My stomach dropped as the ship dipped into the wave. Salt water sprayed my face, creating a misty haze and blocking my vision.
“Karenna?” Listening for her, I reached back, waiting to feel her hand. There was nothing, only the roar of the wind.
I whipped around. “Karenna! Where are you?”
“What happened?” Val cried out.
“She’s gone. I don’t know where she—”
I slapped my eyes shut as a muted voice called out my name. Was it her?
“Karenna!” I called out again. Straining, I pushed my hearing, waiting for her voice. I heard it again. It was coming from the—
No!
My eyes flashed open and scanned the churning water. I leaned over the railing, gripping it until the metal warped beneath my fingers.
“Tristan!” Val jerked my face to hers. Rain rolled down her pale face. The faint glimmer of her circlet peeked from her drenched platinum hair. It was written all over her face. She knew exactly what I was going to do.
“Don’t. You can’t save them all.”
You can’t save them all. Those were Ana’s words. She’d said them in Arizona when she’d attempted to persuade me to side with her and Father. Now Val, my closest friend, was telling me the same thing. She was drawing the line between our duty and my feelings for Karenna.
“I can save her!” I flung myself over the railing. I dove headfirst, my arms forward, palms pressed together, propelling my body as fast as it could go.
Wind whooshed over my ears until I slammed into the water. There was a loud crack and black dots filled my vision. I kicked my feet, confused about which way was up. Shaking my head to clear it, I spotted the bubbles and frantically followed them to the surface.
My body lobbed with the constant waves that threatened to pull me under. My heart sank. How could she survive this?
I pushed the thought aside. She had to. She was here. I could feel her nearby.
I scanned the vast water until I finally spotted her. Her arms flailed as she struggled to keep her head above the waves.
“Hold on! Karenna, hold on!” I swam as fast as I could, using my angelic strength to fight against the rolling water determined to keep us apart.
“Tristan.” Her voice was faint as she called out my name in relief. Her head lulled back, and she stopped moving. But then a wave washed over her, and she was gone.
“No!” In one swift motion, I flicked my out wings and dove to her. Taking her limp body in my arms, I jetted upward, my wings propelling us upward until I finally broke out of the water and rocketed into the sky. I grunted, my strength fading fast as I flapped my water-laden wings.
When I finally landed on the deck, I placed her gently beneath the sculpture of the leviathan.
“Karenna, wake up.” I gently slapped her cheeks.
No movement. No sounds. Her cold body remained motionless.
“What do I do? I don’t know what to do! Val!” I cried as loud as I could. She’d know what to do. She’d studied human healing.
“Please wake up. Please….what’s this?” Karenna’s lips had a bluish tint. I racked my brain, frantically filtering through lectures on human anatomy, wishing I’d paid more attention. Then it hit me.
She wasn’t breathing!
“Val!” I called out for the one person who could save her. I had to do something, now! Think, damn it. Think!
Thirty-two taxis. The words echoed in my head, a memory of a training I’d taken when I’d volunteered to work at the senior center in Vegas.
“Thirty-two taxis. Thirty-two taxis…taxi cab? CAB!”
Compressions. Airway. Breathing. The CPR instructor’s voice echoed in my head. Thirty compressions followed by two breaths.
With one hand over the other, I pressed the heel of my palm onto her chest.
“Breathe, Karenna. Don’t leave me.” This was worse than when I’d pulled her from the river. She’d been breathing then. Here I was, the supposed leader among angels, and I was useless.
“Val, I need you!” I cried out over the roar of the wind. Where was she? Why wasn’t she coming?
With shaking hands, I tilted Karenna’s head back, lifting her chin. I pinched her nose closed. Taking a gulp of air, I covered her mouth with mine, blowing into her airway as hard as I could. I sobbed against her cold lips.
“Karenna,” I moaned as I pulled back. I took another deep breath, my lips quivering as I attempted to give her life-saving air.
Time seemed to still as I rotated giving her compressions and breathing into her until finally, she coughed. Salt water burst out of her mouth, spilling down her chin. Color flooded back into her face as she gasped for breath.
“You’re alive! Thank god!” I sat her up and hugged her to me. I couldn’t believe I’d almost lost her.
“Your wings. You shouldn’t,” Karenna’s raspy voice wheezed.
Squeezing her tighter, I pressed my forehead against hers. There were no words to encompass what she meant to me. “I don’t care. I had to get you. I had to. You’re my everything.”
