Angel's Shield (12 page)

“Most angels can move pretty fast when they need to,” Jeremiel
said, still instructing Charmeine. “Just watch out for unexpected currents. We’re
in the midst of a high pressure system right now, so things should be pretty
calm overall.”

Haniel watched her nod, biting her lip in concentration. They’d
taken an hour to eat and find her something else to wear—a simple halter-top—but
they’d had to hurry. She reassured her friends at the diner that she was only
going for a week, but Haniel could tell her boss knew something more was happening.
The look in Marvin’s eyes said he realized she might not come back. Haniel hadn’t
the heart to reassure him, though Jeremiel had made an attempt. Then, directly
after returning to Charmeine’s property, they’d taken off, dragging Haniel up
into the heavens between them.

“You doing okay?” Jeremiel asked.

Haniel nodded. He knew Gabriel was desperate to get to the castle and
didn’t really want to know about his aching biceps. He’d sensed a quiet urgency
when Jeremiel had told him what the Alpha had said: demons massing on the
western border of Castle Alpha, just at the edge of the lake. More demons than
they could fight off with the handful of warriors at the Castle.

“I thought there were a lot more angels in the world,” Charmeine
said, turning her head so she’d be heard over the wind. “What could we possibly
do to help? There are only three of us and I don’t know a thing about
fighting.”

Haniel grimaced. “There used to be a lot more of the People. More
clans, more loners. Our numbers plummeted during our parents’ generation. We
had a demon-bound Alpha for decades and none of us knew it. I think that had a
lot to do with what happened.”

“We think his influence infected our People. A lot of us died
mysteriously, or disappeared. Many faded into the mist.” Jeremiel’s voice
shook. “We don’t talk about it much and especially not with humans.”

Charmeine’s hands tightened on Haniel’s arms. “Because you don’t
want the humans to freak out, do you? That would surely plunge the entire world
into darkness, if people thought the angels had deserted them forever.”

Haniel didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. She was right.

****

Two hours later Haniel’s arms hurt like hell and he knew they
weren’t flying fast enough. His initial optimism had faded like a stone falling
into a pond. You could see the ripples it left behind, but once the water
smoothed over, there was nothing to hold onto. He had to convince them to let
him go. Their people depended on it.

“It’s time to let go,” he said finally, struggling a little.

Jeremiel cursed and hauled him in. He obviously knew exactly what
Haniel meant. They dipped down, almost hitting trees before Charmeine was able
to pull them back up. A small town dotted the wooded landscape to their east,
like a fake display in a model shop. It looked so peaceful, but Haniel knew it
was only a matter of time before the demons destroyed everything if Castle
Archangel fell. He couldn’t let that happen.

“What are you talking about?” Charmeine gasped at him. Her hair
was knotted and her skin pale. Her beautiful eyes looked so tired Haniel could
see his own resignation peering out at him from within their depths.

“You have to let me go. I’m dragging you down,” he told her.

“No fucking way,” Jeremiel muttered.

“Yeah, what he said,” Charmeine said, outraged. Her fingers
tightened around his bicep.

“Let go of me.” Haniel tugged again.

“What are you doing? Stop it,” Charmeine begged. She hung on,
digging her fingers in even harder. It hurt.

“I’m holding you back. You
have
to get there. They need the
shield,” Haniel said, gritting his teeth. It wasn’t like he
wanted
to
fall to his death. “I’m a liability.”

“Shut. Up.” Jeremiel wrenched him closer, anger in his movements. “I
am not letting you fall, you damned idiot.”

Haniel tried to pull away, but he only succeeded in wrecking their
flight. Charmeine gasped, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Stop!”

He went limp, not wanting to take them down with him. To his
shock, that proved successful where his more active attempts to get them to let
go failed. His body was loose enough that he simply slipped through their
fingers. His stomach gave a sick flip, and then he was falling. He closed his
eyes, holding their faces in his mind’s eye. He wanted them to be the last
thing he saw on this Earth. When something grabbed his leg, spinning him in the
air sickeningly, he thought he’d struck a cliff. His eyes shot open
instinctively. To his shock, it was Jeremiel who’d grabbed hold of his ankle.

