Fallen Souls (8 page)

“
Which is exactly why
Seraphine brought me here,” she told him, lifting her chin up and
casting him an annoyed glance. Adrian raised an eyebrow, seeming
unconvinced. “I’ve been stuck on Earth protecting the humans and
putting my life on the line for their safety. Something has to
change. I don’t want to die protecting them, but I can’t stand up
to the Creator the way you’re about to. Not by myself.”

She grinned at him, trying to play the
part of one of his admirers. It was difficult even looking at him,
however, and a gnawing feeling prickled in her stomach. She hoped
he’d buy her story, and tried to keep the smile on her face, though
the longer he took to answer, the more difficult it was
becoming.

“
Is that so?” he finally
asked. He looked hopeful, she thought. She could still see the
affection he held for her in those eyes, and as cruel as it seemed,
she planned to use those feelings to her advantage. That was, after
all, why Michael had chosen her.

“
Adrian.” She tried to
keep her face calm, though she felt sick. “I came here to follow
you. My place is in Heaven, not on Earth protecting the pathetic
humans. I’m tired of pretending to care about His
creations.”

He seemed to scrutinize her, searching
for any sign of the lie that stung her tongue, and she held her
breath, trying to keep from fidgeting. If he didn’t believe her
…

Finally he nodded, and she
felt the tension in her shoulders ease. Not much. But a bit. “Very
well,” he said, and relief coursed through her as he smiled,
looking pleased. “I should warn you that once you come in, however,
there is no getting out.” He extended his hand out to her.
Something in his eyes hardened and darkened, and she wondered once
again what he was up to. And what she was getting herself
in
to.

But she took his hand
without hesitation, letting him pull her toward him and then onward
to the field, Seraphine following behind them. Kali gulped. What
had he meant when he said that there was no getting out? She
would
have
to get
out, if she was to survive. She and Seraphine were to stay just a
little longer, to find out exactly what he was doing, and then she
needed to report back to Michael. Apparently it wasn’t going to be
as easy as she had thought.

She had hoped to
sneak
in and watch from a distance, but
that plan seemed less likely by the second. There were simply too
many angels here, and now Adrian was leading her right into the
middle of them, his hand firm around hers. She tried to pull away,
but his grip only tightened. They were walking into the center of
the group, and that was the last thing she wanted, but how was she
going to get out of it?

She craned her neck to get a better
view of her surroundings, her eyes scanning the ground for an easy
exit point as he pulled her along with him. The angels in front of
them looked around just as nervously, fidgeting as they waited, but
when they spotted Adrian they turned, relief in their faces. They
stared at him with such respect and love that it made her queasy.
What in the Heavens made them think that what they were doing was
okay?

“
I’m glad you came,”
Adrian whispered, and it made her jump. There was a sparkle in his
eyes as he looked out over the field, and his lips turned up at the
corners while he waved to his admirers. Then he glanced back down
to her, with that gloating look on his face. He loved all of this
attention, she realized, and was relishing their admiration. Buying
into it. Believing that he actually
was
better than the Creator. She
forced yet another smile, not quite as convincing this time. In her
head, she was already imagining different ways to wipe that
infuriating smirk off his face.

Of course that was the least of her
problems right now. Seraphine continued to follow behind, and Kali
sent her a nervous look. How were they going to sneak away if he
kept her at his side?

Eventually, they joined with six
others at the front of the crowd, near the cliffs. The sound of the
waves continued to get louder with the building storm, and a loud
clap of thunder shuddered through the air just as they came to a
stop. Kali looked over and saw Byleth, Astaroth, Bael, Cresil,
Shax, and Stolas kneeling to the side, apart from the rest of the
group. All six were high-ranking angels in Heaven, and from where
they stood, she had to assume that they were high in honor here as
well. She narrowed her eyes in dislike. Some of them had been her
friends. Her equals. And now … Adrian nodded to them, and they
stood as he finally released his grip on Kali. He gestured for her
to join those six and she moved toward the others, catching their
mixed expressions of confusion and disgust.

She ignored them and held her head
high, pretending that she belonged there, and taking her place at
the end of the line.

Find the information and
get out,
she repeated to herself.
Just a little while longer.
She locked eyes with Seraphine in front of her, and noticed
the girl’s hands twitch. When she saw the slight rising of the
thumb, she suppressed a smile. A thumbs up. How very inappropriate.
Seraphine had always been that way – slightly more …
human
than the rest of
the angels. Almost too much. If nothing else, though, she was an
ally. And she was staying toward the front of the crowd, which was
perfect. If they had to make a run for it, at least she wouldn’t
have to search for the girl.

“
My loyal followers!”
Adrian abruptly bellowed. The crowd instantly quieted down. “The
time has come for us to move forward with our plans. The changes I
promised
will
come about. We
will
take back Heaven by any means necessary, and once
we dethrone the Creator, we
will
extinguish the humans, the flaw He released onto
the world.” He paused and put his hand over his heart, dropping his
eyes in mock sadness, and Kali’s heart burned with fury over his
arrogance and deceit. The shock was wearing off, and anger over
what he was doing began to set in. Were they actually buying this
act? This self-importance, masquerading as teamwork? She glanced at
the faces in the crowd, and quickly realized that yes, yes they
were.

