, and I ducked. Orek leaped over my head and sailed off the roof toward the street as I gaped in horror. The nycterid landed with an earth-shattering thud right in front of a large U-Haul truck. The driver slammed on the brakes and swerved, nearly tipping the truck over, but the massive reaper hurled his shoulder and wing into the side of the vehicle. It flipped into midair and smashed, sliding, into the ground on its side with a violent roar of metal against pavement. Pedestrians bolted in panic, shrieking, slamming into one another in complete pandemonium.

I froze, confused and unsure of how to handle the chaos erupting on the street below. I’d never fought in front of humans. Orek, jaws snapping and tail swinging, descended on Will as he held his sword ready. Ava was next to me suddenly, one foot on the ledge, looking over.

“What do we do?” I asked, my voice shaking and loud above the commotion.

“We can’t help him now,” she said, her voice eerily calm. “We can’t make this any worse than it’s already become.”

“What do you mean we can’t help him?” I cried. “We have to get down there!”

She looked at me, her face hardened. “Will knows he has to lead Orek away from the humans. The mortals have seen too much already. But the chaos is fortunate—they won’t understand what they’ve witnessed.”

I stared at her, shaking with fear and rage. What kind of planet did these reapers live on, where chaos was fortunate? “Orek will kill him!”

She grabbed hold of my shoulders. “No, he won’t. Will knows what he’s doing.”

I looked back down at my Guardian, battling the reaper for his life in the middle of the busy street. My heart pounded so hard, I thought it might burst from my chest. I tightened the grip on both my swords. I couldn’t stand there and watch him die.

I leaped over the edge of the roof as Ava reached out to me and yelled at me to stop. The wind rushed against my body so wildly that I heard nothing but thunderous screams. Orek looked up as I rocketed toward him, and he jumped into the air, beating what was left of his wings awkwardly as he flew higher. His jaws opened wide, and I stared down deep into his gaping throat. I swung my sword as he snapped. The blade sliced cleanly through his neck, and his head went spiraling through the air. I fell through reaper flames and ashes toward the street below as his body exploded into angelfire all around me. I shut my eyes as embers hit my face, searing my skin, and I prepared to hit the ground. Something thudded into me faster than I thought it would’ve taken for me to reach the street. Arms wrapped around me, and I was suddenly soaring higher and higher. I opened my eyes to Will’s determined face. Clutching me in his arms, he flew us both up and over the city streets and rooftops.

We descended in a quiet patch of woods, where Will set me down shakily. I started to collapse on my feet, but he caught me and held me so I wouldn’t fall.

“You are out of your mind,” he said, his hands and gaze moving all over me, inspecting for injuries. They lingered over every cut on my neck and arms, over the reaper ash caking my skin. “Why would you do something like that?”

I trembled still, trying to forget the images of the reaper fireball bursting all around me and the ground hurtling faster and faster toward my face. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself falling through fire. “I was worried about you.”

He laughed and kissed my forehead. “Don’t ever worry about me. You could have been killed.”

I forced a smile. “That wasn’t my first thought, I’ll admit.”

He stared at me, his green eyes bright in the darkness, his breath clouding in the air between us. “You are amazing.”

My cheeks flushed red, mostly because of the way he was looking at me, making me want to believe him. His gaze flickered back and forth before he stepped away.

“I’ve got to check on Ava,” he said, “and make sure she gets out of there. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” His wings beat once, and he rose into the air and into the Grim. Then he was gone, and I was alone in the cold.

I didn’t know where he’d taken me, but it looked like a park or maybe one of the few patches of undeveloped or overgrown land in the area. The snow was above my ankles here, and the trees were tall and dark. I could hear the wail of sirens back toward where we had just battled, and I felt a twinge of fear. People—mortals—had seen everything. They’d seen Will’s wings, seen him fall. They’d seen a dinosaurid monster flip a truck over and then burst into flames in midair. I prayed no one had seen my face or taken a photo or video.

“Quite the show,” said an achingly deep voice behind me.

I spun, lighting my swords up with angelfire. Two vir reapers, a male and a female, stood twenty feet away from me, their forms half hidden in the darkness between the snowy trees. What startled me, though, was that I couldn’t feel either of them. Even when reapers suppressed their powers, I could still sense them a little, but these two were just dark. Like two black holes sucking in my emotions and what was left of my strength. Like zero energy.

