Page 41 of Fear the Fall

“You lost that the day you decided to be a deserter,” Leeanna says, sounding tired and bored.

“Victoria.” Zeke’s anxious voice carries across the cemetery, drawing all of our attention. I don’t miss the way Leeanna stiffens.

“Over here,” I call out.

When he rounds the corner, his eyes are trained on me. He jogs up, crashing me into his chest and slamming his lips to mine. A choked sound has us pulling apart. Zeke’s eyes lift and land on the trio of archangels. He jumps back, eyes wide.

“Lee,” he says, and I narrow my eyes.

Nobody has ever called LeeannaLee. Pet names are reserved for mortals, not angelic beings. He’s on Earth and emotions run high down here. Anything he once felt in Heaven is amplified tenfold.

Zeke had a thing for Leeanna.

She doesn’t reply to him; instead, her heated glare finds mine, and not even a second later, she pounces, sending us both flying back into a mausoleum. We roll several times before I gain the upper hand, pressing her shoulders into the ground roughly.

My hand rises and is on its way down to smack against her porcelain face when someone yanks me from her. I spin on my feet, ready to tackle Malachi for interfering, when I realize it’s Zeke who stopped me.

“Don’t,” he warns. “You know what the punishment is for assaulting an angel.”

“It’s too late for that,” Malachi derides. “I’m taking her life.”

He stalks toward me, grabbing my arms and holding them behind my back, sending a searing pain through my shoulders. I cry out at the intense burn.

“You can’t,” Zeke barks. “Look around. These demons won’t stop coming. You need us on the ground. Unless you want God sending you here for however long is necessary.”

Leeanna balks.

“You’re in no position to barter, traitor,” Malachi jeers at Zeke, throwing the same insult at him.

“Lee,” Zeke pleads, “you know I’m right.”

“Are you? Plans change all the time.”

“What game are you playing?” he snaps.

“Why do you care what happens to her?” Her lip lifts into a Cheshire-cat grin that looks more evil than angelic. Her reaction belies her words. She’s mocking him. But for what exactly? “You already know the ending.”

I’d still be considering what the hell she’s talking about if Zeke’s reaction hadn’t caught my attention. His back is straight, and his eyes are narrowed on Leeanna.

“What is she talking about?” I ask, looking between the two.

“Why, Lee? After everything?”

Despite the fact that I’m moments away from having my life snuffed out at the hands of my former friends, I’m jealous. Pain, regret, and something akin to yearning radiates off both Leeanna and Zeke. My Zeke.

I don’t want anything serious. He’s not mine.

“Burn her, for all I care,” Lee says, before turning her back on all of us and walking away.

“You coward,” I scream at her retreating form, as Malachi lowers me to my knees, securing my hands together behind my back.

“Any last words?” he says through gritted teeth.

“This is done, Mal. You and I both know this joke has gone too far.” Zeke’s glare is lethal.

“Has it?”

Zeke doesn’t get to say another word as something large crashes through the cemetery, taking down tombstones as it runs toward us. Malachi’s head lifts to the sky and he wails, a sound that makes my ears feel like they’re going to bleed. I can’t even shield them from the sound, since my hands are still secured behind me.

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