by Mason Sabre
“I can help you,” Nina offered.
“I don’t need your help.” He kicked at the door again. “Now open the fucking door.” Another hard kick at the bottom had the wood jumping a little and shaking off her dust. The angel dust would hold, but not for long. Not as she was fading. She would have to let go of something, or pass out and the door would open anyway. But passing out left her at the mercy of Arioch and this kid. Which one of them would be the most lenient? Funnily, she pegged the demon as the one that wouldn’t hurt her.
She pushed herself up, using the wall against her back. Blood dripped out, sending a wave of nausea through her body. She traced her finger over the edges of her wing. Her fingers came away with not just angel dust, but demon dust, too. Oh fuck. Arioch had made the kid stand guard and given him bullets that would work on angels … but they weren’t meant to work on the Seraph.
“You don’t know what you're dealing with,” she tried again as she wiped dust from the good spots into the wounds to seal them, searing pain through her as she did. “You can't control him.” Stupid kid. They always thought if you call a demon, you can control it. But they were slippery bastards.
“Neither do you,” the voice barked back, deeper this time, taking his masculinity and using it to make her afraid. He’d have to do more than that. It made her feel pity for him.
She ran her hand along her good wing, taking more of the dust and leaving her feathers bland. She let out a whimper at the sight. It was like wiping away part of herself. Hobbling backwards, between the desks and the chairs, Nina got herself into the corner of the room. The boy smiled at her through the glass … a brace-filled smile. He wasn’t a bad-looking kid; he had that gawkiness that all boys get at this stage in their lives, but it would pass.
Nina let her focus slip on purpose, letting the door open. The boy kicked it, gun in his hand, aimed at her. “Arioch said you would come. He said you would sneak in here and try to stop us.”
“Of course he did. He needs stopping.”
“No—”
“Yes.” Nina’s hands balled into fists beside her. She was ready for him. Eyes on the gun and waiting for the first sign he would raise it towards her.
“You can leave if you want to ... out of the window. I know you can fly.”
“If you hadn't shot a hole through my wing, I might,” she said calmly. She probably could fly with the hole. It wasn’t so easy to disarm an angel. But she wasn’t about to fly out of here. Not only would Aboas come down on her, but she would bring the Humans to their doors. Nothing like a bunch of Humans complaining about a flying woman. Ignorance was bliss with them. “Give me the gun.”
The boy laughed, forcing manliness into his laughter and failing. “So you can shoot me?”
“So you don’t hurt yourself.” She pursed her lips as she stared at him, studying his form. His shoulders bunched up, the veins in his neck bulging. The smell of him said he hadn't showered in a while, but he was just a kid. “What is your name?”
“What does that matter?”
“It doesn’t. But humour me. My name is Nina.” She needed to keep him talking. She needed to remind him that he was Human in ways—a way to reach him.
His brows puckered. “What kind of name is Nina for an angel?”
“It’s my earthly name. If you wish to know my angel name, you must give me yours first.”
Outside, there was another panicked yell. Someone shouted at the boy not to move, not to jump. Oh, Arioch would jump, and his vessel would die, but not him. No, he would be released into the crowd to pick anyone he wanted. The chances that the right vessel was there for him were high. The more compatible the vessel he found, the better it was for him.
“You need to go now,” the boy said, raising the gun again, arm outstretched.
“You don’t want to do that.”
The boy smirked. “You don’t know what I want.”
Nina adjusted herself, her wing feeling stronger by the second, but it would need her to be home for it to heal fully. “I know you don’t want to die. I know you do not understand what you have done. Arioch, that demon out there, he is not your friend. He will not help you.” She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Let me help you.”
The boy moved closer, the gun aimed at her still. “He will. All of you. Always telling me what to do. What I should do. And what I can do. I am tired of it. Even the angels do it now.” He flexed out his arm. “Goodbye, Nina.”
