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"Tears of the Goddess," David said grimly. "Hang on."
WEATHERMEN across the globe, checking on area forecasts, quickly realized an astounding phenomenon. It was raining . . . well, everywhere. A cloud cover had gathered over Earth, surrounding it like a thick shroud. Without a sure sense of why, a soul-deep despair closed over hearts and minds. Humans began migrating to the churches, seeking hope, going to their knees to pray to whatever god they felt might be listening . . .
SHE'D known angels could travel fast, but experiencing it twice in such a short time was something entirely different. It was like a quick blink, coupled with an impression of great gravitational pull as Anna was rushed through the air beyond the speed of sound or senses. Then she was there, hovering over a battlefield the likes of which she was sure the world had never seen before.
They were over a wide, isolated chasm in the Grand Canyon. On the opposite side, Jonah stood in solitary splendor on a spear of rock sculpted by the irresistible forces of nature. On the lip of the canyon's edge, about fifty yards behind him, the Dark Ones created a mass of darkness so far back it was obvious her count had been correct. There were thousands of them.
Having just been their prisoner, the sight of so many ignited that same sense of fear and despair in her. However, apparently because of the presence of the angels, it didn't overwhelm her, drive her to her knees. But when she made herself look back toward Jonah, she faltered, despite herself.
She'd been with him when he was gentle, laughing, even seen a more dangerous side of him, but yet she'd never truly feared him.
The angel standing upon the tower of rock had a dark, expressionless countenance, his wings at half fold along his back. The silver and white feathers were stained crimson red, a wavering, sweeping pattern that kept shifting like clouds passing over the land in the desert. His dark hair fluttered over his bare shoulders, which were not tense, just set in calm battle readiness. One hand rested on the hilt of the sword where it was driven into the rock between his spread feet. The Dark Ones milling on the ledge were gaining in volume as the angels gathered on the opposite ledge. The din was overwhelming. It was obvious their confidence was great, and somewhere in that mass of evil, she knew Jonah's heart was being held. She looked hard, swept her gaze over the Dark Ones' army.
There. She caught a glimpse, in the third row of the melee. A blue light, a container of translucent material spelled to hold the treasure, the one that would give them dominion over Jonah's actions. His body . . . even his soul.
No, she couldn't believe that. He'd despaired, yes, but his despair didn't have the capacity to become true evil.
"David." She caught his attention. With several of his command, he hovered just above her and Mina on the lower ledge where they'd been deposited. There was a shallow hollow at the back, against the canyon wall, which provided some shelter from the rain as well as an underground water source, trickling out of a crevice in that concave surface.
The young angel's gaze narrowed as he followed the direction of her pointing finger. When he registered what he was seeing, he muttered an oath and pulled two daggers from his chest harness.
"No." Lucifer came in to his left, sweeping through the ranks, but pausing at David's shoulder, brushing it with a wing. "No, David. He would cut you down before you reached it." A faint, humorless smile coursed over the dark angel's face. Anna noted that, like all the angels, he appeared unfazed by the rain, not even blinking from the drops rolling down his face. His voice carried over the rushing noise with reverberating command. "This is not your Goliath to face. You and your command are to stay on this ledge, defend it. As for you, no hand to hand unless unavoidable. Use your formidable archery skills only. You are in no condition to fight."
"But--"
Lucifer gave him a searing look and David subsided, though with a flicker of frustrated anger in his gaze. As Lucifer left him, ascending to take the front of the field again, a flash of lightning illuminated the reaper's blade. At the same moment, Anna saw Jonah shift, almost imperceptibly, but squaring off with his mirror image across the field.
Oh, Goddess. It was suddenly so clear. Who else's strength could bring Jonah down?
We do not move on him until I give the order. Lucifer's command resounded inside every mind, even Anna's and somehow Mina's, if the startled look on the witch's face was any indication. Jonah may still be fighting their hold. If we attack first, it will strengthen their command of him, because his instinct will be to defend against any show of aggression from us.
His glance shifted down and remarkably, Anna found herself the focus of it. I repeat. No angel should act until Jonah makes his first move.
She only had to imagine blue blood running down that wicked scythe to propel her into motion. She spun around to Mina, who was still squatting like a dour omen on the ledge where the angel had deposited her. "Mina, I need to get to Jonah."
