Hell's Angel: Guardian Angel Book 2
Chapter 16

It felt like I was floating and the next thing I knew, we were out of the castle and in some kind of dark forest. I was on my back with two gorgeous men looking down on me. I could see gnarled branches from trees stretching toward the sky behind them. Everything was still a little fuzzy, but awareness slowly entered my senses like the dampness seeping through my clothes from the leaves I was on.

“...used too much power. It was a pretty impressive display.”

“You should not have let her come.”

“She did it for you, and you of all people should know that she’s stubborn. She won’t be dissuaded from something, not even by fear or common sense.”

“I take offense to that.” I was pleasantly surprised to replace that my voice was stronger than it had been before I collapsed. They stopped glaring at each other and focused on me. I started to sit up and Michael dropped to the dirt next to me and placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. The touch warmed me and the relief of seeing him no worse for wear almost took my breath away.

“Lyra, you should lie still for a little longer. You need rest to recover.”

I grasped his hand in mine and used it to haul myself in a sitting position. “I actually do feel fine. I’m a little banged up, but nothing I can’t handle.” I lifted the hem of my shirt to see the damage from the ogre. The skin was pink and angry red scars made dimples where the spikes had hit, but it wasn’t all that bad, considering.

Michael’s long fingers grazed along the healing flesh and something akin to awe flashed in his eyes. “This should not be possible. You are fully a goddess, yes, but your body has not had time to transition all the way. Lift your shirt more.”

I jolted back and a growl rumbled in Loki’s chest to my right. Michael looked down on me in earnest. His expression wasn’t like I’d seen from the few men who’d seem me topless. He was more curious.

Slowly, I pulled the hem up a little more. He helped guide the shirt along so that my back was fully exposed to the shoulders but my front was covered. I was silently and irrationally thankful for the hot pink sports bra with the thin lacy straps that crossed in the back.

I shivered when I felt his warm finger gently caress my shoulder blade. “Hmm,” he murmured. “You have

gotten your wings.”

My head snapped up and I twisted painfully as if I could see my behind me to my shoulders and whatever he was talking about. Even Loki, who’d been sulking by a tree the size of a New York skyscraper, stood a little straighter and peered at my bare back.

Another delicate shiver ran down my spine and an added weight tugged against my shoulder blades, but I ignored that. “Only warriors have wings,” I argued stubbornly.

“That is correct, but you and Vega are the daughters of Creation and warriors in your own right. You inherently have the weapon of flight. Just relax. Your body knows what it is doing.”

I took his hand and drew from the strength and familiarity in the touch; he was my one constant in my millennia of lifetimes. I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath. The air smelled damp and moldy and made me wrinkle my nose in disgust, but I concentrated past that. I rolled my shoulders back and a feather soft touch responded to the movement. Stifling a surprised gasp, I focused on that new sensation as new muscles I wouldn’t have realized were there flexed. It was uncomfortable, at first, trying to get this new appendage to cooperate and took several unsuccessful tries before anything happened.

Needles pricked at my back making goose bumps appear along the skin of my shoulders. Two sharp pangs of pressure caught me off guard and I nearly lost my balance. I squeezed Michael’s hand tighter and sucked my bottom lip between my teeth while my shoulders opened up like something from a bad horror movie. My eyes almost popped out of my head seeing the twin wings unfurl above my head. I’d dealt with a lot since learning I was really a reincarnated goddess, but this was borderline insanity.

They looked like they belonged to Tinkerbell, transparent and ethereal with the outer edges curving up into points. The wings glowed a gorgeous silver. The wings responded to my commands like any other body part and stirred restlessly. I curved one wing forward and reached my free hand out to gently run my fingers along the surface. It was warm, like the rest of me, and smooth as glass under my fingertips but not nearly as rigid. The softness under my fingers moved and felt like velvet and chills tingled along the new nerves my touch stimulated.

A rush of air whooshed by me and I looked up to see Michael’s own beautiful feathered wings ready to go. He looked amazing: tall and proud with those white wings ready for battle. His naked torso and all of his delicious muscles definitely helped complete the picture of avenging angel.

