It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
~ Tony Robbins ~
Spotlight
Archer fell from Heaven for a crime he didn’t commit, but he has a chance to earn his way back. His instructions are simple: vanquish evil and turn his black wings white before darkness fills his soul, damning him to Hell forever. His mission becomes complicated when Piper, a girl from his past, enters his life once again. He can't put her in danger, but he can't bring himself to push her away. Not when being near her keeps the darkness from consuming him. No Fallen has ever made it back to Heaven. Can Archer earn his way back before it’s too late, or will he sacrifice everything to fulfill a plan he doesn’t even know he’s part of? |
Excerpt
“Wait. Please,” I begged, taking one more step forward. Cam’s sword was at my neck before my heel touched the ground.
The crowd grew around us and I searched it, my eyes darting from face to face, not finding the one I needed to see the most. The déjà vu made my stomach roll. I backed up until the back of my foot grazed the edge of Heaven. Cam removed his sword from my neck and my wings released me.
I fell forward onto my knees. “Thank you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Cam whispered beside me, keeping his eyes on the crowd. “You already used your second chance. We don’t have a choice.”
I’d deserved my first strike, but I was a different man now. I’d learned so much, and the most amazing woman in all of Heaven was mine. I was happy. Why would I give that up for one punch, no matter how satisfying it might have been?
“It wasn’t me.” My voice broke.
“You can’t fool us,” Gabe said with a laugh. He stood watch on the platform to my left, ready to back up Cam or handle the crowd if need be. “There are witnesses to what you have done. Do you have any of your own?”
“No, but—”
“It’s time. Stand.”
I stood slowly, searching the new faces that had joined the crowd. My eyes blurred as Cam placed an open hand on my chest.
“Cam, please. Just wait for—”
“Archer!” A panicked voice screamed in the distance.
“Emma.” Her name left my lips like fog rolling on the surface of a lake.
I blinked the blurriness away and tightened every muscle in my body to keep from running headlong into the crowd. A move like that would only result in Emma having to watch me be destroyed, which is only a fraction worse than her having to watch me fall, but I wouldn’t put her through it. She pushed her way to the front, her corn silk hair flying around her. Silver blue eyes captured mine, time slowed, and my heart skipped as Cam’s fingers flexed. It was as if a baseball traveling at the speed of sound slammed into my chest and threw me over the edge.
“No!” Emma’s voice echoed in my ears.
The light reflecting off my wings blinded me as the wind whipped them around my body. Then one by one, like tiny drops of ink absorbing into paper, black bled through my feathers, coating each one. When every inch was a dark shimmer, a deep voice invaded my head, spelling out the rules, each word carving itself into my mind. I listened until He finished and then opened my mouth to ask a question, but before I could speak, my back slammed into something hard and the air raced from my lungs, evaporating into the icy air before everything went dark.