Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Other Books by Debbie Cassidy

About the Author

Copyright © 2023, Debbie Cassidy

All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Chapter 1

RUE

F lying while wrapped in Michael’s arms was vastly different from being carried by Shem. In Shem’s arms, I was able to see the world go by, just as he saw it, but with Michael, there was only the warm glow of his celestial light. If not for the pressure of his grip around me, I would have doubted I was airborne at all.

The sensation of disembodiment freaked me out.

How much farther until we got to the Golden City? How much longer before I found myself trapped inside the celestials’ home?

I’d made the decision to leave Shem and the watchers and go with Michael to protect the relic shard we’d found in the tower.

Doing so saved Shem by giving him and the other watchers time to get away, but it was more than that. I needed to get behind the Golden City’s walls because the second relic piece was inside there.

Kabiel’s vision had showed it to me.

Not the exact location, but enough to know it was inside the celestial stronghold.

But once I got beyond those walls, how the heck would I find the relic piece? I couldn’t risk opening a channel to the Morningstar power or they might sense it.

So, then how would I track it down?

There’d been no time to think that part through. No time to plan and consider all the implications of giving myself to Michael. The only thing that mattered in the moment when Michael and his troop had descended on us was making sure Shem got away with the relic piece we’d found. Getting behind enemy lines was merely a bonus.

I’d have to convince Michael that I’d stayed with Shem under duress. I’d have to lie and make him believe that I had no idea why Shem wanted me, because Michael was the only thing standing between me and the Dominions—the higher-ranked celestials who could read minds. I needed to buy enough time to find the relic, then figure out a way to get the heck out of the—

“We’re almost there, Rue.” Michael’s voice resonated around me, and my inner monologue died.

Almost there? Almost trapped. The band of anxiety wrapped around my chest tightened a fraction so that when I spoke, my words spilled out in a breathy whisper. “It would help if I could see where we are.”

“You want to see?” He sounded perplexed, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that I’d prefer to have my full faculties about me. It was on the tip of my tongue to say something to that effect, but I bit back the words. Antagonizing him wouldn’t achieve anything.

Instead, I injected a gentle plea into my tone. “I’d feel better if I could see. This feels…odd.”

“I apologize. I was merely trying to make the journey more comfortable.”

“I appreciate that, but it’s disconcerting not being aware of my surroundings.”

“Yes…Yes, I suppose it would be.”

The light dimmed and a breeze kissed my cheeks. The world below came into focus, treetops kissed by moonlight whizzing by.

His chest was pressed to my back, his arms bands of steel around my torso, holding me to him effortlessly.

The only sound was the periodic beat of his huge, white wings, golden tips gleaming like metal in the moonlight.

Shem coasted a lot so his wings beat less frequently, but then his wings were batlike, powerful in a different way to Michael’s armor-feathered ones.

My chest ached with foreboding. What if I never saw him again? What if I never made it back to the bunker or Bastian?

No. Stop it. You can do this, Rue.

Dark shadows ruffled the foliage below, sweeping beneath us and keeping pace.

“What’s that?” The question was a stupid reflex because I knew the answer before Michael responded.

“Monsters.” His voice rose easily above the wind that cocooned us. “They can’t hurt you. I’ve got you.”

And he expected me to be grateful for that, but it wasn’t me the monsters wanted. It was Michael and his troops. It was their light.

The creatures below us were some of the first created by God. Soulless and without celestial light, they’d been locked away by their creator for eons, and now that they were free, they craved celestial lights, desperate on some primitive level to be made whole.

But I couldn’t let Michael know that I knew this—he couldn’t know how much Shem had confided in me.

He’d seen Shem and the watchers in my mind, and I’d told him that I knew that they were watchers.

How would I explain that?

Think, dammit!

“There,” Michael said. “The city walls.”

The Golden City rose out of the shadows like a jewel set against dark velvet. Silver spires gleamed in the moonlight, safe behind a monstrous gray wall that seemed to rise almost as high as us. It stretched for what looked like miles, maintaining its height, and down below, shadows clawed at its surface, skittering up the stone only to be blasted away by invisible forces. The air shimmered in the wake of each expulsion.

Now, this I needed him to explain to me. “What is that?”

“Warding to keep the creatures out,” Michael said. “Nothing can get into the city unless carried in by a celestial. The warding is strong.”

Like the runes that had existed on each base’s walls? No…there were no runes here. This was a different kind of power.

We were almost at the wall now, and the mass that surged up against it grew bigger. So many type 4 beasts, climbing over one another in an attempt to scale the stone barrier. They could sense the light. Sense the power and they wanted it.

Their screeches, clicks, and skittering sounds clawed at the air.

“Don’t worry,” Michael said. “You’ll be safe within the walls. Shem won’t be able to get to you.”

That’s what I was afraid of.

“Michael, we have airborne incoming!” one of the celestials flanking us called out.

For one crazy moment, I thought that maybe Shem had come after me, but then I spotted the razor beaks headed our way.

“Move!” Michael ordered. “Get beyond the wards!”

He put on a burst of speed, pushing us toward the city walls and the shimmer that rose off the parapets and curved over the city like a dome.

My heart pounded against my ribs. I hadn’t come this far to get chomped on. This wasn’t my first time up against the razor beaks, but the last time, I’d had Shem at my back. Shem, who’d scared the fuck out of me but had also made me feel safe.

But Michael? I didn’t know if he could take on one of these, let alone several, but it was okay. We were almost at the walls. We were going to make it.

The razor beaks screeched at us in rage at being thwarted.

Fuck you!

The city rushed closer, and the panic inside me ebbed.

One more moment and—

The air beneath us erupted as the shadows below spit out a monstrous beast.

It shot up, mammoth wings beating the air. It was huge. Larger than a fucking bus.

“Draycon!” one of the celestials shouted.

Michael pulled us back, wings beating hard to draw us higher and away from the beast.

The draycon’s throat began to glow with inner fire. My scalp pricked, terror turning my blood to ice. What was that? What was it about to—

It opened its mouth and let out a jet of blue flame.

Chapter 2

B lue flame burned a path toward us, and for a moment, it filled my vision completely. Heat seared my lungs and singed my skin.

We were going to die.

The draycon dropped.

No, wait, we were shooting up into the stars.

My stomach bottomed out, breath trapped in between a scream and a whoop of triumph as the spot below us became a sheet of flame.

That would have been us.

We could have died if Michael hadn’t acted fast, and oh shit, the draycon was coming after us.

Michael banked left then made a sharp right, avoiding another jet of flame. The draycon behind us roared. The path to the city was clear. Where were the other celestials?

We dropped altitude quickly.

Shit!

“I’ve got you!” Michael gripped me tighter then shot up toward the stars, narrowly avoiding another stream of fire. It hit the wards and spread outward, unable to get through.

I was burning up one moment and icy the next, my lungs struggling for breath.

“Almost there, Rue,” Michael assured me.

He sounded calm, as if outmaneuvering a fire breathing monster was an everyday occurrence for him, and who knew? Maybe it was.

The shimmering wall of the wards rushed up to meet us, but evading the draycon had given the razor beaks time to reach us. They rushed us from the left.

Michael dove to evade them then banked right, taking us away from the wards to avoid a jet of flame.

The other celestials were already at the wards.

Why the fuck was this beast on our tail?

Michael dove again and the beasts below us surged toward us, climbing over each other to try to reach us. We blasted up and away, flying parallel to the wall, so close that I could see the glowing red eyes of the rippers attempting to scale it.

Shit, shit, shit.

“It’s okay. It’s all right,” Michael said.

I wanted to believe him. I had to.

Blue fire sliced across the sky and hit the wall. Michael reared back, wings catching the air to take us out of the blast radius and hold us there until the flame dissipated before shooting forward toward the wards once more.

But the area was now flooded with razor beaks. “We’re not going to make it!”

“Yes. Yes, we are,” he said.

The reason for his confidence emerged from beyond the walls in the form of celestials decked in shimmering bronze armor, wielding golden bows. They let fly a flurry of glowing arrows, hitting the razor beaks and taking them down.

We jettisoned forward, and for a moment, I was blinded by tears as the wind ripped at my skin.

The draycon’s death cry echoed behind me, then gentle heat spread over my skin and the sounds of the monsters faded away. The air trapped in my lungs exploded from my lips.

“Rue? Rue it’s all right. You’re safe. We’re safe. Look.”

We hovered, suspended over a parapet with the broken world spread out before us while the armored celestials took out the last of the airborne threat with their glowing arrows.

“The sentries will clear the air now. We’re safe.” He turned us away from the shadowy dead world and toward the gleaming metropolis of the Golden City.

From this altitude, the city was spread out beneath us like a feast for the eyes. Thick, stately towers lined with parapets and gaping arches, each holding a landing ledge, dotted the landscape. Some were taller than others, but all were set around a central tubular structure made of thick slabs of shimmering stone. It would have been perfect if not for the evidence of the human city that lay at its feet in the form of ruin and rubble. A reminder of what this land had housed before.

“Each outer roost houses a regiment,” Michael said. “Powers, Virtues, Principalities, and the lower-level angels. That is the Archangel roost.” He pointed to a silver-tipped spire. “When not in the central roost with other essential personnel, then I’m there.”

“The central roost is where the Dominions are?”

“Yes. They are our leaders now…now that we are earthbound.”

Was it my imagination or did he sound a little dubious about that? I didn’t know him well enough to make a confident judgment, though. “Did the Dominions rule when you were in heaven?” Of course, Shem had explained this to me, but if I was going to get Michael to protect me from the Dominions, he had to believe I was as innocent and as clueless about the workings of the celestial army as possible.

He tore his attention from the landscape and fixed it on me. “The Dominion have always managed matters in heaven, but no, they didn’t rule.”

“So…why are they in charge now?”

He frowned slightly and my pulse sped up. Had I pushed too far? I kept my expression curious and as open as possible and finally he sighed. “An army in chaos is no use to anyone. The Dominions brought order. They forged this city.” He swept his arm out toward the landscape. “Our glorious new home.” His tone was flat, and I dropped my gaze, not wanting him to know that I saw right through him.

“It is beautiful.” The Golden City was indeed impressive, but it was built on the ashes of my world.

“Yes, now, we’ll get you settled, and we can talk.”

He flew me down toward the city, past the towers. Buildings with no exits aside from windows, ledges, and parapets.

My stomach trembled as we got closer and closer to the central roost.

“You’re home now, Rue,” Michael said.

No. I wasn’t home. I’d just stepped into a prison.

Chapter 3

SHEM

T he relic piece sits heavy in my pack. The material between us is unable to mute its power. It washes over me, over us, taking the edge off the primal beasts that constantly threaten to overcome our minds and bodies. This relic piece, set close to the other one we have in our possession, will help me to stave off my bestial nature and allow me a little more power to channel to my watchers.

We have this because of her.

We escaped because of her.

Rue…

I squeeze my eyes closed for a beat and shove down the twisted emotions that the thought of her in Michael’s hands evokes.

The pew is cool beneath my thighs. Our only stop before we head back to base at dawn. The last time we were here…Her scent fills my head and the ache in my chest intensifies.

She holds a sliver of my soul. The better part. Not just the fragment that can help us find the other relic pieces, but the part that makes me whole. The part connected to every heartbeat. Rue is more than a conduit to the power. More than someone who can open the doorway and feed us restorative energy. She’s the female that I’m f—

“Shem?” Sarq sits beside me. “What do you want to do?”

Shit…I need to focus on the task at hand. “We need to get the relic fragment back to base.”

“Yes. I know what we need to do, but I’m asking you what it is that you want to do.”

My gums ache from the pressure of grinding my teeth. “It doesn’t matter what I want, Sarq. Want leads to destruction.”

He sighs. “Don’t you think you’ve punished yourself enough?”

“Look around you, Sarq. Look at this world. It will never be enough.”

Tumiel joins us, trailed by Zaq. “We’ve been talking,” Tumiel says. “Rue will get into the city, she may even succeed in finding the relic piece, but she won’t be able to get out.”

“There are no exits, not if you don’t have wings,” Zaq adds.

As if I don’t know this. As if it hasn’t been eating away at me ever since I allowed her to leave with the winged bastard. “Fuck.”

“We have to find a way to get her out,” Zaq says as if it’s the simplest thing.

“You want to go over enemy lines?” I hate the sneer that curls my lips, hate the derision that drips from my tone, but this is the part I must play. “Do you think there’s any escape for us if we cross the wards?”

Zaq smiles, his hazel eyes softening. “I think there’s hope.”

Damn him. Damn hope and its gentle hold.

“He’s right,” Tumiel says. “We have wings. She doesn’t. It only takes one of us to get her out.”

I know this too but… “Not if you’re in a cell.”

“There are four of us, more if we recruit watchers from the base,” Sarq adds. “We’re soldiers, Shem. Extraction is nothing new to us.” The corner of his mouth tips. “Granted this is a particularly dangerous stronghold, but the prize is worth it.” His eyes darken, his expression turning somber. “The prize is everything.”

His words touch my battered soul, and hope’s hold grows tighter on me.

“We need Rue to find the relic pieces,” Tumiel says.

Kabiel’s vision may have led us to the location, but it was Rue opening the channel that put him back in touch with his power of prophecy. Without her, he will devolve again.

Without her, we will all devolve.

The Morningstar isn’t powerful, yet it held power, like a cage. Its fracture caused damage to the fabric of this world, expelled celestials from heaven, and locked them out, but the power it held…That power is still trapped. But now, it’s trapped in a web that the relic pieces hold closed. Rue has direct access to that power when she opens a channel. The access that I should have. The path I can walk when I’m with her. When she’s close and our souls meet, we can touch the power and feed off it. We can survive long enough to put the relic back together, but without her, we’ll devolve before we can finish the task.

We hadn’t thought this through.

Fuck.

“Letting her go with Michael was the right call,” Sarq says. “If anyone can get to that relic, if anyone can play Michael, then it’s her. You know him, you know his feelings about humans. He’ll protect her. It’s in his nature to do so.”

Yes, Michael would have made the perfect watcher. A protector of humanity, treating it like a precious jewel, not to be tainted, not to be touched. Unlike me. But that was before.

Now…Now, he’s a minion, a pawn to the Dominions. “He purged our party of humans. Killed them because he was ordered to do so by the Dominions. Michael has always followed the word to the letter. Orders are his backbone. Yes, he will protect her for as long as he is able, but if they order him to kill her…”

Silence falls over us like a shroud, and for a moment, it feels as if the church walls are pressing in on us.

The residual power of the relic spreads through me, bringing a sense of calm with it. Nothing is more important than assembling it. Nothing is more important than fixing what I broke, and Rue is a part of that. She’s a key. Sarq is right. We must find a way to get her out.

Not because I want to.

Not because the thought of anyone hurting her makes me want to burn down the world, but because it’s the only logical play if we have any hope of finishing what we started.

I know what we have to do. “We get the relic back to base.” Zaq’s shoulders droop. Tumiel presses his lips together and Sarq opens his mouth to argue. I hold up my hand. “We get the relic piece back to base and then we go to the Golden City and get our Rue back.”

Chapter 4

BASTIAN

T he sun has set, and the base is settling in for the evening, unaware that a mutiny is about to occur. And if Penemue and I do our job right, then the humans here will never need to know.

I doubt that Shem believed anything bad would happen in his absence. He left us in Penemue and Amaros’s care because of their diplomacy skills. I doubt he expected those skills to be used against watchers who were intent on stealing Michael’s sword.

It’s a mere fluke I overheard Baraqel’s plan to take the sword to the Golden City and use it to negotiate entry. The watcher is done with being an outcast. He believes that the celestials will let him in. Accept him.

According to Penemue, Baraqel and his cronies are delusional. They also have no idea what it’s like close to the Golden City. According to Amaros, they’ll die before they make it to the walls.

We’ve made the right call bringing our people here instead of heading to the city. This base is the last bastion of humanity, and I’ll protect it until my final breath, which, if the burn in my chest is anything to go by, might be sooner than anticipated.

I’ll have to hold on long enough to see Rue on her return and get this place set up with some decent security. Long enough to pass on my knowledge and to say goodbye.

Just give me that.

“They’re coming,” Penemue says from his position by the empty case that a few hours ago contained Michael’s sword.

Shem left it here, in what was once an ice cream parlor, on the east side of the mall. An area where the electrics are shot, and no one bothers to visit. He didn’t hide the fact from his watchers, but he didn’t expect any of them to steal it.

Thank fuck the relic piece he already has is hidden somewhere else. Somewhere that none of the watchers here know about.

“Ready?” Penemue asks us.

Amaros nods, hunching over and flexing his talons, ready to use them if need be.

Gadreel merely sighs, his khol-rimmed eyes dark with sorrow at the betrayal of his brothers. Up until this point, I don’t think he believed that Baraqel would truly come. That he’d truly stoop this low.

But the boot falls approaching the metal shutter confirm my word.

There is no denying it now.

The metal barrier shudders as it’s hauled up from the outside to reveal Baraqel kitted out in his watcher outfit, ready to flee.

He’s accompanied by several other watchers, all of whom take a step back at the sight of Penemue.

Not Baraqel, though. He stands his ground and lifts his chin, glaring down at us with determined derision.

“How did you find out?” he asks.

“It hardly matters,” Penemue says. “What matters is that you’d betray us.”

“Betray?” The word is a snarl on his lips. “Don’t talk to me about betrayal. We were all betrayed a long time ago by our leader. He parades about barking orders, acting as if he’s some kind of savior, when it’s his fault we’re in this mess. His fault we fell. His fault we lost our connection to our light. His fucking fault.”

Amaros makes a soft sound of distress and hunches over even more, as if Baraqel’s words are a weight settling on his shoulders.

I have no idea what Shem did exactly, but I know that what Baraqel plans to do is wrong. “I thought watchers protected humanity.”

Baraqel’s eyes narrow as his gaze shifts to me. “You have no place in this conversation.”

I cross my arms. “Well, considering that I’m the one who overheard you plotting, I think I do.”

His lips thin. “Ah, I see.”

“This place is a haven. A haven you helped build. Why would you leave now? Why give the celestials anything when they’ve given you nothing?”

He holds up his hands, fingers bent into claws. “Because of this.” He takes a step forward. “This is happening to us, faster and faster, despite Shem having found the human who houses his soul. Some of us don’t have time to wait for him to find the relic pieces.”

He looks back at his companions who nod in agreement, and now that I look closely, I can see the mark of devolution on their bodies, stronger and more prominent than on Gadreel, Penemue, or Amaros.

“We don’t have time,” Baraqel says. “But if we can gain entry into the Golden City and get access to their celestial light, then maybe we’ll survive until—”

“Until Shem completes his quest,” Gadreel finishes for him. There’s sympathy on the watcher’s face. Understanding even.

“You’ll die,” Amaros says. “Now that the airborne beasts are free, they’ll take you down before you can get close enough to ask for sanctuary.”

“Then we die trying,” Baraqel says.

“You know they won’t let you in,” Penemue says. “Even with the sword.” He tips his head to the side so his dark hair falls back to reveal his scarred cheek. “Would you truly give up the human female for a chance to be whole knowing that you’d be dooming the rest of your brothers to devolution and madness? Knowing you’d be dooming us all to being earthbound?” Penemue shakes his head slightly. “The Baraqel I know is too valiant and noble to make such a selfish move.”

Doubt and shame flit across Baraqel’s features as Penemue’s words settle in his mind and the stark consequences of his plan are highlighted. Things that he probably knew but buried in the shadowy recesses of his mind.

Behind him the other watchers, too, look as if their doubts have surfaced.

This is Penemue’s gift. The ability to force someone to look inward.

Baraqel’s shoulders droop. “You’ve hidden the sword, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

He makes a gruff sound in the back of his throat. “Just as well because I cannot promise I won’t attempt to take it.” He held up his hand and studied his fingers. The knobbly joints and black talons look painfully twisted. “I’m not sure how long I have.”

I can’t help but feel bad for him. I know what it’s like to be hurtling toward the inevitable demise of who you are.

Gadreel places his hand on Baraqel’s shoulder. “We won’t let you fall,” he addresses all the watchers. “None of you will fall, because when Shem returns with the second piece of the relic, we will demand a healing.”

“Gadreel?” Penemue shakes his head. “What are you saying?”

Yes, what was he saying? “What does that mean?”

“It means they’ll demand a channeling from Rue,” Amaros says, his dark, angry eyes fixed on Gadreel. “They’ll demand she connect to the power and feed us all.”

“You can’t do that. You have no idea how it affects her to channel. It could kill her.”

“It will be but a few moments,” Gadreel says. “For those watchers who are closest to devolution.” His jaw hardens. “There are too few of us left. We have fought beside Shem…for Shem, for this world long enough. Humanity has been our burden for long enough. If wanting to remain whole is a selfish act, then it’s one I believe that we deserve.”

Baraqel lifts his chin. “Thank you, brother.”

“He won’t allow it,” Penemue says.

“He won’t have a choice,” Gadreel replies. “The humans need us to protect them. He’ll give us this selfish act to maintain that protection.”

I’d seen firsthand what channeling the Morningstar power did to Rue and that had been to save one life. What would it do to her when she channeled for several?

Panic squeezes my heart.

We may have stopped Baraqel from leaving with Michael’s sword and giving up Rue’s location to the celestials, but in doing so, we’ve put her life in jeopardy.

We’re between a rock and a hard place, and I have a nasty feeling we’re about to get crushed.

Chapter 5

RUE

M ichael flew me toward the central tower while I fought my instinct to fight him. To claw at him and demand he take me back to Shem. Every bone in my body screamed at me to run, and adrenaline flooded my veins with desperate heat that had nowhere to go. Because there was no way back. No way out of this situation.

I pushed down the panic and swallowed my fear as we landed on one of the stone ledges. This close, the windows looked more like stately vaulted doorways designed to let out not one, but several celestials at the same time—troops of angels that would rise into the air and form an army.

“Who lives here aside from the Dominions?”

“Essential personnel, from time to time. I have rooms here also.”

“And me? Where will I stay? Are you taking me to them?”

His sapphire eyes softened. “There is no need for that.”

Yet.

He didn’t say it, but I heard it, and my pulse quickened. “Michael, I just want to be safe.”

The wind buffeted my body and his hold on me tightened. “You will be.”

He didn’t sound so sure and the panic I’d been struggling to keep at bay flared.

“Come. Let’s go inside.”

The window swallowed us, and the roost closed in on me—claustrophobic despite the high ceilings and cavernous entrance. The outside was shimmering stone but inside the décor was graystone. Flagstones to be precise. It reminded me of the castle keeps of old that Sissy and I had pored over in the books the scouts had brought back to base when we were teens.

The place had a regal aura, an atmosphere of strength and power. We didn’t come across another single soul on the relatively short journey from the entrance chamber up a short flight of narrow steps and to a wooden door with iron bars reinforcing it.

Michael pushed it open with a flourish, as if he were offering me a gift. “You’ll stay here. This door can only be locked from the inside and the other one there”—he pointed across the room where a larger, sturdier-looking door stood—“is bolted from the outside.”

There was a bed, a table, two chairs, and an arch that looked like it led to a washroom.

The room looked lived in, from the clothes hung over the back of a chair, to the boots at the foot of the bed and the pile of books on the nightstand. Wait a second…

“This is your room?” I turned to face him, suspicion turning my mouth down. “Why have you brought me here?”

He flinched. “No. Rue. I have no ulterior motive except to keep you safe. Here, with me, is the safest place you can be. No one will enter this chamber but me.”

I crossed my arms. “I’ve heard that one before.” And I had. Shem had promised the same and he’d delivered, but Michael didn’t need to know that. “What do you want from me, Michael? Why were you trying to get me to come here so desperately?”

“Because Shem had you and we need to know why you’re important to him.”

Of course they did. “I’m not important to anyone, especially not him. I touched your sword, wielded it, and that intrigued him. He offered to get us to the Golden City safely, but there was a price.” I lifted my chin. “Me. I made the deal to protect my people, and I would have honored it.”

“But why did he make such a deal?” Michael asked. “Why did he want you?”

Because he was a watcher, a protector. He would have helped us regardless. I just happened to have something he wanted.

It was time to lie. “I can’t speak for Shem. I can only tell you what I know.”

“We need to understand how you wielded my sword.”

“I’d taken a dose of the serum at the time.”

His eyes narrowed. “Serum won’t let you wield a celestial blade.”

Yep, I knew that, too, but I faked surprise. “It won’t?”

“Shem didn’t tell you that?” Suspicion lined his beautiful features and the heavy weight of foreboding settled on me.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. He kept me close. He told me you were a monster, but I didn’t believe him, not until you killed my people. I called for you, and you killed them all.” The tears in my eyes were real, as was the tremor in my voice. “How could you do that? I was so angry at you.”

My words had the desired effect of turning the spotlight on him. “Yes, I recall your reaction when I entered your dream.”

I’d slapped him. I’d meant it. “You deserved it for what you did.”

“They were in your head.” The suspicion in his sapphire eyes grew. “That kind of connection is unusual.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know how.” Another lie, bitter and tangy, but necessary.

“You called them watchers. How did you know what they were?”

This question. I’d known it would come up.

Shem had only been able to tell me what they were because of my connection to the Morningstar and the fact that I housed a fragment of his soul. Think, Rue. Keep it simple. Possible and believable.

“I overheard them speaking once. They referred to themselves as watchers.” I canted my head. “What does that mean? What are watchers?” Michael studied me for several beats and my scalp pricked with unease. Could he tell I was lying? “Look, all I cared about was protecting my people, but all my people are dead. They’re all gone…” My voice cracked. “Why did you kill them, Michael?” I needed to understand how he could have done such an awful thing. How he could profess to want to protect me and yet kill innocent humans in a blink.

“I had my orders. Anyone associating with the watchers must be purged.” The way he said it…That flat, unfeeling tone made my stomach hurt.

“So, what about me? Are you going to purge me?”

He bridged the distance between us and cupped my shoulders. “You’re a pawn in a game we don’t understand. Help us to understand and you can be free and at peace here.”

“Free? What does that even mean anymore? Free? As in free to come and go as we please?”

His expression stilled for a moment. “All the humans here are happy and content.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Why would you leave? Where is there to go? The world is infested with monsters.”

“And why is that? Do you know?”

I knew the answer to this question. Shem had told me how the relic had been broken. How he’d been attacked by a creature made of flame. But asking these questions simply gave credence to my story. To my assertion that I was nothing special and that Shem hadn’t divulged anything to me.

“The why and how no longer matters,” Michael said. “All that matters is survival and building a new world for us all to coexist.”

I dropped my gaze to hide the fact that I could smell the bullshit on his words. “I don’t care anymore. Everyone I ever loved is dead.”

“Not everyone,” Michael said. “Your friends are here.”

Bee, of course, but wait… “Friends? As in plural.”

He beamed down at me. “Yes. Bee and the male sweeper who was with you when I took Bee from you. The one you shared an intimate look with.”

The fact that he’d noticed that look from such a distance didn’t matter because all I could hear was the rush of blood in my head, and all I could feel was the thrum of the pulse at my throat.

“Jamie? You have Jamie?”

He smiled, a slow-burn, warm smile. “Yes, Rue. Your friend Jamie is alive.”

Chapter 6

J amie is alive?

He’s alive!

Hope swelled in my chest but the realist in me burst the bubble, reminding me of the evidence of my eyes. I’d seen him purged. Seen the light obliterate him and turn him to ash.

Knots formed in my belly. “How? I saw him die. I saw the light take him. I saw—”

“Yes, what you saw was true. He was purged, but he survived it.”

That darn hope was back, pushing against the part of me that clung to the reality of what I’d seen…what I’d felt.

“He was incinerated just like everyone else,” Michael continued. “But he must have had the serum in his bloodstream. It allowed him to…regenerate.”

Because celestials couldn’t be killed by the purge, which meant it was real…Jamie had died but he’d been…what? Reborn?

It didn’t matter how. All that mattered was that it was true. My Jamie was alive.

Tears pricked my eyes, and I blinked them back to find Michael watching me carefully, waiting. For what? Shit, the obvious question from someone who doesn’t know the full truth about things. But fuck him. I needed a moment.

Jamie was alive, and I’d get to see him again. Hold him again. Love him again. Wait…What if he had the wrong man? That was ridiculous because Jamie was the only sweeper in the purged group, the only one who had serum in his veins, but still, I had to be sure. “Jamie has…um…blue eyes…a beautiful light blue, and dark hair, short…but it was starting to grow out and curl at the ends and—”

“Yes, that is the man who survived,” Michael said with an indulgent smile.

“I need to be sure before I—” Tears clogged my throat, and I covered my mouth to staunch a sob.

“It’s all right to be overwhelmed,” Michael said kindly. “You must care about him a lot.”

“I love him.”

Why was he looking at me with pity?

Focus, Rue. Ask the right questions and continue to play the part. “I don’t understand how the serum protected him.”

“Because the serum is made with diluted celestial power and celestials cannot be killed by the purge.”

And Javier hadn’t had serum in his blood. Jamie was alive because he’d taken the very thing that could kill him.

“Get some rest,” Michael said. “I’ll take you to see your friends tomorrow morning.

“Why can’t we go now?”

He gave me a stern look. “Because we can’t. I’ll be back in the morning.” He slipped from the room and closed the door behind him. The key scraped in the lock.

I was locked in.

Safe.

A prisoner.

But Jamie was alive, and my heart couldn’t be happier.

MICHAEL

She’s here. She’s safe and she’s lying to me.

I close the door and lock it, mind buzzing with possibilities as to why she’d come with me only to lie.

One reason rears its head over and over, but no, I don’t want to entertain the notion that this human may have developed feelings for Shem. And that she may have simply come with me to protect him and give him a chance to escape.

