Angels Scream (Echo Team Book 2)

by Joseph Hutton

  That brought another, perhaps more disturbing, thought.

  If things got ugly, would their weapons even work on this thing?

  Unlike everything else they’d run into in this place, however, the newcomer did not give off waves of hateful malice and Riley took what little comfort there was in that fact, hoping they might have finally caught a break.

  Then Duncan opened his mouth and everything changed in a heartbeat.

  “You gotta be freakin’ kidding me...” he breathed, so quiet that Riley doubted he’d actually heard it at first, until Duncan began moving forward.

  “What?” Riley asked, snatching at his teammate, but Duncan was already past him and all he could do was stand and watch as he stepped out around the bend and stood in the midst of the tunnel, revealing himself to the approaching figure.

  Around him Riley felt the rest of the men stir and he knew their level of intensity had just gone up a few notches. He held out his right hand, palm down, and slowly brought it down, indicating that they should remain in position and not interfere yet. He had no clue what Duncan thought he was doing out there, but he’d proven himself under fire and Riley was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  While Riley and his men had gotten into position the figure had maintained its steady approach and was now roughly twenty feet away, only stopping when Duncan stepped around the corner into full view.

  The two of them stared at each other and Riley watched them both, the muzzle of his weapon locked on a point over Duncan’s right shoulder that afforded him a good shot at the newcomer and he knew the men around were doing the same.

  Time stretched and Riley felt his senses come into sharper focus just as they usually did in the seconds before an assault went bad, from the way the stranger’s robes whispered against the floor as they swayed in the non-existent breeze to the whiteness of Duncan’s knuckles where he gripped his MP5.

  Riley’s heartrate kicked into overdrive.

  Here it comes, he thought.

  But to his surprise, violence didn’t erupt and it was the stranger who broke the silence first.

  “Do you know who I am?”

  The voice was at once achingly beautiful and savagely terrible, both melodic and discordant, if that was at all possible, and Riley’s heart twisted in his chest to hear it.

  Duncan’s answer was the biggest shock so far, however.

  “You’re Gabrielle. Gabrielle Williams.”

  Cade’s dead wife? Riley couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but there was no time to consider it in more detail for the conversation was going on without him and he dared not be left behind. He’d ponder it all later, once they were out of this mess. For now, he’d better follow along as well as he could.

  Gabrielle cocked her head to one side as she considered Duncan’s reply and in the seconds that followed Riley noted that Duncan still had not relinquished the near-stranglehold on his weapon. They weren’t out of danger yet, apparently.

  “Yes,” she replied at last, slowly, almost hesitantly. “Yes, that is my name.”

  Duncan nodded, accepting her response, but he still did not relax. “What do you want?”

  Again, she was slow to respond. Her actions puzzled Riley. Was she considering her answers, trying to find the proper response to the questions posed or was there something else going on? Was she even who she pretended to be? How could they know?

  This time her response came a little quicker than before. “Take me to Cade.”

  Yeah, right, Riley thought and apparently he wasn’t the only one who was a bit uneasy at the idea.

  “You can tell me what you came here to say and I’ll pass it on,” Duncan replied. The muzzle of his weapon shifted almost imperceptibly closer to the woman standing before him.

  Gabrielle, if that was truly who she was, shook her head. “He is dying. I must see him.”

  Riley watched as it was Duncan’s turn to hesitate. He knew Cade was too far up the tunnel to be visible, even with supernaturally enhanced vision, and so there was no chance that Gabrielle had simply seen his wounds and guessed at his condition. She had come here specifically because her former husband was in mortal danger. Somehow, someway, she had known and that alone was a very sobering thought.

  But Duncan wasn’t yet finished. “How do we know you are who you say you are?”

  Gabrielle stared at him and unknowingly both Riley and Duncan held their breath. If things were going to go sideways, this was the point it would happen. In unconscious mimicry of each other, they both placed their fingers on the triggers of their weapons, preparing to defend their comrades and their wounded leader.

  Their actions were unnecessary. Gabrielle seemed to understand the position they were in. Without a word she reached up and grasped the cowl of her hood and Riley couldn’t help but flinch at the gleam of white bone that was revealed amidst the flesh of her hands as she did so. That might have been bad enough, but it was the sight of her face, now revealed to all who stood there, that shocked him into immobility.

  She’d been gorgeous once, beautiful even, and the right side of her face still showed how she must have looked in life, her skin silky smooth and unmarred by even the smallest blemish, her lips rich and full. Her hair fell about that side of her face in a gentle wave and it shone in such a way that you just wanted to reach out and run your fingers through it.

  But the left side of her face was a study in tragedy and horror. The skin had been stripped from the flesh, leaving the muscles, tendons, and blood vessels exposed for all too see in their scarlet glory. Her teeth gleamed brightly against the bloody texture of her face, her lips no longer there to tuck them away from view. Similarly her eye was a white marble in that sea of red and it rotated to fix Duncan in its baleful glare.

