MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (35 page)

“The barn? Seriously? I’ll
be like a sitting duck in there.”

“You'll be in the loft area
at the top of the barn. Since there are only two entrances, you'll have an
advantage. If anyone comes into that barn, you come down on them hard. Don’t
let up. As long as you can incapacitate them, drag them into a stall so they
can't be detected. Do it as quietly as you can so you don’t alert others within
the vicinity. Understand?”

I nod, “Yeah, but once
they're unconscious, how long will they be out for?”

“At the most, you'll have
two hours. At the least, you'll have fifteen minutes. After ten minutes, I want
you to move out and change position.”

“Where do I go?”

“That depends on the situation.
If all is quiet and you don’t hear anything stir, you'll make your way to this
group of trees on the edge of the property,” he indicates the area on the map.
“Cassius will be there waiting for you.”

“Ok, and if all hell's
broken loose—no pun intended—where do I go?”

“If that's the case, you'll
take one of the horses and ride as fast as you can to this point here,” he
points to the center of an open field on the opposite side of the property.
“I’ll be here. Find me. And as long as we're both still on the property, we
should still be able to communicate through my telepathy.”

“Ok,” I breathe.

Solas reads my
apprehension, “I know what you’re thinking. If you’re captured, don’t fight.
Save your energy for when you'll need it. I'll follow you wherever you're
taken.”

“What if you lose the trail?”

“I'll always find you,
Ivy,” he teases with confidence in his words, but his tone's soft and
thoughtful.

Over the next nine hours,
the rest of the Griffin army arrives in groups of twenty.
Our two days left of
waiting becomes one. No one sleeps.
Solas continues to
explain the various positions to be maintained and by whom. He indicates where
the many caches of weapons will be hidden and what they'll contain. I question
why we're not using guns, but he advises against it because bullets don't have
any effect on angelic beings, just pisses them off. So, I prepare myself for
the archaic barbarian way of combat to ensue within hours.

“Hey, sweetie,” Alice says,
joining us.

“Hey.”

“Why don’t you go upstairs
and get some rest? Grab a little something to eat from the kitchen on your way
up. You need the energy.”

Momma bird
, I laugh to myself. “I don’t want to sleep while
there's so much to be done.”

“The Griffins are going to
take their positions tonight. We don’t know a time frame for the attack, so
we'll all be on alert. Eric and I will keep watch inside. Get as much rest as
you can.”

“Are you sure?” She nods,
and I turn to Solas conversing with a group Griffins a few feet from us. I know
he's listening. “What about you?” I ask him.

He excuses himself and
joins us. Wrapping an arm around my back and hugging me to his side, he says,
“I’ll be up in just a little while. Once everyone's in position, I'll join
you.” He kisses my cheek, and I love the feel of soft prickles from his five
o'clock shadow. It makes me want to drag him upstairs with me.

I concede to their
suggestion, but skip eating. My stomach's in knots. I can’t stop worrying about
the many disasters that could happen in the next few hours. Trudging the stairs
to the third floor, my feet drag across the red carpet. Face first, I crash on
my bed as if I just got home from an all-night drunken bender. Sleep's easier
to come by than I expect.

The dreamless sleep I was
hoping for blends into a tirade of flashes like a movie reel. If I didn’t know
any better, I would have thought I was dying and my life’s flashing before my
eyes. The scene of my adoptive parents arguing while I hide in the darkness on
the stairs plays in silence as I watch Frank slap Ruth across the face. A
little boy introduces himself and we become best friends. I observe us growing,
getting older, and getting into mischief. Intermittent flashes of red eyes in
the darkness begin separating the scenes. Another flash, and I’m turning over
inside my car, rolling off of the side of a cliff. Shards of glass dance around
me in slow motion. It almost feels like I’m floating in space, surrounded by
millions of diamond-like stars. Then it stops. I’m upside down and bleeding,
calling for help. Gideon stands close by. Immediately, I know I’m dreaming
because he has wings. Their magnificence shimmer yellow from the light of the
moon overhead. Then he's gone.