“I am impressed,” the male added as he moved toward me, his voice rough and gravelly, echoing through my gut. Twisted bull’s horns stuck out of his bald head, and his body was massive and brawny, but he didn’t look like his size would slow him down. His skin was dark, and his accent was thick and unfamiliar. And his eyes—frigid and the color of moonlight on snow—drilled into mine. “You must be the Preliator. How small you are. I could break you in half.”

“Who are you?” I asked, studying them both. My first thought went back to Cadan’s warning about the vir reapers who would come for me if the nycterids failed. I guessed these two were old—very, very old—and so skilled that they could suppress their powers enough that I didn’t have a clue what they were really capable of. I made a silent cry to Will to return soon. If I had to fight them both at once, it wouldn’t be pretty.

“I am Merodach,” he said. “This is Kelaeno.”

My fears had just come true. The female, Kelaeno, looked at me with holly-red eyes and a sharp-fanged grin. With long, tangled, dark hair, she was more disturbing than frightening. I stared at her face, perplexed by her skin moving as if something stirred beneath it. Her features contorted just enough to be noticeable, as if the bones changed under her skin. Every other second, her face shifted from an animal’s to looking like a woman’s and back again. I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

“Ellie!” Will landed beside me in the snow, his white wings outstretched, and Ava wasn’t with him. He stepped forward and thrust out his sword, poising it at the newcomers. He was still out of breath from the battle, and I hoped that the new reapers weren’t here to fight.

Merodach surveyed Will’s show of aggression curiously. “The Hammer of Gabriel,” he said with a dark smile. “In the flesh.” Wings, leathery and black as night, spread from his back like a cobra spreading its hood.

At that moment, I felt a quick flash of smoky black power from Merodach, strong enough that I lost my balance as it rushed past my body. The warning was clear and imminent: He was powerful and more than willing to kill.

“What do you want?” Will asked, not flinching from the demonic vir’s display of power.

“We have a warning for the Preliator,” Merodach boomed.

Kelaeno stepped forward, pointing a taloned hand at me, her eyes still on mine. Her face continued to change, like its form was unstable, and dusty gray-brown wings appeared out of her back and spread high and wide. Shadows like daggers cast over her face from around the splayed feathers, making me blink hard as I wondered if I was seeing what was truly in front of me. The skin on her face sank and grew taut over the bones as they stretched, elongating until her appearance was utterly inhuman, and then her face returned to normal. She began to speak, her lips having difficulty forming the words as her face transformed back and forth.

“You, the mortal Gabriel, the gift for the demon queen,” Kelaeno rasped, her talons curling and unfurling as she stepped toward me, so close I could almost taste her rancid breath. “Your strength in heart and hand will fall to a reaper’s bane before your eyes.”

Nausea wormed its way up my throat as my body froze. Her golden eyes flashed and her lips curled into a sinister sneer as she gauged my reaction. She tilted her head and licked her lips before she continued.

“Mark me well, for you will lose everything you love most dear before you finally lose your soul.”

As her words began to eat their way through my stomach, Will’s sword swept between Kelaeno and me. She reeled back with a screech. His foot rammed into her chest, and his ribs cracked sickeningly as she lashed her talons out at his skin. Her power exploded, the spiraling orb of blackness swallowing all the light around us. The blast knocked Will into me, and I darted to the side as he crashed to the ground. I dropped to my knees beside him.

“Kelaeno!” A familiar, terrible voice shattered my senses as it rang out above the chaos.

I froze, ice tearing through my veins, and I looked back up. Will dragged himself to his feet, and I followed him.

Kelaeno’s wrist was trapped by another hand—Bastian’s. His black hair gleamed like obsidian, and his cerulean eyes blazed neon as he and Kelaeno bared their teeth at each other. Kelaeno snapped her jaws in his face and laughed.

“You will not harm the Guardian,” Bastian growled, low and guttural.

Kelaeno sneered mockingly at him and yanked herself free. Bastian blinked and straightened in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected her strength—as if she’d been hiding it from him.

“You only want the girl,” she snarled back. “I want the Guardian’s guts between my teeth.”

