Black Wings

Chapter 24

I watched them cart away the unconscious Rina. I tried to follow after them, stop them, hurt them if I had to. But I was blocked. So I could do nothing more than shout curses at them and yell Rina's name, trying to wake her up. Gabriel ran towards me, looking flustered.

"Michael, what's going on?"

"I don't know, they just took her. Maybe she'll be okay."

"Were those Raphael's men?"

"Yes."

"Then don't count on it."

"What?"

"Michael, don't you know what they do to her? They torture her. Raphael hates Rina with every fiber of his being. And the only reason she's not dead yet is because Lucifer declared she wasn't allowed to die."

"You can't be serious." I denied.

"Michael, who do you think cares for her wounds and scars afterwards? I've seen everything they've done to her and it's just getting worse. Soon, I don't think Raphael is going to listen to Lucifer's word anymore. He's going to kill....her."

"Gabriel?"

"What is that?"

Gabriel stared at a spot where my shirt had been ripped as I tried to get to Rina. No one knew yet, no one knew that I had mated Rina. He was looking at the spot where Rina's name was inscribed along my collarbone. There was sudden fury in Gabriel's eyes I had never seen. Gabriel lunged at me, knocking me to the ground, despite all the eyes of watching angels. He started hitting me everywhere he could.

"You bastard!"

I flipped our position, this time I was pinning him. I had a forearm against his throat, a knee holding down one arm and held the other arm above his head. Gabriel's expression was heart wrenching as he cried. In that moment I realized how much Gabriel loved Rina. I never understood why he was always on her heels before, now I did. He loved her like I did, he loved her since the beginning.

"Gabriel, I'm so sorry."

"Shut up! You never loved her like I did!"

"Yes, I did. But I was an idiot to be blind to it, and blind to your feelings. Brother, please know I never meant for things to go this way."

"Does she love you back?"

"Yes."

"Is she happy?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all that matters. I love her enough to let her be happy, even if it's not with me."

I stood and offered a hand to Gabriel. He gripped my forearm and pulled himself up.

"Can you forgive me for hitting you?"

"You didn't even need to ask, shortie."

"I am not short!"

"Yes, you are."

"Whatever, let's see if we can find Lucifer and tell him what Raphael is doing."

I nodded and we ran off to the gate. When the guard tried to stop us and ask our business, I just punched him and continued running.

"A little aggravated, are we?" Gabriel poked fun at me.

"We don't have time to be passive right now!"

"Alright, alright."

It didn't take us long to reach the first gate at our speed. We launched ourselves over the gate with a powerful stroke of our wings. But it was pointless, Lucifer wasn't there.

"I'm sorry, archangel Michael, even we don't know where he went." One of his men apologized.

I growled and kicked a pillar out of frustration. The kick sent the pillar to crumble, causing to angels around us to cower. This was no time to be losing my head though. We had to do the next best thing, try to stop Raphael ourselves. I kicked his door in, splintering the wood.

"Can you please refrain from destroying my things?"

"Then don't touch mine!"

"Michael." Gabriel warned.

"What is this about?" Raphael questioned, sounding bored.

"I know what you're doing to Rina!"

"And you believe you can stop me how?" Raphael said, standing. "Neither of you are true archangels. And yet you think you can stop me. Soon, not even Brother will be able to stop me. You're out of luck, Michael. I will be the most powerful archangel."

"You bastard." I growled.

"Don't hurt yourself. Now if you'll excuse me, our dear Blackwing is waking up."

And then he was gone. Once again, we were too late. I never wanted to hurt someone more than I did in this moment. So we returned to the gate, out of options. Soon we were joined by Anna and Joshua.

"Michael, is it true? There are rumors that Rina killed another." Anna asked.

"No, I've been by her side except of one evening, but she wouldn't anyway. I don't know what's going on, but I know it's not good."

"Rina would never harm someone unless it was deserved. But what happened that night you weren't with her?" Joshua questioned.

"I don't know. She took Rachel with her, but neither told. But Rachel was looking at Rina differently after that, almost like...she was waiting for that moment when she would snap. I know Rachel would tell me if Rina did something like kill another angel if it happened."

"Have you been noticing anything different about her Michael?" Gabriel prodded.

"Not really, just that she started acting a little differently. Quieter, laughing less, and taking jobs more seriously than before. Do you think something happened?"

Everyone shrugged, looking a little uneasy. Some of my worry was washed away when Lucifer came through the gates of Heaven. We hurried towards him, Anna and Joshua bowing their heads. He seemed to notice the paniced looks Gabriel and I wore.

"What is it my Brothers?"

"It's Raphael. He seized Rina, he's hurting her. Brother, I think he's going to kill her. Raphael said soon, not even you will be able to stop him." I explained.

"What!?"

I flinched at the sudden and sharp change in his tone of voice. He looked beyond furious, as if someone were hurting his beloved kin. Anna and Joshua cowered behind me, even Gabriel had his head bowed as if the fury was directed at him. Lucifer radiated power and fury. Suddenly there was a loud boom that shook Heaven to its core. A large shadow passed over us, bringing even more power than Lucifer was giving off. I didn't know such thing existed, it felt like primordial power, like God's power. And along with the shadow, Raphael's bloody and broken form crashed to the ground beside us. He was alive, but just barely and deliberately. When I looked to the top of the gate where the owner of the shadow stood, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"No..."

Rina stood on top of the gate. Her clothing was ripped, presumably from the torture that has ensued. She looked almost feral from rage. And she was the one radiating the primordial power. But that was impossible, Rina was even younger than I was. To have power that resembled that of God's was impossible. Since when had Rina had this kind of power? It was enough power to destroy all of Heaven in a single stroke. It was terrifying to think she could could have destroyed everyone had she gotten this angry as a fledgling when people teased her extensively.

"Rina, please don't do this."

It wasn't me that begged her. It was Lucifer. Was he scared? Was he trying to prevent disaster? What was he begging her not to do? I was frozen, staring up at Rina. She clenched her fist and Heaven shook again. This time building began to crumble, forcing everyone to evacuate to the square where the gate stood.

"You wanted me to become the villian!?" She shouted. "Fine, I'll become the villian!"

She flared out her wings, falling backwards. She fell back, falling towards the earth. Heaven was left in ruin and Raphael on the brink of death.

Rina was gone.