I couldn’t fight my feelings anymore. I kissed her. The moment our lips touched, my heart and my soul surged to life. The hole in my chest disappeared. She was the missing piece of who I was, a part of me I never knew existed until meeting her, a part I couldn’t live without.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for hurting you.”
“I thought you didn’t want me because I was Gibbor and the angels—”
I pressed my lips firmly against hers. Nothing, no one was ever coming between us ever again.
“I don’t care what the others say. I won’t ever let you go. I promise,” I said, kissing every inch of her face—her nose, her eyelids, her forehead. Her racing heart pounded against my chest, mine responded, syncing with hers in celebration.
“Oh, Tristan, I missed you so much.”
I ducked my head to kiss her again when something latched onto one of my wings, jerking me to my feet. A blinding pain seared through my back.
Ian’s black trench coat flapped in the wind as he placed himself in front of Karenna.
“You fool!” He whisked out his sword, pointing it to my chest. “They found us because of you.”
“The warrior angels? They caused the storm?” Karenna cried as she quickly got to her feet.
“No, they didn’t cause the storm. And they wouldn’t have known where we were until you pulled your little stunt so that they could find us.”
She scowled. “This wasn’t a stunt. Somebody pushed me.”
“You think I’d believe anything you say, Gibbor? He may fall for your lies, but not me,” Ian spat. “While you’re here playing the temptress, your sister is with Blaze. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Karenna looked horrified. “I-I didn’t know.”
Ian grunted then, turning back to me, he tipped his sword to the sky. “Look at what your lust for a temptress of Gibbor has done, Tatrasiel.”
Winged shadows flew within the clouds. The small shadow raced across the sky with two larger figures chasing it. The shadows finally broke through the clouds. Caim and Thalos swung their swords, barely missing Val’s head.
“Oh my god,” Karenna gasped.
“Take her inside. And get Zac and the others!” I yelled at Ian as I propelled myself into the sky. I plowed into Caim, knocking him back. His wings flapped frantically, spiraling down as he tried to gain control.
Quickly, I checked on Val. Swords clinked as she fought with Thalos. She was holding her own, but there was something wrong. I’d seen Thalos fight before. He was holding back. Why?
“I have this. Get Caim!” Val growled.
I chased after Caim with a gnawing feeling something was off. Just before I reached him, he spun to face me, sword held high.
I lurched back, surprised by the black markings on his wings, a sign of his demonic transformation. He’d chosen to join Belial permanently.
“Well, now, don’t we look pissed. Sorry to have intruded on your play time, but duty calls.” Caim lunged, aiming for my chest. In one swift move, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. He howled, dropping the sword.
“You were always a second too slow in the academy.” I shoved him back. “Go back to the hole you crawled out of!”
A clanking sound echoed through the air. I glanced down, surprised to see a rocky shoreline below. The sword bounced off a jagged rock, shattering in two.
Land? Where were the other angels? I peered into the distance. The ship was barely visible and still miles away.
Caim rubbed his shoulder, his lips curling in a sardonic grin. “You first.”
“Tristan! Behind you!” Val cried.
I whirled around, black wings circling us in a blur. I’d never seen anything like it. “What the hell?”
Caim snorted. “That’s right. They are hell. I’m shocked you don’t remember your academy studies.”
Demons.
They circled Val. Her wings moved furiously, and she changed the aim of her sword from Thalos to the demons, unsure of what to do next.
The swirling mass circled closer. With a raised eyebrow, Caim thumped a fist to his chest. Laughing, the Power who had once trained to protect others from Belial and his demons, disappeared into the mass.
One by one, they came out of the black blur, attacking me. They pierced my back, my wings, everywhere. Razor-like wounds crisscrossed my body, oozing blood. I was stuck in a circle of hell, and I couldn’t move. I was trapped.
There was a loud boom, and Zac appeared. His sword sliced through the whirling circle. Demons hissed as the black ring broke apart. They scattered, disappearing into the clouds.
“Get Val!” Zac cried to me as he charged after them.
I soared through the air, searching for her. She was gone. I could only hear Caim and Thalos’ laughter swirling in and out of the dark mist.
“Come out, you cowards!”
“Let’s play a game,” Caim’s voice boomed from within the clouds.
“Oh, this will be fun,” Thalos agreed.
“Shut up! The game’s over,” I seethed. “Remi is ready for you and Ari’s army.”
“I’m sure he is. But I highly doubt he’s ready for you.”
I dashed toward Caim’s voice in the cloud above. “What are you talking about?”
