Wrath of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Twelve
Dominick
My footsteps thundered on the stairs as I took them two at a time up toward the roof, Rami’s equally pounding steps right behind mine. Behind us, Sara panted and tried to keep up as she yelled questions about why we were running so fast and if it had anything to do with Ella. I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to admit my suspicions.
When I burst out onto the rooftop terrace, I slammed to a stop before running into a wall of wings. Rami bumped into me from behind, and then Sara into him, as the white feathers blocked our path and me from seeing anything on the other side.
“Stay back,” Rami ordered Sara. “Stay hidden.”
To her credit, Sara was too startled to respond with her usual defiant quips.
With a frustrated roar, I unfurled my own wings and flew into the air, somersaulting and landing on the other side of the angel, my lip curling when I saw who it was. “Azrael.”
His eyes flickered with just the faintest hint of surprise and delight. “Semyaza.” He tipped his head to me. “I would say it’s been too long, but…”
“It could never be too long,” Rami said, landing next to me in a crouch, his own black wings extending wide and his expression stormy.
The angel of death gave him an indulgent smile. “Where there’s one, there’s the other.”
Rami straightened and flexed his wings. “It’s called loyalty. You should give it a go one day.”
This got a reaction from Azrael, his eyes glinting with malice. “Why do you think I’m here?”
I glanced quickly behind me to where Ella stood her mouth hanging open. If she was angry with me, the appearance of the angel of death had stunned her enough that she gave me a relieved smile. I turned back and shifted my stance to further mask Ella, even though the combined wingspans of Rami and me made it impossible to see much but her feet.
“Gabriel sent you?” I asked, my eyes tracking the sword he held—the sword I recognized as belonging to Uriel—the sword that was used to guard the gates of heaven and grant true death to even celestial beings.
“He didn’t have to.” Azrael readjusted his grip on the shiny, silver hilt of the sword, the icy-blue flames dancing along the length of the blade.
I exchanged a swift glance with Rami. Did Azrael really want us to believe that he hadn’t been sent down by the archangels, when he carried Uriel’s sword and was clearly doing Gabriel’s bidding?
“Then this is all on your own accord?” I asked. “You just happened to descend from the heavens and end up here?”
Azrael twisted his head as if attempting to peek around me at Ella. “I wouldn’t have even known you were here, if your pretty little demi-angel hadn’t been sending out angelic energy.”
So, Ella’s energy was powerful enough to draw the attention from above. That was unfortunate.
I fought the urge to shoot her a look. What had she been doing up on the roof, harnessing and sending out her energy? From what I’d witnessed, it wasn’t something she could control. I thought about why she’d been up on the roof—she’d been angry at me and probably letting off steam, or in this case, angelic power. This one might be on me.
“How do you see this playing out, Az?” Rami rustled his wings as he widened his stance. “You come down to earth, kill the evidence of Gabriel’s disobedience, eliminate a couple of fallen angels while you’re at it, go back home, and no one will ever know?”
Azrael spun the sword in one hand. “Now that you say it like that, it sounds pretty good.”
“One problem,” I growled. “I’m not going to let you kill her.”
“Not even an immortal can survive this blade.” Azrael grinned at me, his beautiful face becoming almost demonic with glee. “Or have so many centuries among humans made you forget that there are ways even you can die?”
Cold fingers of fear caressed my skin and slid down my spine. I had not been banished so long I’d forgotten the power of Uriel’s sword, although there had been times I’d wished for true death instead of the curse of immortality. “I’ve forgotten nothing, especially your hunger for vengeance.”
“Justice,” he spit out.
“There is no justice in killing a human to protect an angel’s sin,” Rami said. “Not even the Watchers did that when we gave in to our carnal desires.”
My heart raced as I studied Azrael’s determined expression. “We took our punishment, as will you, if you commit this crime.”
Azrael tipped his head back toward the sky as dark clouds swirled over us. “I am the angel of death, anointed by God to end human life. I am committing no crime.”
Rami choked back a laugh. “If that is what you must tell yourself, I wonder how many others have died unjustly at your hands.”
