He pushed upward, higher and higher, and the air grew colder. He could see his favorite perch down below, on the edge of the cliff, but hed sat and brooded long enough. He was pulsing with the energy Allies blood had given him, and he wanted to glide and soar through the sweet-smelling night air, dancing on the wind.
He moved farther out over the ocean, where the waves rolled on top of the water in little ruffles of foam, and he turned, spun,
and plunged downward, hitting the icy water in a smooth, clean dive that barely disturbed the surface.
He went deep into the bracing salt sea, and he felt its healing power rush through him, making him whole once more. He breathed in the water, letting it fill his body, his lungs, then moved upward to breathe in air again. He dove once more, and the dolphins were there, the ones he knew. They welcomed him as one of their own as they swam through the currents, turning over in the pleasure of the water, swimming with their friend with the odd fins.
He lost track of the time he spent in the water. The sun was coming up by the time he tired of it, and he pushed upward again, high enough into the air that the heat dried his clothes so that they were stiff and salt-encrusted, and when he landed lightly on the beach, Michael was waiting for him. Michael, the fighter, who never would have let the Truth Breakers take Rachel.
Welcome back, he said. Raziel says youre here to stay this time.
I am.
Michael nodded. Well need you. The few Nephilim that are left are gathering. Turns out the dumb bastards finally realized they could fly.
Wonderful, Azazel said grimly. For a moment he remembered chaining Rachel in that deserted house in the Australian bush, and he felt sick. In the end, hed saved her, he reminded himself. Hed saved her twice.
Because hed tried to kill her twice. Hed been so terrified of a prophecy that hed been ready to sacrifice her without finding out who and what she really was.
Youll be ready to fight? Michael asked.
He thought of Rachel, lying in the hospital bed, so close to death. He thought of the guilt that smothered him. Exactly what Uriel would want. He needed a distraction, and he needed it now. I am ready to fight, he said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE DAYS PASSED. EACH DAY HE asked Allie if Rachel was ready to see him, and each day she said wait, until he thought hed go mad with it. Once he faced Rachel, he could let go. The prophecy was clearly false, broken. He had been able to turn her over to the Truth Breakers with no hesitation, even if he hadnt been able to keep from coming back for her. He hadnt meant to do that. Hed had the vain hope that they would be merciful, but one look and something had cracked.
Hed feel that way toward anyone. Torture was an abomination, and it was little wonder he felt guilty for handing her over. And he had no excuse for shoving her up against a wall and having sex with her before they took her. He hadnt been able to stop himself, and hed told himself that if he could come inside her and then give her to the Truth Breakers, then the prophecy must be a lie.
And so he had. Hed proven what he needed to prove, and whatever knowledge she had wedged in her brain about where Lucifer lay trapped had been extracted and stolen. Uriel had it now, though presumably hed already known it in the first place. When the Supreme Being had passed the reins to the last archangel, hed ordered him to watch over the universe hed created. There was no telling what the details were.
Uriel had seized his new role with a vengeance, wielding ancient power to smite evil wherever he could, sending plagues and floods and fires and devastation wherever he saw fit. Some humans saw it as Gods curse; more enlightened ones declared such tragedies the law of nature, to be endured with Gods help. They had no idea that Gods minion had visited disaster upon them.
Just as hed fed on Azazels own fear that he was doomed to spend eternity as the mate of a horrific demon. And Azazel had been fool enough to let him.
He was tired of waiting. He was doing his best to get along with Allie, but she was still a strongminded female who was slowly turning the laws of Sheol upside down, while Raziel watched carefully, seldom restraining her. She ruled the infirmary; she ruled the house and the women. She was the Source for the unmated Fallen, she was omega to Raziels alpha. But he was getting tired of her shit.
He was perched on the outcropping, high over the ocean and the vast building that housed the Fallen. The moon was shining down, mirrored by the dark sea, and he suddenly surged upward into the dark sky, then settled lightly on the damp sand. The time had come.
He didnt recognize the young girl sitting at the desk in the anteroom of the infirmary. Clearly shed been left on duty, and he put the Grace of sleep on her lightly, so that shed wake in a few hours. He didnt want to put Rachel at risk by knocking her caretaker out so thoroughly, but if she needed help Allie would know and leave her bed. Rachel would be in no danger.