Chapter 20
Sea Storm ’s conference room, an austere, windowless office space, had seemed cramped before everyone took their seats at the ten-person table. Now, it was a sardine can where Cyan sat next to Stryke as everyone got caught up.
And there was a lot of catching up to do.
The angels’ revelation that the drill had breached a massive portal that could open into not only the human realm but also Heaven itself…had left them all in shock. And it made their mission to fix the problem more urgent, especially if demons were accessing Heaven through the legendary gateway.
And then there was the fact that she was sitting at a table with two angels. Two freaking angels . And one of them was an Archangel . From the Bible .
No one else seemed fazed, but then Scotty not only grew up on an island with Memitim angels, but her grandfather, Reaver, was the most powerful angel in existence. Blade and Stryke were no strangers to angels either and had trained with them their entire lives. Mace’s mother, one of Azagoth’s daughters, had been a Memitim angel born to watch over Primori, making him one-quarter angel.
So, chatting with an Archangel must have seemed like just another day for all of them. Cyan, meanwhile, couldn’t decide if she was awed or terrified.
Gabriel turned to her, his fabulous, multicolored hair swirling around the shoulder plates of his dented armor. It was said that his hair consisted of all the colors of humankind, and she didn’t doubt that.
“If you can access the original glyphs,” he said to her, “can you repair them and seal the breach?”
“We’re not sealing it.” Hutriel slapped his hand on the table, the ear-shattering crack making her jump. “We’re destroying it. Azagoth told you how.”
Gabriel swung his chair around to the other angel. “Think about it. We don’t know what demolishing it will do to the Gaiaportal. Destroying one will probably destroy the other.”
Hutriel was unmoved. “The Gaiaportal is a relic from an earlier time. Its usefulness is over anyway.”
“Is it?” Tiny, angry lightning strikes turned Gabriel’s brilliant blue eyes into plasma globes, and Cyan wondered if anyone else could feel the tension crackling in the air. “Right now, ninety-nine percent of Heaven is in lockdown.”
Lockdown? Cyan exchanged glances with the others, and they seemed as stunned as she was.
Hutriel went apoplectic with outrage. “Are you suggesting we re-open the Gaiaportal?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Maybe. The Thrones have lost their minds. We’re all trapped. You’re in charge of security. Doesn’t it make sense to have an escape route?”
“You’re walking a treasonous line, Gabriel,” Hutriel said, his voice dripping with warning. “And you’re doing it in front of demons , making your offense more egregious.”
Treason? What was so treasonous? And why were angels trapped? Also, the way he’d said demons was incredibly offensive. Probably wasn’t the best time to point that out, though.
“I’m beyond caring.” Gabriel’s voice got louder, and Hutriel’s face grew redder. “We should temporarily seal the rift instead of going scorched earth. Give everyone time to consider the consequences of total destruction.”
“I have my orders, and so do you,” Hutriel snapped. “End of discussion, especially in front of these…hellspawn. We can’t trust them with any of this.”
Mace snorted with amusement, Blade seemed to be sizing Hut up for a coffin, and Scotty studied her nails.
Stryke shot to his feet, clapped his palms on the table, and leaned toward Hutriel. “Let’s get something straight. These hellspawn saved your asses. This is my rig. My equipment. My people. I’m about as happy to be working with you dickhead halos as you are about working with us lowly demons. Get fucking over it.” He gave Blade a meaningful glance before shifting his gaze between Hutriel and Gabriel. “We need to work together to survive this, so stow your baggage and focus.”
Cyan thought Stryke’s tirade was damned hot, but Hutriel clucked his tongue in dismissal. “You did not save our asses .”
“Yeah,” Stryke said, “I did. I didn’t throw you overboard to the demonic sharktopus while you were too weak to do jack about it. You can thank me later.” Mace barked out a laugh as Stryke turned to Gabriel. “I’m not taking any chances with this fucking portal. I don’t give a hellrat’s ass about Heaven’s problems and what will happen to the Gaiaportal. We’re destroying this fucker. End of discussion. How do we do it?”
Gabriel’s eyes flashed with fury, and a fiery aura flickered all around him. Their gazes locked like two rival dire wolves plotting their attack, and for a heart-stopping moment, she thought the Archangel would slay Stryke where he stood.
“My powers are limited in the water,” Gabriel finally said, “but I can create a life-sustaining bubble for myself and Cyan. I can get her to the glyphs or as deep as she needs to be. Once there, I can use my powers to supercharge hers. Together, we should be able to destroy the portal.”