If that is true, then Shem is a worse monster than I thought because he allowed her to make this sacrifice.

He knows the Dominions want her, knows it because I’ve tried to reach her several times. He knows that her ability to wield my sword coupled with his refusal to give her up will have sparked their interest, and yet he let her come to me.

How long can I keep her safe here?

“Having fun with the human?” Gabriel stands a few feet down the corridor, shoulder propped against the stone wall. I didn’t hear his approach. I’m losing my edge.

He’s no longer in his rose armor. Instead, he’s dressed in the casual attire of slacks and a loose white tunic, which means he isn’t on duty.

I don’t want to waste my time speaking with him but simply walking away isn’t an option. Gabriel has the Dominions’ ear after all. “What do you want, Gabriel?”

“World peace, an end to hunger, maybe one of those fluffy little scones Father used to have made for us up in heaven. Do you remember?”

I’m not playing this game with him. “Gabriel…”

He sighs. “I came to deliver a message. You have three days to determine what Shem wants with the human. Three days and then the Dominions will take her.”

“And do what? If she won’t open up to me, it’s unlikely that she’ll tell them any secrets she’s harboring.”

“She won’t have to tell them anything,” Gabriel says. “They’ll simply extract her memories.”

My stomach knots. “What? No. Gabriel, she’s human. A memory extraction would kill her.”

His expression is somber. He knows it. Understands the implications, and for a moment, there’s pity on his perfect face, but it’s gone too quickly to have been real.

“I doubt they care,” he says. “In fact, if they weren’t so hungry for information about Shem, I wager they’d have already ended her life just because he wants her.” He shrugs. “This way they get the best of both worlds—intel and the death of the pesky human who’s had them in knots ever since she picked up your sword.” He leans in and whispers, “She may not even be human.”

I pull away from him. “You’re insane.”

“She wielded your sword.”

“She was on the serum.” I bite out the words knowing full well that they mean nothing.

“The serum doesn’t allow a human to wield a celestial sword.” The corner of his mouth lifts. “But you already know that.” He winces. “Please don’t tell me you’ve become attached to this female.”

Attached? What is he—Oh. “Damn you, Gabriel. We’re not all debauched males hungry for the pleasures of the flesh. I care about this female because she is human, and humanity is ours to protect.”

His gaze flattens. “Yes, of course it is.”

But it’s more than that. There’s something different about Rue. Something special. Something to be protected. “Whatever she is, she’s innocent. Shem was using her for…something.”

“And it’s up to you to find out what that something is, otherwise…” He runs his index finger across his throat. “Good luck, Michael. If you need a hand, then let me know. I’ve been complimented on my charm on more than one occasion.”

I know what his charm entails, and I’m not allowing it anywhere near Rue. “I can manage.”

“Three days,” Gabriel says flatly. “Then I’ll be back for her.” He strolls away, whistling under his breath.

I glance at my chamber door and quell the impulse to march back inside and shake the truth from her lips because I’m no fool. I can tell she’s hiding something, but force will merely make her clam up tighter.

The best way forward is to gain her trust.

In fact, it may be the only way to save her life.

Chapter 7

RUE

T here was no escape.

Not without wings.

Focus on the task.

Focus on the promise of seeing Jamie and Bee. Maybe if I got some time alone with them, then we could plan an escape. We could get out of here together. Yes. That was what we’d do.

The room, which felt large when we first entered, felt suffocatingly small now that Michael had locked me in. The door that locked from the inside called to me. Had he locked it? I hadn’t seen him do it. I gave it a try and it opened. Shit. It was open.

It led to the stairs and down to the entrance chamber we’d landed in. For a moment, I considered heading out for a snoop, but what if I got caught? What if Michael found out I’d disobeyed him? He might not take me to see Jamie and Bee tomorrow.

I needed to keep his trust and play docile for now. Heck, leaving me here with this door unlocked could be his way of testing me. For all I knew, he could be waiting out of view at the bottom of the steps, waiting to catch me.

No. Best to stay put. At least for tonight. Tomorrow, once I’d spoken to Jamie and Bee and plotted, I’d find a way to search this place for the relic—after all, scouting was my forte.

In the meantime, I needed to familiarize myself with this room and see if there was anything in here that I could use to my advantage. The most obvious choice of weapon was one of the pokers propped against the hearth.

The fact Michael hadn’t considered removing them told me he didn’t view me as a threat.

Good.

Being underestimated would give me an edge.

The window ledge was deep here, made to be stood on, to be flown from. No use to me. But maybe I could scale the walls of this tower?

A quick peek around the frame put paid to that idea. The stone was smooth and even, not a nook or crevice in sight to provide a handhold or foothold.

The washroom had a small bath, sink, and a toilet, which looked dusty and unused. Wait, did celestials poop?

Hmmm…They showered, though, because there was soap on the edge of the tub. A shower sounded amazing, but the thought of stripping, of being vulnerable in this place, had me backing out of the chamber. That and the chilling air that seemed to be circulating inside this room. There was a window in here, small and high up, but it wasn’t open. Strange, and completely reinforcing my resolve to remain sweaty and smelly rather than be naked for any length of time in this place.

Back in the main room, the night stretched out, long and empty. It was odd being without my people, without Bastian, but the absence of Shem and the watchers hit hardest. I’d known them such a short time, but we’d spent almost every waking—and more recently sleeping—moment together.

I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed, which smelled like sunshine and summer days. Like Michael.

It was comforting and calm, just like him.

The celestial confused me because when I was with him, I almost believed that he meant me no harm. Maybe he didn’t. After all, he was simply the hand that moved the pieces. The Dominions were the ones in charge. The ones who’d ordered him to purge my friends.

If they asked him to purge me, would he?

Yes.

He would do it.

He was a soldier.

But if he cared enough. If he liked me, then maybe…

My eyelids grew heavy, and sleep pulled me under.

“YOU WANT to pass me that screwdriver?” Bastian asked.

I studied the five screwdrivers in the toolbox. “Um…which one?”

He chuckled. “The red one.”

I handed it to him and sat back to watch him work on the radio. His sleeves were rolled up leaving his powerful forearms bare. He had nice forearms, tanned, and toned and—

What was I thinking? This was Bastian. My friend.

He looked over at me, a question in his eyes, and my pulse skipped. I stuck my tongue out at him to cover my confusion.

He shook his head with a smile and went back to work. “Grab me the rag on the shelf behind you, would you, Rue?”

I twisted in my seat and fell into darkness.

My knees hit the ground and my palms kissed cold stone.

Wait. What was this?

Where was the radio tower? Where was Bastian? That’s where I wanted to be, not here in this pitch-black room. Was I even in a room? It was impossible to tell.

“Hello?” My voice sounded small and scared.

The darkness seeped to gray, and a moment later, the room came into focus. Stone walls etched with glowing runes surrounded me. There were no windows and no door.

I was in a cube.

This wasn’t real, just like being in the radio tower with Bastian wasn’t real.

I was dreaming, which meant that I was safe.

Time to wake up.

Nothing happened.

“Wake up! Come on.”

Air moved the hair at my nape. Not air…A breath.

Ice filled my belly.

There was something in here with me.

Something behind me.

Wait, this was my dream. Mine, and I was sick of my head being hijacked. “Show yourself!”

A voice filled the silence with words that skimmed over my mind in a language I didn’t understand.

“I don’t…What are you saying?”

More words and then something in my brain clicked, allowing the strange language to make sense.

“How are you here?” The voice was female and sounded distant as if she was speaking through a bad radio connection. “Did they send you? Is this a trick?”

I stood slowly and turned to face the speaker—a petite female with huge, haunted eyes and long, flowing silver hair who I could see right through. Her form wavered, tried to solidify, then went translucent again.

“Who are you?” she asked this time.

“My name is Rue.”

“What are you, Rue?”

“I’m human.”

“No.” She shook her head. “You’re not.” She stared at me intensely. “Humans can’t come here.” She vanished.

“Hey!” Where did she go?

“You’re something else.”

I jumped at her voice in my ear. “What are you?”

“A prisoner.” Her face was so close that I could see my reflection in her pupils, except I was the one who looked spectral.

“You…” She reared back with her hand on her chest. The spot beneath began to glow a silvery hue like the runes that surrounded us.

A drumming filled my chest, the same feeling I’d had when I’d signed up to train to be a sweeper. The same feeling when Jamie had first kissed me. What the fuck was this?

“I see you,” she said. “I see you now. You’ve come for me.”

“What?”

The runes on the walls glowed brighter, and terror tightened her features. “Find me. You must—”

“Did you get that rag?” Bastian asked.

My fist tightened around fabric. The rag, of course.

I passed it to him before settling back in my seat.

This was one of my favorite dreams, after all.

Chapter 8

BASTIAN

T he tunnel beyond the red door grows darker, so I quickly wind up the lantern to light up my campsite. Penemue or Amaros will have noticed I’ve gone soon. It’s almost midday after all.

But I’m hoping that Shem and the watchers will be back with Rue by then.

The schematics that Tumiel gave me show that the mall is a maze with many routes that, although cleared by the watchers, haven’t been used. Using that information, it was easy to find my way to the underground exit to the bunker without being detected by any of the watchers.

The hours have trickled by, and my body aches from sitting on the ground, but it’s worth it to act as an early warning to Shem and Rue.

I’m not sure how long I’ll have to stay here in my small camp made up of a sleeping bag, windup lamp, and a battered book, but I have enough supplies to last a day or two.

The book refuses to hold my attention because it’s not the story on the page, but the narrative scrolling through my mind that’s the distraction.

What if Rue argues with me? What if she insists on channeling to help all the watchers? What if Shem agrees with her?

I hate this. Hate being so helpless to protect the woman I love.

I hate not being able to tell her how I truly feel.

Someone’s coming.

I scramble to my feet and peer into darkness.

Shem steps out of the shadows and comes to an abrupt halt at the sight of me. His gaze drops to my small camp then flicks back up to my face.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

I spot Tumiel, Zaq, and Sarq, but no Rue. My heart sinks. “Where is Rue?”

Shem’s jaw ticks. “Answer my question.”

Foreboding tightens my scalp. “Where. Is. Rue?”

Shem exhales through his nose. “She went with Michael.”

Bees fill my head, and the edges of my vision darken. “What do you mean she went with him? Rue wouldn’t just…What happened? What did you do?”

“Bastian, calm down.” Tumiel puts an arm around my shoulder.

How did he get so close? Why is he holding me?

Shit, I can’t see.

“Breathe,” Tumiel says.

My chest burns and I’m blind. I can’t die yet. I have to save Rue. My vision clears and I shrug Tumiel off, standing on my own steam. “What happened?”

“Michael found us just as we located the relic piece,” Zaq says. “Rue decided to act as a diversion and—”

Rage grabs me by the throat and flings me at Shem. I land a punch and then I’m hauled back and pinned to the wall by Tumiel and Zaq.

Is that me bellowing?

“Stop!” Shem barks. “Listen to us. The third shard is inside the Golden City. Rue knew this—Kabiel told her. She went because it’s our only way in, and I let her go.”

He looks pissed but not at me, at himself. He regrets letting her go, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. “Get off me!”

Shem’s gaze bores into me for several beats, then he nods and steps back. The watchers release me.

I want to hurt him but hurting him won’t get Rue back. “If the Dominion find out what she is, they’ll kill her.”

“I know,” Shem says. “Which is why we’re going to go get her back.”

I’VE SEEN Shem angry before, but this is the first time I’ve seen him furious. The kind of fury that isn’t about raised voices and physical domination. His fury is the terrifying kind—cold, calm, and calculating. The type of fury that knows all your weaknesses and how to exploit them without ever raising its voice. It turns his startling blue eyes into something flat and deadly.

I’m glad that fury isn’t directed at me.

He stands at the front of the cinema hall, arms crossed as the watchers file in. As far as they’re aware, Shem has just returned and doesn’t know about their mutinous plans. As far as they’re aware, this is merely a debrief.

Penemue and Amaros flank me, and I can feel the pressure of Amaros’s regard on the side of my face.

“Where were you earlier?” he asks under his breath.

He’s no fool. “I think you know.”

“Fuck.”

“Quiet!” Shem orders.

The room quiets, but Baraqel breaks the silence a moment later, showing complete disregard for the order. “Where’s the human female?”

“Rue,” Shem says. “Her name is Rue, and why do you want to know? I would have thought your first query would have been about the relic piece and whether we retrieved it.”

Baraqel’s eyes narrow. “Did you?”

“Yes. We now have two relic pieces, and there are only two more to find.”

Murmurs fill the room, and there’s relief on several faces.

“And the human female?” Baraqel asks.

Shem’s smile is cold and mirthless. “She left us to go after the third piece.”

Voices rise in confusion.

But Shem raises a hand, and the noise dies down.

“She went on her own?” Gadreel asks. “Shem…what…” He looks flummoxed.

“Yes, on her own.”

“But why? Where’s the third piece?”

Shem’s chest heaves. “Inside the Golden City.”

The silence deepens following his declaration and then erupts with a cacophony of shocked exclamations.

“Enough!” Shem snaps.

Silence falls immediately, proof that he still holds sway here.

“You let her go?” Baraqel growls.

Shem fixes his gaze on Baraqel, mouth twisting in a bitter smile. “Yes, I let her go. I suppose you’d rather I’d have brought her back here so you could force her to channel power to all the watchers. I suppose you’d rather she kill herself doing that than trying to get the relic piece back to us.”

Baraqel opens then closes his mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Rue went with Michael because she believes in us,” Shem continues. “She wants to help, and she’s willing to risk her life for it.”

“They’ll kill her,” Gadreel says softly. “If they discover she houses a piece of your soul, then…” He shakes his head in dismay. “Shem…”

“I know,” Shem says. “I let her go because she is the only person who can get close to the third relic piece. I have faith that she’ll survive long enough to find it but there is no way out of the city for her without wings.” He rakes his gaze over the watchers. “I know what you planned to do on my return. I know that you’re tired and that you’re afraid of devolution. I understand that you hold me responsible for your pain, and you have every right to feel that way. I brought this fate upon us. But brothers, I vowed to you that I would fix this, and I will. All I’m asking for is a little more time. Time and your help.” Soft whispers skitter over the gathered, but Shem continues. “The key to our salvation is behind enemy lines, and she’s working to retrieve an artifact that will bring us one final step closer to becoming whole. It’s up to us to bring her home. But we can’t do it alone.” He looks over at Tumiel, Zaq, and Sarq. “We need more watchers willing to make the flight.”

Shem climbs off the platform and walks along the aisle, making eye contact with each of the watchers sitting there. “You know I can’t lie to you. If you come with me, you might not survive. But if you come with me, then this world might be healed and those of us who do live will have a chance to be made whole again. I won’t force your hand. I won’t order you to come with me. The choice is yours, but now is the time to make it. Stay or leave.”

Zaq moves to the back of the room and opens the door in invitation to anyone who wants to bow out.

Silence swells, filling the moments that follow Shem’s speech. Long seconds stretch to minutes, and nobody moves.

Not one.

Finally, Baraqel pushes to his feet, and a little of the light in Shem’s eyes dies.

He exhales through his nose and nods at Baraqel as if to say, It’s all right, I understand.

But Baraqel doesn’t move. Instead, he lifts his chin in a defiant gesture. “We are watchers. We do not run from a fight. Close that door.” Zaq allows it to swing closed. “We’ll come with you, Shem, and we will fight to bring the human and the relic piece home, but you must promise us something in return.”

This is where he’ll ask for Rue to channel for them. Bastard.

Shem’s eyes narrow. “What is it?”

“No more watchers will be sent to the tunnels.”

Okay, I was not expecting that, and from the look on Shem’s face, neither was he.

Baraqel’s mouth turns down. “If we devolve, then you must execute us. We would rather die than lose ourselves to the monsters within.”

Shem nods. “You have my word.”

“In that case,” Baraqel says, “you have an army.”

Chapter 9

RUE

T he bowl of fluffy white stuff tasted like bacon and eggs. At least, what I remembered bacon and eggs tasting like. Our base hadn’t had a shipment of bacon for several months before our world fell into a deeper pile of shit. But my tastebuds remembered.

“Is it good?” Michael asked.

I swallowed a mouthful. “So good.”

He sat back with a small smile. “I’m glad.”

It was strange sitting across from him at this small, rickety table, stuffing my face while he watched. But today he wasn’t dressed in his celestial armor. Instead, he wore a shirt and black pants with some kind of soft-soled shoes that looked almost like slippers. His hair was pulled back, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was also a hint of stubble on his jaw.

“Rue, why are you staring at me?”

Shit. “I was just wondering if you eat.”

“We don’t eat.”

“So, you don’t poop?” Why the fuck had I asked that?

He pressed his lips together, eyes twinkling. “No, Rue, we do not excrete.”

“Not even sweat?” I was genuinely curious now. “I mean…wow.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “We find the ministrations of humans just as fascinating.”

“Trust me, all the excreting is not fun.”

“But food…” He looked down at my bowl. “Flavors and textures. You have the ability to feel and sense so much.”

“You don’t have tastebuds?”

“Not ones as sophisticated as a human, no. Our purpose was to watch, protect, and fight if need be. Tastebuds weren’t high on the list for our creation.” He nudged my abandoned bowl of food toward me. “Eat.”

I spooned more of the fluffy stuff into my mouth, trying not to think about how it went from cloud bites to bacon and eggs once it hit my tongue. Magic wasn’t a word that I’d used often in my life, but it seemed apt now.

“You’ll take me to see Bee and Jamie today?”

“Yes. Once you finish eating and change into fresh clothes. You can use the washroom. I don’t mind.”

I desperately wanted to wash and put on the fresh tunic and slacks he’d brought for me, but just like last night, the thought of stripping in this place left me with a block of ice in my belly.

“I’m fine.”

He sighed. “I understand. Clothes are like armor to humans.” He pressed his lips together. “But you deserve to feel clean.” He raised his hand and gentle warmth washed over me from head to foot. He sagged in his seat. “That will do for now.”

The grimy, icky feel of my clothes against my skin was gone. Had he just…Yep, my muddy clothes were clean, and my skin felt fresh.

“How did you do that?”

“It’s nothing.”

It didn’t look like it was nothing. It looked like he’d expended energy to clean me up. Guilt nipped at my senses.

I set my bowl down. “Thank you. I’m done with the food.”

“Who would you like to see first?”

“They’re not together?” A shadow crossed his features, and it was as if the sun had been eclipsed by a cloud. “Michael?”

“There’s a system in place here when it comes to the humans. One that benefits us all.”

The reapers came to mind. They’d been siphoning lost souls for the Dominion, and the watchers believed they were using them for fuel. But what would they use living humans for?

A shiver of apprehension whispered up my spine. “Where are they?”

“Your friend Bee is in Respite. It’s a rest point for human females before they’re chosen to bear celestial offspring.” He said it so calmly and matter-of-factly that for a moment, the meaning of his words didn’t register.

But then it did. “What the fuck?”

He flinched. “Rue, there’s no need for profanity.”

I shoved my chair back and stood. “You’re breeding with us now?”

“Our race is dying out. We need—”

“No. You can’t justify this. You’re forcing human females to sleep with you and carry your babies. How is that even possible? How can a human carry a celestial child? That power, that…” Oh, no… “It’ll kill them, won’t it? The birth kills the mother.”

“Souls never die.”

Nausea tightened my stomach. “You can’t do this. You have to get her out of there.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. But believe me, Respite is the safest place for her.”

“What do you mean?”

He closed his eyes and exhaled as if this conversation was too much, as if he needed a moment to center himself because I was pissing him off.

Shit. Focus, Rue, do not alienate the celestial. “I’m sorry. I…It’s a lot to take in.”

He offered me a small smile. “I understand. And I understand if you prefer not to see—”

“No! I want to see her. Please…” I returned his smile, fighting the nervous tremor in my lips.

“On reflection, it might be best to see Jamie first. He’s due to be taken to the mixer this afternoon.”

I was almost too afraid to ask. “What’s the mixer?”

He looked toward the window. “The mixer is a place where humans get to dream.”

“Dream?” A memory stirred in the back of my mind…Something…A dream…but it slipped away too quickly for me to latch on to it. “Why do you want humans dreaming? I don’t understand?”

“Resources are low.”

“You mean you put them to sleep to stop them having to eat? They still need to be fed, right?”

“They’re safe and that’s all you need to know.”

“I don’t think that—”

“You ask a lot of questions and demand a lot of answers, Rue, and I’ve been generous with my replies.” His gaze hardened. “I can’t help but wonder when you’ll extend the same courtesy to me.”

I’d pushed him too far, but I was glad, because I needed him to look at me in this way, to remind me that this wasn’t a social call, and that he was the enemy.

I needed to remember to stay on my guard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The look of disappointment on his face made my stomach hurt—a clear sign that he was getting under my skin with his smiles and kindness.

He’s not your fucking friend, Rue. Remember that.

He pushed his seat back and stood, towering over me. “Come, we’ll see your friends and then we’ll talk some more, and this time when I ask you questions, I expect you to tell me the truth.”

THERE WERE GLOWING doorways in the walls of this place, and we passed several on our way to see Jamie.

“What are they?”

“Portholes to various parts of the city. Only celestials carrying the correct passage cards can pass through them.”

“You mean, you can teleport?”

He nodded. “You could call it that.” He smiled warmly and the knots in my belly melted away.

Damn him and his ability to affect my emotions. Foreboding and fear kept me alert but the very air around him seemed to exude calming pheromones. I was almost tempted to ask him if this was the perk that celestials had been given instead of extra tastebuds, but I bit back the question. Because if he said no, then I’d be forced to consider the possibility that maybe in a different situation Michael and I could have been friends. I’d be forced to acknowledge the old school honor that he exuded.

If only he wasn’t on the wrong side.

Whatever he thought he knew about Shem, whatever he’d been told, it was a lie.

We climbed a flight of steps onto a corridor lined with doors. A celestial stood by one of the doors, head bowed over an electronic pad.

“Nathaniel, how are you?” Michael said warmly.

Nathaniel’s frown cleared at the sight of Michael but reappeared when he spotted me. He scrolled on his pad. “I’m not expecting another arrival today, Michael.”

“No, this human is with me.”

“Oh?” Curiosity bled into the look he raked over me. “I didn’t realize that you were—”

“I’m not,” Michael said quickly. “This human is simply in my care. I was hoping to see the sweeper I brought in.”

“Ah. You’re just in time. He’s due to be transported in thirty minutes.”

Thirty minutes? Is that all the time I’d get with Jamie? No, there had to be a way to change that. “Michael?”

He ignored me. “We’ll be quick.”

Nathaniel pressed a card to one of the doors and it beeped. “Knock when you want to be let out.”

Jamie was locked in? What was this?

Michael pushed open the door and stepped back to let me into the room.

Not a room. A cell. Clean and white, with a comfortable-looking bed and desk, a small washroom with no door, and Jamie, sitting on the edge of the bed waiting. Just waiting.

He looked up as we entered, looked right at me with no recognition in his beautiful eyes.

My chest hollowed out. “Jamie?”

His smile was curious and polite. “I’m sorry, do I…Do I know you?” He looked past me to Michael. “Is Jamie my name? Is this someone who knows me?”

My heart sank as an awful suspicion filled my mind. “Jamie, it’s me, Rue, from base fifteen.” He stared at me like I was a stranger. A no one to him. Like we’d never had a connection. Never been in love. “Jamie, I’m your…” The word wouldn’t come. “It’s me, Jamie.”

He blinked sharply and then stood with a frown. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be upset. I just…I can’t remember anything before I woke up here. It isn’t just you I’ve forgotten.” He scanned my face, his expression earnest, as if he wanted desperately to see something that would spark a memory, and my already fractured heart broke a little more. “Were we friends? Relatives?”

Lovers. We were lovers. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Not now. Not when he was looking at me like I meant nothing. Not when all I wanted to do was grab hold of him and shake him, kiss him, cry. The big emotions swelled in my chest, and they must have shown on my face because his expression grew wary and confused.

I dropped my gaze, breathing through the turmoil of grief, disappointment, and rage, because this…Michael had known this. He’d known Jamie had lost his memory and he deliberately kept it from me.

“Rue?” Jamie said.

My heart leapt, and for a moment, I thought…But no, he was simply concerned, that beautiful smile fixed on his lips. The same smile he’d thrown my way so many times before—before we’d become more. Before we’d been in love.

And now, it was over. Not because he was dead, but because…because he was reborn. Everything we’d had. Everything we’d been to each other, wiped from his mind.

His smile wilted, and the edge of panic tightened his features. This must be terrifying for him. This lack of past, of self.

I wouldn’t be the cause of any more turmoil for him. “You know what? It’s my fault. It’s a mistake. I thought you were Jamie, but you’re not. I’m sorry, you look so much like him that I—” My throat pinched. “I have to go.” I turned to face Michael, my gaze fixed on the crisp cream material of his shirt. “Get me out of here. Now.”

He banged on the door, and it opened almost instantly. I hurried out and headed for the stairs.

“Rue, wait.” Michael grabbed my arm.

The rage bubbling inside me exploded, and I spun and punched him in the chest. “Why?” I hit him again and again, desperate to hurt him like he’d hurt me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He grabbed my wrists and hauled me close. “Calm down. Now.” His words were shards of ice penetrating the fog of anger that wreathed me.

My vision blurred, and I pulled free to glare up at him accusingly. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you warn me?”

“If I’d told you he’d forgotten his past life, would you have believed me? Would you have opted not to see him?”

Was he serious right now? “That’s irrelevant. I deserved to be warned. To be prepared…” My voice cracked and I swallowed an angry sob. “What you just did was cruel. You gave him back to me only to tear him away again. What is wrong with you? Did you honestly think you were doing me a favor? Have you any idea what…” I shook my head. “You probably don’t, do you? Did your creator leave out a heart when he made you?”

He flinched as if I’d struck him, his eyes flashing with hurt.

Fuck him. I didn’t have time for this. I didn’t have the energy to feel sorry for him, for anyone. I’d just lost the man I loved for the second time, the wound in my heart tearing anew. Fuck his feelings.

“I’m sorry that you’re hurting, Rue,” Michael said. “My intention wasn’t to cause you pain.”

I hated the sincerity in his tone. Hated that I believed him and that acted like a balm to my senses. “What happened to him?”

“His memories were incinerated when he was purged.”

Yeah…I’d figured as much. “He’ll never get them back?”

“It’s unlikely.”

“But you don’t know for sure.”

“No.”

If things were different, I’d demand to be allowed to spend time with him, to help him get his memories back, but the only way to help Jamie now was to get the relic piece and put our world back to rights. After that I’d come back for him. I’d find him and help him remember, and if he couldn’t, then I’d stay with him and hope that he could fall in love with me all over again.

“Will he be safe in the mixer?”

“Yes.”

I locked gazes with Michael. “Promise me that he’ll be safe.”

“I swear it.”

It was the most I’d get right now. “I’d like to see Bee now.”

THE JAMIE I knew and loved was gone, but at least he was alive, which meant there was hope for the future.

Still, seeing him like that and Michael not warning me beforehand left me feeling nervous about what I might find when I visited Bee.

“Is there anything I should know before we see Bee? Like, if she’s forgotten who I am?”

“Your friend Bee’s memories are intact.”

He said it, as if there should be a but at the end of the sentence. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“There is much I’m not telling you, Rue. But then, there is much you aren’t telling me.”

Was this a game to him? Did he think he could get me to spill the beans on Shem by withholding information about this place? I couldn’t give a damn about the Golden City. All I gave a shit about was finding the relic and getting my ass out. And hopefully Bee’s ass, too.

There had to be an exit somewhere that didn’t rely on the use of wings. And I was going to—

“You think with the whole of your face,” Michael said.

Huh? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means your expression becomes intense, and your eyes seem to glaze and yet remain sharp. It’s fascinating to watch.”

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t like being scrutinized. But telling him to fuck off was off the agenda. For now. “How much farther?”

“We’re almost there.”

The corridors here were plastered white and the floors dark wood, new and modern in comparison to the part of the roost that housed Michael’s quarters. There was also a gentle hum in the air, not a sound, but a feeling that seemed to create a vibration inside me.

We turned onto a wide corridor with red velvet seats against one wall and a window that stretched all the way across the other. A couple of celestials were seated there, bodies turned toward each other, whispering conspiratorially.

They looked over at Michael then across at me, their expressions curious.

“A new potential?” one of them asked.

The other simply continued to stare at me with eerie pale gray eyes.

“No,” Michael said. “This human is in my care.”

“A shame,” the celestial said. “The offerings this month are slim.”

“I hear that the Powers have left the roost,” the other celestial said, voice remaining low and conspiratorial. “Maybe they will bring back more human females.”

Beside me Michael tensed. “They left? When?”

“A day or so ago, I believe.” The celestial looked smug. “Didn’t the Dominions tell you?”

“Not yet,” Michael said stiffly. “I was outside the walls. But I can assure you, that if the Powers have left the city, it isn’t to bring back more humans.”

Then why would they leave? My question was echoed on the celestials’ faces, but neither of them asked it.

“Good day, brothers.”

Michael drew me toward the glass, turning his back on the two celestials in clear dismissal.

They lingered for a moment then wandered away.

“The potentials socialize in this room most of the day,” Michael said. “Celestials registered for the choosing come here to view the offerings.”

Like picking out a fucking pair of shoes. I hated this place. Hated the sight of the lounge visible below, dotted with white tables and cream sofas, and people in white tunics and slacks eating white cloud food from white bowls.

I hated the fake normality of this scenario.

This was a prison, and the only way out for the women inside was death.

