Chapter 27

TWENTY-SEVEN

Gabriel

The Angel of Death straightens his tie and smooths his hands down the sleeves of his suit. "You're willing to give up your birthright—everything you were created to do—for a human?"

My answer comes so easily. "Yes. I would rather spend a single lifetime with Willow than the rest of eternity alone. I love her."

"When I show up without you, Seraphiel is going to lose his shit." Azrael tucks a lock of his hair back into place. "His retribution will be swift."

Fuck me. If the twat takes my powers before we destroy the Blade, all my efforts to keep her safe could be for naught.

I hide my wings and tug the shirt back over my head. "I have no right to ask anything else of you, brother. But I am afraid I must."

The disbelief in his eyes does not surprise me. His resigned sigh does. "If it is within my power, I will give it."

A lump swells in my throat, and I clasp his arm. "Willow is in grave danger." I explain everything as quickly as I can. The creation of the Blade by the first coven, the power it can command, and the lengths the two government agents—if that is even what they were—have already gone to control her. "Lucifer gave me his axe, but only a celestial can wield it. I must retain my angelic strength long enough to destroy the Blade. After that…Seraphiel can fuck off."

Azrael sinks down onto a pile of suitcases. "If I return to the celestial realm without you, he will know."

"You could stay here for a time. There is so much good in this realm, Azrael. Coffee. Kettle corn. Pizza." I take a seat at his side, resting my elbows on my knees. "Spend a week as I did. Living . I promise, you will be a better angel for it."

He frowns and rubs the back of his neck. For eons, we have worked side by side, and I know him almost as well as I know myself. He will do this for me. And for Willow.

"Very well. But the motion of this train is turning my stomach. I didn't explore San Francisco either of the last two times I visited. I'm going to remedy that oversight now. When you need me, say my name, and I'll find you."

He stands, closes his eyes, and bends the world to his will. His disappearance is no more than a puff of air to me, but several suitcases split open from the pressure.

Rather than cause any further damage, I let my feet carry me back to the sleeping car. I will miss being able to appear and disappear at will, but a lifetime with Willow is worth it.

The electronic keypad next to the door blinks green. It should still be locked. Worry stabs my heart as I burst into the room. "Willow!"

My shout shakes the entire car. She's not here. Releasing the full might of my angelic power, I search for her.

Nothing. No trace of emotion. No spark of consciousness. How?

Kunchin bursts into the room. "Gabriel? What's wrong?"

"Willow has been taken!" I whirl around and shove him so hard, he flies back into the hall. "Where are Killian and Maddox? And where were you ? I was gone for ten minutes, and they took her!"

The yeti lumbers to his feet. "I just got back from the dining car. Mad and Killian were in their room." He's at their door in three steps and pounds on it with all his might. "Something's wrong."

I do not have the patience to tell him that something is much more than wrong . "Move."

Ramming the door with my shoulder, I splinter it in two. Killian and Maddox lie crumpled on the floor. The angel's arms stretch for his mate, but the warlock is just out of reach.

"Fuck!" I drop to my knees and check Maddox's pulse. "He lives. They both do."

I can sense them. Confusion. Fear. Anger from Killian. He is trying to fight his way free from…something.

"I'm calling Sinclair," Kunchin says.

"Maddox? Wake up." A gentle slap to each of his cheeks, and he groans. "If you do not open your eyes right now, you do not deserve to call yourself an angel!"

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" he slurs. "You…try to fight…a spell like that."

Rolling onto his side, he grabs his mate's hand. "Killian? I'm right here, baby. Come back to me."

The warlock is slower to rouse—his human constitution needs more time to recover. Mad croons to him, soft declarations of love and devotion, until Killian lets loose with a string of curses the like of which I have never heard before.

I stalk over to the window and press my hands to the glass. Again, I search for Willow, but sense no trace of her left in this world. "Please," I whisper. "Fight, my love. Wherever you are, I will find you."

Two hours. She has been gone for two hours and we are no closer to answers.

I pace the platform in Grand Junction, Colorado while Killian and Maddox arrange for the vampires' sleeping trunks to be transferred to something called a "U-Haul."

"Gabriel." Sinclair takes my arm, drawing me away from the handful of humans about to board the train. "Every one of the Bureau's witches is scrying for Willow."

"They will not find her." My anger has long faded, leaving behind an unending ocean of despair. I withdraw the notebook I found under the table in our room and show him the last line she wrote.

AURA's afraid I'll be able to…

"They have sent her to the void, Sinclair. They will not release her until they have the Blade."

The demon's deep blue eyes start to glow. "Two human police officers visited the farm in Nebraska this morning. When they did not return to their precinct by lunch, another patrol was dispatched. They found a husband and wife, a farm hand, and both officers slaughtered. Grayson sent me video footage from the scene. It was a bloodbath."

My legs do not want to hold me any longer. Sinclair grabs my arm before my knees hit the ground. "Look at me, Gabriel."

