Her Guardian Angel 4-Her Angel Series (35 page)

“It was
raining,” Einar groused and then, in a swift move, broke free of
her grasp, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her against him. She
didn’t struggle this time as Einar bent her over, his hands
grasping her waist, and kissed her. Taylor buried her fingers into
his mousy brown hair, twisted them in his short ponytail at the
nape of his neck, and tugged the leather thong out.

Einar
looked unimpressed as he released her, setting her back on her
feet, and fixed his hair back in place.

Marcus
smiled when she tossed a t-shirt at Einar, hitting him in the face
with it, and then started to unload even more short swords and
knives, tucking them into her jacket. Einar must have used his
powers to conceal all that weaponry from human eyes at the airport.
It was possible for him to alter the appearance of the luggage’s
contents.

He looked
away from them and his gaze lighted on Apollyon and Serenity. The
moment Apollyon bent down, wrapped his arms around the petite
blonde and lifted her for a kiss, Marcus looked away from them too.
Luck wasn’t with him, but Lukas was getting a serious good luck
kiss from Annelie, her slender fingers wrapped in his messy sandy
hair whilst his hand splayed through her red locks, holding her
against his mouth.

Marcus
turned around and stared at the balcony, unable to bear the sight
of the three couples. It was torture. He wanted Amelia in his arms
again, her sweet lips against his and her body nestled close. They
had only been together a short time, but the moments they had
shared with each other had been blissful and had changed his life.
He couldn’t live without her anymore. The world was dull and grey
when she wasn’t with him and he couldn’t think straight. He needed
her and he was starting to waver again, the desire to find her
battling his need to go to Hell with the others and discover more
about what was happening.

Amelia
was safe with Heaven. They had told him that and he forced himself
to believe it. They had never lied to him before. They had only
neglected to tell him things. He couldn’t hold that against them.
When his mission had begun, he had been told to watch over Amelia
and that he would be given more information in time. They had kept
their word, telling him that there would be a point in time when he
had to protect her until. Had that point in time been her death at
Apollyon’s hands? If it was, then Marcus had fulfilled that part of
his mission, but his duty wasn’t done yet. Heaven had made it sound
as though there was more to come. What if Amelia’s death wasn’t the
end but only the beginning of something? She had been reborn as a
being similar to an angel. There had to be a reason for
it.

If he
went flying off to Heaven now, intent on killing everyone who stood
in his way and saving Amelia from a fate he knew nothing about, he
could end up destroying her real destiny. The slightest change of
events could lead to something catastrophic. Heaven had a reason
for what they had done and they had a reason for needing him to
stay away until they called him. He would find out what they were
and then he would make a decision—to follow their orders or follow
his own desire.

It was
hard to bring himself to trust them when he needed to see her again
and see that she was safe.

The
longer he waited for Apollyon to announce their departure, the
stronger his desire to go to Heaven instead of Hell became. He
needed to leave now and go down into the bowels of the underworld.
Only that would stop him from surrendering to his desire to see
Amelia. All would be well if he could rein in that feeling until
they reached Hell. Taylor would find Veiron and Apollyon would
scour the pool that recorded the events of the mortal realm, and
they would use that knowledge to discover the truth about Amelia’s
destiny. Armed with that knowledge, he would be able to save her
without further endangering her life.

Until
then, he had to hold himself together.

Hell was
a dangerous place for an angel.

If he
went in there with his feelings in disarray, his heart would be
easily swayed.

The Devil
had a strong voice.

And
Marcus had never felt so weak.

***

Chapter 22

Marcus
kept half of his focus fixed on his silvery-blue wings as the grey
asphalt road below him began to crack and open, revealing infinite
darkness. Was this really the way to Hell? Apollyon hovered just
metres in front of him, his hand outstretched and his eyes closed.
Hot air blasted out of the crevasse, tousling his dark feathers and
long black hair. It ruffled Marcus and Lukas too, sending their
hair swaying. Taylor moved closer to Marcus, curled close to his
breastplate in his arms. Her array of blades made her difficult to
carry without cutting himself but something told him that she
wouldn’t surrender them. He could feel her heart racing. She was
putting on a brave face and she wasn’t the only one. Marcus
couldn’t recall a time he had felt this nervous.

Lukas
held Einar, gripping him under his arms so Einar dangled below him.
Taylor had laughed at the sight of her lover held so ridiculously
at first but had fallen silent once Apollyon had started the ritual
that opened the path to Hell.

None of
them had said a word since the first crack had appeared. Now,
Marcus could see a tiny orange forked line. Either it was going to
open wider, or it was a long way down into the Earth. Marcus had
never been to Hell but he knew that Lukas had, and when he had
asked him about it, Lukas had told him to be on his guard against
the voice of the Devil. Did it really present such a
temptation?

Apollyon
turned to face them. “Mind the walls on the way down. Sometimes
they shift. The old git doesn’t like us going down there. I hear he
has become worse since I left my post. Several angels have already
been corrupted by his offers.”

Marcus
presumed he meant the Devil. Apollyon and the Devil had a special
relationship. Every so many centuries, Apollyon fought the Devil in
order to keep him locked away in the bottomless pit. There had been
instances when the Devil had won, killing Apollyon, and had roamed
the mortal realm, causing pestilence and amusing himself with
destroying human lives until Apollyon was reborn and defeated
him.

It took a
strong heart and even stronger belief to resist the temptation that
the Devil offered to angels who entered his realm. Apollyon had
withstood it for millennia. Marcus marvelled at that as the dark
angel took Einar from Lukas and started his descent into Hell.
Lukas had withstood it during his short visit there. If the rookie
of the group could hold out against the Devil, then Marcus was sure
that he could too. He could be strong for Amelia. For her sake, he
would endure it all and resist the Devil’s offers, no matter what
they were.

