Cocking my head, sword still held aloft, I listened for sounds of movement or weapons being drawn. Nothing. I hadn’t expected Heaven to be so cold, so empty. Were they so arrogant they had no security because they didn’t believe anyone would dare to sneak inside?
Ignoring the tingling sensation of a hidden stare, I hardened my resolve to find Adam, pivoted toward the steps, and froze.
Halfway up the stairs, a being of pure light blocked my way. His wings, white with a hint of gray at the bottom, spanned across the staircase and over the banister. Their breadth, at least as far as Lucian’s—perhaps wider—were breathtaking. This angel, just as beautiful as the Fallen, held his chin aloft and his cobalt eyes lasered onto mine. His body, clad in golden armor, moved with ease as he swung his weapon in a practice swing.
“Move aside,” I demanded, determined to reach my goal. “If you do, I will spare you. My business is with another.”
An eyebrow rose and his focused stare showed a hint of amusement. “You’d spare Michael, God’s chosen?” A low chuckle slipped from his mouth. Michael’s face, with his long, sandy hair cascading around his head, crinkled with a smile. “I think not.” He swiped his fingers over his sword, and it flamed with pale white flickers which crackled in the air.
“Then I’ll kill you.” Another step closer, my pace measured.I’m not letting him intimidate me. Every moment I waste on him could be an eternity for Phoebe.
“You can try, Cain.” Michael paced down one step.
“How do you know my name?” Pausing, I kept my weapon close to my side, but curiosity ate at me. I’d only recently been made into a full angel, so no one here should know who I was, which had been the reason I could enter without rousing suspicion.
“God knows you; therefore,Iknow you.” With lazy grace, he whirled his sword, the movement so fast my eyes couldn’t keep up.
“Then you understand why I’m here.” Pushing back my shoulders, I studied his face, trying to determine if what he said was true or if he bluffed for more time while waiting for reinforcements.
“I know why youthinkyou’re here.” His deep voice rumbled through the empty space. “But it’s not the real reason, is it?” Tilting his head, he flashed his teeth in a knowing grin. “Lucian’s not the only one who can see into the heart of man.”
“I’m not human any longer, I’m angelic.”Not sure why I feel the need to explain that when it’s obvious with the wings jutting from my shoulders.
“Oh, you’ll always be human inside, where it counts.” Michael’s smile faded. “Now, are you prepared to die in the name of vengeance?”
“I’ve never been afraid of dying.” I summoned a shield for my left hand.
He created an identical sword to his other and twirled it, the light flashing from the unblemished steel. “If you’re not afraid to die, then you’ve never found a reason to live.”
With the two swords crackling and hissing, he took another step downward, closing the ten-foot gap.
His words stopped me cold.Have I ever lived for anything besides retribution?No, not until the past week. Not until Phoebe.
I couldn’t think about her right now, not when I needed to funnel every ounce of concentration into the impending fight. I pushed myself upward and met Michael’s arrogant smirk with my own.
He literally had the upper hand, but it meant his fall would be farther than mine. I sprinted to meet him, bracing my arms for contact, and swept my sword low, striking the side of his leg.
That was how I’d planned it happening in my mind, anyhow.
With a flash, he disappeared.
My sword’s momentum continued cutting across the now empty space. As it struck the banister, black metal rang out with a piercing screech, shooting flurries of orange sparks into the air.
“Damn it.” He’d moved like liquid mercury, smooth and fast, impossible to catch.
Twisting around to peer behind me, a heavy, solid blow landed against my wings, throwing me face-first toward the stairs. As I stumbled forward, my hands automatically released the shield and weapon as my palms landed against the sharp edges of the marble steps.
Scrambling to re-summon my weapon, I threw out a hand and called the ether.
As it gathered, Michal stomped the sensitive area between my shoulder blades, and my wings reflexively drew inward with the pain. “Cain, you’ve got a lot of nerve sneaking—”
Spinning onto to my back and smashing one of my wings with the movement, I shot a stream of dark energy outward.
Michael’s eyes widened and he reeled backward, clawing at the tendrils snaking up his face, toward his eyes, giving me the opening I needed to jump to my feet. An area between my shoulder blades ached, and my wings felt heavier than I’d have expected, but I kept my focus on the archangel as he missed a stair and stumbled down a couple of steps before lifting himself into the air. Golden light glowed around his body and penetrated the black ether I’d flung toward him.
My path lay up the stairs, not down here with him, yet if I didn’t kill or maim him, I’d never make it to Adam, to my retribution.
“You fight like a human.” He grinned, smacking his swords together, the sound of contact an angry sizzle. “Actually, you fight...” His smile turned to a frown. “Like a...Nephilim.”