“
Humans only care about
themselves,” he sneered. A darkness she had never seen before crept
over his features – pure hatred – and she sucked in a quick breath.
The way he spoke brought out a new side of him, a sinister and
loathsome side she hadn’t known he possessed. It left her wondering
how she’d missed it. “They are weak, selfish creatures that don’t
deserve the gift of life. Once we are rid of them and the Creator
is dethroned, we can restore our home as we used to know it.
Everything will be right again! Angels will no longer have to
pledge or sacrifice their lives to protect the humans!”

Kali glanced around her again as he
spoke, and watched the faces. Her fellow angels, her friends.
Beings she had known for her entire life. How had he convinced so
many that this was the right way? How did they not see that this
was madness? That they were dooming themselves, and Heaven along
with them?

“
Prepare yourselves!” he
announced, his voice booming as he raised his arms. “For tonight,
we invade Heaven and go to war! Tonight, you fight for
me
!”

Her jaw snapped shut so
hard that she bit her tongue.
What?
Tonight?
He was starting
an all-out war,
tonight
? That word rang in her skull as the image of fighting in
Heaven played in her mind. Michael had sent her down here to find
out what Adrian was up to, and when he planned to start, but they’d
never imagined that it would be so soon. They’d never thought that
he might actually be planning to invade Heaven.

And what if they succeeded? Could he
actually get past the gates, and into her homeland?

No, she would never let him do such a
thing. She had to get away and warn Michael. He would be able to
fix this … right? A war in Heaven. The thought was
preposterous.

Yet the crowd
cheered.
Tonight
,
she thought again, her heart racing. She was out of time, and her
mission had barely begun. Worse, she still didn’t know how she was
going to escape to warn Michael, or how exactly Adrian intended to
take down the Creator. Their lord was immortal, which meant Adrian
couldn’t be planning on killing Him. So what, then? She needed to
find out, and then she had to get out of here. Get to Michael while
there was still time to do something about it.

Get back to Heaven before Adrian and
his minions did.

She began to move slowly toward
Seraphine. At this point, even if they got the information they
needed, she wasn’t going to be able to leave without suspicion.
Adrian had her cornered, and she was certain he’d done it on
purpose. She’d never get away.

Seraphine, on the other hand, was an
unimportant part of the army. She could go warn Michael herself. It
was the only solution. When the time arrived, and they had
everything they’d come for, the girl needed to leave, and go to
Michael alone. Kali would think of something, some way to distract
them while Seraphine was gone. In the meantime, the other angel
needed to start her escape.

But Kali didn’t get far before Adrian
snatched her hand and pulled her back beside him. He had twisted
away from the larger group of angels, turning his attention to the
six standing next to him. To Kali’s relief, Seraphine had moved
again, managing to edge her closer and closer, until she was within
earshot of the more private conversation.

“
Once we leave, those of
you who have created human armies will go to them,” Adrian said,
his eyes filled with a sick excitement.
Human armies?
Kali clenched her
teeth and cast a shaken look at Seraphine. Was that what had been
going on with the humans over the last several years? Adrian was
building
armies
?
“Give them the locations of the avenging angels. Tell them that the
time has come. They must attack and kill the avenging angels. Their
orders are clear: Leave no survivors.”

He’s planning to kill all
of the avenging angels,
Kali thought,
feeling the weight of that statement like a blow to the gut. The
Creator’s personal favorites. The ones he’d trusted to protect the
humans. And they would never see it coming, because they had no
idea that anyone was so unhappy.

They’d be attacked by the very men
they’d been sent to protect. Would they even fight back? Would they
be able to? And what would happen when they were dead? Her eyes
flew to the crowd, her mind trying desperately to calculate how
many angels were there. These were the angels who had been sent to
Earth, or at least some of them. How many avenging angels were
left?

And what would the Creator do without
them?

Then another thought
rushed into her mind, and she gasped.
She
was an avenging angel. Had he
planned to have her killed as well? Her desire to punch him in the
face became overwhelming, then, and she clenched her fists against
her sides as he continued to address his leading angels.

“
While the six of you lead
your human armies against the angels on Earth, I will lead the
attack in Heaven with the legion of angels we have gathered here.
Once the angels that oppose us are dead, the Creator will have no
choice but to step down. He will no longer be the most powerful.
And I will be free to take my rightful place as ruler. When we have
all accomplished our missions, I will send a group back down to
Earth, to assist you in eliminating the humans once and for
all.”

Kali stepped back, horrified at his
words. So that was how he planned to do it. He was greedy and
self-centered, she’d known that – to some extent – but she’d had no
idea how far it went. The fact that he would throw away all of his
angel brethren, just to win himself a throne, shocked her to her
core.

They had to warn
Michael,
now
.

Her gaze darted to Seraphine, who was
off to her right, and the stunned look on the girl’s face clearly
said that she’d heard it all as well. They had gotten what they
wanted, that was the good news, but Kali was still trapped.
Seraphine needed to leave immediately, without her. She must have
had the same thought, because she threw Kali one quick, intense
look, then turned and darted through the crowd, back the way they’d
come.