Still holding my hand, he started an upward ascent. Instinctively, my own wings fluttered until they found a smooth beat to glide easily along. A heady rush of exhilaration flooded through me as I soared higher and higher on my own. Michael stayed nearby, just in case, but it was pretty liberating to not have to use him as a crutch.

“Okay, we have to get back now. There’s no telling what Vega’s forces have done.”

“I can tell you, little sister.”

My very first solo flight came to a screeching halt at the sound of her voice. A single flap of my delicate wings spun me toward her and Michael hovered protectively in front of me.

Where Michael’s wings were like white feathers and mine where silvery gossamer, the ones holding the other goddess aloft where midnight black leather. They were all sharp edges and points, curving up to a fierce tip and then down by her hips, like giant bat wings. Vivid red hair, just light enough to still be called strawberry blonde, danced like a living flame around her head. Her turquoise eyes seemed even brighter from the heavy black liner and smoky makeup. Full, blood red lips curved up in a smirk.

Michael, Loki, and I were hopelessly outnumbered by Vega and a small contingent of a dozen titans, some flying at her side and several more stalking on the ground toward the now-wolf Loki. My fingers twitched nervously above the hilt of my sword, but I knew even my power was limited against this many monsters.

Vega’s eyes zeroed in on my hand and she sent a spark of electricity at me. It was a mild zap compared to what I’d seen her do before, but it rocked through my entire body and frayed every one of my nerves. “I wouldn’t, sister. I want to have my fun before I kill you.”

Michael wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his firm chest to keep me airborne. His stormy eyes were almost black when I looked up into his face and saw him glaring across the way at Vega. I laced my fingers in his hand and squeezed. He looked down at me as his features softened just a tiny bit, but the murderous intent Vega brought about was still there. I appreciated his chivalry in wanting to protect me, but this was the time to play it smart.

“So this was your big plan? Bring Arcadia here just so you could toy with me? A little anticlimactic, don’t you think?”

Her smirk turned into a full out grin. I half expected lime colored smoke to create a haze around her. “Oh, Lyra, that is only the beginning.”

A slight rustling and a crack were my only warnings before tree branches wrapped around me like a lasso. I’d seen them rising up from the forest a couple of feet down, but it hadn’t been enough time to move. One long branch snaked up my legs and another squished my new wings against my spine. Thorns bit at my skin. They squeezed so hard I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t even gasp for help, but that wouldn’t have mattered anyway. From my vantage point, I could see evil branches wrapping around Michael too. He fought against the trees and the titans trying to keep him contained, but he wasn’t in tip top shape after his stint as my sister’s prisoner. And it’s not like a wolf could climb a tree, and even if he could, I heard the commotion on the ground telling me Loki had his own problems.

I struggled to reach the broadsword at my hip, the thorns digging in like sharp needle points with every move. I froze and a strangled cry of pain escaped past my lips. Bad idea. I didn’t want to be defenseless and I absolutely refused to just give up, but my strength was still pretty zapped from the stunt at the palace. I needed to replace some other way out of this mess.

Vega floated closer to me. She crossed her ankles lazily and smirked down at me. I still fought against the spiny tree limbs but it was fruitless. “Let’s watch what happens, shall we? Who dies first? The overprotective guardian that is so loyal he’d give his life just for you to be happy, or the traitor that abandoned his mission all because of lust? You decide, Lyra, but make it quick.”

My eyes narrowed at her. I really wanted to wipe the grin right from her face. “You won’t do that. You’re too vain to just get rid of them. You want to win.”

Mischief flashed in her dark lined eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve already had plenty of fun with your angel when he was trapped in my bedroom. And I’ll still win if they’re both sent to the abyss. It’s all about you, Sister. My game is to make your life hell. This is how I break you.”

Rage boiled through me, reinvigorating my exhausted body. Heat bubbled in my veins. “You’ve attacked my family, killed my sister, taken Michael, and hunted me for centuries. Well guess what, I’m still here. You won’t break me!”