I shivered and held on to Will’s arm as he stepped in front of me, shielding me. The weight of the immense energy belonging to three reapers thousands of years old pressed on every inch of my skin, sinking through to my brain, making me dizzy as if the altitude had changed suddenly. We couldn’t defeat all three of them—especially now, after the fierce battle against Orek.

Bastian took a step closer to Kelaeno, his height overwhelming her slight, bony stature. “I will deal with him myself. This is about the Preliator. He is not your concern.”

She opened her mouth and raised her talons, but Merodach’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “Enough. We must go.”

Kelaeno craned her neck upward toward the reddening horizon. “The sun,” she crooned. Her wings beat once, and she jumped into the air and disappeared into the Grim.

Bastian turned to Merodach, raising a hand to him. “Do not disrupt me again. I haven’t time to make sure you are doing your task to my satisfaction.”

Merodach didn’t appear frightened by Bastian’s threat, only annoyed by it.

With a slow smile, Bastian looked at me, his eyes brightening with what looked like admiration. “We meet again, Gabriel.”

Will’s form flashed between us, his sword gleaming as he roared with fury and swung the blade over his head toward Bastian. The demonic reaper waved a hand, and his power slammed into Will, blowing him back with an immense gust of energy that kicked up a raging blizzard of snow off the ground. Will flipped himself midair and landed crouched. He shot forward again, but Bastian caught his wrist as he swung his sword, and Bastian’s other hand tightened around his throat. Will growled and wrenched his body, but he couldn’t break free. Bastian squeezed harder, choking Will and forcing him to his knees in the snow. Will’s sword toppled out of his slackening grip.

“I am not here to kill you, William,” Bastian said, the blue of his eyes almost blinding as his power grew. “But I will if you get in my way.”

I ran forward to help Will, summoning what was left of my strength and calling the white hot light into my palms. I grabbed Bastian’s arm with both hands and felt the sizzle of his skin beneath his sleeve as the fabric was eaten by flames. He roared and released Will, reeling away from me and clutching his burned arm close to his chest. Will staggered to his feet, gasping for breath, and I pulled him into my arms, smoothing my warm hands over his reddened throat.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. He nodded and glared sidelong at Bastian, who had retreated to where Merodach stood silently.

“That’s an interesting trick, Gabriel,” Bastian snarled. “Giving me a taste of your glory?”

I stared at him, puzzled. “Glory?”

“That little fireworks show you just did on my arm?” he rasped, baring his teeth. “I know archangel glory when it burns me to the bone. It seems you’re waking up, Gabriel. Perhaps that long sleep of yours was exactly what you needed.”

“How did you know who I was?” I demanded. “When we met, you said you already knew.”

“Because I’ve spoken to old friends of yours,” he replied. The breaking dawn was bearing down on him, and his skin began to smoke. He arched his neck uncomfortably in the growing sunlight. “Those who are ancient enough to know the truth. Voices seep through the bars of Hell, my dear. But never fear. When I take your life again, I’ll take your soul, too. When it’s time, my hounds will come for you, Gabriel.”

With a flash of smoky black power and a growl of painful fury, Bastian vanished into the Grim. Merodach wasn’t in the same hurry. The hot orange glow of sunrise spread across his body until he was smoldering like cinders from the tips of the horns on his head to the toes of his heavy boots. He looked every part a demon straight out of Hell.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Preliator,” he said before he spread his wings and followed Kelaeno and Bastian into the Grim, slipping away, leaving nothing but smoke and the repulsive odor of sulfur behind him.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the heavy demonic energy disappeared. Will’s warm hands fell on my arms, and he pulled me close, his body a wall of warmth against my shivering form.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, his voice feather soft. “I doubled back without Ava when I sensed the vir.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We need to get to Nathaniel’s and figure out what the hell just happened, everything we can about Kelaeno and Merodach, and why Bastian wants them to leave you alone.”

He pushed my hair behind my ears. “Are you sure you aren’t too tired? You need to sleep.”

“I’m exhausted, but this is important.” Too much had happened tonight for me to sleep.

Footsteps in the snow behind me made me jump. Ava had landed at last, bloodied but healed. She appeared tired and unnerved, and I assumed she sensed our run-in with the demonic vir.

“What happened?” she asked hurriedly. “Is everything okay?”

Will and I looked at each other. I let out a long breath. “We’re about to head to Nathaniel’s,” I said. “We’ll explain on the way.”