Chapter 19

I couldn't believe my eyes. "Ylena? What …?"

"Thank the light you're okay." She rushed to me, her white-blond hair in a loose braid, and hugged me tight.

I stood there, shocked. This woman, this angel, had been my mentor for so long. I had looked up to her for most of my life, and once I was cast out, I sometimes thought that I would never see her again.

"I … How are you here?"

She pulled back but held on to my hands. "I ran away."

I looked into her pale blue eyes. "What? Why?"

"Rhodes attacked me."

I gasped. Ylena was one of the most powerful archangels in Elysium. In all of the best scenarios that played out in my head, I went to Ylena, told her about Rhodes, and she captured him and stopped his plan, whatever it was.

"Ylena, what is going on?"

"I don't know," she said with a cry. "When he came back from your mission, five years ago, he told me you made a deal with a demon and you killed all of them. He got away because he was stronger. I didn't want to believe him but there was so much evidence. And you had run off."

"Which made me seem guilty."

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I should have known."

"All right, so, you believed him and sent angels to hunt me."

"At Rhodes's insistence, Adona ordered us to send angels to Earth to capture you. You were to be brought back for questioning."

I scoffed. "Questioning, my ass. Rhodes wants me dead."

She nodded. "I know that. He said … by the light, he has gone crazy. In the last few months, he has been babbling about a reform, how we need to change the structure of our hierarchy, and then he asked me to join him. To take over Elysium and purge the world of all evil. Including evil angels. There are no evil angels!" She shuddered. "It was horrible."

A reform? That sounded as bad as I had imagined. "You said no and he attacked you?"

"Exactly! Many of the archangels are on his side, along with other angels." A sob escaped her throat. "He has been working on this for years, and I had no idea. How could I have been this blind?" She inhaled deeply. "I gathered a few angels who were on my side and we fled but most of them died during the escape. The remaining ones and I decided to spread out and look for you. We know that you're an important piece of this puzzle, or he wouldn't be so desperate to find you."

"He's not after me." I shook my head. "He wants something I have."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

I pressed my lips tight. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but I didn't want to talk about it here, out in the open.

"We should go." I gestured to the car. "We can talk more when we're away from here."

"Good idea."

We moved the disabled supernaturals out of the way, hopped in the car, and exited the garage.

At first, I drove around, toward the nearest interstate, though I was going with the flow and heading out of the city.

After a few tense minutes, I glanced at Ylena. She didn't look like the powerful archangel I'd admired my entire life. She looked like a smaller, dimmer version of herself. Whatever Rhodes had done to her, he had scared her.

"We need a plan," I said. "We need to gather the angels who came with you and hash out a plan to take Rhodes and his allies down."

"Agreed."

"But first …" I gripped the wheel tight. "You might not know this but I lost my magic about six months ago."

She gasped. "What? How?"

I told her a sixty-second version of the events. "I just got it back, but … it's unstable. We can plan, but before we do anything, I need some help."

"You want to train."

I nodded. "Yes. I think that one or two days of training will be enough. I'm sure it's like muscle memory. I just need to exercise it."

"Are you asking me to train you, Ariella?"

"Can you?"

"It would be my pleasure." She offered me a smile. "I can contact the other angels and ask them to meet us. Where?"

I handed her my phone. "Find a motel or inn along the road, away from the city, and tell them to meet us there."

She grabbed the phone as if it was a ticking bomb. "I don't know how to operate these very well."

I almost chuckled. "You can do it."

I gave her instructions and she followed them. She found a motel thirty minutes from here, then she pressed her fingers to her temples and used one of her archangel powers: being able to send mind messages to other angels when linked before a mission.

That was smart of her. If it had been me, I would have forgotten to do that.

"One of them is only three hours from here," she said. "But the others are farther away."

"It's okay. That will give us more time to train."

"True."

I frowned, thinking. "So, after my last mission, Rhodes came back saying I was a murderer and had allied myself to a demon. And, as far as we know, he started working on the sidelines to reform our society."

She shook her head. "I would guess it takes a lot of time and patience to change someone's mind, and if he was trying to gather an army, it was probably even harder."

"But to what end? Kill Adona? Oh light, Adona probably thinks I'm a murderer."

"Adona always told us to bring you to her," Ylena said. "Like me, she thought his story was missing important pieces." She turned her torso to me. "You said before that Rhodes was after something you had, not you. What do you mean?"

Why was I hesitating? This was Ylena, for light's sake. "The Scarlet Hex Dagger. Apparently, the entire mission was to secure the dagger from Molraz. I took the dagger and hid it."

