Page 29 of Descent of Angels

He laughed. “Don’t like hearing the truth, do ya, Dylan? She was his little slut, and when they came and told me they were leaving and taking you with them, there was no fucking way. You were mine. She was mine. He wasn’t going to take either of you.”

Remiel shifted behind me, sitting up and twisting to lean on one hand. “What did you do to them?”

I shook my head slowly, then winced at the pain. “They left. She left me.”

“Except she didn’t, did she?” Remiel pressed, his voice hard. “You didn’t let them leave, did you?”

“I only meant to put him in the ground,” my father muttered. “Stupid bitch tried to push him out of the way.”

“What?” I gasped and tried to turn, but my body burned in agony.

“You shot her,” Eleth sneered, his grip tightening on the gun.

“Bitch deserved it. Then that prick came at me, and I took him out as well.”

“You... You killed her?” I said slowly as it sank in. “You murdered her.”

“It was her own stupid fault. So stuck up, thinking she could have more. She was a stupid little slut. I tried to bring you up right, recognizing your betters and what you deserve, and then what do I find? You opening your legs for fucking angels of all things. Not even men, creatures. You disgust me.”

“Do we have a gag or something for that piece of filth?” Jophiel inquired as Remiel lay back down and curled around me. Tears flowed freely down my face, and he tried to brush them away.

“I’m so sorry, so sorry,” he whispered.

“She didn’t leave me.”

“What?” He pulled back, confused.

“She didn’t leave me. All this time, I thought she left me with him and didn’t want me, didn’t love me, but she did. She came back to get me...” I gasped and began to cough as air suddenly became very hard to get. I tried sucking in more, but there was a strange bubbling sensation in my throat. I began coughing and sputtering, and Remiel jerked away quickly.

“Fuck, Joph, she’s choking! Do something!”

He dropped to his knees and ran his hands over my throat and chest, then he turned me on my side and I felt liquid run from my mouth as I coughed.

“Oh shit...”

“What? What’s shit? What’s going on?” Eleth called.

“She’s choking on her own blood. There’s internal bleeding, and I can’t... I can’t fix it. Where the fuck is Sariel?”

My vision began to cloud, and I could barely draw breath to cough anymore. The last thing I heard was Jophiel calling my name before I slipped away.

THIRTEEN

SARIEL

High above the earth, Sariel glided on silent wings, her feathers gleaming silver in the moonlight. She was clearly visible in the night sky should anyone look up, and that was exactly what she intended. If she was visible, so were the thirty angels that flew behind her, and the humans would stare up in awe and wonder and give thanks to God for the protection of the angels. If any demon or hellion were to look up and see them, well, she was a virtue and lieutenant under the most esteemed Gabriel who sat at God’s right hand. If they knew what was good for them, they would cower and hide, and if not, more fool them. They would descend long before they could be spotted from their destination. She didn’t want to give the deserters a chance to run for it.

A hand signal to her left caught her attention, and she turned her silver eyes toward Taleth, her second. He motioned below and to the left, and she followed his movement, spotting the farmhouse and buildings clustered where the land rose. It was as the human had described. She nodded, satisfied that she had the right place. Another hand motion, and the host wheeled in the sky, turning toward the farm as one. Each movement was timed to perfection—she would have it no other way. Some angels of lesser fortitude would complain that she was too strict and demanding, but there was a reason she served under Gabriel himself and a reason her host was held in high esteem among all of the hosts. Not only did she demand perfection from her warriors, but she also demanded it from herself as well.

Movement caught her eye far below. The farmland had given way to rolling forest, and something moved in its depths. She signaled to Taleth, and he glanced down, frowning, before shaking his head. She looked again. There. Movement and a cold, creeping feeling at the base of her spine. There were hellions down there, she was sure of it. More movement. It was a horde of them, no doubt. She pondered her course for a few moments.

The intel she had received on the deserters’ whereabouts seemed solid, but there was always the chance that it was faulty and they could arrive to mere humans or even the fallen. By the time she established that, the hellions could have fled. On the other hand, if the intel was correct, the deserters could use the time to flee. She wasn’t too worried about that though. She had every confidence in her ability to track them down eventually, but speed would impress Gabriel more. She gazed toward the horizon, weighing her choices, and as they covered more ground, the lights of a small town appeared over the crest of a hill. It was the deciding factor. There was no way she could allow hellions to roam free if there was a human settlement nearby. They’d be drawn to it. She had seen it many times and the results were... messy. Protecting the humans was her first priority. Glancing toward Taleth, she made the motion to descend. He stared at her in surprise, then looked back toward the horizon and spotted the town. Turning his head, he gave the signal to the left flank as she turned and motioned to the right.

As one, the host descended to the ground, landing in formation on the grassy land at the edge of the trees. From within, Sariel could already hear the grunting and snarling of the hellions. She moved closer to Taleth. “Take the host in. I’ll take the first five, circle around, and get near the farm without being seen. Once the deserters hear us dispatching the hellions, they may take the opportunity to run.”

“Lieutenant.”

Sariel turned the first five angels standing at attention nearby. “You five, with me.”

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