"Why? So you can use your talents and convince me this will all somehow ‘work out' ?" I shake off his hold. "It will not. And it is my fault they have her. Do you know where I was when Willow was taken? Fighting Azrael in the luggage car. The Angel of Death came to take me back to the celestial realm, and rather than tell him to simply ‘fuck off,' I let him toss me around like a child's toy until I'd had enough and loosed my wings."

Sin's brows shoot up. "You showed Azrael the damage to your wings?"

A dry laugh scrapes over my throat. "No. In one of the Almighty's greatest jokes, my wings are almost completely healed."

He sucks in a sharp breath. "Can you fly?"

"Of course I can fly. But what does it matter? If those bastards release her from the void, I can get to her in an instant, wings or no wings."

"For an angel, you are a complete idiot sometimes," he mutters. "If you simply appear in front of Willow without knowing what you are up against, you will die. Perhaps by the very Blade you mean to destroy."

I turn away, unable to give voice to my greatest fear. Again and again, I promised Willow I would protect her, and every time, I felt the truth she refused to admit—even to herself.

If she is forced to use the Blade, the pure and beautiful soul I fell in love with will be gone. Her body may still draw breath, but Willow— my Willow—will die.

Zoe, who has been on the phone since she and Sin arrived, pockets the device and joins us. Maddox and Killian follow, though the warlock looks slightly…green.

"The vampires' trunks are safely stowed in the U-Haul. There's an abandoned shopping mall not far from the edge of town. Kunchin will wait for us there," Mad says and peels off his jacket.

I cannot see the point of any of this. "For all we know, those demented fucks could have Willow halfway around the world by now."

"It's possible," Zoe says. "But the Lieutenant just confirmed my suspicions. The grimoire is on a ley line that runs across the continental United States."

"And this matters…why?" This conversation is going nowhere. I am ready to take Lucifer's axe and cut this world in two. If only such a thing were possible.

"Because that same ley line runs through McCook Nebraska, several cities in Colorado, and continues all the way to Maine. If I were a power-hungry bitch hell-bent on destroying the world, I'd want that extra oomph of power." Zoe shrugs, and I gape at her.

"You think they knew. That they will force her to use the Blade somewhere along this ley line." A spark of hope ignites deep in my heart.

"I'd bet my formerly celestial ass on it."

I look from Sinclair to Maddox and Killian. Suddenly I understand why the warlock is so uneasy. "Tell me you can track them."

"Falling victim to a witch's spell leaves a bloody awful taste in my mouth. And a rather unique magical signature. The one who cast it was powerful. Ancient, even. But the old ones often don't know a damn thing about modern technology." He pulls a small device from his pocket. "If there's even a trace of the witch's magic left, this will find it."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I remove my jacket and reach for the buttons on my shirt.

"For fuck's sake. Not yet," Sinclair mutters. "Too many eyes. Zoe, you'll stay close to Kunchin at all times?"

"I promise, demon-of-mine." She cups the back of Sinclair's neck and pulls him in for a swift kiss. "Go find the love of Gabriel's celestial life."

The wind whips through my hair. Sinclair soars to my left, with Maddox—Killian held in his arms—on my right. We leave the Sierra Nevada mountains behind and follow the ley line toward San Francisco.

Maddox is half human, and though he has been in the earthen realm for two years, his wings are as powerful as ever. Sinclair's demon parentage left him with magnificent jet-black feathers, and a lethality to his flight I had not appreciated until now.

Killian keeps his gaze pinned to the little black box in his hand. Twice now, he has insisted we double-back, but the device stubbornly refuses to beep.

The four of us touch down in the Bureau's parking lot, where a magnificent gray and white eagle perches on a lamp post with a small bundle clutched in her talons.

"Grayson." I nod at Sinclair's lieutenant. "I am in your debt."

Her screech is harsh enough, I wince.

Killian bangs the small box against his hand. "It should have shown us something . Maddox, we need to visit the cathedral before we waste any more time. I have never been there, so I can't simply teleport."

"Flying will take time we do not have," I mutter and wrap my arm around the warlock's waist. I carry us to the antechamber in an instant.

"Fuck! he shouts when I release him. "You could not have warned me?"

"I did." I am baffled at his outrage. "What did you think I meant when I said, ‘Flying will take time we do not have'?"

"I just flew across three states, Gabriel. The last time Maddox took to the air with me, I'd just been tortured half to death. Forgive me if I need a bloody minute!"

He huffs while I cast a glance around the darkened space. A few drops of Willow's blood stain the floor. I kneel to touch the only part of her that remains in this world.

"Gabriel? Gabriel!" Killian grabs my arm and jerks me to my feet. "It's working."

I shake off the fear I'll never see my love again, and meet his gaze. Then I hear it. The low, rhythmic beep coming from the device in his hand.

The black box is lit up like a Christmas tree.

He fiddles with the dials on the back of the thing until all the multi-colored lights turn green. "Take us to the others. As much as I hate saying this, we need to get back in the air."