Raffe spreads his wings to shelter us so that he’s at our backs with his wings protecting us on either side.
Doc may have been wrong about Paige’s feelings for Beliel, but I’m becoming convinced that he was right about Paige having something special about her. Whatever it is that Doc secretly did to her, it gave her some kind of connection with the scorpions. They’re swarming around her and protecting her with their own bodies.
They keep coming. Some sting, some don’t, as if the scorpions are confused about what they’re supposed to do. But even the ones who sting don’t linger. It’s more of a hit-and-run as if they sense that they’d be in big trouble if they stayed.
The swarm lifts, leaving the lawn littered with angels on their knees and bellies. Everyone stares up at the sky to see what’s next. We’re the only ones still on our feet.
The swarm twists and turns around to make another pass. The angels who are on their knees dive down on their stomachs, and everyone covers their heads.
Maybe if they could use their swords, the dynamics would change. But no one seems to want to risk having their sword refuse them even if it’s just for one battle.
I look around to try to see what we should do. Since they haven’t aimed for us, ducking for cover doesn’t make a lot of sense.
The swarm keeps coming. A huge gust of wind makes my eyes sting and almost knocks me off my feet.
But they split around us as before, letting us stay upright while everyone else flattens on the ground.
Still holding the folded wings, Paige slips out from between us and lies on top of Beliel. The wings are sandwiched between them with the downy feathers fluttering in the wind.
Beliel has shrunken and is almost unrecognizable lying like the dead on his stomach. The wings covering his back, though, look contrastingly full of life as they droop over him like a white blanket.
A scorpion hovers over Paige, trying to lift her but she won’t let go of Beliel.
My skin turns cold at the sight of that curved tail with the stinger so close to my sister. I’m tempted to slice it off. But Raffe puts out his hand to stop me as if he knows what I want to do.
“Put her away,” he whispers as he nods to my sword.
I hesitate, thinking of all the reasons why I should keep my blade out. But I wipe the blood on my pants and slide the sword back into the scabbard at my hip. This is not the time to argue.
More scorpions slow down and hover over Paige. Four of them grab Beliel around the armpits and legs while two others pull on his belt. They lift him with Paige clinging on top like a princess on a demon palanquin.
I reach for her, wanting to pull her off.
Raffe grabs my hand and begins running after them as the last of the swarm passes by. He swings me up and pulls me into his arms.
I hold him as tightly as my trembling muscles will let me.
A few steps of running and we’re leaping over the cliff into the air.
ANGELS IMMEDIATELY pop up from their prone positions and begin chasing us. Some look stung and sluggish but too many of them manage to shake it off. Raffe’s wings sweep powerfully as we fly above the crashing waves.
Behind us, a horde of angels takes off from the cliff.
The thunderous sound of the scorpion wings gets louder as the swarm twists and doubles back. The scorpions fly so close to us that their insect wings almost brush my head as they dive toward the angels.
My eyes squint against the rush of insectile bodies. Watching over Raffe’s shoulder, my field of vision narrows and widens rhythmically as Raffe beats his wings.
The swarm dips down, colliding with the angels just behind us.
The titanic clash knocks out the angels and all I can see are stingers and insect wings. No angel can penetrate the mass. I imagine this isn’t exactly what Uriel had in mind when he created the scorpions.
The scorpions dive and double back toward us without a single angel in sight.
We are in the swarm.
Bodies fly above, ahead, and below us. Behind us, the mass of stingers and wings is so dense that it’s a wall of giant insects.
We look around nervously until enough time goes by that we stop worrying about whether they’re going to attack us.
Beside me, my little sister rides on what’s left of Beliel. Her legs wrap around his waist and she presses Raffe’s severed wings onto him with her body. The tips of the snowy wings hang off him, fluttering in the wind.
Beliel is a gruesome picture with his head hanging down. Chunks of him are missing and he’s still bleeding. His skin and muscles are shriveled and sucked dry, making him look frail and long dead.
They’re carried by six scorpion monsters fluttering their iridescent wings, and they are a freakishly bizarre sight. Paige turns to me and gives me a shy smile that stops when the crisscross stitches on her cheeks move too much.
My dad once told me life would get complicated when I grew up. I’m guessing this isn’t what he meant. My mom, on the other hand, agreed with him, and I’m guessing this kind of thing is exactly what she meant.
I curl up in Raffe’s arms. Our flight is in sync with the swarm, as if his instincts are perfectly honed to synchronize with his flight mates. It’s clear that he was meant to be an integral part of something larger than himself.
Raffe is warm and strong and he feels like home. Our faces inch closer as the swarm shifts. For a moment, I can feel his breath feathering my cheek.
We’ll fly wherever the swarm takes us, and we’ll land wherever they do. And when we arrive, I have no doubt that I’ll have to be fully alert and ready for anything. Until then, I can bask in the knowledge that my family is safe for the moment and I’m with Raffe again.
The sun is rising, giving the dark ocean below a glow that shimmers with blue, gold, and green.
It’s a new day in the World After.
MUCH THANKS to my fabulous beta readers who helped take the book to the next leveclass="underline" Nyla Adams, Aaron Emigh, Jessica Lynch Alfaro, John Turner, Adrian Khactu, Eric Shible, and David L. M. Preston. Additional thanks goes out to Aaron Emigh for being my fight advisor, and Steaphen Fick for the sword fighting lesson and knife fighting tips. And of course, a huge thanks goes out to the readers of Angelfall for their wild enthusiasm and support.
SUSAN EE has eaten mezze in the old city of Jerusalem, surfed the warm waters of Costa Rica, and played her short film at a major festival. She has a life-long love of science fiction, fantasy and horror, especially if there’s a touch of romance. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her souped-up imagination to bust out and go feral.