Lucien’s murmur of awe was cut short by the appearance of Kael. Seven feet tall with black slacks, matching shirt and a leather duster, and wraparound glasses which made his short, blond hair appear even lighter, he looked fierce.
He ignored the others and bowed toward me, a frown furrowing his forehead. He also kept his distance. Just as well, since the energy on my back was dying to be released.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Jethro is missing and Bran is searching for him. Can you help us find him?”
“Sure.”
I fought to control my powers, thinking of all the times the nature-benders had helped us. “Where’s Dante?”
“He’s checking the perimeter.” Then he nodded at someone behind me.
I turned to find Dante had materialized, diamonds glittering on his ears, bat-like wings closing behind him like a cloak. He watched me warily. My gaze went to his arm even though it was covered with his coat.
“It’s okay,” I reassured him, smiling. The power was responding to my thoughts and reducing in intensity. “I have everything under control.”
He cocked his brow.
“Okay, almost,” I amended.
“Good, because we need to leave. Now.”
“But you just got here. I have questions—”
“They’ll have to wait.” He glanced at the sky, then cut me a censuring look. “You were supposed to send a subtle signal, not give them a beacon to follow. It won’t be long before they get here. Let’s go.”
“We’re not…we can’t…” Solaris stuttered.
Dante’s head snapped toward her. “Do whatever you wish, Guardian. Lilith is leaving. Come on. I can feel them.”
“So can I.” It was the same energy I’d sensed at Mrs. Watts’, only stronger. Despite the tug on my energy, I didn’t see any lightning clouds.
“I’ll go with you!” Lucien called out, teleporting to my side.
I glanced at Esras, then the twins. They were busy glancing around, searching for our would-be attackers. Esras already had two daggers in his hands. “Come on, guys. Master Haziel warned us not to fight them. We have to leave now.”
“Then you shouldn’t have sent that signal,” Solaris retorted.
“Follow me,” Dante ordered and teleported.
“Go, Lucien. I’m right behind you,” I fibbed. As soon as he dematerialized, I reached for my dagger. “Okay. We have a thing about not leaving our people behind, so if you stay, I’ll stay.”
Surprise flashed across the three Guardians’ faces.
“You can’t stay,” Kael protested. “You’re not ready to fight them.”
“That’s beside the point now. You should leave, Kael. I release you from your oath.” There was no point in having him die because of a bunch of idiots.
The first cloud popped up to our right as the words left my mouth. My heart dropped. Ready or not, we were fighting. Civilian Guardians, even the ones trained to guard Xenith like Esras and the twins, were no match for demons, but there was no time to whine about it.
A second and a third demon appeared in quick succession
“Don’t let them get inside your heads,” I warned, my grip tightening on the hilt of the dagger. “Think of things and people you love, happy memories.”
My eyes widened when I saw the daggers in Esras’ hands shimmer and shift as they elongated until he held swords. He tossed one to Lunaris, who caught it with her left hand. An alpha energy ball appeared above her right. Solaris held a wire-tipped whip and an energy ball, too.
Security Guardians? I didn’t think so. Only Cardinals had the abilities to manipulate elements. By the time I glanced back at Esras, he had a sword ready for me.
“Catch.” He threw it.
I sheathed my dagger and plucked the sword from the air. Adrenaline shot through my veins, my heart pumping with dread at what we were about to face, and with it was relief that Esras and the twins weren’t SGs after all. Why hide the fact that they were Cardinals?
“Leave, Kael,” I yelled, even though I wished he would stay. “This is not your battle.”
“I disagree, princess.” He pulled out a stick of some kind and pressed a button at its base. Three blades with serrated edges shot out, then coalesced together. “I took an oath, and a Prime never goes back on his word.”
“True,” Dante said from behind me, having reappeared without our knowledge. I grinned with relief. Our chances kept getting better. “I knew something was wrong when you didn’t follow us,” he added and looked up at the three demons. “How long have they been circling?”
“Theyjust appeared,” Kael said.
“Think happy thoughts or mentally go to your happiest memories. No matter what, don’t let them get inside your heads or they’ll make you see your worst nightmares.”
“I know,” Dante said and drew out a long, serrated dagger. “Get ready to attack when I give a signal.”
“No,” Esras interjected. “We can’t do this now.”
“It’s too late,” I snapped. “You chose to stay, so we fight.”
“It’s never too late to regroup, Cardinal,” Esras said quickly, his gaze swinging from Kael to Dante, but the two nature-benders ignored him, their gazes on me.
“Lil!” The twins snapped.
I glanced at them. They didn’t look so confident anymore either.
I was tempted to ignore her, but they were right. We weren’t ready. “Can we make it out of here, Dante?”
He exchanged a glance with Kael. “If one of us leads you away while another plays decoy.”
“I’m not leaving you behind to fight them alone,” Kael snapped. “You won’t survive.”
Dante shrugged. “I’m not fighting them. We know this world, they don’t. A lot has changed since they were last here. Loop and meet me at our building in ten.”
Their hands brushed. It happened so fast I thought I’d imagined it, until I felt the flow of intense emotion between the two. Who said demons couldn’t love? These two had something good going on.
Before we could leave, a high-pitch sound vibrated the air around us. I blocked my ears, but it was useless. I retreated to a place where nothing could touch me, a place of love and happiness with people I loved. The sound receded as though I’d lowered its intensity.
I let go of my ears and looked around. The others were blocking their ears too, except Dante and Kael. Before I could remind them to think about their loved ones, the roof shook and I turned to find its source.
For a moment, I was too blinded by the brilliant light coming from the cloudy mass to see anything. Another thud followed, then a third one. All three demons were on the roof with us. Unable to move, I watched with morbid fascination as the cloud dissolved away and the light grew dimmer, until the being at its core became visible.
My jaw dropped, the sword almost slipping from my grip.
- 15 -
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Angels?
No wonder our amulets hadn’t reacted to their energy. Everything made sense now. The thick clouds. The bright lights. The high-pitched sounds angels called music that shattered glass surfaces. Even their ability to harm humans and get away with it was so typical of angels.
