A Candle in the Sun

by L. J. LaBarthe

  “Okay.” Angelique sighed. “So now what?”

  “Now, nothing. Wait. I am afraid there is little else to do. You know what to say about Yaak and the mission; you know there are some things that you are unable to divulge as per your Venatores status. The Hague know this as well. I will be present during your testimonies, as will Gabriel, Raziel, and Uriel, and between the four of us, we will make certain that all is conducted in a fair and reasonable manner.”

  Angelique had the sudden mental image of four Archangels in full armor glowering at the court, and she had to suppress the laughter that bubbled up inside her. That would, she thought, definitely make everyone be on their best behavior, especially with two of the most short-tempered beings she’d ever met in the room. Uriel and Gabriel weren’t exactly known for their patience, and she rather imagined that having them in armor, with sharp, pointy weapons to hand, would make everyone either very polite or result in a great deal of violence.

  “Are you all right?” Michael was asking, and Angelique nodded, focusing on the present.

  “Yeah, I’m okay now. Thanks, Mike.”

  “It is no hardship.” Michael smiled. “Eat and then get some rest, all of you.”

  A chorus of “Yes, sir” and “Okay” filled the room, and Michael nodded and stepped back.

  “Keep me informed,” he said to Angelique.

  “Damn right.”

  “Language.” Michael looked around the room again. “I will see you all again soon.” And then he was gone, with a rustle of feathers.

  “I feel much better about this whole fucked up situation now,” Declan said. He was quite serious, Angelique saw.

  “Me too,” Liam said. “I thought this was all going to end in tears and violence.”

  “So did I,” Baxter said. “You okay, Squirt?”

  Lily didn’t protest the nickname. She pulled out of Declan’s arms and nodded. “I think so. I just… the idea of running into Danny just really freaked me out.”

  “Totally understandable,” Declan said.

  “Maybe you should ask one of the Archdemons if they’ll keep an eye out for you,” Riley said. “Just to make sure he hasn’t stuck around, hoping to see you.”

  Lily’s blue eyes went wide. “I didn’t think of that. He might do that, too. Bloody hell. Blast it all!”

  “Call Adramelek,” Riley said. “Or Ondrass.”

  Lily nodded. “All right. Thanks, Riley. Thanks too, Dec. You’re all the best friends and pack a girl could have.” She smiled at them. “Can I borrow your room to make my calls, Jelly?”

  “Sure.” Angelique smiled at her. “You know where it is.”

  “Thanks.” Lily got to her feet and quickly left the living room. Angelique heard the soft thump of her bedroom door closing and she sighed, moving to sit down beside Declan.

  “What a fuck of a day.”

  “Amen to that,” Declan said.

  “Shall we get pizza tonight?” Baxter asked. “I’m guessing that no one feels like cooking, and the boss man did say we should eat.”

  “Yeah, do that,” Angelique said. She suddenly felt very tired. “Whatever you guys want, I’m good with.”

  Declan was there suddenly, and she wasn’t sure how he’d moved so fast. “Come sit down, babe.”

  Angelique let him lead her to the sofa and gently press her down. She rubbed her face with both hands and gave him a small smile. “I’m okay, I promise.”

  “I know you are. But here’s a fact: we’re all exhausted. Emotionally, particularly. We’ve been going without any sort of real break since we went to Yaak, and we haven’t had any damn time to just rest and not think about work.” Declan pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans. “So I’m gonna call Selana right now. I’m gonna tell her that as soon as this trial bullshit is done, we’re coming to Puerto Rico, and she and Jake need to haul ass and get the spare beds set up for you guys. And I’ll tell her to make her chorizo and pepper stew for when we get there, ’cause that’s food for the soul and our souls need it.”

  Angelique looked at him with wide eyes. “That sounds fantastic, Dec.” And it did. The idea of going somewhere to rest and relax and, most importantly, recuperate and come to terms with everything that had happened seemed like the most perfect thing in the universe right then.

  “I know.” Declan scrolled through his contacts, selected one, and hit the call button. He lifted the phone to his ear and a moment later he was talking, half in English, half in Spanish.

