The artificial sky of the Abyss has become a golden-grey shifting blur. Locusts keep pouring into the air like a kicked hornet’s nest. I’m not even sure how it can hold any more.
My hands slide off my ears to grasp the back of my neck, my face descending into horror.
Not only am I woefully uninformed about what exactly triggered such a show of force, but I’m also completely vulnerable to an attack. I’m not armored, and I don’t have a single weapon to fight with. Not even the really nice sword that Dusk has just given me. I must have misplaced it after I passed out on the cliffside.
Essentially, I’m fucked.
It seems my spur-of-the-moment lie was based on something reasonable. If I go to the training yard, I can get armed. Even if I’ve been restricted from fully exploring the lower levels, I know they stockpile weapons down there. Locusts are always entering empty-handed and returning with pointy objects. Hopefully, I can just walk in and take my pick, but I’m not above lying to some guards again.
The logical decision, I know, is to go back into the fortified castle and hide. It would most likely save my ass if the fight made it to the city. Because, realistically, there’s not much damage I could do to any celestial being, let alone a trained agent of the Adversary.
But if it came down to it… Well, cowering in fear would be a shitty way to die. The least I can do is go out with some shred of dignity. That’s always been the goal, hasn’t it? Better to face the end of the world with courage than cowardice.
I pivot, pushing my feet into the stone path that leads towards the training arena. My lungs hate me, and my head feels like it’s splitting open, but I still run as fast as I can.
In comparison to the sky, the courtyard grounds are desolate. All of the castle guards have gone into aerial defense positions, crowding the turrets and towers. None of them seems to mind the sweaty human below them, running like her life depends on it.
Just before I enter the winding, shadowed path that leads up to the training yard, I stop to catch my breath again. Almost two months of near-daily training, and I still can’t sprint the length of the castle without breaks. Not even close.
“I’m more… out of shape… than I thought,” I mutter, leaning over with my hands on my knees again. My lungs are screaming at me. If I keep going at this pace, I’m going to puke or pass out. I don’t know which one would be more embarrassing.
Reluctantly, I finally straighten up. I begin a more manageable brisk walk?—
Out of nowhere, something grasps my soul so tightly that I’m suddenly unable to breathe at all. The pressure is overwhelming, suffocating. It seems to crush every fiber of my existence, as if it wants to snuff the life out of me.
I gasp for air, stumbling into the arch that marks the path’s beginning. The instant my back hits the stone, I lose the ability to move. A horrendous, unparalleled force takes control of my body, physically pinning me to that spot.
It’s as if an immaterial beast has me cornered, and now it’s seconds from eating my soul. IswearI can even feel the star, deep within me, shudder in an inexplicable warning.
But just as suddenly as it came, the force lets go.
Right as Michael appears out of thin air in front of me.
27
Idon’t know how he can materialize so suddenly, but I do know that I’m not safe with him. I know it in the same way prey instinctively fears its natural predator.
His draconian eyes, more molten lava than human, assess me the way a beast does when making a game out of its food. His wings tower over his shoulders, red as fresh blood, casting me in the shadow of violence. The darkness even seems to bend to his will, molding to him like a second skin, trapping me in his lethal web.
But Michael is not just any predator, I realize. He is thesingle apex predator of the entire fucking planet. Unknown to the rest of the food chain, he sits at the very top, ruling everything and everyone with cold, fathomless calculation. As far as I know, the angel is unrivaled in his power. He could kill me with a fraction of a thought.
What good is bravado in the face of futility? Any fight or flight response I could have here is hopeless. If it suited him, I’d be dead before I even had the chance to think about it. With the way he looks at me, I don’t doubt it’s crossed his mind, either.
The only thingkeeping me from rolling on my back like a submissive, beaten animal is the thought of the people I have depending on me. I wouldn’t be above begging for mercy for my friends and family—but I’ve yet to determine if even that would save me. I have to keep my calm long enough to figure out how to survive the righteous judgment of a vengeful angel.
“Michael.” I try to swallow the hysteria in my voice. “How did you?—”
“Someone can explain how ethereal and physical forms worklater.” He sounds extremely unamused, though not necessarily venomous. “Stop trembling and calm your weak base nature, child.If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already. In fact, I’m making sure you don’t do anything idiotic.” His eyes flick towards the path, then back at me, narrowing. “Like rush the gates.”
A moment of silence passes, and I realize he’s waiting for me to say something.Fuck. I have to be careful, or I’ll only end up insulting him. He clearly likes to be in charge, so I need to let him lead the conversation. “Wh-what’s going on?”
Michael looks at me like he’s trying to determine if I’m even worthy of an explanation.
I hold my breath until he finds what must be sufficient enough for him to continue.
“After your fragile human body collapsed yesterday and the King of the Abyss made himself incapacitated, the rest of us finished the mission as planned. We successfully raised the beacon in the evening. I have no doubt it sent a pulse to every celestial being on the planet.”
“I’m sorry, but I…” They didwhat?“I don’t… understand.”
