Fallen Angel Reclaimed: The Complete Series by Lacey Carter Andersen
18
Tristan graspedthe human and her tiny daughter and wrapped his arms tightly around them. The ground was coming too fast. But he was faster.
From one moment to the next, his body became ice cold. Hard.
When his stone feet struck the ground, they broke the sidewalk beneath him, sending cracks all around his feet. A human in a doorway screamed and raced away.
He uncurled his stone wings from around the two humans. And the older of the two turned to look at him, horror in her eyes.
“That should have ended this episode. Why didn’t it?”
“This is not some drug-induced fantasy.” He stood slowly, still holding them in his arms. “We are here to save you and your child from cruel beings that would destroy your lives. If you don't put your trust in us, you’ll both die.”
The little girl burst out crying, but the mom stared straight through him. “What are you?”
“A gargoyle, among other things.”
After a second, determination made her mouth draw into a thin line. “And why should I trust complete strangers?”
“Because already you are feeling better, away from their cruel magic. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Her eyes widened. Then, very slowly, she nodded.
He felt a wave of relief. The angels would already be searching for her, and they weren’t far away. Their rescue would go easier if the woman and her child were willing. A shadow fell over him. He rolled, taking the humans with him.
The angel hit the ground where they had only moments before stood. Her soul-blade was clutched in her hand, and the blonde’s lips were curled in an expression of determination.
“You cannot hurt me, angel.”
She smirked. “But I can hurt the humans.”
His heart thudded frantically in his chest. “If Caine wanted them harmed, he wouldn’t have sent you here to watch them.”
She spun her blade agilely in her hand. “You don’t have a clue what Caine wants us to do, but I will tell you this. Today just became the day these two will die.”
As if to prove it, she rushed toward him. He smacked her with his stone wing and sent her flying back onto the ground. Flapping his wings, he shot into the air, carrying his precious burden. He needed to get them back to Surcy. They needed to see if she had the strength to teleport them home.
When he reached the top of the roof, he saw the shock in Surcy’s beautiful face and the fear in the faces of his brothers. He picked a spot to land, but before he could, Mark shouted.
An angel grabbed his wing. The two humans in his arms screamed as they spun one way. Kicking out, he knocked the massive angel off his wing, but another angel barreled into his back, sending him hurtling toward the ground.
Spinning free of the angel, he stopped their descent just feet from the ground. His senses stretched out as he flew as hard and fast as he could back to the roof. His brothers battled two angels on the rooftop. Surcy stood, frozen.
He landed beside her, his feet crushing the roof beneath his feet. “We need to get them home. To safety. Take them.”
She turned wide eyes onto him. “But all of you—“
“We’ll be fine! Just go!” He didn’t give her another chance to think, he pushed the woman and her child into her arms. “Save them! At all costs!”
And then, he saw the reality hit her. One second she and the two crying humans were there, and the next moment they were gone.
Be safe.
A shadow came above him and remained. He looked up. A dozen angels crowded the sky. Moving backwards, he and his brothers came back-to-back. Their opponents lay dead upon the ground for only a moment before disappearing. But there were more.
Too many more.
“Mark, you need to go.” Tristan commanded him.
“Not a chance!” Mark sent him an angry glare.
“If they get the God Finder, all will be lost. You need to go.”
Mark dropped one hand from his regular steel blade and touched the chain at his neck. ”One of you take it.”
“Don’t argue.” Tristan’s gaze moved to the sky. “There isn’t time.”
“Without me you’ll die.”
Tristan couldn’t help the smirk that twisted in his lips. “We’ll die anyway.”
A cold rush moved over them. He turned. In the center of them, Surcy stood. Her eyes looked glazed. Her face pale.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Fire leapt into her eyes, and she straightened her shoulders. “Saving your asses!”
Reaching out, she placed a hand on his and Mark’s shoulders.
Daniel grabbed her shoulder. “You don’t have enough strength to—“
A wind wrapped around them. From a moment to the next, they were back in their apartment. Surcy sagged in the middle of them, but he caught her before she hit the floor. Her eyes were closed and a streak of red blood trickled from her nose.
Damn it!
“Is she okay?” the little girl asked, her voice shaking.
“She will be,” Mark answered.
Tristan carried her across the apartment to her room and laid her on the bed. This wasn’t the first time Surcy had pushed herself too hard, but she’d been stronger then.
The woman he’d found in the field had been thinner. There was a general air of weakness about her that made him wonder even more where she had been kept the last year and what had happened to her. The familiar muscles in her arms and legs were no longer as pronounced, and her face had a sunken quality.
One day Caine and his followers will pay for what they did to her.
“What now?” Daniel asked
Mark answered without thinking. “We get the goddess to the only place she’ll be safe.”
