Wrath of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Two
Dominick
Ella squeezed my hand and warmth surged up my arm. Hearing her declare her love for me in front of Gabriel and all the Fallen made my chest swell with affection—and flare with anger that the archangels dare descend from the heavens and issue orders.
“You have no power here, Gabriel.” I grasped Ella’s hand as if it was a lifeline. “And you have no right to tell Ella what to do. It sounds like you gave up those rights long ago.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “You believe you have dominion over her? You don’t know her any better than you know any of the females you bed.”
A demonic growl rumbled in my throat. I hated that there was truth in his accusation. Before Ella, I hadn’t known any of the women I fucked. But all that had changed when I’d met Ella. “That may have been true before, but not now.”
Gabriel choked back a laugh. “The Fallen have been wallowing in carnal pleasures for thousands of years. Would you really have me believe you’ve changed?”
I tilted my head, giving him a malicious smile. “Don’t tell me you’ve been spying on the Fallen. What? The celestial plane boring you?” I lowered my voice. “Jealous that I’ve found the kind of love that you gave up so easily?”
The archangel fisted his hands by his side, and Raphael placed a hand on one of his arms.
“I sacrificed for my love,” Gabriel bit out, “which is what you should do, Semyaza. My child is too pure for the likes of a cursed fallen angel. You will never be good enough for her. Let her go, and let her take her rightful place by my side.”
Now it was my turn to stifle a laugh. “You wish to take her back with you?”
“It’s the safest place for her,” Raphael said, drawing my eyes to him fully for the first time. Like Gabriel, he looked much as I remembered him, brown hair shot through with gold, which fell straight around his shoulders.
“Wait a second,” Ella said. “You want to take me up to heaven?”
“Now that your celestial nature is known, you will always be a target for demons,” Gabriel’s eyes locked on me, “as well as others who might wish to use your divinity for their own purposes.”
Ella’s hand trembled in mine, but she didn’t let go. “Dominick has fought off the demons so far. I know he’ll keep me safe.”
Gabriel blew out an exasperated breath. “You call being kidnapped and almost killed by a succubus being kept safe?”
“Whose fault was it that Mastema came here with his demons and broke Lilith from our dungeon?” Dominick snapped.
“Mastema wasn’t always the prince of demons,” Gabriel reminded me. “He was once an angel—like you.”
“So that justified sending him here?”
Gabriel ignored this last question, turning his gaze on Ella. “I took a great risk coming here, but I can’t allow you to throw your life away with the leader of the fallen angels. Semyaza’s fate is set. He’s been banished from eternal glory and will roam eternally on the mortal plane—until the final reckoning. When you grow old and die, he will remain just as he is—tortured, twisted, and filled with lust.”
Ella twitched. “So, I’m supposed to give him up and fly up to heaven? No, thank you.” She leaned into me. “I’d rather have one human lifetime with Dominick than an eternity without him.”
“Semyaza,” Uriel said, his voice even, “think of what you’re doing. Think of how this will end for both of you.”
I shifted my gaze to him. Uriel, despite his fiery sword, had always been more even-keeled than Gabriel and easier to reason with. His ebony skin contrasted with his white wings, and his dark eyes flashed compassion as he gave me a tentative smile that belied the pain of which he spoke.
As an immortal cursed to live among humans for millennia, I was sharply aware of the ending that awaited me and Ella. I would remain young and virile as the years marched on and she aged. Her beauty would fade, and her body would become brittle, and although my love would not falter, it would be excruciating to watch her fade away. This was one of the reasons the Fallen did not take wives anymore—or even tarry too long with any one woman. There could be no normal future for us, no happily ever after. Only death and decay for our human lovers as we lived on eternally.
Jerking my gaze away from Uriel, I glared at Gabriel. “Do you think I don’t understand all of this?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Maybe you were so bewitched by her angelic trace and the possibility of redemption that it slipped your mind.”
“This is not about the prophecy for me,” I said, the truth of this hitting me hard. “Not anymore.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened as he stared at me. “I find that hard to believe, although I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that there is no prophecy. There never has been.”