"The Scarlet Hex Dagger? Why would he want it? Do you know what it does?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea, but if the dagger is important to his plans, it must be powerful."

"That makes sense." Ylena sighed. "And you have the dagger now?"

"It's hidden."

"Of course. Maybe we should study it and find out what it does. It could come in handy."

I frowned. I didn't like the idea, but maybe we should consider that. "First, we should focus on my training and a plan where we don't use objects we don't know." She smiled at me. "What?"

"You've grown these past few years," she said, her tone dreamy. "You've become a strong woman."

"Emphasis on woman like a human." I flinched at my words. There were times when I didn't think I would ever be anything else again.

I took a deep breath. That was in the past. I was a full angel again, a cherubin, and with Ylena by my side, I now didn't need to sneak into Elysium to find out what was happening.

With her insight, the handful of other angels who had come with her, and maybe some of my friends, we could stop Rhodes before he made a bigger mess of everything.

My heart squeezed thinking of Adona.

Thankfully, it sounded like she was safe and unaware of what was happening. I could only hope it stayed that way.

"Nonsense," Ylena said. "You're one of the strongest angels I know. I was always sure you would become an archangel someday."

A sliver of pride bloomed in my chest. "Thanks."

"We'll fix this, and everything will be right again." Ylena sounded so sure. "We'll get Rhodes and his—" She pressed her lips tight and shook her head. "I still can't believe this is happening. Rhodes is breaking my heart. I never expected this from him."

I knew what she meant. I had never been close to Rhodes, or to any higher-ranked angel, only Ylena because she was my mentor, but I certainly had thought of Rhodes as a hero, a legend.

And now he was plotting against his own kind.

As we approached the inn, a new thought struck me and I felt ashamed I hadn't thought about them before.

"Ylena, how is my family?" I asked her as I drove into a shopping strip across the road from the inn. We would leave the car here to be found.

"They are well," she said. "Of course, your mother was shocked when the news of your betrayal came to light. I know they endure a little prejudice for being the family of a traitor, but I checked on them often and they were well." She glanced at me. "And Adriel is sixteen now, getting ready to join the Guardians Academy."

"What?" I almost squealed. Adriel hadn't shown any signs required to join the academy. And by the light, she was sixteen already!

"She looks so much like you."

That wasn't a good thing right now. She was seen as a traitor's sister and she looked like the traitor. The academy could be a brutal place, with brutal angels, and she would suffer there.

Not if we defeated Rhodes and the truth became known.

We left the car in a random parking spot, crossed the street, and headed to the inn. We rented only one room with two beds for safety, and before we got too comfortable, Ylena suggested we train.

"This inn is in the middle of nowhere," she said. "If we walk a few yards behind it, I bet we'll find a wooded area, or an empty field."

I liked that idea.

We walked to the back of the inn, and sure enough, past the almost empty parking lot and a line of tall trees was an open field with grass up to my knees.

Ylena stopped a safe distance from the inn. "This should be a good spot."

The line of trees kept anyone at the inn from seeing us, and there was nothing except grass, and farther away, more trees around here.

I nodded and stood beside her. "I don't know the extent of my magic. Perhaps we should start with a basic spell and go from there."

She smiled at me. "It feels like old times. Though, the scenery is a little different."

I almost chuckled, even as longing filled my chest. It did feel like old times, like my first days at the academy, when we learned to summon our magic and control it little by little. Though, at the academy, the open area we train in was separated into several rings that had invisible magic barriers—in case someone lost control. This way, no one would be hurt.

Thankfully, there was no one here with us, and the inn was several hundred yards away. Even so, I kept my back to it, so, if I lost control, I would send my magic to the trees.

"All right," Ylena started. "Take a deep breath, feel your magic, and make a light bolt in your hands."

I did as instructed. When I reached my magic, it resisted, but eventually, it gave in, and I created a bolt the size of a soccer ball in between my hands. It flickered once and I had to focus to keep its shape and power.

"Good," Ylena said, nodding.

"Not that good." I gritted my teeth. "It's fighting me."

"From what you told me, your magic has been inside dragons and dragon eggs, dormant for half a year. It's lazy and reluctant. It'll fight you."

"We don't have time for this."

"Like you said, once you push through this resistance, it'll go back to how it was before. It'll be quick." She waved her hand to the side. "Now, break it down into smaller bolts and throw them out in an arc."

"Any particular target?" Not that there was much around here.

