Wrath of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Thirteen
Ella
“Everybody out!” Sara yelled as we ran down the hallway of guest rooms, thumping our palms on the closed doors. The light which had been streaming golden through the windows earlier was now gone, the dark swirling clouds outside sending shadows across the stone floors.
Heads poked out, the expressions on the people’s faces showing their confusion.
“There’s been an incident,” I said, as Sara waved for the people to follow us.
“That shaking?” The woman who’d been at the front desk hurried up to us, her brow furrowed with concern.
I nodded. “We should evacuate the building just to be on the safe side.” Another rumble from above made everyone gasp. Even Sara looked up, biting her bottom lip. I grabbed her by the hand and squeezed it. “They’ll be okay.”
The woman from the front desk drew in a sharp breath. “I just sent a group of visitors down to view the Lithostratos.”
“It’s okay. We’ll go get them and bring them up.”
“We will?” Sara asked, as I yanked her with me toward the entrance to the underground excavations.
I propelled us quickly to the wooden stairs that led down. “I’ve already been down here. It’s how I overheard Dominick talking to Rami about me.”
“So that’s why you were so upset. I wondered what you were going on about when you burst into our room. What did Dominick say that made you so mad?”
I started down the stairs, gripping the rough wood bannister as I descended into the dimly lit area. What had he said exactly? That he wouldn’t stand in my way of going with Gabriel or of letting me have an angel’s existence? At the time it had been like a punch to the gut but after seeing Dominick fight off an angel trying to kill me, it didn’t seem quite so bad. Although, if the angel trying to kill me was typical, I’d take my chances down on Earth with humans. “It’s not important anymore. I probably shouldn’t have been listening to his conversation with his best friend. I’m sure all of this is a lot, even for him.”
“I wouldn’t want people to hear some of the stuff we’ve said before,” Sara said, her feet tapping on the stairs as she followed close behind me.
Muffled voices drifted through the low-ceilinged caverns, and I let them lead me as I called out, “Hello? You need to evacuate. Hello?”
“This is pretty cool,” Sara whispered as we passed some of the displays about the ancient Roman paving stones.
I hadn’t focused on much when I’d been down earlier—only on finding Dominick—but now I breathed in the musty scent and ran my fingers over the bumpy surface of the rock walls. A group of three women appeared around the corner, jumping a bit when they saw us.
A lady with large glasses that made her look a bit like an owl blinked rapidly at us. “Are you the ones shouting?”
“We weren’t shouting,” Sara said defensively, then softened her tone. “There’s been an incident, and the guesthouse is evacuating.”
“Oh dear,” another of the women tugged her chunky, brown cardigan closer around her neck. “An incident?”
“If we could get you to come outside with us,” I said, putting a hand on one woman’s back and gently steering her forward.
There was some nervous mumbling as we all processed from the Lithostratos, but soon we were walking up the stairs. The women bustled out toward the front door while Sara and I stepped into the basilica. I swept my gaze over the sanctuary and saw no one inside. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a strange shadow playing across the floor of the altar.
“What’s that?” Walking forward toward the front of the church where the light spilled down from the dome, my eyes were fixed on the shadow that appeared to sprawl across the white linen draped over the stone table.
Sara followed me. “I’m sure it’s nothing. We’re supposed to be getting outside, remember?”
I ignored her, the image of the strange shadow pulling me toward it. When I reached the stone table, I touched the linen where the shadow hadn’t darkened it and peered up at the dome skylight.
I inhaled sharply, putting a hand to my mouth. “Is that…?”
Sara joined me, looking up and making a small squeaking sound. “It’s a body.” She clutched my arm. “With wings.”
I nodded, my throat dry. “You don’t think it’s—?”
“The wings are white,” Sara said, the words spilling from her. “They aren’t dark.”
I squinted, not as sure as Sara was that the wings on the prostrate figure weren’t dark, since the entire prostate body was in shadow. Regardless, one of the angels had fallen.
“Ella.”
I spun at the sound of Dominick’s voice, relief washing over me and making my knees weak. He and Rami stood at the back entrance to the basilica. Even silhouetted in the doorway, I could tell they were battered and bruised—but they were standing.
Running down the aisle, I threw myself into Dominick’s arms. He caught me, staggering back at few steps and letting out a whoosh of breath.
“You’re alive.” I buried my head in his chest, breathing in the familiar, spicy scent of him and relishing the solidness of his body.
“I told you I was looking forward to our argument,” he said, reaching down and hoisting me up so my legs circled his waist. “Although I must admit, this is going even better than I expected.”
I leaned back and smacked his chest. “I shouldn’t be so happy to see you, after what you said.”
He met my eyes, frowning. “You heard me talking with Rami underground.”
“First of all, it isn’t up to you whether or not I choose a celestial life or a human one. You don’t get to make that decision for me, and you definitely don’t get to allow Gabe to take me. I don’t care how much of a tough, immortal fallen angel you are, you don’t make my choices for me.” I sucked in a quick breath. “And I don’t want to go hang out with a bunch of archangels, especially if they’re anything like the creep who just tried to kill me. It’s my life and my choice, and I don’t know how many times I have to tell you for you to believe me, but I choose you.”
His dark eyes shone, and he nodded. “Understood.”
I huffed out a breath. “That’s it? You’re not going to argue with me?”
“You’re right,” he said. “I was letting my fear guide me. Fear of you regretting your choice and fear of losing you.”
I tilted my head at him. “And now?”
He leaned his head until our foreheads touched. “I’m still afraid of losing you, but I’d rather enjoy every bit of your mortal life than regret letting you go.”
“As if Ella would ditch either of us to go hang out with a bunch of uptight archangels,” Sara said as she joined us, her eyes sliding to Rami.
“I told you I wouldn’t let him fall,” he told her, his gaze holding Rami’s. “Not again.”
Rami pressed a fist to his chest and gave him a slight bow. “I would fall a thousand times with you, brother.”
I slipped down from Dominick’s embrace. “So, if you two are alive, does that mean the other angel is the one lying on top of the dome?”
Dominick clenched his jaw, a vein pulsing in his neck. “Azrael made a deadly miscalculation.”
“I didn’t know angels could die.” Sara looked from Dominick to Rami. “I thought even you Fallen were immortal.”
“We are,” Rami said. “There are few things that can bring permanent death to a celestial being.”
Dominick grunted. “And one of them is Uriel’s sword.”
“I thought I recognized it from when the archangels crashed your party.” A shiver went through me. “Gabriel threatened you with it, but the others held him back.”
“If Uriel wasn’t pleased that Gabriel snatched it from him, can you imagine what he’ll do when he discovers that Azrael took it?” Rami asked, stealing a furtive glance over his shoulder.
“And that Azrael is dead from it by the hand of a Fallen,” Dominick added.
“We are no longer safe here,” Rami said with a weary sigh, “if we ever were.”
Dominick ran a hand through his dark, tousled hair. “It will take more than a convent to hide us from the wrath of the archangels, once they believe I’ve murdered the angel of death.”
“But he came for a human,” Rami said and then corrected himself, “a half human.”
“Do you think they will care?” Dominick took my hand and led me from the basilica. “It’s clear that Gabriel is desperate.”
I gaped at him, cold dread snaking around my belly. “You don’t think my own father is behind this?”
He didn’t answer me, stopping short when a man emerged from the foyer.
Rami let out a low rumble and stepped forward to flank Dominick, both visibly tensing. “First angels and now demons.”