“You fool!” Jeremiel shouted angrily. “I’m going to kick your ass
from here to Castle Archangel for this!”

Charmeine swooped down, incredibly graceful, and wrapped her legs
around his waist, boosting them back into the air.

“Let me go!” Haniel cried out. He’d already accepted what had to
happen.

“I choose you, you idiot,” Jeremiel said.

Haniel froze.
He couldn’t be…

“I choose you, Haniel.” Jeremiel looked to Charmeine. “I choose
you also, Charmeine, shield to my soul, balm to my heart. Where you go, I
follow. Where I am, you will be. Where we are needed, we will go, bulwark for
our People, safeguard for the innocent, as God wills.”

Haniel couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The bonding ceremony was
sacred. He couldn’t believe Jeremiel was doing this.

“I choose you, Haniel, shield to my soul, balm to my heart.” Charmeine
said, shockingly.

How does she know the
words?
Haniel
wondered, and then he realized it was all instinct.

She glanced at Jeremiel. “And I choose you, Jeremiel. Where you
go, I follow. Where I am, you will be. Where we are needed, we will go, bulwark
for our People, safeguard for the innocent, as God wills.” Charmeine’s voice
broke on the end and tears streamed down her face.

Jeremiel gave Haniel a shake, breaking him from his frozen
astonishment. “Say it!”

Haniel sucked in a breath and gave in. He loved them, more than
life itself. He was willing to die for them. He wanted to live for them even
more. “I choose you, Jeremiel and Charmiene. You are the shield to my soul, the
balm to my heart. Where you go, I follow. Where I am, you will be. Where we are
needed, we will go, bulwark for our People, safeguard for the innocent, as God
wills.”

A sudden clap of thunder shook the air and he cried out as energy
flashed through him, burning long dead nerves.
Oh my God, what’s happening?
he wondered a split second before his
right arm burst into white flame so bright he couldn’t look at it. He turned
away, screaming, but then everything stopped. They stopped falling. The pain
disappeared. The wind stilled, but it didn’t matter because when he opened his
eyes and reached out, his new wings stretched out behind him in a multicolored
wave of brilliance.

Haniel wasn’t ashamed to admit that he cried as he felt the wind
in his wings for the first time in over two years.

Chapter Ten

“Almost there,” Jeremiel said, pushing a little faster.

Charmeine didn’t reply. She didn’t have the energy to speak. She
had to concentrate too hard to keep up with him and Haniel, who was the
freshest of the three of them. His wings were a mirror of Jeremiel’s: brown and
grey and blue and white with a hint of pink at the edges. She’d never seen
anything so beautiful, until she’d caught a glimpse of her own wings. They were
the same as theirs. They were just as beautiful and strange and amazing. And
they were
hers.
The past twenty-four hours had been a roller-coaster of
events, both wonderful and tragic, enough so that she couldn’t wrap her brain
around it all, but she supposed it didn’t matter. They had more important
things to deal with than her internal confusion.

“It’s just over that ridge.” Haniel pointed.

Charmeine squinted into the setting sun. The ridge looked like a
dark, soft blanket against the purple-gold sky, but then she saw something more
that chilled her to the bone: fire. Tiny fires dotted the trees below like
diamonds thrown into dirt.

“Why are the trees burning?” she whispered, aghast.

Jeremiel stared down, face intent. “Demonfire.”

“That’s bad, right?” she said, disturbed. “Won’t it spread?” The
thought of a huge fire decimating the natural forest below made her want to
cry.

“Very bad,” Haniel muttered, speeding up.

Charmeine pushed herself harder, just barely managing to match his
sudden burst of energy. Her lungs burned, her wings ached, and her eyes watered
as the wind shoved against them. The acrid taint of demon soot coated her hair
and she shook it out, trying not to think about the ash’s composition.

