Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (51 page)

I
groaned, nearly puking when I attempted to catch my breath. Every sensation and injury, from essentially having my ass kicked in eight point five seconds, hit me painfully all at once.

The portal leading back to the divine
hall sprang up, shimmering and elongating directly in front of me. My arm was broken and dislocated, and my jaw was swelling.

He quickly gave me an a
ffectionate kiss on my lips, causing to pain vibrate through my jaw from the brief pressure.

It wasn’t
until he shoved me through…hard, and I went flying into the portal, that I realized his reason behind the harsh, physical beat down.

I made it through. I was able to cross back into the hall grounds and I was still a divine warrior…I think.

P
ain racked throughout my body, as my bones began working to reposition and knit themselves back together. I gazed up at the bright, orange, pink sun above me. I could hear several familiar voices calling out my name, followed by a stampede of welcoming feet

“Starling!” S
everal voices call out once again.

             
              Soon, standing above me, were the beaming and shocked yet excited faces of Crystal, Gabe, Anthony, and Lorelei.

Ant
hony reached down to help me up but I shot an arm up to stop him, “No! Still—healing.” I grunted through clenched teeth.

I pinched my e
yes shut, rolling over slightly to cradle and protect my broken and dislocated arm.

If Cam held back on his assault of me, which I was sure he did, I couldn’t even imagine how a
full-blown attack would feel. I’d better learn how to fight and dodge fast, if that would even work against the fallen.

“I don’t
believe this! We need a succor over here now!” Crystal called out.

“No! No succor!
I’ll be fine.” I countered, remembering what Aon said.

I flinched with a wince once I fe
lt the bone slip back into the joint in my shoulder. Finally, I slowly sat up and got to my feet. I carefully rolled my arm in a wide circular motion and bent my elbow a few times to test it out.

Though still a bit sore, it
had healed completely.

“How in the world did you manage to get away?” Anthony wondered with an incredulous expression.

“Deific blades, dude.” Crystal told him.

“Amazing what a desperate attempt to save your own life can help you do. Congratulations.” Gabe smiled.

“Yeah, and you look…and smell like shit. Welcome back.” Lorelei grinned and hugged me anyway.             

I wondered what happened when they had to repo
rt me as being taken. I suppose there was no point in them forming a search party to look for and retrieve me, so I couldn’t be angry about that.

A small crowd
approached us, led by several warrior guards. At first glance, I thought they were here to see if I needed help too.

“Starling,
come with us.” They ordered.

The warriors moved to surround
me, three on each side, one behind, and one in front of me.

“What? What’s going on?” Lorelei asked.

I didn’t like the look of worry on her face, or any of the others for that matter.

I was afraid
. My heart pounding. They know. I presumed that I was in trouble now. What was going to happen to me? What were they going to do?

“Hey, she made it back. She’s okay, what’s the deal?
Give her a moment to breathe.” Anthony persisted but they ignored him

I was being escorted
—almost as if I were a criminal. There was no expression on their faces and it was impossible to read their body languages.

The crowd parted
with all eyes on me as we walked away.

Where were they taking me? I wondered.

They led me into the divine hall. After a ways of walking and attracting all the curious attention of many others, we ended up in a large
room with a high ceiling. It reminded me of the library, without any books and bookshelves.

A large symbol, similar to
the one that I had to kneel down on during the oath ceremony, was carved into the stone floor. In front of it, was a long table, with ten ornate, high-backed chairs positioned behind it.

T
hey led me to stand in the center of the circle.

“Would you like to stand or sit?” I was asked by one of the warrior guards
.

“I’ll stand.” I said without question, though I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. If they were offering a chair, I might be in here for a while.

All eight of them convened to the outer edges of the room, where they remained against the wall to stand guard.

Well, they didn’t put any restraints on me, so I guess that was a good sign.

Could they sense or tell that I had been with Cam? Maybe, or they wouldn’t have automatically rushed me over so quickly.

I panicked inside, feeling the weight of every bad possible scenario beari
ng down heavily on my shoulders and in my heart.

‘
Answer the questions truthfully.’ That’s what Aon said.

The angels knew this was coming.

I thought of Cam.

“
I think I’m going to be interrogated. I don’t know what’s going on right now but I don’t have a good feeling about it.”

“You’re going to make me
rush in and rip the entire hall apart to get you right now, Starling. Have you healed?”

“
Yeah. I should curse you out but I know why you did it.”

I heard him laugh quietly.
“I know, I’m sorry. What are they saying?”

“No one is here yet.”

“Keep me informed. I’m right here with you. I love you.”
Cam answered.

I instantly felt better.
“I love you too.”             

After standing
here alone in my own fearful thoughts for what seemed like forever in the silence, the doors finally opened. In paraded an older man and three older women.

They each glimpsed at me briefly, while making their way over to take a seat at the long table. Again, it was hard to read their expressions.

I couldn’t gauge what they were thinking either. If anything, I figured that they would all be relieved that I had managed to escape and return so quickly.

