Her Guardian Angel 4-Her Angel Series (44 page)

“I do not
think so.”

“It’s
mine.” A familiar deep voice boomed down the hill and Marcus turned
with Amelia, looking up the lush green slope to the owner of
it.

Einar
stood above them wearing the deep-earthen-coloured armour of a
hunter angel with tawny wings tucked against his back. He looked
over his shoulder at the wings and smiled.

“Taylor
likes to let me fly here once in a while.”

Marcus
smiled to reassure his friend. He didn’t have to explain. He had
lived for five centuries without his wings and knew how painful it
could be. Einar looked him over with raised eyebrows.

“I have a
message,” he said at last and his brown gaze shifted to Amelia.
“Taylor is tiring but Serenity has moved you to another location.
Apollyon has gone to plead your case—”

“Apollyon?” Marcus interjected. The last time he had seen his
dark friend, he had been falling from the sky having expended all
of his power. “What does he plan to do?”

“He has
gone to make a bargain.” Einar sat down on the grass and stretched.
It didn’t hide the weariness in his eyes from Marcus. Einar had
been fighting for them too. “He has gone to reason that if Amelia
is kept alive and under its protection, then Heaven has no reason
to fear Hell capturing her and killing her to restart what Veiron
referred to as their game.”

“Why
would they listen to him?”

“Because
if they don’t, he will release the Devil from the bottomless pit
and also assist Amelia in ravaging Heaven.”

Amelia’s
eyebrows shot up. “I don’t particularly want to destroy the place…
I mean… it does have its purpose, and I do hate them for what
they’ve done to me and Marcus, but—”

“Apollyon
knows that, but Heaven does not,” Einar cut back in. “While it
cannot easily track you when you’re in here, it can detect changes
that occur within its ranks.”

Marcus
frowned.

“That’s
nice armour and wings you have there, old friend,” Einar said with
a smile. “You certainly gave Serenity a fright when she was
watching over you and all those changes happened.”

“They
happened there too?” Marcus stepped forwards, took hold of Amelia’s
hand, and led her up the hill to Einar, who nodded and his smile
widened.

“She ran
for Apollyon’s room, dragged him out from under me when I was still
trying to heal him, and brought him to you. Apollyon instantly
decided to go to Heaven.” Einar stretched his wings and the weary
edge to his eyes increased. Marcus could sense his fatigue. It was
written in every blade of grass and leaf in this world, flowing
through him. “The angels ceased their attack when they saw him,
agreed to take him in, and then we moved you so the Hell’s angels
would not be able to find you while he was in Heaven.”

“I’ve put
you all through so much trouble,” Amelia said on a sigh and Marcus
squeezed her hand to comfort her.

“Apollyon
likes trouble. He will probably thank you for it later.” Marcus
smiled for her and she managed one in return.

A warm
breeze sent several pale blue butterflies dancing between Marcus
and Einar, and then a voice boomed out of the heavens.

“Get your
arses back here, Romeo and co.”

The world
around them darkened and Marcus frowned as incredible tiredness
crashed over him and he ached right down to his bones. He opened
his eyes to find himself staring at a thatched ceiling made of what
looked like twigs. Warm air lingered around him, humming with the
sound of insects, and the smell of the sea carried on
it.

Where had
Serenity moved them to?

He looked
to his left when something moved there and smiled when he saw
Amelia lying next to him, a similarly confused look on her face.
Her wings were gone but he knew that it wouldn’t always be that
way. Whenever she needed them, she would only have to call them,
just like him. He would always be there for her, ready to do
whatever she asked of him, protecting her to the end.

She
looked over at him and a smile curved her lips, reaching her grey
eyes.

“How are
you feeling?” she said and rubbed her face. “Feels as though we
were asleep forever.”

It had
felt like only a few hours to him.

Marcus
reached over, caught her wrist, and pulled her against him. She
giggled when he kissed her and he relished how it felt to do this
in reality. They would always be together now. He wouldn’t allow
anyone to separate them again and he wouldn’t let anything happen
to Amelia. He would keep his promise. He would be a good man for
her. Starting right now.

He stood,
pulled her to her feet, and beat his wings to get used to
them.

Amelia’s
smile faltered. “You’re going back there, aren’t you?”

He
nodded. The look in her eyes and the feelings flowing into him from
her conveyed that she didn’t want that to happen but he knew that
she wouldn’t stop him.

“I have
to,” he said and smiled for her. Power flowed through him, stronger
than he had ever felt, and he drew a deep breath, savouring the
feeling. “I feel invincible… is this your doing?”

Amelia
shook her head, surprising him. “No. I haven’t given you any of my
own power. I wouldn’t know how. You were always this strong,
Marcus, you just never believed that you were. Belief is a powerful
thing.”

Marcus
felt the truth in those words in his heart. When he had been in
that room in Heaven on the verge of obeying his orders, it had been
Amelia’s confession of love and his belief in the depth of that
feeling, and in the depth of his love for her, that had given him
the strength to fight back.

He
believed in their love and in her, and he knew that she would never
betray him, and that she believed in him too. She had faith in his
strength and his promise to protect her. Armed with that faith, he
felt invincible.

He felt
he could take on Heaven and win.

Amelia
stepped up to him, rested her hand against his cheek, and smiled
into his eyes, affection shining in the warm grey depths of hers.
“You found a reason to believe in your power and a reason to fight,
and that’s why you feel stronger now. And that’s why you have to
come back to me, you understand? Promise me that you’ll come
back.”