The angel snarled at him, swinging his head like an angered beast. “You know nothing of what is just, you Fallen who have reveled on Earth. You should be burning in a sea of fire, not living like kings and fucking a different woman every night.”
“So, you’ve been watching,” Rami taunted. “Jealous of the empire we’ve built, and the humans who are all too eager to pleasure us?”
Azrael sneered at him. “Your continual defilement with humans has no effect on me, but I cannot allow your actions to ripple through heaven.”
“I thought this was about Gabriel’s action,” I said, “or defilement, as you put it. Isn’t his dalliance with a human the reason you’re here?”
He twitched, narrowing his eyes and gripping the sword. “It ends now, and everything returns to the proper order—the Fallen simmering in lustful sin, and the archangels governing the righteous.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Ella, who’d shrunk back against the metal railing, and gave her a single nod of assurance. She returned it, although her chin trembled as she did. Then I turned back to Azrael and extended one arm, flicking my fingers toward myself. “Then let’s end it.”
Rami and I bent into battle stances, lifting our wings as the angel of death lunged for us, the fiery sword slicing through the air. We moved in tandem, spinning away from each other and then back, coming around behind Azrael. I slammed one wing across his back while Rami hit him from the front, the impact making the angel stumble.
Without missing a beat, Azrael jabbed the sword at me, catching the tip of one wing, the glossy tips of my feathers fluttering to the ground. I dodged from his reach, flying up and rotating in midair then diving for him as Rami distracted him with a frontal attack.
Before I could make impact, Azrael swiveled, slashing the burning sword wide and almost making contact with my chest. Sucking in a quick breath, I flipped backward, landing in front of Ella and using one arm to tuck her behind me.
As Rami fought Azrael in a flurry of black and white wings, I moved Ella toward the door and the place where Sara was crouching. “Run,” I said to them both when we’d reached Sara and the woman had pulled her friend into a desperate hug. “And make sure everyone else in the guesthouse evacuates.” I didn’t trust Azrael not to bring down the entire building to kill Ella.
“What about you and Rami?” Ella asked. “We can’t leave you.”
“You have to.” I locked eyes with Sara, hoping she would understand my insistent gaze.
Sara pressed her lips together and nodded, clearly hating that she was going to work with me in convincing her friend. “We’ll go.” She glanced at Rami, hesitation creeping into her eyes.
“I won’t let him fall,” I told her, meaning every word to the depth of my being.
She met my gaze again, nodding and tugging at Ella.
Ella opened her mouth as if she needed to tell me something then she grabbed me by the back of my neck and jerked my mouth to hers. The kiss was hard and fierce, and then she was ripping her lips from mine. “You’d better not die because I’m still really pissed at you.”
I almost laughed as she backed away down the stairs into the building. “I’ve never looked forward to an argument more.”
Then I spun back to the battle, rushing to Rami’s aid and noticing more snippets of feathers littering the stone roof. Sweat poured off both angels’ faces, and Azrael grimaced when I leapt at him, thrusting the sword forward. I sidestepped and elbowed him hard in the head. Stumbling, Azrael dropped the sword, which clattered on the floor. I swiftly recovered it, the steel cool to the touch even as the blade was engulfed in flames.
Rami didn’t slow his assault, punching the wounded angel in the stomach and sending him sprawling back against the railing. We stood side by side as our opponent eyed us, Rami heaving in breath while I brandished the sword of Uriel.
Azrael pulled himself up to his full height and swept his wings out, his eyes glittering with rage as he lifted off the roof. “I am the angel of death. I will have her.”
“Not today you won’t.” I cocked my arm and threw the sword like a javelin, the shimmering blue flames piercing his chest as the blade entered him.
Azrael’s face registered shock as he fell from the sky, his body hitting the iron dome of the basilica and sliding down.
“You killed him,” Rami said, his voice a hush of disbelief, “with Uriel’s flaming sword.”
I fell to my knees, the shock of my action leveling me. “The angel of death is dead.”
And my fall from grace was now irredeemable.
