“You sure turned some heads with that stunt. Half the collective is annoyed you got away with it. The other half are impressed you had the strength to pull it off, and they’re all trying to figure out how to capitalize on your new status. What with everything that’s happened since…”
This was news to Adriel. Estelle only provided limited details.
“Everything that’s happened since? Do you know what they’re going to do with me?” The minute the words came out, Adriel wished she hadn’t asked. His expression turned guarded and he kicked a small, round stone hard enough for it to go skittering down the road ahead of them. When he didn’t answer, she pressed, “Can you at least tell me what happened during those three months I was missing?” Julius’ mouth pressed itself into a straight line. Whatever he knew, he wasn’t talking. “Then what are you doing here?” Frustration ebbed out with the question.
“On the job training, which means you’re supposed to tell me what to do next.”
Unexpected angry heat burned across Adriel’s skin, reddened her face. Yelling at Julius, while satisfying, wouldn’t address the root of her concerns. “You see how this is a problem, right?”
“I see how you’re supposed to tell me what to do next.”
Him repeating it wasn’t going to solve anything.
“I don’t have enough information.”
Julius sighed impatiently. “You’re my teacher, so tell me what you want me to do.” His exaggerated emphasis finally penetrated Adriel’s thick skull.
“Oh.” Her eyes widened.
“Well then, Julius, you need to tell me everything you know about my current assignment.” He raised an eyebrow and circled his hand to indicate she needed to say more. “And anything about my last one you think might be helpful to my ability to complete it.”
Relief sagged his shoulders. “Since you’ve given me a direct order, here’s what I can tell you…” A thunderclap shook the air, made the earth tremble under their feet. With no other warning, Julius disappeared. So much for getting any useful information out of him.
The next thing Adriel felt was an icy cold hand gripping her arm. Night-black darkness descended over her like a cloud bringing with it an unearthly silence. She yanked her arm away hard, but the hand grasping it only tightened painfully. Red eyes gleamed a feral warning when she turned her head toward the source of pain. Vertigo threatened to suck Adriel toward an abyss just out of her line of sight. Her heart galloped into a staccato beat that her ears seemed to feel, rather than hear. Goosebumps pebbled every inch of exposed skin.
A low hissing broke through the sound of her blood rushing through her veins “You took one of mine, I’ll take one of yours.” Breath reeking of death and oozing decay overwhelmed her senses. Out of the hulking darkness, the likeness of the Earthwalker she had recently banished swam toward her, pure terror contorting his face into a silent scream. “Or I will take everything.” Image after image of her friends shrieking in agony swam out of the darkness, then faded back into oblivion. Her ears popped and their screams turned audible. Slamming her hands over her ears did nothing to mute the sounds. Even her own voice raised to its highest pitch couldn’t wash away their tormented cries.
When the darkness finally faded, Adriel found herself huddled in a ball at the end of the cabin’s short driveway; Julius nowhere in sight. Chest still heaving, ears ringing with the sound of her own screams, she made her way to the bathroom and stripped to stand under the steaming spray. Heat returned to chilled limbs slowly, but nothing could wash away the sights and sounds of her friends being dragged into the dark realm while she watched in paralyzed horror.
Too rattled to settle, she paced the twisted path between the boxes from one end of the tiny space to the other—over and over until it felt like her feet might sink into the worn floorboards. Each time she walked past it the phone caught her eye. A magnet pinned Kat’s number to the refrigerator. All she needed to do was pick up the phone, punch the buttons and in no time, the cabin would be filled with the very faces playing through her mind right now.
“Julius!” She called his name loudly. “Estelle. I need you!” As though an invisible dome arched over her head, each cry bounced and echoed back to her—the words falling like stones around her head.
Despair licked at the edge of her thoughts until fury pushed it back. No more. Instead of banking the fire, she let the anger burn higher, brighter, stronger. What erupted from her was more than a request, it was an order backed by every ounce of rage-fueled angel power she had ever had at her disposal. The force of it blew the hair back from her face.
“Come to me, now!”
The form shimmering before her turned out not to be Estelle or Julius. Nope. That would have been too easy.
“You wanted something?” Chiseled features; skin brushed with every shade of gold; pale blue eyes glowing with crystal fire: Malachiel stood in the tiny room. His wings brushed the ceiling, their tips dragged on the floor. No angel ever looked so uncomfortable.
“Don’t bother giving me your patented how-dare-you stare. After what happened earlier, it’s somewhere around the third scariest thing I’ve seen today. Put your wings away and sit down. It’s about time I got some answers.” Watching him try to navigate the room while stubbornly keeping his wings in corporeal form brought a tiny smile.
“Tell me what happened during the time I lost.” She watched his face carefully for anything useful.
“What do you remember?” His eyes flickered.
“I remember every second of eternity except for the time between when I left Hayward House and ended up here. Now tell me what happened