Stryke considered that. “What are the risks?”
“As I said, right now, Heaven will be at risk—”
“To her,” Stryke broke in, gesturing to Cyan. “I told you I don’t give a shit about your Heavenly civil war. I want to know what the risks are to her .”
Aw. She had unexpected warm-fuzzies. Shanea used to say she felt warm-fuzzies whenever Draven said or did something that showed how much he loved her. Which was pretty much daily. They’d been so in love.
She automatically glanced at Stryke, expecting the stab of anger that manifested every time she thought about Shan. This time, it didn’t happen. There was only the ever-present grief that, somehow, felt a gram lighter.
Gabriel considered Stryke’s question. “As long as I’m safe,” he finally said, “she’s probably safe.”
Cyan did not like the sound of that. “Probably?”
Gabriel sat up straighter in his chair. “It’s not like I have a lot of practice battling demons in the water. Aquatic demon incursions are extremely rare. I haven’t been in a sea or ocean in thousands of years. You see one whale, you’ve seen them all, you know?”
“We need to prepare for worst-case scenarios.” Scotty rocked idly in her chair, her arms crossed over her breasts. “Give us some idea of what kinds of things could go wrong.”
“You are your father’s daughter, aren’t you?” Gabriel mused.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Smiling, Gabriel inclined his head. “As it was intended. You’ve come a long way since the last time I saw you training in the arena, trying to keep up with the older boys.” He lost the smile, his expression becoming serious as he addressed everyone. “Worst-case scenarios? We could get swallowed whole by a leviathan, in which case I could fight my way out, but Cyan would likely not survive. Or my bubble could burst, in which case Cyan could be crushed or drowned before I made it back to the surface.”
“She’s not going,” Stryke announced. “You’re angels. You can do this by yourselves.”
“Perhaps,” Gabriel said slowly. “I came here intending just that. But having Cyan’s help increases the odds of success. The price of failure is too much to risk.”
Cyan’s chair creaked as she turned to him. “I have to do it, Stryke. You know I do. We’re out of time and down to a Hail Mary.”
She was right, and he knew it. He didn’t argue. He couldn’t have, not with the way he’d locked his jaw so fiercely the muscles in his face and neck twitched.
“I’m going with you,” Hutriel said. “In my own bubble, of course.”
Gabriel nodded at her. “Are you ready?”
“Wait.” Stryke held up a hand. “I need to talk to Cyan for a minute.” He cocked his head toward the door. “In private.”
Once alone in the hallway, she turned to him. “What is it?”
He glanced back at the door, probably to make sure no one was listening. “I don’t think you should do this. I don’t trust them.”
She doubted he trusted anyone. “I thought you knew Gabriel.”
“I know a lot of angels. That’s why I don’t trust them. They will sacrifice anyone and anything in the name of a cause,” he said, darkness settling into his tone. “I’ve only met Gabriel a couple of times, both brief, but I wouldn’t trust him even if we were best buddies. He was involved with Azagoth at the time of Sheoul-gra’s destruction, and I don’t know how or why.”
Whoa. Many people, both demon and human, had died as a result of Azagoth’s actions, but even more consequential was its impact on the very course of history. Humans had become aware of the existence of underworlders because of it.
“Why would an angel want Sheoul-gra destroyed?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, his brow furrowed in a scowl. He hated not knowing something. He’d once said in an interview that unanswered questions often became obsessions for him, and he could go down research rabbit holes for weeks at a time.
Before he could obsess, she laid her hand lightly on his arm. “I know you’re worried. But unless you have another plan, we have to use Gabriel’s. We don’t have a choice, Stryke. You know it. We both know it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, following it up with a curse. “But promise me you won’t turn your back on them. Angels don’t work with demons unless they have an agenda, and they make sport of killing us. Don’t trust any of them.”
His gaze captured hers, the intensity in his eyes making her breath catch. She used to think his eyes were cold, bottomless, and empty. But now she saw nothing but naked emotion under a veneer of indifference. He came across as not caring about anything, but she knew the truth now.
He cared about everything . To distraction. To the point where he’d erected a barrier to protect himself.
Stryke’s problem wasn’t that he didn’t have enough feelings.
It was that he had too many.
Then there was the issue of him being an asshole in general. But she was kind of starting to appreciate it, especially when it was directed at someone other than her.
“I don’t like this,” he said softly, one hand rising to cup her cheek.
Heart pounding with sudden urgency, she froze in the moment, shocked by his tenderness and her response to it. He’d just stripped away all her barriers with a mere touch.
