Page 44 of Avenging Angel

I smile when Angel takes my hand in his, his palm slightly damp. There’s a subtle shake as he grips my fingers tighter and asks Uri with almost childlike wonder, “Do you guard the gates? Can I see your sword?”

Uri chuckles. “I do many things for the Lord, one of which is to ensure that you complete your mission. Both of you. Every road you’ve taken has led you to this point, right where the Father wants you to be.”

“And what about Eva?” I ask. “Can you confirm that the woman who helped rescue us is, in fact, Eva Vidal?”

Uri nods. “Yes, but you cannot, I repeat, cannot speak of her to anyone else until she makes herself known. She has a purpose just as you do, though hers is very different. Her role in all of this will be revealed when the time is right. There are people looking for her, and should they get their hands on Eva, any proof of their evil deeds will be lost.”

If Uri is helping her, I can assume we can trust her. But to what extent? “She sent us the photo of the man entering the mine tunnels. Did she know that it was set to blow, or that we would be trapped?”

“No. That information was kept from her,” Uri says. “The man in the photo set the bombs to trap and kill the person he believes is watching him. By sending you in Eva’s place, his focus will shift away from her and toward you.”

“Lovely,” I murmur.

“It is necessary,” Uri says. “Daisy, your captor knows you’re Sadie, and he has special plans for you. That is all I can tell you for now. The rest is up to you to figure out. It’s all part of your journey.”

Voices of my teammates grow louder as they approach. I expect Uri to fade away, but he doesn’t.

Angel clears his throat and asks, “Can’t you just tell us who we’re after so that we can end this once and for all?”

Uri shakes his head. “Where one journey ends, another begins. Each step you take is necessary for you to head in the right direction, for paths to cross, and to lead you to the proof you’ll need for justice to be served.”

“Cryptic,” I mutter.

“Yes,” Uri says bluntly. “Sacrifices will need to be made in the coming days, and you will need to trust people you don’t believe are trustworthy. Not all is as it seems, for there are more people on your side than you know.”

Light from flashlights slowly illuminates the darkened tunnel, and I hear Owen say, “We have to be getting close. The map sent to my phone showed that this is the tunnel we needed to take.”

“It could be another trap,” Bennett says, now that he’s returned from his trip to Langley. “How do we know it’s safe for us to be here?”

Faith is the next to speak, and bless her heart, she gives Bennett some sass. “My brother is trapped, and so is my best friend. You can go back to your little B&B and sip on some tea if you want, but the Southern Knights don’t leave our people behind because it might be dangerous. We didn’t fly out here to sit on the sidelines while our people are in trouble.”

Uri turns to us with a satisfied look on his face as if everything has gone according to plan. “Your loved ones have arrived, which means it’s time for me to go. For now, I need you to keep what happened here between us and not speak of this encounter to anyone else.”

I snort and then whisper, “No one would believe me if I told them the truth. I’m still having trouble believing it myself. An angel and a person wanted for murder walk into a tunnel…. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.”

“I’ve heard worse,” Uri retorts.

“Then you must have listened to my dad tell one or two,” Angel quips.

“Actually, I have. I can say for the record that your father, Bill, thinks he is funnier than he actually is.”

Angel laughs. “You have a sense of humor. I did not expect that.”

We’re both still looking up toward Uri when Faith comes around the corner and shines her light at us, then toward the gaping hole in the rocks. She runs over to us and hugs her brother before checking him over for injuries. The bandage on his head signals that medical attention is required, but that doesn’t stop her from squeezing him so tightly that his face begins to turn purple from lack of circulation. Then she hugs me with the same ferocity.

With tears streaming down her cheeks, she grips me tightly and says, “I’m so glad you both are alive. We’ve been praying nonstop that we’d find you in time.”

Owen pretty much does the same when he finds us, only hugging me first and then doing his signature bro hug with Angel. “When we lost contact and found the main entrance sealed off, we feared the worst.”

“You feared the worst,” Jaxon says, coming up behind him.

The rest of the team, Jeremy, Jack, Scott, and Roger, hang back to give us space to enjoy the family reunion. Bennett is with them, but he doesn’t stay with the group for long. He walks over to the gap and looks at the rocks. “Some of these have to weigh a ton. How did you move these and escape?”

Faith sneers. “You almost sound disappointed, Bennett.”

“Not disappointed, just perplexed.”

“It was the earthquake that shimmied the rocks loose until they fell away,” I tell him. I glance over at Uri, wondering why no one has even looked at him once. Nearly seven feet of pure brawn and a face that should be etched in marble is hard to miss.