He clicked the hammer back, giving Nina a second to thrust her hands up, opening her palms. She blew out everything she had. Blowing angel dust at the boy’s face. He slammed his eyes shut, and turned away, the gun going up. Nina knocked him sideways just as he pressed the trigger. The bullet caught her in the shoulder this time.
She rolled to the side, hit the wall and passed out.
Chapter 8
“Nina …” The voice was an echo from somewhere far off—in her mind perhaps. A sound she couldn’t quite grasp onto. Someone was calling her name, yet she wasn’t registering that it was her name, and they were calling her. It was just a familiar word. “Nina, open your eyes.”
She could hear it. She could understand it, but her mind wasn’t processing whatever it was the person was stating.
“Nina. If you do not open your eyes, I will do something you will regret.”
Yes. Open her eyes. She could. Maybe. The thought floated off and darkness remained. The voice vanished, and she opened her mouth to speak, but did not know what to say.
Something cold and wet splashed down on top of Nina, jerking her awake with a series of curses. She spluttered and coughed, her body shaking from the cold, hair stuck to her face.
“Good. You are awake. I thought you might be dead for a moment.” Henry tossed the jug he was holding to the side.
“Henry …” She sprawled out on the floor, her wings spread behind her, her muscles too heavy to bother picking herself back up. Her mind balanced somewhere between this world and another.
“So this is how you have chosen to handle your demon? Lie down and … snooze?”
Demon? “Oh … demon. Shit.” She bolted up, regretting it almost right away as pain lanced through her body, reminding her of the wounds she had sustained.
“My thoughts exactly. And … how did I find you?” he drawled, predicting her next question. “Well, there is rather a commotion happening outside. The good thing about you, my dear friend, is that the demon is not the only one who attracts chaos. It is like … how do they say it these days? Like a fly to shit.”
“You have been living with Yvette too long. She has taught you how to swear.” She leaned forward, her face flushed from the pain. “Fucking shit,” she huffed. “Where is Vet anyway?”
“At home.” He raised an eyebrow and nodded toward the window. “Daylight. She has a slight allergy to it. Frightful really. Breaks out in something that resembles the plague.”
“Sunshine …” Her mind was slow to wake up. Yes, sunshine. Henry could walk in the sunlight. That’s right. His heart beat, too, which meant he was an odd one of the damned.
“Your chum, Eddie.”
“Chum?”
“Friend?” Henry sighed. “Does it matter? Eddie will wake in a moment.”
“His name is Eddie?” She leaned around Henry to look for the boy. “How do you know his name?”
“All this modern technology, and the world has made you all imbeciles.” He held up a wallet. “Edward Doyle. Aged sixteen. Head of the choir. Head of the sciences.” He flicked open the identification and showed it to Nina.
“Head of the losers, it seems.”
“In my day, attending choir practice or having the intelligence to understand the world through science was considered a gift. To have both would be marvellous.”
“In your world,” Nina scoffed. “A lot has changed since then. What people value nowadays is not the same.”
Henry shrugged. “Anything would be better than a farmer’s boy.” Henry offered N
ina a hand. “Eddie is out cold. His face is covered in glitter. I did not touch him.”
“How did you …”
“Retrieve his wallet? It was in his jeans.”
“And his …”
She trailed off as Henry held up the boy’s gun on the edge of a pencil before she could finish her sentence.
“Stop doing that,” she muttered, a little freaked by how he seemed to be able to read her mind. Taking the gun from him, she wiped the dust off it. It would seem that even Henry could see the dust. How odd.
It was just a normal gun, but Arioch had doused the bullets with his own dust—they wouldn’t have done anything to her otherwise.
Edward was lying on the ground, out of it, his face covered in her dust. Thank God she had got him properly before she passed out. It wouldn’t do him any harm, just make him sleep and send him on little mind trips, but then from what Nina had seen, delirium was the least of their worries.
“Arioch is still on the roof?”
Henry nodded. “I expect so. He appears to be enjoying the attention.”
Nina paused, scowling at him. “How did you get in here without setting off the alerts? There was demon dust all over the floor.”
