“Who are you, and how did you get here!” I demanded, voice pulsing through the stadium as I pushed him toward his line. He had to say he was an angel of the Lord, or this was all for nothing.
I flinched against the harsh white spotlight as the screens overhead switched to a wide shot once more. Whoever managed the lights gave me a starring role, illuminating me for the world to see. I floated on a cloud of adrenaline. So help me, if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass, he was going to single-handedly ruin everything.
“I can’t,” he said, only loud enough for me to hear.
I dropped the mic to my hip. “What do you mean you can’t?” I hissed.
“I can’t move.” He flared his eyes. I opened my mouth to ask about stage fright when I spotted the caged-animal panic in his eyes.
This was not stage fright.
Something was wrong.
My throat tightened as I sent a silent plea to the universe that this wasn’t what I thought it was.
Please, please, please, don’t be the angels,I begged.
My godless prayers went unanswered. Silas was stuck, and he needed my help.
“Fuck.” I swallowed. “Okay, Az, I’m gonna need you to save the day here.”
We hadn’t even discussed troubleshooting to the supernatural degree. We were goddamn idiots.
It was my turn to be frozen with stage fright as I ran out of options. The band fidgeted nervously to one side while Vexa slowly got to her feet on the other. Just off stage, security began to descend. Men in black shirts swarmed from all sides. We were running out of time, and we’d accomplished littlemore than a confusing, theatrical entrance. On the far side of the stage, I spotted the man in blue who’d handed me the mic. We locked eyes for the barest of moments before he turned to the swarm of human muscle and flicked his hands. They crumpled where they stood, each man collapsing to the ground with a dull thud.
We had an ally.
Azrames was at my back a moment later.
The audience erupted in baffling murmurs. Those who’d been running stopped. Everyone was glued to the horrifying display onstage.
“Hope you’re ready to improv,” he said under his breath as he walked past me. I felt the anxiety roll off him like a tangible cloud as he passed Silas. I held my breath in the moments it took him to round the angel’s wings, terrified that the same fly trap that had caught the angel would harm him.
The reaction was immediate. Our sigils had worked.
Azrames took center stage. My eyes shot to the enormous screen where a cameraman had zoomed in on his upper body. The light bounced off his horns. He approached the background singers, who scattered like mice, and snatched a microphone from its stand. He gave the terrified chorus of women a polite bow in acknowledgment before turning to address the audience.
“And this is Heaven’s finest,” he said with a chuckle. “Did you show up to smite a musician because she’s speaking her mind about your King? Well, look what Hell does to protect free will.”
Vexa’s headset caught the barest of whimpers as she stared at Az.
Azrames turned directly to Vexa. He spoke to her as if they were the only two in the stadium, speaking into the mic as he said, “We do our best to keep angels and their violence against humans at bay. I’m sorry he got the chance to scare you. I’ll take care of it.”
My legs were numb. Between the lights, the thousands, the drama, and the adrenaline, I wasn’t sure if I could move. Azrames was taking credit for freezing Silas. This could work. We might still accomplish what we’d set out to do.
Except…
I caught a sprinkle of rose-gold light in the distance. A second sparkle of pale blue erupted just beyond the nosebleeds. I only knew one thing that glittered, and it wasn’t good. My eyes shot to Az with urgency, begging him to look up over the audience and see what I saw. The sparkles swirled, intensifying as they neared the stage.
Angels. My worst fears were confirmed. Of course it was the fucking angels.
I pictured the man with blond curls, the dark-haired saint at his side as they’d sucked the air from Nia’s home and tried to murder me through Kirby’s rearview mirror. The threat of their arrival had been enough of a sword over my head. I hadn’t even considered that they might be biding their time until Silas was as public as possible. It was infinitely more damaging than I’d ever considered.
My mind raced. What could a human girl possibly do against enemy archangels?
Azrames brought his hand to his shoulder as if to dust off his knuckles. To all the world, it was a casual feat of showmanship as he strode toward the center of the stage. But I saw the double tap against his shoulder, just above his heart.
My broach. It was a signal.
He took a few steps closer, and I understood what I was supposed to do.
I could rescue Silas and activate the siren’s army in one fell swoop.
I bellowed, “I’m going to send you back where you came from. And give your master a message. Tell him that Hell protects its own.”
I lunged for Silas just as Azrames twisted his hand as if cracking a neck. The sølje bit into my waist as I bent for him.I grabbed the back of his neck with one hand, his wing with the other as I pulled Silas into another realm.
