“I feel like I need to protect her from the world. I hate that one day she’ll have to find her trait, find a soulmate and all that. She’ll have an important destiny and everything. I know it. But I don’t want that for her. I want her to stay innocent forever.”

  Dyston came up behind her as she stood at the window. They were in their private suite in the golden palace in the Realm of Fire. Clouds swirled outside their massive arched windows. A few angels flew past. Dyston kissed her cheek and that of their daughter’s soft as velvet head.

  “Scar, you’re overthinking everything. Just be in the moment with our beautiful daughter and worry about that when it happens.”

  “I know. I know. I love that you’re also so optimistic. But the world is dangerous, and I don’t want the same fate for her as I did or you. Or even Ebony. I hope she can have a boring job, like working in the library or something.”

  Dyston chuckled. “I’d love that for her too. But you know that’s not how life works. Fate always finds a way.”

  She sighed and leaned against her mate.

  “Yes, I know. I wonder what Skyla’s fate will be.”

  He kissed their heads. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  Travis screamed. He unfurled his wings, ready to fly to his mate’s aid. But something peculiar happened.

  Ebony froze just as the blade Andrew Smith wielded hovered above her head. Frozen in time. Ebony fell to the ground and rolled out from under the blade above her.

  “What is happening?” she asked. She glanced around, and only those on the demon headmaster’s side were frozen. Her family and friends could still move.

  Then she noticed her grandmother, Rachael standing with her hands up, holding open what seemed to be a portal.

  “Grandma?” she asked, getting to her feet.

  “Quickly, everyone, get in. I can’t stop time for too long.”

  “How did you do that?” Travis asked in awe.

  Lakyn smirked and shrugged, stepping into the portal and disappearing. Confused, Ebony followed her grandfather, and then Travis, Luca and Cora stepped in soon after. Rachael was the last to step through and before closing the time loop after them.

  A moment later, Ebony stepped out of the portal back into the prison cell.

  She gasped and ran to the bars as everyone exited the portal, which disappeared in a shimmer of light.

  “No, no, no! What did you do?”

  “I’m sorry, Ebony. But I had to,” confessed Rachael.

  “We couldn’t let you make such a big mistake, risking your life and that of your people.,” added Lakyn.

  “What just happened?”

  “I brought us back to before you broke us out of here.”

  “But, why? We need to get out of here! We need to find Sylvie and destroy that weapon.”

  “Yes, but we need to do it the right away. Running headfirst into a fight with a powerful demon is not the way to do it,” said Lakyn.

  Ebony opened her mouth to protest, crossing her arms, but Travis cut in.

  “I agree with your grandparents. We need a plan. You could have gotten killed back there. I can’t lose you. Neither can your family. Neither can the world.”

  Her jaw fell open, but then she shut it again, speechless. She sighed, stomped to one of the cots, and fell heavily onto it.

  Lakyn sighed and came to sit beside his granddaughter.

  “Ebony, I know Scarlett chose you to be the next goddess, but you’re still only seventeen. You’ve not long come into your trait.”

  “You’re saying I’m too young for this. I’m not ready,” complained Ebony, wiping away a tear.

  “No, no, sweetheart. Yes, you are new to everything, and having such a big responsibility can be a lot of weight to bear for anyone, let alone a seventeen-year-old girl.”

  “But I’m immortal now.”

  “Yes, we know, but you’re still only seventeen. I’m not saying you’re not ready. I’m just saying—”

  “Yes, you are! You’re saying I’m too young and not ready for this job. But Scarlett chose me. Me!”

  “Let me try, Lakyn,” offered Travis.

  Lakyn sighed and got up. Travis took his place. He placed his hand on hers and looked into her eyes. He smiled.

  “You’re not alone, Eb. You have us. We have your back, now and forever. Me especially. I am your soulmate.”

  She sniffed and threw her arms around his neck.

  “I love you,” she mumbled against his hair.