  Angelique leaned back and closed her eyes. Images swam behind her eyelids—monsters, hybrid creations straight out of her nightmares or a Lovecraft novel; Danny, bleeding and unconscious; Baxter, his leg sticking out at unnatural angle.

  She opened her eyes and found Liam watching her. His expression was a mixture of understanding and sadness. Angelique shrugged at him.

  “You know you don’t have to play the fearless alpha all the time, right?” Liam asked her.

  “What?” Angelique was startled.

  “You’re completely worn out. I can see it, Dec can see it, Michael can see it. Probably Tzad and his shadows can see it, but they aren’t thinking about that sort of stuff right now. Thing is, Jelly, we’re all fucked. How long has it been since any of us here had a good night’s sleep?”

  Baxter snorted. “Babe, I don’t remember. Heat week, for me, I think.”

  “That was a while ago,” Liam said.

  “Yeah.”

  Angelique ran her hands through her hair. “I think for me it was the night before we deployed for Yaak.”

  “Same for me,” Riley said.

  “I’ll go out on a limb and say that’s the same for Lil and for Dec, too,” Liam said. “I know it is for me. So yeah, we’re all fucking exhausted. Selana’s telling Dec right now that Jake has built on an extension to the house, so we can all bunk together, and that’ll be damn good, I think.”

  “How can you tell what she’s saying to him?” Riley asked.

  Liam grinned. “We’ve got a sort of shorthand language, our family. From what Dec’s saying, that’s what I figured out.”

  A moment later, Declan ended his call and tossed his cell phone onto the coffee table. “Liam’s right,” he said. “They’ve just finished the extension. Selana had a dream—vision—that we’d need it, so it’s done. They’re ready for us whenever we get there. I’ll give them a call when we fly out, so I can let them know where to pick us up.”

  “How will they fit us in one car?” Baxter wanted to know.

  “Van, dude, van. Jake’s taken on the job of driving the local kids to school, so he’ll borrow that. It won’t be a problem.”

  Liam was smiling. “God, I am so looking forward to going home for a bit. I can’t wait.”

  “Me too, bro.” Declan grinned back at him. To Angelique’s eye, he looked as refreshed as if he’d had a night of good, solid, uninterrupted sleep.

  “So when do we leave?” Angelique asked.

  “Soon as this testimony shit is done. Which reminds me, I’m calling Mike again; I want him to get Tzadkiel to make sure we can testify ASAP. He can schedule dick-face for after we head to Puerto Rico.”

  “You mean Danny?” Angelique nodded even as Declan did. “Yeah, I like that idea. He can wait on us. That’s a good plan.”

  “Right then, I’ll call Mike now.” Declan leaned forward and picked up his cell phone again. “Anything else you think I should ask him?”

  “Ask if we can borrow a chopper or one of the Cessnas,” Angelique said. “So we can get to your family’s.”

  “Right.” Declan moved closer to her and gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll do that.”

  “And I will call for pizza,” Liam said. “I’m getting really fucking hungry.”

  “Dude, you are a man after my own heart,” Baxter said. “And a man after my stomach.”

  They all laughed, and as Declan headed outside the apartment to call Michael, Lily returned to the living room.

  “How did i
t go?” Angelique asked her as she sat down.

  “Good. Ondrass said he’ll be my bodyguard. He was quite offended at the idea that I might have to see Danny.” Lily gave her a small, sad smile.

  “He’s not the only one,” Angelique said. “Dec’s gone to call Michael. He thinks we should get our testimonies over first, and then we can all go to Puerto Rico. We can’t accidentally bump into Danny if we’re in another part of the world.”

  Lily’s entire expression lifted, becoming so relieved and so grateful, that Angelique felt a pang in her chest. “Your boyfriend’s a good guy,” Lily said.

  “Yeah, he’s all right,” Angelique drawled. “I’ll keep him.”

  Lily smiled. “And you’re all wonderful friends and pack mates. Thanks, everyone. For everything. I appreciate it.”

  “Don’t need to thank us, Squirt,” Baxter said. “We do it because we love you. Pack is family.”

  “True words,” Angelique agreed. “Sometimes, you’re pretty smart, Sugarpuff.”

  Baxter stuck his tongue out at her.

