by Amy Vansant
“It shouldn’t have taken you so long to dispatch him. I killed another Sentinel downstairs. They’re weak. I shouldn’t be able to kill a proper Sentinel with one swing of my sword. This Cherub is making an army but he isn’t giving them enough power or training.”
“My guy was pretty tough, but I’m a boxing champion so...”
Boudica didn’t appear to be listening. “Did you notice anything odd about the Sentinel you fought?”
Con reflected on his battle. “He tried to pull that MMA shite—”
Boudica shook her head. “I mean really odd.”
“You’re sayin’ it isn’t odd to be boxin’ and then out of the blue wrap a guy’s legs up like knotted spaghetti?”
“I would just break his legs.”
Con paused and scratched his cheek. “Well, sure, that’s one thing to do but—”
“The Sentinel that met me at the door was mute. Seemed...on autopilot. White eyes. And I found the two in the hallway watching you fight, as if waiting for their turn.”
“I figured they’d just arrived.”
“No. I wonder if someone told them to get you if the boxer failed and they took the command very literally.”
“I’m sure I could have taken them all—”
“Did he talk to you?”
“Who? The boxer? No. His face never changed. White eyes like you said. No anger, no pain; it was infuriatin’ really.”
Boudica fished her pockets for her phone. “Thank you. That’s what I thought. They’re like zombies. I’m going to report this. Try and see if you can get a bead on the Cherub.”
Con stared at the wall, recalling his brief interaction with the shadow.
“I think his name is Nyx.”
Boudica paused her dialing. “The boxer?”
“No, the Cherub. Had it carved on his arm like Rathe.”
“Good.”
Con laughed. “Hey, did I tell you I called the boxer Manny Pacqui-ow?”
Boudica stared at him.
Con’s smile faded and he dismissed her with a hand wave. “It’s a boxing joke, Red. You wouldn’t understand.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Why are you soaked?” asked Leo, strolling to where Anne sat waiting for him in Angeli Headquarters. “You look like a wet dog.”
“Thanks. I’m wet because they had me kill a Cherub in the middle of a blizzard while you were in your comfy meeting.”
Leo laughed. She stared at him, unamused, and his smile fell. “You’re serious?”
“Yes, I’m serious. They didn’t even offer me a towel when I got back.”
He grunted. “Sent you into a blizzard, huh? That’s cold.”
“Very funny. Oh, and Alexander the Great is nothing such.”
“He feels like he’s done his thing. He’s been in semi-retirement, resting on his laurels.”
“So I discovered.” Her gaze dropped to the papers in his hand. “Did you get our mission?”
“Minnesota.”
She cursed under her breath. “Naturally. Couldn’t be Tahiti. Tell me it’s at least indoors.”
“Yep. In a mall.”
“In a shopping mall?” She tilted back her head with a muffled thud against the stone wall. “I think I prefer the blizzard.”
He chuckled. “Ready?”
She bent forward, fluffed her straggly hair, and snapped it back.
“Ready.”
He wrapped his arms around her and they arrived at their destination, the back hallway of an enormous shopping mall. Anne put her hand on what she thought was a wall. A door gave way and she stumbled forward into a stream of shoppers.
Dodging and apologizing, she warded off collisions and bee-lined for a bench.
Leo followed. “You sure you’re up for this? You look a little green. ”
“I’m fine. It’s the travel. Always spins me.”
A frazzled mother walked by, dragging a screaming child and pushing another in a stroller. Another woman’s little boy spiked his soda to the ground in a fit of pique. He launched into a frothing tirade, from which Anne gathered his mother should have known better than to get him root beer.
The shoppers glided through the mall performing their commerce-driven ballet, colorful bags swinging like pendulums from their arms. Looking up, Anne saw the mall had several levels and marveled at the number of people milling on each. A commotion behind her drew her attention to the mall’s indoor amusement park, complete with rides and the screams of terrified happiness.
“I suppose the Mall of America is a good place to hide in a crowd.”
Leo shrugged. “Maybe it isn’t hiding. Maybe it’s hunting. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll start with that kid.” He nodded toward the root-beer-hater, who now slapped the soda puddle with his foot to punctuate his points.
She chuckled. “It could do a lot of damage here. Do we have any idea what it looks like? Male, female?”
“No. Just the energy signature. Let me see if I can track it.”
Leo closed his eyes and Anne watched his blue aura flare. He radiated immense power as an Arch Angelus, and while the shoppers couldn’t see his aura, she could see they were drawn to his power.
A woman eyed him, visually caressing him from head to toe as she passed.
Maybe his power attracted her.
Maybe it was the tight shirt.
“That woman just totally eye-groped you,” said Anne.
“She’s the Cherub.” Leo pointed to a young girl in black leotards and a long black t-shirt with a white unicorn stamped on the front. She stood at the outskirts of the amusement park, staring up at the rides with wonder.
“The kid?” Anne guessed the girl to be nine years old. People passed her, talking on their phones, oblivious to the monster—hell-bent on destroying them—standing in their midst. It didn’t matter that the dark clothing, in conjunction with the black hair framing the child’s face, made her skin appear to glow in a less than human fashion.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
She stood. “Alright. Let’s try to do this without causing a scene.”