My heart leaped at the sight of Bee. Her pixie cut had grown out slightly so that her silvery blonde tresses curled becomingly about her heart-shaped face, but it was still her, with the determined set to her mouth and the angry way she held a utensil as if she could easily go from eating to stabbing someone with it. Probably one of the two women she sat with who were chatting animatedly.

“Bee!” I slapped my palm to the glass. “Hey!”

“They can’t hear you down there,” an unfamiliar voice drawled.

Michael pulled himself up to his full height, shifting his body to put himself between me and the speaker, who stared at me with a strange intensity that made my stomach hurt.

His eyes reminded me of the green glass bottle shards that littered parts of Sector 1. His hair was the kind of rich auburn that invited light to play through it, but it was his face that captivated me, all sharp angles that were saved from looking cruel by the fullness of his lips.

Michael was beautiful but this celestial was breathtaking with a warning label that clearly said, Play with at your own risk.

“What are you doing here, Gabriel?” Michael said tightly.

“Viewing my options just like every other celestial registered for the choosing.” His gaze slid my way, and his mouth tipped up. “I quite like the female with the silvery blonde hair.”

There was only one woman in the room below with that hair color.

My pulse sped up. What was he saying? That he wanted Bee for breeding?

“Gabriel…” There was a warning in Michael’s voice.

“What?” Gabriel said innocently. “I’m simply doing my duty as set out by the Dominion. As should you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.” He smiled at me as he walked past, and my mouth went dry, because although my brain understood he was the bad guy in this interaction, my body had other ideas, reacting to his proximity on a baser, primal level.

This was nothing new.

Attraction was pheromonal after all, and compatible pheromones didn’t have to mean a damn thing.

“I’m sorry about that,” Michael said. “Gabriel likes to needle people.”

“He’s going to choose Bee, isn’t he?”

He looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know.”

“She’s the only woman in there with silvery blonde hair. Look, there must be a way to get her out of there.”

“There are only two places for a human in the Golden City. Respite or the mixer. Your friend isn’t suitable for the mixer.”

“Why not?”

He clenched his teeth. “What does Shem want with you?”

His question threw me for a moment. “I told you. I don’t know.”

“You’re lying, Rue. I can’t keep you safe if you continue to lie to me.” He stared me down, waiting for me to confess.

If he thought that he could intimidate me into spilling my guts, he was mistaken. “I’ve told you all I know.”

This was it. He’d either punish me by refusing to let me see Bee or follow through with his promise in an attempt to keep my trust.

His chest heaved and he turned away. “Come. Let’s go see your friend.”

Door number two. The door I’d have chosen, too, and if it got me what I wanted, I’d play the game. “Michael?” He paused at a door and offered me his profile, nostrils flaring. “Thank you. For everything.”

His stiff shoulders relaxed. “Of course.” He pushed open the door. “I secured twenty minutes of time for you in this room. I can’t come in with you. Only essential personnel and those with clearance are permitted into the Respite sectors. The women are kept secluded here until the choosing.”

“And when is that?”

“Tomorrow evening.”

That soon? Dammit. What could I do to save her, to get her out in that time frame? Nothing. Not unless the relic fell into my lap along with a handy exit that didn’t involve flight.

My chest hollowed out. I was helpless here. “What happens after the choosing?”

He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “You know what.”

Seriously? “Straight after the event?”

He looked away, clearly uncomfortable with my line of questioning. “Maybe not straight away, but…soon after.”

There’d be no time. No way to get her away from…I squeezed my eyes closed, breathing around the impotent rage tightening my lungs.

“You should go in and see her,” Michael said softly. His sapphire eyes filled with compassion, and heck, in that moment, I wanted to slap him again, hard enough to knock some sense into him. To make him see that he was on the wrong side.

How could he not see that?

But then, maybe he did see it? But what was the alternative? What happened if he turned his back on the city? He’d be chucked out in monster-infested territory if the Dominions didn’t kill him first.

Maybe he was just as much a prisoner as me.

“Rue. Go,” he urged again.

He kept his gaze somewhere over my head as I slipped past him and into a sloping corridor where another door waited. I looked back and he nodded, encouraging me to continue.

How long had it been since I last saw Bee? A week? Two? Time felt fuzzy and unreal to me. So much had happened since she’d been taken from our base by Michael. An awful concoction of nerves, excitement, and dread filled my veins.

Twenty minutes to reunite with my best friend only to be separated again.

I’d have to make it count.

Chapter 10

E veryone turned to look at me as I entered the Respite lounge, probably because my dark slacks and polo top stood out starkly against all the white, but I had eyes only for Bee.

She turned slowly to see what everyone was gaping at, and our gazes locked. Shock colored her features, followed by joy, and then…dismay?

We met in a hug that squeezed the breath from my lungs. She was here, alive, and smelled like home.

She pressed her lips to my ear. “Rue, what the fuck is happening here? We have to get out.”

A chill swept up my spine. I kept my voice low. “You know what’s happening?”

“They’re breeding us.”

“It’s so much more than that, Bee.”

Her eyes rounded. “This place is all sorts of wrong.

I glanced up to where the windows should be and found only white walls. The residents of this room weren’t aware they were being watched, but I had no doubt Michael had his eyes on me.

I fixed a smile on my face. “We’re being watched. Just smile, nod, and come with me.”

She grinned and took my hand, allowing me to lead her to a corner table that was at the perfect angle to be out of view of the windows above.

I sat with my back to the room. “Keep your expression neutral no matter what I tell you. I don’t have much time.”

She nodded and smiled.

Fuck, where to start. “After you left, the base got hit.” I filled her in on our escape and the razor beak attack on the road to the Golden City, on how Shem and the watchers saved us and kept us alive. I briefed her on our journey and the revelations, following up with how Michael had purged our people.

Her throat bobbed. “Ryan didn’t make it, did he?”

Oh fuck. How could Ryan have slipped my mind? I was a terrible friend. “I’m sorry, Bee.”

She tucked in her chin and took a breath. “When I found out the base had fallen, I assumed everyone was dead, including you. I’ve already mourned. I’m just…I’m so glad you’re alive. But seeing you here. Trapped like me…” She searched my face. “Wait, Rue…did you get captured or…”

A cold smile turned my lips up. “You know me too well.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

I told her about the railway attack and how I’d watched Jamie die. “But he’s alive. He’s here and doesn’t remember anything.” I told her about the relics, the bunker, and why I was here. “I need to find it and get out, and you’re coming with me.”

“You just told me that the only way out of the city is with wings.”

“That we know of. There has to be another way.”

Her smile remained fixed, but her eyes dimmed. “Not for me, Rue. The choosing is tomorrow. If one of these fuckers picks me, I’m fucked. Literally.”

Anxiety was a twisted knot inside me. “You think they’d force themselves on you?”

“Apparently, they don’t need to. They can make you want them. They have this…allure or whatever. Once you’re chosen, you’re bonded to the celestial who picked you until…Well, until you die.”

Which wouldn’t be long after she got pregnant. Did she know what happened to the women who gave birth? Best not to tell her. The brittle edge to her smile and her white-knuckled grip on me told me she was already freaked out.

“Everyone here acts like they’re high,” she said. “It’s driving me fucking crazy.” She squeezed my hand. “It’s on you, Rue. You’ve got to get out and fix this mess so we can all be free.”

“I’m not leaving you here.” The words felt empty because they were words that I probably wouldn’t be able to back up.

The smile she’d been valiantly holding slipped. “You don’t have a choice and you know it.”

Dammit. I hated this. Hated the helplessness of being in this place.

“I’m just glad I got to see you,” she said. “I’m glad there’s hope, and I know if anyone can follow through on this task, it’s you.”

Maybe I couldn’t take her with me but… “I think I might have a way to keep you safe while I fix this.”

A shadow fell over us, cast by a celestial who was staring at me as if he’d just found a prize.

“I’ll take this one.” He reached to caress my hair.

“Hey!” I pulled away.

He frowned and glanced down at my clothes as if registering them for the first time. “You should be in the garments of the potentials. Take off your other world vestiges.”

He said it calmly, with confidence, as if he expected me to simply obey.

Well, he was about to be disappointed. “Um…No.”

The look of confusion on his face was almost comical, but it cleared quickly. “You obviously have not been inducted properly. Come with me.” He grabbed my arm, and rage heated my blood.

“Get off me!” I pulled free and almost fell off my seat. “Don’t touch me.”

His dark brows snapped down. “You will comply!” He made a grab for me, but my seat shot backwards with me on it, and a moment later, a hand settled on my shoulder.

“Is that any way to treat our potentials, Balthazar?”

I knew that voice.

Gabriel.

“This human is resistant,” Balthazar said. “She must be dealt with.”

“She’s resistant because she’s not a potential,” Gabriel said. “She’s a visitor.” His fingers flexed on my shoulder. “For now.”

“I see, well, I want her.”

What the actual fu—

“She’s already spoken for.” Gabriel’s tone was as cold as ice, his expression no longer playful and relaxed. He looked like he’d happily break some heads. “And if you dare to ask me by whom, I’ll be inclined to tear off your wings.” He canted his head. “Maybe not both, just the right one. You are right wing dominant, are you not?”

Balthazar dipped his head. “I meant no disrespect, Gabriel.”

“I’ll believe that when you walk away.”

Balthazar hurried off quickly, and I sagged in my seat.

“You need to leave now,” Gabriel said to me. “Say goodbye to your friend and come with me before Michael has a coronary.”

“Can celestials have heart attacks?” Bee asked him, blunt and vocal as always.

Gabriel gave her a flat look. “No.”

“Rue…” Bee grabbed my hand as I stood to leave. “I love you.”

A lump formed in my throat because if my plan failed, then this might be the last time I saw her.

“I love you, too, Bee.”

Gabriel steered me out of the room and into the corridor where Michael waited, sapphire eyes bright with impotent rage.

“He must be reprimanded,” Michael demanded.

“It was an easy mistake,” Gabriel said, his tone almost flippant. “You put a human woman into a room full of potentials ripe for the picking. What did you expect? The choosing is tomorrow evening, and celestials are eager to claim the cream of the crop, and your little human has an undeniable allure.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think?”

Michael’s jaw hardened. “Come, Rue, we should go.”

“Do your job, Michael, and keep her locked away. I won’t be there to bail her out next time an eager celestial crosses her path.”

“No,” Michael said. “But I will. She’s mine to protect.”

Gabriel scoffed. “Until you’re told otherwise. Now if you excuse me, I have a silver-haired human to charm.” He dropped me a wink and ducked back into the room.

Shit. He was going to claim Bee. If he did that, I’d have no control over what happened to her. He’d saved me from Balthazar because Michael had asked him to, but I highly doubted that he intended to claim a potential and not breed her.

There was only one way to protect my friend. “Michael, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. But I need something from you in return.”

Michael’s eyes flinched. “What do you need?”

“I need you to claim Bee at the choosing tomorrow.”

Michael stared at me blankly for several seconds. “Excuse me?”

“I need you to claim Bee at the choosing tomorrow.”

“I heard you, I just…I can’t do that. I took a vow of celibacy.”

Fucksake. “I don’t expect you to break your vow. I just need you to keep her safe. If she gets pregnant with a celestial child, she dies, and I can’t lose anyone else. Please. Do this and I’ll tell you whatever you need to know.”

His throat bobbed. “And if I do this, you’ll tell me what Shemyaza wants with you?”

I looked him straight in the eyes and lied. “Yes. I’ll tell you everything. I swear.”

Chapter 11

MICHAEL

W ith Rue locked safely in my chambers, I can finally think.

She cares about this woman, Bee. She’ll do whatever it takes to keep her alive, so it makes sense that she’d tell me the truth about Shemyaza’s plan if I agree to her terms, but my gut tells me that she’s deceiving me again. But if I deny her, if I allow Gabriel to claim Bee, then any hope of Rue opening up to me is dead and then…then the Dominions will take her, and she’ll die.

I’m not sure why it matters so deeply to me that she be unharmed. I’ve purged many humans at the Dominions’ word, but there’s something about Rue that teases the dying flame of hope in my heart.

I must understand why that is, and the key lies in her association with Shem. In the answer to the question of why he wanted to keep her close.

So, I have no choice but to take her at her word and follow through with our deal.

When I surface from my thoughts, I’m outside the scribe room where vows are recorded and bonds are sealed.

Every celestial who wishes to enter a bond must register his full celestial name with the head scribe, but before I can do that, I need to destroy my written vow.

I press my palm to the celestial reader and the door opens to admit me into a cylindrical entranceway filled with amber light.

A resonant voice swells around me. “Michael, Archangel of the Lord, what is your business here today?”

“I wish to destroy a vow and register for a bonded claiming.”

The silence that follows my declaration is loud. My vow was made before we fell. It’s a part of me and now…Now, I plan to tear it free.

“Please, enter the inner sanctum.”

A door slides open and I step into the soft hum of the scribe room. Golden desks float on either side of a long marble walkway, each with a silver feathered quill moving across its surface. The scribes are misty golden energy wielding the quills. These celestials are without form even when in heaven; their only instrument of power is their quill. The scribes aren’t simply record keepers of vows but also story keepers. Each quill records events past, present, and future, words only a scribe can read. Words they cannot utter. This is their gift and their curse—an everlasting connection to our maker. A duty that cannot be shrugged off.

The Dominions gave them this space in the hopes that in time, they might be able to reveal the meaning behind the words they write. They also gave them the task of registering celestials for claiming. These bonds are a new development, powerful because the Dominions have made it so.

There’s vast energy in this room, but then, rumor has it that the scribes are given access to unlimited celestial power created from the mixer. It washes over me now, and for a moment, I feel like my old self—energized and invincible.

I know better than to get accustomed to this feeling.

“Step forward, Michael,” the disembodied voice of a scribe says.

One of the energy auras pulses so I know this is the scribe speaking to me. I cross to his desk and wait.

His quill darts back and forth then pauses. “Your vow was one of celibacy and must be destroyed by your words alone.”

“I understand.”

“Speak them now.”

“I retract my vow. I retract my will. And so, it is undone.”

The quill darts back and forth again and the scribe glows bright. “You are free of your vow, Michael. What more do you wish of me this day?”

Of course, he probably already knows what I want and what the outcome will be, but he can’t tell me. “I wish to register for the choosing.”

“Then state your celestial name in all its glory.”

It’s been so long since I’ve uttered the name spoken upon my creation, but it’s a primitive memory, innate to my being. It spills from my lips in a pitch and melody that only a scribe can hear.

The quill darts and then pauses. “You have been registered. Make your choice tomorrow and mark her with your name, and the bond shall be formed.”

It’s done.

My vow is broken, and tomorrow I’ll be forced to make a new one.

GABRIEL STANDS outside the scribe room in his favorite pose, shoulder propped against the wall. “I never thought I’d see the day you destroyed that vow.”

I don’t have the patience for him right now. “Don’t you have errands to run for the Dominion?”

He chuckles and falls into step beside me. “You think claiming her will keep her safe from the Dominion?”

Wait a second, he thinks I plan to claim Rue. I don’t bother pointing out that Rue isn’t an official potential, because having her officially in my care means I can claim her if I wish, and Gabriel knows this.

Now that I’ve destroyed my vow, he believes I’m planning on using this loophole to try and protect Rue from the Dominions.

Good. I can take him off guard at the choosing when I claim Bee instead. “Rue doesn’t deserve to die.”

“There are many humans here who don’t deserve to die, Michael, but you pick her. Why?”

I can’t answer that because I don’t know why.

“Don’t you want the Dominion to find the truth?” Gabriel continues. “Don’t you want them to catch Shemyaza and end him?” He makes a fist with his hand as if he’s imagining crushing Shemyaza.

I want to say yes, of course, but the words stick in my throat. “I want what’s best for the city, for our people. But there are non-invasive ways to get what we want.”

“You plan to fuck it out of her? Bond with her and then make her giddy with allure so she tells you all her secrets?”

His words make me sick. The thought of laying hands on Rue in that way makes my stomach hurt. She’s precious and pure, and I would never…I take a deep breath. “The Dominion gave me three days. Until then, leave us be.”

He falls back, allowing me to continue alone.

“Oh, by the way,” he says. “I’ve been asked to tell you that your ration will be held until you’ve completed your task.”

A curse forms in my mouth but I swallow it, picking up my pace, eager to be away from him and everything he represents.

Duty, order, and the noose that the Dominion have around our necks.

Chapter 12

RUE

T he books on Michael’s nightstand were in a language I couldn’t read, and we were so high up that the world outside the window was nothing but mist. How the fuck was I supposed to pass the time in this room all afternoon?

He promised to come back this evening with supper, but evening was hours away. You’d think with the amount of running around I’d done over the past few days, my body would be happy to rest, that sleep would be desirable, but I was wired and eager to do something.

I’d come here to find the relic and sitting in this room like an obedient puppy wasn’t going to cut it. I had to get out there and start looking.

Yes, the city was vast, but this was the center. The hub where the most dangerous of the celestials hung out. Logic dictated that if the relic was hidden anywhere, it would be here.

But something more than logic, something inexplicable told me it was close. I couldn’t open the channel to find its exact location, not without putting a huge bullseye on my back, so I’d have to find it the old-fashioned way.

Scouting.

It was risky leaving the room, and if I came across an asshole celestial like Balthazar, then things could get messy, but I wasn’t above breaking noses if I needed to. Still, a weapon would be useful, and the hearth sported a nice array of pokers to choose from.

Iron bar in hand, I slipped out of the room and down the steps into the vast chamber we’d entered the roost by. The room was bathed in buttery late-afternoon light, and the sound of my boots was too loud as I hurried across the floor.

This side of the roost seemed to be less occupied. Maybe because it was less renovated than the rest of the tower? Maybe the celestials preferred the marble corridors Michael had walked me through earlier today to these crumbling gray flagstones.

But not Michael.

He’d picked this side of the tower for his quarters. Or had they simply been given to him?

And what did that mean when it came to his status and the kind of sway he held here?

I came to a sudden stop, scalp tightening. I’d been making turns on autopilot, moving as if I knew where I was going. Drawn in this direction. But the strange pull was gone now, leaving me stranded in a room with a domed ceiling half covered in a fresco of celestials battling monsters. Sturdy scaffolding sat beneath the farthest edge of the painting and golden seats set on a raised platform lined the walls, each large enough to seat two average-sized humans easily.

“Who are you?”

I started at the sight of the slender man holding a rag and a palette smeared with paint. He was human. I was sure of it.

“My name’s Rue. I was…lost.”

He frowned, looking me over. “Lost? No one is lost here, Rue. Everyone has a place.”

I gazed up at the ceiling. “Did you paint that?”

His eye twitched. “Yes. I like to paint.”

“It’s beautiful.”

He winced. “I suppose so. It helps to get it out.”

“Get it out?”

“The images in my head. They hurt sometimes, but Gabriel said I could paint. He took me out of the mixer and gave me this room.” His gaze took on a dreamy look. “Here I can paint what I see. Things that have happened…but not the things that might happen.” He shook his head. “Those things are forbidden.”

“You know what’ll happen?”

He took a step away from me. “You should go now. When they catch you, they put you in the mixer.” His gaze went flat and his voice monotone. “It’s not time yet. You can’t find it today, but it’s close.” His eyes went round. “Oh…it’s so close and then…then the light will burn, it will burn us all, and—” He turned away from me and shuffled over to the scaffolding. “You should go now. My head hurts and I need to paint.”

A hand fell on my shoulder, and I jumped and whirled round to find Gabriel watching me with a dark look on his face.

“Are you defective?” He tapped his temple. “Up here.”

“What? No. I was just—”

“Poking around where you don’t belong.” He muttered something that sounded like a swear word, but did celestials swear? “We need to get you back to your room before the registered celestials arrive and take up residence for the choosing.”

He grabbed my elbow, and I shucked him off. “I can find my own way.”

His eyes narrowed and his beautiful lips curved in half a smile. “Has Michael seen this side of you? The rebellious streak? Or have you been hiding it from him?”

“Oh, he’s seen it all right.”

“Yes. I suppose he has, but not while you’ve been here. You’re playing a game and he’s allowing it.”

My skin prickled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He grabbed my shoulders and hauled me close, his breath hot on my lips, green eyes dark with an emotion I couldn’t define. My breath stalled, and fingers of heat crawled up my neck as he brought his mouth closer. “Your lips might lie, Rue, but your body gives you away. The slight lift in your voice, the flinch in your left eye. You have tells, and you don’t mask them well.”

Why the fuck was he telling me this?

He released me. “Now, I’m going to escort you back to your room, and if we come across any celestials, you’ll keep your pretty little mouth shut and let me do the talking, am I clear?”

I nodded, my body still thrumming from its insane reaction to his proximity.

The painting man’s soft humming followed us out of the room, but the rest of the relatively short journey was made in silence, and by the time we reached the steps to Michael’s chambers, my mind was teeming with questions about this contrary male.

Was he a friend or foe?

We got to the steps to Michael’s room just as Michael came barreling down them. He froze at the sight of me with Gabriel, and a flash of rage tightened his features.

“Uh-oh, you better go to him,” Gabriel stage-whispered. “Before he loses his famous temper.”

I crossed to Michael quickly. “I’m sorry I—”

He held up his hand. “We’ll talk in a moment.” His eyes narrowed to slits. “I thought I made myself clear, Gabriel.”

“To me? Yes. But to your human charge?” He tipped his head to the side. “I think you need to be clearer.” He backed away with a shrug. “Just a friendly warning. I’ll see you at our meeting in an hour.”

“What?”

Gabriel tutted. “You should check your missives, brother.”

He vanished around the corner.

Michael sucked in a breath.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and ushered me into the room then locked the door from the inside with a small iron key, which he then pocketed.

My stomach tightened because now I was truly trapped.

He gave me a sharp look and crossed to the main exit. “We’ll talk when I return.” He closed the door behind him and locked it.

I was stuck.

Locked in completely.

Failing at finding the relic.

Had I made a mistake coming here?

Dammit. Shem…I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.

Chapter 13

SHEM

Z aq rolls a map out across a table in the canteen, and my watchers gather around. The deadlands are outlined in red, with hotspots for rippers and other monsters. There are clusters everywhere, but the quarter of a mile area around the Golden City is a hotbed of activity, harboring the most dangerous creatures that our maker could have imagined into being.

I can’t help wondering how the same being who created this world and its human inhabitants could also have created the monsters of Gehenna.

“We’ll go on foot as far as here.” Zaq points at the spot where double crimson lines mar the map—the region where the flora is the thickest and the beasts the most vicious. “Here we take to the trees.”

The canopy is an ecosystem that harbors its own terrors, but when faced with a choice between the trees or land, the trees are the lesser of two evils.

“And we take to the air here.” Zaq jabs his finger at the clearing that surrounds the Golden City’s gates.

It’s an area of charred, blackened land. The site of the first, and largest purge, where nothing can grow, and also, the area that will be crowded with monsters.

Zaq looks to me, waiting for me to take over.

This is where I split my watchers into teams—two decoys and an extraction. This is where I decide who is expendable.

Sometimes, I hate being in charge.

Baraqel speaks before I can voice my thoughts. “My troop will play prime decoy and lure the sentinels away from their posts. We’re some of the strongest flyers and as we’re closest to devolution, the beasts below will choose to attack the celestials that come after us, rather than attack us.”

His reasoning is sound, but I need to be clear. “As decoys you’re the most at risk of death.”

“If we are to die, then we would rather do it fighting.”

His troop make sounds of agreement.

“I’ll lead the second decoy troop,” Gadreel says. “We’ll make sure that any sentinels who don’t go after Baraqel are kept busy.”

“Can we be sure that she’s alive?” Amaros asks. “If the Dominion dive into her mind, it will kill her.”

Yes. It will and that knowledge is tearing me apart. She’s in danger because of me, because of her association to my watchers. But I know how the upper echelon operate. How appearances matter.

“They’ll leave extraction as a last resort.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“They’re bound to protect humanity and harm it only when other options have been exhausted. It’s how they were made. Purging a band of humans outside the walls of the city is justified because they can claim that these humans were lost, corrupted by us. Killing them is a purification. But they’ll only have justification to put Rue through a procedure that will kill her once they’ve exhausted all other methods.”

Bastian makes a soft sound of distress that echoes the turmoil inside me.

“How long will it take to get to the city?” he asks.

“Two days if we move fast,” Zaq says. “We fly as close as we can then go on foot to avoid aerial detection by the celestials.”

“You think there’ll be sentinels this far out?” Gadreel asks. “Even now after the airborne beasts have been set free?”

I don’t know for sure. “We should assume they’ll keep to their pattern of patrol.”

“And what’s the plan to get over the wall?” Bastian asks. “What’s the rest of the security like?”

“We don’t know,” Sarq says. “We’ll be flying in blind, but we have Shem, and he has a connection to Rue.”

I can feel her even now. A gentle hum in my chest that lit up after we joined in the most primal way. “I’ll find her.”

This seems to satisfy Bastian, but in the next moment, he asks, “Which one of you will carry me in?”

I’m not the only who gapes at him in confusion.

“You’re not coming,” Tumiel says before I can.

Bastian’s eyes flash with anger. “You’re not leaving me behind this time.”

“You asked to be left behind the last time,” Tumiel snaps back. “You could have come.”

Bastian’s jaw ticks, and it’s obvious how much he regrets that decision. “You have no idea what lies between you and Rue once you get over that wall. There could be locked doors and gates that need someone with tech knowledge to open.”

He has a point. “I can’t guarantee your safety.”

His mouth turns up in a bitter smile. “As long as you get Rue out, I don’t give a shit what happens to me.”

Of course he doesn’t. He’s dying. Still, taking him with us could hasten his demise.

“You need me,” he says.

Fuck it. “Fine. I’ll carry you myself.”

“You’ll go via the east side,” Zaq says. “Baraqel’s team will attack at the forefront and lead the sentinels away, and Gadreel and his team will occupy any remining celestial guards.”

“What about getting out?” Bastian asks. “Do you have an exit plan?”

I can’t help the wry smile that overtakes my lips. “What do you humans say? Oh yes, we’ll simply have to wing it.”

MY QUARTERS ARE FILLED with Rue’s scent, and each breath twists the knots in my belly tighter and tighter. Out there, in front of my watchers, I’m confident and firm. A leader. Sure of the path we need to take. But in here, surrounded by the memory of her, the doubts come out to play, stabbing at my conscience with needle-like jabs.

What if I fail?

What if we’re too late?

If she dies…

I splash water on my face and stare at my hideous visage in the cracked mirror above the sink.

We have no idea what lies behind the city walls, what kind of security and failsafes they have in place. Aside from some mapping of the terrain in the early days after we all fell, we’ve steered clear of the area. But now, there is no option but to dive in.

We can’t save the world without Rue.

“You’ll need to go to the tallest tower,” Kabiel says from behind the vent in the wall.

Fuck, how did I not sense him? “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear your inner monologue.”

“You can’t hear an inner monologue.”

“I suppose not, but I can feel it. You’re distressed.”

“How observant.”

“But you can find her in the tallest tower, at the center. I’ve seen her. She’s close to the relic. In my vision, the glow surrounds her.”

Hope, the flirty bitch, grips me by the shoulders and squeezes. “You’re sure of it?”

“Positive. And I can see more.” His voice is a wet, bubbly sound as if he’s drowning in his own mucus. “Bring her back. Bring her to me, and I can find the final piece. We can be whole.”

The desperation in his voice makes me sick with guilt. Guilt and disgust at what I’ve done to him and what he’s becoming.

I doubt that we’ll make it back in time for Rue to pull him back from the edge, but he needs to know how valuable his contribution has been to the watchers’ survival.

I approach the vent and peer into the darkness until I catch the gleam of his eyes…so many fucking eyes.

Oh, Kabiel, my friend. “I’ll do everything in my power to bring her back safely, Kabiel. I promise you that much.”

Chapter 14

M ICHAEL

My heart hammers in my chest as I approach the doors to the authority dome. This is the only chamber in which the Dominions can be contacted. They reside apart from us, high up in the roost, their light so bright it could blind a celestial, their voices so powerful they could addle any mind.

There’s only one reason they’d want to see me before my three allotted days are up.

“Glad to see you’re on time,” Gabriel drawls as he joins me.

“You told them I planned to claim Rue, didn’t you?”

He adjusts his collar and blinks slowly. “You may be losing your faith in the world we’re trying to build here, Michael, but I have not.”

The doors swing open and Gabriel strides forward, his boots clipping on marble before he takes to his knees in the center of the domed chamber.

I take a deep breath, clear my mind, and join him.

The doors close with a soft snick, and a moment later, blinding light fills the room. I keep my head down and my eyes closed as the Dominion speak.

“Michael, we have received some disconcerting news about your potential actions in regard to the human female, Rue.”

I keep my mouth shut because I have not been invited to speak. Yet.

“At first we were skeptical of Gabriel’s report, but we have consulted the scribes, who have confirmed both your registration as a claimant and the destruction of your vow.”

If they ask me if it’s true, if I plan to take Rue as my chosen, then I won’t be able to lie, not here. Not to them.

“Your respect for authority has always been your standard, Michael. We believed that you were up to this most important task, but we see now that you are no longer the celestial that we once trusted. You have become weak. Easily manipulated by tears and pleas, no doubt. Enraptured by the possibility of the pleasures of flesh you have denied yourself for so long, you have allowed yourself to become enamored with this human female.”

They aren’t going to ask the question. I fight off the relief, not wanting them to sense it.

“Gabriel, in turn, you have proven yourself to be a true ally of the Dominion.”

A snitch. A dirty, bootlicking—no, don’t think it.