Suddenly, something jolted the platform. The tiles beneath their feet buckled, and they careened into the wall, only Stryke’s strength keeping them from going down. Still, he smashed up against her as her spine hit the plaster wall.
The pain didn’t even register. There was nothing but shaking and trembling, and the two of them. His eyes locked on hers. Another jolt, and he dipped his head, capturing her mouth in a brief, passionate kiss.
When he pulled away, his gaze was scorching hot, and she felt herself wanting to be burned. “Be careful. DART needs you.”
A thread of disappointment filtered through her. “Just DART?”
A smile curved one corner of his lips. “StryTech too.”
She smiled back because she didn’t hear, “StryTech too,” she heard, “ Me, too .”
“Do you really think this will work?” Hutriel, his expression a mask of doubt, shifted his gaze from Gabriel to peer over the platform railing at the waves below.
Not really. I give it a 50/50 chance .
“Absolutely,” Gabriel said. “I’m confident.”
Hutriel turned back to him, his wrecked black-and-crimson armor creaking. “I don’t trust Cyberis demons.”
“I don’t trust any demon. But Cyan is our best hope.”
“Yo, angels.” Cyan glared between them as she placed herself on the boat dock near Gabriel. “I can hear you. So, tell me again why you can’t do this by yourself?”
Her sarcasm flew right over Hutriel’s head. “We can. But we aren’t Sea Celestials, so our powers don’t extend very far underwater. And your magical abilities can compensate.”
Gabriel frowned. “Why didn’t the Thrones send a Sea Celestial for this?”
“Because the only angels who preside over water are the Principalities,” Hutriel said. “They might have sided with the Thrones in their bid for power, but the taint of Satan’s rebellion remains. They can’t be trusted in a matter such as this.”
Their powers were also weak compared to Gabriel’s—and even Hutriel’s. But it still would have been wise to send one. The Thrones were idiots.
“Exactly,” Cyan said. “See, you need me. So, if you can’t be nice, at least stop talking about me like I’m something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe.” She glanced at Stryke, who stood, tense as a rod, on the platform a few yards away. When she turned back to Gabriel, she gave him a decisive nod. “So, how do we do this?”
He liked this demon. He didn’t trust her, but he liked her. Hutriel, meanwhile, was probably plotting to kill her after her usefulness ended. He’d probably want to kill all of them.
“I’ll encase us in a bubble of air. We’ll be able to speak, but try not to touch the sides or they’ll leak.”
“Okay.” White-knuckling the flashlight she’d brought, she blew out a long breath. “Let’s do this.”
He came up behind her and gripped her shoulders. Once the bubble surrounded them like a clear eggshell, he launched them up and away from the platform before lowering them into the water.
An instant, muffled silence surrounded them. Cyan’s flashlight provided enough light to guide them to the drill casing, and he began a rapid descent.
“Will that provide light all the way down?” he asked.
“As long as the batteries hold out.” She angled the flashlight down a little. “Taran said some of the beasts use a kind of electric pulse as a weapon, and they sometimes short out batteries. Why? Can’t you make light?”
“I can,” he said. “But angelic glow attracts demons. Damned inconvenient.”
“I’ll say,” she muttered, glancing at her wrist comms’ depth sensor. “Seventy meters. We’re getting close.”
Gabriel couldn’t feel the pressure increasing on the surface of the bubble around them as they descended, but he somehow felt more confined. He’d hated tight spaces ever since he got trapped in a cave a few thousand years ago, and this was growing more and more uncomfortable. The sounds he was picking up with his angelic hearing—distorted, muffled groans and shrieks—didn’t help his comfort factor.
“Stop. I see the glyphs,” Cyan said. “Tell me what I need to do. I’m guessing we’re going to attach angelic energy to mine and turn the nanomachines into a trillion little Heaven bombs. Am I right?”
That would be brilliant. If she could get the nanomachines to the eternal fire, they could douse it with the power of Heaven. Which would destroy the Gehennaportal and keep Revenant trapped.
But it could also destroy the Gaiaportal. And keep angels trapped.
Damn.
“Gabriel?”
He hesitated. The noises were getting closer. His mind spun, plotting out all the courses of action available to him, all the repercussions, all the scenarios. More eerie sounds…and a big shadow to his right. They needed to hurry.
“Gabriel!”
“Yes. We’ll do that. No, wait.” Indecision left him paralyzed in a way that rarely happened. As a powerful angel—formidable even by Archangel standards—he rarely doubted his decisions. Who would dare question him?
