Page 27 of Fated Angel

“Kenna said he’s more powerful than anyone we’ve encountered yet,” Colt says.

“A powerful shapeshifter who can be anything and anyone,” Nathaniel adds.

Gabby sighs and puts her hands on her hips with a determined gaze. “Time to go meet a badass? Let’s go!” She storms onto the ship, determination in every step, and goes straight to the cargo bay below.

The black glow emanating from the stone lights the entire belly of the ship. The light seems to waver, like something alive. In the center of the ship is the large cage, the obsidian shard floating above it. Inside the cage a man sits, his rugged body folded in the cross-legged position with his head facing the stone above the cage.

“Have you come to release me, or kill me?” Asher growls as his eyes settle on Gabby as she approaches the cage.

Colt steps around Gabby, his own determination to protect her just as her drive to get the final piece of the obsidian. Asher takes one look at him and rises to his feet, his tremendous size making him tower over all of them.

“Demon!” he hisses.

The glamor he’s hiding behind melts away as celestial fire burns through from the inside out. Asher roars, facing Colt with an angelic presence that can only be rivaled by that of Gabriel himself.

“Angel Uriel…” Colt breathes, summoning dual demonic blades as he prepares to fight.

“Uriel? The Uriel?” Gabby gasps. “You mean to tell me we’ve been searching for the stones this angel divided millennia ago and now he’s here kept under lock and key by one of those very stones?” She almost smiles as she shakes her head. “How did you end up imprisoned by your own mission?”

“Release me, and I will tell you everything,” Uriel says, lifting his chin.

“They will release you, brother, but you will be coming with me,” Nathaniel says, walking up behind Colt and Gabby and drawing a celestial rune in the air. The rune sparks to life, burned by celestial fire so bright Colt has to shield his eyes. “By the power of the Archangel Gabriel, I have come to retrieve you to assist in the battle of good and evil.”

Uriel narrows his eyes, making Colt tense even more. He trusts archangels as much as he trusts the kings of Hell.

“This is Gabrielle, daughter of Archangel Gabriel. You will do her no harm, and you will refrain from harming her demon as well,” Nathaniel finishes.

“Angels keep pets now, do they?” Uriel barks a laugh, but he doesn’t disagree with the rules of engagement. “Release me from this cage, we have little time. The scales of good and evil are tipping. Take the stone, Gabrielle. It is time we angels interfere with his blasphemous attempt to rend the world into chaos.”

“He’s my boyfriend, not my pet!” Gabby snaps at him, but she flaps her wings and flies to the top of the cage. She lands with a clang of metal on her hard soles and kneels before the stone. “Finally,” she breathes.

Colt holds his breath from below. She reaches forward, each inch taking an eternity in his mind and when she touches the stone, the light flashes bright and brutal. Everyone but Gabby flinches away, covering their eyes, but she stares on, unbothered. She plucks the stone from where it hovers and her body cascades into shivers. Her wings tremble as she lifts off the cage and flies backwards.

Colt watches her with trepidation. Power is billowing off her in waves, the stones in her bag seem to sing now that they are so near to each other.

“Finally!” Uriel roars, and his wings explode from his back, knocking the bars of his cage to the ground. His wingspan shocks Colt, and he takes a defensive step in front of Gabby. Uriel smiles dangerously and stretches before turning to face Nathaniel, preparing to speak.

The thundering sound of footsteps comes from the entrance to the cave, and Colt watches as Kenna falls from the passageway and clambers to her feet. Her face is contorted in fear as she runs to him, and behind her Colt sees more of the cult coming.

“We have to go, now! We have to get back to Mercy City!” Kenna warns them, falling into Colt’s arms in a bloodied heap.

“I can sense it,” Gabby whispers. “Vladmir is on the move. I can feel him through the stone, something is happening!”

“There are reports of magical activity out of control back home,” Kenna agrees. “We have to go back and help them! There’s nothing else we can do here!”

For the first time since touching the stone, Gabby looks up at Colt and smiles. “We’ve got what we came for.” Something flickers over her face. “We don’t have much time,” she mutters, taking wing and flying towards the cave exit.

Colt looks from her to Uriel, to Kenna. Things are moving fast. Too fast.

“We will meet you in Mercy City,” Uriel says, watching Gabby rise into the air. “You know what you have to do now?”

His only response is a curt nod of Gabby’s head. She knows now what she must do, where she must go, and it chills Colt to the bone.

“Nathaniel, will you take Kenna back with you?” Colt asks, and passes the vampire hunter to the angel with the briefest of nods. Colt needs to keep up with his angel, or he may lose her forever. He bursts from the cave entrance and darts through the sky faster than he’s ever flown to catch up to her. Gabby’s eyes are vacant, her body and wings moving as if she’s not controlling them at all.

“Where are we going?” Colt roars over the wind, but Gabby doesn’t reply. Her lips move, but no sounds are coming out. She has the core stone tucked against her chest and it seems she speaks to it instead of Colt.

Fear like he’s never known, not in Dunabar and not in the cells of Hell, make Colt’s blood run cold. Whatever these stones are capable of is about to be revealed and he isn’t ready for whatever truths may come of it.

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