Kristina Douglas - The Fallen 1 - Raziel Read Online Free PDF Page B

encounters were rare.
    He could be underground, or caught in an electrical storm.
    Strange atmospheric conditions sometimes interfered with the strong bond that lay between them.
    Or he could be dead.
    No, that was unthinkable. He would know if Raziel had died—they were too much a part of each other, from back in the mists of prehistory.
    He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, searching for the smel of him, the merest trace of him. He sent his questioning mind in each direction, and final y he felt it. The faintest spark of life—he was barely holding on. He wasn’t strong enough to signal for help, but Azazel sensed he wasn’t alone. Whoever was with him might be able to help. Al he or she had to do was ask.
    Unless Raziel’s companion was the one who had brought him close to death in the first place.
    Azazel’s eyes flew open. There were others in their hidden stronghold who had different gifts. Someone else might be able to narrow down where Raziel was. And if they were to have a chance of saving him, he would need help.
    He looked out over the stormy ocean, the thick mists of daylight moving in, the mists that kept them hidden from everyone. Their home was tucked away on the northwest coast of North America, between the United States and Canada, shrouded in shadows and fog. Sheol was safety, secrecy, literal y “the hidden place.” A place where they could dwel in peace until Uriel sent one of them out to col ect one of the infrequent souls that actual y required guidance.
    Sheol had been in its current location for hundreds of years. A physical place that sheltered both the Fal en and their human wives, it could stil be moved if Azazel deemed it necessary.
    But there was no way to shield it from Uriel’s inimical gaze. He would find them, as the Nephilim would, and the uneasy détente would continue.
    They had no choice. The Fal en lived precariously, doomed to eternal life, to watch their mates age and die while they stayed young. Cursed to become a feared and hated monstrosity.
    By day they were free. And they’d learned to harness their blazing need, to control it and use it. No one outside the community would understand, and he didn’t expect them to. Ignorance was safer. They would keep their secrets, whatever the price.
    He rose, his wings spreading out behind him, and soared down to the rocky outcropping in front of the great house. By the time he landed, the others had gathered, Raphael and Michael, Gabriel and Sammael.
    “Where is he?” Azazel demanded roughly. “We cannot lose him.”
    “We can’t lose any of us,” Gabriel said somberly. “He’s been betrayed.”
    Michael snarled, his dangerous anger barely in check. “Who the fuck betrayed him? Why hasn’t Uriel looked out for him?”
    Tamlel was the last to join them in front of the dawn-struck sea.
    They were the oldest of the Fal en stil left on earth, the guardians, the protectors. Only Sammael was newer. “I don’t know where he is,”
    he said, his slow, deep voice leaden. “I don’t know if we’l be in time.
    He is very weak. If I could just get a fix on him . . .”
    Azazel hid his reaction behind a cold, unemotional exterior. If Tam couldn’t find him, there was no hope. Tamlel’s gifts were specific but strong. If one of the Fal en was lost, he could find him, until the very last spark of life was extinguished. If the energy was too weak even for Tam, then Raziel was doomed.
    Unless someone found him and cal ed for help, he would die, countless mil ennia after he’d first come into existence. The Fal en were not even given the comfort of death, but something far more terrifying.
    Fal ing had made them close to human. The curses that accompanied that fal from grace might have final y caught up with Raziel. No hope of redemption, not even the dubious blessing of Uriel’s hel . Just an eternity of agonized nothingness.
    Azazel shut his eyes, pain lancing through him. There had been so many losses, endless losses, so few