Fallen Kings

27

Chapter Eighteen

Olivia

F

lying long distance as an angel is possible, but exhausting. We did it in Faerie, of course, but we want to save our energy while getting to Kassiel as quickly as possible. As such, we decide to book a flight to Salt Lake City and go from there. The plane leaves early the next day, and since it’s Saturday we don’t have to skip classes at least. I’ve only been on an airplane twice before and it’s a bit odd to be trapped inside a flying machine when we have wings ourselves, but I’m so focused on rescuing Kassiel I barely notice.

We land around noon, get our things, and head outside the airport, where Jonah and I make our group invisible so we can spread our wings and take off. It takes another hour to get to the location Cyrus told us, an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

As we land just outside it, I’m reminded of the other abandoned house we investigated a few months ago. I pray this place isn’t also a dead end.

Jonah sets Eveanna down and we all ready our weapons. Callan directs us with hand gestures, sending Marcus, Bastien, Araceli, and Tanwen to approach from the air around back, while Callan, Jonah, and Eveanna are with me on the ground in the front. I draw out Lilith’s daggers, one glowing brightly, the other writhing with shadows, as I nod at Callan.

I’m ready. I’m so f*****g ready.

It’s mid-afternoon now and the sun is bright and hot, bolstering the angels’ powers. We approach through the overgrown field slowly, carefully stepping over rusted metal fences. I lose sight of the other group in the air, but I can see the farmhouse clearly up ahead. Peeling white paint. A quaint little porch with a swing creaking in the breeze. Dusty windows. No sign of life anywhere.

The second I step on the porch a loud alarm blares. Callan shoves me back, blocking me with his large body and his huge sword. Angels pour out of the house wielding weapons, and our group stands back to back in the front lawn, ready for their ambush.

As the fighters reach us, Callan shows everyone why he really should be at the head of the angelic armies. With one hand he shoots bursts of Erelim burning light, and with the other he slices through the crowd with his sword. Jonah shows off the moves he learned in Faerie with his own sword, and rocks fly at our opponents thanks to Eveanna’s powers.

None of them let anyone get close to me. I wield my daggers, prepared to fight, but I’m well-protected. I can do something else though. As more angels surge forward, I unleash my succubus powers on them, inciting their desire. A few men and women drop their weapons and gaze at me with feral lust, and I give them a seductive smile. “Kneel to me.”

They drop to their knees and the others knock them out. No need to kill them if we don’t have to—especially if they’re trapped in the Order like Cyrus was. He’s with my Dad now, who’s promised to get Cyrus’s entire family into some sort of protective custody.

As we approach the porch again, more angels swarm us and it’s way too many for me to control when I’ve only been feeding on Bastien and Marcus for a while. Callan’s face is a mask of rage as one angel after another tries to get at me. They must have orders to capture me because they are relentless. One of them shoots an Erelim beam of light toward me, but a shield of shimmering gold goes up to protect me just in time. Callan’s Archangel power. I’ve seen it once before when we were fighting the Duskhunters.

There’s fighting in the air above us too. Marcus and Bastien fly overhead, fighting together to hold off the attackers on the roof. Tanwen swoops over us, blasting angels with light and wielding her Valkyrie sword. Araceli flies right behind her and lands beside Jonah, engulfing one of the angels he’s fighting in flames.

“Whoa,” he shouts as he jumps back.

“Sorry! I’m still learning.” A few more bolts of fae flame shoot out of her hands and hit two of the angels running toward me with their swords raised.

Still no sign of Grace though. Or Kassiel. They must be inside.

With everyone distracted, I weave my way through the fighting, slicing down anyone in my path with my daggers. I make it inside the farmhouse and it’s quiet in here. Way too quiet. I hear a footstep behind me and spin around to find Eveanna’s followed me.

“I sense people in the basement,” she says. “This way.”

I hurry after her as she busts through a locked door with her shoulder and takes us down a staircase. The lights in the basement are blindingly bright, but I immediately focus in on two things—Kassiel, beaten and chained to a wall, and Grace, holding the Staff of Eternity as it glows white. She grins in triumph as she points it at me and a beam of light shoots at my chest, sending burning pain through my body and knocking me back against the stone wall.

“Get her!” Grace commands, as I gasp through the pain and struggle to stand. Two angels rush after me, but Eveanna makes the wall crumble and collapse on them, keeping them at bay. It gives me just enough time to get up, and my eyes land on Kassiel’s unconscious body. When I see his condition, my fury chokes me. I send out a wave of succubus power and it forces the other angels to submit to me, but Grace isn’t weakened by it at all. She narrows her eyes and shoots another beam of light at me from the Staff, but this time I manage to dodge it just before it sears a hole into the wall.