by Lou Morgan
“Alice...” Mallory cleared his throat, breaking into her train of thought.
“What?”
“It’s... it’s nothing.”
“No, what?”
“Well, it’s just... if Vin’s taken over from Adriel...”
“Yes?”
“Well...” – Mallory coughed into his hand – “doesn’t that... kind of make him... your new boss?”
“I quit.”
And as the fire raged behind them and the angels scattered, they sat on the tarmac and Alice buried her head in her hands, and despite themselves and despite everything else they tried to understand, and to work out who had won. If anyone had won.
They didn’t see Castor slip away into the darkness.
They didn’t see Michael narrow his eyes at the sound of their voices, his sword strapped to his side and his breastplate spattered with blood and soot, before turning away and melting back into the shadow, ready for the next fight.
They didn’t see the first of the blue and red lights flashing on the far side of the building.
They didn’t see Rimmon half-walk and half-crawl out of the door to the loading bay, and they didn’t see the shadows which moved across them as something flew high above in the dark sky.
“YOU KNOW THAT from now on, it gets harder, don’t you?” said Mallory at last.
“This has been easy? Up to now?” Alice said. “Easy? Seriously?” She looked at Vin and blew out an exasperated breath, “And you I can’t even begin to talk about... You’re telling me that was easy?” She didn’t mention Toby. She couldn’t bring herself to; not until she could decide who she blamed more: Mallory, Michael, or herself. The first tear spilled down her cheek, lighting up the darkness. The wound was going to take a long time to heal.
“Easy? Sure it was. Walk in the park. Now the fun really starts: the balance is well and truly in their favour, and I think it’s fair to say we’re outnumbered and outgunned. Which is just how I like it. Except for that shotgun Gwyn had. Bastard thing. I hated that.” Mallory rolled his head back, stretching his neck and looking up at the sky.
Alice sniffed, then scrubbed at her face. Adriel had told her to help them; to help them remember that there was more than just their war at stake. That was exactly what she was going to do, whatever it cost her. Because that was what she was needed for.
It was Vin who finally broke the silence.
“Anybody else hungry...?”
“Vin!”
“What? I’m starving!”
“Shut up.”
“Look, if you’d had the kind of night I’ve had.... Can I order Alice to get me a burger or something? That’s how this works... Ouch! That hurt.” He glared at Mallory, who had smacked him on the back of the head, hard.
“Don’t push your luck.”
“How about a sandwich?”
“Vin!”
“Hey, I’m asking nicely here...”
“I’m going to kill you. I’m actually going to kill you.”
“Angel of Death. Like to see you try.”
“Now I really need a drink...”
CODA
THEY CAME FROM all over; the Twelve, the Fallen. Earthbounds, Descendeds... Lucifer’s choir and many of Gabriel’s.
Some rebelled and remained, but many answered their Archangels’ calls, and they came.
Some of them brought half-borns. Some came alone.
Some of them brought their followers – there were more than a few bored Fallen who had set themselves up as cult leaders in the chaos of the previous months... and given the short time they’d had, Lucifer was impressed.
Hidden from the unfriendly gaze of the angels, he looked out over the crowd that had assembled before him.
“Michael thinks he can outmanoeuvre me,” he said to Gabriel, standing behind him. “Let’s see him outmanoeuvre this.”
And as he raised his fist, a cheer went up, loud enough to make even Lucifer’s ears ring. He turned and smiled at his generals: at Forfax – idly toying with a fob watch, now he had lost his cane – and at Xaphan with his scarred face and with Florence, eyes downcast, on his arm; at Mammon, who had been so busy stirring the riots in the city, and at Rabdos, who brought new meaning to the word ‘pandemonium’ – at least, he did when he put his mind to it. He beamed at Gwyn, who stood behind Gabriel, and he beamed at Rimmon, whose left hand had yet to recover from his beating, and rested claw-like in a sling.
But most of all, Lucifer beamed at the figure on the far side of Rimmon, whose eyes met his without fear as he bore Lucifer’s banner; most of all, Lucifer beamed at Toby, and as another cheer went up, he threw his head back and he laughed.
“It’s time to take what’s ours.”
About the Author
BORN AND RAISED in Wales, Lou Morgan studied medieval literature at UCL, and now lives in the south-west of England with her husband, son and the obligatory cat. Her first novel, Blood and Feathers, was published by Solaris Books in 2012, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies by Jurassic London, PS Publishing and Solaris.
She likes cathedrals and pizza (but probably not at the same time) and can be found online at loumorgan.co.uk or wasting time on Twitter as @LouMorgan.
Acknowledgements
EVERYONE AT SOLARIS Books, for all their incredible work and support: Jonathan Oliver, David Moore, Ben Smith, Pye Parr and Michael Molcher.
Kim, Bryony, Paul and Lee for the names.
Juliet, for the kwan.
Will and Vinny, for the phone calls, and for the occasional judicious application of beer and / or sanity.
My friends and my family, for their extraordinary patience and encouragement.
James and Oliver. Always. Because.
I am also grateful for the guidance on police equipment and procedures I’ve received: any inconsistencies or errors are entirely mine, and not those of my generous advisors.
Most of all, I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported the first book, and to everyone reading this now. It means the world.
With all my heart, thank you.
LM
Rebellion Playlist
JUST AS I did with Blood and Feathers, I wrote and edited Rebellion to a playlist. Most of these tracks fit to a specific scene or chapter... but which goes where, I’ll leave you to figure out for yourself.
Bleed it Out: Linkin Park
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark: Fall Out Boy
Iron: Woodkid
In My Remains: Linkin Park
Devil’s Choir: Black Veil Brides
Hell Above: Pierce the Veil
Professional Griefers: Deadmau5 feat. Gerard Way
iLL Manors: Plan B
Titanium: David Guetta feat. Sia
Finale (Original Mix): Madeon
Edge of the Earth: 30 Seconds to Mars
Unknown Soldier: Breaking Benjamin
21 Guns: Green Day
Like A Dog Chasing Cars: Hans Zimmer
My Body is a Cage: Peter Gabriel
Skyfall: Adele
Jar of Hearts: Christina Perri
First Responder: Michael Wandmacher
Razors.Out: Chino Moreno
P5hng Me A*wy: Linkin Park
Angelic Sigils
The angelic sigils which appear in Blood & Feathers are, technically, “real”... that is to say, these are some of the sigils historically used by alchemists and others as part of rituals to invoke or conjure angels: the most famous (or infamous) practitioner being John Dee.
Along with Edward Kelley, Dee devised (or “received,” as he claimed) an angelic language and alphabet which he recorded in his journals, and which later became known as Enochian.
The sigils for the six Choirs in the Blood & Feathers world are show below.
Barakiel
“If I told you Barakiel’s very handy round the card table...”
Gabriel
“When there’s nothing left but dust and ash and embers Gabriel will still be sta
nding there with blood on his hands.”
Lucifer
“He is the darker side of death: rot and decay and fear and despair.”
Michael
“You want to know what Michael’s capable of? Anything.”
Raphael
“You’re a healer, aren’t you? That’s what you do, isn’t it, when you’re one of Raphael’s. That’s all you do.”
Zadkiel
If Zadkiel could make a hundred, two hundred people all forget what they had seen, what else could he do?
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