I transcend to the day I
moved in with Alice. Her smiling face greets me in the doorway with Eric at her
side. Scenes flash by faster. Red eyes. Jack. Practice with the girls. Jack.
Trey. Beleth. The dungeon of The Keep. Trey. Blood on my hands. The scenes slow
on Solas’ face as he rises from a bow next to Beleth. His eyes broaden as he
stares at me across the table. My surroundings disappear and are replaced with
Jack in my arms and my father standing by my side. Images merge, speeding up
again, and I’m flying with Cass and Beck. I’m back on campus again. I’m
training.

The flashes stop on the
quiet peacefulness of the Veil. Jack's there. He begins walking towards me from
under the colorless oak tree in the distance. There's no mistaking it's him. He
smiles that million dollar smile, and my heart jumps into my throat.

“Ivy,” Solas whispers and
brushes my hair from my face to waken me from my restless slumber.

My heart's torn open again
with the choice between Jack and Solas. I remind myself Jack's gone. I attempt
a forced smile at Solas, but it feels sluggish. “Hey,” I croak.

“It’s time. They're close.
We need to get ready,” he says in a low voice of secrecy.

I jump from the bed, wide
awake with his warning. We keep the lights off in the dark room in case the
enemy is watching for us to stir. I quickly put on a camouflage jumpsuit he
hands me and a matching beanie to cover my black hair. We quietly speed down to
the basement
to
meet Alice and Eric. Alice is smearing
different shades of green face paint over Eric’s face, neck, and ears. She's
hardly recognizable herself with her features covered in splotchy goo. I pick
up a pair of gloves as she calls out to me, “You’re next.”

After I’m painted up, I
spin to Solas, “I love you.”

He hesitates, then pulls me
to him, “I love you too.” His lips crush mine with hasty passion. “I'll see you
soon.”

Alice sneaks with me to the
barn and hurries to her position with Eric in the back garden. I tiptoe to
Max’s stall and open it without a sound. “You ready, boy?” I ask, petting his
mane. I turn on my heels and cross over to Andromeda’s stall to open her gate
as well. “I know you’re ready,” I smooth out a tuft of hair laying between her
ears over her forehead. Leaving their stalls open, I ascend the ladder into the
loft and pull it up behind me. I take a prone position where I can see through
the back entrance of the barn, assuming they won’t be stupid enough to come
through the front.

The waiting game begins. As
the sun begins to rise
on the Tuesday morning
, the temperature doesn’t change. My breath flows from my mouth in
bursts of fog. As to not give away my position, I start breathing through my
nose. Seconds become minutes, and the minutes turn into an hour.
Where the
hell are they?
My skin burns from the cold. My eyes start to droop when I
notice a tiny, white particle float to the ground outside the barn doors.
Opening my eyes wider, I see another, then another.
Fuck! It’s snowing! The
camouflage is useless.
The snow starts falling faster and sticking to the
ground. I call out to Solas in my mind, hoping he can hear me.
It’s snowing!
What do we do?

His response is immediate.
"
We were prepared. In the corner of the loft is a hay bale. Lift it up.
You'll find snow camo with a hat and gloves."
I cross over to the hay
bale in the corner and find the change of clothes. Solas continues to whisper
in my head, "
Use the green camo to wipe your face as best you can.
We'll have to take our chance without face paint.

Got it. I’m glad you were
thinking ahead.

"That was Alice,
actually."

I smile as I finish
dressing and squeeze the gloves on.
Of course it was.
Right as I pull a
white camo beanie over my hair, I hear a
snap
of a twig close by.
They’re
here,
I whisper to Solas as if I could be heard.

"Remember what I told
you, Ivy. Don’t let up. Fight with everything you’ve got."

I hear Max shuffle in his
stall with warning and drop back to my stomach in a prone position. A long
shadow approaches the back entrance of the barn. It stops, and I hold my
breath. My heart pounds with anticipation, and I calm myself before it can be
heard. The shadow shrinks away, withdrawing from the entrance.