Anne followed the flow of the crowd toward the girl. She trailed behind the body of a heavyset man, using him as a shield.
Almost there—
The child’s body jolted as if Anne’s presence had triggered a shock. Her head swiveled and their eyes locked.
Damn.
The girl’s eyes were solid black, two shiny orbs of onyx.
Alida pushed from the amusement park fence and jogged away from Anne at a normal human pace. Holding her arms wide like a child pretending to be an airplane, she spread her electric red wings. Any shopper unlucky enough to come in contact with the glowing appendages screamed in pain and collapsed on the spot.
“Slow her down!” screamed Anne, hoping Leo was listening.
Anne felt the Angelus’ energy fly above her as she broke into a sprint. The girl’s path was littered with fallen shoppers, their arms lying in dust at their feet. One woman’s hip had turned to powder, her leg bone left dangling from its socket, the flesh crumbled on the ground around her.
The girl reached the glass doors of the mall exit, turned, and held up her arm so Anne could see the word there, glowing as if lit from within.
Alida.
“Remember it!” the girl screamed before crashing through the mall doors.
Anne burst through the doors into the sunlight. Alida made it to the fifth row of parked cars before Leo materialized in front of her. She ran into him, bouncing to the ground.
Leo snatched her into his arms as she struggled to escape. He looked for Anne and motioned with his head.
“Hurry!”
As Anne sprinted towards him, Alida stopped struggling. The child closed her eyes and tilted her head forward as if falling into a trance. Something about the Cherub’s suddenly calm demeanor made Anne run even faster.
This can’t be good.
A second later, Anne found herself fly
ing backwards through the air.
A shock wave, emanating from the Cherub, rolled across the parking lot. Car windows burst and alarms blared. Leo blasted back as if he’d been holding dynamite, tumbling through the air like a plastic bag in a tornado. Anne hit a car and used it to brace herself, absorbing the brunt of the remaining energy for her own use.
Alida disappeared.
Feeling the Cherub’s energy coursing through her body, Anne ran supernaturally fast toward Leo, who’d smacked against a tourist bus on the other side of the lot. The large, human-shaped dent in the side of the bus would have been comical had they not just blown their mission.
Leo flashed with blue light and reappeared, healing his injuries. The bus driver popped his head out and stared at him with concern.
“You okay der, buddy?” asked the portly driver.
Leo nodded.
“Was it a bomb?”
“I don’t know.”
The driver peered at the dent. “Oh-fer-geeze. I’m not gonna be held responsible for this here then—”
Anne stepped forward and touched the man’s neck, knocking him unconscious with her energy. She eased him down on the steps of the bus.
“We could have just ignored him,” said Leo.
“Maybe he’ll get a little sympathy from his bosses if he’s found unconscious. Did you see which way the girl went?”
He nodded to his left. “That way.”
“Well, let’s go! Take me! Chase her!”
He shook his head. “It’s no use. I could catch her alone, but I won’t be able to hold her. With you in tow we’d never be able to keep pace. Plus...”
He nodded toward a crowd gathering outside the mall, men and women staring at them, chattering amongst themselves, some holding aloft phones as if they were filming.
Right. People.
“I suppose the Angeli PR team will have a hard enough time leaking a viable explanation for a little girl turning people to dust in the Mall of America, without us flying out of the parking lot like aliens.”
“I prefer to think of myself as more of a superhero, but yes. For once I might actually have a little pity for the PR nerds.”
Anne walked deeper into the parking lot and Leo fell in stride beside her. “We need backup. As young as she appears, she’s more powerful than Rathe. I can feel it.”
Leo stretched his back, grimacing. “What was that repelling burst? Can Rathe do that?”
“Not that I’ve seen. But it has to take something out of her. I absorbed a nice chunk of energy from it.”
“I’ll contact HQ. See if they can track her.”
“I’ll get us some back up. A second Sentinel would help.”
Anne retrieved her phone and called home.
“Anne Bonny’s residence, how can I help you?”
“Jeffrey, I need Tyannah. Get her.”
He yawned. “She’s not here.”
“What do you mean she’s not there?”
“I woke up and she’s wasn’t here. She left a note saying she’d be right back.”
“Jeffrey! Your one job was to watch her!”
“You didn’t say stay up all night staring at her. First of all, that’s creepy. Second, some of us have to sleep, you know.”
Anne growled. “Sure. You’re getting old. You need your beauty sleep.”
“Ouch. That was unnecessary.”
“The second she gets back tell her I need her. I’ll call her, too. If she isn’t back soon let me know.”
“Will do.”
Anne hung up and dialed Tyannah.
“HQ is tracking Alida. She’s stationary now,” said Leo.
Tyannah didn’t answer. Reading Alida’s coordinates from Leo’s phone, she texted them to the girl.
“I gave Tyannah the coordinates. Send an Angelus to pick her up and she can share them.”
She looked up to find Leo scowling at her.
“What?”
“I don’t know if Tyannah is the one we should trust.”
