Fallen Angel

Chapter Sixty Five

Angel Bella’s POV

“Let us leave. You failed me once, and now I’m lost to you. But please allow me to bring my children to a family that will love them. Allow me to bring my children home. You owe it to me.”

Rapheal made a disbelieving sound, his hand around his gun tightening.

I hated myself for playing the guilt card, but I knew it was our only chance. For Lord Erik to get out of here alive, I had to hurt the family I loved.

My uncle ’s cold eyes met mine. “If I allow you to leave today, you are a traitor. You won’t be part of the heavens. You will be the enemy. You won’t see your family again. There won’t be peace with the Hades . This war has only begun.”

Gabriel heaved a deep breath, his eyes begging me to reconsider. Could I live without him?

“When will this war ever end, Uncle?” I asked quietly. He looked at Lord Erik , and I knew what he would say. “Never,” I whispered the answer.

My uncle inclined his head. Dad looked at me as if this was the final goodbye, a daughter lost for good.

“Leave,” My uncle said coldly

.

Rapheal shook his head incredulously. “You can’t be serious, My uncle . You can’t let them go.”

My uncle glanced at my ex-fiancé, looking tired.

“Set me free,” I said softly.

“Leave.”

Relief and wistfulness slammed into me hearing that word. “Thank you.” My uncle shook his head. “Don’t thank me. Not for that.”

Lord Erik nudged me lightly, and I walked closer to the door, keeping my body between him and the others. I walked backward to keep an eye on my family. They didn’t attack. They didn’t stop us. Dad and Gabriel looked broken. I had landed the ultimate hit, had broken them. I wondered how Mom would react when she found out.

She’d be crushed. My heart was heavy as I led Lord Erik to the parked car. He sank down on the passenger seat, passing out immediately. I closed the door and got behind the steering wheel. Jemima and Jordan were still fast asleep in their seats.

I hit the gas and sent the car flying down the long gravel road. I quickly connected to Bluetooth and called the Sugar Trap. It was the only number I’d found on the Internet.

It took a while before the guy I talked to agreed to call Ades and to give him my number. I was starting to go crazy.

Lord Erik wouldn’t survive if I had to drive all the way to Hades with him, and I couldn’t take him to a hospital in Oue territory. What if my family got over their initial shock and decided to get rid of us after all? I needed to reach Camorra territory

.

My pulse spiked when my phone finally rang. I picked up after the second ring.

“Is he dead?” Ades asked at once

.

I glanced at Lord Erik who was slumped against the passenger door, breathing shallowly.

“Not yet,” I got out.

Ades was quiet for a moment. “Did you call to gloat? To let me hear my brother’s last screams?”That’s what he thought?

“I’m in a car with him. We got out. We’re on our way.

”

“You got him out?” Ades asked sharply. “Where are you? We’re takinga helicopter and meeting you halfway. We’re in almost in the City. I’ll calculate the best spot now.”

I told him where I was heading, and we agreed on a meeting place eighty miles from where I was.

“He’s badly injured,” I said quietly.

“Lord Erik is too strong to die,” Ades said.

Tears stung in my eyes. “I’m driving as quickly as I can.”

“Bella,” Ades began. “He thought you’d come back. He wanted you to come back on your own free will.” I swallowed. This wasn’t about Lord Erik and me. This was about mychildren, and yet my chest ached with emotions as I regarded the man beside me. His dark hair sticking to his bloody forehead. “I need to drive,” I said and hung up.

About one hour later I steered the car toward a deserted parking lot where a helicopter was already waiting. Ades and Ibash stood beside it. I’d hoped they would be there. I trusted him more than these two.

I came to a stop. They had their guns out, not trusting me. And I didn’t trust them either, but Lord Erik was barely breathing. I gripped my gun and pushed out of the car. Ades approached, as usual a blank expression on his face. I had my gun pointed at him like he had his pointed at me. Of course, with his skills I’d be dead before my finger as much as twitched on the trigger.

I lowered my gun and walked toward the passenger door, opening it. Ades still regarded me cautiously. Ibash came up behind him, his gun at his side, not pointed at me. “Will you help me? Or do you want Lord Erik to die?”

Ades moved forward and the second he saw his brother, he shoved the gun into his holster and rushed to my side. He quickly checked Lord Erik then gripped him under the arms. Lord Erik groaned. Ibash took his legs and they were about to lift him out when Jemima woke and let out an earsplitting cry upon seeing two men she didn’t know. Ades and Ibash both jerked their heads back then froze. Jordan had also awoken and his dark eyes stared back at them. My small Lord Erik

.

“Holy fuck,” Ibash gasped. His brown eyes flew up to me. “They are Lord Erik ’s.”

It wasn’t a question because one look at Jordan and they knew he was their brother’s. “They are and he passed out before he could see them.” My throat constricted.

Ades held my gaze for a moment and I knew then that I wouldn’t regret my decision because already now I could see that my kids would be dragon Lords.

“Quick,” Ades muttered, and he and Ibash carried Lord Erik over to the helicopter.

My heart thundering in my chest, I walked to the back door and opened it to unbuckle Jordan and Jemima . “Shh,” I soothed my daughter. Jordan looked merely curious and a little sleepy.

“Do you need help?” Ibash asked close behind me, surprising me.I looked over my shoulder, hesitating, my protectiveness rearing its head.

“Don’t give me that look. Your kids are safe. They will always be safe, and not just because Lord Erik would kill me if something happened to them.”

I nodded. “Can you take Jordan ? Jemima doesn’t like to be held by anyone but me.”

Ibash moved to the other door, opened it, and bent over Jordan , who regarded him with big dark eyes. “I’ve never held a baby,” Ibash said reluctantly.

“Speak to him soothingly and lift him against your chest. He can support his head by himself.”

Hey, Jordan ,” Ibash said as he slid his hands under Jordan ’s armpits and carefully lifted him. It looked as if was holding a bomb about to detonate, but I was glad he was being careful. I hadn’t thought Ibash could be like that.

I turned to Jemima and quickly lifted her as well then straightened to keep an eye on Ibash . He held Jordan against his chest, and my son seemed content to be held by the unknown man. Ibash ’s eyes were curious and fascinated as he looked down at my boy. No resentment, no associated shame.

Together we walked toward the helicopter. Jemima pressed herself against me from the noise of the rotor blades. Ades was bent over Lord Erik inside the helicopter. Lord Erik was already getting a blood transfusion and another IV with a clear liquid while Ades felt his body.

A man I didn’t know was in the cockpit.

Ades turned to us when Ibash held Jordan out to him. He grabbed my boy immediately, a strange look on his face as he regarded him. Ibash climbed in and held out his hand for me. I awkwardly got in with Jemima still clinging to me for dear life.

I sank down on the bench, and Ibash helped me buckle up. Ades handed Jordan back to him and Ibash sat beside me. Ades’s eyes kept darting between Jordan and Jemima , as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. The moment the helicopter lifted off, Ades returned to Lord Erik ’s side.

Jordan stared down at his father, then at me, and I swallowed the emotion. What if Lord Erik died before he could see his kids? What if my children never met their father?

I’d never expected Lord Erik to want his children, but now that I knew he did, guilt washed over me. I thought I protected them by keeping them from him, by staying in the Hades, but I had been wrong. Hades was their home because it was Lord Erik ’s home and I’m now a fallen angel.