  “I love you too.”

  “Now, let’s try this again. I have a plan,” said Lakyn.

  9

  The cloud was only a prototype. Only a mock-up, a draft of the real thing.

  This version of her unique passion project, her baby, was a thousand times better. And it was going to work… if Andrew Smith got his way.

  But she planned to take him out before he got near this project.

  A giant, fluffy purple cloud was suspended in the centre of the lab, almost taking up the entire room. Flashes of gold and silver lightning streaked through it. Underneath sat a large storage vat filled with a liquid form of the Angel’s Bane. Her plan was to create vaccines to distribute to all the academies around the world, as well as the chemical rain. That’s what she was hired for anyway.

  But she couldn’t destroy the entire Nephilim world and strip them of the powers of which they were fated. That went against every fibre of her being, her soul.

  She was Nephilim, but she was also an alchemist. She was a kind of a witch. She had magic coursing through her veins and destroying another magical creature… apart from the mermaid she had to kill… it made her ill thinking of what she had done.

  She just couldn’t.

  She had to find a way to placate Andrew Smith if he pushed her. She had to stall him for as long as possible, so his evil plan didn’t occur.

  Ebony stared at her grandfather like he’d grown another head, blinking.

  “That’s the plan?” she stated, “and you thought mine was insane,” she mumbled the last part.

  “Yes. Trust me. It’s going to work. That’s how your great-uncle Dyston and I have been trained. I have contacted him, and he will send half of the Ethereal army here to us.”

  “Only half?” asked Travis. “We need all the help we can get to defeat Andrew Smith and his army of possessed ones. Not to mention, if the rebels find out the plan for the Angel’s Bane, we’re going to be a world of trouble.”

  “A few are tasked to guard Scarlett and baby Skyla in the Realm of Fire. The rest are being sent around the world to different academies to monitor the rebel activity and to protect the students if need be.”

  He nodded, blowing out a frustrated breath. “Okay, that’s fine, I guess.”

  Ebony walked over to him.

  “Trav, are you okay? you seem… I don’t know, stressed or something.”

  Crap. She noticed he wasn’t normal. He quickly put on a smile for her.

  “I’m fine, babe.”

  “Okay, until the Ethereal army arrives, we are to stay here,” said Lakyn. “We can’t train with our traits, but at least we still have our weapons.”

  “I am the only one still with my trait as the Angel’s Bane contains my blood, but okay. Trav, want to spar with me?” she sauntered over to him, placing a hand on his pectoral muscle and leaning in flirtatiously. She even added a wink.

  Travis caught on and smirked. “Sure.”

  Ebony melted the cell bars, and they stepped through into the corridor to train.

  Lakyn rolled his eyes, sick of his granddaughter’s shit, and walked to the back of his cell to grab his dagger from under his pillow.

  “I’ll spar with you,” said Rachael, grabbing her dagger. They spread their feet and moved to the centre of the cell. They then moved around each other in a beautiful dance of swordplay.

  On the other hand, Cora was not in the mood for training or anything. She just wanted to get her and Luca out of there. She wanted to get all of this place damned place, but they were now on assignment from Commander Blackbell to stay here and protect Ebony and her party.

  They had a critical mission: kill or incapacitate Andrew Smith, return the possessed ones to their original state of Nephilim or human, and prevent the Angel’s Bane from stripping all angels of their powers. And Luca and herself had to protect Ebony and the others while they saved the world.

  She heard a series of grunting. Cora looked over and saw Luca doing push-ups in the centre of their cell with his shirt off.

  Her tummy flipped, and her cheeks heated.

  And then there was the rule about not having sexual relations with fellow army colleagues…

  Luca was the most gorgeous man, inside and outside, she had ever met. She was dying to kiss him, maybe even more. Realms, yes, she wanted him.

  But she was forbidden to be with him in that way.

  But she would have him if they failed in their mission and couldn’t save the world.

