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  “Angels.” Their faces both fell. I didn’t blame them. It wasn’t like the humans had experienced much in the way of angelic intervention — positive or negative, and the werewolves only knew angels as heavy-handed enforcers. Nisroc had been the exception. Raphael had shown to me that he was an exception too. I was banking on there being other exceptions — ones who might have enough mojo to open a gateway where a rift had once been, and make it stable enough for me to travel through then return a few hours, or days, later.

  “The Ruling Council sent an angel here to close the rifts. We’ve closed several of them and killed both the hydra, and the creatures who attacked the hunters near Goat Lake. Angels made the gateways to Hel. If they can do that, if they can close the rifts, then they can open one.”

  It was a stirring speech, but neither the werewolf nor the human appeared moved. “I appreciate your dedication, Ahia.” Sabrina smiled like she was humoring a small child. “You’ve always been there for us when something extraordinary needs taken care of. Yes, the angels might be able to open a gateway, but first they’d need to send an angel who could do it — probably an archangel and they don’t come down from heaven often. Then they’d need to determine where Brent and the others went to. All that takes time, and angels aren’t known for expediting things on a human timeline. Let’s say they hurry and it takes them three days. Even if they’re in a place where there is enough oxygen, and it’s not too cold or too hot, the chances of them surviving for three days is slim to none. As much as I don’t want to do it, I think we need to announce that they all died in the explosion, their bodies unable to be recovered.”

  No. I wasn’t going to give up. I might not get there in time, but I’d get there.

  I got out of my car, forcing both the sheriff and Sabrina to jump out of the way. “Announce whatever you want. I’m going to go find them.”

  “Pigheaded First,” Sabrina muttered. She was right.

  Every member of the pack and a good number of our local human contacts were inside. Someone had brought half a dozen deli trays, a cooler full of cold beer, and enough chips to last us until the apocalypse. Typical werewolves, a crisis always made them hungry.

  Everyone fell silent as I walked through the room and hopped up on a chair to be better seen and heard.

  “As you’ve no doubt already heard a rift opened today inside Tracks and Trinkets. Unlike the other rifts, this one exploded, significantly damaging the store. There were no remains found, and my belief is that in the explosion, the rift took everyone from inside the store except me. In their place were two…creatures. Zeph returned upon hearing the explosion and the pair of us killed the intruders, thankfully before they could injure or kill any of the nearby humans.”

  Everyone spoke at once and I held up a hand to get their silence. “Among those taken were seven humans and our Alpha.”

  I let that sink in, let everyone work through the ramifications before I continued. “Sabrina is in charge of the pack until further notice. I’m going to find a way to open another rift, a gateway, to wherever Brent and the humans are and bring them back.”

  Dead or alive. I didn’t have to say the last bit. Everyone was well aware that I’d most likely be hauling corpses through the rift. Their Alpha gone. He was only forty-five. He’d only been Alpha for the last five years. His loss would be devastating to the pack. And his loss was devastating to me.

  Chapter 24

  Raphael

  I came in right as Ahia was giving her speech, just in time to hear the grief in her voice as she announced that werewolf of hers was gone.

  What in all of creation had happened? A rift swallowing up every living being in the store except the angel, then closing immediately after. I’d never heard of one that did that. Yes, they occasionally closed on their own, but not for days at the least. And I’d never heard of one exploding.

  Unless two rifts had opened in the same space. And if that were the case, the werewolf and the humans would be no more than scattered atoms somewhere in the universe.

  “She loves him, you know,” Nisroc whispered to me. “There may be others, but that werewolf has a special place in her heart. She’ll never love anyone else like she loves him.”

  I couldn’t breathe. I was torn between an urge to throttle the gate guardian or fly off to a cave somewhere and wall myself in. The one angel I’d met who seemed to really connect with me, the only one I’d felt a bond to in my whole life, and she’d given her heart to a mortal? Was Nisroc lying? Detecting falsehood had never been a strength of mine, but his words rang true. I might have had a chance to eventually win her away from the werewolf, but there was no competing with a dead lover. His faults would be forgotten, his attributes exaggerated until there was no way even an archangel could live up to his memory.

