Chapter 24

It was with teary eyes that Lucius and I had watched Calantha and her best friend escort our family away and into the confines of the earth. I had struggled to let my little boy go again but I knew without a doubt that she would ensure they were safe. Besides, I had assured myself, most demons would not even think to look into the bowels of the earth for anything. Most of them ignored the very existence of the earth.

Two hours after their departure, we stood before the front door. I closed my eyes and rested my hand on the closed frame. I knew we would have to venture outside but almost tingling against my fingertips, unease brushed against me and urged me to stay within the safety of the house – the anonymous house which was indecipherable from the other twenty on the terrace were it not for the number on the front door.

Drawing in a deep breath through my nose, I revelled in the scents of safety. I revelled in the warmth at my back. Tilting my head back as his arms wrapped around my waist, I could feel the wings twitching and writhing to break free from beneath my skin.

“Do we have to go?” I whispered, my eyes closing at the comfort.

I felt my hair being brushed aside before a gentle kiss was placed on the back of my neck. It was one of the most intimate gestures Lucius had ever shown me and in an instant my heart was skipping beats to its own merry rhythm. Sighing I fell back into his embrace.

“I’m sorry we have to keep saving the world.” He whispered, his strong arms squeezing me tighter to him.  “It just happens to be in our job description.”

His teasing tone did nothing to dispel the dread that was curling within my stomach. I could feel the rosy colour draining from my flushed cheeks at the very thought of what was on the other side of the door. A damp sheen formed on my palms at the thought of the horrors that would await us – that threatened the safety of everything I held dear.

Removing his and from my waist, Lucius stretched his hand past me and undid the latch on the door. Then, with his other hand, he urged me back while tugging the door open. Shaking off his hold, I pulled back my shoulders and stepped towards the awaiting threshold.

Outside it was quiet… too quiet.

There was not even a whisper of wind as Lucius stepped out behind me. The sound of the door slamming shut cut sharply through the air. It echoed down the street but not a curtain twitched. I tilted my head to the side and frowned. It was unusual for that time in the morning. There was no roar of traffic or casual stroller walking down the street. It was empty – abandoned.

Gulping, I lifted my gaze to Lucius’ eyes of blue steel and saw that his features held as much of a burden as I felt weighing down on me.

“I’m sure some of them got out.” Lucius then put an arm around my shoulder and smiled down at me. “Humans are incredible. They have the most amazing instincts on a primal level. When they sense danger – like now – they flee.”

“Like fight or flight? I hope you’re right.” I whispered, allowing him to pull me down the steps and towards our destiny. “But why did they all go, there’s no one here.”

“Of course I’m right,” he replied smartly, doing a good job at ignoring the slight tremble to my frame as we walked side by side down the street.  “Some flee…” he gestured to the supreme lack of people around. “…and some fight against each other because they can’t see what their instincts are telling them is threat. It is why you’ll see some burnt out houses and cars along the way. There’s little devastation here but the closer we get to the epicentre the more trouble we’ll see.”

It took us a while to get into the centre of London, although there were no people around. Like Lucius had said, we found evidence of trouble. In several places the roads were blocked by abandoned cars, their doors hanging wide open as if people had become so terrified that they had just run for it. There were even bags and shoes left behind.

“They ran away,” I whispered as I eyed the small doll laying abandoned at my feet with a strange fascination. “Something must have happened to make them this terrified.”

Kneeling down, I stretched out my hand to pick up the cheap, ten to the dozen type of doll. It was nothing remarkable and yet I could not find it within me to actually touch it. My hand hovered above it, caressing the air with a reverence that stunned even me.

“I think the child will be safe Savannah. No parent would allow their child to be harmed.” Lucius whispered, taking my other hand and pulling me up. He was a pillar of strength in that moment and I clung on to it with all I had.

Shaking my head, I took his hand in mine and ignored the wings trying to break free on my back and strode forward.

“Come on, the sooner we get this done the sooner I can be with my family.”

**

As we got closer to Canary Wharf, the number of abandoned cars only increased. In some places, like London Bridge, there was no way that we would be passing through without help. The road had been completely blocked off by cars and buses but people had panicked. The acrid stench of fire clawed at the back of my throat as I had stood at a safe distance with Lucius’ hand firmly in mine.

 It was like something out of a disaster film. Silence …too much silence. There was just the crackle of the fire tearing through the vehicles and the loud bangs as another petrol tank combusted and sent a fireball into the air. The closer we got to Satani Media, the more devastation there was.

What happened next occurred so suddenly that neither Lucius nor I were prepared. We had just tiptoed around a corner of a large high rise, the tension hanging thick over this part of the town like thick cloying smog. Glass from blown out windows littered the ground before us, crunching under every step as we inched our way forwards.

We were too busy jumping at shadows to notice the sky. In a city of mundane we did not think to even spare a glance upwards but that was where danger came from.

A loud groaning issued forth, echoing off of the buildings in a terrifying shriek before a crane on top of the high-rise before them groaned and teetered off the edge. It feel so fast that Lucius and I barely scrambled out of the way before it crashed to the floor. On instinct my wings burst through my skin, flapping angrily to give me the extra bit of speed I needed to avoid being crushed by the metal.

Coughing out the dust that had been kicked up by the huge metal object making a mini crater in the earth, I surveyed the damage with my hands clamped firmly over my ears. Car alarms were piercing through the air at such high decibels as the impact had caused the earth to shudder so violently that it had set of the alarm of every vehicle and property within a mile or so.

Glancing through the wreckage, I released a breath when I noted that Lucius was completely safe on the other side. It amazed me how he had just avoided being crushed and only come out the other side with a little dust on his cheek.

“You okay?” He called through the mangled crane.

