Read The Fallen 03 - Warrior for Free Online Page B

prophecy was correct, even if we misunderstood the details. I’ve learned that visions don’t lie, Michael.”
    “But they can be changed, and sometimes they’re merely a warning of what to avoid.”
    Azazel shook his head. “You’re a stubborn bastard, aren’t you?”
    “I have no idea whether I’m a bastard or not.”
    Azazel’s laugh was short and humorless. “By the legal definition, I would think we definitely qualify. If you’re talking about character, then there’s no question.”
    Michael wasn’t in the mood for Azazel’s mind games, any more than he appreciated his unlikely good cheer. The Azazel he had known was sharp and cynical, even when he’d been joined with his beloved Sarah. Yet the appearance of a demon in his life had made him almost sanguine. It annoyed Michael.
    “Just because your despised prophecy turned you into a revoltingly sentimental creature doesn’t mean that mine will be similarly benign. And if it is, we will all be in trouble. If I start looking at the world with that sappy smile on my face, Uriel’s army will surely destroy us. I’m our last, best hope to beat them, and the only reason I agreed to this ridiculous farce wasbecause all of you were convinced we couldn’t win if I didn’t bring her back.”
    Azazel appeared unperturbed at his attack. “And you’re not similarly convinced? Then why did you agree?”
    “Simple. I understand warfare, and battle. If we believe we will prevail, we will. If Victoria Bellona’s presence convinces us that we will win, then I’ll happily put up with her, just to give us that edge.”
    Azazel surveyed him coolly. “I don’t think there’s anything happy about it. You can take her back if you really believe her presence here is useless.”
    “I can’t. The contessa will kill her.”
    “And why do you care?”
    “I don’t,” Michael snapped.
    “Then . . .”
    “Leave me be, Azazel. I have enough to deal with as it is.”
    Silence stretched between them, and then Azazel nodded. “We’d best go in. Presumably they’re ready for us.”
    Michael took one last longing look at the sea. He couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that he was about to take a step that would change the rest of his existence—a step he was being forced into.
    But his entire existence was about duty and honor, fighting for what was right. Sacrifice meant nothing—there was no reason why this particular sacrifice should be anything but another annoyance. He would marry her. And then put her away in thefarthest corner of the house and retreat to the training compound, and he would never have to see her.
    “I’m ready,” he said, turning his back on the ocean and looking up at the strange building that had housed the Fallen for eons. “It’s time.”
    T HEY HAD PUT me in flowing white clothes, stripping off my black turtleneck and pants, unplaiting my long black hair. The woman named Allie had chattered nonstop, her soft, soothing voice helping to ease some of my tension. The crown of wildflowers they put on me was ridiculous, but a glance in the mirror kept me from ripping it off. I was no Botticelli goddess rising from the sea, but with the black hair rippling down against my pale skin, I wasn’t half-bad. I didn’t want to consider why it mattered. Presumably nothing more than natural vanity. However, vanity had never mattered to me before, even when I thought Johann loved me. Before he’d delivered me to Pedersen and pocketed a healthy reward.
    The women led me through the wide hallways to a garden where dozens of similarly garbed people were waiting for us, and I tried to ignore the clenching in my stomach.
    Until I saw my husband-to-be.
    He stood at one end, his face cool and impassive. Such an arresting face on the man. Angel. Whatever he was. Exquisitely beautiful. Exquisitely cold.
    In the bright sunlight I could see him clearly for the first time. He was wearing white as all the otherswere, a loose open shirt, though he’d rolled