In their wake, t
wo more people entered behind them. Their faces were completely hidden in the white large cowls of the robes that they wore. I wondered who they were and why they were dressed like that. Were they elementals? Then, Spencer and two other gorgeous girls that I’d never seen before, entered in behind them.

Earthbound
Seraphims? Well, so much for avoiding them. I instantly blushed and turned my eyes away from Spencer. He was already studying me with intense curiosity. I knew why seraphim had been called in. Though he was surprised and relieved to see me, he appeared wary of me now. The constant flirty sparkle in his eyes was gone and it made me feel like an enemy to all of them right now.

I i
nhaled softly and trembled, trying to keep the air of suspicion swirling around me, clear.

“You can relax Starling. This isn’t a judging panel.”

The male elder said.

I didn’t…I couldn’t
relax, not yet.

“First of all, we want to welcome you back.
We are all incredibly astounded, yet both grateful and thankful for your safe return. From what has been reported to us, you have escaped being taken by a fallen?” One of the women questioned to affirm that fact.

             
              Spencer and the other two female seraphim were poring over me, a little more in depth than just a simple inspection.

Spencer appear
ed confused, angry, and disgusted with me.

Damn. He knew something wasn’t right.

They were all picking up on my biological
scent, temperature, and hormones.

It made me really
nervous now.

I kept my eyes averted from all three of them
and focused on the robed beings instead. Since I couldn’t see their faces, it made it easier.

I
nodded to affirm her statement, “Can I ask why I’m here then?” I instantly regretted my words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

The
male elder cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair.

“Just a debriefing.
You risked yourself to save a fellow warrior when you were taken. For that, we wanted to commend you proudly. The act of your bravery and sacrifice is what makes a divine warrior. Do you need to see the medicinal aides or the herbalist?” He then asked.

I relaxed just a bit. I licked my lips
and shook my head.

“No, I’m fine.” I stated.

“Are you certain?” He asked.

I nodded.

“Excellent.” He smiled.

“However, looking at your clothing, I’m going to assume that you were in the mortal realm when
this occurred. You’re new here, though you have clearly been branded with your weapons already. That was not a good idea.” One of the elder women chastised.

I licked my lips and sighed, “I know, and I take full blame and responsibility for all of it. I’ll apologize to all
of the others for putting them at risk too.” I then offered. Spencer raised a single, surprised brow at my admission.

“As we’ve said, no one is in trouble. This isn’t a judging panel, merely a standard inquiry. But for future reference, it is advised that you not venture into the human realm
until you are adequately trained, is that understood?” She then said.

I nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Very well then, I think we’re all a little curious as to how you managed to escape capture?”

The questions were starting now.

I shifted my stance, unable to help but steal a glance

at Spencer.
He was intent on hearing my answer, looking at me with narrowed eyes, as he folded his arms across his chest. If anyone should be happy that I got away, I would think it would be him.

“I think the question should be more accurately phrased as, how did you manage to survive the fall
and the journey back here…untrained and without a map?” Spencer then spoke up.

They all turned to glance at him in
question and then returned their attention to me…expecting an answer.

“I agree. The scent of a fallen reeks heavily on you. It’s amazi
ng that you’ve managed to return at all, let alone in nearly perfect condition.” The gorgeous, brown skinned, sable-haired female seraphim added.

             
              Just then, the two robed beings raised their heads, and I could finally see into the cowls.

That had been intentional.
I raised a brow in surprise.

It was Aliks and Aon.

Aon gave me a slight nod and Aliks gave me an affirming smirk.

My heart began to poun
d, not really understanding or believing that I wasn’t going to either be reprimanded or worse…shunned. Why were Aliks and Aon here too? When I glanced down at the symbol beneath my feet, I immediately began to sweat with anxiety.             

The truth symbol.

“What are you looking at, dear?” One of the women asked me as they all glanced towards each end of the table in question and confusion.

What?

Aon raised a finger to her lips, signaling to silence me.

What was going on? I didn’t understand any of this.

Spencer and the other two seraphim girls also attempted to follow my eyes but it was evident that I was the only one seeing Aon and Aliks. How could that be though? If anyone else could see or detect their presence, I imagined that it would definitely be Spencer and his fellow seraphim. But they were no longer full angels. Spencer said that they lost most of those abilities when they chose to become earthbound. So, it was possible that they weren’t seeing or sensing them.

Weird.

I shook my head, “Nothing in particular.” I answered

I racked and searched my brain for a response.
They wanted to know how I escaped the fallen that had taken me. The female fallen was the one that I had incinerated.

They
didn’t know about Cam. Him saving me wouldn’t have been accepted or believed anyway, so I wasn’t even going to mention that part.

S
ince they weren’t being specific, I would do exactly as Aon instructed me to do.

I would tell them the truth.

I don’t think Sean intended for me to reveal it yet but I had no choice. There was too much at stake.