"Of course you do. Would you like me to defeat the army while we're at it, and let the angels go back to preening their feathers and admiring each other?"
Anna flinched as the two angels of David's command within ear-shot glanced down to give the witch a less than friendly look, but Anna had more important things to do than to smooth ruffled feathers. Literally.
Heavens, all the remarks she could tease Jonah with, if only she'd had a lifetime to do so, rather than one week.
"Mina." She took the witch's arm. "I need to get close to him. Can you get me to that ledge and help me spin enough protection to keep the Dark Ones from affecting me or trying to interfere? We have to try and stop this before it starts. Jonah won't be able to live with himself if he's harmed his own men. He couldn't bear knowing he'd taken their lives."
And knowing just a tenth of what she sensed was his full power, she knew that could be a lot of lives.
"You're assuming he's going to survive," Mina said dryly. "Besides which, it doesn't matter. I can't get you there by spell alone."
"No, not by spell alone." Anna gave her a steady, even look. Mina's face altered, her attention darting to David before coming back to Anna.
"No."
"Mina, please. You know I'm right. Fly, and I'll sing to protect you. As I sing, you can protect me. Drop me on the ledge and back off, holding the protection as long as you can."
Mina closed her eyes. "You're determined to die, aren't you?"
"No. I'm determined to give him back his heart." Anna dared, put gentle hands to either side of Mina's face, though outside the cowl of her cloak. "Mina, I trust you. We've only had each other, really, haven't we? And so I think of you as my friend, no matter what you think of me. Help me."
When Mina trembled in a curious way, Anna's throat grew thick. "I don't want to die like the others," she said quietly. "My mother, her mother . . . Arianne herself. Without hope, with no point. I always knew I would die young . . . That much I couldn't stop. But I get to choose how." Her chin rose and her resolute gaze flickered to David, who'd dropped down to the ledge, curiosity and wariness in his expression. She shifted her attention back to Mina. "I got to love an angel, Mina. And I may die saving him, which means he can go on protecting all of you, so you can find your meaning, your hope. It doesn't get better than that."
She glanced up. "Look around you. Do you think this is the way the world is supposed to look?"
The tears of the Goddess had continued to fall, so heavy that flooding had already begun in the canyon. The color of the drops had changed, red and black as well as warm, salty and clear, streaking and staining the angels so they looked like wild Scottish warriors. Forks of lightning crossed the sky without pause now, interspersed with fierce thunder. The lightning
struck outcroppings of rock, sending them tumbling into the chasm, into the swollen river forming below. Still the Dark Ones bellowed, adding to the thunder with the stomping of their feet, the beating of their fists against the earth. The echoes could be felt in the chest, pounding at the base of the skull.
Anna shifted her attention to the gathering of angels above. He had said he'd trained many of them personally. They were arranged behind Lucifer now, and while she saw nothing in their posture but battle readiness, she noticed how their eyes rested on their Prime Commander. If they felt any of the same emotion she was feeling in her heart, she knew each was praying he wouldn't have to see him cut down. More than Jonah's soul could be lost in this fight.
"Mina," Anna pleaded. "Please."
"I hate you for this," Mina said darkly. With a yank, she sent her robes tumbling to her feet.
It was enough to catch David's attention, but his expression was only a momentary impression before Anna could tell that Mina shut them all out. Maybe so she wouldn't have to register any revulsion or disgust, or worse, macabre curiosity. It was always difficult to know what Mina was thinking. But now her body rippled, split and exploded in size. She made the transition rapid, perhaps due to time constraints and so that she couldn't change her mind. It also made Anna jump back with a curse, and startled the angels, which Anna was sure was a mild satisfaction to the prickly seawitch before the pain of the rapid transformation tore through Mina's body.
What began as a woman's cry of pain ended as a dragon's roar as she completed the conversion and stood over Anna on the tiny ledge, her wings keeping her balance, her nostrils smoking, red and blue eyes glowing, silver and sapphire scales glittering like polished steel.
"Holy Goddess . . ."
As Anna ignored David's reaction and put her foot on Mina's knee, over a talon curving out from it that was long as an elephant's tusk, David apparently recalled himself enough to lunge forward, catch her arm.
