Page 55 of Wings of Valor
We might be standing over the entire world, but in his arms—or Theo’s or Zeke’s—I have everything I’ll ever need.
22
Iwake without an alarm, and it feels as though I’ve slept for all of five minutes.
Hayliel is already up and dressed, with imbued daggers strapped to her thigh and a sunblade sheathed at her hip. The rune-stitched clothes she wears have me wanting to drop to my knees and pray at her feet.
But I can’t. Not now. Later I will, though. When we’re back and know everyone is safe.
She’s pouring coffee into a cup when I approach.
“Morning,” I say, pressing a kiss to her temple while I reach for a mug.
“I see you slept about as well as I did,” Hayliel replies, her tone filled with sarcasm.
She’s not wrong. I hadn’t had a nightmare in a few weeks, but they came back with a vengeance last night. My dad. Serah. Their faces all morphed and changed until I saw Zeke’s face as he took his last breath. The next face I saw was Hayliel’s. In my dream, she looked at me with so much blame and disappointment that it felt real.
Without thinking, I pull her into me, needing the reassurance that it was only a nightmare and nothing more.Thisis real.
Raphael joins us wearing a similar outfit to me—yesterday’s shirt over a pair of shorts—and grabs a mug of his own deliciously hot coffee before we sit on the couch for what might be our last few moments of peace. Today is the day we bring our friends home, and I suspect it won’t be easy.
Castiel exits his room at the exact moment I hear a knock at the door. He opens it to reveal Kirach, Zeke’s father, standing on the other side with Azrael. They’re each carrying several bundles of clothes.
“Oh, we’re all set, actually,” Hayliel says, pointing at what she’s already wearing.
Azrael shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. It would seem the Archangels gave strict orders to the sanctuary guards not to let anyone pass without wearing the chosen gear.”
Raphael says what I know Hayliel and I are thinking. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Why?” Hayliel and I ask at the same time.
“I can’t say for sure, but I suspect it’s an optics thing. If they sanction a mission with you wearing whatever you want and things go sideways, it could look bad on them.” Azrael sets his bundle down on a small side table.
“I guess I’ll go change then,” Hayliel says, clearly annoyed as she takes the outfit Kirach hands her.
“We’ll worry about hitting them hard, you guys just focus on bringing them back safely,” Azrael says to us, then he leaves toprepare his team. The plan is for them to act as our distraction while also causing as much damage as possible.
Auriel takes our angels? We ruin his secret base. It’s a simple exchange.
Raphael and I grab an armor set and change. By the time we head back out to the main room, Mira is there and Hayliel damn near squeals.
“I knew you’d escape without getting caught!”
“It’s only one of my many talents.” Mira winks at Hayliel.
“Where did you escape from and what the hell are you holding?” Raphael asks, peering down at the velvet pouch Mira passes to Hayliel.
Unable to hold back, our girl tosses an excited glance in our direction as she unties the string, keeping it closed. “These are the potions Mira made for me to suppress and dampen my power signature. I figured everyone in our group should drink them to give us some added stealth.”
I eye the glass vials she extracts from the bag and notice that Raphael looks like he’d rather pass entirely. “Great idea,” I tell her, taking one. Turning to Mira, I add, “And very cool that you can make these. I’d love to talk once we get through this.”
“Naturally.”
Raphael watches the shimmering blue vial with skepticism. “So, uh, what exactly do these taste like?”
“Like not getting caught by demons and killed before we manage to rescue anyone,” Hayliel says in a teasing tone, but it’s no joke. Once Mira passes the vials around to everyone on our team, including Castiel and Kirach, Hayliel shouts a quick, “Bottoms up!”
The blue liquid is smooth as it goes down my throat, but the taste it leaves behind isn’t pleasant. Like artificial blue raspberry gone wrong.
