Wrath of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Thirty-One

Dominick

The SUV swerved up to the side of Notre Dame Cathedral, or at least the closest open street to the enormous church. I peered through the tinted windows at the web of scaffolding that seemed to engulf one side of the structure.

“He’s here?”

Mastema barely glanced at the church, but he did look at the car’s tracking system. “I doubt he’s inside the burned-out cathedral, but they must be nearby. The tracking can’t pinpoint to an exact spot, but rather, within about a city block.

I grunted. It wasn’t farfetched to think that Sara had wanted to see the façade of the famous landmark. Even I was impressed by the heroic rebuilding efforts, evidenced by the cranes looming over the stone buttresses.

Rami opened the car door and hopped out without uttering a word. I followed him as Mastema and his driver remained in the SUV with the engine running. No surprise that the prince of demons didn’t want to get any closer to the holy site than he needed to.

We walked around the side of the building and skirted a series of white tents; the Seine River was on the opposite side of the cathedral. I couldn’t see the river from our position, but I could smell the murkiness of the water. Although there were tourists wandering around us and peering up at the construction project, Sara and Caspiel weren’t among them.

“I don’t see them,” Rami said, the frustration evident in his clipped tone.

“Let’s look by the river.” I led the way toward the Seine, leaning on the stone wall and peeking over to the river and walkway below. Again, people were strolling by the muddy, green water, but I didn’t spot Sara or Caspiel.

“Are we sure Mastema isn’t leading us on a wild goose chase?” Rami asked, his voice barely audible over the chatter of voices and hum of nearby traffic.

“To what end?”

Rami tipped his head back as the sky darkened almost instantly overhead, black clouds swirling over the river and moving swiftly toward us. “To draw us out into the open?”

“After he offered us protection? After you pledged to work by his side?” My heart raced as I contemplated being double-crossed by the demon prince. It wasn’t inconceivable, but I hated to think what that meant, especially if what he really wanted was back at his lair.

Rami started running back toward where Mastema had left us, waving for me to follow him. “We need to get away from here.”

I didn’t argue, running beside him and stealing a quick glance over my shoulder at the blackening sky. When we passed the series of construction tents and rounded the corner, we both skidded to a stop. The demon prince’s SUV was no longer idling by the curb. It was nowhere to be seen.

Rami let out a string of Sumerian curses, which he’d always preferred when he got truly livid. “Was Sara ever here?”

I swiveled around, my eyes desperately scanning the streets for the glossy, black vehicle. I still couldn’t believe this was the demon’s plan. What was his long game? Get us taken out by the archangels and then use Ella as a pawn for leverage with them? Had any of it been real—Sara’s note, Caspiel’s tracker, his assurance that Ella would be safer staying at his chateau?

“We need to get inside,” I shouted, as the blue skies over the cathedral became as inky as the night sky, gunmetal-grey clouds massing over the stone towers of the west façade.

“Inside?” Rami looked at me like I was crazy. “You mean you want to go into the burned-out cathedral?”

I noticed the tourists running for cover inside nearby cafés and shops. “If Gabriel is coming for us, better we meet him where no one else will get hurt.”

Rami let out a sigh so tortured I heard it over the rush of wind circling us. “Then I hope Sara is truly far away from here.”

We dashed back toward the tents, hopping over some fencing. Luckily, there was no one monitoring the area, and we were able to run alongside the tents until we reached the towering, stone balustrade. The gray stone looked surprisingly undamaged and also impenetrable with the dark wood doors closed beneath the portals.

I gritted my teeth as we approached the central portal and the stone carving of the last judgment over the doors. The archangel Michael was depicted weighing the souls of the dead, the righteous being led off to heaven on the left and the evil led to hell by a demon on the right.

“At least it isn’t Gabriel,” Rami muttered, casting a dismissive glance overhead.

“Not that he wouldn’t relish handing out even more judgment.”

I tugged on the doors, but they held fast. A bolt of lightning erupted from the sky and struck the stairs behind us.

More ancient curses from Rami, and then he unfurled his wings and shot up into the air. Despite being out in the open, I suspected people were too busy running from the impending storm to pay attention to anything happening near the cathedral. That and we flew faster than most human eyes could track.

Stretching my wings wide, I flew up and over the cathedral, following the flash of Rami’s ebony wings down into the burned-out holes of the church ceiling, weaving around the scaffolding and draped fabric. We landed with a thud in the narthex. Although the charred remains of the blaze had been removed, the scent of the fire was still thick in the air. I wondered if it would ever truly be purged from the stone’s long memory.

I squinted down the long rows of columns that were bathed in shadow, the only light coming from above, and that was swiftly fading. The stained glass windows glowed purple and red, despite the darkness that was quickly shrouding everything around us.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, shooting through the gaping ceiling and touching the marble floor without scorching it. Rami and I jumped apart to avoid being burned, and then we positioned ourselves back-to-back in a battle stance we’d used many times over many millennia, our wings stretched out in tandem, and our bodies tensed for the fight.

The blur of white was so fast, even my celestial eyes barely registered it before Gabriel was standing before me, his own wings out and his face set in grim determination.

“You cannot hide her from me forever, Semyaza.”