“Michael, your emotions toward this human put our mission in jeopardy, and thus, we officially transfer her into Gabriel’s care. Gabriel, you have two days to find out what she is hiding. You may employ any method you wish to do so, including claiming her as your chosen.”

No…Not Rue…

“If you are unable to find her secrets, we will have no recourse but to extract her memories.”

I can’t help it. I have to speak. “But if he finds nothing after claiming her as his chosen and employing his allure, surely that means there is nothing to be found.”

Silence, thick and deadly follows my words.

The light in the room brightens, turning the inside of my eyelids pink.

I wait for the word that will banish me, but it doesn’t come.

The light dims.

“You have been a loyal warrior of heaven, so we will allow your breach of conduct on this occasion and respond to your question. Shemyaza may have set a trigger to bury the human’s memories deep in her subconscious in the event that she falls into our hands. It is our duty to extract them.”

I risk one more breach, knowing I can’t walk out of here without having tried everything. “An extraction will kill her. She’s human and we’re celestials. We’re supposed to protect humanity.”

“You are correct, Michael. Humanity is ours to protect. Not just one life, but the lives of many. You of all celestials should understand why any human touched by Shemyaza must be vetted. You saw what happened. You were there. You know that he cannot be trusted. An extraction on a human mind is a last recourse but we cannot rule it out. Although it will pain us to snuff out this human’s life, we will rejoice in having saved many more. Do you understand?”

The last of the resistance bleeds from my body. There is no fighting this. No fighting them. “I understand.”

“You will bring the human to the choosing tomorrow evening where she will be passed into Gabriel’s care after which you may claim your celestial rations at half mark.”

Half mark…Does that mean that I’ve been—

“Do not consider this a demotion, Michael. Merely a restructuring of our forces.”

Restructuring? I doubt that. They were reducing my rations because I was no longer useful, or maybe…Did this have something to do with the Powers? It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I bite back the question.

“Gabriel, you will report to us in two days either with the answers we need or the human female.”

The light dies.

I’m out of the exit and halfway down the hall before Gabriel catches up to me.

“Shall I come with you to break the news—”

I whirl and grab his throat, shoving him away from me, cold fire blazing in my heart.

He steps back with a smirk, his eyes dull and flat. “Good to know you’re still in there, Michael.” He turns on his heel and walks away. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

Chapter 15

RUE

S tone walls etched with runes surrounded me. I’d been here before in a dream. How could I have forgotten that? But the prickle over my body warned that this was more than a dream. Like Michael walking into my mind and Shem and the watchers invading my sleep…This was a place tethered in reality somehow, and there was only one person who could explain it to me—the spectral woman who lived here.

Where was she? “Hello?”

A whisper along my nape. A light touch on my hand.

“I’m here,” she said.

I couldn’t see her, though. “Who are you? What is this place?”

Air moved around me, as if something was circling me.

“This is my prison, but you can set me free,” she said.

Right now, there was no sense of threat, no primal voice screaming at me to run, but that didn’t mean this woman wasn’t dangerous. She could simply be good at hiding her true nature.

There was no way I was making snap decisions without more information. “Why should I set you free?”

“Because I know what you want. I know why you’re here and I can help you.”

“Oh? And what is it that I want?”

“The relic piece.”

Shit. “How do you know that?”

“I can take you to it. All you need to do is set me free.”

Evasion of my question. Red flag. “Sounds like a fool’s bargain to me. How about you tell me where it is, and once I have it, I’ll come back and set you free.” I glanced around her prison. “You can tell me where this cell is.”

“My prison is neither here nor there, it’s in between, accessible only by a select few.”

Was that why I was here while sleeping? “Explain it to me. Tell me why you’re locked here, and I’ll consider helping you.”

“Because I’m considered a threat.”

“Not making me want to let you out.”

“I didn’t say I was a threat, just that I’m considered one. You see, the maker has many children, and the rivalry between us is a thing of legend. I am here because they fear me. They fear what I represent.”

Yeah, I could believe that. These celestials were control freaks. “What do you represent?”

“The path to freedom for man.” Her face loomed close, flames dancing in her eyes. “I can help free you of the celestials. But you must free me first.”

My still gut didn’t blare a warning, and her words didn’t taste of bitter lies. I wanted to believe her. “Swear to me that you know where the relic is.”

“I swear it.”

I wasn’t sure how, but I knew she was telling the truth. Maybe being connected to Shem had amplified the effect of his soul inside me, giving me the uncanny ability to sniff out a lie.

“And you can take me to it?”

“Once you free me, you shall have the relic. I swear.”

“And how do I free you?”

Her spectral hands cupped my face. “You must let me in. Let me in and carry me out of here with you.”

Let her… “What the fuck!” I tore away from her, backing up against the wall. “You want to possess me.”

Her sigh filled the chamber, a sound filled with sorrow. “I do not want for anything but to be free. I will leave your body once out of this prison. I swear it.”

I believed her. But the thought of letting her possess me made my skin crawl.

She stepped closer. “Hurry, you must hurry and—”

“Rue, wake up. We need to talk.” Michael loomed over me, his expression tight with urgency.

My body thrummed with a sense of urgency, too, even though my mind was fuzzy from sleep. “I was dreaming.”

His mouth was a thin line. “And now, you must wake up. Wake up and tell me the truth.”

The dream was gone but the weight of it sat heavy at the back of my mind, the conviction that I needed to remember something important. Something inside the dream that was vital. Had Kabiel visited me again? Shit, was Shem trying to get a message to me?

“Rue!” Michael snapped. “Focus. You need to tell me the truth about Shemyaza.”

This again. “I will. Once you’ve claimed Bee.”

“There’s no time for that. It has to be now.”

Was he reneging on our deal? “No. You promised that you’d—”

“And I will. I swear it. I will protect your friend, but right now, I need to protect you.”

I sat up and swung my legs off the bed, forcing him to back up. “I don’t understand.”

“The Dominion want me to bring you to the choosing. Rue, they’re giving you to Gabriel.” He began to pace, his agitation infectious.

“Giving me? What does that mean exactly?”

“He’s convinced them that I’m enamored with you and plan to claim you to protect you. He’s convinced them that he can get you to tell us Shemyaza’s plans if he can bond with you.” He stopped pacing and stood, looking down at me. “They believe…” His throat bobbed. “They believe that I’m no longer trustworthy.”

“So, they’re giving me to Gabriel. Right. Perfect.”

“Rue, the Dominion gave me three days to make you talk. After that, they plan to take over, but now…Now, Gabriel is stepping in—he’ll use allure to make you talk.”

“Wait…couldn’t you have done that already?”

He looked away. “The use of allure is forbidden on humans. The Dominion only allow use of it between celestial and their chosen.”

Because they needed compliant females. “They’re sick. You know that, right? Please tell me you know that.”

“Rue. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what Shemyaza is planning.”

I rose so that I could stand face to chest with him. “Yes. Yes, you can. You can get me out of this place. Just…get me and Bee out.” I was begging, and it felt like shit, but being bonded to Gabriel would be the end of me and the end of saving this world.

For a moment, I thought he was considering my plea. My spirits lifted with hope, but then, his expression shuttered.

“Tell me what Shemyaza plans, and maybe I can stop this.”

Dammit! “There is nothing to tell!” The lie exploded from my lips, and he closed his eyes as if the sound of it pained him.

“Then the Dominion will have you regardless. They’ll tear apart your mind looking for secrets they believe that Shemyaza has hidden even from you.”

Icy fear gripped my nape. If I spoke up now, I’d damn my world, and if I didn’t, I’d die and that would also damn the world.

Maybe this was a ploy. For all I knew, he and Gabriel were working together. Even if he was sincere, spilling the beans wasn’t an option.

I lifted my gaze and locked it with his. “I’m sorry, Michael. I can’t.”

His shoulders sagged and he ducked his head. “You’d die for him?”

“No, Michael. I’d die to protect my world.”

His gaze snapped up to mine. “What lies has he told you? Rue, you have no idea…none of what he’s done.”

I knew the truth, but if I told him that, it wouldn’t be long before he made the connections that would lead him to discover what I harbored inside me.

The choosing was tomorrow night, so I had one night and a day to find the relic. After that, it was game over.

A voice whispered in my mind. I can help you find it…

What was that? A memory of a place…a person.

My dream?

“Rue, please listen to me.” Michael gently gripped my shoulders. “There is no way out of the city for you.”

I needed to scout this place, but for that, I needed the key—the small key that was hopefully still in Michael’s pocket.

I lunged for the door, and he grabbed me. I fought, kicking and screaming until he picked me up and flung me onto the bed.

He glared down at me with eyes like fire. “I wanted to help you, Rue. I truly did. But I can’t. Not if you refuse to help yourself.” He strode to the main door. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back at dawn.”

He closed and locked the door behind him with the large key that hung off his belt. I unfurled my hand and stared at the smaller key. The one to the tower steps.

I had one night to find the relic. Now, all I needed was a miracle.

BEYOND THE DOMED room with the fresco, the roost was a maze of corridors and stairs. There was little place to hide if someone should come along, so I kept to the shadows, ducking into any alcove, nook, or empty open room I could find every time I heard a sound.

This place was larger than it looked from the outside as if the inside defied the laws of physics. The mental map that formed in my head didn’t fit the cylindrical shape of the building. Surely, this place was too wide. It didn’t feel as if the structure had any curves at all.

How was this possible?

I passed several glowing doorways—portals to various parts of the roost. Portals for celestial use only. Where did they go to? Could the relic be through one of those?

What was I doing? This place was insanely vast. The city was vast. How was I meant to find the relic piece in one night?

It was hopeless, and yet, I had to try. If I gave up, if I admitted defeat, then the very thing that had kept me going after I’d lost almost everyone that I cared about would also be gone. I needed this. I needed to hope.

I took a flight of stairs that spat me out into a large room lined with doors. The air was cold here, cold enough for my breath to fog up. It was like stepping into a large fridge.

A larger set of double doors sat across the room from me, and a glowing portal was set into the wall beside it. Each doorway that lined the room had a small round window built into it. Curiosity drew me to the closest one. The window was fogged up with ice. I wiped it with my sleeve to reveal a face. Eyes closed. Lips blue.

Oh fuck…

These doors didn’t lead to rooms. They were coffins containing frozen humans.

Bootsteps echoed around me. Someone was coming!

I rushed the double doors, but they didn’t slide open, and there was no handle, no panel to open them. The bootsteps hit the stairs behind me.

There was no way out.

No way but the glowing doorway.

Shit, shit, shit. The celestial was almost here.

This was crazy. It wouldn’t work, but I had to try.

I squeezed my eyes closed and dove for the portal.

Chapter 16

MICHAEL

I ’m not sure why I come to the mixer. I hate this place and what we’re forced to do here, but at the same time, the low-grade hum of the many machines is soothing. I have the operative pull up Jamie’s feed so I can view the brain waves that curve up and down on the screen in a steady, serene pattern. It’s more reassurance, more information I can give to Rue. There’s still time to turn the tide and make her trust me.

“How is he settling in?”

“He’s doing well,” the operative says. “His lack of memories makes it easier for us to engineer the emotional responses we want.”

“Oh?”

“We’re using imprints from other humans.”

“You’re weaving him dreams using other people’s memories?”

“Correct. The energy we’re getting is strong. I’ve added the data to my reports. I think if we wiped the humans’ memories, then the quality of celestial light we produced would be much—”

“No!” The order comes from behind me.

From Gabriel.

I stiffen and step away from the console. “Why not? Surely, better quality of celestial light means less humans need to go into the mixer.”

“And you think it would end there?” Gabriel says. “Better quality celestial light will lead to higher quantities to increase rations for all, and then we’d be left with mindless humans. Puppets.”

“And you care?”

His green eyes flash, then he smiles and shrugs. “They’re no fun if they don’t bite back.”

“You make me sick.”

“See, emotion. It’s so much fun, isn’t it?”

“Gabriel, the report?” the celestial tech asks.

“No report,” Gabriel says. “At least not yet.”

I don’t want to be around him right now, so I head out, but he follows.

“How did our little human take the news of her relocation?” he asks.

I resist the temptation to punch him. “She isn’t a fan of yours.”

“She will be.”

I stop and whirl to face him. “You’re sick, Gabriel. Anyone who would use allure on a human to get them to…” I can’t even say it. “It’s wrong.”

“It’s called survival, Michael. It’s called following orders, and isn’t that what you always do?”

His words are like needles because he’s right. I’ve always been a good soldier, always done my duty.

Gabriel’s eyes narrow and he takes a step closer. “You always follow orders, even if it means betraying the ones closest to you.”

My breath stalls.

“You gave her up to them instead of protecting her.”

I shut down the image of her face before it can bloom in my mind and speak the words that I’ve said to myself a thousand times. “She was the enemy.”

“Riiight.” He backs up with a shrug. “Whatever helps you lay your head down at night, Michael. But you can’t deny the parallels here.” His smile is sly and slick. “You best get back to your charge—that is, if you haven’t lost her already.”

“Rue is safe.” I slip my hand into my pocket absently searching for the key to the stairwell door.

The pocket is empty.

The key is gone.

Chapter 17

RUE

I  was on a balcony with a metal-grilled floor and steps to the right. The portal glowed behind me, and the room around me was dimly lit and filled with the soft whir and hum of machinery.

How the fuck had I gotten through?

It didn’t matter.

What mattered was getting out and back to my room. There had to be another exit in here. I moved stealthily to the railing and peered down. The lower level was empty except for a huge metal cube with massive pipes jutting out from it. The hum was coming from the cube and the air around it seemed to shimmer.

What was it?

What was inside?

A portal was visible to the left of the room and another door to the right. Celestials could come into the room from either direction or from behind me. I needed to get out of here. But not without investigating the cube. It might hold the relic.

I took the steps down, quick and silent.

Shit, the cube was huge with a glass panel about six feet off the ground. I’d need a boost to look inside.

There had to be something I could—

I spotted the bench pushed up against the far wall and hidden in the shadows. There was a small table beside it and a book. Celestials obviously hung out here.

I needed to be quick.

The bench was light, one of those plastic affairs from the time before, so it was easy to get it to the cube. My skin tingled this close to the machine. It was giving off energy. Best not to touch it. Thank goodness the bench was sturdy enough to allow me to stand on it without having to brace myself. What was I seeing? What was that beyond the glass? Silver whispers of energy whizzed about. What—

A face appeared—mouth open, eyes dark sockets. It was shoved away by a spectral hand and replaced by another face with a mournful expression, then another and another until the whole glass was painted with desperate ghostly faces.

Ghosts…

They were—

Someone was coming.

I leapt off the bench and dragged it back into the shadow before diving into the darkness under the steps and crouching to make myself as small as possible, just in time to avoid being spotted by the two celestials that entered the room. One of them wore regular clothes—slacks and a shirt—but the other one was huge, wearing black and silver armor and a helm that covered half his face. He carried a scythe.

Reaper.

“Please. Where are you taking us? What is this place?” The speaker’s voice trembled with fear.

My pulse pounded as several humans were led into the room by a third celestial. Five humans who all had to be in their seventies, if not older. Age was prized in our world now because it was a mark of survival and wisdom.

One of the celestials moved around the machine and ducked out of view for a moment.

A soft hiss filled the air, and then the machine hummed louder.

The celestial reappeared. “It’s ready,” he said to the reaper.

The reaper nodded and turned to the humans. “You have lived long lives,” he said. “Your bodies are tired. Do not be afraid. You will be reborn, new and strong.”

A woman fell to her knees. “Please, don’t hurt us. I don’t want to die. Not yet.”

The man behind her pulled her to her feet. “Don’t, Fran. Don’t beg. It won’t make a difference. This is what they are. This is what they do.” The man glared up at the reaper. “They’re killers. Murderers. That’s who they are.”

The reaper’s shoulders heaved, and he tucked in his chin. “It will be quick if you do not fight.”

“Why? So you can feel less guilty?” The man lifted his chin, staring up at the reaper unafraid and defiant. “Fuck you. You want my soul? You’ll have to tear it from my unyielding body.”

The reaper lifted his scythe but hesitated, his head turning slightly my way. I caught the flash of silver eyes and the hard set of his jaw.

I knew that face. It was Erelim, the reaper who’d saved us in the warehouse.

The old man cried out in shock as one of the celestials grabbed him. He pinned the old man to his chest and pressed a palm to his forehead to keep him still.

The man struggled ineffectually. “Let me go. Let me—”

His words ended in a gurgle as the celestial slit his throat.

No! I slapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my cry, eyes blurring with hot tears.

“Take it!” The celestial sounded disgusted, either with himself or toward the reaper I wasn’t sure. “Just take it and we can be done here.”

“Daniel, calm down,” the other celestial said.

“Don’t tell me how to feel,” Daniel said. “Just do your job so I don’t have to.”

The reaper lifted his scythe and held it above the old man, claiming the silvery soul that slipped from his body.

The other humans sobbed softly. All resistance gone, they fell to their knees, one by one. I swallowed my shock, chest burning with horror as the reaper claimed their souls out of their living bodies.

Silence reigned once it was done.

“Take the bodies away,” Erelim said softly. “Then bring in the next batch.”

“Don’t you want to transfer the souls first?” Daniel asked.

“I’ll do it once I have them all.”

“I hate this.”

“We need them,” the other celestial in the room replied. “We need humanity to survive so that we can survive. We’ve lost too many out there. New humans must be born, and for that, the old, weak, and diseased must be purged.”

“I’d rather be on mixer duty,” Daniel said. “Concocting celestial light seems like a better job than this.”

“Forcing humans to relive their nightmares isn’t much fun, either,” the other celestial said.

“Go,” Erelim ordered. “Take the bodies and bring in the next batch. I want this done.”

The two celestials placed the bodies into a wheelbarrow they retrieved from the other side of the cube then exited the portal across the room with it.

I was alone with Erelim, and I was pretty sure he knew I was in the room. Still, I didn’t move.

“Take the door behind me,” he said. “First left, two flights of stairs and you’ll be on the old side of the roost. I’m sure you can find your way back to Michael’s quarters from there.”

How did he know? I wanted to ask.

“Go before they return, and I’m forced to apprehend you.”

He was giving me an out, and I took it, hurrying across the room and out of the door.

His directions led me to the crumbling part of the roost in no time, as if the route was a shortcut, as if the terrain shifted to spit me out exactly where I needed to be.

I took the steps to my room two at a time. The ball of grief and anger inside me ready to explode, I flung open the door and froze.

Michael stood by the bed, face a mask of barely restrained fury. “Where have you been?”

Chapter 18

“W hat are you looking for?” Michael demanded. “A way out?” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “No. It’s not that. You know there’s no way out. You’re no fool.” His mouth parted as if he’d realized something. “You gave yourself up. You came to me. You didn’t escape, did you? He let you go.” He crossed the room in two strides, grabbed my shoulders, and hauled me off my feet so that I was eye to eye with him. “What are you looking for?”

The rage and grief inside me erupted. “Fuck you, Michael. Fuck you and all of you celestials. I just watched your kind kill my people. Kill them because they were old, and you want their souls. You bastard. You fucking bastard!” I hammered his shoulders with my fists, not caring how ineffectual it was—just needing to hit something. Someone.

He released me abruptly and stepped away as if touching me was abhorrent.

Hatred and derision cut a path through my eyes, curling my lip and roughening my voice. “You’re no saviors. You never were. The watchers might look like monsters but they’re not. You are. All of you in this fucked-up city. The watchers saved me and my people. They protected us, but you…You’re murderers. Parasites. You make me fucking sick.”

An answering rage lit up his features, and a spark of fear lanced through me. “Murderers? Parasites? And why is that? Hmmm? Because we fell. We fell because of your precious watcher, Shemyaza. He did this to us. He failed at one simple task, and it led us to this. To having to live off humanity like fleas.”

Like fuck was I going to let him talk shit about Shem. “He did his best! He tried to save the Morningstar, but it fractured anyway.”

Michael froze, his mouth parted in shock.

Oh…Oh fuck…

“How can you know that?” he asked.

Shit, shit, shit!

“If you know that, then…” His eyes flared wide. “Oh…”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. “I overheard them talking.”

“Celestial language is altered to human tongue while we are on this earth, but watchers have their own language—one that breaks those rules.”

“Well, they were speaking in English.”

“Liar!

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Because you know what the alternative means. You know that the watchers can’t speak to humans about their truth, but you…You’re not human. What are you? This has to be why he wanted to keep you close. Why you could wield my sword. Tell me the truth!”

“I’m not telling you anything. You want the truth then you’ll have to kill me to get it.”

His chest heaved, and for a moment, I thought he’d take me up on the challenge, but then, his shoulders sagged. He took a breath and when he spoke, his voice was calm.

“Rue, listen to me very carefully. If Gabriel finds out…” He took a step forward, mouth twisted in exasperation. “Listen to me, I don’t know what Shem told you, but it can’t have been the truth, because if it was, you wouldn’t be protecting him.” He searched my face, but I kept my expression hard and unrelenting.

“I believe Shem, because watchers can’t lie.”

He looked stunned, as if he hadn’t considered this fact. “He told you what he did?”

“Yes. He told me what happened and how guilty he feels about it.

Michael shook his head. “He told you he destroyed the Morningstar?”

“What? No. He didn’t destroy it.”

“Yes, he did, Rue. He broke it. I was there, and I tried to stop him, but he was too strong.”

No… “That’s not right. He said there was a creature made of flame in the sanctum. Shem fought it, but it was too strong. It shattered the relic.”

Michael’s face drained of color. “That…that can’t be…”

“What? What is it?”

He shook his head. “I need a moment.”

He walked over to the window and stood, gazing out at the night sky.

My pulse thrummed hard in my throat. I’d just revealed that there was something inhuman about me, that I was on team Shem, but he wasn’t dragging me to the Dominion. He was no longer asking me what Shem wanted with me or what Shem’s plan was.

Maybe I could trust Michael after all. “Michael?”

“Her name was Jilayna. When I met and fell in love with her, I believed her to be human. Being intimate with humans isn’t forbidden, but it isn’t encouraged, either. The rules are clear: intimacy must only occur when in human form.”

“You possessed humans?”

“No. When heaven’s doors were open, Archangels could choose to walk the earth as humans, leaving their divinity behind for short periods of time. It was said that we could empathize better with the human condition this way.”

“And you met Jilayna? You said she wasn’t human?”

“I discovered she was djinn. One of the dangerous creatures that our maker had locked away. She’d somehow escaped from her realm and slipped onto the human one. I reported her existence to the Dominion.”

He did what? “But you loved her.”

His jaw tensed. “I did my duty. The Dominion were grateful for it. I believed she’d been sent home, but I was wrong. I saw her again a year later. She was with Shemyaza, except she seemed to have no recollection of me. When I spoke to the Dominion about it, they explained that she had been rehabilitated. That she was no longer a danger and was free to live among humans. Apparently, it was safer than opening the doorway to send her home.”

Wait…The distraction Shem had mentioned—the reason he’d been late to the sanctum the day the relic was broken—was Jilayna? “So, Shem fell in love with the djinn? He was with her the day the relic was broken. It’s why he was late to the sanctum. He’s riddled with guilt about that.”

Michael turned to face me. “He wasn’t late, Rue. He was on time. He killed the watcher on duty, and he attacked me. We fought. He won, and he broke the relic because…you see, Rue, there’s only one weapon built that can fracture the Morningstar, and that weapon is Shem. It’s always been Shem.”

Chapter 19

S hem broke the relic? No…It couldn’t be. “You’re lying. Shem told me…He remembers—”

“What Jilayna wanted him to remember.” Michael’s mouth turned down bitterly. “I see it now. The fire in his eyes. The rage. It wasn’t him. It was her.” He looked genuinely distraught by this. “She was inside his head. Inside his body, working him like a puppet, and I didn’t see. I didn’t understand.”

“You’re saying that she made him do it? She controlled him?”

“That’s their power, Rue. They can get into your head. Possess you if you let your guard down and invite them in. She did just that to Shem. He fell in love with her, and she found a way past his defenses.”

“But the Dominion were the ones who let her go. They told you she wasn’t a threat. They lied?” Oh…it was just like Shem believed—that the Dominion had been involved somehow. That they wanted to fall. He’d been right all along, and now Michael was coming to the same conclusion.

His expression grew grim. “I think…I think the Dominion wanted us to fall,” he said, echoing my thoughts.

So, there it was. The truth laid bare. Question was… “What do we do now? If you hand me over to them, then they win.”

“What does he want with you, Rue? What’s Shem’s plan?” There was no demand in his tone this time, simply confusion and the need to understand.

It was crunch time. Trust him or not? He’d been lied to and betrayed by the celestials whom he looked up to and served, and right now, there was nothing but sincerity and the desire to help in his sapphire eyes.

Yes. It was time. “Shem wants to fix the Morningstar. He wants to send all the celestials back to heaven and heal our world, and he needs me to do it.”

“How? How can you help him?”

“When the Morningstar fractured, Shem lost a piece of his soul.” I lightly touched my chest. “That piece lives inside me.”

Michael moved closer, his eyes bright, his face alight with hope. “He needs you to find the pieces of the relic. You’re his homing beacon, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Michael cupped my face reverently. “You’re our key to going home?”

“I am.” I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “We already have two pieces of the relic. We just need two more. Will you help me?”

“Yes, Rue. I will.”

“YOU’RE SURE the relic is in the city?” Michael paced the room, short, even strides, his head bowed as he thought.

“Yes.”

“Then it will be in the central roost somewhere. The Dominion would keep it close.”

“Can you find out where it is?”

“A powerful artifact like that would emit energy that would be felt by all the celestials in this roost. It would have to be hidden somehow. Warded.” He chewed on his cheeks. “But the wards might cause interference in our technological systems.” He looked across at me. “Magic and technology struggle to coexist.”

“So, can you find it?”

“I’ll do my best, but even if I find the location, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to the artifact before Gabriel claims you.”

My heart sank. “Yeah, I figured as much.”

“So, we have to get you out of the city before then.”

“What?”

He stopped pacing and fixed me with a remorseful look. “I should never have brought you here.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

“No…I suppose I didn’t. But I have a choice now. The sentinels rest for an hour after dawn. I’ll get you out of the city then.”

“And what about you? What about when they find out what you’ve done? You need them to trust you so you can find the relic piece.”

“Yes. Of course.” He pressed his lips together. “I must remain above suspicion, or I’ll lose access to our technological systems.”

“There has to be a way.”

“There is.” Gabriel stepped out of the washroom and leaned against the doorjamb, hands in pockets.

Michael’s chest heaved. “Gabriel…How…What?”

“Oh.” Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. “There’s a secret passage in your washroom and plenty of surveillance devices in this room.”

I stood slowly and backed toward Michael.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “If I was the bad guy, this room would be crawling with celestials right now.”

“What are you saying?” Michael asked.

Gabriel fixed his attention on me. “I’m saying we all want the same thing. I’m saying I’m going to help you get out of this place.”

Chapter 20

BASTIAN

S oft soil hugs the soles of my boots as we trudge across a soggy field. It obviously rained buckets last night because the world is wet and fragrant with the scent of nature.

With a two-day trek ahead of us, we’ve barely stopped for breath. We’ll make camp at nightfall and begin our journey again at first light. I’m happy to keep walking through the night if it gets us to Rue faster, but we need our rest. According to Zaq, the perimeter region of the deadlands is so dense with trees that we’ll probably have to fight our way through nonstop, and that will take energy. We can’t afford to flag.

So far, we’ve taken cover twice due to aerial monsters. Razor beaks and something else. Something so large that it blocked out the sun. But no one dared to peek out to get a good look at the beast.

It makes no sense to me why the celestials built their city in the middle of the deadlands when traversing it is an issue for them. Yes, they could fly over the deadlands up until recently, but now, with the airborne monsters loose, they have an aerial risk to contend with. Seems to me they’ve shot themselves in the foot.

Although it didn’t stop them from coming for us when Rue touched the sword on the railway tracks.

A deep ache fills my chest.

Javier my friend, and Jamie…He’d been like a brother to me.

Gone.

The last time I spoke to Jamie, properly spoke to him, we were in the radio tower back at base. A few hours before the celestials were due to come and take several of our people. He joined me, sat down in his favorite chair, and watched me work in silence for several minutes before speaking.

The memory is sharp and clear in my mind as if it were yesterday.

“YOU’LL PROTECT her if anything happens to me?” Jamie says.

I don’t need to ask whom he’s referring to. There’s only one person on this base that means enough to Jamie for him to want her taken care of.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

His mouth tips up. “Yeah, it will. We both know it.”

He’s talking about the serum, about how it’s slowly killing us. I’m not sure how to feel. We don’t talk about this shit. Ever. It’s an unspoken rule or something.

But fuck it. I guess today is a day to break rules. “I’m in the same boat, Jamie.”

His sigh feels like the rattle of bones. “I’m older. Been doing this longer. Just make sure, when it’s your time, you leave her in good hands.” He gives me the side eye. “And maybe tell her how you feel?”

The back of my neck heats. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yeah, you do.” He holds my gaze boldly. “You know I’m not opposed to sharing. She deserves all the love. She’s worth it.”

The thought of being with Rue, of being able to love her openly, to tell her…Fuck…

“It’s not like that between us. We’re friends.”

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding her?”

“Shut up and help me fix this damn radio.”

“Broke up with her today.”

My fingers fumble with the screw I’m working into the back of the radio.

“I feel it, Bastian,” Jamie continues. “It’s getting worse. It burns every time I take that shit.”

The insinuation before is one thing, but this…We’ve never spoken about the effects of the serum openly like this.

“I told her I was falling in love with her, and ’cause she didn’t love me back, I needed to back off.”

That’s bullshit. He’s been in love with her for ages. “You’re giving her up?”

