The Rephaim: Burn Part 31

The veil. Semyaza's words to Nathaniel catch up with me. Semyaza pierced the fabric that separated his dimension from ours to manipulate Nathaniel all those decades ago. I remember what that means and the coldness leaches back in. The Garrison was never interested in us. We have no higher purpose.

I don't know what's more unsettling: having a destiny I didn't ask for or having none at all. Thoughts snake around me, squeeze tight. And then Semyaza pins back his wings and takes us into a steep dive. The night rushes past, bleeds together. Adrenaline surges-I can't help it. Even as we plummet towards the beach, towards uncertainty, I can't help but think how much Jude and Rafa would love this sensation.

Semyaza buzzes the Immundi, scattering their formation and sending them into a heightened state of frenzy, trampling each other. If I didn't know better I'd say he was doing it to amuse himself.

All I want is every last h.e.l.l sp.a.w.n gone from my town. I want this carnage to be over, even though it brings on the moment when we face the consequences: the Fallen are free, and we don't know what that means. For the Garrison, for Nathaniel...or for us.

It's only when Semyaza swoops up and banks right that I catch flashes of movement between the Rephaim and the Fallen. Weapons drawn on both sides. Semyaza mutters something in a language I don't understand and changes course. Faces lift in our direction.

'Cohort, hold!' Semyaza shouts.

Daniel, Callie and Uri have placed themselves between Nathaniel and the Fallen, their swords lifted. Callie's favouring her bad leg, but she's not giving ground. I scour the faces of the Rephaim, find Rafa and Jude together, shoulder to shoulder. Their swords are drawn, but not to defend Nathaniel: they're already moving forward to meet Semyaza.

I don't know how to land, but I manage to get myself into position so my feet don't tangle with the angel's as we touch down. Semyaza steadies me for two steps and then lets go. My legs are shaky but they take my weight.

Rafa blocks Semyaza. 'What gives you the right-'

'She is healed.' Semyaza barely glances at Rafa as he steps around him and heads for Nathaniel. I grab Rafa by the t-shirt before he can go after him and pick a fight. 'Hey. Hey.'

Rafa stops, faces me.

'I'm okay,' I say firmly. I check him over. His arm is streaked with blood. 'Are you still bleeding?'

'No.' He's still thinking about challenging Semyaza. I slide my hand down to his elbow, keep a grip on him while I check on Jude.

'You?'

My brother offers his back to me so I can see the wound is scarring. It must have taken at least half a dozen shifts to get the healing to this point. But I know from experience that he'll be feeling the deep muscle ache about now. And Daisy was so right: it's ugly.

'Did Semyaza say anything to you?' Jude asks.

'Yeah,' I say, letting go of Rafa and moving closer to the stand-off between Daniel and the Fallen. 'Told me I was weighing him down.'

Two of the Fallen have moved up onto the dunes, both taller and more muscled than Daniel. The other angels stand in restless formation on the beach, faces flushed from battle. A hundred metres away, the Immundi are still crushing through the portal. Where are the Gatekeepers?

'You're not touching Nathaniel.'

Daniel's sword is remarkably steady in the face of two hundred warriors. The angel on the right is the same one who fought beside Rafa against the Gatekeepers. Dirty blond hair hangs in a messy plait down his back. An old scar marks the bridge of his nose.

'We led this traitor to your mothers and he executed them,' the blond angel says. 'He has earnt his fate.'

There's a beat-and then the Rephaim stir. Understanding dawns. For most of them, this is the first time they've heard the truth about what happened to the women who gave birth to them. Eyes turn, accusing, to Nathaniel, still slumped against the boardwalk railing, bleeding out. The blond angel levels his blade in Nathaniel's direction.

'If he lives, he will not cease until he has seen us delivered back to h.e.l.l.'

'He has the right to defend himself,' Daniel says. 'But he needs to be whole to do that, and we can't heal him.'

The blond warrior barks a laugh. 'You think we should help him?'

'Yes.'

'Truly, Daniel, you would let him live after all he has done?'

Daniel's attention snaps to the second angel. He has thick, dark dreadlocks and a beard down to his chest, but there's something familiar about the shape of his nose, the set of his mouth under those whiskers. The disappointment in the question.

He's Daniel's father.