Doubts
began to creep in as he flew downwards, gliding most of the time.
Taylor held on to his armour, her fingers tightly clutching his
blue and silver breastplate. She whispered things to herself that
sounded like protective charms. Was she afraid of the Devil too? He
had thought that she would be immune to his voice. Part of her was
demon. Wasn’t that protection enough from the Devil’s
sway?

He looked
down at Apollyon and Einar, and then across at Lukas who flew
beside him. Lukas pointed downwards and Marcus saw that the tiny
orange fault line was growing into a glowing fiery streak below
them. They were getting closer. The smell of sulphur tainted the
air, choking him, growing denser with each metre closer he got to
Hell. The temperature rose as he descended and hot air blasted
against him, threatening to send him rising upwards. He beat his
wings to force himself to continue downwards and adjusted his grip
on Taylor as his palms started to sweat.

“I
shouldn’t have brought this jacket with me. I didn’t realise it
would be so balmy,” Taylor said with false lightness in her voice
and he looked at her. The fear in her eyes echoed how he felt in
his heart.

“Have you
been to Hell before?” he said with concern as she rubbed the back
of her hand across her forehead, clearing the beads of sweat
away.

“Once or
twice, but never to this place. Most of us keep away. He doesn’t
like to be disturbed.”

Marcus
looked down. The bright glowing light had abated to reveal a wide
expanse of rough stony ground and he could see the edge of the
plateau. It dropped away into a fiery pit hundreds of feet
below.

Apollyon
was the first to land, setting Einar down before releasing him. He
beat his black wings a few more times and then folded them against
his back. The temperature increased again as Marcus passed the end
of the black walls that they had been travelling past since leaving
the mortal realm and entered a huge cavern. It stretched as far as
the eye could see, covered in black shards of rock and belching
pits of fire.

He
lowered Taylor to the uneven ground and then landed and tucked his
wings back. His gaze roamed to the edge of the plateau. The
bottomless pit. He could feel the demons down there and the power
they commanded, stronger than most angels, and it chilled him.
Lukas landed beside him and covered his mouth and nose with his
hand, a frown on his face.

“It
smells far worse than I recalled.”

Marcus
could barely breathe through the acrid stench of brimstone. It
burned his lungs and made his eyes water. He couldn’t even begin to
imagine how Apollyon had endured living here for so
long.

“It is
worse near the pit.” Apollyon motioned for them to follow him
towards an outcrop of rough black rock away from the edge of the
plateau.

Lukas
followed him. Marcus lingered where he was, keeping Taylor company
as she stared at the fiery glow of the pit. Einar joined them and
placed his arm around Taylor’s shoulders.

“Are you
sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Einar said and held her
close, rubbing her back.

Marcus
could sense his unease and shared his concern. Even though Taylor
was half demon, she was half mortal too, and that meant she wasn’t
as strong as the beasts that lurked in Hell. And she was
scared.

“I’ll be
fine, Romeo.” Her smile faltered and she ran her fingers down
Einar’s chest and then looked up into his eyes. “It’s better if I
go alone… if you come along, there’ll be trouble. I’ll keep my head
down, check out a few of Veiron’s haunts, and get a message out to
him if I can’t find his stupid arse. I’ll be back before you know
it.”

Einar
stroked her cheek and held her gaze. “Just be careful.”

She
nodded and leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as she placed
her hand over his, holding it against her face. “I will. I love
you, you big oaf.”

“Love you
too.” He kissed her softly and then she stepped backwards out of
his arms, her other hand lingering in his.

Einar
materialised a sword in his free hand and held it out to her. Her
blue eyes widened.

“But it’s
your favourite.”

He
shrugged easily, his broad shoulders barely moving an inch, and
smiled at her. “There’s a blessing on it strong enough to make most
demons think twice. Take it with you.”

Taylor
took it, swung it a few times, and then walked back to Einar,
tiptoed and kissed his cheek. “It’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever
given me. You’re so romantic.”

Marcus
frowned. Giving a woman a sword was romantic? It didn’t seem
romantic to him. He was sure that most women would think a man was
insane if they gave her a sword as a present. Then again, most
women weren’t about to embark on a dangerous mission through the
lower reaches of Hell in search of a demonic angel who was also
their ex-lover.

Taylor
waved at them both and then headed off into the gloom.

When she
was out of sight, Einar turned back to him. “She loves it when I
give her weapons.”

“Why? I
mean, she is certainly in love with her knives and guns, but what’s
romantic about a sword?”

Einar
patted his shoulder. “It shows her that I love her and I care about
her.”

“Surely
it is more romantic to accompany her?”

“I get
your point, but Taylor would see me going with her after she has
plainly told me not to as me undermining her strength. Not
romantic. Taylor’s strong and she’s right, she can handle herself
and it’s safer if she goes alone. The inhabitants of this realm
won’t bother her if she’s alone. If I’m with her, they’ll see her
as the enemy, even though I’m technically a fallen
angel.”

Marcus
could understand it when he put it like that, but he still couldn’t
see Einar’s gesture as romantic. He reasoned that Einar was a
hunter and so was Taylor. They were built to work alone, tracking
and capturing or killing their prey. He was a guardian and it was
probably that nature in him that was telling him that it was more
romantic to offer to protect someone and go with them than it was
to let them go alone with a blessed sword for company.

Einar
pointed in the direction that Apollyon and Lukas had gone. Marcus
nodded and started to follow him, and then stopped when dark words
curled up from the pit behind him, flowing around him.