Even Angels Fall (Book 3)

Kyla

Alexander dives ahead, provoking a laugh out of Wrath. It’s a stupid move, doesn’t this young Angel know he’s unmatched? He’s going to get himself killed and yet he keeps attacking as if he has any chance.

I don’t want to watch the moment Wrath no longer wants to play. I step toward the exit but it’s then I remember Sloth. He is oddly sad, staring across at me. His name comes to my lips and the sight of him, I’ve seen millions of times in my dreams but I cannot recall a single moment.

I hold my head. Nothing is making sense. The last thing I remember was being in the restaurant with Tymician. We were on the run because he believed I was in danger. He thought I would know why. I may not know my origins but these two beasts don’t mean to grab me to take me out for coffee. If they get me, I’ll be dead. I got to get away. I got to get out.

How far am I from home? Am I even in America anymore? When I woke no one was speaking English. The signs on buildings are foreign too. How am I going to get back to Felix?

I look down at my wrist. The bear charm dangles, the only thing that’s the way it was before. Not even my clothes are the same.

“You don’t remember me,”

I snap away from the wall as Sloth steps out of a portal, too close to me.

“Do you, dream girl?”

Alexander cries and his body rolls along the concrete. I watch him as he grips his bloody shoulder. Yet somehow, he manages to sit up. His gaze moves towards me.

Does he want my help? I shake my head. I don’t have any skill. I can’t access the Source. I’m nothing but a broken Fallen. What he saw before wasn’t me. It was something else. It was evil.

Sloth’s rotted fingernail runs down the side of my face. “Don’t be afraid, dream girl. She’ll help you.”

Bewilderment brings my attention to him and I eagerly ask, “You know her? Who is she? What does she want?”

The Dust opens and I reach for him but Sloth shoves backward as three massive Fallen land between us.

I recognize one Soul immediately. Dion and his monstrous form is unforgettable. I met him once years ago and I’ve never forgotten the sight of his Light. Beside him stand twins of Asuras rank in armor that have a special gleam to them. I do not know the appropriate words for it but to call them magically bewitched cannot be far from the truth.

Dion is Tymician’s friend. Does that make him mine?

“Nina.” Dion demands, “You get the hybrid.”

The brown-haired woman sheaths her weapon and calms her Soul. What makes her do such a thing? Doesn’t she know she faces monsters? She spins toward me and I meet her gaze.

Am I the hybrid?

[Run]

The freak in my head orders ruthlessly but I press against the wall unable to follow the command. There is nowhere for me to run. I am trapped between the bad and the worse.

Wrath steps on Alexander’s wounded shoulder, pinning him to the floor making him cry out in agony. “Dion, what are you doing here, boy?”

Sloth appears right in front of me using the Dust as an agile snake. I stare at the back of his head. He keeps in between Nina and me. In doing so, he’s left the entrance free. I can finally make a run for it.

Why did he do that? Why is he acting like my protector?

I can’t tell a friend from an enemy. It is too confusing. I grip my head hearing the woman whisper in my head again to run, “Shut up.” I bite back.

“Dream girl.” Sloth whispers.

I look up and over his shoulder I notice Dion. He plays subtly with the chain at his neck. “That girl belongs to Lucius.” He raises the medallion over his head, revealing the massive scar at the center of his chest.

My eyes transfix as I watch the transformation of his Soul

With the medallion, it was a caged wildfire, licking at the walls of its imprisonment. Without it, those walls melt away and the potential delves into limitless proportion. It becomes an erupting volcano shooting plumes out toward the heavens. He lays the weight of gold at his feet and smugly gazes at his opponent, who no doubt sees exactly what I do. “You aren’t going to be taking her today.”

I take a step back. He’s about to unleash his Soul. I wouldn’t be able to stand under the pressure. I have to get out or he’ll kill me as collateral.

Nina jumps up, bouncing off the wall to gain momentum and comes down from above, her dagger in her hand and falls upon us, forcing Sloth to separate as he jumps out of the way. It doesn’t take her a moment to grip my arm harshly, pushing us toward a ready-made Dust but I scream before I touch it, “Don’t! I can’t use it.”

She stumbles and catches herself, turning her attention quickly upon Sloth who’s regained his footing. He glares steadily upon Nina and the weapon in her hand. He’s realized that it’s a powerful tool that could hurt him if it touches him.

She pushes me behind her, slipping a piece of paper into my palm. “Get out of here.” She orders.

Nina and her twin attack Sloth with their potent weapons and he jumps up the wall to fight them in open space. I watch as Wrath leaves Alexander to face Dion one on one. It gives us the opening we need.

I dash to Alexander and force him to his feet. Blood pours down his shoulder but he’s awake and capable of moving so I manually make him run. We round the corner and it’s at that moment, Dion unleashes his Soul.

A gush of wind and dust blast out of the alley, smacking into the opposite building. Windows shatter and trash and debris fly in wild torrents. The ground vibrates beneath our feet and cracks follow us as we rush down the shaking sidewalk.

Dion is holding back. I can sense it, the blocks he installed inside his Soul to sedate the pulsing Light. He’s saving me.

If everyone’s saving me, why the hell am I kept being told to run.

We stumble constantly. Alexander is weak. His Light is frail. He should return to Heaven but even as I suggest it, he throws the thought aside as if it’s impossible. After so many steps and so much blood, I force him to sit down. I don’t know what I can do but I can attempt the basics.