Lingering a few seconds to
make sure they're not coming back, I slink forward to the edge of the loft for
a better view. Everything's perfectly still. The electricity in the air is
palpable from the amount of enemies surrounding us. With the stealth of a ghost,
I rise to my knees and slowly stand. I retrieve the bow and quiver leaning
against the wall of the loft. Sliding the strap of the quiver over my head to
rest on my back, I slip a white feathered arrow from the case. I take a knee,
knock my arrow, and aim at the back entrance from the far corner of the loft.
Anticipation builds inside me, and I have to steady my heartbeat and breathing
again.

Andromeda nickers softly,
which is unlike her character. I lean forward to peek over the edge again.
CRASH!
The roof of the loft caves in with an explosion. Splinters of wood fly down
with a massive beast of a Fallen angel. I keep my kneeled position, arrow at
the ready. When he stands to his full height, which I image to be seven feet
tall, I don’t hesitate in letting my arrow fly. The arrow spins midair and
spears its target with a soft thud. Blood oozes over the white feathers
protruding from the center of the target’s neck. The angel’s eyes bulge as he
falls to his knees. Wasting no time, I pounce on his body and wrench his head
until it snaps. As his vertebrae shudder through my palms, I gingerly lay the
beast down.

I don’t know why I’m still trying to be silent. It’s
not
like
no one
could
hear him crash
through the barn.
The hole in the roof gives
away my position, and I'm forced to move. Distinct clinking of swords in the
distance grow louder with each second. I step under the hole in the roof to see
what I can. A shockwave of tremors accompany my disbelief. The amount of Fallen
angels sailing and diving in chaotic patterns is reminiscent of Alfred
Hitchcock’s
The Birds
, but this is far worse.

Their insidious wings
contrast against the pure white falling snow
, which is blanketing the ground now
. I knock another arrow and aim at one of the beasts
above me. I open my hand, releasing the arrow, and it punctures the scapular of
the angel’s wing. As he twists midair, I knock arrow after arrow and assault
his falling form. When I'm out of arrows, I drop my bow and quiver, jump down
from the loft, and rush into Andromeda’s stall. I uncover a broadsword from
beneath the hay in the corner and mount her. “Ready, Ani?” She shifts her
weight in response. "HA!" I call out, commanding her with the kick of
my heels against her sides.

We charge out of the barn
towards the gardens
beside
the manor. Eric rips the wings from a Fallen
with his foot planted between the enemies extremities. Alice is on her back
with a dark angel readying himself for the kill as he shifts his sword from
hand to hand. I pull Andromeda’s reigns to the right and slice the angel’s arm
off. I twist in the saddle and witness Alice spring from the ground. She nods
to me, and I continue through the gardens to reach the open field on the other
side.

Snow blankets the ground
covered in blood, feathers, and dead bodies. The Griffins attack from above in
full animal form. Their screeching battle cries pierce my ears. I spot Solas in
the distance and squeeze Andromeda’s sides, urging her faster. White and red
snow kicks up beneath us in dust clouds. I lean forward and ready my sword
again. I slice through random black wings, throats, and arms as I pass them.

A female dark angel lands
before us with her wings spread wide as she crouches down and snarls. Her ebony
skin makes her red eyes glow bright with iniquity. Andromeda rears up and kicks
at the beast as a powerful body slams into my side, taking me down. I hit the
ground hard and lose my sword.

The dark angel that took me
down sits on my chest and growls as he chokes me with his bare hands. His
wickedness is like lightening through his fingertips. My hair swarms in my face
as I squirm beneath his grip. His anger becomes my anger, and my lack of oxygen
becomes the least of my worries. Reaching both hands above me, I rip my gloves
from my fingers. I slap his ears in unison and watch as his equilibrium wavers.
His grip never falters. I push my arms up between his and try to pry his hands
away. When they start to give, I use my head like a battering ram and slam my
forehead into his face—signature Ivy move when I'm in a bind. He releases my
throat with a thunderous roar. Wrapping my leg around his waist, I roll on top
of him.