But with the Thrones in charge, a wrong move here could affect his upcoming Ordeal. Worse, leaving the rift sealed but the Gehennaportal operational could end very badly.
“Gabriel! Helloooo .”
Damn it! “We’re not destroying the portal,” he practically yelled. “Repair the breach.”
“But I thought—”
“Repair it!” he snapped, hating his decision but knowing he’d hate the other equally. “Hurry!”
His heart tapped rapidly against his chest wall, and his mouth went dry. This needed to be kept secret until he could trust someone else with the information. But who? Reaver was comatose, Metatron was being held under guard, and all the other Archangels were imprisoned inside their heads. Not that Gabriel was allowed to talk to anyone anyway.
How long would he have to keep this to himself? Well, himself and Cyan. Cyan presented a problem.
I have to kill her .
Strangely, he didn’t like that thought. Generally, he enjoyed killing demons. They were abominations deserving of torturous slaughter. But he’d also been around long enough to know that some deserved to live, even if their usefulness would eventually come to an end.
Cyan struck him as one of those. Low on the evil scale, just wanting to live her life. And she was, currently, on the right side of the war between good and evil.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
She remained still, her focus on the glyphs he couldn’t see. “I’m almost done.”
“Cyan?”
“Yeah?”
He was about to make another risky move. “I’m going to need you to lie about what happened down here.”
“Excuse me?”
“Keep working,” he said calmly, even though his pulse was racing. “There are…things coming toward us. We don’t have much time.” Next to them, Hutriel was pointing animatedly at the things.
“I am working. Keep talking.”
“We’re going to tell everyone that we destroyed the portal.”
Silence. Then, “Why?”
Here was where he should tell her that he was an Archangel, and she didn’t need to know why. But she was a scientist, a technician of magic, and she wouldn’t lie for no good reason. So, he’d go all-in with this demon and trust her.
I am such a fool .
“Because I believe that destroying it will do more harm than good. We can always come back and destroy it later.”
She went taut, a subtle stiffening of her upper body he wouldn’t have noticed if his hands hadn’t been on her shoulders. “Of course.”
She didn’t trust him, and he didn’t blame her. Why would an angel not want to destroy something so evil and with so much potential to cause widespread destruction?
It sounded insane to him too.
He might have made a catastrophic mistake.
“You need to trust me.”
“Do I? What team are you on, buddy? And what are you willing to do to keep your secret? Given that I’m the only one who knows, I’m guessing I’ll meet with an unfortunate accident on the way up.” She blew out a breath. “I’m finished.”
“You’re not finished. I’m not going to kill you.”
“No, I mean, I’m done. With the repair—”
Something slammed into them. They tumbled, hitting the bubble’s walls with brutal force. The violence knocked the flashlight from Cyan’s hand. It punctured the bubble walls and fell into the deep, its light gone in an instant. Water poured through the shield, several gallons before Gabriel could repair it.
Darkness surrounded them, and when he turned on his glow, he almost wished he hadn’t. The sea teemed with demon fish, their grotesque, semi-transparent bodies writhing on the edges of his light, their razor teeth flashing.
Suddenly, the school of nightmares parted, making room for a nuclear submarine-sized monster with eyes that glowed like lava.
“I’m taking us up!” He shot upward. The thing sped after them.
He broke the water’s surface, and right behind him, the toothy demon broke it too. It snapped at him as he twisted and banked toward where Stryke and the others were waiting. A massive splash as the beast fell back into the water nearly took Gabriel out, but he clung tightly to Cyan and managed to right himself and continue on course to Stryke.
To his left, Hutriel soared behind the platform, some sort of spiny-finned thing with wings chasing him.
“Remember,” he growled in Cyan’s ear as they approached the waiting Sea Storm team, “not a word to anyone. Not even Stryke. Not unless he resumes drilling operations or wants to sell the rig. This is important, demon. The current ruling body in Heaven will execute him.”
It probably wasn’t true, but Gabriel doubted Cyan would care about his plight. She wouldn’t give a shit that Gabriel was already in trouble and this could get him not just imprisoned but imprisoned on an isolated planet on another realm, where no one would ever find him. A fate reserved for the worst offenses… that hadn’t quite reached the level of being booted out of Heaven or executed.
No, thank you .
Unceremoniously, he plunked Cyan onto the deck in front of Stryke and flew upward on a draft, his fiery sword in hand. He couldn’t see Hutriel’s battle with the flying demon, but he could sense it.
Time to spill some blood.