  Was I willing to be second choice to a werewolf? A dead werewolf? How pitifully desperate of me that my answer was yes.

  When Ahia was done speaking I went up to her, Nisroc trailing behind me and, no doubt, chafing at the order of precedence he had to comply with.

  “You okay?” I asked, pulling her close and wrapping her in a big hug.

  “No.” She held me tight for a moment then pulled away. “I was the only one left behind, Raphael. Why wasn’t I taken? If I was with them, I might be able to help them get back.”

  Or watch them die. I felt a stab of fear at the thought that she might have right now been on the other side of a closed rift — in any one of billions of places. I’d never find her. And if what happened in the shop was what I thought, she would have instantly died. I would have lost her forever. Gone, after only knowing her for a few days.

  “I’m glad you weren’t taken. I don’t know what I would have done if you were gone.”

  I would have flown straight to Michael and Gabe, begged them to help me find her is what I would have done. Begged like I’d never done before. And if they didn’t help, I would have torn the world apart attempting to get to her. I wouldn’t give up even though she most likely would have been dead. The rest of my immortal life would have been spent searching for her.

  Was that how she felt about Brent? Would her entire life from this point forward revolve around searching for a lost love?

  “How can we find him?” she asked, confirming my thoughts. “The rift closed, but you can open one, right? You can create a gateway there and we can go find them.”

  At least there was a “we” in her request. I’d been relegated to assisting her. I guess it was better than being cut out of her life entirely. It was better than nothing.

  “You need an archangel to create a gateway,” Nisroc spoke up. His voice was smug. I knew just what he was doing. Jerk.

  Ahia turned her face to me. “You know archangels. The Ruling Council sent you, and you must at least know the head of your choir. If you ask, will one come to help us? Please?”

  She was begging for help, just like I would have done if it were her on the other side. “Even an archangel would have no way of knowing where to open the gateway. It’s like a passage, a hallway. We…they need to know where we’re going before it’s created.”

  “The dead monsters. Will they help? They must have some residual energy that might be familiar enough to identify where they came from. The rift opened twice in same spot in the store. Maybe there’s some marker left there. And I know. I saw it. If the archangel joined with me, I might be able to help him, or her, find the right spot.”

  There was no way in Hel I was letting her join with any other angel. Over my dead body.

  “Ahia, you said there was an explosion. That usually happens only when two rifts open in the same spot. That’s what got me sent here in the first place. Nisroc told the Ruling Council that a rift had opened close to the gateway to Hel. If they touched, half the state would have been blown to bits. If that’s what happened in the store, then we’ll have no way of knowing which location to build the bridge to. And there’s a good chance any gateway we open will connect with anothe
r rift and explode again. This time it could take out the city. This time, we could be right in the middle of it when it blows.”

  “I wish I could help, Ahia.” Nisroc sighed dramatically. “If I had that kind of power, I wouldn’t hesitate to help you regardless of the risks.”

  “I know, Nisroc.” She moved away from me and put her arm around the gate guardian. I glared at him over her head.

  “I’ll sit with you where the rift opened. We’ll wait together until it opens again, then I’ll go through and help you,” the guardian continued.

  “You would?” Ahia, looked up at him, her face shining with hope. “You think it will open again? You think that there’s a chance they’re alive.”

  No he didn’t, that snake in the grass. He was just saying anything to gain her favor. It was bad enough I had to try to win her affections from a dead werewolf lover but now I was in competition with a gate guardian.

  “Ahia, it’s too dangerous. Even if the rift opens again, it might not be stable…” Damn it all. I couldn’t believe I was thinking of going along with this. And I called Michael whipped.