However, as my hands were still clamed over my ear I could not hear him it was only due my much improved skills in lip reading that I understood that he was even talking to me. Nodding my head, I let my gaze leave his and tried to find a way around. But just like the roadblocks in the city, I found myself cut off by a huge immovable obstruction.

“There’s no way through.” I shouted, through my hands down in annoyance. “I think they’re splitting us up, herding us to where they want us.” Allowing my gaze to meet Lucius’ I noted that he too had come to the same conclusion. ”We’ve walked right into their trap.”

Nodding his head, the tall and incredibly handsome man mimed removing my hands from my ears so I was kind enough to oblige him. I winced at the onslaught of sound but within a few seconds it moved to the background and I was able to focus on the deep and soothing voice of the devil as it caressed and seduced my attention. It was times like this that I was grateful that Lucius was who he was.

“I want you to be able to protect yourself.” He murmured silkily, his eyes never leaving mine. “I have a hunch and I believe I am right. Hades said you were now effectively part Angelic due to your wings and agreement with god. Which means you should have what all angels of power hold – the sword of judgement.”

Gulping and nodding my head while my mind was trying to process these new thoughts I listed with the rapt attention of a child tempted with chocolate.

“Close your eyes and reach your hand into the air, call to it. Call to your blade and she, or he, will come to you.” The voice washed over me in a delicious wave, the dulcet tones belying only a small trace of anxiety within his tone. “It is all about will and power. Call to it and your blade will come.”

Something cool and powerful clapped into my hand. Gaping, my eyes opened to see the most beautiful blade that I had ever laid my gaze upon. Glowing blue, intricate designs whirled up the length of the blade creating a pattern that never seemed to end. And yet despite this beauty, the blade was deadly.

I caressed my finger along the sharpened sides and was rewarded with a sting and a drop of blood welled up on my finger before spilling over and dropping on to the floor.

“Ouch, its sharp.” I frowned at the blade though there was still a note of fascination lingering within my mind. I looked up at Lucius but he was already beginning his retreat, his eyes scanning every rooftop and every alley as he stepped away.

Panic seized my heart causing me to rush forward only to halt a few steps forwards. Pieces of metal were jutting out at awkward angles and if I stepped any further forward I would impale myself.

“Lucius!” I cried out in frustration. He glanced back at me, smiled sadly before nodding his head. Before I could ask what it meant, he placed his fingers, which weren’t wrapped around his own glowing blade and pressed them to his lips. A second later, his kiss was sailing through the air and he was nowhere to be seen.

I allowed the kiss to wash over me and tried not feel the lurching nausea that decided to fill my stomach.

Pulling back my shoulders, I turned to go back the way we had come. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see the blue glow and the strange wings protruding from my back. It was true, my life would never be the same again – never normal.

“What’s normal anyway?” I muttered to myself coming to the edge of the building, taking great care not to stand too close to the refuse that was flowing from overturned bins and creating a repellent stench.

There was movement. Strangely I heard it before I saw it. Swinging my blade, I whirled around my weapon of strong and sharp silver whistled through the air only to come to a halt before it could ever make contact.

Releasing a breath, I dropped my blade and smiled at the teen with a look that I thought would be comforting. It didn’t help much as they simply held their phone out dumbly before them, no doubt recording this phenomenon for you tube while they young man gaped openly at me, or more specifically  my wings and sword.

“What are you still doing here? Did you not feel the pressing need to leave?” I murmured as I eyed the worn attire on the child who looked to be about thirteen. He shook his head and continued to stare.

I followed his gaze to my wings and sighed before drawing on the concentration to bring them back within myself, until they were nothing more than a twinge on my back. Levelling my eyes on him once more, I felt a strange knowledge within me as I met his gaze. Those eyes were familiar.

“No wonder,” I muttered, running a frustrated hand through my hair. “I wish these angels could learn to keep in in their bloody pants. Or maybe I should make them eunuchs?”

Shaking my head, I stretched out a hand and placed it on his shoulder while bending my knees so that I was on eye level with the startled blonde boy who had stepped away as far as he could and now had his back pressed against the wall. “I want you to listen to me. Keep out of the main streets and leave the city. It is not safe for you here. Besides,” I offered the boy a warm smile, “I am sure someone is missing you.”

He shook his head.

“My family were lost last year.”

I gulped and tried to be a comforting presence to the young but I knew it would be of little solace. It also made me wonder how many orphans were out there because of last year. I had been too focused on the overall casualties that I had not even stopped to consider it… I shivered and looked away.

“Okay. What’s your name?”

“Gary.” The skinny boy’s cheeks lit up with a rosy blush as he scuffed his trainers against the floor. “My mum really loved Take That so she named me after Gary Barlow.”

He whispered the last part and I almost melted at the comment. It may have been a form of embarrassment to the boy but it was such an innocent thing - so normal.

“Okay Gary, do you know the way out of the city?”

He nodded his head importantly.

“Right I’m going to type an address into the phone and I want you to get to it. The key is inside the hat of the pink garden gnome. Go there and lock yourself in. If you see anyone on your way out of the city, tell them to get out until they get told its safe.”

“What if we don’t get told its safe?” The terror in his eyes had me pulling him into a hug and held on to him tightly.

“Don’t you worry about that. Now here is my GPS.” I thanked myself for the genius of snatching it from one of the cars on the way in. “You need to go to number five, okay?”

He nodded his head.

“Good, so remember, the house number is five and the key is in the pink gnome?”

When he nodded his head, I breathed a sigh of relief only to feel the ground shudder a second after a loud crack rented through the sky.

“Go Gary.” I urged, pushing the young boy in the right direction while I shook out my wings once more and drew my sword back into corporeality.

Then, with a last glance at the boy running as fast as his little legs could carry him, I charged towards the source of the explosion.