The Trailokya Trilogy, Book Three: The Lucent Rise

Prologue

All there was to do was wait to hear. Oriael's heart could've pounded the minutes with the precision of a marching cadence. Yet, it kept a relaxed rhythm despite his knowledge. As a power, he long ago mastered emotions, and thankfully so. The call came hours before, just after losing a battle with his assign over whether they should interfere or not. Ranice Martel made the fatal call to see if her roommate had somehow found her way to their hotel. Holly Greer was in fact not with them, though he wished in vain that she was.

Oriael's pale stare reached across a glittering vista of the New York City skyline, thumb pressed to his lip as if to silence any word he might speak. On the inside, however, there was no silence, just poor attempts to justify his reasons. He had denied Caleb from interfering for the sake of everyone. The situation must play out. If they swept in to rescue Jett Colburn, then not only would Holly forever remain his, but the cycles repeat. That man's corrupting force would constantly be about her, cracking her bio-vessel's buffer until the atman beneath, Maiel, was infected with the burning down too. If she fell to his darkness, it would precipitate a war that ended all of which they fought for: to protect humans, including their Earth, and the many other souls scattered throughout Samsara.

Caleb was just not ready to hear that truth. Since finding Holly, the young man had become so restless and more than headstrong. Then, the moment the boy connected Holly to the red erela, the very same one he had been taken with since he was a boy, every one of their warnings erupted into a row. Plans fell apart. Caleb thought only of the girl. Oriael felt the gnawing inclination to let him have what he wished, but now was not the time. At least, the order had not yet been given. No. Now was the best time to share recent intelligence he'd received, to disseminate the importance of holding their line. The weight of it, though—he hoped Caleb had sense enough to take the advice to stand down. After all, Holly wasn't alone. She had the aid of her fierce guardian, one with greater determination than any svarg he knew. Plus, she had gained the friendship of an errant though wise soul, who made Holly's apartment his home. Jett had struck at Holly, but their Maiel, contained within, was safe from lasting harm.

Oriael closed his eyes. Rubbish. He grimaced, nauseated at these thoughts. He flexed his fingers, desiring to avenge the Captain.

Bursting through the door of his hotel room, Caleb stirred the guardian from his meditations. Oriael's wings rose as he faced the coming storm.

"Why didn't you tell me it was her?" Caleb demanded.

Naajah followed behind, shutting the door as not to make his current outburst the business of everyone on the floor. Oriael watched them near. He formed his response with great care, though it made him sicker than he could bear. He drew his hand away from his mouth, offering a supplicating expression.

"What would you have done if I had told you? Run to her? Broken them apart before he made his choice and turned you both into grigori?"

"He beat the fuck out of her tonight," Caleb raged.

"He did more than that," Naajah mumbled, stepping around him to take her perch on a stool at the window-flanked dining table.

Caleb's eyes followed her, trying very hard not to acknowledge the worst of what had happened. He couldn't face that he failed her that horribly. Neither could Oriael, whose eyes filled with tears he refused to shed.

Rage tightened Caleb's mouth. The moment replayed in his head, breaking his denial. Oriael shut his eyes a moment to also get a handle on the reaction surging within him. The girl was his friend; the erela he loved like a daughter. Dominic's violence should've led him from the safety of their rooms to exact revenge, but the delicate plan he and the council worked for decades halted him. Oriael saw Caleb seethe. The young man's rapid heart rate pounded his ears, while a murderous wrath washed over his skin. The guardians held those feelings at a distance, but the human form could not so easily compartmentalize emotions.