The fortress had been carved from the mountain itself.

Not built—carved. Centuries of runoff and geological pressure had hollowed massive chambers from living stone, creating a network of caverns that human militaries couldn't detect and satellite surveillance couldn't penetrate. The rebel angels had found it first, then fortified it with wards that predated the Goddess's current reign.

Now it served as neutral ground for those who had nowhere else to gather.

Azrael descended through ...