“You do not live on earth as long as I and not learn how to handle every creature, even the demonic kind.” He smiled at her and then stood, holding his hand out again and pulling her up to her feet. “Your wounds will heal?”
She stretched out her wing. “Eventually. Better when I am home.” Home … if she ever got back there. The blood had congealed around the wounds, the dust having sunk in. God knows how long she had been out of it. It couldn’t have been too long, Arioch was still sauntering around on the roof. But there was a lot of blood on the floor—blood and feathers.
“It appears as if someone has been here, murdering the golden goose.”
“Golden goose?” Nina raised a brow at the odd comparison.
“The story of the boy at the chocolate factory. Yvette thinks it is a good idea for me to watch …” he paused, seeming to be searching for the word, “movies?”
“She has you watching movies?” The idea of Henry sitting and watching television made Nina smile.
“Yes.” He was frowning again. “I am not sure that I understand these new vampires. People actually like them. They, too, are covered in sparkling dust.”
Nina shook her head. Any other time, she would have delighted in joking with Henry about his new discoveries, but right now, she had to get to Arioch. “Come on. We need to get to the roof.” She was so relieved that Henry had come, even if she was soaked through.
They left Edward on the floor, pulling the door closed. With any luck, he would be out of it long enough that they could trap Arioch and send his ass back. Henry led Nina along the corridor, back the way she had come before getting herself shot. “Where are you going?”
“The roof. It is this way.” He led her past the top of the stairs where she had come up, taking her in the opposite direction. Figures she would have chosen wrong. Her legs ached as she ran, her body trying to hold itself together. She squinted for a second, trusting Henry and letting him lead.
She almost ran into the back of him when he halted outside a door. “This leads to the roof?”
He stood back, and Nina realised that the door was covered in demon dust all around the edges. Just as she had done to the classroom door. “You can see that? The dust?”
“No. I can sense it. But he is demon. You can always trust a demon to not be trusted.”
Nina supposed there was truth in that irony. She blew against the door. It didn’t matter now if they alerted Arioch to her being there. He knew she would come, just as Edward had said. And unless he was deaf, he would have heard the shots.
The door opened when the dust was gone, like it had been the glue to hold it, leading to a set of rather old and uncared for steps. Vinyl half covered them, peeling off at the edges. “I’ll go first,” she whispered. This was her fight and her problem. She wouldn’t live with herself if Henry got hurt because of her mistake. No. She would go first and she would face this fucking demon. She was in enough shit now. What else could they do?
She could hear the boy’s voice from above. Giving some vast convoluted speech to the people below. Not that they cared. But they would see it as, as long as he was talking, he wasn’t throwing himself off the roof.
The steps were steep and narrow, and the walls pressed against Nina, pushing her wings closer behind her back. They brushed the sides of the walls painfully, pulling at the wound in her shoulder. It felt like it would be ripped from her back at any moment. She had only ever seen one angel with his wings cut off—they had never grown back.
If she lost hers, that would be it … her life over as far as she was concerned.
They reached the top of the steps and came across another door. This one wasn’t covered in demon dust. Arioch, she realised, was confident he would know before anyone got this far.
She eased the door open a little, wincing as it creaked. She couldn’t see Arioch from where she was. What looked like a brick shed stood in the centre, and he was on the other side. But that meant he couldn’t see her, either.
She had to push the door open to get out onto the roof. It was a relief that she could once again let her wings be free and visible. It didn’t matter now. She spanned them out at either side and knelt on the ground, letting her body recover. When she got back home, she vowed, she would sleep for a damn week.
Of course, at home, she wouldn’t need to. Angels didn’t need sleep, really. Not there. They were infused with all the energy that powered them.
She felt Henry creeping behind her, and she scurried with him in tow to the back of the building. She could just see the tail end of the crowd. It had almost tripled in size.
They were either concerned citizens, or very sick. She assumed it was the latter. It was typical of the Humans to start chanting jump at the poor kid on the roof. One person just needed to say it, and they would all join in with their hurtful words.
