Wreathed in Flame (Faith of the Fallen Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  WREATHED IN FLAME

  FAITH OF THE FALLEN: BOOK 3

  by

  Cassandra Sky West

  Copyright © 2016 Cassandra Sky West

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this work may be reproduced without the express, written permission of the author.

  Cover by www.VividCovers.com

  For Frosty NSO, the finest Legionnaire I’ve ever known. I miss you, buddy.

  Heaven.

  Alexi never imagined it like this. Not that she had spent a lot of time thinking about heaven. To be here, to stand in this place— it took her breath away. Gleaming pillars of ivory with gold filigree stretched up to the sky. Light shone from above, reflecting off marble corridors and clothing of pure white. Glory was the only word she could think of to describe this place, and the way it made her feel.

  Men and women of every race strode through the hall. Some wore armor, just as she had in the stadium. Others were clothed in pristine robes that seemed almost to glow. No two people looked alike, yet their faces seemed somehow familiar, as if she had seen them before.

  “Excuse me,” came a deep and resonant voice. Alexi looked up, startled, and took a reflexive step backward. A tall man stood directly in front of her—she had come to a stop only moments before colliding with his shining breastplate. The armor he wore was lighter than what she had worn in the stadium, but he wore it with such purpose she thought he must have been born in it.

  “I’m so…” She trailed off as she met his eyes—brilliantly blue eyes that held hers with such force that for a moment, words escaped her.

  “No, forgive me.” The man… the angel… gave her a smile and nod before stepping around her and continuing on his way.

  Alexi blinked. She searched the faces of the other people nearest her. They met her gaze easily with ready smiles. Each person had their own features—brown hair, black, copper and gold. Pale skin, olive, and deep brown. All of them had bright, piercing blue eyes. Like the eyes of the man she had stumbled into… and like her own.

  “Alexi, are you okay?” The voice to her left startled her. She looked to the woman beside her. Alexi had been so caught up in everything, she had entirely forgotten the woman was with her.

  “I…” She paused, trying to orient herself and gather her scattered thoughts. “No… not really. I don’t even know your name. Why am I here?”

  Her angelic guide smiled. “I understand. Michael would prefer to explain things to you, if you’ll indulge us a few moments more.” She held out a hand, gesturing for Alexi to follow.

  Alexi’s impulse to argue sparked and then went out in less than a heartbeat. There was something about the peace of this place that defied any small frustration.

  She felt as though a lifetime of events had descended on her since she woke in the morgue, less than a year before. Things she would never forget. But perhaps she had thought that before, in her other life… the one she could no longer recall.

  The weight of the past year, and the many she had lived before that... years that were now lost to her… it all bore down on her, seeming to crush her a little more each day.

  Frustration, anger, and fear. The grief of a loss she could not even remember. It was all so heavy.

  Until now.

  She hadn’t even realized the enormity of it all until she was suddenly free of it. She felt as though an entire world had been lifted from her shoulders. She was almost dizzy with the sudden sense of lightness, and the feeling that she could be anything. Do anything.

  She followed her guide through another corridor of pale marble, and eventually it opened into a large room with a ceiling that soared far overhead. Alexi still could not tell where the light was coming from. It seemed to be all around them.

  Two magnificent staircases wound up on either side of the room. She could not see where they ended.

  “This is incredible,” she whispered.

  Her guide smiled at her again; a peaceful, easy expression that seemed both ready and deeply genuine. “It never gets old.”

  She felt, rather than saw, another person approach them. A tall man came into her line of sight. Brown hair just grazed his shoulders, and he wore a uniform-cut vest with a line of shining buttons running up the front. The vest had no sleeves, leaving his muscular arms bare.

  She could not tell anything about him from his features—he could have been from anywhere, from the Middle East to North Africa to California. There was something almost universal about him that defied any box she could place him in.

  “I feel a little underdressed,” Alexi said, casting a glance down at her pajamas. They had penguins on them.

  Penguins. In heaven.

  The man’s brow furrowed. “Yes, that’s… strange. Clothing usually changes upon translation.” He waved his hands through the air in front of her. Her skin tingled, a laugh bubbling up in her throat, but nothing happened.

  “Interesting. We’ll look into that. For now, though—welcome back, Alexi.”

  Back?

  “Uh… well, as awesome as this all is… I don’t remember ever being here. Not this place, or you, or any of it, really.”

  He frowned. “We saw your battle with the demon lord, Alatum. I’m sorry we couldn’t render aid sooner. Until he opened the portal and tried to pull you through the planar divide, we were unable to act. We cannot travel to another dimension unless summoned, by the rules of the Accord. You don’t remember any of this, truly?”

  She shook her head. A dull ache, one she was intimately familiar with, began throbbing at the base of her neck. She reached behind her and pressed down on the spot trying to relieve the growing pain.

  “What’s the Accord? Listen… I’m not sure you’re hearing me. I don’t know where I am, or who you are. Will you please tell me what’s going on?”