Marcus
placed his hand over hers, holding it against his face, and bent
his head. He brushed his lips across hers, savouring their softness
and how sweetly she responded to the kiss, and then drew
back.

“That is
an order I can easily obey,” he whispered and she smiled, her
beauty catching his breath and stealing it away. “I will never
leave you, Amelia.”

He took a
step back, lowered her hand from his face, and led her from the
hut. Turquoise blue sea stretched into the distance beyond a crisp
white sandy shore fringed with swaying palm trees. An island. What
better place to hide them than somewhere remote and
small?

Amelia
would be safe here until he returned.

Marcus
looked along the shore to the next hut.

“Lukas,”
he said and the sandy-haired man looked his way and then left
Serenity and Annelie.

“Glad to
see you back with us.” Lukas clapped a hand down on Marcus’s
shoulder.

“Can you
do me a favour?” Marcus looked up at the endless blue sky. “I need
to get into Heaven but I have a feeling they won’t exactly welcome
me with open arms now, and I need to get into the fortress and to
Apollyon as soon as possible.”

He
brought his gaze back down to Lukas. Serenity and Annelie had
joined him, their expressions as curious as his friend’s
was.

“I can
send you in, but you will come out in the detention block,” Lukas
said.

Marcus
nodded. “That is fine. I can deal with things from
there.”

Lukas
didn’t look convinced.

Amelia
slipped her hand into his and he gave it a gentle squeeze to
reassure her.

“You’re
going back?” Einar said as he joined them with Taylor in tow. It
was good to see her safely out of Hell.

“I
must.”

Einar
nodded, understanding shining in his deep brown eyes. “I would do
the same.”

Marcus
glanced down at Amelia, brushed his thumb over her cheek in a light
caress, and then released her hand. He took a few steps backwards,
placing some distance between himself and everyone else, and blew
out his breath to steady his nerves. He was strong enough to do
this. He looked into Amelia’s eyes and the belief in them boosted
his strength, filling his heart with resolve and empowering
him.

“Ready
when you are, Lukas.”

Bright
white light blinded him.

***

Chapter 27

The light
engulfing Marcus stung his eyes and burned against his skin. That
wasn’t a good sign. It swirled around him and he sensed himself
rising although he couldn’t see his surroundings. Every time a
ribbon of light purer than the others brushed across his flesh it
felt like a razor scraped over his skin, dragging numbness in its
wake.

His haste
to reach Heaven might end up costing him at this rate. He hadn’t
considered the changes he had undergone and the implications they
would have. Normally when he travelled within the light to Heaven,
it was warm and tingly, not cold and sharp.

Marcus
tilted his head backwards and gazed into the infinite brilliant
white above him.

When he
reached the detention block, would he be able to escape?

When an
angel used the light in the manner that Lukas had, the captive was
sent straight into a cell.

Those
cells were designed to dampen the power of demons, rendering them
weak and leaving them with only enough strength to remain conscious
and answer the questions of their captors. If the changes that had
occurred when Amelia had bound them as master and servant had
shifted him away from the biology of an angel and into demon
territory, then he was going to be in trouble when the light
receded. He would have barely enough strength to fight the weakest
of angels and win, and the guards patrolling the detention block
were stronger than most in Heaven.

His
stomach twisted, turned and then the light began to dull. It
flickered to reveal glimpses of his new surroundings and then faded
completely.

Marcus
drew in several deep breaths to steady his stomach and flexed his
fingers, trying to sense whether he still had his powers without
using them. He couldn’t draw attention to himself. Not until he was
sure that he could escape.

Grimy
white walls enclosed him in a solid hexagon. Not a window or door
broke the smooth surfaces, but Marcus knew better than to trust his
eyes. On the other side of one of the walls would be a door, hidden
from him where he stood inside the cell.

What
cluster was he in?

There
were thousands of interlocking circular clusters of the hexagonal
cells, punctuated by round open spaces in the centre of them and
linked by hallways. Together they formed an intricate hexagon that
stretched as far as the eye could see. Hopefully, Lukas had sent
him to one of the outer rings. He didn’t like his odds of making it
through the entire complex unnoticed if he was on one of the inner
rings of cells.

Marcus
walked forwards, pressed the flat of his palm against the dirty
wall, and closed his eyes, trying to sense what was on the other
side.

A flicker
of something there brought a smile to his face and warm relief to
his heart.

Not a
demon then.

Whatever
he had become on forming the pact between himself and Amelia, he
wasn’t wholly demonic. If a trace of his angelic side lingered, he
would be able to walk right out the door once he located
it.

The wall
his palm rested against backed onto another cell. Occupied by the
feel of it. The blockers were in place, creating a buzz on his
senses.

Marcus
walked on, trailing his hand along the wall, his focus wholly on it
and sensing what was on the other side. The next wall was void of
feeling, and the next produced the same sensation. The fourth wall
sent a wash of tingles over his palm. Occupied again, but the
blockers were different this time and he suspected he knew why. The
captive wasn’t one hundred percent demonic. Special precautions had
been taken with that cell.

The next
wall was blank again, and the final wall. He paused and pushed his
hand forwards and was met with resistance. He pressed his hand
harder into the cold wall, and smiled grimly when his arm
disappeared up to his elbow, the material that formed the door to
the cell thick like molasses against his skin.

Marcus
followed his hand into the wall, battling against the barrier, and
pulled in a deep breath before his head entered. The substance
sucked at his flesh and pressed into his body, almost forcing the
air from his lungs. He waded through it, tired from having to push
so hard, and his hands broke through the surface on the other side
and into warm air.