"Not yet. Just make sure it goes a good distance."

I nodded, inhaled deeply, and focused on the big bolt between my fingers. I pulled my hands apart and imagined the bolt separating into smaller bits. Again, the magic resisted, wanting to stay together. With a grunt, I tugged harder and created six bolts from the bigger one. The magic flickered once more, but I kept a leash on it.

I pushed my hands out and sent the bolts through the air, all of them forward, but opening up and forming a big arc.

Ylena lifted her hand and closed her fist. My bolts disappeared into thin air like smoke in the night. "Good." Damn, I had forgotten how powerful she was. "Again."

I groaned. She shot me a look that said "really?" so I swallowed my frustration and did it again. This time was a bit easier. We went from the bolts, to darts, and then to bolts that became darts halfway to their target. After an hour, my arms trembled, my back had a thin sheen of sweat, and I was starting to lose my grip on my magic again.

"One more time before we take a break," Ylena said. "And this time, you can aim at these." She lifted her hands up and six figures of light appeared in the distance. "I'll keep them still for now, but later we'll try them moving. Ready?"

"No," I muttered. She gave me that look again. "Sorry."

"I know this is frustrating for a cherubin who completed her training and has been fending for herself for a while, but I wouldn't be pushing you this hard if I didn't know you could handle it. Once more, then we take a break."

"Until tomorrow?" It was past six in the evening and the sky was starting to darken. I could really use a shower, some food, and sleep.

She nodded. "Until tomorrow. Now, do it."

I took a deep breath, focused, called my magic, and formed a big bolt of light in my hands. I spliced it in six and threw them at the targets, but as I was sending them off, the little bolts flickered and two faded, turning dark.

One of the light bolts landed not ten yards from us, sizzling the tall grass. Two hit the targets and they blinked out of the existence. Another one zoomed past the target, missing it by an inch, and landed at least fifty yards behind it.

One of the darkish bolts fizzled out and disappeared halfway to the target. The other one hit the target in the chest and?—

Boom!

Bolt and target exploded in a giant light-fire. Ylena and I fell back with the blast and the ground shook.

Swiftly, Ylena jumped to her feet, moved her hands as if she was parting wind, and reined in the fire. She pulled it back, until it was the size of a tennis ball. It floated to her and landed in her open palm. She closed her hand around it and it poofed away.

Just like that.

I stared at her hand in awe.

And in frustration.

"I'm not sure I'll be ready in two or three days," I said, my tone harsher than I wanted it to be.

Ylena placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're eager to make it work, but this is the first day. The first hour. I bet that after a good night's sleep, you'll be ready for another go. Tomorrow, we can train for several hours, with breaks, and I'm sure that by the end of the day, you'll be ready. Or close to it."

I stared at her, wanting to be mad, but as usual, Ylena had this calm, serene aura around her and it was impossible to stay mad around her. She was like a mini-Adona, whose presence was an intense calming balm.

And that was why Adona was our goddess, and Ylena was the most powerful archangel in Elysium.

"I'll only believe you when it happens."

She offered me a small smile, but it turned into a frown. "Ariella, if you think about your magic and how you're training to get used to it again, to make it familiar, it isn't much different from when you first started using your magic and had to learn everything. You didn't know what you could do, how powerful you were, but you trained in a carefully controlled environment, with angels stronger than you, and you learned."

"True," I said, knowing she wasn't done.

"That's the same with the Scarlet Hex Blade." And there it was. "We can create a secure environment where we can test it and find out what it does. And once we do, we can determine if we can use it against Rhodes. If we should use it against him." She paused. "Imagine if we can use this weapon and win this battle without much fighting, without loss of life."

My brows curled down. "You're hoping this dagger has good power in it."

"Well, I'm always optimistic." True. "But if it doesn't, if we use it and find out it's a terrible power, we hide it and we never touch it again." Her eyes bore into mine. "I know you're worried, but this might be all we need to win."

I frowned. "You're my commanding officer, but you're acting strange. Why don't you order me to go get it?"

She shook her head. "Things have changed. We're on the run. I'm not your commanding officer right now." She offered me a tight smile. "Besides, you're a smart angel and I know you'll make the right decision for yourself."

Damn, she always knew what to say to move the needle.

With a sigh, I nodded. "All right. We can get the dagger."

"That's a smart decision. You won't regret it. Is it close?"

"Not really."

"That's okay." She turned to the inn. "Why don't we go find something to eat and discuss the details of how and when to get it over dinner?"