  RAZIEL LOOKED around the chambers with interest as the members of the International Criminal Court took their seats. The process had changed over the years, he thought, noting that several members were not present and that their seats were covered with a black cloth. That black cloth signified abstention, Raziel knew, a relatively recent change to the procedures here.

  The media representatives sat in a gallery high above the semicircle that formed the regular gallery, where the member states and the viewing public sat. Raziel was here as both witness and observer, a situation that was quite irregular. Things in general had been quite irregular, Raziel thought as he leaned back in his seat.

  From a door in the side of the chamber emerged Tzadkiel, followed closely by Sophiel and Brieus. All three of them gave an outward appearance of calm, but Raziel could tell that Tzadkiel was angry and Sophiel and Brieus were apprehensive. He frowned a little as he watched them, leaning into Uriel who sat beside him.

  “What’s up with Tzad?” Uriel asked.

  “I don’t know. He appears rather angry,” Raziel said.

  “The carbon apes won’t be able to tell, he’s got his poker face on.” Even as Uriel spoke out loud, Raziel heard him clearly call to Tzadkiel telepathically, and he watched as Tzadkiel and his two lieutenants turned toward them, then made their way through the chamber to join them.

  “How’s it all looking?” Raziel asked when Tzadkiel sat down.

  “Good, I think. We’ve done all that we can, and now it’s up to the legal process. I understand the Venatores and Gabe’s two humans will be the first witnesses called.”

  “Yes, I saw that on the docket.” Raziel regarded Tzadkiel closely. “So what’s crawled up your ass and died? Both Uri and I can tell you’re pissed.”

  Tzadkiel frowned. “Michael told us off.”

  Uriel snorted. “Now there’s a shock. Mike telling someone off? Never!”

  Raziel laughed. “Yeah, that’s not really something new, Tzad. Why did he tell you off?”

  “Because he didn’t like the way we were briefing the Venatores. Apparently, we upset them.” Tzadkiel seemed to be utterly disbelieving of this. “I don’t see how. It’s not as if they didn’t know what they signed on for.”

  “What happened?” Uriel asked.

  Tzadkiel shrugged. “We were explaining to them how things work here, what to expect, and how they have to behave, where they have to wait. We were telling them they need to be separate until they’ve all finished giving their testimony. For some reason, they thought that was ridiculous.”

  “Well, it is a bit,” Raziel said. “I mean, they were together when everything began. How is keeping them separate now going to prejudice their testimonies? I have no doubt they’ve discussed it among themselves after the fact. I’m sure that those who are involved romantically would have gone into more depth in private. So why keep them apart here?”

  “It’s the process,” Sophiel said. “It’s how things are done.”

  “Maybe. But this is not a regular sort of case and they are not regular sorts of witnesses,” Raziel said. “Would you have me sit in a room by myself until it is my turn to testify?”

  “Well no, sir, but that’s different,” she insisted.

  “How?” Uriel demanded.

  “Because you’re an Archangel, sir, and above reproach.”

  Uriel snorted. “I fucking hate that, you know? Just because we’re from Heaven and made by God doesn’t mean we’re above reproach. Or have you forgotten Camael? Lucifer? Adramelek?”

  Sophiel flushed. “No, but….”

  “Let it go,” Raziel said. “I hate to say it, but I’m with Michael on this one. The Venatores are a pack. Even if you did separate them, they could still communicate with each other; all they’d have to do was shift to their wolf forms and their telepathic ability—limited as it is—would be there for them to use.”

  “I didn’t think of that,” Tzadkiel said.

  “They’re a military unit,” Uriel said. “I don’t know how this shit works here, but do you keep military units giving evidence apart from each other? I mean, I know this is a big building, but how many rooms does it have to hold witnesses, especially when a case might take a fuck of a long time?”

  Tzadkiel scowled. “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t,” Uriel said. He grinned. “You just hate it when we tell you why you’re wrong.”

  “Fine, fine,” Tzadkiel sighed. “I was wrong. There. I said it.”

  “They insisted we leave their house,” Brieus said. He sounded scandalized. “I haven’t been kicked out of someone’s home in centuries!”