A restless murmur passed through the fallen angels surrounding the white-winged ones.
“Just as I suspected,” Rami muttered, “another way for them to torture us.”
Uriel’s gaze slid to Rami, then Gabriel, and he pressed his lips together until they were a thin line.
“If the prophecy is false,” I asked, my eyes never leaving Gabriel, “why keep such a close watch on Ella’s mother? You knew relationships between angels and humans were forbidden, yet you risked everything to stay close to her.”
Anger flashed across Gabriel’s face, contorting his angelic features and giving him the momentary visage of a demon.
“I think the prophecy is true, and that’s why you kept a watch on Ella’s mother, and that’s why you’re here now. You need to take Ella from me so it can never come to pass, because there is nothing the archangels despise more than the idea of the fallen Watchers being restored.”
“Semyaza,” Uriel said, holding up his palms.
I pinned first Uriel then Raphael with my gaze. “Did you two know about his demi-angel child? Normally, I would say yes, because the archangels know everything about each other, but if you knew then that would make you complicit.”
Raphael flinched as if he’d been struck. “Complicit?”
“What makes Gabriel any different from one of the Fallen? We all took human mates and fathered demi-angel children. The only difference is that Gabriel has been successful in hiding his sin, which makes me doubt his intentions toward his secret daughter.”
Gabriel lunged for me, but Uriel caught him by the arm. Rami shifted next to me as low growls rippled through the ring of fallen angels. All it would take was one blow to provoke an all-out battle, and my fingers tingled in anticipation of it.
“I am nothing like you.” Gabriel’s voice shook with rage. “You are dark, gnarled souls, branded as traitors for all eternity. Redemption shall never be yours, no matter what you try. I’ll make sure of it.”
“If you ask me, you sound like the cursed creature you accuse Dominick of being,” Ella said, lifting her chin. “And I’m not going anywhere with you, no matter who you claim to be. You might be my biological father, but you’re nothing to me, now. You were never there when I needed a father, so I’m going to pass on being rescued by you. I’ll take my chances with Dominick and the Fallen any day.”
I wanted to sweep Ella into my arms after her defiant speech, but I managed to keep my cool and my gaze fixed on Gabriel. “You heard the lady. My lady.”
Gabriel shook off Uriel’s grasp. “She doesn’t know what she wants.” He drew the sword on Uriel’s belt before the angel knew what had happened and brandished the flaming blade. “She’s coming with us, unless you all would rather perish.”
Everyone shrank back, no doubt recognizing, as I did, the flaming sword that could end immortality and bring about true death for a celestial.
Raphael spun on Gabriel. “You can’t do this, brother. Humans have free will, and we cannot violate that.”
“She isn’t human.” Gabriel was panting now as he swung the blade wide, the blue flames sizzling through the air. “She’s a demi-angel, and she cannot stay with him.”
Uriel stepped in front of Gabriel and threw back his shoulders. “That is not for you to decide and certainly not with my sword.”
The angel Gabriel glowered at the dark angel for a moment before handing him his sword and spinning on his heel away from us. He looked over his shoulder at Ella. “This is truly your decision?”
She gripped my hand more firmly. “It is.”
He clenched his jaw and gave a curt nod. “So be it.”
The cold finality of his words sent a chill through me, reminding me too much of his voice when he’d cast us down from heaven. The words might be different, but the feeling behind them was the same. He was casting her out as he’d banished us.
Then, as quickly as they’d descended, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel ascended into the sky, disappearing into the inky blackness with only a sudden rustle of feathers to indicate their departure.
Ella sagged against me. “He’s gone.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, turning to her and pulling her into me.
She bobbed her head up and down against my chest, but her body trembled, and her teeth rattled. “He was so angry.”
I stroked her hair as I attempted to control my own rage that bubbled hot inside me. It had been a daring gambit to try to take Ella away from me in the middle a party at our fortress that was filled with fallen angels. The only reason he would have taken such a chance was desperation, and I’d never seen any of the archangels act from desperation. I had a hard time believing it was father-daughter time he was so eager for. So, what was Gabriel truly after and why now?