He gives me a weary smile. “Hell no. Just giving her time to get used to the idea of not having me as a fallback.” He closes one eye and points at me. “That’s where you come in.”

“Jamie, I—”

“I need you to be her friend again. Until…Until you can allow yourself to be more.” His throat bobs. “Can you do that, Bastian?”

“Why? So that she can lose me, too?”

“Life is short,” Jamie says. “You got to make the most of the good things and take happiness where you can. We can’t stop living because we know that one day we’ll die.” He hands me a screwdriver. “Now get to work.”

HIS WORDS ECHO in my mind. About life being short, about not letting death scare you into hiding away your heart. Jamie was happy to love Rue for as long as he could, but I’d turned my back on her. She’d come to me with an open heart, and I’d crushed it.

I let her walk away and—

“Heads up!” Shem barked. “We have incoming.”

My instinct is to look up, but the skies are clear.

The wet sound of earth draws my attention back to the ground where all around us critters break free of the boggy earth—huge insectile beasts with snapping maws and too many eyes.

For a moment, the watchers freeze—for a moment, the critters stop.

There’s a standoff. What’s happening? And it hits me, the critters are confused by the prey before them. The watchers have devolved so much that these beasts aren’t sure if we’re food or not. And the watchers? Do they see their future when they look at the creatures?

The moment seems to stretch out for minutes when, in reality, it’s only a handful of seconds.

Then the critters let out a unified screech and attack in force.

Chapter 21

RUE

G abriel ventured farther into the room, and Michael drew me close to his side, tucking me beneath his arm.

“I don’t trust you, Gabriel,” he said.

“Of course you don’t, and why should you? Up until now, I didn’t trust you, either. It’s why I convinced the Dominion to give Rue to me.”

Wait a second… “You’re saying you were going to set me free?”

“Well, not immediately. Not until we’d found the relic.” He shrugged one shoulder. “After that, I’d have taken you and gotten out of the city. But things are different now.” He pinned Michael with a probing look. “Now, we have Michael on our side.”

“You knew about the relic and that I was searching for it.”

Michael tensed beside me. “How could you have known that when I only just discovered it?”

Gabriel smiled coolly. “You and I are not the only celestials that have come across Rue before.”

Of course… “The reapers? Erelim.”

“We’re friends with the same goal. Shemyaza told him that they were looking for the relic pieces, and he told me how you healed Shem. Seeing you here, listening to your lies, I knew there was only one reason Shem would ever let you out of his sight, and that the reason was here in this city, and you, dear Rue, can help find it.”

“I can’t open a channel to the power to locate it, not without risking the Dominion feeling it, but I know it’s here. I can feel it.” I rubbed my breastbone. “I’ve been trying to focus on that feeling, trying to get it to guide me, but…” I shook my head. “It isn’t working.”

“Then we use Michael’s plan and search the roost’s surveillance system, looking for any static and disruption. If it’s here, then we will find it.”

“The Dominion gave you two days to find out what Rue knows,” Michael reminded Gabriel.

“Then we have our timeline.”

“You have an exit strategy? Another way out aside from over the walls?” Michael asked.

Gabriel gave him a flat look. “I helped build this place and I’m head of security. Of course I have an exit strategy. I’ll get you and Rue out.”

“They’ll figure out that you helped us,” Michael said.

Gabriel scoffed. “Me? Help you?” He arched a brow. “Everyone knows we’re rivals, and once they see the damage you did to my pretty face, once they learn how I fought you valiantly to stop you absconding with the human…well, you’ll be deemed a traitorous monster.”

“So, that’s your plan now,” Michael said. “Now, you want to stay behind?”

“Now that you’re on the team, there’s no reason for me to leave.”

There was one huge reason. “It isn’t safe here.”

Gabriel smiled without mirth. “It isn’t safe anywhere, not until we fix this world. Not until we go home.” His eyes glittered with emotion. “I will risk my life for that.”

Michael sighed. “I suppose having eyes and ears on the inside could be useful.”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “The Dominion are up to something big. The Powers have been dispatched, and they’re searching for something. Not Shem, something else. I need to know what that is.”

They fell into silence, gazes locked in some sort of silent communication.

Michael was the first to break it. “All this time. All this time, you were working against them while climbing into their favor.”

“Duplicity has its uses,” Gabriel said. “In battle you were the brawn and I the tactician. There is no use for me out there. Out there you can protect her. I can do that best from inside the vipers’ nest.”

I had questions, too. So many questions. “Did you know the Dominion caused the fall? Did you know what they did to Shem?”

“I suspected they were somehow involved but the truth of it…Well, I learned that today. The Dominion have always craved power, and here, on this earth, they have it with impunity. We’re puppets and nothing more to them. You’d be surprised at the number of us who would like to see them fall.”

If there were so many celestials who hated the Dominion, then why didn’t they take action? “Why can’t you all just rise up against them?”

It was Michael who answered. “Because we’re all weakened. The Dominion hold our power in their hands by rationing celestial light.”

“Only those they trust completely get full rations,” Gabriel said. “And until yesterday, Michael was inside that circle of trust.”

So, they were rationing out the celestial energy they created? But that meant… “Michael, if you leave here, you’ll run out of celestial energy. Does that mean you’ll devolve like the watchers?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “Our celestial light may come from a different place than the watchers’, but the loss of it is the same.”

“I have time,” Michael said. “Months. We’ll find the relic pieces before then.” He sounded confident and that gave me hope.

“In the meantime, we need to play by their rules,” Gabriel said. “I’ll claim Rue and keep her safe.”

“And I’ll claim Bee,” Michael added.

“Then together, we’ll find this relic.”

My heart swelled with hope, because with these two celestials on my side, maybe I could survive this place after all.

Chapter 22

I ’d have expected to sleep well, knowing that I had two celestials at my back now, but my body had other ideas, and sleep was fitful and restless, leaving me drained and exhausted.

The room was filled with the gray rays of dawn as I padded to the washroom. By the time I emerged, Michael was back.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Tired. How was your night?”

“Frustrating. I don’t have access to all the systems like Gabriel, so I spent my time waiting for him to get back to me.”

“And?”

“He found a dead zone in the roost, but it won’t be easy to access.”

“Where is it?”

“The level below the Dominions. Heavily guarded. Gabriel’s working on manipulating the security. He doesn’t have control of the sentinels that guard the Dominion.”

“But we have time.”

“Yes, Rue, we have time.”

He looked worried, though, and I didn’t blame him. “Okay, so what now?”

“Would you like to spend some time with Bee?”

“Really?”

His smile widened. “Gabriel’s arranged for you to spend the morning in Respite. You won’t be harassed while you wear this.” He handed me a silver cuff. “It will tell any celestial who ventures inside that you are spoken for by a high-level celestial.”

“What about Bee?”

“I have one for her, too, but you might want to explain our situation to her.”

He passed me a second cuff.

I hated this place, and I couldn’t wait to get out of it, but there was no denying that being able to spend the morning with Bee had made my stay here a little less shitty.

BEE PULLED me in for a tight hug, and we quickly found an unoccupied table at the back of the room away from all the excitement.

It seemed that most of the women here were eager to be chosen. “I guess not everyone has a problem with being bonded to a celestial.”

“Well, considering you get higher privileges after you’ve birthed one of their spawn.”

“What do you mean?”

“The women who give birth don’t have to come back here.”

She didn’t know the truth yet. “You’re right, Bee, they don’t come back, but not because they get higher privileges—because they’re dead.”

The color drained from her cheeks. “What?”

“Having one of their offspring kills us.”

Her breathing quickened in panic “I can’t stay here, I—”

“You won’t.” I gently grasped her wrist and slid the cuff Michael had given me over her hand.

“What is this?”

“From Michael. It means you’re spoken for by him.”

“Wait…what? I don’t understand.”

“It’s a long story but he’s on our side. He’s going to help us, but it starts with him claiming you at the choosing. You’ll be safe with him. He won’t try to…”

“Fuck me?”

Blunt as always. “Yes.”

Her attention fell to the cuff on my wrist. “You have one, too?”

“Gabriel.”

She sat back in her seat and shook her head. “Rue, you need to fill me in right now.”

I leaned in. “After I left you yesterday…”

BEING BACK in Michael’s room after the Respite lounge felt like being in prison, and with several hours left before the choosing at sundown, I was ready to climb the walls when there was a knock at the door.

Michael was the only one who came and went from this room, aside from Gabriel who’d snuck in via a secret passage in the bathroom, which, for the life of me, I couldn’t find.

Another knock. “Miss?”

What the… “I can’t let you in.” I didn’t have a key.

“I have a key. I wanted to ask if it was all right to use it.”

I backed up. “How did you get a key?”

“Michael gave it to me. He wishes me to prepare you for the choosing.”

Prepare me?

“May I enter?”

I sidestepped to the hearth and picked up the poker. “Sure, come in.”

I mean, if she wanted to harm me, she could have just used her key and taken me by surprise, but still…best to be safe.

The key scraped in the lock, and the door swung open to admit a woman wearing a shapeless white dress and ballet flats.

She was tall and athletically built, but her face looked young—mid-teens maybe. Shimmering green material hung over one of her arms and a basket hung from the other. The innocuous items did nothing to take away from the fact that there was something off about her. Something…inhuman.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Umi and I’m one of the maidens of the city. We tend to the humans here.”

“Maidens? Okay, let me rephrase that. What are you?”

She blinked sharply. “I am a new-world celestial.”

New world…Oh fuck, she was one of their offspring. She had to be, but until now, every celestial I’d seen was male. “How old are you?”

“I will celebrate my third year soon.”

Three? She was three? What in the ever loving—

“I made a dress for you.” She held up the silky green material, and it unfurled into a figure-fitting floor-length gown. “Michael said green, and I do love the color green.”

“I have to wear a dress?”

“It’s customary to wear a gown to the choosing gala.”

Gala? Is that what they were calling it?

The door opened and Michael entered. “Ah, Umi, you’re here. Good.” Then to me. “Is the dress to your liking?”

“Do I have to wear it?”

He gave me a pointed look. “The Dominion have said you’re to be chosen and bonded to Gabriel. That dress color is his choice, so yes, you do. Every spoken-for chosen must wear colors. The rest will be in white.”

Gabriel liked green? Not that it mattered. “It’s a gala? As in…a party?”

His throat bobbed. “It’s a special day to be chosen. The first step to the creation of new life.” He sounded like he believed it.

Umi beamed up at him. “She has beautiful hair. I can braid it.”

No. No way. “I prefer to get myself dressed.”

Umi looked up at Michael, needing him to confirm it.

I set my jaw and fixed him with a glare.

He nodded at Umi. “I think that can be allowed.”

She frowned but handed him the dress and basket. “I can braid very well.”

Guilt gripped me but I shook it off. “I’m sure you can. Maybe another time?”

Her face lit up. “Really?”

“Of course.”

She beamed at me then slipped from the room.

“What the heck was that, Michael?”

He ran a hand down his face. “It’s protocol. I should have warned you. I didn’t think.”

“She’s three. Three!”

“Nephilim grow fast and they’re usually extremely strong, but with the lack of celestial power and rationing, the Dominion have them under control.” He set the basket and dress on the bed. “The females will be used for breeding once they mature. They’re already spoken for.”

“The way you rattled that off, as if it means so little…Michael…this is wrong on so many levels.”

“And we can fix it.” He cupped my shoulders, his grip firm and comforting “But not right now. Not this minute. Right now, you need to make yourself presentable for the choosing. I’ll be back in an hour to take you to the waiting lounge.”

He left me with the dress and a basket of hair clips and brushes.

I guess it was time to play dress up.

Chapter 23

“I  feel ridiculous.” Bee fingered the delicate material of the gauzy pink dress chosen for her. “Pink is not my color.”

Her silvery hair shone brighter, her cheeks looked rosy and flushed with youth and life, and the snug fit of the gown at her waist made her look like a beautiful ballerina doll.

“It suits you.”

She made a face. “If only I was wearing it out of choice for something…nice.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Around us the women dressed in white eyed our colorful outfits with curiosity and, in more cases than not, jealousy.

“We’re not going to win any popularity contests in here,” Bee muttered under her breath.

“If they knew the truth of this place…”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Bee said, “and I’m wondering if on some level, they do understand it. That they just…don’t want to dwell on it. I mean, what can we do, right?”

She had a point. “Is that what you would have done if I hadn’t found you?”

She considered my question for long seconds. “I don’t know. Maybe. But not until I’d fought back as hard as I could.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “But you and I are a different breed, Rue. We’re scouts. We’re runners. We went outside the walls of the base, so we understand that there’s a world outside the confines of this city. It might be shit, but it has one thing this place doesn’t. Freedom.”

“The freedom to die on our own terms.”

“Exactly.” She adjusted the neckline of her dress. “Dammit, when does this event start?”

The room we’d been asked to wait in didn’t have any chairs. There were two windows so high up you’d have to fly to reach them.

They obviously didn’t want any of us getting ideas and trying to escape, although at this altitude, any escape would be a suicide jump.

“I feel like a trussed-up cow waiting for slaughter,” Bee said a little too loud.

“You should be grateful,” a young woman with a narrow face and close-set eyes snapped. “You’ve been chosen, and you don’t have to worry about anything.” She sniffed. “But no, you stand there and bitch about it. Freedom? Freedom to do what? Die out there by getting torn to shreds by monsters? You think that’s any way to live?”

“The celestials are offering us protection and sanctuary,” another woman added. “Helping them to swell their numbers by lending our wombs is an honor.”

Bee looked like she was about to snap something cutting, but I grabbed her hand and squeezed in warning. We had to blend and act the part here. Who knew which celestials these women would end up with? If they spilled the beans about the two ungrateful humans, it could derail our plans.

“She’s just nervous.” I gave Bee a look of sympathy. “She’s a virgin.” I winced. “First time and it’ll be with a celestial.”

The woman with the close-set eyes made an O with her mouth.

“I see,” her companion said. “Of course, you must be so nervous. But I’ve heard they’re very gentle, the whole experience is said to be…heavenly.”

I bit back the urge to gag and forced my lips into a smile. “I’m excited.”

“Me too, really,” Bee said. “And this dress.” She plucked at the material of her pink number. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned.

“Do you think we’ll get pretty dresses?” a plump woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties asked.

“We all do,” close-set eyes said. “Once we’re chosen, then we’ll be presented with dresses for the gala, and after that…” Her cheeks pinkened. “Well, need I say more.”

Giggles broke out in the room.

This was insane.

These women were insane.

No. Not insane. Surviving the best way they knew how, by turning this into some kind of wonderful fairy tale where each of us got a prince. Never mind the fact that once we popped out a Nephilim, those princes would move on to the next human womb while our souls ended up in a machine being forcefully recycled.

The double doors swung open and two celestials wearing dove-gray armor appeared on the threshold.

“You will follow in single file,” one of them said. “You will not speak unless asked a direct question. You will follow the instructions of the celestial testing you. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from Respite. Am I clear?”

Everyone murmured their assent except Bee, who whispered a curse instead.

I bit back a smile and fell into the queue that formed.

We made our way, single file, out of the room and down a short corridor that spilled into another room. This one had high-vaulted ceilings and was filled with several celestials, each holding a bundle of colored fabric. Dresses for their pick. All the males wore cream shirts and dark pants, but the collars and cuffs of their shirts were different from one another, matching the dress in their hands.

I spotted Gabriel straight away, even though he stood slightly behind the group of males. His emerald eyes gleamed wickedly in the gloom, and when his gaze snagged with mine, the air grew a little thinner. He lightly touched his green collar and the corner of his mouth lifted. My pulse quickened. Green like my dress. Green to say that he’d chosen me.

A shiver ran over my skin as if someone was running a finger down my spine. Yeah, there was no denying my attraction to him. But that’s all it was. An attraction. I didn’t know him, didn’t even like him.

“Michael looks…wow,” Bee whispered.

I tore my gaze from Gabriel and found Michael standing on the opposite side of the room from his supposed nemesis. His golden hair was loose, softening his features and sharpening his sapphire eyes. He was dressed like the other celestials, but his shirt had pink cuffs and collar to match the dress Bee wore.

“There aren’t enough celestials in here,” Bee said.

Which meant some of the women wouldn’t be chosen. It made no sense. If the celestials wanted to swell their numbers so badly, surely, they’d make certain of an equal ratio.

“Spread out,” the celestial in gray who’d led us here instructed. “That’s it. Form a line so that you may be tested.”

When he got to me and Bee, he jerked his chin and made a shooing motion for us to take a step back.

We’d been chosen already after all.

He took a position by the window, and the room fell into silence. “Remove your robes so you may be viewed fully.”

What the—

The women dropped their robes and waited. Naked. Anger flared in my chest. What kind of testing was this?

Michael refused to meet my gaze, his jaw tight, his attention fixed somewhere above it all. But Gabriel didn’t shy away. His emerald eyes were hard and angry as they locked with mine, echoing my rage, but there was warning in them, too.

Don’t speak up.

Do not break character.

Bee slipped her hand into mine, and we both squeezed at the same time, holding each other back from making a move as the celestials stepped forward to examine the human offerings.

The next few minutes had my blood boiling as the women were asked to twist and turn while the celestials surveyed the goods.

Some of the males were more restrained and had the grace to look uncomfortable but the majority seemed to enjoy the power they had over us. Males like Balthazar, the celestial who’d tried to claim me. He spent the longest with each woman.

Finally, it was over. The celestials stepped away and conferred amongst themselves, then one by one, they stepped forward to offer a woman of their choice the dress they were carrying before filing out of the room. Michael and Gabriel were the last to exit, both throwing a glance my way before leaving.

The women who’d been chosen donned their new dresses and the others sobbed softly. The woman with the close-set eyes was among them but didn’t cry. She stood stoic and defiant, clutching her white robe close to her body.

“What happens to us now?” she asked the gray sentinel.

“You will return to Respite,” the sentinel said.

“That’s it? Do we get a second chance?”

“That is not my department. No more questions. Leave.” He pointed at a door across the room that had just opened. A woman waited there for them. Tall and athletic like Umi. A Nephilim.

Close-set eyes looked like she wanted to argue, but one of the other unchosen gripped her arm and pulled her away.

Wise move. I doubted that defiance would bring anything but pain to us in this place. These celestials could recycle any soul that proved to be a problem.

Around us, the chosen women fluffed out their new dresses of gold, blue, and purple—colors to match the cuffs of the celestials who had chosen them.

They smiled and congratulated one another, totally immersed in the fantasy, and forgetting the humiliation of a few moments ago.

Could I do this? Could I be like them if I didn’t know what I knew now?

“Come now.” The sentinel led us through the doors the celestials had gone through.

There was a small entranceway beyond and another set of double doors. An elaborate chandelier hung high above us, glittering with flames that seemed to come from within the glass.

This was the opulent part of the roost with gilded moldings pressed to the crevice between wall and ceiling and smooth marble beneath our feet.

It fed into the fantasy that these women had created. The fairy tale that they were weaving in their minds, and I had no doubt this was exactly what the celestials wanted. They wanted us compliant and dazzled and willing. It made this whole despicable situation seem more like a seduction than a violation.

The double doors swung open, and the women gasped in awe at the ballroom beyond. Music swelled out to meet us along with the dizzying aroma of vanilla incense.

The celestials stood on a checked marble floor like chess piece kings waiting for their pawns.

But Bee and I were no pawns—we were queens.

The women swept into the room and joined their celestials. Michael and Gabriel waited on opposite sides of the room for us.

“Later?” Bee said.

“Later.”

Gabriel offered me the crook of his arm and I took it, allowing him to guide me across the floor. We stayed on the periphery, close to the vast windows that showcased a darkening stormy sky.

“It’s almost over,” he said.

“Over? You mean the humiliation?”

He leaned in and his bergamot scent eclipsed the vanilla tone of the rooms, leaving me giddy. “Not all of us want to be here, doing this. Most are simply following orders.”

“Most, but not all.”

“There’s good and bad in every race, Rue. We were created not to want. Not to hunger for the pleasures of the flesh, but being here among humans has changed that.”

“You, too?”

He chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, Rue. I won’t be going back on my word. This ceremony is simply for show. Being bonded to me will protect you.”

“And when does that part happen?”

“Once the music ends. Long enough for the women to feel…special.”

I spotted Bee on Michael’s arm across the room. Their heads were bowed toward each other. They looked…intimate.

“They play the part well,” Gabriel said. He turned me in his arms so that his hands were on my waist. “We should, too.” He dipped his head so that his mouth was too close to mine, and his breath mingled with my gasp.

“What are you doing?”

“At this angle to the room, it will look like I’m tasting your luscious mouth.”

“Lucious?”

He arched a brow. “Too much?”

“You don’t need to use seductive language on me. I’m in on the plan, remember?”

His eyes darkened. “I was merely describing what I see.”

He thought my mouth was luscious. Fuck.

I wanted to push him away, but he was right. We had to play the part, so instead, I planted my hands on his chest and slid my palms up his pectorals. Fuck, his chest was all hard muscle under that shirt and warm. He was so fucking warm that it made me want to press up against him.

“Good,” he whispered. “Now, put your arms around my neck.”

I obliged and he drew me closer, leaning in so that his cheek brushed mine and his lips could find the delicate shell of my ear. “Now, we dance.”

“I can’t dance.”

“You can when I lead.”

He whirled us onto the floor, and by some miracle, I didn’t trip over my feet, and before I knew it, we were twirling across the room. Were my feet even touching the ground?

“How are you doing this?”

His breath was hot against my ear. “Practice.”

“You danced in heaven?”

“All the time,” he said. “Music and dance honed our celestial minds and bodies. It’s what makes us such formidable warriors.”

“Who did you fight?”

“Whomever our maker asked us to.”

“And he left.”

Gabriel held me closer, tighter. “God is an artist, and he went in search of a fresh canvas.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but my thoughts took a backseat to the thrum of blood in my veins as Gabriel pulled me flush against him.

This was too intimate. It was pushing the boundaries, but it felt…It felt good. It felt right.

I wasn’t sure how long we danced, but when we stopped, the music died, too.

“It’s time,” Gabriel said. “You must trust me. Don’t shy away. Don’t fight.”

Was Michael giving Bee the same instructions?

“What will happen?”

He pinched my chin and lightly touched my bottom lip with his thumb. “In a moment, I’ll have to kiss you.”

Chapter 24

K iss me? He was going to—

A horn sounded and several gray-armored sentinels appeared carrying trays. One approached us. His silver platter held a thick black strip of fabric, what looked like earmuffs, and a small vial of silvery liquid.

What the heck?

Gabriel took the items. “Thank you, Armel.”

The sentinel gave him a nod, and it was as if something passed between them.

Around us celestials covered their chosen’s eyes with the fabric.

“Gabriel?”

“The Dominion is about to speak,” he said under his breath. “The blindfold will protect your eyes and the earpieces your hearing.

The Dominion were paying a visit here? Heat rushed through me. Adrenaline. Fear.

“It’s formality,” Gabriel said. “You have nothing to fear.” He held up the blindfold. “It will be over soon.”

I closed my eyes and let him cover them. A moment later, my ears were covered, too, and the world fell into silence. Panic squeezed my throat. I didn’t like this. It felt too closed in. My senses cut off like this…it felt—

Gabriel took my hand in his, the contact instantly soothing.

My eyelids flared pink. There was light in the room. Too much light, enough to go through the fabric and my eyelids.

This had to mean that the Dominion were present, right?

“Welcome to the choosing,” a voice boomed, filling my head with a strange resonance that was almost painful, even with the earmuffs. “You are the favored, chosen to carry the next generation of celestials. Once you accept the bond, you will be honored, coveted, and protected by the celestial who has chosen you to carry his celestial seed.”

Several pained whimpers filled the room. The Dominion’s voice was hurting the women but…But it didn’t hurt me.

It had to be because I was carrying a sliver of Shem’s soul.

Gabriel squeezed my hand hard enough for pain to shoot up my arm. I cried out, and he relaxed his grip.

What the fuck had he done that for? Wait…Had he wanted me to blend in by showing signs of pain?

Dammit, I should have thought of that myself.

“Celestials, you may drink the nectar now.”

Gabriel let go of my hand, but the heat of his body pressed against mine, telling me he was close.

I couldn’t hear him, but I felt his hands slide up my arms, one slipping to my nape, the other pinching my chin to tilt my head up.

My pulse beat hard in my throat, breath coming in short, shallow gasps. His scent surrounded me, grounding me, and then the heat of his lips found mine in a soft pillowy caress that teased me to open for him. I had to do this. It was part of the plan. I let him in, gasping as his tongue stroked mine almost lazily as if he had all day. A slow-burn fire erupted low in my abdomen, flaring upward on each long stroke of his delicious tongue. My moan vibrated in my throat, and his grip on my nape flexed, the pressure of his mouth crushing now, demanding me to submit. Yes. I’d submit for more of this flavor, for more of him, for—

A melody filled my head, potent and true as it sank into my mind and settled there.

He broke the kiss.

What? My chest ached, limbs heavy, and there was a knot in my chest, close to the spot where my connection to the watchers resided, to where the channel to the power lived.

This was him.

Gabriel.

The bond.

It felt natural, strong, and…permanent.

Wait…Was it permanent? I hadn’t thought to ask. I hadn’t thought—

“You may now consummate,” the Dominion said.

The light died and I yanked off the blindfold, staring up at the celestial who’d bound me to him. Into eyes like emerald fire and a face so beautiful it made me want to weep.

Everyone moved toward one of the three exits, and Gabriel ushered me along with them, leaning into me to whisper, “Not here. We can talk in a moment, but not here.”

Did he sense my panic? Could he see it on my face?

I had no clue where Bee or Michael were, and in that moment, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I may have fucked up.

The next few moments from ballroom to Gabriel’s chamber were a blur.

Shit, I was in Gabriel’s bedroom. There was a bed.

A huge bed.

We were alone.

“Rue, calm down,” Gabriel said. “Breathe, you’re having a panic attack.”

Bullshit, I didn’t get panic attacks. But the world was dark around the edges, and my chest was too tight and—

His hot mouth closed over mine, fingers sinking into my hair to massage my scalp. He held me there, his lips pressed to mine with no demand for more, just our breath mingling steadily until the beat of my heart matched his.

He pulled back but didn’t release me. “Better?”

I was calmer, yes, but better? “How do we undo this?”

He massaged my scalp for a moment longer, and I bit back a groan of pleasure because it felt too fucking good. “Let go of me.”

He obliged. “It’ll remain as long as we both live.”

I exhaled sharply. “You should have told me.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“Don’t…” I grit my teeth. “That’s not fair.”

“Would it have changed anything? This is the only way I can keep you safe and get you out of here.”

He had a point. “You’re right. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

He looked down his nose at me. “No. It doesn’t.”

“Okay. Fine. What now?”

“Now, we wait for Michael and Bee to join us.”

“They’re coming here?”

“They will in an hour or so, once the others are occupied.”

Occupied. Urgh. “Okay and then?”

“We plan our next steps.”

“How to get to the dead zone on the upper floor?”

“Getting there is not a problem, doing it unseen is. Michael and I will work on it while you and Bee remain here.”

“What if someone sees you two together? You’re enemies, and tonight you’re meant to be…you know.”

“Michael and I may not be friends, but we have worked together often, and the fact that he chose your friend makes it feasible that we be seen together. After all, we must keep our chosen females happy.”

I settled in the armchair by the window. “What if the relic’s not in that zone?”

“It has to be. Once we take you there, you’ll know. You’ll feel it.”

He said it with such confidence that I believed him. “Yes. I can find it. We can find it.”

His smile lit up his eyes, and my body heated. “Is there a way you can stop that?”

“Stop what? Smiling?”

Smart ass. “The thing you’re doing to heighten the attraction between us and make me…feel things. I know it’s probably a bond thing that you don’t have much control over, but can you try to mute it?”

He stared at me flatly for several beats, then his lips curved in a slow, satisfied smile. “Rue, I’m not making you feel anything.”

“But the bond—”

“Gives me permission to bedazzle you if I choose to. I’m not choosing to.”

So, the feelings were all me? Nope. I didn’t like that at all.

“The bond is the way we prime a human body to seed,” he continues, “so we can create life inside you. It connects us on a metaphysical level and allows you to share in a little of my power, for the child you will bear. It shatters when one of us dies.”

“When the woman dies, you mean.”

He had the grace to look ashamed. “Yes.”

So, we were connected as long as I lived because I doubted he’d be dropping dead anytime soon, being immortal and such. I may be housing Shem’s soul, but my body was still as vulnerable as a human’s.

A chill drifted over my skin, and I rubbed my arms. “Have you got anything else I can change into?”

“You’re cold.”

“A little.”

He rummaged in his dresser and handed me a pair of dark pants, too big for me, and a long-sleeved dove-gray top. “You can wear these. The pants are elasticated.”

He said the word as if it was foreign to him. “You never had elastic in heaven?”

“We didn’t really need to be physically clothed in heaven. We simply…were.”

Being on earth must have been a huge adjustment for them, too, and despite everything Shem had told me about the watchers and the celestials, there was so much I didn’t know about them.

“You can change in the washroom.” Gabriel rolled up his sleeves, revealing strong forearms. Arms that could wield a powerful sword. Dammit, when had I developed a thing for forearms?

“Rue?” He watched me quizzically.

“I’m fine. I’ll go change.”

He gave me a nod then crouched by the hearth and began building a fire.

The muscles beneath his shirt flexed with every movement, and his dark auburn hair gleamed with crimson highlights in the lamplight.

“You’re still here, Rue…” he crooned, his tone tinged with amusement.

I ducked into the washroom and closed the door. Privacy for a moment. Perfect. Cool water calmed the flush in my cheeks. To think I’d been cold a moment ago.

