Shadow of the Sun (33 page)

Lucia tapped his shoulder. “Andrew, she’s right. Even though my mind and body are screaming for me to protect her, the prophecy states that we should not hold her back.”

Abelie interrupted. “You can’t seriously be considering this, Lucia. She’s my daughter. I just got her back.”

Her words were touching, and I knew how she felt, but I had to do this—not just for her but for all the angels. It was time for me to protect her.

“
Enough,” I ordered. As I had stated before, this wasn’t their decision; it was mine. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. Listen to me—I love you all more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my entire life, and I refuse to stand by and watch you all die trying to protect me.” Unfortunately, I had no idea how I would defeat the Shadows single-handedly.

A soft tenor voice sounded from behind me. “Gabriella,” Joseph said, “there’s no reason to be selfless right now when we’re all here to help. You don’t have to carry this burden alone. Let us all carry the weight.”

“
It’s true, we’ll all fight,” Ehno agreed.

Behind Abelie was Aiden, his back to all of us as he watched the Shadows’ every move. “We aren’t giving you the Illuminator,” he yelled toward Jeff, his voice ferocious. “We didn’t give her up when she was a child, and we certainly won’t do it now.”

Jeff laughed, amused. “She’s going to kill the Shadows—that includes you. The daughter that you continue to protect is the one who will kill you. Priceless.”

Aiden growled and fire shot from his palms. The flames raced across the ground and circled around Jeff before they licked at him angrily. Jeff merely stomped on the ground, and the fire went out. Smoke lingered in the air around him.

“
Then we fight.” Jeff smirked.

“
No,” I shouted and sprang forward out of Andrew’s embrace and tried to penetrate the circle of angels. Andrew yanked me back by my waist, and the circle tightened. “Let go of me.”

“
I can’t let you do this. Please Gabriella, please don’t go,” Andrew pleaded, his eyebrows pushed together in frustration.

I struggled in his grip. “Please don’t fight them,” I begged as frustrated tears descended my face. “I can save you all.” I repeated the prophecy’s words.

Andrew placed his hand against my head and pulled me to his chest where I continued to cry out. “I don’t care about the prophecy. I won’t let them take you. I just won’t.”

I quit struggling and let him hold me.

“
Even if you went to the Shadows, I’d fight to get you back.” Andrew lifted my chin to his face and placed his lips to mine quickly before he looked up toward Ehno and nodded.

Chaos erupted—like a volcano bursting at the seams with hot molten lava. Though the sun had set, the area was alight with fire. The Shadows attacked, and the circle was quickly penetrated. Aiden broke free from our small grouping and charged into the Shadows. Then he was gone, as if a bunch of ants attacked a piece of meat and swallowed him whole. Lucia battled against several Shadows, but she was wearing down. She had been weakened after the Ladies of Light attacked us, and I was sure she hadn’t returned to full strength yet. Still, she continued to thwart her attackers, many of them disappearing as she cast them away. Ehno sent red light flashing into a group of Shadows, and several of them went down. Not enough to make a difference. There were too many of them and not enough of us.

Andrew stayed at my side, his voice low and vicious as he shouted many fluid Italian words that made sparks fly from his palms and race through the bedlam. My eyes shot around the battlefield, desperately searching for Joseph whom I had lost sight of. He was only human, and there was no way he would be able to fight against these black creatures. Surprisingly, a few gunshots rang out. When Andrew glanced over his shoulder at me, he pointed off in the distance, as if he could read my thoughts when we weren’t touching. As my eyes swung the direction he pointed, I breathed out a deep sigh of relief. Joseph was fine, as far as I could tell. He was on top of a Shadow, his gun tossed aside as he punched him mercilessly, his strength disproportional to his size. His powerful punches surprised me; he had extraordinary strength for someone so human.

