Page 19

CHAPTER 19

C amael's wings cut through pre-dawn as they raced back toward the French Quarter. Each beat of those massive white pinions left trails of divine fire that painted the darkness with holy light. It was a beautiful sight. Not that anyone except other angels could see it.

His witch's discovery of Jeremiel's trail had energized his battle-weary warriors. Fury still burned in his chest like a sacred flame. The memory of those tortured fledglings would haunt him for centuries to come. Their twisted bodies and broken wings were a testament to his brother's madness. Jeremiel had much to answer for, and Camael intended to collect. He no longer hoped there was anything left to save in Jeremiel. He was lost to them completely.

Amelia directed him deep into bayou country. Thick cypress trees dripped with Spanish moss and something vile. It looked like shit they’d pulled out of the La Brea tar pits long ago. Everything felt wrong to Camael’s senses. It was heavy with power that made his magical core recoil.

"He's channeling through something ancient," Amelia told him as her hands moved through fetid air. "There was some kind of artifact buried out here before the city was built."

Camael's wings cut through the darkness that was as thick as sin. "The indigenous tribes knew about the Oldest Ones. They often left warnings in places like this."

Camael followed her instructions as he prepared himself to do what was needed when they found Jeremiel. Their strike force moved in formation over murky waters. His Angels of Retribution and their midnight wings blazed hot while the Rowan sisters maintained shields against whatever lurked below. Not all those ripples were from gators and they didn’t want to be taken out before they reached their destination.

"There." Amelia pointed toward a mound rising from black water. Old oaks grew thick around it. Their branches were twisted into unnatural shapes. "That's no natural formation. The whole thing's saturated with evil."

"Formation Delta," Camael ordered. His voice carried over the swamp's strange silence. No frogs were singing. No birds were calling. Even the insects knew better than to make noise. "Jo, Az. Clear the perimeter. Mal, Rami. You're with me. The rest of you coordinate with the Dark Warriors as they arrive. No one gets in or out."

They hit the ground running as the first wave of Jeremiel's experiments emerged from the shadows. These weren't the failed ones from the church. These were his masterpieces. These fledglings violated divine law. This was how demons came to be. Jeremiel wasn’t content to play Lucifer’s second. He wanted to rule. That’s why the Prince of Lies wasn’t around.

Mutations writhed beneath alabaster skin. It was a symphony of biological heresy that defied every known law of organic design. Razor-edged bony structures erupted from flesh like predatory architecture. The corrupted vessels moved with a predatory grace that spoke of intelligence far beyond human comprehension. It was horrible for the innocent young angels they once were. Something utterly alien had been violently grafted into organic matter.

Their bodies were landscapes of impossible transformation. Limbs bent at angles that would shatter normal anatomical constraints. Their skin shifted like liquid mercury. Each was a nightmare of biomechanical reconstruction that whispered of experiments conducted in the darkest margins between science and sacrilege.

Camael's Sword of Light blazed like a supernova as he carved through corrupted flesh. Each strike left trails and turned flesh to ash. Beside him, Amelia channeled power through the Key. Her hybrid magic merged into weapons that erased whatever they touched.

The Rowan sisters worked their magic with lethal grace. Pema's offensive spells detonated like grenades while Isis maintained barriers against things trying to rise from the water. Suvi danced through the chaos. Her magic was precise and deadly.

The battle spread across the mound as more experiments joined the fray. Ancient oaks shattered under divine steel while corrupt grace ate holes in the earth. It sang to Camael’s warrior blood, but he shoved that aside. His target was his brother.

Jeremiel's laughter echoed like breaking glass. "You're too late, brother!" His voice carried traces of the void. "The awakening has already begun!"

"Watch me stop it." Camael launched himself toward the mound's peak. His wings spread wide for battle. His blade left trails of holy fire through the humid air.

Of course, the bastard had planned for this. Energy rippled as more experiments burst from hiding. Their partially transformed wings dripped darkness as they lurched forward. Seeing him, they straightened and began moving with military precision. It forced Camael to divide his attention.

"Worry about Jeremiel," Amelia shouted as she engaged three at once. "We'll hold the rest here!"

Part of him wanted to stay and protect his witch. That was what Jeremiel expected. It would give him an edge. Camael reminded himself that she could handle herself. The power flowing through her hands made lesser beings spontaneously combust. With a growl that shook ancient trees, Camael left her to her fight and championed his way up the mound.

The top had been hollowed out and transformed into an unholy altar. Shadows writhed across the stone. Everything revolved around a single artifact. It was a blade that had magic that was neither good nor bad. Its metal held neither light nor shadow. It was a blank slate to be turned to the wielder’s whims.

Jeremiel stood before it with his midnight wings spread wide. The fallen archangel's transformation was nearly complete. Darkness leaked from every feather while his grace pulsed with stolen power. He barely resembled the brother Camael had known since Creation.

"Welcome to the rebirth." Jeremiel’s smile was all fang and madness. "Front row seats to the remaking of everything."

"The only thing ending is you." Camael's wings mantled as divine energy crackled. "Stand down, brother. Die clean."