“Aww, he doesn’t know,” Thalos said.
“Son of a—!” Val’s voice screeched from above before suddenly being cut off.
“Val!” I zoomed through the clouds desperate to find her. Caim and Thalos continued to taunt me as I searched.
“So impatient.”
“I concur, brother. Not at all Throne-like behavior.”
“Can we play the game now?”
“Yes, let’s play.”
Thalos emerged from a cloud, and my heart dropped. He had Val.
Val struggled against Thalos, her hands and feet tied. Blood dripped from a half-torn wing. Her face contorted with pain whenever she tried to move it.
“Let her go,” I growled.
Thalos flapped his wings slowly, showing off their black markings. “Don’t you want to see what’s behind door number two? I think you’ll like it.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Val said, kicking her feet back.
“Now, now Throne of Raphael. Your father isn’t here to heal your wing and you want to keep your other one, don’t you? Now, where was I? Oh, right, door number two. Caim!”
My heart raced as the thick mist gradually dissipated, revealing two figures. Slowly, Caim’s pale green eyes came into view. They gleamed with evil delight, sending a shiver down my spine. When the final wisps of dark gray clouds vanished, I sucked in a breath.
Karenna’s terrified eyes gazed into mine.
My fists curled as my wings spread wide, ready for attack. She shook her head wildly, muffled sounds hitting against the black tape over her mouth.
“Hold on there, lover boy. One twist of this fragile being’s neck and she’s gone forever.”
Freezing, I frantically looked for a way to beat Thalos at his game. He wanted me to attack him. He knew I would.
I spotted his sword at his hip, and my hands itched to feel it in my hands, to plunge it into his chest and watch his life force seep out of him. I’d never wanted to kill someone as much as I’d wanted to kill the traitorous angel.
“Ready, brother?” Thalos asked gleefully. His hand hovered above Val’s injured wing, threatening to finish the job.
“Ready?” Caim said loosening his grip on Karenna. Her muted scream pierced through my chest, turning my blood cold. They were going to drop them.
Seabirds circled the rocky shoreline below, their white wings billowing as they landed on the jagged boulders.
My eyes darted to Val then Karenna. There was no way Karenna would survive the fall. And Val…the fall would shatter every bone in her body. She’d live.
Live to experience every excruciating second until we could take her back to her father.
Karenna yelled, demanding my attention. She repeated a stifled word until I recognized what she was saying.
Val. She wanted me to save Val.
“Wait!” As soon as the word left my mouth, Thalos ripped off Val’s injured wing. Then with an evil grin, he turned to the other.
She let out a bloodcurdling shriek as he ripped into the wing, and when it was over, she fell limp. He flung the wings aside like pieces of trash.
Karenna thrashed against Caim in a stream of strangled shrieks. Tears streamed down her face.
“On my count,” Thalos said. “In five…”
Thalos and Caim gradually distanced themselves from each other and me, making it impossible to save them both no matter how fast I was.
“No, please don’t,” I pleaded.
“In four…”
“Tristan, look at me,” Val rasped.
“Three…”
Despite the distance, I saw Val clearly, as if she were mere inches from me. Her amber eyes glowed despite her pale face, and for the first time, I saw it. The touches, the fleeting glances, words she hadn’t dared utter until that day in front of the leviathan sculpture.
“I’m fighting for more than them.”
“What else is there?”
“You.”
It all made sense now. She loved me.
“Val, I…Karenna…I can’t…”
“Two…”
It was more than I could bear. Karenna’s resolute expression to sacrifice herself, expecting to die. Val’s ragged breathing, her tender smile. “It’s…okay, Tristan. It’s okay…to choose.”
“One.”
Don’t make me choose. I can’t. Please don’t make me.
“Release!”
“No!” I rocketed downward, chasing after both of them, knowing it was impossible.
Time slowed and became one with the pounding of my heart. Each beat echoed in my head as air whooshed over my ears.
The moment came in a heartbeat, a beat that lasted a lifetime and ripped through my soul, tearing it to shreds.
Karenna cried out in anguish when I caught her. Her faint wails calling for Val pierced through me, decimating what was left of my heart.
I hugged her to me, cradling her head into my chest, knowing what was to come, terrified she would hear it.
It came in two heartbeats.
A sickening thud.
A bloodcurdling scream.
Silence.
My body trembled as I turned. Even though I knew Val was still alive, I had to see. I had to be sure.
One heartbeat. One was all it took for Thalos to plunge his sword into Val and watch Caim carry away her wingless body.