Hunted tgl-3 (23 page)

We materialized on the rooftop helipad on U.S. Bank Tower. While the others peered at the buildings around us, I studied the sky. There was a heavy haze over the city and a few planes heading to LAX, but there was no sign of the cloudy mass hiding the Tribunal’s army.

“How are you going to contact them?” Lucien asked from behind me.

“By sending a signal, but first there’s something you need to know. Don’t threaten them in any way because they’ll react and you won’t like it.”

“But I heard they were loyal to us,” Lucien said, his voice rising.

“To me, not all Guardians.” Even as the words left my mouth, I worried. Our last meeting hadn’t been fun. The monkey on my back was calm now, but I knew the tingle would begin when Dante and Kael appeared. “When attacked, they’ll defend themselves.”

He swallowed. The others stared at me as though they weren’t sure whether to believe me or not. The twins were having a heated telepathic argument about me. They were so loud I couldn’t help overhearing them.

Arrogant? Unfit to lead a mission? That rankled. Hadn’t I offered to feed them? Put up with Solaris’s snarky comments? It wasn’t as if they were model Guardians either.

“Ready?” I interrupted them rudely.

“Not yet,” Solaris said.

“Listen, you can discuss my shortcomings later. We need to do this now.” The sky was still murky, but at least there were no planes. I focused on a position, then willed a bolt of lightning to appear above the city. It went straight into the air, then split in four different directions.

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.

Order them to get us out of here
, Solaris telepathed me.

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.

Be safe
, Kael warned him, then glanced my way and ordered, “Follow me.”

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.

A
ngels?

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.

Refusing to panic, I studied the white wings rising behind the one in front of me. They were massive. Impressive. My eyes locked with the angel’s and I shivered. I’d never seen such coldness in anyone’s eyes, not even a demon’s. But then again, he wasn’t an ordinary angel. He was an archangel, an annihilator, one of the angel hordes that had defeated our forefathers and sent them to Tartarus.

I swallowed and glanced at Dante, who was to my right. His eyes didn’t shift from the archangel, though his expression was amused, which didn’t make sense. Dante wasn’t the smiling kind.

“Everything will be okay, Lilith,” he reassured me softly.

We’d be lucky to make it off the roof in one piece. The archangels were big and buff. The blond facing me wore a white tunic like a suit of armor, along with a gold kilt-like wrap, gold sandals and a matching cape. His eyes were an indeterminate color. The sword sheathed on his side was long, the hilt golden too, but he didn’t pull it out. Instead, he crossed his arms and studied me like a principal who’d caught a student ditching school.

I stared right back, realizing he was trying to get inside my head.
In your dreams, pal
. I was armed with memories, happy ones. The ones he’d tried to steal from me.

A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, then disappeared. My heart pounding, I glanced over my shoulder. Esras, the twins and Kael had closed in, their backs to us in a defensive stance, weapons ready. They were no longer covering their ears. The other two archangels faced them, their attitude equally condescending.

“Dante,” the one in front of us said in a deep, rumbling voice that vibrated my bones. A sneer marred his perfect face as he stared at Dante. “I can’t say it is nice to see you again. How long as it been?”

“A couple of centuries. Give or take a decade. What do we owe the honor of your presence, Raphael?”

“We want the girl,” the archangel said without glancing at me.

“You can’t have her,” Dante declared.

“My fight is not with you, Dante. Not this time,” Raphael said and pulled out his sword. “But I will fight you to get her. The little imp is an abomination.”

“She is just a little girl,” Dante retorted, stepping forward, wings flexing.

“If only that were true, but you and I know what she will become. She was never meant to be born.”

Dante chuckled. “Yet here she is. Once she was, there was no stopping those sworn to protect her. How long have you been searching for her now, Raphael?”

The archangel didn’t like that. His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. “Were you the one hiding her before her powers manifested? Is that why we couldn’t find her?”

“No, love shielded her. I’m just one in a line of her protectors. You can’t stop her from fulfilling her destiny.”

Hysterical laughter filled the air, but I didn’t realize it came from me, until the archangel turned those cold eyes on me. What color were his eyes anyway? They seemed to change every few seconds.

“What is so amusing, imp?” Raphael thundered.

“You,” I said, surprised at how calm I sounded. “Don’t you know that love trumps hate?”

“Don’t lecture me on love,” he bellowed.

“As an archangel, all you know is how to follow orders. You don’t understand love, not like we and humans do. It explains why you hurt all those people. Most of them sold their souls in the first place to help those they loved.”

