Until The End Of Time

Chapter 1. The restaurant

Art: Ling Yun

The artifact, vague as it sounded, is stored in a thirteen-by-four red mahogany box with weird symbols carved all over it.

If Kye didn't already know it was the box, she would've easily mistaken it for a solid block of wood.

It has no lock, keypad, or even an opening slit. It's also deceptively light. Aside from the fact that the box is quite beautiful to look at, nothing indicates it holds one of the most powerful weapons ever created.

Kye only learns from Ruby that it's some type of close-combat weapon — one that could destroy anything it touches, mortal or not. A true Michael masterpiece.

The Resistance has been in the process of collecting supernatural objects forever. They want to "tip the scale toward us," as Bobby, Ruby's handler, once said. The Resistance — or Red Serpent Resistance in full — used to be a small grassroots movement, one among many similar organizations. By some miracle, it survived countless seek-and-destroy operations to become the only one left standing in the Western Hemisphere. It has caused major chaos and been a nuisance to the garrisons and their councils for the past decade.

Kye understands the artifact's importance to Michael and the angels, but what was hers to the Resistance?

It had taken them five years and many well-trained, devoted-to-the-cause men and women to acquire that weapon, so it doesn't make sense that they're willing to hand it back to Michael, right after they've gotten it, in exchange for her.

Kye doesn't know much about their plans. She's only been in contact with them for four months, solely through Ruby and her handler. Ruby had said the guy was a big shot. He would contact Kye whenever she was needed, never the other way around.

How a simple girl like Kye ended up tangled with them, you'd ask.

It all started with a nothing-out-of-the-ordinary business dinner. Kye accompanied Michael to a restaurant located between Aax District and Steel Heights — an industrial area of Ayham.

Michael was there to meet Fergus Crowley, a businessman-turned-politician. Crowley wasn't just a survivor under angel rule — he thrived.

He's known as a Council member who knows how to play all his cards right. A lot of people see Crowley as a disgrace to humankind — a crook who'd sell his own mother for half a cent — but Kye always saw him as witty and resourceful. Crowley could be downright charming when he wanted to be, but never, ever, get the wrong idea that he's your friend.

Crowley is only Crowley's friend. Cross him, and you die — or wish you could.

Michael listened to Crowley's yapping about reopening the harbor, about how it would revive the city and help the miserable citizens. Angels didn't need food or necessities to survive, but humans did, and the city was in bad shape. That had been the root of all crimes and riots. The Resistance had been waiting for an opportunity to incite more uproars. They might seem like a bunch of backcountry idiots with death wishes, but they'd gotten bolder and more creative each day.

Michael agreed that the angels shouldn't underestimate these individuals if they hoped to govern Earth in peace.

They were about to conclude the meeting when Alastair and his men burst in, guns blazing. The man's cold gray eyes locked onto Crowley's surprised face for a second before moving on to Michael.

The archangel didn't show a single thread of emotion, but his left hand grabbed Kye's wrist with bone-crushing force the moment Alastair's men kicked down the door. Michael's eyes stayed fixed on the humans across the room. He was about to teleport out with Kye in tow when a silver bullet hit him in the shoulder.