Jeremiel's laugh scraped like nails on Hell's chalkboard. "You still don't understand. This?" He gestured to the artifact pulsing with ancient power. "Is the key to what comes next. The old barriers are already cracking. Soon, what existed before will reclaim its domain."

Camael swung his weapon through the air, prepared to end the other archangel. Their blades met with enough force to shatter diamonds. Divine steel screamed against corrupted metal as they parried and danced around one another. They took their battle to the air. Camael made sure each of his strikes was meant to kill. On the ground, another battle raged across the bayou. Angels and demons clashed above dark waters while things better left sleeping stirred below. The Rowan sisters' magic painted the air with patterns of power while Dark Warriors eliminated anything that surfaced. Camael wanted to end Jeremiel and help them, but his brother was well trained.

Camael had to dive when Jeremiel’s sword nearly connected with his neck. He flew so close he could feel Amelia's hybrid energy as she fought Jeremiel’s minions. Camael banked left and was bringing his sword around to cut through Jeremiel. He managed to clip the dark feathers at the bottom of his wings.

Memory hit Camael like a physical blow. He taught his younger brother those same moves. He watched him master Heaven's arts with pure joy. Now, those skills served darkness. Camael let his sadness wash over him. He would take no joy in ending Jeremiel.

As anger and worry surged through him, Camael’s blade left trails of holy fire through thick air. "All I feel is what's left of my brother drowning in madness."

They continued that way for what felt like forever. Camael’s blood dripped from countless cuts and cured the earth while Jeremiel’s poisoned it as it dripped from his wounds. The fight destroyed half the bayou before Camael saw his opening. Jeremiel's fall had left weak points. Places corruption hadn't fully claimed. The warrior in him recognized the tactical advantage. The brother in him grieved as he drove his blade through that gap.

Divine steel pierced corrupted grace, and Jeremiel's eyes went wide. "Brother," he gasped as darkness leaked from the wound. "You chose their order over blood."

"I'm sorry." Camael meant it with every fiber of his being. This was still his brother. Despite what he had been twisted into. "It didn't have to end this way."

Jeremiel's laugh turned wet as his energy fled him. "You still don't see. This isn't ending. It's beginning. The Oldest Ones stir. What comes next will make Lucifer's rebellion look like children playing games."

"Where?" Camael demanded as his brother's grace unraveled like rotted silk. "Where is he waking them? Tell me how to stop this!"

But Jeremiel just smiled. Madness still dancing in eyes that had once shone with divine light. "You'll see soon enough. The barriers crack. What existed before... will exist... again..." His voice trailed off as his life force drained from him.

Camael watched his brother dissolve into nothing before he could hit the ground. Each corrupted feather turned to ash that scattered over dark water. The sight branded itself into his heart and memory. Another brother was lost to pride and greed. First, Lucifer and all of those that went with him. Now there was Jeremiel. How many more would fall?

Landing beside the broken mound, Camael surveyed their battlefield. The bayou was a war zone. Ancient trees lay shattered while black water bubbled with otherworldly energy. Amelia reached him first. Her magic still crackled around those hands he loved. Blood and swamp muck streaked her face. But her green eyes blazed with determination that made his heart clench. "He's gone?"

"Yeah." His voice came out rougher than he intended as grief mixed with fury. "But he confirmed our fears. Lucifer's found a way to wake the Oldest Ones. Everything else was just distraction while he worked on the barriers. "

"Then we find him." She touched the Key. "Before those beings decide to make a comeback tour."

Camael pulled her close. He needed her presence as reports flowed in from his warriors. The bayou was secure, but at what cost? And how much time remained before Lucifer's plan bore fruit? The answers wouldn't be pretty, but looking at his witch, he knew they'd face them together.

Watching those around him and holding his witch, something crystallized in Camael's chest. The thought of losing Amelia to whatever horrors were coming made his ancient heart seize with fear he couldn't ignore. He wouldn't wait to make her his. Not with everything they faced.

"Mate with me," he blurted. The words escaped before he could stop them.

Amelia's eyes went wide as she turned to face him. "What?"

"You heard me." He pulled her closer as his wings created shelter from the chaos still raging around them. "I know the timing's shit, but I don't want to wait. Not with what's coming."

"We will do it after we stop Lucifer." The love filling her eyes as she spoke nearly broke him.

"No. Now." His eyes blazed with emotion too deep for words. Everything he was - warrior, archangel, brother - all of it centered on this female who'd turned his world upside down. "I've almost lost you too many times. I need you bound to me before we face whatever's waking. I need to know you're mine in every way that matters."

She studied him for a long moment as power crackled between them like bottled lightning. Finally, that smile he loved curved her lips. "Yes."

"Yes?" His wings mantled with possessive joy that made his warriors pointedly look elsewhere.

"Yes, you overgrown pigeon." Her arms wrapped around his neck in a way that made him want to take her somewhere private immediately. "But if you get us killed before the honeymoon, I'm haunting your celestial ass for eternity."

His laugh felt good. Only this female could face down the apocalypse and still make him smile. Make him whole in ways he hadn't known he needed. "Deal."

Heaven and Hell could bring their worst - he had his soon-to-be mate by his side and his warriors at his back. That was all he needed to take on whatever horrors stirred in the dark. The real war was just beginning. But now he had everything worth fighting for.