Page 30 of Fated Angel

Which leaves an enemy. An archdemon? Vladimir and his cult? Another crazed angel like Samandriel?

The beings that appear instantly have Gabby and Colt contracting together. Colt’s onyx wings snap but then draw in close to his back as the seven glowing bodies spread out, circling them.

The Grigori shimmer with pearly light, a mockery of their evil intentions.

Gabby and Colt move so they’re back to back, circling slowly now that they’re surrounded.

“Give us the Spear,” the Grigori say as one, their seven voices in perfect synchrony.

“If that’s why we’re here, then let me save your celestial breaths,” Gabby snaps, adjusting her center of gravity as she prepares to fight. “Not happening.”

Seven sets of eyes flash with white light. “You don’t understand.”

Gabby opens her mouth, prepared to say whatever they have to say won’t change her mind, but Colt presses a shoulder into hers. “Don’t understand what?”

“We’re only working with the cult so we can repair the past.”

Gabby narrows her eyes. Repair the past? What the flock are they talking about?

The Grigori still, seven sentinels with their total focus on Gabby and Colt. “With the Spear of Destiny, we’ll reverse the past. The future will be safe.”

Unease crackles down Gabby’s spine. The way Colt moves infinitesimally closer suggests he feels the same.

“Explain yourself,” he growls. “What past?”

“We were tasked with guarding the Garden of Eden. And we’ve learned that history was twisted.” The Grigori flash brighter with anger. “It wasn’t Lucifer who entered the Garden as a serpent. It was someone impersonating him.”

If it wasn’t Lucifer, then who? But Gabby mentally shakes herself. The history lesson will have to wait. Right now, it’s the Grigori’s solution that’s the most disturbing part of this story.

“You’re speaking of a past that goes back to the beginning of humanity,” she points out, the unease only growing.

“Lucifer is not evil. We will correct that,” the Grigori say.

Colt twists quickly one way, then the other, as if he’s scanning all seven, blank faceless faces. “Correct it how?”

“We will go back and stop it from ever happening.”

The words are said matter of factly. Without emotion.

As if the ramifications won’t ripple through the entire timeline after that moment.

“You’ll wipe humanity out,” Gabby whispers in horror. “Every person alive since then will cease to exist.”

The Grigori all take a simultaneous step forward, closing the circle around Gabby and Colt. “If you try to stop us, you’ll invite something even more deadly onto the world.”

“What are you talking about?” Gabby snaps as she and Colt continue to pivot around each other, trying to keep an eye on these heartless angels.

“Because every light has its dark. There are beings in Hell which are equally as powerful as us. Our mortal enemies.”

“The Sins,” Colt growls.

The Grigori incline their heads. “If we are killed, the seven Sins will have a free pass to enter the mortal worlds and help the dark forces reshape this world in their image. They will turn this world into a living hell.”

Gabby wishes they were lying, but the Grigori’s words ring with truth. Their eyes blaze with righteous fire.

Even if it’s not, they believe it is.

And they fully intend on seeing their plans through.