I was an atomic blast as all of the anger at Vega I’d been carrying finally burst out. White hot energy exploded from me, completely melting the prickly branches. My wings unfurled like rose petals and my blade sliced through the air when I pulled it from the scabbard. Vega’s expression sobered instantly and her turquoise eyes darkened in fury.

“Don’t let my sister leave here alive,” she snarled at her titans.

A mass of red eyes charged at me. Wings of feathers and scales from creatures only in nightmares stirred the air, buffeting me with hurricane force gales that made it hard to stay up. The first monster to break away from the group was twice as large as me with a curved black beak in a too-human face. Wisps of feathers and hair stuck out of its mottled head in random tufts. A large boost from my wings pushed me out of the thing’s range and I jabbed the sword at it from a higher angle. The blade connected with its long neck and I had to force back a gag the ugly head plummeted to the ground a moment before the bird-like body followed.

When the hordes hit, I wasn’t so lucky. I was instantly immersed in a sea of demons. Bodies pressed so tightly that I could barely make out the dark grey thunderclouds that perpetually hovered overhead. Razor claws dug trenches into my arms and a set of teeth clamped onto my waist. I slashed frantically with my sword to at least get a little breathing room, but it seemed that the harder I tried, the more I was smothered.

Desperate, I called on my magic, even though I knew it would weaken me. Lightning crackled at my fingertips before it zapped out of me. The strike only affected half of the titans surrounding me, and only some of them dropped from the sky. It didn’t take too much out of me, but I knew that I couldn’t keep that up for long. Regardless, I let power surge through me and got ready for the next wave of attackers.

A blue-skinned, pointy-eared thing like an imp flew at me first. I pirouetted in midair and brought my sword down with all my might. I fully expected the imp to parry against my strike, because let’s face it, six months wasn’t nearly enough time to make me a samurai master when these guys had been causing havoc for thousands of years. I did not, however, expect the weapon to just phase through the thing, which is exactly what happened. I squeaked as I lost my balance and couldn’t get it back in time before slimy tentacles wrapped around my arms and chest, causing me to lose my grip on my only dependable weapon.

“Why do you even try, Lyra? While you’ve been playing human, I’ve only gotten better, as have my titans. Anything you can do, I’m ready for and can do a million times better than you, you pathetic child.”

There was no question that she could beat me at anything combative, but I wasn’t the goddess of humans because I was a fighter. Humans were so much more complex than that, something she’d never understand. The whole reason I’d left the City in the first place was because they were free- free to experience life, free to make decisions, free to love, free to feel.

And just like that, my eyes popped open with a crazy plan. Vega was cold and heartless, and human emotions were so foreign to her that there was no way she could handle them. I still carried all of the sorrow and pain from Maxine’s funeral. It was almost too easy to tap into my Empathy, the one gift I didn’t think would be useful here. Vega cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me. I met her stare with a determined one of my own and pushed all of those heartbreaking emotions at her.

Her red painted lips parted in a shocked ‘oh’ and I could hear the gasp that pushed from her lungs over the din of battle. Only a second later, her face contorted into a look of agony and she bit her full bottom lip to keep from crying out. I pushed everything at her, pain and sadness, love and happiness. Even the good emotions were too much for her to handle. A cry escaped her throat and she clutched onto her head. Her knuckles turned white as her fingers dug into her scalp like she was trying to claw her brain out.

“Sister, please!” she wailed.

I froze. Even before this whole mess, before the world even existed, she’d never shown this kind of weakness. I really didn’t want to hurt her, and maybe there was a way to end this without any more death. She was my sister, after all, and even if she’d never loved me the way Max did, I wasn’t the callus type. I pulled back slowly until the overwhelming feelings unlatched themselves from her.

Vega huffed out a deep breath with her eyes still closed so tightly her whole face was screwed up in a scowl. I waited with my stomach tied in knots for whatever happened next. It seemed like an eternity passed before her eyes snapped open and my heart dropped to my toes. The pretty features of her face contorted into hard planes and angry sparks literally flew from her eyes. “You are too easy. That will be your downfall. A fitting end for a stupid little girl.”