The Fallen

Chapter 6

The silence that stretched between us threatened to unravel whatever was left of my sanity. Small bursts of air escaped my lungs, so shallow I felt like I was going to faint. I closed my eyes and balled my hands into fists. This was it, I had it with his noncommittal answers and his mysterious attitude, I wasn't going to take this any longer.

Taking a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes again, only to be met with golden ones staring at me with unbridled sadness. It was as if he knew what I was thinking, because Samael bolted down the stairs once more, grabbing my shoulders in his shaking hands.

“I promise you, Sienna, I promise I'll tell you everything you want to know.” He stroked my cheek with his thumb, his hot breath fanning my lips. “But I need to get you to safety first.”

I shook my head, pushing back from him and heading for the door. “I'm not going anywhere with you.”

“Sienna, wait-”

The loud bang of the metal door caving in on itself cut him off, the thick scent of smoke coating the air around us made my eyes burn. I coughed a few times, my airways blocked with the awful smell, and tried to find my way through the sudden light that burst into the loft.

Suddenly, a strong grip pulled me into a hard chest, Samael's woodsy scent engulfing my senses. He walked me back into the kitchen, Abbadon standing between us and the fallen door. As the smoke started to disperse, four figures became clear against the sunlight, wings outstretched right outside the loft.
I blinked again, making out the three angels that came after Samael and I outside of my apartment building. They glared at me, their faces contorted with anger, before focusing their gaze on Samael. He pulled me behind him, putting himself between me and the intruders. I peeked around his shoulders, watching as one of the angles stepped inside the loft, a smile on his face.

“Hello, brother.”

“Michael.”

My eyebrows furrowed at their exchange. Was he referring to the archangel Michael? And if so, why would he call him brother? Samael said he was one of the fallen, so did all angels refer to each other as brother and sister? I shook my head. I was missing something, a key piece of information that would make sense of all of this. But it wasn't like I wasn't asking all along.

“You know how things are supposed to go, brother.” Micheal nodded his head towards me, his black eyes narrowing on my hunched figure. “Give us the girl.”

“Over my dead body,” Samael said through gritted teeth, his hands coming around to hold me against him.

“That will not be necessary.” Michael snapped his fingers, and the three angels that stood behind him this whole time moved in, rushing towards me.
Abbadon snarled, aiming a kick at the closest angel, bending his arm at a weird angle when he collapsed and using him as leverage to jump over. She threw her fist into another's face, dodging his kick and tripping the woman who flung herself at her.

“Call off your pet, brother,” Michael said, his voice oddly calm amidst the chaos.

Samael ignored him, pushing me further away from the action. Once he made sure I was out of harm's way, he planted a kiss on my forehead before turning toward the mess in the living room. Abbadon had one of the angels in a chokehold, and Samael dove straight in, jamming his elbow into the face of a guy who was inches away from Abbadon, sending him crashing into the staircase.
Despite the fact that it was two against three, it didn't seem like too much of a fight. Samael and Abbadon were incredibly strong, throwing the angles around like cabbage patch dolls.

Unfortunately, what they didn't seem to realize, what we all seemed to miss, was that Michael wasn't fighting.

By the time I realized he wasn't by his spot near the door, it was already too late.

Strong arms held me in a vice grip from behind, one hand clamping up my mouth and preventing me from screaming for help. I trashed around, trying, but failing to escape his death grip.

“It's no use, Sienna,” Michael said in my ear, his voice annoyingly calm and emotionless. “This is how it was supposed to end anyway.”

Behind me, I could feel him pushing his shoulders back, and within a second, white wings surrounded me from either side. They were as massive as Samael's wings, and just as bright, but somehow these ones made me feel afraid.
In a panic, I stepped on his foot as hard as I could, pushing my elbow into his stomach. He didn't even falter, let alone loosen his grip on me, but I wasn't about to give up. I threw my legs around, kicking anything that was in my way. Michael pulled us back towards the window, no doubt planning to escape through it, when my heel collided with a vase. It fell to the ground, shattering into a million pieces, and catching the attention of a very angry fallen angel. With one nod, Abbadon took over the fight, handling the three visibly exhausted angles with ease. Climbing up a flight of stairs, Samael maneuvered his way around the house, jumping down gracefully to land directly behind Michael and I in the kitchen. The grip on my waist loosened, and before I could react, I was tossed on the floor. I landed face first inches away from Abbadon, who had managed to render her opponents unconscious. She rushed toward me, helping me up to my feet and pulling me behind her. In the back of my mind, I wondered why they were so protective of me. Why were they going through all of this trouble to save me?

“Take her home,” Samael screamed, his fist colliding with his brother's jaw. He groaned when Michael brought his knee up, hitting him right in the stomach. “Get her out of here.”

Abbadon nodded, ready to obey his orders, but I wasn't budging.

“I'm not going anywhere without you.”

Abbadon turned to me, her demeanor calm despite the blood that covered her face and clothes. “listen to me, Sienna. He'll be fine. Okay? I have to get you out of here.”

“No,” I shook my head, tears falling on my cheeks. “We can't leave him here.”

The sounds of pained grunts continued behind us, and I was distraught to find out that unlike the other three, Michael was incredibly powerful. Samael was holding his own, but he was visibly exhausted after three fights in one day. He was beginning to stagger, barely holding his head up and punches kept coming his way.

Abbadon looked between us, torn between helping him or getting me to safety. After a few minutes though, she seemed to have made up her mind, grabbing me again and walking me towards the door.

“No,” I screamed, looking over my shoulder to see Samael still fighting. “No, we can't leave him here.”

Before we could step outside, Michael roared, his calm demeanor vanishing instantly. He locked eyes with me before pulling out a long blade from between his shoulders. I screamed, knowing exactly what he was about to do, and Abbadon let out a panicked gasp before running back inside.

The blade sizzled as it cut through Samael’s abdomen, and his tortured scream echoed through my head as he fell to his knees. My legs shook as I ran, barely making it before I collapsed in front of him. Michael pulled his blade out, aiming another strike at him, when Abbadon grabbed his wings and tore them half off his body. He hissed in pain, dropping the blade and turning to pull the demon away from him. She jumped away, using the railing of the stairs to pull her body up and aim a hard kick to his stomach. He fell to the floor, and before he could catch his breath, Abbadon was next to me, pulling Samael up and hauling him out. I threw his other arm around my shoulder, and together we rushed out of the loft.

“I'm going to open a portal.” Abbadon let go of Samael, leaning him against a wall around the corner.

“It's too dangerous,” Samael hissed, clutching his one wound with his free arm.

“Not as dangerous as flying down. You can barely stand, let alone carry us both.”

Without waiting for his answer, Abbadon held both hands up, waving them around the empty space in front of her as she muttered something I couldn't comprehend. In seconds, a black swirl appeared from thin air, growing in size with every wave of her hands. The swirl expanded into what appeared to be a door, heat and smoke hit me in the face as it came closer. Turning back to us, Abbadon grabbed Samael’s arm again, shouldering most of his weight as she ushered me into the smoky door.

“Welcome to Hell, Sienna."