  If the world is going to end, you can break a few rules.

  10

  Sylvie leaned back in her chair, rested her boots on the counter and opened her book. She always carried a few novels on her at all times. She loved it all—romance, science fiction, contemporary, fantasy. She loved getting lost in worlds that weren’t her own. When Andrew Smith strolled into the lab, she was reading the bit where the female protagonist first meets her love interest in a romance novel.

  “How’s it coming?” he asked. Sylvie removed her feet from the counter so fast it sent her sprawling back into her chair as she careened toward the hard cement ground. She landed in a tangle of limbs and chair parts. Her book had flown who knows where. She gingerly got up and faced the demon dictator.

  “Um… yeah, it’s good. It’s pretty much done.”

  He raised an eyebrow in question. “Yeah, then why aren’t you bottling it up and getting it ready to ship out? The trucks are coming first thing in the morning. They’ll then be portaled to all academies around the world.”

  Sylvie found her book. It was upside down on the other side of the room. The pages were all askew. She frowned. Oh, her poor book. She was focused on her book. She didn’t take in a word the headmaster had said.

  “Sylvie? Are you listening? We need to get the Angel’s Bane bottled up quickly.”

  “What? Oh, yes. Sorry. Wait… you’re shipping it out to academies? What about my cloud?”

  “It’s too late for that. At present, we are surrounded by the angelic, Ethereal army.”

  Sylvie wanted to scream and shout in glee, but she couldn’t. Because she was essentially a double agent. She had to keep playing pretend a little bit longer.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “Unless you can find a way to take the cloud up into the heavens and insert it above the army without them noticing… we have to resort to plan B.”

  He turned to walk out. Sylvie was left speechless.

  “Wait, I’ll need help to get the Angel’s Bane bottled. There’s a lot of it and only one of me.”

  “Don’t worry, Alchemist. You’ll have help soon enough.” He winked and left her alone once more.

  Dyston rolled over in bed. Scarlett moaned beside him and rolled over to spoon him, wrapping her arm around his waist. She placed a kiss on the back of his neck. He stirred and moaned, turning his head to look at his mate.

  “If you keep doing that, I’ll never leave for work,” he chuckled, kissing her back. The kiss got more heated just as the rudest and loudest alarm they had ever heard echoed through the heavens.

  Dyston flung his body out of bed, ignoring his nakedness. His wings unfurled, and his dagger appeared magically in his hand.

  “Realms! What is going on? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that thing go off.”

  Scarlett bolted upright in bed, flinging off the blankets.

  “That’s the emergency alarm. I’ve tested it in my training. It should only go off at the first sign of war or catastrophe. Something’s happening. Something big.” They each shared a look of panic and concern and quickly got dressed, ready for the impending battle ahead.

  11

  Ebony had her head against Travis’s chest, counting the beats of his heart as the elevator to the prison opened, and footsteps echoed in the corridor. They sprung apart and waited.

  The demon headmaster appeared, a set of skeleton keys in his hand.

  But the keys weren’t needed.

  “What in the realms…” he swore, analysing Ebony’s handiwork she’d done with the cell bars. “I see I won’t be needing these. Come on, then. Come with me.”

  “What? You want us to follow you? I’m not following you anywhere,” retorted Ebony, standing up and crossing her arms.

  “You will when you hear what I’m about to tell you.” The Nephilim stared at him, wordless. They waited for him to continue. Andrew Smith cleared his throat. “We are currently surrounded by your Ethereal army. I have now taken possession of Sylvie’s pride and joy, the best weapon in the universe—the cloud of the Angel’s Bane. If you don’t want me to bring every single one of your men and women out of the sky, causing them to fall to their deaths once they’re rendered helpless, then you will do as I say and accompany me to the lab. Your friend Sylvie is waiting for you. She needs your help.”

  Before they could protest, Andrew Smith rendered them all motionless with his mind. He held onto their souls and squeezed.

