Read Online BROKEN ANGELS (Angels and Demons Book 1) by Brenda L. Harper - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brenda L. Harper
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have seen her die in Wyatt’s memories of his mother. It must have been quite a shock for her to realize that there were lies swirling, not just around her, but around everyone she knew.
“Why?” she finally asked. “Why inject her then? You had the chance once before. When you helped her make Jimmy and Wyatt believe she was dead, you had the chance to send her back to heaven then. Why didn’t you?”
Oh, how he wished he had. So many things would have been avoided…
“I owed her.”
“You owed Joanna? You came to Earth to stop Joanna. You were all set to send her back to heaven before she met Jimmy, before Wyatt was born. What changed?”
Stiles pulled Dylan’s hand into his lap, wrapping both his hands around hers. “There was a battle outside of the mine in Philadelphia where Rebecca and I and our group had ended up just before I had to leave them.” He closed his eyes, the memory of it so vivid it nearly took his breath away. His confrontation with Mammon, Luc’s threat against Rebecca and Harry, and the promise Stiles somehow secured from him. It was as if it had happened just yesterday. “In the chaos of the fight, Wilhelm and his gargoyles gathered a group of humans they thought were Nephilim. They made a deal with Luc, something about security when everything was said and done.”
“That’s what you meant back there when you said he turned on the humans.”
Stiles nodded. “I had friends among those they took. And even if I hadn’t, I couldn’t have left them. Luc wanted to turn them into slaves and work them to death. I had to do something.” He rubbed his hand against hers, aware of the warmth of her healing powers slipping from her flesh into his. But even that couldn’t touch the regrets that continued to burn inside of him. “They knew I would come and they were waiting for me. I was arrested right away, but another angel managed to get to the people and get them home for me.”
“They took you to Viti.”
Stiles nodded. “Ironically enough, I had a vision of you there. When they held you there the first time you met Luc and Lily.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“You saved me.”
“Wyatt would have gotten you out of there. I just distracted the guards.”
She shook her head. “We would have all three been caught if it weren’t for you.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek lightly. “I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for that.”
Stiles cleared his throat. He never knew what to do when people thanked him for doing what God had told him to do. But Dylan never seemed to require a response.
A couple of kids ran past them, laughing as they did. Stiles watched them for a minute. What a different world this was from the one he lived in back then, a world so dangerous that children weren’t allowed to run free or do the things that kids naturally do. Small children learned to play quietly then, to go without, and to run and hide whenever an adult made a certain gesture.
He hoped that reality would remain a bad memory.
“Luc was going to execute me,” Stiles continued. “But he wanted Joanna there; he wanted her to watch her soul mate die. Instead, Joanna turned on Lily. She helped me escape.”
Dylan made a soft sound of disbelief. “I can’t imagine Joanna doing that.”
“She did it for Wyatt.” Stiles squeezed Dylan’s hand. “She did it because Lily was talking about the Nephilim, about their unblessed souls.”
“Joanna was…complicated.”
Stiles laughed because that was an understatement. Joanna was more than complicated. She was an angel who wanted Earth to become a paradise for angels, but she married a human and had a child with an unblessed soul. She wanted Luc to succeed in his goals, but she worked against him to allow Stiles to live. She wanted to save Wyatt’s soul, but by attempting to influence Dylan to choose for the angels, she was dooming his soul.
Complicated was definitely an understatement.
“That’s why I helped her appear
“Why?” she finally asked. “Why inject her then? You had the chance once before. When you helped her make Jimmy and Wyatt believe she was dead, you had the chance to send her back to heaven then. Why didn’t you?”
Oh, how he wished he had. So many things would have been avoided…
“I owed her.”
“You owed Joanna? You came to Earth to stop Joanna. You were all set to send her back to heaven before she met Jimmy, before Wyatt was born. What changed?”
Stiles pulled Dylan’s hand into his lap, wrapping both his hands around hers. “There was a battle outside of the mine in Philadelphia where Rebecca and I and our group had ended up just before I had to leave them.” He closed his eyes, the memory of it so vivid it nearly took his breath away. His confrontation with Mammon, Luc’s threat against Rebecca and Harry, and the promise Stiles somehow secured from him. It was as if it had happened just yesterday. “In the chaos of the fight, Wilhelm and his gargoyles gathered a group of humans they thought were Nephilim. They made a deal with Luc, something about security when everything was said and done.”
“That’s what you meant back there when you said he turned on the humans.”
Stiles nodded. “I had friends among those they took. And even if I hadn’t, I couldn’t have left them. Luc wanted to turn them into slaves and work them to death. I had to do something.” He rubbed his hand against hers, aware of the warmth of her healing powers slipping from her flesh into his. But even that couldn’t touch the regrets that continued to burn inside of him. “They knew I would come and they were waiting for me. I was arrested right away, but another angel managed to get to the people and get them home for me.”
“They took you to Viti.”
Stiles nodded. “Ironically enough, I had a vision of you there. When they held you there the first time you met Luc and Lily.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“You saved me.”
“Wyatt would have gotten you out of there. I just distracted the guards.”
She shook her head. “We would have all three been caught if it weren’t for you.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek lightly. “I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for that.”
Stiles cleared his throat. He never knew what to do when people thanked him for doing what God had told him to do. But Dylan never seemed to require a response.
A couple of kids ran past them, laughing as they did. Stiles watched them for a minute. What a different world this was from the one he lived in back then, a world so dangerous that children weren’t allowed to run free or do the things that kids naturally do. Small children learned to play quietly then, to go without, and to run and hide whenever an adult made a certain gesture.
He hoped that reality would remain a bad memory.
“Luc was going to execute me,” Stiles continued. “But he wanted Joanna there; he wanted her to watch her soul mate die. Instead, Joanna turned on Lily. She helped me escape.”
Dylan made a soft sound of disbelief. “I can’t imagine Joanna doing that.”
“She did it for Wyatt.” Stiles squeezed Dylan’s hand. “She did it because Lily was talking about the Nephilim, about their unblessed souls.”
“Joanna was…complicated.”
Stiles laughed because that was an understatement. Joanna was more than complicated. She was an angel who wanted Earth to become a paradise for angels, but she married a human and had a child with an unblessed soul. She wanted Luc to succeed in his goals, but she worked against him to allow Stiles to live. She wanted to save Wyatt’s soul, but by attempting to influence Dylan to choose for the angels, she was dooming his soul.
Complicated was definitely an understatement.
“That’s why I helped her appear
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