TWENTY-FOUR
Thaddeus
My vision blurred and my eyes stung, adjusting to the Heavenly light that was a huge change from Hell’s dim red glow. “Bloody hell.”
Theo chuckled, shaking his hand through his short blonde locks. “For a realm with no sun, it sure is bright, hmm?”
“No kidding,” Kai mumbled as he glanced around, and Blaise continued rubbing his eyes.
He had teleported us into a meadow with the greenest grass I’d ever seen. The temperature was the perfect balance between hot and cold, and no breeze lingered about. There were no insects or animals anywhere to be seen, but there were souls and angels.
Lilith’s family was right in front of us, mingling about, along with a blonde human soul I didn’t recognize. I assumed she was Emma, Lilith’s friend that I’d heard about.
Her and Hunter were laying in the grass snuggled together with her head on his chest and his hand in her hair. Dean and Corbin were sitting in the grass a few paces away, talking about something with urgency I didn’t care to make out. Mia stood in the middle with a small smile on her face as she watched them, but the way she wrapped her arms around herself seemed lonely.
“Emma,” Aziel bee-lined to where Lilith’s brother and friend were, and we sped behind him.
She whirled around, sitting up from her position lying on Hunter’s chest and blinked. “Um, are you one of Lilith’s lovers?”
He nodded before flicking his gaze toward us. “Me and the three vampires.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “It’s nice to meet you…”
“Aziel, although we’ve met before when I was Jax.”
“Jax?” She blinked before realization dawned on her and her mouth fell open. “The cat?”
“No shit.” Hunter gaped at him, scanning him from head to toe. “That actually explains a lot.”
“Yes. Now, can you take us to her?”
Hunter helped Emma to her feet and nodded. “Yeah, we can.”
The rest of her family took notice of us and came over, but Mia stayed away from Aziel with a hesitant glance.
“Best of luck locating Lilith,” Theo said as his angelic voice seemed to vibrate around us. “They have been alerted of my presence. I can sense one angel honing in.”
“Bring Lilith home,” Orenn told us, gripping Theo’s arm.
“Or we’ll fucking kill you.” Bran shrugged before the three went up in black flames at the flick of Titan’s wrist.
“They’ll be waiting for us in Hell,” he said. “Now, let’s get her out of this fucking place.”
“I don’t trust any of you,” Dean said, glancing at Corbin. “But Lilith’s my sister. We’re coming.”
“I’m coming too,” Mia said with a small step closer.
Aziel growled in acknowledgment. “Let’s go. Hunter, lead us to where they’re keeping her.”
“Shit.” Kai glanced up, and I followed his eyes to a familiar angel flying toward our group like a torpedo.
Gabriel.
Visions of what I'd like to do to him filled my mind and my nostrils flared at the sight of him descending down to us. How dare he have the nerve to show himself in front of us like he didn’t take the single most important person from us.
Wanker obviously has a death wish.
“You fucker!” Aziel stormed over to him in a blur without a moment's hesitation and plowed his fist into his face, drawing back and slamming his other fist into his face.
