Wingless (17 page)

"Why do you hate me?" Micha asks. He actually sounds hurt, and the pain in his voice surprises me. I turn away from the sink and look at him. His blue eyes captivate me.

"Why do you think?" I ask back, with less snark in my voice than before.

"I did what I could. I had to obey rules."

"Exactly!" I yell at him. "That's all you do. You don't think for yourself."

"Really? I'm here, Annie. It's out of protocol and against the rules, but I'm here because I care what happens to you."

"Why?"

"I just do."

"Well, I have to go." I push past him again and reach for the door. But his hand on my elbow stops me. I turn and glare at him for stopping me. "Let me go," I tell him.

"No, you can't leave."

"I can do whatever I want. You have no control over me anymore. Let me go."
 

And he does.
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Double Trouble

I run as fast as my legs will take me down the stairs. I don't bother looking behind me. I just pray that he'll let me go. I don't want to see him anymore. I don't want to feel sorry for him. I hate him, and I want it to stay that way. I have to keep reminding myself that a month went by before he checked up on me. He abandoned me and this visit doesn't make up for it.

I push open the foyer doors and a whoosh of warm air blows my hair around. I keep running through. I make it around the corner of the first block before I stop. I turn and lean against the side of the building, trying to catch my breath. I wait to see if Micha will follow, but after a few moments, he still hasn't come by.

When I'm positive that the coast is clear, I walk and dial Luke so I know where to meet him.
 

"Hello?"

"I'm on my way. Where are you?" I ask him.
 

"Demon last spotted at Meadow and Eighth. Meet me there," he says and then hangs up the phone. I'm farther away than I thought, so I run. It's dark, so not many people pay attention to me.
 

I make it to the intersection in record time, but Luke is nowhere to be seen. I walk up and down the street twice to double check, but he's not here yet. Maybe I made it faster than I thought.

"Boo."
 

I jump back, scared, and clutch my heart. Luke laughs whole-heartedly from beside me, and I slap him on the arm.

"You scared me!" I yell at him.

"I couldn't resist," he jokes with me. "Let's go." He takes my hand in his, and we run together down the road. I ask questions, but as we run, he stays silent, focused. Finally, at the second street down, we spot two Demons. They're larger than the average Demon and just the sight of them makes my adrenaline spike.
 

"One each?" Luke shrugs his shoulders at me. I nod, and we both spring into action. I leap towards the smaller of the two—although only about a hair separates their heights. He grins, and it looks simply evil.

The Demon lunges for me while I lunge for him, so we collide together mid-step. He grabs me lower than I expect, and I'm thrown backwards, off balance. My head hits the ground hard. Dots erupt behind my eyes and blackness emerges on the edges of my vision.
 

But the Demon doesn't wait around for me to toughen up. He attacks while I'm vulnerable. He kicks my stomach hard with his right leg. My ribs cry out in pain. He lifts me up, grabbing me around the neck and tugging it upwards. I struggle to breath, my breath catching in my throat. He slams my head on the concrete so hard, I can hear it crack.

He's about to strangle me to death when he's suddenly ripped off of my body. I gasp for air as I try to comprehend the Angel before me. Micha clutches the Demon to his chest and squeezes him so hard that he collapses against the pavement.
 

Micha looks me square in the eyes. Tension and adrenaline ripple out from Micha towards me. While maintaining eye contact with me, he bends down and rips the Demon's head from his body. I don't dare look away from him. I just stare at him as he tosses the head to the side like a rotten apple.
 

Micha comes to me, bends down, and lifts me behind my legs and neck. I groan out as my brain pounds against my skull, and my stomach vibrates with pain. It's excruciating. I clutch Micha and whimper into his chest.

"Where are you taking her?" Luke asks, his deep voice commanding. I immediately look to him. To be honest, I forgot that he was here. He wipes his blood stained hands on his pants and steps towards us.

"Home," Micha says, not even looking at Luke.

"To the Veil?" Luke asks him.
 

"No. Her home."

"Let me take her. We have better resources in the sanctuary. She needs medical help."