“They will understand that every action has consequences.”

“How? You wiped out their memories,” I retorted.

“They will have their memories back once they die, and an eternity to relive their past.”

“That is what all this is about—free will. Master Haziel’s ramblings about fates and my survival makes sense now. My survival was guided by love, not fate. I mean, what are the odds of a powerful Cardinal falling in love and marrying a human? Very low, but they chose to stay together and damn the consequences.”

He glowered. “Your grandfather started this chain of events with his recklessness. Your leaders should have stopped him.”

“Perhaps they knew the kind of Guardian my grandfather is, the kind that doesn’t give up when faced with obstacles and believes in the power of love. My parents falling in love wasn’t fated either. They chose each other despite the odds.” Even though Raphael didn’t respond, his eyes said I was right. “Are Bran and I fated to be together because of the choices those who loved me made or the choice he and I have made and will make?”

The archangel took a step forward. “You and the young man—”

“Will survive this,” Dante finished, shifting, so he stood slightly between me and the archangel.

“That is the problem with your kind. Too many choices,” Raphael said without any inflection in his voice. “Look at you, Dante, her champion. You are ready to die for her, yet the last time we met you were in the service of her father and believed in his cause. Fickle as humans and twice as arrogant, your loyalty is worth nothing.”

Dante chuckled. “That is the beauty of having free will, Raphael. Something we have, and you don’t. We can think for ourselves, make our own decisions. Like the child said, you do as commanded, without thought, questions or doubt, like a puppet on a string.”

There was a roar and Raphael charged. Dante boldly moved forward too, but the clash of steel against steel didn’t follow. Instead, a whooshing sound came from above, then a wing dropped on the roof between them with a sickening thud, forcing both of them to stop. White feathers floated in the air just as another wing followed. Though chopped from their bases, there was no blood, just a weird glow where flesh should have been.

We all looked up.

Bran gave a mocking bow toward Raphael, his wings flapping furiously. “Sorry for my untimely arrival. You can either continue and lose more of yourselves, or find your friend before the humans do, archangels.”

“This is not possible,” Raphael bellowed, pointing his sword at Bran. “How did you do this, Nephil?”

“Easy. With this,” Bran raised his dagger.

“Find Samuel,” Raphael yelled to the other two angels. “And get him too.”

While he issued orders, Dante issued his own by telepathing something to Kael. All I managed to hear was “now”, then Kael grabbed my arm. “Follow me. You too,” he added to the three Cardinals.

We took off at the same time as the other two angels. The surprised look on Raphael’s face was the last thing I saw before we disappeared, though I wasn’t sure whether it was from seeing us teleport or Dante rushing him.

We spanned the globe—Chicago, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and London, then materialized on an empty floor of a building. Lucien stopped peering at the sky through the floor to ceiling windows when we appeared.

“Finally,” he said, hurrying to us. “I thought you were dead. He…the other nature-bender said you were in trouble and ordered me to stay put or he’d make me sorry. Where is he?”

“Making sure we got away safely,” Kael snapped, then walked to the window to study the sky too. I wanted to follow him and reassure him, but first things first.

I turned to face the four Cardinals. Every conversation we’d had zipped through my mind. I’d treated them like newbies, and they’d let me. I walked to where they stood and handed Esras the sword. My voice was calm when I spoke, even thought I was furious. “Why wasn’t I told you were Cardinals?”

“I didn’t like the idea to begin with,” Esras said, then glanced at the twins. “It’s why we arrived late in the alley.”

“Was this some sort of practical joke you three cooked up or another one of Master Haziel’s brilliant teaching moments?”

This time, no one responded. Either they didn’t want to tattle on Master Haziel or they were guilty. I couldn’t look at them without feeling like a total idiot, so I turned and rejoined Kael.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I will be.”

“What happened?”

The urge to vent washed over me, but I squashed it. His concern for me was instinctive, but he was more worried about Dante, who still hadn’t appeared.

“Long story,” I said and glanced out the window. Below us, the city spread like an oasis in a desert. Above, not a single cloud marred the vast blue sky, which meant we were safe. Was Bran safe? Just because I didn’t feel his pain didn’t mean they hadn’t captured him. Even thinking about it made my chest hurt. I had so much to tell him and so many questions.

“They’ll be okay,” I said.

Kael nodded. “Of course. Dante is unstoppable, and Llyr might be reckless but he’s smart.”