  Why would her magic sense kick in now? This place must be drowning in it.

  “Forgive me,” the man said, holding out a hand. “I’m Michael.”

  She took his hand. His grasp was firm, but not threatening. There was a calm warmth to him that Alexi could feel in her bones.

  A stab of pain shot through her head, the ache beginning to pound. A grimace of pain escaped her.

  “There must be some sort of problem,” Michael said. “We thought translation would bring you back to us wholly, but if you don’t remember anything—” He gestured to the stairs. “Follow me. I’ll explain everything.”

  He continued to speak as they climbed, and she tried to listen to him, but her head was a pulsing knot of pain, little flashes of light sparking in her vision.

  “We were very surprised when you were taken from us,” Michael was saying. “Gabriel was sure you would return in mere moments.”

  Suddenly they were at the top of the stairs, walking through another corridor. Michael stopped, waving a hand at a section of the wall that seemed like any other. It vanished, revealing a hidden hallway beyond.

  “You mean… before?�
� She asked. Speaking seemed to make the pain worse, the sound of her own voice shuddering through her skull. “Do you know who I used to be?”

  She sucked in a sharp breath, her vision going dark. Suddenly she was on her knees, blinded by pain. She couldn’t hold back a cry of agony.

  Thunder reverberated through the floor followed by the smell of sulfur.

  Brimstone.

  Above her, she saw Michael’s uniform vanish, replaced by a shining suit of armor.

  Alexi struggled up onto one elbow, trying to see what was happening. All her instincts screamed at her to stand up, but her legs would not hold her.

  Fifty feet down the hall, a circular disk of orange light hovered in the air. The air in the circle wavered back and forth. Wisps of black smoke drifted out of it leaving an oily stain on the white surfaces.

  Demons.

  Michael called for reinforcements. He held out one hand, and a flaming sword burst into life from his open palm.

  He charged forward, and she lost sight of him as she fell back to the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer.

  Deep, guttural growls—all too familiar—reached her ears, followed by shouting and the clash of steel.

  They needed her. Alexi let out a cry as she forced herself over onto her stomach. Slapping the floor with her hands she pushed herself up. Next, she brought a knee under her, then another.

  With every last bit of will she possessed, she surged to her feet. Her senses were raw here. Magic shimmered through the air, and her head felt as though it would explode.

  Demons crawled through the portal spreading their black stain wherever clawed feet touched tile. They were not Alatum. These demons were human-sized, all scaly skin, horns and claws. Each one carried a black spear that disrupted the air around it.

  Three more came through. They looked past Michael as he fought the first, and saw Alexi. The demons hissed.

  Alexi took a deep breath, at the same time pushing against the pain in her head. The sparkles of light faded from her vision and she could think again.

  The three clawed demons looked amongst themselves as if they weren’t sure what to make of her. More, engaged Michael, pushing him back from the portal.

  “Well, come on then,” she screamed at them.

  They charged, their black, jagged spears flying through the air. Alexi dodged, feeling one miss her by less than an inch. The spear passed through a strand of her hair, and the strand erupted in a brief flash of fire.

  Alexi leaped forward, and her fist connected with one of the demons. The creature spun sideways with a squeal.

  She didn’t have any time to follow up as two more spears came at her. The creatures weren’t quite as large as she had first thought. The tallest didn’t even reach her shoulder. The spears evened the match. She batted one aside and dropped to the floor to avoid the other.

  An opening came. She kicked at the demon’s knee. Bone broke. The demon fell, screaming.

  Alexi needed a weapon. She spared a glance to Michael. His flaming sword arced through the air, slicing through several demons at once. They screamed, their bodies vanishing in a black vapor. For each one he felled, two more came through.

  Something hit her. Pain lanced through her side, and she rolled to the side. She felt something hard beneath her. A spear. She grabbed the shaft, and a burning ache rolled up her arm as she hefted the demonic weapon. Her fingers reddened as if put to the fire. She only needed it for a moment.

  The lizard-like face split in an evil grin, showing a double row of teeth. Alexi feinted, and then drove it through the demon’s middle. His scream echoed through the hall.

  Alexi dropped the evil weapon. It vanished along with its owner before it hit the ground.

  “Where is everyone?” Alexi shouted to Michael.

  He cleaved another demon in two. “This isn’t the only portal. Put on your armor!”

  “I… I can’t!” She was trying to repeat what she had done in the stadium, but nothing happened. She desperately willed a sword to appear in her hand.

  Nothing.

  Three demons spread out in front of her in a half-circle, penning her in. They seemed reluctant—perhaps wary of meeting the same fate as their departed brethren.

  They charged as one. Alexi leaped up, tucking herself into a backward spin. The spears crashed together beneath her, and she landed upright, a few feet away. Not bad.

  “Come on,” she shouted at them. They charged again. This time, a spear sliced through her arm. Another lanced across her thigh. She grunted.