This thing with Gabriel was unwanted and confusing. With Bastian and Jamie, feelings had developed before intense attraction. But Gabriel evoked the same visceral need as Shem had, except with Shem, it had been buried beneath fear. Fear for my life, my people, our survival, and prejudice toward his kind.

I didn’t have those barriers with Gabriel, and I didn’t need another connection.

“Michael and Bee are here, Rue,” Gabriel said through the door.

Good. It was time to plan, and hopefully this time tomorrow, I’d be on my way out of this city. On my way back to Shem and Bastian.

Chapter 25

SHEM

T he run-down gas station we’re camped in is the last landmark before we enter the hot zone of the unnatural forest surrounding the city.

The forest sprang up almost overnight in the wake of Gehenna’s walls fracturing. As if this earth was protecting itself somehow. But that forest is now a haven for the creatures that abhor sunlight. Home to the monsters from the darkest parts of Gehenna. Is it their fault that they’re here?

No. It’s mine.

I did this.

All they seek is survival, and for that they require sustenance.

This is the new circle of life that my mistake sparked, and it’s all wrong.

This world is a gift to humanity, meant to be ruled by humans. Not the monsters and not the celestials.

My mistake. My obsession led to this cataclysmic mess. But I have a second chance in Rue. A chance to fix everything. All I need to do is get to my beautiful key beyond the forest of death.

The moon beyond the grimy gas station window is weak and anemic. Its light spills over cracked cement, busted oil pumps, and rusted cars but leaves ominous pools of shadow here and there for the creatures that loiter outside to play in. They skitter from spot to spot, so fast that I can barely catch enough of a glimpse to identify the threat.

So far, they’ve steered clear of this place. Circling the station, but nothing more. I’ve come to understand that they prefer to avoid confined spaces made of cement and brick but thrive in tight tunnels made of soil and rock. I suppose if they’re hungry enough, they’d attack regardless, but my gut tells me they’re merely curious right now.

The only reason they’re attracted so strongly to the city is because of the celestial light.

It promises to sate a hunger their primitive mind can’t comprehend. They have no ego or super-ego, only an id that demands they take and feed and satisfy the urges that course through their bodies, and if we don’t fix this world soon, my watchers and I will be just like them.

Kindred.

Sarq joins me at the window. His face is smeared with dirt, and his hands are covered in dried blood. “Are you all right? Your arm?”

My arm? Ah, yes. The wound from our most recent skirmish has almost healed now, and the pain is nothing but a tingle. “It’s just a scratch. Already healing.”

He gives me a stern look. “You took on two of those creatures single-handed.”

I shoot him a wicked smile. “Formidable, wouldn’t you say?”

His lips twitch, wanting to smile, but he presses them into a thin line. “Maybe a month ago when there was no hope, but not any longer. You can’t take risks like that. We need you. You and Rue are not expendable.”

I hate it. Hate that I must put my life above theirs. “I know that. I’m not a fool.”

“Then act like it,” he snaps, eyes flashing with annoyance. He holds up his hand, index finger and forefinger an inch apart. “We’re this close to our goal, but without you, we have no hope of success. You’re the only one who can put the Morningstar back together.”

The screech of a monster in pain drifts on the air, and then the moon winks out, hidden by a cluster of clouds, and the world is pitch-black and pulsing with threat.

“Do you think they’ll attack?” Sarq asks.

“If they’re hungry enough…But we’ll deal with that if it happens. In the meantime, everyone needs to rest. We do it in shifts.”

“I’ll tell the others.” Sarq heads down the aisle to find the rest of our group.

Six hours until dawn and we can be on our way to the forest. If we make good time, we’ll be there by midday, then a couple of hours to cut through the forest, and we’ll be at the gates.

I’m not close enough to get into Rue’s dreams, but the connection we forged when she first opened the channel and touched the Morningstar’s power is still strong. I know she’s alive.

“I’m coming, Rue. Just hold on a little longer.”

Chapter 26

GABRIEL

T he security floor is my home. Rooms lined with amazing human technology and modified with celestial allure. The angels who operate on this floor were once walkers—angels overseen by Archangels to keep tabs on the evolution of humanity. Unlike the watchers, these angels weren’t permitted to remain on earth for long periods of time, and they were forbidden from engaging with humans. Although it wasn’t their role to act as protectors and steer mankind like watchers, they were sent to watch and learn, and so when we fell, when we found ourselves trapped on this earth, it was these very angels the Dominion tasked with building our city and integrating it with the technology humanity had prized so highly.

I’m proud to work with them. Proud to be head of this department and now I’ll proudly abuse my power here to get the information I require.

At this time of night, we operate on a skeleton staff. Three angels each manning a different room, and luckily, all three are loyal to me.

Paiter looks up from his screen as I enter. His gaze flicks to Michael then back to me, and there are questions in his eyes.

“He’s on our team.”

Paiter’s brows shoot up, but he doesn’t question my statement. “I wondered why you scheduled us to work tonight. I assume we’re close?”

“We are, but the question is, can you do it?”

“What’s happening?” Michael asks.

Paiter’s smile is grim. “We’re about to hack into Dominion level security.”

Michael exhales sharply. “Gabriel, are you sure about this?”

“This was the plan, Michael. Are you having second thoughts?”

He shakes his head as if irritated by the question. “No. It’s not that. Are you sure we won’t get caught?”

“Not if I do my job properly,” Paiter says. “I’m the best Gabriel has.” There’s no pride in the statement, simply cold, hard fact.

I take the seat beside Paiter. “I was able to spot the dead zone area and pinpoint its location because I have access to that information. What we don’t have access to is the security detail and patrol for tomorrow night, and we need Paiter for that.”

“They change it all the time,” Paiter says. “One of the sentinels who works Dominion security told me they never know what the rotations are until the day before.”

“The Dominion is getting paranoid,” Michael says.

I can’t help the wicked grin that paints my lips. “They have every reason to be.”

“We’ll only get one shot at this,” Paiter says. “One chance to break in and view the security plans. After that, the system will pick up on a breach. I’ll disguise it as a glitch this time but that won’t stop them tightening their security systems. So, if we try to break in again, it will be much harder, and even if we manage it, they’ll identify it as a real breach straight away.”

“How long have you been working on this?” Michael asks me.

“We have many plans and fail-safes in place—we just never had a strong enough reason to apply any of them until now.”

“Are you sure we’re ready to make our move?” Paiter asks.

Michael answers for me. “We’re sure.”

It’s almost anticlimactic how quickly Paiter accesses the information we need. We have the patrol numbers and their route up and down the upper floors of the roost. The spot where the dead zone is will be unoccupied for approximately twenty minutes at sundown.

“Twenty minutes isn’t a very long time,” Michael says. “What if we can’t get into the room?”

He has no idea how prepared I am. “I have a device that will unlock any door in this city. If it’s kept locked using our technology, then I can open it.”

“And what if it’s kept locked using a regular key?”

“Then I’ll pick it.” I place my hand on his shoulder. “We can do this, Michael. We can retrieve the relic piece and go home. We’ll be powerful again. Whole and filled with celestial light, no longer begging for scraps.”

His throat bobs. “To be whole again.” He clenches his fist. “To have our power back and be revered once more…”

“Yes, brother. We will do it. We will return home.”

His brow furrows. “And what will we find?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been gone for twenty human years. What will heaven be now? What order will there be, and what powers will be ruling it? Will we be welcome? Will we…fit?”

He’s anxious. I understand that. “We were created there, brother. It’s our home. We will fit because it’s where we belong.”

He smiles and nods. “Of course. Tomorrow night, we take the first step toward home.”

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

The sooner Rue is out of this city and away from me the better.

The woman is much more than the celestial fragment of power inside her. More than her connection to the Morningstar. She’s defiant, courageous, and she shines with an inner beauty that’s rare.

Claiming her as my chosen was necessary to protect her from Michael when I believed him to be under the complete influence of the Dominion, but now…Now, I’m more concerned about who’ll protect her from me.

Chapter 27

RUE

I t felt safe lying next to Bee on Gabriel’s huge bed. The males had left an hour ago, promising to be back soon but instructing us to get some rest.

We’d talked for a while before Bee dozed off. Her face was serene in sleep. She was safe with me now. We’d be out of this place soon. If only we could take Jamie with us, too, but Bee had agreed that it was too much of a risk. He was safest here for now.

I rolled onto my side to face my friend and closed my eyes, giving my body permission to let its guard down and sleep.

A weight pressed down on me, forcing me into the mattress and beyond.

STONE WALLS. Runes.

Fuck, why did I keep forgetting this place?

“You came back.” The relief on the spectral’s face was stark and desperate. She took a step toward me, and I took one back.

No way was she touching me. “You want to possess me.”

She shook her head, eyes pleading with me. “It will be for but a moment. Long enough for you to carry me from this place.”

Everything she’d told me about being a prisoner, about how the celestials were afraid of her, and how she’d promised to take me to the relic flooded my mind. But we knew where the relic was now. I didn’t need her.

“We need to hurry,” she said. “We don’t have much time. There is a shift in energy. I feel they will move me soon and then…Then I may not be able to reach you.”

I felt bad for her. But her story had too many holes. She said she was trapped here because the celestials feared her. All this energy to keep her trapped? She was dangerous to them, which meant she was probably dangerous to humanity, and the celestials needed humanity to survive.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

Her face fell. “No. You don’t understand. You need me.”

“I already know where the relic is. I don’t need your help.”

Confusion flitted across her features. “No. That can’t be. If you know, then—”

“MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD.” Bee grinned down at me. Her face haloed in sunlight. “It’s D-day.”

Sleep dropped away from my body instantly. “We’re getting out tonight.”

“Yeah.” She sat back with a determined look in her eyes. “We get out or die trying.”

“No one needs to die,” Gabriel said from the hearth where he was stoking the fire to life. “Michael and I will get you out of here alive.”

But Michael wasn’t here. “Where is Michael?”

“He went to get you some breakfast,” Gabriel said.

“Cloud food.” Bee wrinkled her nose. “I can’t wait for some real food.”

“You’ll get it when we get back to our new base.”

Once we survived the two-to-three-day trek to it.

Neither of us said it, but I could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking it.

“We’ll have Michael with us,” Bee said. “He’ll keep us safe.”

But could he? Michael was filled with celestial light, and it would take time for that light to die, months he’d said, so he’d be at full power when we left here. Having him with us would make us a target.

“We can’t take him with us. He’ll be a beacon for the monsters. They crave celestial light.”

Bee’s face fell. “Shit, Rue, you could have mentioned that earlier.”

“It slipped my mind.”

“But not ours,” Gabriel said from the doorway. “We know what the monsters crave, and Michael will ensure that his reserves of celestial light are low before he leaves here with you.”

“If he does that, he’ll be hastening his devolution.”

“He’s aware of that and he agrees it’s a worthy risk. With depleted celestial levels, he’ll be no more at risk than the watchers.”

“He’d do that for us?” Bee looked stunned.

Gabriel’s smile was almost bitter. “You have no idea what some of us will sacrifice to put this world to rights.”

The door opened and Michael entered, carrying a tray. His skin, which usually glowed with inner light, seemed dimmer, but his sapphire eyes shone with inner fire.

“Eat up.” He sat the tray on the small table by the dresser. “Then we’ll go over our exit plan for tonight.”

THE PLAN WAS SIMPLE, and if it went smoothly, we’d be outside the walls of this place by eight pm. The worst part was killing time in between, but being allowed to spend it with Bee helped.

We holed up in Gabriel’s chamber and simply talked.

We’d both been too exhausted the night before, but during the day, away from prying eyes, we were able to speak freely. To cry over the people we’d lost and make plans for a future that was now possible.

“Jamie will remember you,” Bee said. “He has to.”

I wanted that so badly but… “Even if he doesn’t remember me, I hope that we can find our way to becoming friends again. The love part…If it comes, then great, but if not…” I shrugged a shoulder. “It won’t change what we had.” I pressed my hand to my chest. “I’ll always have that.”

“Fuck that,” Bee said. “He needs to remember. You guys deserve that chance, and I won’t let you settle for anything less.”

“Damn, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

We stared out of the window at the cloudy sky. Rays of sunlight broke through the cover here and there, echoing the sparks of hope that flared inside me now.

“You’ll have to mediate with Shem,” Bee said. “From what you told me, he’s not likely to just let Michael waltz into what’s probably the last human sanctuary left beyond these walls.”

“I know. But when he sees me alive and realizes it’s because of Michael, then he’ll have no choice.”

“Having a celestial on the team will help.”

“Yeah, it will.”

But she was right about the potential conflict Michael’s presence would cause. He’d purged our party, and the survivors wouldn’t forget that easily. And they shouldn’t have to. If Michael was going to be part of our group, then he’d have to atone for his sins. Saving me was the first step.

The rest…

Well, we’d have to wait and see.

Chapter 28

BASTIAN

T he sun is up but the world beyond the treeline is as dark as a moonless night. There’s a little over four miles of forestland between us and Rue.

If we move fast, we can make it through in a couple of hours, but if we get caught in battle with the creatures who live inside…who knows.

At least everyone is as rested as possible. At least we weren’t attacked while we spent the night in the gas station.

It’s the little things we need to be thankful for.

“We stay close,” Shem says. “Stay high in the trees and take flight only if necessary. There’ll be sentries on lookout on the city walls. We don’t want to warn them of our arrival.” He looks my way. “You’ll shadow me.”

I don’t argue. This is their forte, just like sweeping is…was mine. Jamie always said that a good soldier knows when to follow orders and when to break them. Fuck, I miss him so much.

Around me the other watchers gather themselves, ready to head into the belly of the beast, and I finally allow my body’s visceral reaction to this place to register. It’s a horror crawling over my skin, a heavy ball of foreboding in the pit of my stomach as my primal mind senses the threat beyond that treeline.

It’s noon, and most of these fuckers sleep during the day. As long as we’re quiet and stealthy, we can avoid an altercation.

“Are you ready?” Shem asks me.

“I don’t think any of us are. But let’s do this.” I tap the hilt of the blade strapped to my back, a loan from Tumiel. Zaq gave me two daggers. One is tucked into my boot and the other strapped to my waist. The fingerless gloves Sarq found for me will protect my delicate palms when we climb through the trees. The watchers’ skin is thicker than mine, less likely to bleed and attract the predators within. The gloves are a clever idea.

Shem rolls his shoulders and exhales. “Stay in formation. Stay quiet. Move fast.”

He leads the way into the forest, and I follow like the shadow he needs me to be.

A stomach-churning stench hits me, and I stifle a gag. It smells like death, even though the evidence of life is all around us in the lush, dark-green foliage and long, swishing grasses. The tree trunks are wide and sturdy, plenty of branches to choose from when climbing up, but it’s still not the easiest task, even though the watchers make it look so.

I mimic Shem’s path, using the same nooks and branches to haul myself up into the nearest tree, close to the edge of the forest. The smell isn’t too bad up here. This high up, the canopies of the trees touch and entwine, making it easier to move from one to the other.

I don’t look down. Not a fan of heights. Instead, I focus on Shem and his movements. How the fuck does he make this look so easy when he’s so fucking large? And those wings…I’m surprised they don’t snag on everything. But they’re a part of him, like an arm or a leg, so he’s aware of them in the same way.

A branch cracks somewhere around us. Shem and I freeze. We wait long seconds, searching the gloom for the others. Tumiel is to our left with Zaq, and Sarq is farther ahead of us. I can’t see Baraqel or the others, but I can feel their presence. They must be behind us in the shadows.

Shem looks over his shoulder and gives me a nod then swings silently to the next tree, landing on a thick branch in a light crouch, fingers trailing the surface of the wood. He looks back and beckons.

His eyes catch an errant ray of sunlight and flash eerily, and a lance of fear darts through me—a reminder that I’m in the midst of predators.

Focus.

I hate this bit, the transition from one tree to the other. I mimic his movements, grab the same branch as Shem, and swing.

A sound like a gunshot rips the air. My heart stops for a moment, but then, my body completes its arc to the other tree. A muffled thump accompanies my landing.

Not me.

Fuck, that means—

Shem pulls me close before peering down into the gloom, down to the forest floor where a figure slowly pulls itself to its feet.

It’s one of Baraqel’s team. A watcher called Fileus. He stands still for several beats and scans the area. His shoulders relax. He lifts a hand to let us know he’s okay and takes a step toward the nearest tree.

Something rushes out from the shadows behind him and whisks him off his feet so fast he doesn’t even have the chance to cry out, then he’s gone.

Shem grips me tighter, his heart beating fast against me. His breath kisses my ear, his voice barely above a whisper. “Do not move.”

We wait, scanning the terrain below for the thing that took Fileus. How didn’t he sense it? It was right behind him. Fuck, what was that thing?

Long seconds pass. Shem slowly relaxes and his grip on me slackens.

It’s time to get moving.

Shem turns his back on me and reaches for the next branch across from us, slow and silent as always. My scalp prickles and gooseflesh breaks out over my body.

Shem tenses.

He feels it, too.

What—

Ice floods my veins as the shadows ahead part to reveal a huge serpentine head. Slanted orange eyes glare at us as if pissed at the intrusion. Shem goes deathly still and my heart lurches, pulse going into a gallop as I fight my body’s instinct to flee and remain perfectly still. The serpent tastes the air for a moment, its horizontal pupils expanding. Maybe it can’t see us? Maybe it hunts using motion. Maybe—

It attacks.

The air whizzes past me as I hurtle to the forest floor, knocked off the branch by Shem, but someone catches me before I hit the ground.

“I have you,” Tumiel says.

We land and he sets me on my feet but keeps hold of me, his body tense and ready to take flight.

Shem? Where is he? There! Still in the tree. Fuck, he’s holding the serpent’s jaw open, forcing it wider and wider—

The sickening, tearing sound of flesh makes my stomach lurch.

Silence follows, reigning for achingly long seconds.

Tumiel exhales in relief, but I can barely take a breath because the stench down here is too strong, and now that I’m on this level, I can see why. The ground is covered in a thick layer of spongy goo.

Oh fuck…I gag and cover my mouth.

It’s flesh.

Bone.

Blood.

I think I might be sick. No. Fucking hell, not now. You can do this, Bastian. Just focus. You will not be a liability.

Above us Shem gestures for us to hurry.

Tumiel’s thighs bunch behind mine. My boots leave the ground, and Shem’s gaze shoots to a spot behind me. His eyes widen in shock.

Something slams into us.

Tumiel lets out a bellow, and I’m flung through the air.

I hit the mushy ground and roll to my feet. “Tumiel!”

I catch one glimpse of him in a serpent’s jaws, and then they’re gone.

“Bastian, no!” Shem bellows.

I barely hear him through the pounding of blood in my ears as I race after the beast who has my friend.

The creature is fast, but the trees grow close, and the fucker is big and that slows it down. I leap and land on it, stabbing my blade through its hide to hold myself in place as it thrashes in pain. It turns its head toward me.

Tumiel is gone.

No. Not gone. He’s inside this monster.

The fucker swallowed him.

It snaps its fangs at me. But I roll to the side to avoid getting bit, draw my second dagger, and stab it again. For the next few moments, we’re trapped in a game of stab and snap, where I evade the fucker’s maw while getting close to being able to land a blow to its head.

“Bastian!” Shem appears above me, wings flared wide to hold him aloft. He attacks the serpent from above, drawing its attention away, giving me enough time to pull out my big blade, adjust my stance, and swipe.

The blade lodges in the serpent’s neck with a satisfying thunk.

The creature screams. Shem grabs its jaws and tears its mouth open, which will now forever be his signature move when it comes to these beasts.

But my focus is on getting to Tumiel. He’s the bulge a few feet below the thing’s head. Trapped inside it. I can get him out, but I’ll have to be careful not to stab him by accident.

Have to get through the fucker’s hide.

Shem grabs my arm. “We have to go. Now.”

Alarms blare inside me because the forest is now alive around us. The monsters know we’re here, but I can’t stop.

I can’t leave without trying. “He’s alive. I know it. Help me!”

Shem looks like he wants to argue.

“I can’t lose another friend. I won’t.”

Shem growls low in his throat. “Damn you, human.”

The others join us, surrounding us, ready to fend off an attack as Shem and I cut into the serpent’s body.

It takes minutes that we probably don’t have, and the sounds of approaching threats grow louder, intensifying the alarm bells in my belly screaming at me to run.

Finally, we break through. I shove my arm into the aperture we’ve created, ignoring the burn that stings my skin. “I’ve got him.” Shem tears the hole wider and Tumiel spills out along with the serpent’s blood and gastric juices.

He hits the ground and lies still and silent.

Shem shakes his head. “He’s gone.”

No. He can’t be dead. He can’t be. “Tumiel!” I crouch beside his still form and start CPR. “Come on! Come on, please.” Tears blur my vision.

“Bastian, we have to go,” Shem says, his voice heavy with emotion. “He’s gone.”

For a moment, it isn’t Tumiel on the ground in front of me. It’s Jamie. Jamie lying dead. Jamie gone. Jamie, my brother. My best friend.

“Damn you!” I slam my fist down on his chest, all the rage and guilt I’ve been holding back tearing through me because why did he have to die, and I get to live?

Tumiel’s body jerks, eyes snapping open. He turns onto his side, puking up crap.

“Fuck! He’s alive!” Relief leaves me momentarily dizzy.

Shem scoops him up and throws him over his shoulder. “Move. Now!”

This time, I don’t argue because the forest is coming for us, and it’s hungry as fuck.

Chapter 29

RUE

I t was almost four-thirty in the afternoon when Michael and Gabriel returned from their duties. Both Bee and I were getting cabin fever by this point. We’d talked for hours, laughed, and cried, and were now eager to get on with our evening plans.

Escape from the Golden City.

That’s what we called it, like it was a movie or a story. Somehow, it made the whole situation easier to deal with. If we were the heroes, then we couldn’t get hurt—not seriously.

We’d done this as scouts, too. Made it into a game of sorts to detach from the horror of the world we salvaged from.

“Get dressed in these.” Gabriel passed us both a bundle of cream clothes.

White pants and long cream tunics. I guess this was what camouflage was in this place. “Is it time, then?”

“Not yet,” Michael said. “You’ll need to go have supper first.”

They ate supper way too early in this place. “I’m not hungry.”

“I don’t think that matters,” Bee said. “It’s about appearances. The chosen still hang out at Respite. They come once a day to eat with us. Probably to show us how wonderful they have it now.”

And now, we were one of the chosen. “So, we need to put on a show?” I nodded. “Fine by me.”

“It’s only for an hour,” Michael said. “Gabriel and I will come and fetch you when the time’s up, and then we’ll make our way to the dead zone.”

My stomach fizzed with excitement. “Whatever it takes. I’m just grateful that you guys are on our side.”

Gabriel inclined his head. “Who doesn’t want to aid a damsel in distress?” Bee cleared her throat and Gabriel bit back a smile. “Two damsels in distress.”

For some reason, Michael looked uncomfortable by the exchange.

I caught his eye. “Are you okay?”

He gave me a quick smile. “I’m fine. Just a little nervous.”

“As you should be,” Gabriel said. “This is a big step we’re taking, but if it pays off, then it will all be worth it.”

No one bothered to voice the question of what if it doesn’t pay off, but I saw it written all over Michael’s face.

Was he having second thoughts?

“We should go,” he said. “Keep up appearances.” He smiled warmly at Bee. “I’ll have to touch you. Be…familiar with you. The other celestials will expect it.”

“Because we’re supposed to have had sex and I’m meant to be besotted with you, I know,” Bee said bluntly. “Whatever it takes.”

“Same goes for you, Rue,” Gabriel said. “You think you can act besotted by me?” His voice dropped to a purr that skimmed over my senses, drawing me closer to him.

I lifted my chin to look up at his hard jaw and shrugged a shoulder. “Lucky for you, I’m a fabulous actor.”

His gaze dropped to my lips, sending a fission of awareness through me. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Bee grabbed my arm. “We should get dressed.” She pulled me into the washroom and closed the door. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That thing between you and Gabriel?”

I’d gotten too close to him. Unintentional. But his voice. The draw of him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit. You like him.”

“I barely know him.”

“But you want to ride it.”

“Fine. My body has a thing for his, but it’s not important. I don’t have feelings for him or anything.”

“Not like you do for Shem?”

“Yeah. Not like I do for Shem.”

“And Bastian.”

I shook my head. “I’m a mess emotionally but I have it on lockdown. It can wait until we fix this world.”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe your attraction to Gabriel is because of the celestial soul fragment you’re carrying. Wait a second. That’s a piece of Shem’s soul, so does that mean he wants to bang Gabriel?”

She stared at me wide-eyed in her revelation, and a giggle bubbled up my throat and spilled from my lips. Then we were both laughing, holding on to one another, and laughing until tears filled our eyes, and damn, did it feel good.

GABRIEL ALTERNATED between holding my hand, his fingers laced with mine, and hugging me to his side with his arm around my waist.

The last males to touch me in any intimate way were far beyond these walls, and even though Gabriel’s presence was intoxicating, my heart yearned for Shem and Bastian.

Shem would be back at base by now. He would have told Bastian what happened. How would my friend take it? Bastian had said he didn’t have the same feelings for me that I had for him, but that didn’t change the fact that I was in love with him or the fact that he cared about me.

Knowing I was in enemy territory would be tearing him apart. He’d probably be kicking himself for not coming with me.

The sooner I got back to them the better.

Relic in hand.

One step closer to our goal.

Michael steered Bee down the corridor, his hand on the small of her back possessively.

A couple of celestials passed by us, smiling at Michael then Gabriel as they walked by.

“We’re almost there,” Gabriel said.

I didn’t recognize this route. It was different to the one Michael and I had taken when we’d gone to see Bee the last two times. The corridors here were narrower, making the celestials seem larger, even with their wings hidden.

The corridor opened onto a lounge area where several celestials sat on white leather seats with their women. Women who all looked flushed and happy, almost dazed. It made my stomach hurt to look at them. This was no natural infatuation. This was—

“They’re bedazzled,” Gabriel said under his breath. “It’s a power we have over humans. Usually forbidden except…” He sighed. “Except for procreation.”

“The stuff you say you haven’t used on me.” I gave him a sidelong glance.

He frowned, his mouth a thin line of annoyance. “Does your attraction to me bother you that much that you’d prefer it came from coercion?”

I was saved from responding—not that I had a response—when a door opened to admit us into the Respite room.

Gabriel guided me inside then pulled me into his arms. His hot lips skimmed the delicate shell of my ear, and my stupid body melted against him. “One thing you need to know about me, Rue, is I do not take what is not freely given.”

A prickle ran up my spine, and heat stung my eyes because I’d heard those words before. Heard them from a creature I’d thought was a monster but had turned out to be my savior.

Shem…

My chest ached for him.

Gabriel released me with a smile that left his eyes cold. “This will be over soon.”

And there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t just referring to my time in the Golden City.

He was referring to my time with him.

And the hollow pit that thought left in my belly spoke volumes.

Chapter 30

SHEM

T wo serpents and four critters down. How long have we been fighting? Did we get turned around?

The trees press in on us, and the sounds of occupation grow louder.

It won’t be long until more of the inhabitants of this place find us. We need to get back on track and out of this fucking forest.

“Zaq, which way?”

Zaq stops wiping his bloody talons on his pants and closes his eyes. He’s our scout. Our guide. The one that maps the terrain, and he needs a moment to get his bearings.

Baraqel and Gadreel cover him.

Their arms are dappled in wounds that are slowly healing, and their dark shirts are even darker with blood. There’s been a lot of death in the past few hours, and it’s a miracle we’ve only lost one watcher.

We came into this knowing that not all of us would make it out alive, and I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary to meet our goal. Leaving Tumiel for dead was the first, but I’m so fucking glad Bastian fought back and saved my friend.

They stand together now on the other side of Zaq, waiting for him to guide us, while watching the perimeter.

Finally, Zaq opens his eyes and shakes his head. “That way. I think. I can’t…I’m not sure.”

This is bad. This place is huge, a maze that we could end up being devoured by if he’s wrong.

There is one way to know for sure. We can fly up and check, but breaking cover will alert the sentinels. It must remain a last resort.

“He’s right,” Bastian says. “I think we go this way.” He points in the same direction as Zaq.

Two votes are better than one.

We’re on the move again, bodies slick with blood and gore.

We’re all still bleeding.

It’s a siren call to the sleeping monsters in this place.

Tumiel shadows Bastian, staying close to the man who saved his life.

He knows I would have left him, understands why, because now we’re hunted, the whole forest out for our flesh. Yes, he’s alive, but how long before we all die?

The only way through this horrific place is with stealth. The only way to have a hope of survival is to traverse it during the day, but we’ve wasted too much time fighting and the sun will set in…Fuck, what time is it?

We move fast and silent through the trees, even though the forest is awake. Serpents and critters hunger for the blood they can scent on the air.

“Arggh!”

“Gadreel!”

“Baraqel.”

I look back but it takes a moment for my brain to understand what it’s seeing.

Gadreel is pressed to a tree, and Baraqel has him by the arm, tugging and tugging while Gadreel sinks into the bark.

“Help!” Gadreel’s voice sounds constricted as if his lungs are being crushed.

“The tree’s alive!” Bastian rushes toward them, but Sarq snags him around the waist just as a barbed branch bursts through Gadreel’s forehead.

Bastian’s cry of horror echoes mine.

Baraqel lets go of Gadreel’s hand and falls back, chest heaving as the light in the other watcher’s eyes dies.

He’s gone. “Move. Stay clear of the trees. Any one of them could be carnivorous.” I know I sound cold and uncaring but there’s no time to grieve. Not now.

