Page 26

My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at the prisoners kneeling before Rhodes.

My mother's face, so familiar yet lined with new worry. Adriel, my beautiful, stubborn sister, her eyes wide with shock at my appearance. Ezekiel, beaten and bloody, his wings damaged in a way that made my own back ache with phantom pain.

And Adona herself, the leader of Elysium, her eyes unfocused and glazed, her movements sluggish as if she'd been drugged.

“Mother,” I whispered, unable to help myself.

Sanvi's eyes filled with tears. “Ariella,” she breathed, her voice cracking with emotion. “My baby girl.”

Rhodes strode between us, cutting off our line of sight. “Touching,” he said, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. “The traitor reunited with her family. Almost makes one forget the blood on her hands.”

I wanted to lunge at him, to wipe that smug expression off his face with my fists, my sword, my magic—anything.

But the shackles around my wrists dampened my power, and even if they hadn't, attacking now would be suicide.

Not with my family and Adona so vulnerable, not with Haines standing guard, not when I had no idea where the dagger was.

So I swallowed my rage, forced my face into a mask of calm. “The only blood on anyone's hands is yours, Rhodes.”

He laughed, the sound echoing off the crystal walls of the chamber. “Still defiant, even in defeat. I've always admired that about you, Ariella. It's a shame you chose the wrong side in this.”

“I'm sorry,” Ezekiel's voice came from behind Rhodes, ragged with pain and regret. “Ariella, I'm so sorry. They caught me trying to take more lilies. I tried to fight, but—” He broke off with a wince as Haines kicked him in the ribs.

“Quiet, traitor,” Haines snapped.

“It's not your fault,” I told Ezekiel, my voice firm despite the fear squeezing my heart. “You did everything you could.”

Rhodes clapped his hands together, the sound sharp and jarring in the tense silence. “Well, as touching as this reunion is, we have business to attend to.” He gestured to the guards still flanking me. “Bring her.”

I was pushed roughly forward, past my kneeling family, toward a set of doors on the far side of the chamber.

They opened onto a wide balcony that overlooked a courtyard below.

There, a sea of angels had gathered—some in the silver armor of the Guardians, others in the plain clothing of ordinary citizens.

Their faces turned upward as Rhodes stepped onto the balcony, me at his side, my guards ensuring I couldn't make any sudden moves.

“Angels of Elysium!” Rhodes's voice boomed out, amplified by magic to reach every corner of the assembly. “Today marks the beginning of a new era for our realm!”

Cheers rose from his supporters, while others in the crowd shifted uneasily, exchanging worried glances.

“For too long, we have been weakened by false leadership,” Rhodes continued, gesturing grandly. “By those who would have us serve humans and lesser supernaturals, rather than rule as is our right.”

More cheers, louder this time.

“But that time is ending. Today, we take back our power, our pride, our rightful place in the order of things.” He turned, grabbing my arm and shoving me forward to the edge of the balcony. “And we begin by bringing to justice those who have betrayed us from within!”

The crowd below rippled with movement as they recognized me, whispers spreading like wildfire through their ranks.

“Ariella, once a guardian of Elysium, revealed her true nature when she murdered her entire squadron five years ago!” Rhodes declared, his voice ringing with righteous fury. “Recently, she killed her mentor, Archangel Ylena, and plotted to overthrow our very way of life!”

Boos and jeers rose from the crowd, along with shouts of “Traitor!” and “Death to the betrayer!” But not everyone joined in. I could see confusion on some faces, doubt on others. Not everyone believed Rhodes's version of events.

“But her treachery ends today!” Rhodes continued, raising his hands to quiet the crowd. “She will face angelic justice for her crimes, and Elysium will be cleansed of her corruption!”

I couldn't stay silent any longer. “He's lying!” I shouted, my voice carrying over the murmurs of the crowd. “Rhodes is the traitor! He betrayed Archangel Soren, he's planning to?—”

Rhodes's hand clamped over my mouth, cutting off my words. With a sharp nod to the guards, he had me dragged back inside the chamber, away from the prying eyes and ears of the assembly below.

Once the doors to the balcony were closed, he released me with a shove that sent me stumbling to my knees. “Did you really think I'd let you speak?” he sneered. “That I'd allow you to spread your lies to my people?”

“Your people?” I spat, rising to my feet despite the pain. “Elysium doesn't belong to you, Rhodes. It never has, and it never will.”

“On the contrary.” He circled me like a predator, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. “It already does. Most of the angels out there support me. Those who don't… well, they'll learn to adapt or face the consequences.”

“They support you because they don't know the truth,” I said, my voice carrying to where my family still knelt, watching this confrontation with varying expressions of fear and hope.

“They don't know that you orchestrated the ambush that killed my squadron. That you worked with a higher demon to trap us, to get your hands on the Scarlet Hex Dagger.”