  Alexi knocked one aside. Blood dripped down her leg to splash across the white tile.

  Anger welled up in her. The rage was like an old friend—buried, but always there. Anger at all her fear and doubt. At having this monster inside her, forced on her by evil men.

  At everything she had lost, and the injustice of it all. A daughter who thought her dead. The loss of Victor, and everything that might have been. And that she could only live by taking from those she loved.

  Brilliant light engulfed her. The demons cowered, shielding their eyes. The light coalesced around her to form gleaming silver armor. A familiar itch sprang to life as feathered wings sprouted from her back.

  With a cry of fury, Alexi charged the demons. Reaching out, she grasped an invisible hilt. A flaming broadsword sprang to life in her hand as she swung, shearing through a demon. Another swing. A second demon hit the floor in two parts.

  The last one lunged. She batted the spear aside with her off hand and thrust her blade through his chest.

  “Fall back!” Michael called. “We can’t let them breach the gates!”

  More claws dug at the side of the portal as if they were climbing through.

  The buzz in Alexi’s head hadn’t vanished. Adrenaline had quieted it, but not banished it altogether. The magic of Savanna’s spells was like a bright flash, and then were gone. This was almost constant... but not quite. She closed her eyes, searching for it.

  “Alexi, fall back!”

  She ignored him. She knew this. This was something she could do. There. She felt a brief pause in the flow of energy.

  Alexi took a deep breath, gathering her will. As the pulse washed over her the energy had a momentary lull.

  “Close,” she whispered. Her vision swam as her head pounded. The beat of her heart felt like a baseball bat to her skull.

  “Close!” she commanded, releasing her will. A wave of energy came out of her, crashing up against the portal.

  The portal shattered.

  Black smoke exploded as fragments of the portal shattered like mirror shards against the floor and then turned to dust.

  Alexi looked back to Michael. His eyes were wide.

  She grinned, then the floor smacked her in the face. Everything went dark.

  “Alexi. Alexi, come back to us.”

  She opened her eyes. The room glared at her, bright white light stabbing through her slitted eyes. A groan escaped her. She lifted an arm to shade her eyes.

  “Finally,” came a deep voice.

  Alexi tried to sit up, but her body wouldn’t obey her.

  “Stay where you are,” said Michael, the timbre of his voice somehow soothing her and quieting all her sudden anxiety.

  Alexi grimaced as she opened her eyes farther. She lay on a bed in a small room. Light streamed through a window across from her, turning the two angels at the foot of her bed into silhouettes of light.

  One came to her side. Michael. The other angel’s face came into view as her vision sharpened. His brows were drawn together, his face like thunder.

  Her armor was gone. The penguins were back. There was a burn mark in the cotton across one thigh.

  “How did she close the gate?” the scowling angel asked. His deep voice somehow seemed like the threat of a distant storm, powerful and fearsome all at once.

  “She waved her hand and it closed,” Michael said. “Not just one—all of them.”

  Alexi shook her head, little spots pla
yed across her vision. Her stomach growled at her its unhappiness. The buzz of magic that she felt from the moment she arrived in heaven, was thankfully gone.

  “What did you do?” The scowling angel fixed a gaze on her that was like the tip of a sharp blade. Alexi fought a bizarre impulse to shrink back.

  “Honestly, I’ve been asking you to explain things to me since I got here. Now seems like a good time. Where am I, who are you, and why am I here?” No memory on earth, and apparently, no memory in heaven, either. Alexi just couldn’t win.

  The angel’s face seemed to somehow become even more severe. “I’m Gabriel. I lead the defense of this place. Heaven, as I’m sure you can guess. Does nothing of this place seem familiar?”

  “Nothing seems familiar. Not this place, not anything else.” She sighed. “So, almost a year ago…”

  For what seemed the hundredth time, Alexi told the story of how she had awoken in the morgue. Her frustration turned to anger as she spoke of Dupree, and then to sadness as she spoke of Victor’s sacrifice. When she got to Warren, her memory failed her and she couldn’t quite recount what happened next, but she knew she went somewhere.

  Then there were the zombies, and finally, the fight with the demon. She destroyed him with her sword and saw… Victor.

  A silence settled over the room as her words ceased.

  “Is he here?” she asked quietly. “Can I see him?”

  “That wouldn’t be fair to you, or him,” Michael said gently.

  “Who are you to judge that?” she challenged him, anger rising.

  The patience and concern on his face never wavered. “This may all seem new and strange to you, but we have watched over the souls of the dead for longer than you can imagine. Please, trust us in this. You have suffered so much. I would not add to that burden.”

  His voice rang with truth, and the kindness in his tone stopped her anger in its tracks.

  Perhaps he was right. She couldn’t stay here—she didn’t know much, but she knew that. How could she see him again, and then leave? She couldn’t bear that. Not again.

  “This witch you spoke of,” Gabriel said, changing the subject without the least trace of Michael’s concern.