  “I am Gabrielle Williams and my husband is dying. You will take me to him or I will go myself.”

  After a moment, Duncan nodded. After all, he was in no position to argue.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Duncan turned and, gesturing for Gabrielle to follow, headed back down the corridor to where the Flynn was watching over their wounded comrade. As Gabrielle passed, Riley felt a wave of cold wash over him, as if he’d just stepped barefoot into knee-deep snow. He let her get a few feet ahead and then followed obediently behind. If Gabrielle was concerned about being sandwiched between two well-armed soldiers, she didn’t show it.

  Riley called Flynn over the radio. “We’re headed your way. And we’ve got a visitor with us.”

  “Roger that. You want to let me in on who it is?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  By then their small group had gotten close enough that Gabrielle could see Cade lying motionless on the ground a short distance ahead. She pushed Duncan aside and rushed toward her injured husband.

  Surprised by her sudden actions, Flynn stepped in front of the body of his friend, his weapon raised, but Riley had been expecting something like this and he waved his teammate out of the way before anything could come of it. Truth be told he had no idea what Gabrielle was capable of, but there was no sense testing her determination.

  Flynn moved aside as instructed.

  Ignoring him, Gabrielle knelt down next to her wounded husband. She looked him over slowly and carefully, but made no move to touch him. She closed her eyes and was silent for a bit and then, “He’s bleeding internally. If we can’t stop it soon, he’ll die.”

  It was all spoken in a voice devoid of any emotion, as if she were talking about a refrigerator rather than Cade, so different from her actions upon first seeing him - a matter of fact recitation of events, a simple puzzle to be solved rather than a mortal threat to her beloved.

  Slowly she turned her head and looked at each of them, until her gaze came to rest on Duncan. They stared at each other and Riley had the sense that something passed between them, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. In the end he supposed it didn’t really matter; Duncan stood up and moved to sit on the othe
r side of Cade, opposite Gabrielle.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  As Gabrielle began explaining to Duncan what she intended, Riley found himself standing there, simply amazed at what had happened over the last twenty-four hours. From reaper demons to resurrected angels, from crossing the Barrier to sitting here taking medical advance from the long-dead wife of his unit commander, it had been one freakin’ strange day.

  He really hoped it would be over soon.

  “Master Sergeant?”

  How the hell did she know that? “Yes?” he replied, giving her his full attention.

  “We’re ready to try now.”

  “Good. What do I have to do?”

  Gabrielle shook her head. “Nothing.” She indicated Duncan. “We’re going to go inside Cade’s head and he is going to do what he can to heal the damage there, while I wall off other…less desirable, elements. He will either be strong enough or he will not. It’s as simple as that.”

  “You ready for this?” Riley asked Duncan. The younger man looked even greyer than he had half-an-hour earlier, if that was at all possible in a place made up of a thousand shades of the same color.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  Riley, Flynn, and Gabrielle all answered at the same time. “No.”

  “I guess I’m ready, then.” Taking a deep breath, he extended his hands and placed them on either side of Cade’s head.

  Gabrielle waited for him to get comfortable and then placed her hands over his.

  To his credit, Duncan barely flinched at her icy cold touch.

  Bowing her head, Gabrielle began to say something in a low voice, over and over again, and after a moment a glimmering white glow could be seen flowing out from their clasped hands surrounding Cade’s face and head.

  It went on that way for some time until, with a sudden flash, the light winked out abruptly.

  Duncan gasped and pulled away from Gabrielle, breaking the connection. On the ground before them, color slowly blossomed in Cade’s face.

  Riley took that as a good sign.

  Gabrielle looked over at him. “The danger’s passed. He is resting normally now and should awaken soon.”

  Out of the corner of his eye Riley could see Duncan staring at Gabrielle, an expression of near-awe on his face. The Master Sergeant couldn’t blame him; he was pretty impressed with the lady himself. He turned to more practical matters. “That still leaves us with the need to find a way out of here,” he said, “and figuring out how to get away from that twisted freak of an angel once we do.”

  “Cade knows the angel’s name,” Gabrielle replied, watching him closely, and Riley knew that there was something significant to that statement, but he wasn’t sure just what.

  “So what are we going to do, make fun of it?”

  Was that a smirk there on her face, just for a moment? If it was, it was gone as swiftly as it had come. “Names have power,” she told him. “With the right Name you could even storm the very gates of heaven. And you’d stand a good chance of forcing your way inside.”

  “Okay. So what are we going to do with that Name?”

  Now she grinned and it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “You, Master Sergeant Matthew Cornelius Riley, are going to bind that angel with your bare hands.”

  Riley didn’t like the sound of that, but he sat down to hear her out just the same.

  When they were finished, Gabrielle explained that she would open a rift between this world and the next, allowing them to return to the real world without Cade’s assistance. As the men gathered their supplies and prepared for the passage, she moved a short distance down the hall. Facing a clear, unbroken section of wall, she raised her arms to either side of her and brought them together again sharply, much the same way the angel had done earlier.