Rhodes laughed, the sound cold and hollow. “More lies. Is that all you have, Ariella? Desperate accusations with no proof?”

“I was there,” I said, my voice steady despite the rage and grief boiling inside me. “I saw you betray Soren. I saw you take the dagger from Molraz. I heard you talk about reshaping Elysium, about how Adona was too weak to lead us into the future.”

“Don't listen to her,” Rhodes told my mother and sister, his voice dripping with false concern. “She's delusional, damaged by her time on Earth among the lesser beings.”

“It's the truth!” Ezekiel shouted suddenly, his voice cracking with the effort. “I heard Rhodes and Haines planning it all! The coup, the use of the dagger on Adona, everything! Ariella is innocent!”

Haines moved with shocking speed, his hand connecting with Ezekiel's face in a backhanded slap that echoed through the chamber. But he didn't stop there. He grabbed Ezekiel by the throat, light magic crackling around his fingers as he channeled it directly into the younger angel's body.

Ezekiel screamed, his back arching in agony, before collapsing unconscious to the floor.

“Ezekiel!” Adriel cried, straining against her bonds to reach him.

“Stop this!” my mother pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “Please, just stop!”

I lunged toward Haines, but my guards caught me, hauling me back with bruising force.

“You'll pay for that,” I promised, my voice low and deadly.

Sanvi looked up at me, her eyes shining with a mixture of tears and dawning realization. “I knew it,” she whispered. “Deep down, I knew you couldn't have done those things. You're my daughter. I should have trusted in that.”

“Mother—” I began, but Rhodes cut me off.

“Enough of this family drama,” he snapped. “It changes nothing. The fact remains that Ariella is a traitor, and she will face justice for her crimes.”

“What crimes?” Adriel demanded, finding her voice at last. Her face was a study in conflicting emotions—anger, relief, confusion—but beneath it all was the stubborn determination I'd always admired in her. “What proof do you have that she killed anyone?”

“I don't need proof,” Rhodes said dismissively. “I am Elysium's ruler now. My word is law.”

“Not yet,” came a soft, slurred voice from the far side of the chamber. Adona had raised her head, her eyes still unfocused but a hint of her usual power sparkling in their depths. “Not while I still live, Rhodes. This isn't who we are. This isn't what Elysium stands for.”

Rhodes stalked toward her, his expression darkening. “What Elysium stands for is exactly what I'm changing, Adona. Your weakness, your obsession with partnering with other supernaturals, with helping humans, has made us vulnerable. It ends now.”

“It doesn't have to be this way,” Adona said, her voice growing stronger with each word. “We can go back. Forget this madness. Return to our purpose.”

For a moment, Rhodes seemed to consider her words, his face softening just slightly.

Then his expression hardened again, colder than before.

“No. We're beyond that now.” He turned back to me, his eyes gleaming with a new, dangerous light.

“Perhaps a demonstration is in order. To show everyone what happens to those who oppose the new order.”

From within his armor, Rhodes withdrew a familiar object—the Scarlet Hex Dagger, its blade gleaming with an unnatural light, the red gem in its hilt pulsing like a heartbeat.

“I was going to use this only on Adona,” he said, advancing on me with slow, deliberate steps. “But I think you deserve this honor, Ariella. After all, you've been such a thorn in my side.”

I backed away instinctively, but my guards held me firm. The shackles dampened my magic, leaving me defenseless against the approaching dagger.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, hating the tremor in my voice but unable to suppress it. “Change me into what? A human? A demon?”

Rhodes's smile was terrible to behold. “Oh, I have something much more fitting in mind.

I'm going to strip away everything that makes you an angel—your power, your immortality, your very essence.

Worse even than a mere human. I'll leave you as nothing but a shell, aware enough to know what you've lost but powerless to do anything about it.” He raised the dagger, its blade catching the light from the crystal walls, sending crimson reflections dancing across the chamber. “Any last words, Ariella?”

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind—pleas for my family, defiance against Rhodes, regrets for what might have been. But before I could voice any of them, a familiar voice cut through the tension in the chamber.

“Yeah, I've got some last words for you.”

The air shimmered, and suddenly Levi was there, the invisibility potion wearing off at exactly the right moment. His darkfire crackled around his fingers as he stepped out from the shadows near the entrance. “Get away from her.”

Rhodes froze, his eyes widening in shock as more figures appeared throughout the chamber—Farrah and Wyatt near the balcony doors, Erin and Rey flanking the main entrance, Lacey and Abbie on either side of the prisoners, their hands already moving in patterns that would undo the shackles.

“What is this?” Rhodes demanded, his voice cracking with rage and disbelief. “How did you?—”

“Surprise,” I said, feeling a fierce grin spread across my face despite the danger we were still in. “Did you really think I'd come alone?”