As everyone fought against the Shadows, I tried to keep track of them. The pandemonium was too much. Lucia was down on the ground, hurt. I ran toward her, shouldering my way through the battle, and slid on my knees in the dew-covered grass. As I went to her aid, a Shadow came out of nowhere and dove for me. He pushed me down on my back and held my arms above my head with one hand. He ripped at my shirt, and I tried to electrocute him, but my strength had not fully restored since I received my injury from the Ladies of Light. The Shadow’s hot, greedy breath was at my throat, as if he was sniffing me. His fingers around my wrists burned my flesh away, and odd little whimpers escaped my mouth as I writhed and shrieked, unable to cause any damage. Suddenly, the Shadow flew across the field and tumbled into a few others. They went down like bowling pins.

Andrew knelt next to me and moved a strand of hair from my face. He had an anxious expression displayed on his face. “Are you hurt?”

I was, but there was no time to worry. The burns would have to wait until later. We were in danger. “No. I’m fine, really.”

He helped me up, and two Shadows came up from behind and yanked me back into the chaos. The Shadow’s skin was rough and hot against mine. Andrew shouted something and sparks flew as fire flared in my view. I screamed for him. There were no answers. I couldn’t see any of my angels. There was a loud explosion, and several of the Shadows flew into the air, their bodies limp. Abelie walked through the smoky remains of the grass and shot off spell after spell; Shadows disappeared at random. As the wind blew the smoke away, I saw Andrew break free. But he was too late—three Shadows sent fire sweeping across the ground toward Abelie. My pulse quickened. I shouted for her to run, but she couldn’t hear me through all the noise.

As I watched, helpless, a feeling of horror rose like bile in my throat. The fire ran up her clothes. It didn’t burn her like I thought it would. No, it snaked slowly up her body and around her neck. The Shadow smirked and made eye contact with me. As if the cacophony of battle ceased, the loud crack of her neck resonated through the cold night air. I gave a small cry of shock, and my stomach jolted sickeningly. I felt as if my heart would fall out of my chest. The raging battle disappeared and all there was—was my mother.

Andrew ran toward Abelie and caught her before she hit the ground. Her body was limp, her face empty as her green eyes, my green eyes, stared at me lifelessly. There was a chill in my stomach as I tried to digest the horrible image before me. Each breath seemed to become sharper in my chest. It was oddly disembodying, like part of me was being detached.

It’s too late
, a voice echoed in my head.

A scream of agonized fury tore from my lips. “No! Please . . . God! Not her. Not my mother. Take me instead,” I shouted at the sky. No longer was I paying attention to the battle. A Shadow could have struck me dead, and I would have been okay with that—anything to alleviate this horror. This pain.

Aiden sprinted through the smoke toward Abelie. His whole body burst into flames, and for the first time they were blazing hot, just like his fury.

As the tears descended my face, Andrew leaned over my mom, or what was left of her, and shut her eyes. I took a step toward the woman who had done everything she could to keep me alive. Out of nowhere, Joseph sprang up and tackled me just as a violet light flashed over our heads. How was he still alive—a human—and my mother—an angel—not? Abelie isn’t here to heal me this time, I thought abruptly. My heart felt like it would burst with the overwhelming anguish. As if something had been ripped from my body. I crawled to her like a soldier, needing to hold her in my arms—those same arms that would never bring comfort to me again.

I gasped and knelt beside my mother. There was no puddle of golden blood, no marks—just a lifeless body. It was in that moment that I realized I’d never speak to my beloved mother again. Though it killed me to tear my eyes from her, I turned to see Aiden sobbing molten golden tears. Regardless of his Shadow name, he was an angel. When I looked to Andrew, hoping he could tell me something different from what I already knew, he glanced up to meet my gaze. To my surprise and shock, his eyes were like sapphires, the richest most electric blue I had ever seen, his face tortured. It was true then.

“
Your eyes,” I whispered and went to wipe away his tears. A fiery mist burst over our heads and descended upon us. Hadn’t there been enough damage done? I could see Jeff in the distance, a gleam of triumph in his eyes as a smirk quivered on his lips. Hate and revulsion rocked my body.