Daniel sees it too because he's run out of words.

Semyaza draws his broadsword from the sheath between his shoulders and steps into Nathaniel's line of sight. 'You would allow these children to defend you, even now?'

Nathaniel fumbles behind him for the post, watches Semyaza through swollen eyelids. He grips the wire and hauls himself to his feet. Stands there, swaying, his torn wing hanging at an awkward angle. Chiselled face distorted with bruises, bites and anguish.

'I have failed them in every way possible.' A ragged breath. 'I have no more to ask of your offspring.'

Semyaza nods. 'Barakiel, Jael.'

Jael-Daniel's father-holds Daniel's gaze for a second longer and then he and the blond Barakiel step around Daniel. Nathaniel watches the two angels approach. They grab him by his arms and haul him forward. He grimaces but offers no resistance, no sounds of protest. Nathaniel's legs don't work, so the angels drag him through the sand and drop him at Semyaza's feet. Nathaniel takes his weight on his hands and knees, broken wings draped either side of him. With considerable effort, he lifts his ravaged face.

'Is it your plan to gather the Rephaim and make war on the Garrison?'

Semyaza's irises flicker in a steady rhythm. 'That is not your concern, brother.'

Nathaniel watches him for a long moment and then sits back on his heels. His eyes find Daniel's. Then Jude's and then mine. A tear slips down his mangled cheek. The revelation that it was the Fallen and not the Angelic Garrison who reached out to him all those years ago is unmaking him piece by piece.

He has no destiny either.

He drops his head to expose his neck. He's ready for Semyaza to kill him. For a second I forget how to breathe. Nathaniel murdered our mother-the mothers of all of the Rephaim-and he's lied to us for a hundred and thirty-nine years about a greater purpose that never existed. And yet...My blood cries out for him. That this is wrong. He fooled himself as much as he fooled us. However heartless Nathaniel was, however twisted his motives, he believed he was following orders given by the Host of Heaven.

And how can I ask for forgiveness for my mistakes if I can't offer it in return?

Semyaza draws his blade.

'Wait.'

I put myself between Nathaniel and Semyaza. My father blinks at me, slowly.

'Move aside, child.'

'No.'

Rafa and Jude step up next to me. Daisy too. Then Daniel, Uri and Callie. The others. Semyaza's gaze rakes over us.

'You choose this traitor before your own fathers?'

'Oh for f.u.c.k's sake,' I snap, and Semyaza's eyes flare. 'Why is it always about a choice with you lot? I'm not taking his side, I'm asking you not to kill him.'

'Because you care for him more than our need for justice?'

I hold his gaze. 'Because it's not your place to judge him, any more that it was his to judge our mothers.'

'I think you will find that in present company, we are the only ones qualified.'

'I disagree.'

I flinch at the sound of a new voice behind me, every nerve ending shot. I look over my shoulder, find a guy I've never seen before standing calmly between Daisy and Jones like it's the most normal thing in the world to be on a beach surrounded by sword-wielding soldiers, winged creatures and butchered demons. He has rain-slicked hair, sharp jawline, sinewy build. Wearing boardshorts and a loose-fitting white t-shirt. Hands in his pockets. Barefoot. And taller even than Zak.

'And who the f.u.c.k are you?' Rafa asks.

The newcomer blinks and his dark eyes suddenly flash icy blue. 'I am Gabriel, Second Lieutenant of the Angelic Garrison.'

TRUTH, LIES AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.

I feel my mouth fall open. The Rephaim skitter away from him, leaving the angel alone on the sand.

Gabriel.

An archangel.

Not just any archangel: the warrior who murdered the original offspring of the Fallen all those thousands of years ago.

Jude and I did this. We set the Fallen free. We brought him here.

We wanted to face down the Garrison, to know what they want from us. And now we do: nothing. They don't want anything from us, they never have. If we'd known that half an hour ago, would it have changed our decision to free our fathers? I stare at Gabriel, try to find my way through an onslaught of panic. The sky shifts from oranges to pinks, bringing the cobalt clouds over the sea into sharp relief. Thunder rolls across the headland. The night is breathless, electric. Rafa moves closer until our elbows touch.

'Are you going to kill us?' Jude asks, somehow keeping his voice steady.