As he lies on the concrete steps, I rip open his shirt and find the large slash going from the bottom of his ribcage up to the top of his collarbone. It’s an inch thick and bleeding profusely. I wipe the blood with the remains of his shirt the best I can, attempting not to hurt him but he groans.

“You need a doctor.”

He cackles, checking the injury distantly. “I am a doctor.”

“Oh.” I chew my lip unsure what to do next. I dealt with human blood before. At the sandwich shop, coworkers sometimes cut themselves by accident. But his wound is bigger than any Band-Aid. He’ll need stitches. Do Angels require such medical treatments? “If you were Fallen, you’d heal right away, you know?” I smile, jokingly. I want to go to a hospital but I’m not naïve enough to think we’re out of danger. “What should we do?”

“We have to get out of the city.” Yet even as he states it, he makes no move to rise. He’s weak and tired. I’ve not the heart to move him. He requires rest and until we have a set destination, I don’t want to heave him up without a purpose.

“So.” I rub the bare bottoms of my feet, picking pebbles from in between my toes. “Twenty-four days, huh? That sucks.”

He holds a shirt to his wound and it is soaked in blood. And though he should be more concerned, he watches me. Every move I make seems to interest him. There is even a slight smile on his lips as if he’s happy or there’s something funny about this situation.

He’s an odd guy.

“Hasn’t all been bad.”

I gather my black hair up, wishing for a tie to heft it into a ponytail but I give up with an aggravated sigh. My hand rests across my throat; disgustingly aware of the fact my Death Scar goes unveiled. Exposed, alone, scared, my bravado begins to crumble, “Where’s Ty, Alex?”

His blond brows knit and he looks to the cement. From this look alone, I know he’s lying when he responds. “He’s going to meet up with us soon.”

I nod my head, swallowing, blinking my tears. “Who are you? I mean, I’m sorry, thank you for everything but I don’t know you. Where’s Felix? Where’s my brothers and my sisters?” Fear is overtaking me. “Why are these people coming after me? I’m no one. I don’t know what’s going.” My chest hurts so much and I feel the world caving in. I can barely take another breath before Alexander has me in his arms and he holds me close.

“Hey.” He murmurs in my ear. “I’m right here, Kyla. I’m here. You’re okay.”

The sound of his voice, the soothing of his chest, it’s all familiar. It’s a distant familiarity like Sloth was. It’s in my memory somewhere but displaced and far from my reach but it’s there. And it’s comforting.

“I want to go home.”

He runs a bloody hand through my hair. “Okay.”

Alexander walks beside me dragging his feet. He pants heavily and his eyes drift. I can see his Light flickering. He’s dying, slowly. If he doesn’t get any medical treatment, his Light will fade. Yet he’s persistent, staying here with me. Why does he care so much about a stranger?

I remember the paper Nina had given me and I take it out of my pocket.

Alexander questions and I say it aloud, “Lilith hunts your Soul.”

His brows knit as he interprets her warning. I don’t know what to make of it. I’ve never heard of Lilith.

Alexander curses and searches the surrounding area. “Lilith is Nature’s daughter. I can only assume if she’s anything like her mother, she can track us as long as we’re touching the ground. We have to get inside.” He turns toward a building but I can’t manage to follow.

I feel Dion before I see him and his Soul pressurizes and squeezes my limbs. His massive fingers dig into my hair, gripping my tresses harshly, ripping threads as he pulls me to his side. I fall, tripping over my feet, and feel my skin rip against the cement. I cry and claw at his giant fingers that hold my head in its talons.

Dion’s smug voice filters. “You did well, Alex. Tymician’s proud of you but I got it from here.”

“Let her go.”

I hear the cocking of a gun.

Dion chuckles, “You aren’t going to shoot me, Alexander. And even if you do, what makes you think you are capable of touching my Soul?”

“Kyla is important, Dion. She is more important than me, than you, than anything on this planet, and if you think I’ll let you walk away with her, you don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“She is important.” He agrees, “Her blood is going to open the Ten Rips upon this earth and unleash Lucius’ army. She will be a great sacrifice.”

“I can’t let you have her. I believe in her. She’s going to save us all. Put her down. I’m begging you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He scoffs. “Little Newborn. Try to survive the apocalypse. You might prove yourself a worthy man one day.”

Dion turns.

“Dion!” Alexander screams. “Please.”

Dion faces him once more, cackling “I--”

A shot fires.

The jolt vibrates down into my core.

Another shot rings out.

The hold on my hair lessens and soon his hand falls away. I turn to look up at Dion.

A gaping mouth and wide, horror-filled eyes stare down at two bullet wounds protruding from his skin. Blood dribbles from their openings. He stumbles and stutters. His hands seek to touch them, to find out if they are real or a figment of his imagination. He can’t seem to figure out what to do or where to look. His gaze lands on Alexander in wonderment.

I hasten to my feet and run. I run faster and harder than I have ever done. Alexander calls my name but I keep running. I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid for him. He’s slipping and I have no doubt that it’s because of me. I can’t let him surrender his Light. I need to get away, get lost in the world before I can find my family.

I feel her. I feel the pull of her consciousness in my head. She wants out. She wants to be in control. She’ll protect me. She’s the only one I can trust. The words repeat and repeat to the point of a headache. I can’t shut her up.