Free Desired By The Archangel: Book Two (Angel Paranormal Romance) (Braving Darkness 8) by Scarlett Grove

Chapter Two
    “It’s an access portal to the fourth dimension,” Michael explained. “This was built millions of years ago when humans were first hybridized by the Anu. Intelligent races are expected to join the Galactic Federation. But the Anu wanted to use humanity as a slave race, and humanity seemed to want to comply. The Council of the Seventh House’s prime directive is to never interfere with free will. If a race wants to be enslaved, we cannot stop them. It is our most sacred law.”
    “But we don’t want to be slaves,” Magda said, turning to Michael, desperation in her voice. They had found a chamber furnished like a comfortable sitting room. Magda sat on a soft couch while Michael made tea from the kitchen-like appliances across from her. He handed her a cup and she drank the sweet-smelling liquid. It was a foreign taste, but good.
    “Your race has accepted the Anu’s rule unequivocally for hundreds of thousands of years. It cannot be argued that you do not. They have told you in the most obvious ways, all this time. Even in the modern world, the signs were there. I’m sorry, Magda. It must be difficult.”
    “I’m not a slave,” she huffed.
    “Let’s just leave that word out. Humanity has been in bondage and now is the time to break free. The way to accomplish this is for a large group of humans to enter the fourth dimension. It must be done in full knowledge of your past and in the knowledge that we are all interconnected as one to the universe.” He sat on the opposite couch and sipped tea from a white cup. Magda frowned. “I know this is a lot to take in,” he said. Michael’s wings had receded somewhere inside his body. Sometimes he looked just like a human man—a godly attractive man, but a man nonetheless.
    “How are we supposed to enter the fourth dimension? Many of the shifters in our group were living like animals before they joined Xavier’s complex in New San Diego. They don’t know anything about The Program. Most of them haven’t seen a computer in six years, and I doubt anyone out there has ever meditated. You know, besides the witches.”
    “None of that matters here. There are chambers within this mountain that were designed specifically to help large groups of humans enter simultaneously. It can be done. They will have guides. You, Cassie, Circe. You are each immensely talented in your own ways. Once we can show The Council of the Seventh House that the group can evolve, they have to help us defeat the Anu. It is our only hope.”
    “I still don’t get why they didn’t help us in the first place.” Magda set her tea cup down on a table and sat back on the couch, crossing her arms. She’d been angry at the Council for a good long time. The fact that they’d let the Anu blow up the world with a fake nuclear war that caused the apocalypse didn’t sit well with her. Who did that? She had a hard time seeing them as the good guys.
    “The complexities of Galactic political management may be difficult for you to comprehend. You are only eighteen,” he said with a half-smile. His flowing blond hair waved around his face as he seemed to shimmer.
    “I might be eighteen, but I know right from wrong,” she countered.
    “Unfortunately, these things are not black and white. But I do know that as soon as humanity crosses a certain level of development, the Council will help. It is a matter of critical mass, and that is what we are going to accomplish here. Critical mass.”
    “All right. Where do we start?”

Chapter Three
    The inhabitants of New San Diego settled into their new accommodations. There were beds and private rooms for everyone. The farther the group went into the winding corridors inside the mountain, the more chambers they found. It was estimated that at least three to four times as many people could live comfortably inside the mountain.
    The advanced technology provided the people everything they needed, from comfortable beds to running water and food.