Page 3 of Wings of Valor
Hayliel sits in a chair, staring at the wall. Castiel—who stands completely unharmed in the center of the cave, proving that the fancy rune Mira gave us must not work—looks confused, while the others do nothing to clear the air.
Shit. They’ve been waiting for me.
“Good. Now that you’re here, can someone please tell me what’s going on? Your message said someone took Hayliel’s parents. Were you able to find them?” Castiel’s gaze moves around the group. Is he that good of an actor, or does he truly not know?
“Not exactly, but we know who has them,” Raphael says, not giving much away.
Castiel’s brows furrow. “I’m not following.”
I’m sick of constantly tiptoeing around shit. “Did you tell anyone about what Hayliel is?”
He reacts as if I slapped him. “Of course I didn’t. What’s going on?”
Hayliel’s quiet, broken voice cracks the building tension. “Archangel Auriel knows. He’s behind everything going on in the city, and unless I joinTeam Evil, he’s going to kill my parents.”
The history professor can only stare at her, his eyes wide and mouth agape. I still can’t tell if his reaction is genuine or all for show. “I’m so sorry, Miss Hayliel. The good thing is, they’re still alive. But just to be sure these old ears heard correctly, you’re saying one of the four Archangels has been working with demons?”
Hayliel goes back to staring at the wall. “Yes.”
Castiel rubs his chin, more puzzled than ever. “For how long? And what is it he’s after?”
Theo steps closer to Hayliel, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s unclear. He didn’t exactly go into the details of his grand plan, though he mentioned a cleanse of the undeserving.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what that means. Fallen aren’t safe anymore. Though, if I’m honest, we haven’t been safe for quite a while now.
“Auriel didn’t learn it from me, but I suspect I know where he heard it,” Castiel says, and all eyes turn to him.
“Well? Don’t stop there.” Raphael crosses his arms over his chest.
A thought occurs to me—one I didn’t consider before. Maybe it wasn’t Castiel himself, but someone else connected to us. Someone we haven’t even met. “Was it Phiel?”
It looks like Castiel wants to roll his eyes, but he doesn’t. “No. As I stated previously, he’s trustworthy. Just before you messaged, Uriel approached me. He knew we’d been snooping through his things and wanted to rub it in my face that we couldn’t get anything past him.”
“Shit. That’s not ideal, but it doesn’t explain how Auriel knew of Hayliel being a Seraphim,” Theo says, and it’s like he plucked the thought from my head.
“Oh, but it does. It seems Uriel has a rare rune etched somewhere in his classroom that transcribes conversation. It’s likely why he never took you to his class for detention”—he turns to Hayliel—“so there was never any proof of what he was doing.”
That fucking asshole has been a thorn in our side since the beginning. It’s time someone plucked him out.
Theo makes a noise in the back of his throat that has my brows darting up in surprise. “So, when we were snooping in his class and I mentioned she was a Seraphim, the rune would have transcribed it for him.” His face is so pale the veins show through, making him look sick. “It’s my fault. I did this.”
The room grows silent as his stricken expression turns to Hayliel. In a voice so low I barely hear it, he says, “You’re in this mess because of me.”
“No,” Hayliel replies, walking to his side with more gusto than she’s had since discovering her parents are gone. “He’d have found out regardless. The asshole was already slinking around in the Fallen library, remember? This isn’t your fault.” Gone is the heartbroken girl from mere moments ago. In her place stands a woman who sees her friend hurting just as much as she is. Something she can’t bear to see without trying to soothe away the pain.
“But your parents.”
“We’ll save them. We have to. But it’s not your fault, Theo.” Hayliel’s gaze hardens. “The only angels at fault here are Archangel Auriel and that piece of fucking shit Uriel.”
Mira clears her throat, speaking for the first time since entering the cave. “So, what do we do now?”
3
Around me, the group argues about what our next step should be, but I don’t bother joining the conversation. Instead, I just hold on to Theo’s hand to reassure him that what happened isn’t his fault.
The discussion grows louder, but I tune them out. It’s late, and we’re all worn out. Hell, it’s our constant fucking state at this point. Yet despite the weariness, my damn brain just won’t shut off.
Behind my eyes, the events of the night play on repeat. The sight of their blood on the walls will haunt me forever. And fuck, I can’t even muster excitement about finally summoning enough sunfire to blast a demon to smithereens.