  “If you don’t oblige, the army won’t be the only ones rendered useless. I’ll kill all of angel kind. I’ll wipe you vermin off the face of the fucking universe, and then demons will reign supreme.”

  Ebony struggled against his grasp, her eyes wide, tears pooling.

  She couldn’t let that happen. Her friends. Her family, every single soul in the universe, would die because she wasn’t strong enough to stop the demon bastard in front of her.

  She would not let that happen. Not on her watch. Not ever.

  She simply nodded. Andrew Smith let them go a little so they could walk, and then they followed him into the elevator.

  When the doors opened, they found Sylvie standing over a large bubbling silver vat of purple liquid. Glass tubes were going everywhere, and on the other side of the room was a machine that funnelled the liquid into small glass bottles. The bottles then were carried on a conveyer belt toward a set of silver double doors, where a line of trucks waited.

  Sylvie looked up from her position over the vat and gasped when she saw Ebony and her party.

  “Guys, I…”

  “Sylvie… it’s true,” began Travis.

  Her eyes fell when Ebony and the others realised that Sylvie had secretly betrayed them.

  “You lying bitch!” said Ebony, running toward her.

  “Not so fast, Your Majesty. Remember what I said.” They all turned around to see the demon headmaster Andrew Smith hit a large green button on the wall beside the double doors. They expected the doors to close. But inside, there was a mechanical sound, and the domed roof began to open.

  A collective gasp travelled throughout the room as they took in the sky.

  The sky above them was purple. Flashes of silver and gold lightning streaked through the purple clouds.

  Sylvie fell to her knees.

  “My project… how did you…”

  “You should guard your possessions better, Alchemist. I took it while you were sleeping a few nights ago. Doesn’t the sky look so much better?”

  As Ebony and the others watched, they noticed angels flying through the purple-hued clouds, a glimmer of metal shone through as the lightning flashed.

  The Ethereal army.

  Ebony heard Luca gasp beside her.

  She hoped and prayed her great-uncle Dyston, the army’s commander, wasn’t among them.

  “I want you to help Sylvie bottle the rest of the Angel’s Bane and get it ready to be shipped out. If you refuse, well…”

  Out of his pocket, the demon headmaster took a small silver box that looked like a fob off a set of car keys and pressed a button.

  They helplessly watched as the cloud got darker and rain suddenly poured out. A moment later, members of the Ethereal army began to fall from the heavens. One fell through the open dome down onto the floor before them. His eyes were fixed. He was dead.

  Cora screamed.

  Ebony charged at him. “You’re a monster! I’m going to kill you.” The took the sword from her back and lunged at him, only to have him stop her in his tracks mid-air.

  “You’re going to have to try harder than that, Your Majesty,” he smirked. Pressing the button again causing more and more angels to fall to their deaths.

  “Every time you protest or try to kill me, more of your people will die. Help Sylvie or I’ll keep pressing this until every last Nephilim scum is eradicated.”

  Ebony knew then that she had to pull up her big girl pants and woman up if she was going to save her people and the universe from extinction. She sighed and put her sword away, walking over to the bottling machine, picking up a box of what was essentially a death elixir, and carrying it to the first waiting truck.

  “Good. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  She got him death daggers with her eyes, wishing she could destroy him right then and there, but her blood coated these walls, mixed with who knows what else to work against her own powers, preventing her and everyone from using their powers.

  Everyone but the demon headmaster himself.

  The relation hit her like a freight train.

  “You changed the Angel’s Bane. You made it deadlier by using your blood.”

  everyone stopped what they were doing, shocked at the revelation.

  “Well done, little goddess. Yes, I have indeed. By mixing my blood with yours, along with that of the mermaid—any mythical creature would have sufficed—I have created a stronger, better weapon.”

  “How is that possible?” asked Sylvie. “How did you meddle with my recipe?”

 

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