It was then that the Shadow to my left gasped in shock and fear. The others followed when they looked my direction. I knew what they were afraid of. They were frightened of me and my glowing skin. The prophecy’s words scrolled through my head. “As the dark ones approach, the Illuminator should be set free, uninhibited by all Guardians. She will show us all who the enemies are and how to defeat them.” I stood, more livid than I had ever been in my entire life. It was time to prove who was the most powerful. It was me.

My vindictive wrath acted as a stimulant. The waves of fury I generated could probably be felt for miles. I welcomed the tide of anger that swelled within me. Powerful hatred swept through me roughly as electricity coiled at my core. I eyed all the Shadows malevolently.

“
Ombre, è il momento di cadete
,” I said in a low and deadly voice, my arms outstretched, palms faced forward. There was no hesitation. I didn’t know where the Italian words came from, but I understood them: “Shadows, it is time to fall.” And fall they did, like sooty pieces of wood, as electricity exploded from my luminous anger. Every Shadow in a mile radius was probably knocked off their feet. Even the dancing firelight was extinguished, leaving oily smoke billowing in the wind. The grounds were bathed in a ghostly moonlight, and a scene of total devastation was all that could be seen.

CHAPTER
24: DIVINE LIBRARY

The cold night air ripped through my lungs, each breath burning. The moon lit the vicinity with a silver radiance. It would have been a scene of beauty if it weren’t for the smoke that rose from the smothered flames. Shadows lay scattered across the grassy hillside like large lumps of coal. As my eyes moved over the still body of Abelie, there was no preparation for what I would see. In those seconds, I fiercely accumulated more reasons to hate Jeff Vittorio—to swear revenge. I glanced away, unable to look at her any longer. Ehno was assessing Lucia’s wounds. She must be okay because she sat up without any help. The two whispered softly to each other, and for the first time I saw the love and tenderness as Ehno’s fingers trekked across her cheek.

“
Gabriella?” a voice breathed delicately.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion, even when I spun around to see Andrew’s electric blue eyes. It was as if his soul burned through the indigo, showing his concern, love, and devotion. His arms outstretched, almost as if he didn’t know what to expect from me. A powerful force pulled me toward him. His palms cupped my face as his thumbs rubbed away the onslaught of my tears.

“
Shh,” he whispered and put his lips to my forehead. I melted like an ice cube on the hottest day of summer. Andrew caught me in his arms and held me firmly against his chest.

“
Your eyes are blue,” I stated numbly.

“
When an angel feels an extreme emotion, it’s shown by the color of the eye.”

“
Oh.”

All of my rage and fury vanished when I was in his arms, and the only thing left was my mother. She was dead. Gone. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t. It was only moments—just a handful a minutes—that I had with my mother and now she was . . . lifeless. The quiet scene was disrupted by Aiden’s piercing cries, the sound like a sorrowful requiem. Each shuddering breath he took in was echoed by the surrounding angels. I turned to look at Abelie, and once again, I jerked my head away from the limp form on the ground with Aiden kneeling beside her, not willing to comprehend her end.

They should’ve let me go. This was entirely my fault.

A Shadow moved in the moonlight, and the same wrath and anger boiled up to the surface. I pushed my way free of Andrew’s arms and walked toward the moving form. My breathing hitched, and my chest moved up and down faster and faster. In the back of my head, I noted that no one stopped me from moving forward. Fire burst from the Shadow’s clenched fists as he started to get to his feet. The moon cast an odd shadow over the creature as I positioned myself over him.

“
Stay down,” I ordered with a flick of my finger. Rage boiled in my voice, and my tone was that of cold fury.

The Shadow fell instantly back to the ground. Italian words weren’t necessary, electricity wasn’t required, I just possessed the power. I pivoted to see the stunned looks on several faces. The eyes of the angels were all a liquid blue; even Lucia’s eyes were more like sapphires than the shallowest of oceans I was used to.