"She's fine." It feels an awful lot like they're about to fight, and I don't want that.

"Put me down," I tell Micha.

"No," he answers me without even looking down.

"She said to put her down," Luke says

"I don't listen to you. I don't know what you're hiding, but we'll find out. Just leave her be," Micha says, taking a step away from Luke.

"She's mine," Luke growls, closing the space between them.

"Hey!" I yell, mustering every once of strength I have left.

"What?" They both ask me.

"Don't I have a say as to where I go?" I ask them. "I want to go to the sanctuary," I tell them sternly. I don't look at Micha because I'm sure he's livid with me. I reach for Luke and he pulls me into his arms without even caring about my broken body. My ribs cry out and my head slams against his chest.

"She belongs with me," Luke tells Micha boastfully.

"You're risking her life," Micha yells as Luke turns to take me back to the sanctuary.

"Just go," I say over Luke's shoulder, pleading with my eyes. Micha's shoulders slump in defeat.
 

"I'm taking her where she belongs—
my
home," Luke says, smiling through his face.

"I thought we were going to the sanctuary?" I ask Luke, but he brings his hands over my face and shushes me. I frown because his actions annoy me. I look over Luke's shoulder at Micha, confused.

Luke smiles at Micha angrily. As he steps, a rumble erupts from below our feet. I hold onto him for dear life.

Luke turns around so that we're facing Micha. My head hurts, and I'm having trouble not falling into meditation to heal myself. But, before I can think anymore, the pavement falls in on itself.

It's like a giant sinkhole in front of Luke and I. Luke places me on the ground beside him, but I hold his hand so I don't fall in. I can barely stand on my wobbly legs. Luke uses his other hand to rid himself of his jacket. What I see underneath stuns me to the core.

Giant, red wings spring out from behind Luke's shirt and widen, the feathers unfurling to a wingspan so vast, I've never seen the likes of it before. It's magnificent, but I'm confused.
 

He's an Angel?

Immediately I answer my own question. He can't be an Angel, so he must be a Demon. I try to run once it all clicks in my head. I try to get away from him on pure instinct, but Luke grabs me around the waist and hoists me into his arms.

"Micha!" I cry out for him to save me. But he's on the other side of the hole. I reach for him, but when I move forward, rubble falls into the seemingly never-ending pit.

"I'll find you!" Micha yells back to me. Before I can beg him to save me, Luke jumps in and flies down the black tunnel with me in his arms.
 

PART TWO

Micha

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Army

Her dark head of hair disappears into the black hole that sinks deeper and deeper into what I know is a portal into the Lower Veil. I crumble to my knees as I reach for her. I lean into the pit, but each time I try to dive in or grab her, electrical jolts spark from my hand through my body by the wall that the Demon erected. I don't understand how she couldn't feel his evil presence—it's basic Angel instinct.

Despite my better judgment, I unfurl my massive wings and try to push my way past the invisible force field and follow Annie. I bang against the air again and again. But even with the use of my stronger-than-normal wings, I'm too weak.

For the first time in my life, I'm stumped. I have to go back to the Archers and plead with them to help me get her back. I can't just leave her down there to rot in the Lower Veil with the Demons. I don't know how the Archers will handle knowing that I went out of my way to check on her when our direct orders stated that we were supposed to leave her alone for the rest of her life.

She's just a human, they said. She doesn't matter to us; it's not our job anymore, they said to me. If only they knew how wrong they were. Annie has always been something more to me. I don't know why or how or even if it's right or wrong for me to feel this way, but I'm done caring.

My anger with Rem hasn't faltered over choosing her to mate with that Tab kid. Sure, he has a promising future, and he's definitely determined, but come on, she's perfect for me. I pleaded with the higher powers to mate us, but to no avail.

And now she's gone.
 

It will be impossible for me to get her out of the Lower Veil without help. The Angels won't help unless there's probable cause, and I don't even know why he took her or what's going on in the first place. I don't know why this is happening.

