Part 30 (1/2)

The Rephaim have pushed up to join the Fallen now. Two hundred warrior angels, wings folded at their backs. A hundred and fifty Rephaim, give or take. Rafa's down there, shouting orders, and everyone is following his lead, filling the s.p.a.ces between the Fallen, creating an impenetrable phalanx. They drive the demon army onto the back foot. Stepping over the dead as they go, Immundi and Gatekeeper alike.

A pack of Gatekeepers materialise behind the Fallen/ Rephaim force, but Rafa's been waiting for that last, desperate move. He turns and Rephaim turn with him: Micah, Malachi and Taya. And then four of the Fallen join them. One with dirty blond hair hanging in dreadlocks down his broad back shoulders his way to Rafa's side. Glances at him before swinging his ancient sword at the nearest Gatekeeper.

I reach for Jude. 'We should-'

I don't finish because Zarael materialises. Right next to us.

He doesn't gloat or goad, he swings for Nathaniel's neck without a word, straight and true.

Jude reacts quickest, blocks the first strike. The second is already arcing down-Zarael is wielding two swords now-and I lunge to stop it. The impact jars, hard. It rattles my bones.

I kick to take out his legs, but he's already s.h.i.+fted and he's on my left, swinging at Nathaniel again. Jude and I move on instinct, block him. I feel the heat of Zarael's breath, feel a blast of his rage, and then he's gone again. Daniel is up now, covering Nathaniel. The angel is slumped against the fence, unable to stay upright under his own strength. We have to spread out to protect him to avoid stomping on his broken wings.

'The Garrison will come.'

I can barely hear Nathaniel over the blood pounding in my ears. I try to steady my breathing. My eyes flick between skirmishes on the beach, searching for Rafa, for the others, and I have to force my attention back to the immediate s.p.a.ce around me. Zarael's not done up here. He might have the Fallen and their b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to subdue, but his hatred for Nathaniel is too strong. He's coming back for him.

My stomach wrenches, but it's not Zarael who materialises and blocks my view of the battle. It's Semyaza. His eyes fall on Nathaniel. Harden. He disappears, and all three of us are too slow, caught off guard because this wasn't the opponent we were expecting.

I spin around and find the leader of the Fallen-a former member of the Garrison, my father-standing over the angel who raised me, his wings hidden and his blade pressed against Nathaniel's jugular. There's so much blood caked on Nathaniel's throat I can't tell if Semyaza has broken the skin or not. Nathaniel lifts a hand to stop us interfering and we all falter, even Daniel.

'Brother,' Semyaza says. His voice is raw as if he's been shouting. The unexpected familiarity of it tugs at me. 'You have been busy.'

Nathaniel looks at him out of the corner of his eye. 'I saved them from annihilation,' he says, trying to move his jaw as little as possible. 'I protected your twins.'

I blink. He knew. All this time, Nathaniel knew we belonged to Semyaza.

'You turned them against me. You slew their mother. You created a generation of orphans.'

The injured angel bears the accusation. 'If your women had survived the testing, I would have taken them with me to raise their children.'

'It was not your place to judge them.'

A shaky breath. 'It was my commission. My glory was returned to me so I could accomplish it.'

Semyaza lets out a gravelly laugh. 'There was no commission.'

Nathaniel turns his face so he can see Semyaza with both eyes, ignoring the insistent blade at his neck. 'The Garrison led me to each of them. They-'

'It was not the Garrison. It had nothing to do with them, you fool.'

Nathaniel glares at him, bruised and b.l.o.o.d.y but defiant in the presence of the warrior he's hunted for a hundred and forty years. 'How could you know, Semyaza, you were not even in this realm when I received the calling.'

The leader of the Fallen leans in, but I still hear his words.

'I know it was not the Garrison, brother, because it was we who led you to each of those women.'

NO TIME TO LOSE YOUR HEAD.

Everything else drops away. The ringing steel, the shouting, the breaking ocean. Even the imminent threat of Zarael. Semyaza's words are the only reality.

And they can't possibly be true.

Nathaniel presses his hand into the sand and tries to sit up higher, winces. 'It is not possible.'

'It is and it was.'

'The stars and moon aligned.'

'It took the remnant gifts of each of us to guide you from beyond the veil.'

'But how-'

'We were bonded to those women, Nathaniel. Have you truly forgotten what that means?'

Nathaniel swallows. And then all that's left of his strength drains away. All the certainty. Whatever lies beneath that question, it's taken something from Nathaniel, diminished him in ways I barely understand.

He's not defiant anymore.

I look to Jude. Is it possible it was the Fallen and not the Garrison who led Nathaniel to us? What would that mean? But the truth of that question already creeps over me like a chill on the wrong side of midnight.

It changes everything.

There would be no greater purpose for us after all.

A dozen questions-more-skitter through my head and careen away before I can grasp them. I feel as if I've been sucker-punched, except I'm still standing. My gaze drifts over the battle. The carnage. Immundi bodies piled up on the beach, scattered between skirmishes. The blood on my sword. For a slow, sickening moment I feel the weight of all the death. All the violence. All of it my heritage...

I feel someone else arrive. I'm sluggish to turn, still lost in questions and confusion.

'GABY!'

At Jude's shout, I duck and bring up my katana, but it's too little too late. Another, heavier sword smashes into it, slams the flat of my blade into my forehead. The impact reverberates through my skull. It's like being kicked by a horse. I stagger back, but not quick enough to avoid the steel-capped boot that crunches my ribs. Pain forks through my ribcage and steals my breath.

And then something cold and hard slams into my temple and the whole world tilts. I land with a m.u.f.fled thud. Blackness stains my vision and the evening drifts out of focus. I don't have to look up to know I'm in serious trouble.

A fierce shout breaks through the fug. Swords clash so close I feel the air vibrate.

There's fighting now, all around me. I have to get up. I have to help. I roll over on my side, think about taking my weight on my knees and elbows. I gag, let a wave of nausea pa.s.s. I try to focus on the world, but everything is sideways. Boots and legs flash around me. s.h.i.+fting or just moving lightning fast? I can't tell. My vision clears and I can make out Jude and Daniel tag-teaming against Leon a few metres away. Rafa trading blows with another Gatekeeper. Micah and Ez fending off three h.e.l.lions. When did everyone else get here?

My view is interrupted by two more sets of boots, moving forward and back in an erratic dance, kicking up sand. I lift my head slowly, see Semyaza driving Zarael away from Nathaniel. Away from me. Ferocious, reckless with a millennium's worth of hatred and rage. Striking with such force I can feel the impact through the dune beneath me. Semyaza's power, his speed, his fury...beside the Fallen, we truly are children.

My head throbs. My ribs scream. I claw at the wet sand for purchase.

And all I see is Zarael's pinched face above me again. Too close. The scars punctuating his cheeks and forehead are angry against his moon-white skin. He's sweating and panting and spraying spittle.

'You are rusty and dull, like your steel, Semyaza, and still without glory.' He brings both blades down at once, but the angel times the block, traps the swords against his own and kicks Zarael away. I'm struggling to draw breath but I can't look away.

'I need not glory to destroy you.'

Strike, block. Spin. Slice.