“There,” Jeremiel said, banking right. He folded his wings and
dove down toward a glittering lake. A gorgeous castle rose up behind it, lit
like something out of a fairytale.

When Charmeine looked down, she gasped in horror. Demons moved
over the land like a horde of insects invading a new territory. Their scales
were black and red and there were so many, the ground resembled a carpet of oil
slicking downhill. She shuddered and followed her mates, struggling to call the
energy of the shield. She was so tired, she worried she wouldn’t be able to
fight at all.

“Oh no, Gabriel is surrounded. Two demon lords, God help us,”
Haniel said. “Look, there.” Jeremiel immediately altered his course, flying by
the stones of the castle so fast Charmeine had to pull in her wings or risk
crashing. There were angels fighting, but not enough to hold back that tide of
malevolence. She landed on the huge stone steps roughly, hands out to catch her
fall. Jeremiel landed lightly and rushed forward, his blade out and slashing.
Haniel followed him. She had no weapon, so she concentrated on catching her
breath. When it was time, she would initiate the shield.

“You’re the one,” a voice said from behind her.

She whirled around, nearly falling when she saw an angel with
huge, slate grey wings looming over her. He held out his arms. Tiny white scars
flecked his skin, cutting patterns along his legacy marks. On his forearms, a
thin silver blade shimmered in the firelight.

“This is for you,” he said.

She pulled her wits together. “You don’t know me.”

He laughed. “You’re the mate of Haniel and Jeremiel. That’s all I
need to know.” He nodded down at the weapon. “And I made this for you.”

“You must Zeke,” she said slowly, working it out as she took him
in.

He smiled. “I am. Take the weapon.”

She grabbed it carefully, amazed at how light and balanced it
felt. The hilt was wrapped with black wire and she clenched her fingers around
it. It was perfect. “How—?”

He shrugged, then frowned as he looked down into the battle. “It’s
what I do.” He turned to her. “I must go and help stem the tide of demon-kind.
You will know what to do when the time comes.”

Before she could respond, he was gone. She lifted the point,
holding it steady in front of her. The energy of the shield shimmered in her
gut, and the sword began glow and crackle. Abruptly, she realized that she
could use it as a focus to ground the shimmer-shield. When she looked out over
the courtyard, she knew it was time. Jeremiel had managed to extract the Alpha
and they were retreating to where she stood. Haniel watched their back. There
was no sign of the demon lords anymore.
They
must have killed them,
she realized.
Good!
Of course, that doesn’t help much when all their minions are still out there
and wild with revenge, now.
She clenched her teeth and waited. She needed
the shield to be perfect. A new angel swooped down, his wings snowy white with
gold tips. Instinctively, she knew this was their healer, the Omega Raphael.

“Charmeine! Now! It’s time!” Jeremiel yelled before he was even at
the steps.

She concentrated, calling the energy up from the ground and
through her body. It sped out from her like a wall, touching the angels still
fighting. Their wings lit up where it hit them, almost painting them with
light. One couple’s wings were blue and they grinned fiercely at each other as
the shield swept past them. They clasped hands and more energy surged into the
shield.

They must be Ariel and Suriel, the sorcerers,
Charmeine thought, grateful that
they knew how to add their strength to the shield. Zeke and a dark-haired man
with caramel-colored skin fought south of them.
That must be Nathaniel with
the weapons master.
She was glad she wouldn’t be the only person here with
human blood in her background. She didn’t look like the other angels and she’d
worried that they wouldn’t accept her.

“Good, Charmeine. Just keep the anchor stable,” Haniel said,
stumbling next to her. His blade dripped black ichor that dissipated into ash
before it hit the ground.

“There are too many of them,” she cried, scared to death. “I don’t
know how long I can do this.” The demons that hit the shield vaporized, but
there were so many more she couldn’t imagine the shield holding against them
all.