Despite his words, he was worried. Even though the tingle on my back returned, the writings didn’t shoot to my hand, so I knew it was safe to touch him.

I reached out and gripped his hand.

Kael lowered his head and studied our linked hands, then me. He smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, then let it go. “You are good for the Nephilim, Lilith. I don’t care what that archangel said. It will be an honor to fight by your side.”

I shivered, imagining fighting the archangels. “Do you think we’ll have to fight them?”

He nodded. “Yes. The Tribe never stops once they’ve received a directive. We’ll need an army. Dante and I are not alone. You can count on us and our friends to protect you. There will be many casualties, but this time, they’ll have some too. We just need to know how Bran chopped off that angel’s wings. No Nephilim, Guardian or demon, has ever done that before.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Oh yes. Angel wings are not just the symbol of their glory. They contain most of their powers. Chop them off and an angel becomes useless. All they can do is ascend, if they are strong enough even to do that. In most cases, they stay in their physical form until one of their own finds them and helps them ascend.”

“Is that why they cut off our forefathers’ wings?” Lucien asked from behind us. I hadn’t realized he’d joined us until he spoke. I want to tell him to go away, but there was something cute about him. He didn’t have the edgy ruthlessness of the other three, who were smart enough to keep their distance.

Kael nodded. “Yes, young Guardian. Before the Principalities were banished into the abyss, they chopped off their wings first, making it impossible for them to ascend or use their powers. The lucky ones escaped with their wings but lost their feathers, making them more powerful than the average Nephilim, but still not as strong as an archangel. That is what makes Dante and Bran very unique.”

Maybe that explained Bran’s ability to chop their wings off.

“If we can’t defeat them, can we summon the Tribunal?” I asked.

He winced. “Don’t use that name.”

“You believe
it
can hear us?”

“It does. Say it often enough and loud enough, and the court will convene right here.” He looked behind us and concern flickered in his green eyes.

I turned to find Dante had appeared and was busy inspecting one of his massive bat-like wings. It had a fresh wound, as did his right cheek. A hollow feeling settled in my stomach even as Kael and I rushed to his side.

“Where’s Bran?” I asked.

Dante looked around and frowned. “He was right behind me.”

A quick scan and I swallowed. I couldn’t detect Bran’s presence.

“When did you last see him?” I asked in a high-pitched voice.

“We teleported together, dodging their lightning bolts.” A horrified expression crossed Dante’s bruised face. “They must have destroyed the last telegate.”

My heart sank. Blasting a telegate was like lighting a fuse line attached to fireworks. The path of destruction followed whoever was teleporting, instantly killing them and leaving nothing behind.

“We have to find him,” I said.

The cardinals nodded. They still had their swords out.

Dante jerked his head. “The last teleport was in—”

Bran’s sudden appearance cut him off. Still high on adrenaline rush, he had a broad grin on his lips and a sparkle in his emerald eyes, dimples flashing. His wings, shirt, pants and coat were muddy, but he had no bruises I could see or feel. Relief left me weak.

“Hey, sunshine,” he said, then sauntered toward me at the same time as I ran across the room.

“What happened?” Dante asked sharply, not masking his irritation.

“They blew the telegate with me in it. I had to get off and loop my path like crazy before coming here. Good thing you told me where you were headed. Locking onto Lil’s energy helped pinpoint your exact location.” He pulled me in his arms and held me tight.

I’m okay
, he reassured me.

I thought they got you
.

Me too. I’m okay. Really
. For a moment, he just held me, until I stopped shaking, then he kissed my temple, leaned back and studied my face. “That was some signal you sent. I thought the Tribe got you.”

“They almost…because of them,” I added andjerked my head toward the Cardinals before I could stop myself. I immediately regretted it. Blaming them for refusing to leave was pointless now. “No, that’s not completely true. They don’t know Dante and Kael and didn’t want to leave with them, which is understandable.”

Bran glanced over his shoulder at Esras and the twins. “What are you doing outside the valley without the gang?”

“Trying to find you,” I said. “The others went to Xenith to say their goodbyes.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“They’re closing the portal until this mess with the Tribe is over.”

Bran shook his head. “I knew about the portal. I was asking why you were trying to find me.”

“Master Haziel’s orders. Did you find Jethro?”

“No. I was closing in on a lead when I saw your signal. On my way to you, I noticed an archangel circling in the air and saw the ones on the roof. He didn’t see me coming. By the time he did, he’d lost one wing. He started to fall, but I was faster.”