Nina crawled on her hands and knees, creeping to the edge. She couldn’t see Arioch, though. He must have been around the centre somewhere, creating a grand show. God, he would be drinking in the chaos from all of this.
She signalled to Henry—they would have to jump Arioch. “You go around one side, I’ll go this way,” she said in a low voice. Henry’s hearing was ultrasensitive so the words were barely a whisper … she hoped that Arioch wouldn’t hear. “On my signal, you run towards him.”
She didn’t have a grand plan. Not even a small one, really. If Henry charged for him, knocked him her way, maybe she could catch the Human boy, trap the demon and fix it all.
“Push him towards me. I will do the rest.”
He raised a brow. “You know how to catch a demon?”
No. She did not. But it was all she had. “Let me worry about that. Go … wait until I say.”
She waited for Henry to crawl out and around and then counted to ten to give him enough time to get to the right spot. Then, she slid around the last part and stopped. Her heartbeat rocketed at the unexpected sight of a young girl ... young like the boy Arioch was using. The girl stared at her, eyes meeting hers—eyes so damn afraid that they practically screamed at her.
Shit.
She readied herself to crawl out, but something blasted her on the back of her head, knocking her face down on the ground. She rolled, turning, trying to dodge another potential blow.
Edward was behind her, demon stone in his hands, the edge of it covered in blood—her blood.
“You will not mess this up for me.”
Chapter 9
Nina crumpled under the weight of the stone, but it would take more than that to knock her out. She rolled away from him. “Edward,” she called out, seeming to startle the boy at the sound of his own name. “Stop.”
She scrambled out from where she was hiding, coming into sight of Arioch. He was teetering on the edge of the roof
, his feet half off. Edward dashed toward the young, pretty girl. Her long black hair was pulled back, revealing a tear streaked face and a cut at the top of her head near the hairline. Her arms were pinned behind her back and she had been gagged, too. Nina’s heart went out to her.
“It’s okay,” Nina said to her, holding her hand out toward her. Her eyes shot to Arioch, who was still standing on the edge, a devilish grin on his face. “You’ve taken to kidnapping, too?”
He shrugged. “That one wasn’t me. I only just joined the party.”
Nina glanced toward Edward. “Why?”
Arioch laughed. “Oh, Nina. Don’t you know? Same shit that drives any horny teenage boy.” He jumped off the ledge and back onto the roof, bringing a gasp from down below as everyone hoped that he was now against the whole killing himself thing. As an afterthought, he hesitated and turned back to the crowd. “I haven’t changed my mind. Don’t try anything,” he called down before going to the girl.
Resting his hands on her shoulders, he bent down to her, leaning his face against hers. He inhaled, sniffing at her face before licking her cheek slowly. “Fear. Mmm-mmmm. So fucking delicious. Do you want to taste it?” he grinned at Edward, rubbing his face up against the girl’s. She whimpered, trying to pull away.
“Get off her,” Edward snapped, stepping closer.
Arioch raised his hand, wagging a finger like a teacher telling off a child. “Uh-oh. You don’t want to do that,” he warned, stopping the boy dead in his tracks. He turned his attention back to Nina. “See, our Edward here has kind of an … infatuation with Lisa. I mean, I would say a bit or a little, but he has a room layered with wank pictures of her. Amazing the shots someone can get of another just by following them around a little. Only problem is, Lisa here, doesn’t know our Edward exists. He’s just the kid her boyfriend taunts every so often, and she laughs. You know … me …?” He pointed at his chest. “That would be me, in case you didn’t realise. Loves to just tease good old Edward here, doesn’t he?”
Arioch left Lisa and sauntered over to Edward, resting an arm across his shoulder. “Now, our little Edward doesn’t like that so much. Thinks good old Mike here … me … doesn’t deserve Lisa. So, I get rid of little Mike.” Arioch thumped his chest, “and then little Edward can comfort Lisa, and voila, she slips her knickers off faster than a whore seeing a fifty pound note. Eddie wins the girl.”