But it’s not the trees that we need to worry about now as the forest closes in, surrounding us in the sound of pursuit.

Serpents and critters surge toward us in a mass that seems impossible for even this large of a forest to contain.

Sarq scoops Bastian up and we run, weaving between the thick trunks, boots pressing into the death that coats the earth and feeds its unnatural appetites.

Zaq sprints up ahead, mapping out our route, but it won’t be long until the creatures converge on us and cut us off.

There is only one thing we can do. “Get to a clearing! We need to fly.”

Zaq veers left, and a moment later, I understand why. The trees are farther apart here, the air cooler. As if a breeze is finally getting past the canopy. There’s light ahead, tinged red.

The sun is about to set.

Fuck. How long have we been fighting? How fucking long have we been running?

“They’re on us!” Baraqel bellows.

We’re surrounded by glowing eyes, hungry maws, and lethal talons as we burst into the clearing.

“Fly!” I take to the air, and my watchers aren’t far behind.

Just as well because the clearing below is suddenly filled with monsters.

Up and up we go, until the forest is far below, and the city walls gleam like gold in the rays of the setting sun mere minutes away. Yes. Zaq was right. We’re headed in the right direction.

Triumph blooms briefly before it’s clawed to shreds by the sight of silver birds taking to the air above the walls.

Sentinels.

We’ve been spotted.

Chapter 31

RUE

T he blare of an alarm took me by surprise. I dropped my spoon into my cloud food as all the women began to rise and head to the exit.

“What’s going on?” Bee looked just as confused as I felt.

“Something bad?” My stomach turned. “We need to get out of here.”

The doors at the back of the room opened to allow us to exit, and I spotted Michael, all armored up now, and hurried over to him.

“What’s going on?” Bee asked him.

“Not here.” He took her hand and steered me ahead of him through the lounge area, past the women congregating there, and back into the network of corridors that made up this part of the roost.

We passed several celestials going the opposite way. Probably to pick up their chosen. But no one stopped to exchange pleasantries.

We moved fast, taking a route that was unfamiliar, leading us down several flights of stone steps.

We exited onto a grimy floor with worn stone walls.

“Gabriel said to meet him here,” Michael said, as if that explained everything.

His features were hidden in the gloom, making it impossible to read him. “Michael, what the fuck is happening?”

“Lockdown protocol when the city is under attack.”

“What? By whom?”

“Shemyaza and his watchers. It seems that they’ve come for you.”

My pulse jumped. Shem was here. He’d come for me. A cocktail of emotions bubbled inside me. Hope, excitement, joy, but shit…This was crazy. “The watchers are outnumbered. They’ll never make it. Why would he risk it? Risk his life?”

Michael’s eyes gleamed in the dark. “Because of you. Because you’re essential to his plan, and he knows what the Dominion will do to you should they discover that.”

“They would have mindfucked you,” Bee said.

That would have been my fate if not for Gabriel, but Shem didn’t know any different. He was here to save me from the Dominion, and fuck, I loved him for it.

“The watchers are warriors,” Michael said. “Their skills rivaling that of any Archangel or sentinel. I’m sure they have a plan to get over the walls, but if they cross the boundary, they will fall.”

“What do you mean?” Bee asked.

“Our wards are designed to repel the monsters, but they also do something else, something that isn’t common knowledge. They can incinerate watchers.”

“No…”

“The sentinels don’t know this, and they will fight to keep the watchers at bay. We just have to hope they buy us enough time to get out there and warn Shem and his watchers.”

He was outside the walls. He was coming for me, and he was going to get himself killed. “We’ve got to get the relic and go. Now.”

“There’s no time to get the relic. And even if there was time, with the lockdown in place, the security protocols will have been heightened on the upper floors. It’s also the perfect cover to get you both out of here.”

Dammit, we’d been so close.

Michael’s head whipped up at the sound of footsteps. He pulled us into the shadows as a figure emerged from the stairwell then exhaled in relief. “Gabriel.”

“This way,” Gabriel said. We hurried down the stone corridor, which seemed to get narrower and dingier. “I’ve sent word to Shem to let him know to retreat.”

“Your spies?” Michael asked.

“My brothers, just as you are now, Michael.”

“Are you sure they’ll get to him in time?”

“We can only hope.”

“What about the relic?” Bee asked.

“I’ll do my best to locate it once the dust settles,” Gabriel said. “Now that I know it’s here…”

It hit me that he wasn’t coming with us. That he was going to be staying behind in this den of vipers.

I grabbed his arm. “You have to come with us. If they find out that you’re against them, they’ll kill you.”

He stopped and peered down at me with an undecipherable expression. “You don’t have to worry about me, Rue. I’m aware of the risk. I’m willing to die for my cause. Just as you are.”

A knot formed in my throat, making it hard for me to speak. “Thank you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You can thank me when you see me again.”

But the way he said it, the dullness in his emerald eyes, told me he didn’t believe that I’d get the opportunity.

He was already on the move, hurrying down the corridor, but came to a stop a moment later and pressed his hand to the wall, pushing into one of the stones there. A soft snick was followed by the grating sound of the wall moving.

He ushered us into the room beyond, nothing more than a crudely carved space with a hatch in the ground.

Gabriel tugged it open to reveal a ladder. “This will take you to the escape route. It’s a long tunnel, and most of it isn’t lit, but keep going. It’ll bring you out on the other side of the forest.”

“You hid this from the Dominion all this time?” Michael looked stunned.

“It was only completed last week,” Gabriel said. “And before you berate me for putting the city at risk from monsters, there are wards on the other side of the tunnel to stop the monsters getting in.”

“You thought of everything.”

Gabriel shrugged. “I had time. But you don’t. You need to go, but first.” He stood and faced Michael. “You need to hit me. Make it look good.”

“What will you tell them?” Michael asked.

“The truth. That you took the humans and ran. That I realized you were a traitor and tried to stop you. They’ll search for you but won’t find you, and they won’t find the exit, either.”

Michael nodded. “Very well, stand still.” He pulled back his fist and delivered the first punch of several.

Chapter 32

SHEM

B lazing arrows arch through the air toward us, round after round, as the ranged weapon sentinels take point. The mele battalion remains on the parapets waiting for us to make it closer. If we make it closer. Below us the monsters surge at the walls, climbing over one another, attempting to scale them, but the air fizzes and they fall back.

There are wards on the walls.

Of course there are.

But the wards are for monsters not celestials, and we were once those.

All we need to do is get close and implement the plan.

Bastian cries out in warning, and I dive to avoid the searing tip of an arrow.

Our plan A is fucked. It depended on getting as close to the wall as possible before being spotted.

We failed at that, but we’re not giving up.

Every moment brings us closer to the wall, and we put plan B into motion.

My team flank me and Bastian while Baraqel and his watchers surge forward, drawing fire and attention and becoming the immediate threat. My team hangs back and dives low enough to almost be in the clutches of the monsters below. This close you’d think they’d abandon the wall and aim for us, but the celestial light inside the city is too much of a draw for them.

We don’t matter.

Shadows spill over us as the moon hides behind a cloud. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

“Now!” Sarq cries.

We rise, hurtling parallel to the wall, ready to scale it. My heart pounds like a drum, pulse beating hard in my temples.

I’m coming, Rue. I’m coming.

Two silver-armored sentinels spill from the top of the wall, beelining toward us.

“Watch out!” Tumiel cries.

Sarq pulls up, wings flaring, talons ready to slash and counter the sentinel’s attack. But both celestials rear back, wings flapping hard to pull them toward the wall and away from us.

“Stop!” one of them cries. “The wards will kill you. You can’t scale the wall.”

We hover above the monsters, hidden in a deep pocket of shadow. “Why are you telling us this?” Sarq demands.

“Because we are on the same side. My name is Daniel, and I have been instructed to tell you that your humans are safe and on the way to the other side of the forest via an underground passageway. Retreat, find them, and live so that you may liberate us all.”

His words reek of the truth. How can this be?

The moon slips out from behind the cloud.

“Go!” the sentinel cries. “Evade and retreat!”

They rise and fly west along the wall and out of sight, and for a moment, none of us speak because this…this is hope. This is truth.

“I’ll get Baraqel,” Sarq says.

“I’ll come with you!” Tumiel follows Sarq up into the night sky.

They weave to avoid another flurry of arrows and vanish from view.

Zaq and I fly us in the opposite direction along the wall, keeping to the shadows.

Bastian shifts in my arms to look up at me. “You believe them? You think Rue’s really on her way out of there?”

“It sounds impossible, but they were speaking the truth.”

“Then why are you flying so slow?” he demands. “Let’s pick up the pace.”

His enthusiasm acts like permission for me to feel the excitement bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

Rue is on her way out.

And in a few moments, I’ll have her in my arms again, and this time…I’m never letting her go.

RUE

The tunnel seemed to go on forever. Dark and musty but lit sporadically by dim bulbs filled with some kind of glowing fungus.

“What is that stuff?” Bee asked.

“I’m not sure,” Michael said. “A new kind of flora no doubt. This world was affected in many ways by the fractures that allowed the monsters in. New plant life spilled through, too.”

“How much farther do you think the exit is?” Bee asked.

It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to fly over the forest.

“On foot, with no obstructions, we should be through the forest in less than an hour,” Michael said.

“How deep is this forest?” Bee asked.

We’d been jogging for the most part. I didn’t have a watch on me, but I was sure we’d been down here for at least thirty minutes or so.

Michael looked back with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “We’re almost there.”

He was nervous and understandably so. He was about to walk out of the safety of the city and into the heart of monster land, not to mention having to deal with Shem.

“Is your celestial power low enough not to attract the creatures?” Bee asked him.

“I think so,” he said.

“Think so isn’t good enough. We need you to be certain.”

Yep, my hardnosed Bee was back.

Michael made a soft sound of irritation. “I’m as sure as I can be.”

Bee gave me a look that said, I don’t like this.

I returned it with a smile that I hoped communicated that I was sure it would be okay.

“Let’s move faster,” Bee said. “I’m starting to get claustrophobic.” She slipped ahead of Michael, and we broke into a run. The tunnel whizzed by, and I kept my breathing even, reveling in the exercise, the thrill of being untethered for a moment. Being locked in room after room for those couple of days had taken its toll on my body, leaving me itching to let loose and stretch my muscles.

The tunnel went into an incline. “I think we’re coming to the exit.”

“I think you’re right,” Bee called back. “I see a ladder.”

We joined her at the ladder, which had a hatch above it. Yep, this was the exit. It had to be.

“Let me go first,” Michael said. “Just in case.”

Bee stepped back so he could take the rungs.

Anemic light spilled down on us a moment later, but long seconds passed before Michael said, “It’s safe.”

We climbed out of the hatch onto the wooden floor of a rundown hut.

Michael stood at the busted windows, looking out. “We’re not too far from the forest. We can stay here until the watchers find us.”

“They won’t find us if we’re under cover,” Bee pointed out.

She was right. “We have to go out there.”

“If we’re attacked by monsters, I only have my daggers,” Michael pointed out. “My allure is barely a flicker right now. I won’t be able to protect you.”

But I’d spotted something interesting. The only piece of furniture in this shack. A battered chest. Could it be…

“We have weapons.” I pulled out a short sword and tested the weight of it in my hand then passed it to Bee, opting for the spiked bat that reminded me so much of my old weapon.

Michael grabbed the longsword, nothing compared to his actual celestial sword, but still impressive.

“I don’t understand why Gabriel would store weapons here,” Bee said. “Celestials have their own weapons.”

“Unless these weapons aren’t for the celestials who might come out of the city,” Michael said.

“I don’t understand. The monsters can’t get in, and even if they could, they don’t need weapons. What are you implying?”

“Nothing. We should get out in the open so the watchers can spot us. Stay close.”

Bee threw a frown my way. Was she picking up on the dodgy vibe coming off Michael? I thought he trusted Gabriel. Heck, we’d followed Gabriel’s plan to a T so if he was about to shaft us, then we needed to know.

I followed him out of the shack and into a lightly wooded area. “Michael, is there something you’re not telling us?”

He shook his head. “No, I just—”

“Watch out!” Bee yelled.

A huge shadow hurtled toward us. Michael shoved me with enough force to send me flying. The world tipped and I hit the ground, head slamming on something hard.

The world went dark.

STONE WALLS and glowing runes surrounded me.

No, not this. Not now. I was doing something important.

I needed to wake up, but the dream held fast.

I needed to stand up, but my body refused to move.

Someone held me.

Crushed me to their body.

The specter? Oh no.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice.”

My words of protest refused to come.

“Don’t fight me. I don’t want to hurt you. I can save you and you can save me. You’re my only hope.”

Fingers of agony burrowed into my skull, and the world filled with blazing light.

“RUE! Move. You have to fucking move.” Bee dragged me into a sitting position. I found my feet, staggering and bumping into her as my head swam.

Michael’s bellow of pain tore through the throb in my temple, and my mind was suddenly clear, vision sharp as I zeroed in on him fighting what looked like a cross between a ripper and a crabine.

It towered several feet above him, snapping at him with its crab claws and mandibles. Michael slashed and stabbed but its hard exoskeleton made it impossible for him to get a hit on it.

“We have to help him.” I rushed forward but Bee pulled me back. “You’re in no condition to fight. You’re bleeding, and you probably have a concussion.”

I grabbed my spiked bat. “I’m fine.” In fact, I was brimming with energy.

Michael flew up, wings flaring wide. Pale gray wings, not the glorious white I was used to seeing.

The crabine rose on its back legs and slashed out, catching Michael across his chest and tearing through his armor. Blood sprayed.

“No!” Bee and I cried in unison, and then we were both running into the fray.

The crabine screeched in rage as we attacked, aiming for its underbelly, the soft spots where our blades and spikes could bite easily.

Michael regained his momentum and together we tore into the beast. It screamed and stamped its talon-tipped feet, creating a tremor that rippled through my body and made it hard to stay on my feet. Bee cursed and fell back, gathered herself, then attacked with a battle cry only to be thrown back by a fresh tremor.

I planted my feet wide, managing to somehow hold my ground. My limbs felt strong and unyielding. Michael continued to attack the creature from the air, slowing it down.

We had it.

“Look out!” Bee slammed into me, taking us both to the ground to avoid the stampeding talons of a fresh monster.

Its shadow fell over us, so large it blocked out the moon.

“I think that’s the mama,” Bee said.

The larger monster roared, spraying saliva.

We rolled, narrowly missing being speared by a talon, but then, it turned on Michael—the aggressor of its child.

I scrambled to my feet and raced after it, with Bee close on my heels.

We attacked it with a flurry of jabs and strikes while it stomped and made the earth shake. “Get it to focus on us!”

With two of us on its tail, the creature was forced to defend itself, turning its back on the smaller one and giving Michael the opening he needed.

Michael dove at it, blade aimed at the soft spot between its head plate and torso area.

But the thing swung a claw at the last moment and punched Michael out of the air.

Rage was lava rushing through my body. “NO!” Power tore out of me, inky and shadow-like, and slammed into the monsters, covering them briefly before dissipating.

I sagged, suddenly empty and weak.

Bee stepped closer to me, her eyes wide and on the scene in front of us. “Rue…what did you do?”

Chapter 33

SHEM

W here is she? Where is Rue?

“Can you see her?” Bastian asks.

“Not yet.”

“Maybe they came out east of here,” Zaq suggests.

We veer to the east and the rest of the watchers follow. I don’t care what the sentinels make of our retreat. All I care about is Rue.

“I see a shack!” Sarq calls out.

How did he get ahead of us? But then, I spot the shack and the smattering of trees. There’s a clearing and movement and my heart is in my mouth.

“Rue!” Bastian yells.

But she doesn’t see us. She’s too focused on fighting a large monster, her body agile and powerful and swift, her blows connecting each time, sending the beast into a frenzy, and she’s not alone. Another human is helping her, but there’s a smaller creature, and that one…Michael!

He dives at the larger beast, and it smashes a claw into him, and in the next moment, both monsters are covered in living shadow.

Living shadow that came out of Rue.

RUE

The monsters were gone. Disintegrated as if…as if they’d been burned to ash.

By me?

By the shadow shit that came out of me?

“How did you do that?” Bee asked, her eyes wide and frightened. “Rue? ”

Michael slowly picked himself up off the ground, staring at me warily.

I shook my head “I don’t know what that was. I’ve never—”

The beat of wings drew my attention to the sky.

Watchers!

Shem and Bastian.

Joy flooded my veins with fresh heat, but then, Shem’s expression registered. He was pissed and his attention was on Michael.

Oh…Oh, shit!

Chapter 34

S hem dropped Bastian mid swoop then landed in front of Michael.

“Don’t!” Bee yelled before I could.

Shem stopped, his back to us, wings flexing.

I stepped forward. “He’s on our side, Shem.”

“Then what was that?” Shem demanded. “What did he do to you in the city?”

Oh, shit. He’d seen the weird power I’d just used. He thought Michael was to blame. “He didn’t do anything.” I strode past the piles of ash, suddenly pissed off. We’d been apart for days, and all he wanted to do was rail on Michael. Shem’s wings snapped tight against his back as I stepped round to face him. “And it’s good to see you, too.”

His gaze finally settled on me, locking with mine, and a surge of longing rushed over me, washing away my annoyance. He was here. He was fucking right here. I bridged the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him, breathing him in as my heart fluttered and my body relaxed against his.

This was right.

This was home.

“Ah, Rue…” His voice was a delicious rumble. He hugged me back, burying his nose between my neck and shoulder and inhaling me. A delicious shiver ran over my skin, a new kind of heat blooming low in my belly. “It is good to see you,” he whispered gruffly.

“Did you miss me that much?” It was meant to be a teasing question, a light jest, but it came out thick with emotion.

“Yes, Rue. I missed you that much.”

Dammit, I was a goner for him.

“We should get moving,” Michael said. “The Dominion will no doubt send a troop out to look for us. The deeper we are in the deadlands, the less likely they’ll follow.”

Shem’s grip on me flexed then relaxed. He drew me behind him and away from Michael. “We’ll head to the gas station. Then you and I”—He fixed his neon gaze on Michael—“We’re going to have a talk.”

The tension in the atmosphere dipped, and I turned to Bastian waiting patiently on the sidelines. His sea-green eyes were heavy with emotion, but he stood stoic, hands curled into fists as if he was holding himself back.

I had no such qualms, and he had no choice but to open his arms to me when I threw myself at him. His body was solid and familiar, molding to mine as if made to fit. He wrapped both his arms around me and lifted me off my feet so my boots dangled off the ground while he crushed me to him.

“You’re insane,” he said. “What were you thinking going in alone?”

“I had no choice at the time. I almost had the relic.”

“Fuck the relic. All I care about is you.” He set me on my feet and cupped my face in his huge hands. “I’ll happily live in a world infested with monsters as long as you’re in it with me.”

My throat pinched because the heat in his eyes, the longing…that was more than friendship. It was lo—

“Hey, big guy!” Bee said. “Don’t I get a hug?”

Bastian released me and pulled Bee in for a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“We move out,” Shem snapped. “Reunions and conversation can wait.”

“We’ll talk later,” Bastian promised.

The watchers gathered close as Shem barked orders.

Bee joined Michael, her expression colored with concern as she examined his bloody torso.

“He’ll heal in a few moments,” Shem said, his tone bitter. “They always do.”

I caught Michael’s gaze over the top of Bee’s head, noting his red-rimmed eyes and gray pallor.

I wasn’t sure how fast he’d be healing. If at all.

THE GAS STATION was a couple of miles away, and with night stacked deep around us, it meant the journey wouldn’t be an easy one. Shem and Bastian flanked me as we walked, and Sarq and Tumiel kept Bee between them. Zaq scouted ahead as usual and Baraqel and his watchers kept Michael in their midst.

I used the time to fill Bastian in on my short meeting with Jamie, keeping my voice low. No need to attract monster attention by making unnecessary noise.

“Jamie’s alive?” Bastian looked stunned. “I don’t understand how. We saw him incinerated.”

“Jamie had serum in his veins, and the celestial nature of it brought him back to life. But he has no memory of who he was, or us, or anything.”

“But he’s alive,” Bastian said. “He might remember in time.”

“Michael doesn’t think so, but I have hope. He’s safest in the city for now.”

Bastian nodded slowly. “He’s alive…” He dropped a quick glance my way and I could see him withdrawing, taking a back seat with his emotion.

Heck, no. “Jamie being alive doesn’t change everything that’s happened since.”

Bastian’s throat bobbed. “It doesn’t?”

“No. It doesn’t.”

Up ahead Michael stumbled and Baraqel hauled him roughly to his feet again.

“He’s not a threat,” Bee said from behind me. “You need to stop treating him like one.”

Shem shot her a glare and put his finger to his lips.

Her jaw tensed but she nodded.

“We have to be on our guard,” Tumiel said to Bee, his voice so low I barely caught his words. “Until we can be sure.”

“You think he duped us?” Bee whispered back. “Got us out of the city and almost got himself killed, for what?”

“She’s right,” Bastian said to me. “Look at him. His wounds haven’t even healed yet.”

Michael had stopped bleeding, but the skin across his torso was crusted and inflamed from where the monster had clawed him. “He allowed his celestial light to be drained so he wouldn’t be a threat to us out here. They ration it out you know.”

“What?” Shem’s piercing blue eyes brightened with anger. “Rationing?”

“Of course they do,” Bastian said sarcastically. “It’s how they control the masses.”

Shem growled. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. This makes perfect sense.”

“There’s a machine that recycles souls.” I swallowed the lump in my throat as the memory of the humans having their souls ripped out filled my head. “They’re killing older humans to recycle their souls and make new humans.”

“Fuck,” Bastian said. “You…You saw it?”

“I did. Erelim was the reaper doing the extraction.”

“Erelim?” Shem sounded pissed.

“Yes, but I’m sure he was under duress. He knew I was in the room, and he didn’t tell the other celestials. In fact, he told me how to get back to my room. He’s working with Gabriel, too. There’s a whole movement, celestials against the Dominion.” I took a deep breath. “The Dominion who orchestrated the fall.”

Shem stilled. “Who told you that?”

“Michael and I figured it out.” He deserved to know it wasn’t his fault. “You were tricked, Shem. The woman you loved was a djinn sent by the Dominion to possess you and make you shatter the relic.”

“No…” He shook his head. “I remember—”

“What she wanted you to remember. None of this is your fault.”

He didn’t speak for long seconds, his body as tense as the string of a bow. “And how did Michael and you figure this out?”

“The woman, the djinn, you fell in love with…She was Michael’s lover first.” I filled him in on what Michael had told me. “He didn’t know, either. All he saw was you shattering the relic. He believed you were to blame.”

“And now he’s on our side?” There was more than a little skepticism in Shem’s tone.

“Yes. Now he knows the truth. Gabriel recruited him.”

“How much do they know?” Shem demanded. “About you and our cause.”

He should be relieved he wasn’t to blame, relieved that the truth was out, and we had allies, so why did he sound so angry? “I told them everything.”

“Dammit, Rue!”

An answering anger sparked inside me. “I did what I had to. You weren’t there. I made the call, okay? I know we can trust them. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Without the third relic piece.”

Seriously? “If you hadn’t shown up and almost gotten yourself killed, then I’d have that, too!”

“Enough,” Bastian snapped. “Can’t you both just be happy to be together for once? Rue’s alive, Shem. Michael got her out alive. And Rue, for all we knew, the Dominion were about to mind fuck you, so yeah, we came to save you.”

I slowed my angry strides. He was right. This was ridiculous. “We’ll get the third piece. Gabriel is on it. And I’m glad you came, otherwise, we’d be making the journey back to the bunker alone, and I’m not sure we’d have survived it.”

“You would,” Shem said. “I have faith in you. But I must speak to Michael alone and ask my questions so that I can be certain that the truths he’s spun for you and Gabriel aren’t lies.”

“I understand.”

“Good,” Bastian said. “Now, how about we enjoy a moonlit walk through monster land? Where peril is a thrill and humanity is an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

I snorted. “Monster land. You run, we chase.”

Bastian grinned, and it lit up his face and made my heart hurt.

I slipped one hand into his and the other into Shem’s, wanting to say something that explained how having them here with me made me feel, but there were no words, only an overwhelming feeling of completion.

Bastian squeezed my hand, and Shem held it carefully as if he was afraid he’d hurt me. For a few moments, I allowed myself to forget where we were, and that we could be monster chow any moment, and focused only on the two males that had my heart so firmly in their hands that I’d fight a hoard to get to them if need be.

“You came for me.” The words slipped out on a whisper.

“Should never have let you go,” Shem said gruffly.

“Damn right,” Bastian said.

Shem didn’t berate him.

It seemed these two had found their equilibrium and that…that made me happy. I glanced up at Bastian, at the strong lines of his profile. He said he wasn’t in love with me.

Yeah, I didn’t believe that. Not any longer.

Now, all I needed was for him to admit it.

Shem needed his talk with Michael and I…I’d be having a talk with Bastian.

Chapter 35

“W ell, this is cozy,” Bee said as Tumiel moved some boxes to make space for us to camp in the middle aisle of the gas station. The watchers were spread out in pairs around the building, keeping watch on the perimeter, and Michael and Shem had gone off to talk.

“Stay in this vicinity,” Tumiel said to us. “If you need to relieve yourself, then one of us will come with you.”

Bee wrinkled her nose. “I think Rue and I are capable of watching each other’s backs.”

“This is the deadlands,” Tumiel said, his tone firm. “You’ll follow our protocol.”

Bee looked like she wanted to argue, but I interjected. “Got it. We’ll make sure a watcher is with us.”

Tumiel’s expression softened, and he let out a sigh. “I apologize. It’s just…we thought we might lose you.”

“I know.” I lightly touched his arm, and he covered my hand with his.

“I’m glad you’re with us again.” He dropped his attention to Bee. “And I’m glad that you’re free of that place. Please, allow us to keep you safe out here.”

Bee nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

Sarq joined us. “Everything okay here?”

“Yes,” Tumiel said.

“Good to have you back.” Sarq pulled me into a hug. “We missed you.”

Dammit, now my eyes were watering.

“I’d like one of those, too,” Zaq said.

I obliged, and the next moment, I was surrounded by them in a group hug that made my chest ache. It might be the celestial bond, it might be the Morningstar channel, it might be a whole host of things, but whatever it was, these watchers were now family.

The watchers left us to settle in for the night, and Bee and I made ourselves comfortable on the cardboard pieces Tumiel had set out for us.

There was a rack behind us and another in front. The world was gray with only a little moonlight creeping in through the gaps in the metal shelving.

“Ah, how I’ve missed this,” Bee said while trying to make a pillow out of the leftover cardboard.

“Right?”

“I can’t wait to see the base.”

“You’ll love it. Trust me.”

Her gaze grew somber. “Always, Rue. You know that.” She ducked her head and looked down the aisle to where Bastian was speaking to one of the watchers. “Have you two spoken yet?”

“Briefly.”

“He’s in love with you. It’s obvious now.”

“I think so, too.”

“You’re going to confront him, right?”

“Once we’re back at base, yeah.”

“Good, because Jamie would want you both to be happy.” She punched the cardboard. “Dammit, this stuff sucks.”

She hadn’t had the opportunity to get used to sleeping rough yet, and if I had my way, she’d never have to.

I patted my thigh. “Pop your head here. We can take turns sleeping. I’ll watch over you first.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. I’m not tired yet anyway.”

She settled down, head on my lap. “They care about you, too…the watchers. It was…sweet.”

“I care about them, too. They’re amazing, and soon they’ll love you as much as I do.”

She didn’t reply. She was fast asleep.

A shadow fell over me, and my head whipped up to find Bastian standing over me.

“You been taking stealth lessons from the watchers?”

His eyes smiled. “Maybe. You can’t sleep sitting up.”

“I will. Once Bee’s had a couple of hours.”

“No, you won’t, because you won’t wake her. I know you.” He settled beside me. “They don’t need me on watch tonight, and Shem’s busy with Michael, so I’m here for you.” He was so close I could have kissed him, and damn, I wanted to.

His eyes darkened as if reading my thoughts and he reached up to pinch my chin and leaned in to press a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth. My stomach flipped slow and hard, and when he drew back, the yearning in his beautiful eyes echoed mine.

“Bastian, I—”

He pressed his finger to my lips. “Not here. Not now.” He patted his shoulder. “Drop your head here and close your eyes. I’ve got you.”

Yeah…he did. He truly did.

Chapter 36

SHEM

M ichael still hasn’t healed, which gives credence to what Rue told me about his celestial energy being depleted, but I need more if I’m to trust this male who’s hunted us for the past decade.

He sits, slumped over in a battered chair, elbow braced on a metal desk in what was once a small back office.

“Ask me whatever you want,” Michael says. “I have nothing to hide.”

I have questions. So many questions, but there is one that stands out in my mind—one that I need to know the answer to. “Did you know that the Dominion orchestrated the fall?”

“No. Not until recently. Rue and I…we figured it out.”

His words taste of the truth. “She told me.”

“I’m sorry. Had I known back then…”

“You’d have turned on the Dominion sooner?”

He drops his gaze. “I’m not sure.”

Truth once again.

“Why are you helping us now, then? Why join Gabriel?”

“Because you have two relics. You’re close to ending this. Now is the time to act. And Rue…she deserves to live.”

All true. There is no deception in his words.

“You gave up your celestial light willingly?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll help us locate the final relic piece?” He looks up at me with gritted teeth. He’s in pain. I don’t care. “Answer me!”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect this world, and if that means bringing down the Dominion, then so be it.”

“And what did you do to Rue?”

“What?” He looks genuinely confused.

