Free Angel Of Solace by Selene Edwards Page A

Sacra’thar…
    “I understand you don’t approve,” Marivean said. “But as my associate said, it is a temporary arrangement only, an unfortunate necessity if we are going to find and deal with the Demons who have taken refuge here.” He folded his arms across his chest. “And it has helped us locate our primary objective: the Betrayer.”
    Something about the way he said the word made Avrick uneasy. To an Angel, he imagined, Sariel’s exodus must have felt even more personal. They were indelibly connected to the divine spirit inside them, and through it, the Lord Himself. A fallen Angel must have felt like a member of the family stabbing the rest in the back.
    But still, the quiet menace in the man’s voice and the almost feral glint in his eye sent a shiver down Avrick’s spine. He had rarely seen an Angel show emotion at all, let alone anger…
    “She is at the Asuran’s base?” Vaelen asked.
    “Likely, but we haven’t been able to track them down,” Zanek said. “Fortunately, we can make them come to us.”
    “How is that, exactly?”
    Zanek smiled. “They have been hounding a particular trafficking gang recently. They actually managed to kill their leader just yesterday. But they didn’t get the information they wanted, and we’ve struck a deal with one of the man’s lieutenants to act as bait for us. It’s not something the Asurans can afford to pass up.”
     Vaelen nodded. “I see. When have you set this up?”
    “Tomorrow,” Marivean told him. “I requested the two of you because I cannot trust our other agents here to carry out a mission of this importance. They are loyal and capable enough, but they are not Chosen.”
    “We are honored to serve His will, of course,” Vaelen said with a half bow.
    “Good. There are others on their way, but we cannot afford to wait any longer. This may be our best chance to apprehend the Betrayer before she can do any more damage.”
    “Are you certain she’ll be with them?” Avrick asked.
    Zanek grunted derisively. “Kronn has become more and more reliant on her abilities. We suspected she was here working with him long before we received visual proof. She will definitely be there. Which reminds me…”
    The stout man walked over to the metal crates on the far side of the room. He tapped the keypad to unlatch them then gestured for the Chosen to look inside.
    “Excellent,” Vaelen commented.
    Avrick had to agree. Inside were a huge variety of weapons, from basic flechette and pulse pistols to heavy assault rifles and even grenade launchers. Given how stringent Elassian law was on importing any type of personal weapons, he almost didn’t want to ask how they had gotten a hold of them.
    “It goes without saying the Betrayer will be taken alive at any cost—even your own lives,” Marivean said flatly. “She has done enough harm to us already, and she will answer for her crimes before the eyes of God.”
    Avrick watched as Zanek put the weapons away and closed the crate. More than anything, he wanted to be alone with Sariel right now, to ask her why she had left. But he would never get that chance. Instead, he and Vaelen would drag her back to the Covenant and roast her flesh on the Pyre of Judgment. There God himself would decide her fate, and for any Chosen, those who had sworn on their immortal souls to carry out His will, it should have been more than enough to put his mind at ease.
    “Yes,” Avrick said distantly. “She will.”
    ***
    Expectation was like a warm blanket, Damien though idly as he swept his gaze across the Solace cityscape. As a younger man, he had often looked out across the sea hoping to catch a glimpse of the sparkling lights from its massive spires. It was well over a thousand kilometers beyond the mainland and far out of sight range, of course, but his imagination had occasionally convinced him he could see a sparkle or two every once in a while.
    Now it looked so… normal . Louvette was one of the largest cities in