  “I’m going.” Her jaw was set in that determined line. “Nisroc will ask the Ruling Council if you won’t. And if they refuse to send an archangel to help me, I’ll wait. And I’ll go through every rift that opens until I find them. They might be dead, but I’ll still know I didn’t give up, that I tried.”

  This was such a bad idea. We were both going to die, but better us together than her alone thinking I didn’t care enough to help with something, someone, so important to her. “I’ll do it. I’ll open a passageway. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to find the right place, but I’ll try. But if I can’t create something stable, a gateway I’m sure won’t get us killed, then we’re not going. I need you to trust my judgement on this.”

  She blinked, a suspicious glint in her eyes. “You’ve done this before? You know enough to decide if a gateway is stable or not? I thought only archangels could create gateways.”

  Nisroc had a little smirk on his face, the little sneak. He knew I’d kept this from her, and figured the deception would work in his favor.

  “I’m an archangel. My siblings and I head the Ruling Council. We run Aaru. And we are the only ones who can create the gateways. I’m not the strongest or the best, that’s Michael, but I can do it.”

  Nisroc sniffed. “Then perhaps we should request the Ancient Revered Archangel Michael to assist. We wouldn’t want to entrust such a difficult and important task to the least powerful of the archangels.”

  Ahia ignored the gate guardian, her eyes still fixed on my face, so I let the dig slide. For now.

  “Why did you not tell me you were an archangel before? Why did you let me think you were some minor angel?”

  I needed to be honest with her, although I hated exposing myself like this in front of Nisroc. Stories traveled like wildfire through Aaru, although it wouldn’t be the first time I’d looked like a fool in front of the heavenly host.

  “Because I am the least powerful of the archangels. Even my youngest brother was more powerful than me. The only reason angels petition to join my choir, the only reason any of them ever expressed interest in me as a potential partner is because of my status. I’m barely an Angel of Order. Most consider me to be immature, unpredictable, and unstable with a vibration pattern scarcely within acceptable limits. My only redeeming quality in their eyes is that I’m an archangel and can get them access to my more powerful siblings.” I took a deep breath and watched her carefully, hoping she’d understand. “I wanted you to like me for me, not because of my position on the Ruling Council, or because I head a choir in Aaru.”

  She tilted her head, her lips twitching upward in a sideways smile. “I do like you. And honestly I don’t know if I would have been as comfortable with you had I known you were an archangel. I probably would have been intimidated into silence. I might have peed my pants every time you spoke to me.”

  I felt weak with relief. She wasn’t mad. She didn’t hate me. “Any angel that single-handedly takes on three boobie-birds would never be cowed into silence by an archangel.” I felt like a small asteroid had just been lifted from my back. It didn’t matter to her. My title didn’t matter to her. I might be second to a werewolf, but at least I was in the running.

  “I really think we should ask for another archangel,” Nisroc interjected.

  “No.” She didn’t take her eyes from mine. “I trust Raphael. I’ve seen what he can do, and I think in this particular situation, in any situation, he’s the archangel I want by my side.”

  My heart took wings and nearly launched itself out of my chest. “Then we’ll start first thing in the morning. You need sleep. I need to recharge a bit from the day. I know you’re in a hurry, but we won’t do your friend any good if we mess up because we’re exhausted.”

  A little frown creased her forehead, but she nodded. “Okay. Let’s go home and go to bed and we’ll start at dawn.”

  Home. Not “my house”, but home. And hopefully the reference to bed meant I wouldn’t be sleeping on the couch. Not that I’d sleep, but I’d rather have her in my arms, guarding her slumber, then tossing on a lumpy couch in another room.

  I can’t recall the last time I rode in a human conveyance. I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as hair-raising as the trip to Ahia’s house in her Jeep. Clearly her skills at flying didn’t translate to driving. I’d need to teach her to teleport before she managed to kill herself with this thing — or kill her passenger.