“We can trust her. Send the Angelus to my house to pick her up.”
Leo’s lip curled. “We’re not Uber.”
“Shut up and make the call.”
Leo paused, radiating disapproval. “I could have HQ send us a Sentinel. One that’s been tested. Forget she might not be trustworthy, she’s green.”
“You know the Angeli won’t send anyone. They’re bent on keeping things quiet. They’d rather let the whole world end than lose face or be detected.”
He grunted. “You got me there.”
Chapter Fifteen
“What now?” Con squinted into the setting sun as Boudica and he walked down the street leading from the Victorian where they’d lost Nyx.
“The Cherubim is long gone. I don’t feel him or the Sentinels anywhere.”
“Aye. Should we go back to HQ?”
Boudica sighed.
Con nodded. “Exactly.”
They strolled past an alley with Irish music lilting from its dim recesses. Reaching the opposite curb, they stopped and looked at each other.
“Did I imagine that?” he asked.
“If you mean Irish music, I heard it, too.”
They peered down the alley to find an Irish pub, The Lass in the Limerick, tucked against the left wall. An outdoor seating area with plastic chairs and tables beckoned to Con like a mirage in the desert.
He felt a thirst.
“It’s almost like it appeared just for us,” he said, hoping she’d take the bait.
“It is.”
Bingo.
“Shall we?” He held out his arm and she took it.
“Why not?”
They sat at one of the tables and admired the eclectic mess of Irish signs and memorabilia littering the walls of the establishment.
A waiter approached. Con ordered four shots of whiskey and then looked at his tablemate, expecting Boudica to comment on the number.
She smiled at the waiter. “Me too.”
The waiter’s frozen grin faded. “You mean another four?”
She nodded. “Please.”
The server looked at Con and he scowled.
“Whaddya lookin’ at me fer? You heard the lady.”
The man scurried away.
Con stared at Boudica, a smile dancing on his lips, and she held his gaze.
“What, you think you’re the only person who drinks?” she asked.
He held up his palms. “No, no, not at all. Say...is it hard for you to get drunk?”
She scowled. “Is this another joke about my size?”
“No! I mean you bein’ an angel and all.”
“Oh. Is it hard for me to get drunk? Define hard.”
“Like for me, I need to stay ahead of my healin’. It takes quite a bit.”
“We only heal in energy form. If I stay human, I get drunk like anyone else.”
“Ah, brilliant! If you get too tipsy, blip! And you’re right as rain again.”
Boudica nodded.
Con cracked his neck, still feeling achy from his battles. “That might explain why I’m still sore. I don’t know how to do that flip-the-switch trick.”
“Sure you do. You fly.”
“What’s that now?”
“You can fly, and that is your energy form. Just think about shifting to heal the way you do when you shift to fly, only stay still.”
Con stuck out his lower lip, considering her advice.
The whiskeys arrived and Boudica held up the first. “Here’s to defeating the Cherubim.”
“Here’s to kickin’ Nyx’s arse.”
They clinked and shot back the liquor. No sooner was it gone than he stood.
“I’ll be right back.”
Con went to the men’s room and into the only stall. Locking the door, he took a deep breath and concentrated on flying without flying.
Someone yelped and he opened his eyes. A man stood in the bathroom, staring at him, a startled expression on his face.
Co
n realized he’d transported himself outside the stall and into the main bathroom.
“You scared me, I didn’t see you!” said the man, his hand on his chest.
Con offered him a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”
“Where did you come from? I swear it’s like you just appeared there.”
Con clapped him on the shoulder as he passed to leave. “Better ease up on the booze there, boyo.”
Returning to his table, Con sat and stretched his back. “You were right. I healed myself and feel much better. I flew a little, but I can work on that.”
He searched for his three remaining whiskeys, finding only eight empty shot glasses. He squinted at Boudica and she giggled.
“What?”
The server appeared with eight more shots.
Con grinned. “Ah, you ordered more. Guess I’ll let you live after all.”
“Lucky me.”
The two drank for an hour before weaving back down the alley.
“I should sober up but I don’t feel like it,” said Boudica.
“I don’t blame you.”
She leaned with her back against the brick wall and blinked at him. “You know, you’re a good-looking man.”
He grinned. “I thought you’d never notice.”
Reaching out, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and jerked him close to her. He smelled whiskey, though he wasn’t sure if it was her breath or his own bouncing off her face. She’d shifted to mixed drinks during their binge, running the gamut through the cocktail menu.
The side of his nose touched hers and their lips brushed. He didn’t really care which of them smelled like whiskey; either way it was intoxicating.
“Do me a favor,” he said, slowly leaning back from her.
“What’s that?”
“Flip the switch, sober up, and tell me if this still seems like a good idea.”
She smiled. “What a gentleman. I never imagined.”
“I’m a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.”
“Would it help if I told you I know my mind, drunk or not?”
“And I apologize if it seems I’m implyin’ you don’t but, well I’ve made a few bad calls in my time.”
“Maybe you should sober up then.”
“That isn’t a terrible idea. Mainly for your sake if we’re going through with this, if you know what I mean.”
