Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
RUE
Dawn came too soon, and the day passed quickly in preparation for our departure that evening.
The hub was thirty miles east of base zero.
The sentinels and Powers may have even flown over this location several times.
The base was lucky to have remained undetected.
We had an hour’s worth of flying ahead of us and then… then the plan.
The extraction.
My appetite died even though I felt like there was a pit in my belly. I found a quiet spot at the kitchen table where I could polish Soul Reaper’s hilt in peace. The gem embedded in it gleamed in the artificial light.
“You should eat something.” Gabriel joined me and placed a bowl of pasta in front of me.
The smell made me want to puke. “I’ll be sick if I eat.”
“You’ll be sick if you don’t.” He claimed the seat beside me and gently took my hands, stalling my obsessive polishing. “Put the sword down and look at me.”
I did as he asked, allowing myself to meet his eyes, allowing him to see my emotions—fear, doubt, and more fear. “People are going to die tonight.”
“Yes. There will be deaths.” He held my hands, his grip firm and reassuring despite his words. “This is war, Rue. No matter how fast we are, how stealthy we are, there will be deaths on both sides. But the world will live. This world, your world, will finally breathe again. ”
I swallowed to moisten my throat. “I hate that I’m scared, not of the fight, or of getting to Lucifer, but of losing people. My friends and family. People I love…you…” He blinked sharply. Surprised. A soft laugh rode my exhale. “Like you don’t know.”
“Don’t know?”
“That I care about you. You’re my friend and…more…There could be more one day, I just—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. This connection we have is undeniable, but it needs time to breathe. We can give that time if you want. We can see what it becomes. Once this is over.”
“If you stay…”
“I’ll do everything in my power to stay, Rue. I swear it.” He stroked the backs of my hands with his thumbs. “There is nowhere in the cosmos that I’d rather be than by your side.”
Butterflies filled my chest. “I think…I think Shem and you would have been good friends.”
“I know we would have.” He let go of my hands and reached for the bowl of pasta. “And he’d tell you to eat.”
Maybe I could eat a little, because the smell of the food no longer made me want to puke.
Bastian helped me into Lucifer’s holster. I was smaller than the celestial, and the damn thing was an awkward fit, but we managed to get it to sit snugly on me. Bee claimed my bat as a weapon, and Tumiel spent ages fussing over a holster he’d made for it, ensuring it didn’t cut into her.
Then it was time to leave.
We headed topside but were blocked off in the corridor by Storm and her security guy. They weren’t alone. They had several uniformed men and women with them.
A troop.
My gut tightened, but Gabriel stepped forward, his posture relaxed and unthreatening.
“Is there a problem, General?” he asked.
“Yes, there is,” she said. “You’re not going anywhere…Not without backup.”
My shoulders sagged. Thank fuck.
“What changed your mind?” Gabriel asked.
“The people.” Her gaze flicked from Oliver to the troop behind her. “I gave them a choice, and they’ve chosen to accompany you.”
It looked like we’d be able to give the celestials a little more of a challenge.
The decoy team just got larger.
I flew with Gabriel, my body wrapped around his, my face tucked against his neck so I could feast on his scent. His heart beat a steady rhythm, and mine fell into pace with it.
We were hurtling toward danger. I should have been terrified, but there was something about Gabriel that soothed that part of me.
“We’re almost at the landing point,” Gabriel said.
Shit. Okay, now I was nervous.
We dropped altitude, and my insides twisted into knots. I took a steadying breath. We could do this. Everything would be all right.
It had to be.
Shem’s sacrifice wouldn’t be for nothing.
The churning inside me stilled as Gabriel’s boots met the earth. He hugged me to him for a moment before relaxing his grip.
“We’re here.”
Here was in a heavily wooded area with a field ahead of us, and beyond that was the hub. Another mile out.
The sewer access was close by and would take us under the building and into it.
The others landed around us, and the hum of engines approached as Storm’s troops joined us. They’d driven the vehicles that Bastian had found.
Kabiel alighted with Bastian a moment later, followed by Bee and Tumiel, Sarq and Zaq, Baraqel and Penemue. Everyone was here.
“Kabiel, wait thirty minutes after we’re in the sewers, then head for the hub,” Gabriel said.
Kabiel nodded.
“I’ll set a timer,” one of Storm’s men said. “You have the radio?”
“I have mine,” Bastian said.
“I have the other.” Sarq held up his radio.
“Good,” the man said. “The radios are set to the same channel. You’ll call in when you’ve disabled the security so the extraction team knows they can go in. The extraction team will radio once they have the cargo and are back in the tunnels. Decoy team will remain active until then.”
Everyone had their instructions. It was time to go. I looked over at Kabiel and gave him a nod. “Be safe.”
He smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Always.”
The knowledge that I might never see some of these faces again left me hollow, but I pushed away the feeling and straightened my spine.
We had a job to do. “Let’s move out.”