Page 28 of Wings of Valor
She shudders. “A cleansing. Our best guess is that he wants to rid the world of the Fallen.”
“Which is weird, because he’s workingwithFallen angels on his plan. How the hell does that make sense?” Theo’s question has my brows furrowing—because he’s right. That doesn’t make sense.
“I have my theories on that, though none I can share at this juncture,” Remiel says, and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Of course,hecan’t share, but he expects us to spill everything to him.
“And the mole in the guild?” Remiel asks. “Have you discovered anything new?”
“No,” Hayliel says at the same time Theo and I say, “Yes.”
All eyes turn to us, but it’s Hayliel who holds my gaze.
“How? When?”
“Zeke. He pushed the thought to us before … before the connection was lost.” I hate that my words make her flinch.
Theo must sense how close our girl is to falling apart, because he picks up where I stopped.
“The guild mole is Lieutenant Atlas.”
His declaration is met with silence. Mira is the first to break the silence, her face ashen as she repeats, “Lieutenant Atlas is the mole. Are you certain?”
I nod. “Zeke’s determination pulsed through our bond. And even if it didn’t, we thought it over during the flight here.”
“It makes sense, given what we’ve been through and what he was aware of. How he showed up at opportune times and seemed far too observant,” Theo adds.
“Hmm.” Remiel scratches at the scruff on his jaw. “I’ve heard the name before. What do we know of him?”
“Not much. Zeke would probably know more, but he never really talked about him. Only Azrael,” Hayliel says, and it looks like the words cause her pain.
Remiel looks at Mira, who stays quiet. I’m about to ask her if she knows anything, but Theo interrupts my thoughts.
“We should probably update Azrael. At least we already know we can trust him, and he should know who he’s working with.”
Castiel folds his arms across his chest. “Absolutely.”
“And Zeke’s dad,” Hayliel adds, pressing a hand to her heart like the act alone can reduce some of the pain. “He’s a lieutenant, too. He deserves to know what’s going on with his son.”
“Wait.” I turn to Mira as realization dawns on me. “Isn’t your dad a lieutenant? If you think we can trust him, it might not hurt to at least warn him about Atlas so he doesn’t get caught up in anything.”
Before she can respond, Hayliel interrupts with a question directed solely at Remiel. “Were you aware that any of this was going on?”
He looks like he wants to avoid the question entirely, but he quickly realizes there’s no getting out of it. “Not to this extent, no. Auriel has been in my visions over the years. All the Archangels have, for one reason or another, but I see so many that don’t come to pass and saw nothing to make me think it would. Of course, we’ve always been aware of the history between angels and demons—and even knew their presence had increased over time—but that was not new. Recently we heard whispers of a Fallen uprising—talks of a truce made between the Fallen and demons. We were preparing for a fight with both, but we didn’t realize, until recently, that the rebels were following one of our own. I fear this will come to a head far sooner than we expected.”
“It already has,” Hayliel says, her tone filled with annoyance. “We’re well past that now.”
Remiel nods, his expression stony. “It seems we are. We must make haste, then. Come. I’ll take you inside, and then I must relay all of this to the others.”
Castiel follows him, then Hayliel and Theo. Mira hasn’t said a word, but her face remains haunted as she and I walk side by side toward the towering walls.
We’re either heading into safety or stepping directly into the lair of our enemy.
12
The Archangel Sanctuary is like something out of a movie.
There’s luscious green grass and bushes shaped like angel wings. Flowers and trimmed trees. Every inch is perfectly landscaped. And it all leads up to the high white stone walls and curved gate that’s covered in flourishing green vines with multicolored flowers growing from them.
If it were any other day, the sight of it might make me feel something. Astonishment. Awe. Joy. Instead, I don’t feel much of anything. Only pain. Loss. Fear.
