Angel's Power (4 page)

“A council meeting like the one we
had last night.” Raphael shook his head. “I did
not
expect Isda and
Jophiel to start yelling at each other like that.”

Ariel laughed. “Sorry. But I have a
feeling that a lot of our meetings are going to be like that.”

“Dear God, what have I got myself
into?” he said, only half-joking. He slumped in his chair and picked at his
muffin despondently.

“At least we had your brother to
tip the majority vote in our favor,” Gabriel said, smiling.

Raphael shot him a disgusted look.
“If you think Suriel is always going to agree with us, you’re crazy.”

Ariel tore a piece from her muffin
and ate it slowly. Just thinking about Suriel made something inside her chest
tighten up. He was intelligent. Powerful. Incredibly handsome. She liked him, a
lot, but he was also very secretive. He didn’t volunteer a lot of information
about himself, not during the meeting, and not after. She wasn’t sure what to
make of him.

“Are you saying that I’m
argumentative, Raphael?” Suriel said, walking into the kitchen. He was wearing
black jeans and a soft grey sweater that hugged his chest. Ariel stared. Where
had he come from? Had he been listening to them the entire time?

“Of course I am,” Raphael said.

Suriel sighed, cuffing his brother
on the head as he walked past. “I’m not difficult to get along with.”

“Yeah, as long as everyone agrees
with you,” Raphael shot back. Gabriel coughed into his hand, eyes twinkling as
he watched the brothers bicker.

Ariel picked at her muffin until it
fell apart. Her spine felt like someone had shoved a fork in it. Everyone was
joking around. Couldn’t they feel Suriel’s power? The moment he walked in she
could sense it: wild and strong. He was like a dark wind barely contained. She
shivered and gripped the table. When a frisson of energy ran down her arm, she
snatched it back. What was happening to her? She folded her arms across her
chest.

“Are you cold?” Gabriel asked,
catching her movement.

She shrugged, not wanting to try
and explain the jumble of emotions that tugged at her. “I’m fine.”

Her brother’s eyes dropped to her
plate. “You should eat, not just smash your food into smithereens.”

She rolled her eyes and popped a
crumb into her mouth. “I’m fine,” she reiterated after she swallowed. Truth
was, she was grateful he’d distracted her. This unnatural fascination with
Raphael’s brother was unhealthy. They barely knew each other. She shivered
again and frowned, confused. Her hands felt like ice and she could feel cold
seeping into her bones. She stood up abruptly, glancing around the kitchen. Nothing
was wrong, except everyone was staring at her. Her skin crawled with the need
to get away.

“Ariel? Are you all right?” Suriel
asked, his deep voice soft.

She looked at him. His grey eyes
matched his sweater. “Something’s wrong,” she said.

He tilted his head, for some reason
taking her seriously. “What do you feel?”

 
“Cold. Uneasy.” She shrugged. “I don’t know
how to explain it.”

Gabriel stood up. “Maybe you need
to get some rest. I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”

She shook her head, more certain than
ever that what she was feeling came from outside of herself. “No. I relaxed all
day, today, Gabriel.” She began to walk around the room, running her fingers
along the cabinets. Suriel fell into step with her. She glanced at him, about
to ask him for some space, when a bolt of mind-choking cold shot through her.
She staggered, nearly falling. Suriel caught her, sucking in a breath as the
miasma jumped from her and into him. She stared up at his face as the cold
seeped out of her and into his body. She knew the exact moment when he figured
out what it was.

“Demons,” he said, anger running
through the word.

Ariel bit her lip, hard, as another
wave of evil came and went. “What the hell
is
that?”

“Demons,” Suriel said, more
harshly. He looked up at her brother. “There’s a portal opening somewhere.”

Gabriel looked at Suriel’s hands on
her arms, then into Ariel’s face. “That’s impossible.” He had his hands
clenched into fists and she knew he didn’t want to believe that demons could be
coming back into the world so suddenly after he’d battled Samael into death.

“Why am I feeling it?” Ariel asked,
teeth clenched so they wouldn’t chatter. She leaned away from Suriel. His touch
unsettled her, more than even the wave of darkness.

Suriel let her go slowly. “I think
maybe the demon is female.”

She stared at him. He had his lips
pressed together. “You must be joking,” she said, pushing her hands against the
counter as if that would somehow counteract the sensation of deep chill.
Thankfully, no more bolts shoved through her body. She didn’t like that, at all.

“Ariel, can you tell where?”
Raphael asked her, moving closer. He reached out to touch her hand, but she
shied away.

“No. Don’t,” she murmured, not
wanting him to feel this. The Omega of their People should not feel this
wickedness. He was a healer. A pure soul. She didn’t want him to know what this
felt like. She shivered again, more violently this time.

“It’s all right, Ariel,” Raphael
said softly, deliberately reaching out. He hovered his hand right above hers.

She snatched her arm away. “No.”
She bumped into Suriel and he grabbed her upper arms.

“Let her be, Raphael,” he said, not
letting go.

He didn’t seem to be feeling any
ill effects from the miasma, even as it surged through them again. His hands
were warm. Ariel took a deep breath and didn’t shove him away. “We have to go
outside.” It was the last thing she wanted to do, but that’s where the cold was
coming from. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she was certain.

God,
please help me
,
she prayed, knowing that they’d all see her screwed-up wings now.
Demons are much more important than your
personal crisis
, she told herself, shuddering.

Suriel nodded like he’d expected
her to say that and let go. Ariel rubbed where he’d held her. The cold came
again, making her tense up. She looked at the wall, northward, as if she could
see through the sleek wood cabinets. Everyone would see what she’d been hiding
for the past few weeks.

“We should go, quickly,” Suriel
said, walking to the French doors that led to the courtyard behind the kitchen.