“I saw what she did when fighting the mutated crabines. The shadow power that came out of her.”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

Truth. “What about the others in the city? Gabriel? The Dominion?”

“No. The Dominion spoke to her once only, when we completed the bonding ceremony.”

Bonding? “What bonding?”

Michael frowns. “She didn’t tell you?”

I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all. “I want you to tell me.”

“The Dominion have ordered celestials to bond with human females in bonding ceremonies. They call them the chosen and then they…they procreate with them.”

My vision goes red, and when it clears, I have Michael against the wall, the bar of my arm against his throat, choking him.

“Shem! Stop!” Baraqel tugs on my shoulder. “You have to stop!”

It takes every bit of willpower I have to step back and let him crumple.

He clutches his throat, glaring up at me with indignation. “I didn’t touch her. I wouldn’t do that.”

“But you bonded with her?”

“No, I bonded with the other female, to keep her safe.” He stands slowly, his breath coming shallow. His wound is bleeding again. “The Dominion weren’t happy with my progress in interrogating Rue, and so they gave her to Gabriel. He bonded with Rue. Not me.”

Now, it makes sense why he stayed behind. Why he can find the relic and get it to us, his bond to Rue will allow him to track her. His bond to my Rue.

Mine!

RUE

I bolted awake to find Shem standing over me and Bastian squaring off with him.

Bee stirred and sat up. “What’s happening?”

“Shem, what the fuck?” Bastian demanded.

“Get out of my way, human,” Shem said coldly, his gaze pinned on me. “I’m here for Rue.”

“Not with that attitude, you’re not,” Bastian said.

“What’s going on?” Tumiel joined us.

“Shem?” I stood slowly, body still sluggish from sleep.

“You bonded with Gabriel?”

Oh…shit. That little nugget had slipped my mind. “Yes. I did. I had to. Michael explained it?”

“He didn’t give me a chance,” Michael said from down the aisle.

“You’re bleeding again!” Bee cried in horror.

“I want you to explain it to me,” Shem said to me.

“Hell, no.” Bastian planted himself between us. “You want to speak to Rue, you can do it right here.”

“You’re not in charge here, Bastian,”

“And neither are you, not when it comes to Rue.”

I’d had enough of this. “You want to talk, we can talk, but cut the attitude. I’m not going anywhere with you while you’re simmering with indignation over something you have no information on.”

Shem closed his eyes and exhaled, his shoulders slumped slightly, and when he opened his eyes, they were no longer glowing. “Better?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

It would have to do. “Much.”

“Now, if you’d care to step into my office?” Shem swept an arm toward the back of the building past where Michael stood.

“Rue, you don’t have to go anywhere,” Bastian said.

I pushed up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “I know.”

I swept passed Shem and through the heat his body was throwing off, past Michael, who was being attended to by Bee, and straight into the office at the back of the gas station.

The door closed behind me, and I turned to face Shem.

“Did you fuck him?” he asked.

“Wow, straight to the point.”

“Answer me.”

“Why does it matter? I can fuck whomever I—”

He had me by the throat in an instant, not squeezing, simply holding me still, forcing my head up so I had no choice but to look him in the eye.

“Did. You. Fuck. Him?”

There was fear in his eyes, peeking out from behind the mask he held up.

“No.”

His hot breath kissed my lips.

“He was a gentleman. He’s one of the good ones.”

Shem’s chest heaved. “You’re mine, Rue. You carry a piece of me inside you.”

“And that gives you rights over whom I fuck?”

His grip on me tightened. “Yes. This”—he covered my pussy with his free hand—“is mine.”

Heat spiraled low in my belly. The instinct to agree, to give him control washed over me. “No. It’s mine and I decide who gets to play. Not you.”

“You want Gabriel?”

“I want autonomy over my fucking body!”

We remained locked in a glare, a battle of wills, but like fuck would I back down on this. “I love Bastian.”

He gritted his teeth. “You can have him.”

“This isn’t a fucking negotiation. I don’t need your perm—”

He kissed me and knocked the thoughts out of my head with the lash of his tongue and the ravenous hunger that raced through my body. He kissed me and my body told my brain to shut the fuck up and give him whatever he wanted.

My ass hit the edge of the desk, and he tore his mouth from mine, his breath as erratic as mine.

“I want inside of you. I fucking need it.”

My pussy throbbed, eager for him. “Yes.”

He spun me and tore my slacks down. I couldn’t think, could barely breathe as he freed me of my clothing and pinned me to the desk, his hand on the back of my neck.

I was so wet I could feel it in the cool air that kissed my hot center.

“Shem…”

“I know, Rue, I know. We have to hold back.” He pressed the head of his cock against me, and a moan ripped its way free of my throat. I pushed back urgently.

“Wait…you can’t…” He groaned as I circled my hips, taking an inch of him. “Fuck, you can’t open the channel. Can you…Can you hold it closed?” He pulled out of me, leaving me empty and yearning. “Rue, can you control it?”

“Anything, yes, just fuck me.”

He buried himself in me, as far as I could take him. I cried out, and he slapped a hand over my mouth, his hot breath skimming my ear. “Do you feel it? The simmer inside. The channel aching to be opened.”

All I felt was his thick cock inside me, rocking back and forth, but not thrusting like I needed it to. “Shem…”

“You need to be aware.” His breath was ragged as if it were taking everything he had not to fuck me into the desk.

I swallowed to moisten my mouth and focused on that place inside me where the power came from. The barrier was closed but power pressed against it, eager to be let out, eager for me to crack open the door.

“Hold it closed, Rue. Hold it and we can have this.”

“Yes. I’ve got it.” I pressed on the door, wedging it closed in my mind. “I’ve got it. I—”

He pulled out and slammed into me, swallowing my cry with his palm.

Over and over, deeper and deeper. I opened for him, thighs wide, pushing back to take as much of him as I could. This was pleasure. This was pain. And it was mine. My body tightened around his. He growled, grip unforgiving as we both came, rocking and grinding together to wring every ounce of pleasure from the orgasm.

He massaged my neck, his hand skimming down my spine to my ass. “You’re so beautiful.”

He pulled out of me and gently drew me off the desk and pulled me back to his chest. He cupped my breast and squeezed gently, massaging until my nipples ached with a need of their own.

“Shem…”

He turned me to face him and cupped my nape, nudging my chin up with his thumb. Our gazes locked, his filled with confusion and yearning, and this time when he kissed me, it was a slow exploration, a gentle build of heat that rose between us, drawing our bodies together. He lifted me onto the desk and stepped between my thighs, hard and ready for me once more.

The kiss broke and I looked down between us, down his hard abs, down to the Adonis belt and his girthy length pressed between us.

I wanted him again. “Shem…”

He kissed me deep then softened it, plucking at my lips. “One risk is enough for the day.” He kissed my jaw, my neck, my collarbones. “The rest can wait until we’re at base.”

I drew back and cupped his jaw. “I’m not playing games, Shem.”

His throat bobbed. “I know.”

“My heart is involved, so if you—”

He kissed me firmly. “I want you…and my heart is involved, too. But the cause…This world has to come first. I may have been manipulated by the Dominion, but I was still the instrument of destruction, and I need to put things right.”

That would have to do. “And you need to learn to control your temper.”

He flashed a fang at me. “You should take your own advice.”

“Point taken.”

“Now, we better get back out there before Bastian comes barging in and finds us like this.”

“He knows how I feel about you.”

“Good, then the air is clear.” He helped me off the desk and handed me my pants. “He’s a good man and the world will be a lesser place without him in it. You should spend what time he has left with him.”

A buzzing filled my head. “What? What do you mean, what time he has left?”

Shem froze while buttoning up his pants.

“Shem?”

“I misspoke. This is not my truth to tell.”

“Dammit, Shem, what did you mean?”

He fixed his sad eyes on me. “Speak to Bastian and ask him for the truth.”

I pulled on my clothes and headed for the door, my heart in my mouth, because I’d known. Of course, deep down, I’d known, but now I needed him to tell me.

Chapter 37

BASTIAN

“W hen were you going to tell me, huh?” Rue demands, her chest heaving like she’s just come out of a sprint.

My heart sinks. She knows. But just in case. “Tell you what?”

Her eyes are narrow slits of don’t-fucking-bullshit-me. “Bastian, do not fuck with me right now.”

Bee looks between us and then backs away with her hands up before hurrying to join Tumiel at the bottom of the aisle. They both vanish, leaving Rue and I alone.

“I know you’re dying,” Rue says.

I try out a smile, but it feels odd on my face. “Aren’t we all?”

She punches me in the gut hard enough for it to sting. “You bastard! You fucking bastard!”

She’s sobbing and I hate that I made her cry. “Rue…” I reach for her, but she moves away. “When were you going to tell me? Were you even going to?”

“I wasn’t, but then, Shem came back without you and…” My shoulders slump. “I was going to tell you when we got back to base.”

She stares at me as if she doesn’t believe me.

“I swear it, Rue. I decided on the way here that I wasn’t going to hide how I felt anymore. That my life might be short, but I want to live the final weeks authentically with you.”

“Weeks?” Her voice cracks.

“I don’t know…Maybe a month or so if I’m—”

She slams into me, arms around my waist, head buried against my chest, squeezing—squeezing so hard as if she can make me stay by the force of her will alone.

The dam inside me almost breaks but I swallow my grief, push it down into the dark place, and hold her while she sobs against me.

“I’m sorry.” I stroke her hair. “I should have told you sooner. I just—”

“Don’t.” She draws back and looks up at me through a sheen of glittering tears. “Don’t you dare apologize. This is not your fault. I’m sorry.” She dashes away her tears. “For crying and making this about me.”

Damn her for being so perfect. For making it so hard to leave her.

She cups my jaw. “I’m going to find a way to save you.”

“Rue, there is no cure.”

“None that we know of, but—”

“No.” I grip her wrist and pull her hand away. “I don’t need false hope. I’ve come to terms with my death. I just…I just want to spend the time I have left with you, by your side.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and say the words I’ve been longing to say for years. “I just want to be able to love you.”

She makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, and then her mouth is on mine, sweet and desperate, as if she can anchor me to her with this connection. I’m like a drowning man coming up for air, breathing her in and devouring what she gives me. Her hair is silk between my fingers, her skin soft and smooth beneath my calloused fingertips, and my heart…my heart is suddenly too large for my chest.

The kiss breaks, and she peers up at me, her beautiful gray eyes hard with inner resolve. “I love you, Bastian, but you’re wrong about any hope being false. Hope is never false. Hope is what makes the impossible possible. You might not have the will for it right now. But I do. So, I’ll hope for the both of us.”

And just like that, she makes the impossible possible, because until this moment, I was certain it wasn’t possible to love her any more than I already do.

SHEM

Michael stands at the grimy window, looking out at the night. Baraqel watches him from the shadows, his expression wary. It will take time to trust this celestial, but based on everything I’ve heard and seen, there is no other option but to believe him.

“Did you clear things up with Rue?” Michael asks.

“I did.”

His gaze flicks my way. “You’re playing with fire, Shemyaza. I would have thought you’d have learned your lesson the first time. Thinking with your heart is dangerous.”

“Rue is not a traitorous bitch.”

Michael bristles. “Neither was Jilayna. She was coerced by the Dominion. Threatened. I’m sure of it.”

“And who’s thinking with his heart now?”

Michael’s jaw ticks. “Touché. But I…” He leans toward the window with a frown, his attention on the shadows outside. I track his gaze but there’s nothing there.

“Michael?”

He shakes his head. “I thought I saw something.”

His chest wound is still healing, and he’s lost a lot of blood. “You need to rest. We have a long day ahead of us, and now that you’re low on celestial light, you’ll feel the trek.”

He nods slowly. “Yes. I suppose I will.”

“How long do you have?”

“I’m low but not depleted. I have time.”

He has no idea what it will feel like to devolve, but he will soon enough. “I can’t sustain you through my connection to the Morningstar, and neither can Rue. That power only fuels watchers.”

“I know. But I have hope that we’ll find that final relic piece before then.”

We fall into silence, and the back of my neck prickles with awareness as if I’m being watched. I look over my shoulder to find the doorway empty. Wait, is that a shadow?

“How much farther is your base?” Michael asks.

The shadow vanishes. A trick of the moonlight, no doubt. “A day-and-a-half trek. On foot.”

He looks down at his feet. “It’s been a long time since I had to trek anywhere. I’m looking forward to it.”

“In monster infested territory? You’re delusional.”

“No, Shem. I’m free and that…that’s a novel feeling, enough to give my feet wings.”

Maybe having Michael on our team will prove useful. His knowledge of the celestial patrols, the hot spots, information we aren’t privy to…

Yes, this can work in our favor.

Chapter 38

GABRIEL

“H ow?” The Dominion’s question is a boom that leaves my eardrums aching. “How did you allow this to happen?”

Head down, eyes closed, mind clear. Focus. “I was not aware of Michael’s duplicity. I’m ashamed to say I was taken by surprise.”

“How did they escape the city walls?”

“I do not know.” The lie comes easily.

“You are the head of security for the city. How can you not know?”

It’s a rhetorical question so I wait.

Finally, they speak, their voices united as one. “Give us your statement of events.”

This is the test. The moment that I might ruin everything. The moment they might see through me, but when I speak, my words are confident and sincere. “When the alarms sounded, I rushed to retrieve the human from Respite, only to be told she’d been taken by Michael. I caught up to them on Level 4, and Michael attacked me, leaving me unconscious. When I came to, they were gone. I have searched the schematics for answers and found none. The video footage of several levels of the roost shows no evidence of their escape. I can only conclude that they used the chaos of the attack to fly unseen over the walls.”

Silence follows my statement.

Moments tick by, slow and pregnant with possibilities.

Death being the most likely.

When they finally speak, their tone is no longer an angry boom, but more reflective.

“This is a grave loss to the city, and we must be certain that you have not been compromised.”

My pulse remains steady. “I understand.”

“You will open your mind to us.”

“I will.”

I’ve been training for this moment for decades, honing my mind into compartments of truth and lies, of memories that are real and those that are fabricated. It’s my skill, my power, and they have no idea.

“Now submit.”

Phantom fingers press against my temple, insistent, questing. I open the doors to my false mind and hide the doors to the truth.

The pain hits, sudden and agonizing, forcing me onto the marble floor and into a ball as they enter my head.

Here I am telling Michael that Rue must be put in my care, there I am lecturing my security team on the sanctity of the city and their duties. Another memory of Rue follows where she’s looking up at me with bliss after I’ve claimed her, and finally I’m running through the corridors in search of them. I find them and react with shock and horror as Michael turns on me.

The pain stops abruptly, leaving me weak with limbs like jelly.

“You are a loyal and valued soldier, Gabriel. We thank you for allowing us into your mind. We have been considering you for an essential role, and now we are satisfied you will be the perfect fit.”

My mouth doesn’t work, vocal cords seizing up. But I doubt they expect a response from me because they don’t ask any more questions.

“You will report to Yamal for briefing at dawn tomorrow.”

Yamal? The leader of the Powers?

The light winks out.

They’ve gone, but it’s several minutes before I’m able to peel myself off the floor.

Chapter 39

RUE

A s if fate had decided to give us a break, the rest of our journey was smooth with no monster attacks. But we didn’t let our guard down until we hit the tunnels under the city where our mall was hidden.

“Smart,” Michael said, trailing behind me. “There is no way we would have ventured this far, let alone gone over a city crawling with monsters.”

“I’m going to shower once we get inside,” Bee said. “You have hot water?”

“Yes,” Tumiel said. “Hot water and clean sheets.”

“And real food? Not cloud stuff?”

I chuckled. “Real food. I’m sure Mira will hook us up with a meal.”

“She’ll be delighted to,” Zaq said.

We hit the red door a few moments later and entered the mall.

Just like the last time we’d arrived, the shutters on the stores were down. I could only assume the opening of the red door somehow activated a security protocol to keep everyone safe.

Tumiel found the bell hidden in the dead fountain. He rang it and the shutters trundled open.

Bee let out a soft cry at the sight of Sissy and the few familiar faces from our settlement.

There were hugs or welcomes and plenty of warmth.

But then, people noticed Michael and wariness overcame the crowd. Fear etched lines into faces, and anger charged the air.

“He’s one of them!” Sissy pointed her finger at him. “You killed our people.”

Michael flinched as if she’d struck him.

“You’re a monster!”

He didn’t respond. Didn’t say sorry, and I had to respect him for that, because sorry meant nothing—not for what he’d done. It was a limp word that would do nothing more than inflame the crowd.

“Enough!” Shem barked. “Michael is now one of us.”

“No.”

“How could you?”

“We trusted you.”

Echoes of dissent filled the room.

“Silence!” Shem’s voice was like a gunshot. “This is my bunker. My rules. My house. If you have a problem with it, you can leave. Now.”

Was he serious? He looked serious. No. This was him asserting his authority to keep the peace, and it would work temporarily, but the resentment against Michael would fester. Soon, Shem would be tainted with it, too.

The only way to fix this was to give these people answers in the form of the truth. “He saved my life.” I didn’t raise my voice, didn’t demand attention, but all eyes turned to me anyway. I waited a moment until everyone quieted down then continued. “I know Michael saving me won’t bring back the people we lost. I understand how angry you are. I’m angry, too. But Michael was simply a pawn—a soldier following orders—bound to the Dominion by his need to survive. He was wrong in his allegiance, but he was trapped.”

“Trapped?” Sissy snorted. “Puh-lease.”

“The Dominion control celestial energy, which is the life force of every celestial. They control who lives and dies. They have all the power, and Michael didn’t see a way out…until now. Now, he knows there’s hope. Now, he understands he’s given up his celestial energy to be here. He’s prepared to die to help us fix our world. I know what he did was awful but he’s willing to atone, and all I ask is that we give him a chance.”

“Fix our world?” Mira’s gaze flies from me to Zaq. “There’s a way to fix it?”

“Dammit, Rue,” Shem growled.

“No. It’s time they know the truth.” So I told them. I explained my connection to the watchers and how finding the relics could fix our world but left out how it had gotten broken. That wasn’t my story to tell. “So, we need Michael. We need all the help we can get.”

The mood switched from acrimonious to excitement and hopefulness. I glanced at Michael to find him staring at me with an indecipherable expression—one that bordered on wonder.

“We’ll accept that you need him,” Mira said, speaking for the group. “But it’s best if you keep him away from us.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Shem said. “Now, Mira, please take Bee and get her settled.”

“Wait.” Bee grabbed my hand. “I’m staying with you.”

“No,” Shem said firmly. “Rue’s place is with me.”

A look came over Bee’s face, the one that usually preceded a seriously vicious dressing down. My friend had no fear of Shem because she knew how much he valued humanity, but butting heads with him here, in front of the people he oversaw, would be a knock to his authority, leaving Shem no choice but to punish her.

I couldn’t have that. “Shem, isn’t there a spare room on the security floor?”

He slow-blinked and seemed to consider it. “Yes, I believe you’re correct. Bee, you may have that room. You’ll be close to Rue that way.”

Bee exhaled, releasing her anger and the potentially barbed words she’d been planning on throwing at him and beamed up at him instead. “Thank you.”

“Dismissed.” Shem gently pulled me aside. “Speak to your friend and explain the rules. I do not wish to make an example of her, but if she challenges me publicly, I will have no choice.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Nice save, though, and I can see why the two of you are friends.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll need to recharge tonight, so the watchers will sleep with us, but you have a few hours to do as you wish.” His gaze flicked to Bastian. “Just make sure you shower after because if I smell him on you, I may not be able to control my primal rage.”

He walked off and joined Michael and the two of them wandered off together.

Well…okay…

“I can show you around if you like?” Sissy said to Bee.

“I’ll find you later,” Bee said to me. She leaned in. “I think it’s time you and Bastian had some alone time.”

“That’s what Shem said.”

She looked surprised. “He doesn’t strike me as the sharing type.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about Shem, but there is one thing I can tell you for certain. Don’t challenge him, not here, not in front of his watchers or these people. This place survives because they respect his authority. If you challenge him, then he’ll have to make an example of you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Just…don’t do it. Please.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded, suddenly wary. “I’ll be careful.”

I pulled her into a hug. “I’ll see you later.” She left with Sissy, and I turned to look for Bastian.

But he was gone.

Chapter 40

B astian wasn’t in his room, and disappointment was a vacuum in my chest. Now that we were back here, would he withdraw from me again?

I showered off the grime from the journey and pulled on a worn tee and baggy joggers before heading out, determined to find him.

I tried knocking on his door on the off chance he was back, and the sound of running water drifted through the wood.

He was in there.

The door was unlocked. I should wait, but I’d waited enough.

I entered just as he stepped out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Bastian had the kind of body that made a woman feel lightheaded and protected. He was built to bust heads, with wide shoulders and a waist thick with muscle from all the hours he’d spent hammering metal to build the various parts of the radio tower.

Bastian was a tank—a half-naked tank beaded with water. The room was gloomy with only the bedside lamp lit, and his face was in shadow, but his eyes burned a path up and down my body as if he could see through my clothes.

We were alone in his room. Anticipation suddenly charged the atmosphere.

I’d come here to talk but talking didn’t feel like enough anymore.

I pushed down my sweats and stepped out of them. The tee was long, covering my ass, but I tugged that off next, standing in front of him completely naked.

He swallowed hard then dropped his towel.

Fuck, he was beautifully proportioned, and my mouth watered. What would he taste like?

“Rue…” His voice stroked my desire with its delicious vibration. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

“Thank fuck for that.” He bridged the distance between us and scooped me into his arms.

Our mouths met in a soft, tentative kiss that held the promise of so much more to come.

“I’m glad I made the bed,” he said as he laid me down.

The sheets were cool against my fevered skin. He hovered over me, adjusting his large frame to fit around mine, to not crush me as he covered me with his body and found my mouth again.

We kissed slow and deep, tongues rolling against each other, tasting and exploring until my heartbeat was a steady thrum in my throat that left me dizzy. Bastian’s kisses were like everything else he did—thorough, complete, and precise. He knew when to nip, when to suck, when to deepen the contact or when to pull back to let me breathe.

I was his to control, to play with any way he wished.

His hands roamed, exploring, running up my ribcage then down over my flanks, cresting my breasts, cupping gently then firmer, almost painful as he plucked at my nipples, bringing wet heat to my core.

I was undone. Drowning in sensations from the rasp of his tongue against mine and the bite of his fingers on my upper thighs as he parted them to slip between. The thick promise of invasion dipped into my heat. Pushing. Rubbing. Rolling.

My hips chased his, eager and wanton. “Please.”

He kissed me again but left me panting for more.

“Patience.” His tone was thick with desire.

He moved down my body, planting kisses along the way, until his hot breath caressed my pubic bone. He kissed me there and looked up to meet my eyes.

“Bastian…”

His eyes were dark, pupils blown. “I’ve wanted to taste your pussy for so fucking long. I’m going to enjoy this.”

He slowly parted me with his tongue, licking upwards to flick my clit. My body jolted. He growled against my heat, and the vibration tore an answering moan out of me. His grip on my thighs tightened. “You taste so good.” He licked me again, a longer, deeper lick with the flat of his tongue, rolling around my clit, leaving me gasping. “Bastian…” The word was a whimpering plea.

He licked his lips, his dark, hungry gaze locked with mine. “Watch me, Rue. Watch me eat you out.”

The pulse between my thighs fluttered. “Yes…”

He dipped his head and claimed me, thick tongue lashing against my clit then diving into me over and over until I was crying out his name and clawing at his scalp to hold him to me. I came in shattering increments that built and built until there was no breath in my lungs and no control over my errant hips that ground wantonly against his mouth. He lapped greedily, his bruising grip the only thing holding me together as my body devolved into a pulsing, jerking mess on the bed.

I came down in slow, simmering increments, my pussy throbbing and begging to be filled. “I need you inside me.”

He climbed up my body, and I grabbed his nape, hauling him in for a kiss and tasting myself on his lips.

“Bastian. Please.” I kissed him over and over, pushing my hips up, coating him in my juices.

His chest vibrated in a groan, and his eyes rolled back. “I want to take this slow. Savor it.”

“Slow can be for round two. I need you inside me right now.”

“Fuck.” He grabbed my hips and positioned himself, rocking back and forth against me. “Look at me. I want to see myself in your eyes when I’m inside you.”

His pupils were so large there was barely any iris left. My face looked back at me, mouth parting as he entered me, filling me inch by inch with the satisfying weight of him. It took everything I had not to bear down and take him all. Instead, I allowed him to torment me with the slow rise of heat that spiraled from my toes to my head until he bottomed out inside me.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He held still for a moment then began rocking gently in a way that nudged the sweet spot deep inside me.

“Bastian. Oh…Oh fuck.”

He pulled out and slammed into me, and sparks filled my vision as a climax rocketed through me.

“Fuuuck.” Bastian fell into a rhythm that was primal and hungry, his hips snapping against mine over and over as my body squeezed and pulsed around him.

He pulled out then came all over me in thick ropes of heat that lashed at my abdomen.

He was beautiful. And he was mine.

BASTIAN CLEANED me up in between kisses, then we snuggled on his bed with him as big spoon. A sated lethargy settled over me, but it bothered me that I hadn’t considered protection.

Back at base, scouts and sweepers were provided with sheaths to wear during sexual intercourse—not that many ever did. Most practiced the withdrawal method. But I’d failed at being careful tonight. If not for Bastian… “I didn’t even think about protection. Thank you for being careful for the both of us.”

“Life isn’t exactly normal right now,” Bastian said. “And it’s not like you need protection with Shem. He’s not human, so I doubt the biology is compatible, and I doubt watchers have sexually transmitted diseases.”

“I’m not sure I’m human, either. When we were fighting the crabine something strange happened…Some kind of power came out of me. I don’t know what it was.”

“A side effect of the connection to the Morningstar?”

“I don’t know. It felt…different.”

“And now? How do you feel now? Can you sense it inside you?”

“No.”

Bastian kissed my neck. “Then don’t worry about it. If it happens again…if you sense anything, then we’ll dig deeper. But this power, whatever it is, doesn’t take away your humanity. You’re human in all the ways it counts.”

I kissed his hand and snuggled back into him.

“So, tell me about this bonding ceremony with Gabriel. Why did that happen?”

He could have questioned me about this on the road, even demanded answers like Shem had, but he hadn’t. Even now he sounded more curious than anything else.

“It was to keep me safe and fool the Dominion. But in general, they do them so that the celestials can procreate with humans.”

“Fuck…” Bastian held me tighter. “Did you two…”

“No! No. It wasn’t like that with him. He never took advantage.”

“Good.”

“Does that bother you that I’m bonded to him?”

“No, Rue. You did what you needed to survive. I trust your instincts.”

My heart ached with love for this man. “Thank you. I trust Gabriel. He helped us escape. The bond was to keep me alive.” Was he all right? Had the Dominion figured out he was responsible for helping us escape? “I’m worried about him.”

“From what you’ve told me, he’s smart. He’s kept his agenda a secret for decades, and he even built an underground getaway. If anyone can find the third relic and get it back to us, then it’s him.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right.”

Gabriel would be fine. He had to be.

Chapter 41

GABRIEL

T he Eye of the roost is restricted to all but the Powers and their sentinels, and up until this day, it’s been restricted to me.

Not any longer.

The glowing doorway that would usually expel me admits me and beams me to the upper echelon, an area I’ve not had the honor of seeing yet, but when I do, I finally understand why the Dominion keep everyone but a select few out.

This floor is studded with the highest techno allure, the air hums with power, and the celestials glow with it.

The whole floor is an open-plan office space with sentinels stationed at their cubicles monitoring screens depicting places outside of the city.

How? How is this possible?

“Gabriel.” Yamal approaches, large and forbidding in his gleaming bronze armor. Even his wings are armored with tips so sharp they can eviscerate.

His hair is plastered to his skull and his helm is tucked under his arm. Has he been outside the city today?

“How do you like our place of operations?” he asks.

“It looks extremely high tech.”

“It is. Follow me.” He leads me out of the room and into a featureless corridor. “You see, we’ve been working hard outside of the walls these past few years. Building a prison to hold a very powerful being.” We take a left through a set of doors that open to Yamal’s palm print, admitting us into a room lined with doors. “But we have special residences here also. Built to hold traitorous celestials.”

My scalp pricks. “Oh?”

“In fact, you might know one or two of them.” He presses his palm to one of the doors and it goes sheer to reveal the occupant.

Daniel sits on a white bench, staring straight at me.

My pulse spikes.

“He can’t see you,” Yamal says. “And he didn’t give us your name. Your men are loyal.”

Fuck. “I don’t know what you mean. What is this?”

Yamal gives me a cold smile. “I must give you credit for alluding us all these years. I’m sure in that time, your rebel faction has grown. If our attention had not been elsewhere, then…” He sighs. “Still, you may have succeeded in your plan to overthrow the Dominion, but you made one mistake. You recruited the wrong celestial.”

My body goes cold. No…it can’t be.

Yamal’s smile widens, predatory and cutting. “Because you see, Gabriel, Michael has always been—and will always remain—the perfect soldier.”

Join Rue as she continues her adventure in When Monsters Rise

Other Books by Debbie Cassidy

You can find a list of Debbie’s books on her website debbiecassidyauthor.com or on her Amazon Author page

There are so many worlds to choose from.

Happy reading.

About the Author

Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head—in a totally non-psychotic way, of course. She writes Urban Fantasy Romance, Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance, and Sci Fi Romance.

Stay in touch with Debbie Cassidy.

Join her Newsletter

Hang out in her Facebook Reader Group

or

Follow her on Bookbub

Table of Contents

When Monsters Love

Contents

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Other Books by Debbie Cassidy

About the Author