  We got through the front door, and she stood there, lost, like she didn’t know what to do. I could feel her exhaustion. I’d exerted far more energy than she had today closing two rifts not to mention teleporting everywhere to get the best pancake ingredients, but she was young. And I could tell most of her exhaustion was emotional.

  “Sit.” I led her over to the couch — the couch I hoped I wouldn’t be sleeping on — and gently pushed her to sit. Then I took her phone and called the number in her directory for pizza.

  “Thin crust meat-meat-meat with black olives and hots.” I raised my eyebrows at her and she nodded, giving me the thumbs-up.

  The pizza-man said dinner would arrive in thirty minutes or less, so I headed to the kitchen and got a bottle of wine from the fridge and two glasses, flicking the music on and the lights to dim with a wave of my hand.

  “You’re useful to have around,” she told me as I handed her a glass of what had to be the cheapest Pinot Grigio in the state.

  Then I sat down, pulled her to me and began to massage her shoulders. She relaxed into me, the back of her head resting on my shoulder.

  “You’re trying to get laid, aren’t you?” she teased.

  “Guilty. You know it would be easier for me to rub your shoulders if you took your shirt off.”

  “And it would be a lot easier for you to rub other things too.” She laughed. “The pizza guy will be here soon. I’m not answering the door in my bra.”

  “Then take the bra off too.” I tugged at her shirt and she squealed, fighting me to pull it back down. “You know I can just make this flimsy piece of fabric disappear?”

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  I would. And I did, making her pants vanish for good measure. She shrieked, splashing wine out of her glass. It ran over the top of her breasts, down into her cleavage. I chased the drops with my tongue and she sighed, leaning back into me. “Can you do it? Can you really open a gateway?”

  I was so not going to get laid. “Maybe. I assisted in building the gateways to Hel. I can teleport, and creating this sort of passage is a similar skill.”

  “But you haven’t done it before,” she pressed. “You had help with the Hel gateways. You’ve never created a gateway on your own, have you?”

  I suddenly felt every bit like the weakest branch of our family tree. “No. I haven’t done it before.”

  There was that look on her face, like she was beginning to think Nisroc right and that we should call f
or a better, more skilled archangel. Once again I wasn’t good enough. When things really mattered, I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t fail at this. Ahia was depending on me. I needed to validate the faith she’d shown in me, prove to her that I was the right archangel for this, and any other, need she had.

  “I hate to not-eat and run, but I need to pop out for the night. Save me some pizza?”

  She turned her head and gave me an odd look. “Yeah, I guess. You’re leaving? For the whole night?”

  I didn’t want to tell her why or where I was going. “Yes. Something…suddenly came up. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  She stood, recreating her clothing and hugging herself with her arms. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  The tone of her voice made me wince — wounded and uncertain. I didn’t want her to know. I didn’t want to let her see my insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. I was an archangel. I was supposed to be strong and powerful. And when I fell short, I just did something crazy and irresponsible and laughed it off as being part of my Chaos. I didn’t want to play the fool anymore, but I also didn’t want her to think less of me.

  Rising from the couch I gave her a quick kiss and then I was gone.

  Chapter 25

  Brent

  I’d found the cave just as the sun set, and not a moment too soon. We were all shivering in the sudden chill. Ray wasn’t looking good. Renee was practically being carried by her two sons. Crystal, previously known as Blondie, was like a walking zombie. Doc looked like she could barely take another step.

  Inside the small shelter, I turned to the humans. “We need to unpack everything we have — purses, backpacks, pockets, everything. It’s going to get dark soon and I’ve got no idea if we’ll have a moon or any stars to see by. We need to figure out what we have and what we need to survive here.”

  We’d already gone through two of Doc’s water bottles, leaving one. Thank the stars she’d packed for a hiking trip and had them as well as the first-aid kit or we would all have been screwed. Even so we were all thirsty, and only had the one bottle to share between the eight of us.