Raphael and Gabriel followed him.
Ariel stood by the table, staring down at the broken muffin she’d left on her
plate.

“Are you coming?” Gabriel asked,
pausing at the door.

She took a deep breath and nodded,
joining him. He held the door for her and she walked out, immediately colder as
the winter wind swept over the stones. A few steps closer to the stone railing,
Raphael and Suriel had already removed their shirts in preparation for flying.
She reluctantly shed her sweater, grateful she’d worn a halter underneath.
She’d intended on flying later that evening, when no one could catch sight of
her mottled wings, but now she’d have to let her brother and Raphael and Suriel
see her. She didn’t want to do this.

“You don’t have to show us where
you’re sensing the demon, Ariel,” Gabriel said, moving closer. “Just explain
where it’s coming from. It’s not your responsibility to root this out. It’s
mine.”

She squared her shoulders. “I can
still feel it, but I couldn’t explain how or where. All I know is that it feels
northerly.”

His face tightened. “You’re my
sister. I know something’s bothering you. Something more than demons. You truly
don’t have to come.”

She looked at him. He’d left his
shirt in the house and had already shifted into the ebon wings that marked the
Alpha of the People, their true leader. “I’m your sister, yes, but it’s everyone’s
responsibility to keep demons from gaining a foothold on Earth. I’m needed.”

He drew her into a hug. She
stiffened, not sure she wanted his sympathy. He kissed her head and it was just
like they were children again with him protecting her from the shadows that hid
under the bed.
Except these shadows are
real
, she thought as his wings closed around her comfortingly.

“I’m Alpha. It’s my responsibility
to keep you safe,” he murmured. “And you’re my little sister. I love you.”

Her eyes pricked as she reluctantly
pulled away. Suriel was watching them and she felt the weight of his eyes even
more acutely now that they were outside. He seemed more comfortable out here,
as if he were a piece of the dark made into flesh. His muscles rippled as he
flexed his wings, catching her eyes. She had to force herself not to stare.
Instead, she hugged her brother tightly, dismissing the mystery that was Suriel
from her mind, at least for the moment.

“I love you too. Now let’s get on
with this,” she said, stepping back and initiating the shift. She let go of her
control and let her wings push into the night air. She knew the exact moment
when her brother realized something wasn’t right with her wings.

“Ariel, what the hell?” he exclaimed,
striding forward. When he touched a feather, she flinched.

“Don’t,” she said, pushing away.
“Don’t touch them.” They were acutely sensitive these days. She could feel not
just the wind, but the potential energy of the atmosphere. She didn’t understand
it.

“You should not touch her, not
now,” Suriel said quietly, moving closer.

Ariel frowned at him. He was
staring at her wings, an indecipherable look on his face.

“She looks like you did, years ago,”
Raphael said, surprised. His snowy white wings fluttered in the breeze.

Suriel glared at his brother. “Shut
up.”

Raphael’s eyebrows went up and he
glanced at Ariel. Suriel stepped between them, as if to shield her from the
Omega, which made no sense. For a heartbeat she thought Raphael would defy his
brother, but then he nodded, face closing down.

What the hell?
Ariel thought, wanting
to know what he’d been about to say.

“Don’t speak to him that way,”
Gabriel growled, shifting his weight forward. Raphael held him back.

“It’s fine, Gabriel. No big deal.”

Gabriel’s face went darker and
Ariel’s gut tightened. Her brother was under a lot of stress and none of this
was helping.

Suriel spared him a quick glance.
“Now isn’t the time, Alpha.”

Ariel felt like smacking him.
Arrogant ass. He shouldn’t speak to her brother that way, so dismissively. He
shouldn’t speak to
his
brother that way. He should tell her what he knew
about her wings. And most of all, he should stop being so damn mysterious and
gorgeous and perfect— She cut off that train of thought just as another bolt of
cold hit her bones.
Enough of this,
she thought launching into the air.
We
don’t have time to figure out my affliction, no matter how much I want to.
She pulled out her silver knife from the sheath at her ankle and flew straight
and true into the night, naked blade gleaming in her hands.

Suriel cursed below her.

“It’s this way,” she called, still
rising. She taunted him to hide her fear. Gabriel glared at her even as he
leaped, Raphael following. They had to scramble to catch up. Suriel was last.
She didn’t particularly care. She was going to face demons and if she lived
through it, she’d yell at all of them afterward for being so stupid.

****

Suriel followed the three of them, muttering
under his breath. Why had he thought he could avoid Ariel? Every look, every
movement she made, every word spoken, only served to draw him closer. He
couldn’t avoid her, not now that he was on the Council. He wasn’t sure he
wanted
to avoid her, even though he should. He watched her fly, amazed by her speed
and grace. The color of her wings teased him, made him think that she might be
his one true mate, but then he remembered how badly his power could harm those
he loved. When he realized that she hadn’t told her brother or Raphael about
her wings, he knew that none of them truly understood what it meant, including
her. Only he knew how the power of the winds could do harm just as easily as it
could help. The power of sorcery was dangerous.

She flew ahead, bright and
beautiful, even in the darkness. He drew in a breath, trying to control his
attraction. He could feel the wind’s energy flowing around her, sifting back to
him and curling inside his wings in a way that had nothing to do with power and
everything to do with how badly he wanted to taste her lips beneath his.
God,
give me strength,
he prayed. Now was not the time. Never would be too soon.
He was not stable and the last thing he wanted to do was drag her down with him
when he fell, as he inevitably would.

“It’s somewhere in the caves near
the east ridge,” Ariel said, hovering skillfully. She stared at a dark blot on
the side of the mountain, face intent. Her small fist gripped her knife like a
talisman. He could almost see her tasting the cold that emanated from the
portal.