'Why would I do that?'

'Because we freed the Fallen. And because that's what you did the last time Semyaza and his cohort fathered children.'

'If that was my commission today, would you war against the Angelic Garrison?'

'Would we fight you for our lives?' Jude doesn't need to look to Rafa or me. He knows the answer.

'Absolutely.'

Gabriel watches Jude for a moment before his attention shifts to Semyaza. The leader of the Fallen holds his ground. 'You did not adhere to our covenant, Semyaza.'

'You offered no covenant, brother, only a new prison.'

'Did you prefer the company of Gatekeepers? Should I send you back with them?'

Semyaza flicks the tip of his broadsword in Nathaniel's direction. 'Do you think that punishment did not cut as deep into our flesh as Zarael's blade?'

'It was not I who led Nathaniel to your women.'

'He was meant to gather and protect our brides, but you rewarded him with a glimmer of glory and he used it to punish them.'

'I returned to him what he would need to protect himself in this realm. It was never intended as an instrument for judgment.'

Wait. What? My mind scrambles.

'You're the reason Nathaniel can show glory and the Fallen can't?' Jude asks before I can form the question.

Gabriel turns from Semyaza, gives my brother his full attention. Intent. Panic slices through my confusion. Rafa tenses. This angel destroyed an entire generation of our half-siblings, has the power to command the attention of two hundred and one fallen angels. He so terrifies Nathaniel, he still won't look up.

Gabriel weighs the question. He tilts his head, birdlike, and his focus drifts elsewhere for a long moment. n.o.body speaks. n.o.body moves. In the stillness, a wave breaks on the sh.o.r.e. Our world is being up-ended and shaken out but the tide keeps rolling in, oblivious.

'Let us wait for the others.'

I follow Gabriel's gaze to the resort. Does he mean the Rephaim up there? When does he think they're coming?

My stomach dips.

The rest of the Rephaim materialise. Magda, Zeb and the other non-combatants. And-oh no.

Dani.

She's with Jason. But they're not touching. He s.n.a.t.c.hes her to his hip, his face pinched with fear. Maria and Maggie aren't with them; they must have left them behind.

'Jason, what the f.u.c.k?' I demand.

He looks stricken. 'I didn't-'

'I bade them come,' Gabriel says. It's only now I see how bewildered and shaken the newly arrived Rephaim are. Holy s.h.i.t. Gabriel plucked them out of that room. Can he do that to the Fallen too? Is that why they haven't fled from him already?

I shift and put myself between Dani and the Fallen. Between Dani and Gabriel. I force myself to look Gabriel in the eye. 'You'll get a war if you touch this girl.' I'm like a flea threatening a lion, but I eyeball the archangel anyway. Because I mean it.

'The same thing goes if you touch Gaby,' Rafa says.

Gabriel blinks, slowly. 'You, children, have spent too much time in the company of pit excrement. I am Second Lieutenant of the Host of Heaven. I would no sooner harm humans than I would offer my throat to a h.e.l.lion.'

'But half-humans are fair game?' It's out before I can consider the wisdom of the accusation.

The archangel's lips tighten. His irises flare. I wait, my heart working double time.

'All actions have consequences,' he says, carefully. 'Your existence is a consequence of the decision made the day the nephilim were extinguished.'

'They weren't extinguished.' Semyaza spits out the word. 'You slaughtered them in cold blood while we stood in chains and watched. They were defenceless, utterly ignorant of their crimes. They were not warriors, they were children.'

Gabriel doesn't acknowledge Semyaza. He keeps his attention squarely on me. 'The Fallen paid for their transgressions in ways that were justified, but perhaps not just.'

Warm fingers touch my elbow. Dani is reaching for me. I nod for Jason to let go and her bony arm snakes around my waist, slender fingers gripping the top of my jeans. She's studying Semyaza, no more frightened of him than she was of Nathaniel at the Sanctuary yesterday.

'Is that why you all made more children?' she asks Semyaza. 'Because you lost the others?'

A storm of rage and grief darkens his eyes and tightens his shoulders. Two hundred warriors fall dangerously still. Nathaniel stays on his knees, ready to be executed. Dani lets go of me so she can crouch down. She brushes her fingers over his feathers, so gentle and sad.