Dark Halo (An Angel Eyes Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bubbling in his stomach, a dangerous chemical reaction that will yield nothing but more of the same.
    “Because . . .” Jake’s first attempt to speak produces only scratches. He clears his throat and tries again. “Because we need one another.”
    Damien’s black eyes widen. Like a dog who suddenly understands human language. No, it’s more than that , Jake thinks. This dog doesn’t just understand . He remembers.
    “You’ve forgotten what it’s like, haven’t you?” His lips are dry, cracking with the effort. “You’ve been working on your own for so long, you’ve forgotten that you can’t do this alone.”
    Damien barks a laugh and stands. He disappears and returns before Jake’s had time to blink. The army uniform is gone now, replaced by black cargo pants and a em;
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margin-bottom: 0.D1Agray T-shirt stretched tight across his broad chest. A gun is strapped tohis waist. He looks unstoppable, unbreakable, but Jake knows better.
    “ What can’t I do alone?” Damien asks.
    Jake runs a dry tongue across his lips. “Win,” he says. “You can’t win.”
    The right side of Damien’s mouth curls like a villainous mustache, but his black eyes have lost their shine.
    “I’m not the one bound hand and foot,” he says.
    “Aren’t you?”

5
    Brielle
    T he sun is an overripe grapefruit high above when I step into the field between Jake’s house and mine. Today’s about as warm as it gets here, mideighties probably. With the Celestial bleeding through, it was warmer in the orchard. Out from beneath the red trees, Stratus feels almost big, the sky too vast, everything too blue.
    I catch the occasional demon swimming through the ocean of air above. Their warped bodies are foreign and out of place in the terrestrial sky. If I look hard enough I fear the Terrestrial will peel away altogether and I’ll see the entire demonic legion above. I don’t want to see the Palatine. Not right now. I told Jake once that I had a problem with blind faith, but right now it doesn’t sound half bad. Seeing is harder than believing.
    I search the sky for Canaan, picking through it carefully, not looking too hard at any one spot, but I don’t expect to find him. He’s healing somewhere, I hope. I wonder how far he had to travel to find a safe place. Did he have to pass through the Palatine to find one?
    I check my cell phone again out of habit, but there’s nomissed call from Jake and nothing from Helene. I jam it into the pocket of my jean shorts. Clutched in my other fist is an envelope of pictures. They’re old pictures, taken when I was young, when my mother was in the hospital
    There are pictures of Mom and Dad. Pictures of the three of us. There are even pictures of Miss Macy and Pastor Noah, of the pastor’s wife, Becky—all of them visiting Mom at the hospital.
    At Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
    Why she was being treated there instead of at Stratus General or at any of the hospitals between here and there is just one of the many questions I have for Dad.
    The other questions revolve around the presence of Olivia Holt in my mother’s hospital room. The same Olivia Holt who blew into Stratus like a breath of fresh air, latched onto my dad long enough to encourage his drinking habit, and then left with Marco and the halo.
    I know she’s working with Damien. It’s a piece of intel Helene’s been able to glean from the Commander and his Army of Light above.
    I have to keep reminding myself that there’s an Army of Light above.
    That their commander, Michael, has surrounded the Palatine. I wish I could see the fight from their side, from heaven’s side. I wish I could see what the angels of light look like in battle. It’s miserable to be here, on the earthly side. With the exceptionof the Sabres, my intermittent celestial sight picks up mostly the demonic: the rear flank of the Palatine. The stragglers, the Vultures, the ones stupid enough to engage the Sabres on this