I slam my fist against the ground, and the pavement shatters beneath my trembling fist, creating long stream-like divots of the asphalt. How could I let her pick him over me? I just stood there, my ego wounded despite the fact that it had no right to be.

What would Sara do if she saw how pathetic I am now?

I have to go to the place they kept speaking of—the sanctuary—and figure out what's going on. I shut my eyes and try to feel out where power lies. I search for a ping of power in this large world. My own emotions are too strong to feel past them, so I lean back on my heels and attempt to breathe through my anger, worry, and uneasiness. I search for the power Angels, even Nephalem, hold.
 

When I feel it, I open my eyes and sniff around like a dog. The hole is still in front of me, only now there are people congregating around it. Humans have no understanding of privacy, and their curiosity constantly rules them. They stare at my wings like I'm a monster.

But I don't let them stare long, especially once I see people with cameras start to emerge towards me. I fly straight up and dart behind buildings, out of sight. I follow the feeling of power and let it take me all the way to a large building in the residential area of the city.

There's a man standing at the front door, and he holds up his hand as I approach him with fast steps. He stands there in front of me as if he's waiting for me to explain my purpose. I roll my eyes at the way these humans are. I hate being on Earth with a burning passion. Unfortunately, it's my job to ensure their well being, so I'm required to visit every once and a while. I try to clip those visits short, though. Until now, of course.

"I'm here to see Luke," I tell the man, and he nods and drops his arm to let me pass by him. I let myself into the skyscraper, and instead of opting for the elevator, I barge into the left side stairwell and fly up to the top. Nobody takes stairs anymore, so I know I'm safe in here from prying human eyes.

I let myself out on the most top floor. It's eerily quiet, too quiet for my liking, but I have to save Annie, so I push my way in and ignore my sinking suspicions that something is wrong.
 

There's a desk in the foyer, Usually humans have a woman sit there and answer phones, but here, it's left vacant. I step behind the desk and rifle through her papers to see if anything looks odd. It seems like most of it is just schedules for Luke so I keep moving.

I let myself into what I'm guessing is his office and, oddly, nobody stops me. I keep walking around the room, exploring, searching for a clue as to why he's taken Annie. I look on his bookshelves, in his drawers, and then I go to his desk. It's actually very neat, which annoys me to my core.

Suddenly, there's whimpering from behind a door next to his desk. I debate what to do. The person behind the door sounds injured and upset, but I shouldn't care. I need to keep my mind on one track: finding answers to save Annie.
 

But, in the end, the noise worries me so much that I walk over and open the door with my hand, stopping a few paces back incase the person is a threat to my safety. There's a young boy sitting on the floor, his mouth covered with silver tape, and his arms and legs tied together behind him way too tightly.

His eyes widen at the sight of me, and he squirms away like he's afraid. I hold up my hands to the side, so he knows that I'm not a threat. "I'm an Angel." I point to my black wings behind me to show him the truth in my words. "I'm here to help," I tell him, nodding very slowly. I reach down to him and start to rip the tape from him. He cries, as it sticks to him like a second skin. Unfortunately, it's on there good, so I pull as fast as I can and it comes off, but looks very painful.
 

"I just want to go home. I won't interfere," the boy says over and over between ragged sobs. Something has happened to him, and the fact that he's in Luke's office closet tied up is suspect.
 

"I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm an Archer. I can help you," I tell him, stepping back so that he has some space to breathe. I don't want this boy to be afraid of me. I want his trust. He rubs his arms up and down and massages his chin, thinking hard.
 

"They're gone, aren't they?" the boy asks, looking up at me.

"There's nobody here. Is that what you're talking about?"

"She's gone?"

"Who?" I question back, my voice hard. I step towards him as his eyes narrow in on me.

"Annie."

"What do you know about her?" I yell out, unable to contain myself. I reach for the boy and pull him up by his shirt collar so he's as close as he gets. He knows her name so this all must have something to do with her. "Sorry." I put him down on the desk chair and step back so I don't hurt him by accident. Anger boils from under my wings at just the mention of Annie.