  As Riley watched, a crack of gleaming blue power appeared on the wall in front of her, running from floor to ceiling. Gabrielle plunged her hands inside that shimmering vein of energy and with a shout wrenched it open wider. A sudden howling cry filled the corridor, as if the walls of the place objected to the abuse, but the opening became considerably wider as a result. As she stepped back, Riley could see a wall of water pressing against the other side of the rift, held in place as if by some invisible barrier. The bluish-green tint of the water was shocking amidst this landscape of grey.

  Riley turned to address the men standing behind him. “All right! Listen up! When you get through the portal you’re going to be disoriented, confused. You’ll also be a fair distance underwater. Do not panic. I repeat, do not panic.” He looked at them each in turn, one by one, making eye contact, letting them know without saying anything that he had complete confidence in their ability to do this. “The passage through the portal can sometimes make you forget things, slow down your thinking, but if you stay calm you’ll be all right. Watch for your air bubbles and follow them to the surface.” He turned to Flynn, and said, “Cade’s your responsibility. As soon as you and Chen are through the rift, head for the surface as fast as you can.” Flynn nodded, neither of them mentioning the danger in an unconscious man being underwater. Some risks they just had to take.

  “We’ve got no idea what will be waiting for us on the other side, so look sharp when you reach the surface.”

  “What about our weapons?” Ortega asked.

  “If you’ve got a dry bag with you, use that. Otherwise, wrap it up with whatever you might have and hope for the best.”

  Riley looked them over one last time. Satisfied with what he saw, he nodded and turned to face the rift. “Let’s move out!” he yelled and the men of Echo were swift to obey. Flynn and Chen lifted Cade and carried him down the hall to where Gabrielle and Riley waited. Duncan helped Davis, the other man’s arm still in a sling, Ortega behind them, while Riley brought up the rear.

  One by one they stepped up to the edge of the rift, took a deep breath, and plunged through the opening.

  As Riley came forward to take his turn, he leaned in toward Gabrielle so that she could hear him over the howl of the passage. “He’s been searching for you. He has never given up on you.”

  A sad smile crossed the undamaged side of her face. “I know.” She paused, considering, and then said, “If he comes looking for me again, tell him he can find me across the Sea of Lamentations, on the Isle of Sorrow, where the earth weeps beneath the tear in the sky. But tell him that’s exactly what the Adversary wants, as well.”

  Riley was full of questions, but she cut him off before he could say anything further. “Go now. And remember what I told you. Your life, and Cade’s, depends upon it.”

  Echo’s executive officer nodded, turned, and disappeared through the rift.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Duncan’s head broke the surface of the water and he sucked air into his lungs gratefully. A quick glance around let him know that he was in the middle of a swimming pool, more than likely the one in the exercise facility where they’d encountered the reaper demons, an event that seemed to have occurred weeks ago to his tired body and mind. Flynn was just now clambering out the side and nearby Chen was treading water, one arm locked around the still unconscious form of Knight Commander Williams.

  Duncan sensed something coming up from below and a moment later Davis and Ortega both surfaced nearby. The expressions on their faces showed that they, too, had been shocked by how long the trip had seemed, from the moment they had left the Beyond to the point where they came up for air in their own reality. Moving from the sweltering hot air of the corridors in the Beyond to the chill waters of the pool had been tough enough, despite the fact that they’d known what was coming and mentally prepared for it. The distance to the surface from the bottom of the pool had seemed five times its normal depth. He remembered something Cade had said to him the first time he’d found himself in the Beyond. Time and distance are different here; they are never what you expect.

  Yeah, he had that right, Duncan thought.

  He struck out for the side of the pool and had
just reached it when out in the middle of the water Riley finally broke the surface. All seven surviving members of the Echo Team had made it back and Duncan cast a quick prayer heavenward in thanks even as he reached down to help Flynn pull Cade from the pool.

  A short time later they were all doing what they could to warm up in wet clothes, huddled in towels they’d found in the locker room but unwilling to strip off their combat uniforms, no matter how miserable they were because no one wanted to do without their built-in Kevlar protection. With no idea where or when the dark angel and its allies might strike again, every single member of Echo wanted as much protection as he could get.

  They’d only had two dry bags among them, so they did what they could to dry off their weapons, nervously glancing around the whole time they did so.

  Riley had called a ten minute break and as he sat a short distance away in deep conversation with Flynn, no doubt planning their next move, Duncan was thankful that he was junior in rank. It kept the big responsibilities off his back, like trying to figure out a way to escape this place without having to face that hellspawn again.

  “Duncan?”

  The voice was weak and tired, but also unmistakable. Duncan whirled around to see Cade trying raise himself up on one arm into a sitting position.

  “Take it easy, Commander,” Duncan said, moving quickly to his side and helping him to lean back against the wall behind him. “We’re safe. For the time being at least.”