Fallen Kings

30

“Obviously not, since we were able to track it down without a problem, and then the Order was able to steal it,” Bastien says. “Faerie may have been safe before, but no longer.”

“I’m sorry, but he’s right,” I tell Eveanna. “We can’t send the Staff back to Faerie. It’s what the Order will expect. But if we can do anything to convince the High King to allow you to return home, we’ll do it, I promise.”

“We can take it to my father,” Kassiel says, his voice still weak but firm. “He created it with Michael, and together they sent it to Faerie. He can keep it hidden again now. Or destroy it.”

“No way,” Callan says. “I’m willing to give you a pass, but we don’t know if we can trust your father. Things might have changed since he sent the Staff to Faerie.”

“Who do you suggest instead?” Kassiel asks. “One of the Archangels? We can’t trust them either.”

“He’s right,” Jonah says. “While you were searching for Kassiel, we learned from Jeremy that Aerie Industries is controlled by the Order. That could include Jophiel.”

Callan sits back with a frown. His mother became the CEO of Aerie Industries after Azrael stepped down from the position to become the Archangel leader. We definitely can’t trust her. I haven’t totally forgiven him, but I hate the pain that blooms on his face. After losing his father, the thought that his mother could be corrupt and working against everything his father stood for must be torture.

“What about our other parents?” Marcus asks. “Raphael? Uriel? Gabriel?”

Bastien shakes his head. “No. We can’t trust anyone except ourselves.”

“Jonah was right when he said it’s too powerful for any Archangel or Archdemon to possess,” Araceli says. “Especially now that we know Azrael is working with the Order too.”

“He’s Grace’s father,” Kassiel says. “She’s able to use the Staff because she has his blood, and she was doing all this to prove herself to him, so he would publicly acknowledge her as his child.”

I nearly spit out my coffee at this revelation. “That explains a lot, and if Azrael is working with the Order, there is nowhere that is safe for the Staff. We have to destroy it.”

“Are you sure that’s what you wish to do?” Eveanna asks.

I nod, my mouth set in a grim line. “It’s the only way things will ever be truly safe for both demons and angels. If one side has it, the other side will always be at risk. Lucifer and Michael tried to leave it with the fae, but that only lasted so long. The Staff must be destroyed.”

“But…how?” Jonah asks. “Fae relics are nearly impossible to destroy.”

I touch the remains of the necklace on my chest. I’m still wearing it, even though its power is gone. “There must be a way.”

“Oh, Liv, what happened?” Araceli asks, leaning forward to look at the damage. “Your mother’s necklace is ruined.”

“Grace shot me with a bolt of light right in the chest, and I think the necklace absorbed the blow.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus says, reaching across the table to take my hand. “I know that necklace meant a lot to you.”

“What’s done is done,” I say with a sigh. “But it shows that fae relics can be destroyed. Including the Staff.”

Once we’re done eating, we continue flying back to Angel Peak, but we stop in the middle of the hot, dry Nevada desert to perform our tests on the Staff. There’s no one around us for hundreds of miles, and nothing but empty, flat land and a couple tumbleweeds.

We prop the Staff up between some rocks and then stand back. Way back.

“I’ll try light,” Callan says, rubbing his hands together. He throws up one of his golden Archangel shields, and it shimmers in the air in front of us. “Everyone stay behind the shield.”

Callan steps forward and spreads his hands, which begin to glow so brightly I have to look away. With a mighty yell, he claps his hands together, and an enormous bolt of burning light flies at the Staff. I watch while holding my breath, ready to spread my wings and fly away, poised for the impact.

The Staff glows bright white as the blast hits it, but then it seems to absorb the power. The Staff’s orb continues swirling and shifting colors between the white and black wings, as if nothing happened.

Walking closer, Callan studies the Staff, which looks no different than it did a second ago. “Let me try again. I think I can get it a little stronger.”

“Don’t burn yourself out,” Marcus cautions.

“Yeah, right.” Callan snorts in reply.

Cocky bastard.

He does the same thing as before, but this time he clenches his hands into fists. This time I notice how the large muscles in his arms bulge. As irritating as he can be, he has nice arms. Very nice.

His yell is more guttural this time as he claps and sends an even bigger beam of light at the Staff. Again, I prepare for impact.

Nothing.

“Let me try,” Kassiel says. “I don’t have my full strength, but I have enough to tell if it’s going to absorb my power.”

He holds his hands in front of him, palm to palm, with about two inches distance between them. Inky black smoke appears and grows into a thick tar-like ball, and he shoves it toward the Staff.

The Staff flares with darkness this time, and again absorbs the power.

“Maybe we should stop,” Tanwen says. “For all we know, you two just made it stronger.”

I let out a long sigh. “You’re right, this is getting us nowhere.”

“This is one of the most powerful relics in all history,” Eveanna says. “Created by the great Culann himself and imbued with the essence of the strongest of demons and angels. It can’t be destroyed with simple magic or violence.”

“So what do we do with it?” Jonah asks.

“We’ll have to hide it,” I say.