  Raziel started to laugh, Uriel joining in. “You must have really pissed them off, Brieus. They live in a building that’s warded by Mike and he sometimes spends time there.”

  “So, are you saying we brought their attitudes on ourselves?” Sophiel asked.

  “You’re not just a pretty face, are you?” Uriel drawled. “The answer is yes, you did damn well bring it on yourselves. They’re not angels, they’re not your regular monsters or magic users: they’re Venatores, which means they answer to Michael, and the other two, the brothers, they answer to Gabriel. I’d say they even outrank you two.”

  Raziel stifled the guffaw that rose within him as he saw the shocked expressions on Brieus and Sophiel’s faces. He coughed twice, patted his chest with one hand, and then changed the subject. “How long until things begin?”

  “Ten minutes,” Tzadkiel said with some relief.

  “And how are our Transom people?”

  “Angry. Belligerent. Denouncing us all. Making threats.” Tzadkiel shrugged. “The Edwards family has retained some of the most expensive lawyers in Europe for this, and they’re good—very good. Worth every Euro they cost. But with the evidence and the testimonies, it’s going to be hard for them to get their clients a light sentence.”

  “What do you think they’ll get?” Uriel asked.

  “I think the board of Transom and the coven will all get life imprisonment. I think the others will get life with parole. I could be wrong, though. And this is only the first part, because once judgment is passed here, the FBI and MI5 want Transom to face charges in the US and the UK.”

  “That’s new,” Raziel noted.

  “Yeah. Transom managed to piss off a lot of people.” Tzadkiel shook his head. “We’ve got a video link for those witnesses who couldn’t be here in person, like the families of the victims of Transom’s experiments. And Adramelek and Ondrass’s testimonies are likely to inflame everyone.”

  “Hm, yes,” Raziel said thoughtfully. “I think they’ll shake the certainty of a lot of very smug individuals.”

  “I’m concerned, though, that the defense will try to have them declared as inadmissible because they’re from Hell,” Tzadkiel said.

  “Maybe. But there’s my testimony, Uri’s, Raph’s, Iss, the Venatores, Declan and Liam, Mike, Gabe… there’s to
o many of us to have everything censored,” Raziel said.

  “And your friend from CERN,” Uriel said.

  “Indeed.”

  “And Jonathon,” Uriel added.

  “Yes. I think his testimony will be explosive. Is he protected, by the way?”

  “Shateiel is guarding him,” Tzadkiel said.

  “Good.” Raziel nodded. “So what’s happening with the former Venatores? Danny, is that his name?”

  “Yeah, that might have caused some angst with Michael’s pets,” Tzadkiel said. “Lily didn’t want to be anywhere near him. She didn’t want to see him, hear him, or smell him. He has to give evidence, Raz, I can’t ignore the fact that he was there, and neither will the defense or the prosecution.”

  “So why not have him give his testimony later, once the kids have left the country?” Raziel asked.

  “You know, you’re sounding an awful lot like they did,” Tzadkiel complained.

  “Are you getting your nose out of joint because we’re the voices of reason?” Uriel asked.

  “No… maybe.” Tzadkiel looked toward the bench where the three judges would sit. “Michael told me to schedule every one of his kids first. Danny’s due here next week.”

  “Better keep Adramelek and the other Archdemons away from him, too,” Uriel said.

  “Yes, that’s true,” Raziel agreed. “They aren’t too pleased with him, remember. They’re very fond of Lily.”

  Tzadkiel let out a sigh, a sound of pure frustration. “What the hell do you want me to do, Raz? This is turning out like some sort of bad family reunion. Don’t let these relatives near that one, keep others from the newcomer. It’s ridiculous.”

  “But necessary,” Uriel said. “You serve a higher power, remember. All of us do. So do your damn job and get this right, because I do not want this fucked up shit to rear its head again in the future. I don’t want to be dealing with a repeat performance of some dickwad who thinks he’s better than us deciding that we can’t come here to Earth, got it? Make this work and make it work well.”

  “What Uri said,” Raziel said.

  Tzadkiel stared at them. “Okay,” he said finally. “I guess I got caught up in who should give what evidence when, rather than focusing on the big picture, which is making sure that this is the first and last time this happens.”