Page 34 of Darkest Need

He looks like he just fought seven wars but snatches the apple out of her hands and then stumbles toward the cave.

“Tarek, no!”

“Yes.” He falls to his knees. “What was once Fallen must be restored. The star said so in her last moments. We have to restore the Fallen, the beginning, you, the end.”

He throws the apple into the dark cave.

And as he does, the stars light up above us to the point where I can’t see anything anymore. But Icanhear. I hear it all.

A rumbling so loud you’d think the world was ending.

Danu starts screaming, covering her ears. Maybe that’s what happens when monsters meet their maker.

Then, all at once, what looks like ten thousand angels descend to the ground, all covered in full red armor. The sound is like rumbling thunder hitting the earth. Silence no longer exists.

There’s only them.

I look to the right and watch as swords plunge into the ground. They’re black and sharp and stay there, causing the earth to rumble even more—no, not rumble, it groans as they stand. Nobody moves. Nobody breathes. They’re like statues waiting for something.

They look toward the cave as if expecting a miracle to occur, when I know, sadly, curses are more common. Yet I look along with them as Danu continues screaming in alarm like she can’t handle what’s going on around her. Is it the supernatural? Is it the fact that the swords went into the earth? I have no clue. I’m probably just as clueless as the goddess is at this point, and so delirious I think I’m seeing things.

For the first time, I realize that the rumors are true as Bannik and Medusa walk out into the stars beneath the moon, standing tall.

Medusa is gorgeous, her red and black hair falling in dreadlocks to her waist. Her eyes are closed.

Bannik grabs her hand, and I’ve never seen a man so tall.

He’s truly a Fallen Angel, one of the first, not from the Garden but from being a Watcher. From becoming what he should have never been.

He locks eyes with me and then turns toward Horus. “Did you find my star?”

Horus walks forward, and it’s like everything moves in slow motion. “I promised I’d make a star.”

“That you did.” Bannik’s reddish-black hair is braided down his back. “And did you keep your promise?” A tear runs down his cheek.

Horus nods and looks at Timber, who looks at Cassius. They all walk forward. I have no idea what’s going on, but Danu is suddenly paralyzed next to me, her eyes following the movement of everything.

I slowly get up and wait.

I really have no idea what’s going on.

The angels wait, the army still with their swords in the soil. Then they shock the crap out of me and bow over their weapons.

“Ah,” Cassius says. “This was a long time coming, Archangel.” He kneels—the King of the Immortals on Earth, an Archangel in his own right, kneeling in front of Bannik, the worst of them all. He spreads his arms wide. “What better way to welcome you back than to bring you the stars?”

In a sudden motion, several fall to the Earth next to the angels. They stand and bow, and then...

They start to sing.

I don’t know the language.

I don’t know what’s even happening.

“Welcome.” Cassius stands. “Dear brother…you can hear them again.”

Was it the apple that released him that he needed all this time? The very first Fallen?

Bannik jerks his head to me. “And you.”

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