Chapter 9.

Due to the battle that had taken place in London, our technical capabilities were down to a laptop and an intermittent internet connection. No matter how many calls I made to the network provider, the chances of it being fixed before the New Year arrived were slim. No one really cared about whether you had a good internet service when the city was still being rebuilt. I couldn't blame them. Their priorities were definitely in the right place but it didn't make our situation any less frustrating.

It was how we all found ourselves in the lobby of what I had cutely named Angel HQ. Not that there were many angels walking around the halls these days. In fact as I glanced around the lobby, I couldn't spot a single angel or nephilim. All of the people appeared to be human or mostly human.

The absence of the angelic kind was obvious to anyone who had been to Angel HQ prior to their retreat back to the heavens. There was just something lacking.

It had been a few years since the battle at Stone Henge. A Halfling born from Mephistopheles tried to bring about a new world by stealing an ancient device and trying to exert his control over the world. The death toll had been high and as a result God had called his children home to help guide the souls to their final resting place.

With the death and disaster still lingering in the air, I sometimes wondered whether they would be allowed to return to their duties among the living.

Glancing around, I noted that even the décor had become muted. It was still beautiful but every was just less.

Stalking up to the reception desk, Castiel at my side the young man behind the desk startled from his bored slump, his body suddenly alert. Recognition was apparent as he stared up at me, his blue eyes wide. Under my gaze he ran a hand through his vibrant red hair and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I told you the hat was pointless," I hissed to Castiel, whipping the baseball hat from my head and attempting to pat down my hair.

Shrugging casually, his lips twitching against the smile, he replied. "It was merely a suggestion. You didn't have to do it."

"So you say. All of this attention is maddening. I can't even go to the shops for a pint of milk without being ambushed." I muttered, barely resisting the urge to pout.

"Can I help you?" the red head asked, finally gathering the courage to open his mouth. His voice cracked over the words making him seem much younger than he appeared.

"We're here to see the Madame. She's expecting us."

If possible, the pale skinned man got even whiter at the mention of the Madam. It was understandable – the woman was terrifying. I was sure she could run Tartarus single handed for Hades without breaking a sweat. She was what most would call a ball buster. She took no prisoners.

"Of course, let me just check her line." His voice squeaked again, his hand taking on a faint tremble as he pressed the keys on the phone. "You can go on up, take the private lift to the top floor."

Standing, the young man gestured to the door behind him with a lofty wave of his hand.

"I definitely didn't know about the private lift." I whispered, leading Castiel through the doorway.

For a moment I thought that we had walked into a broom cupboard, the space small and more than a little claustrophobic. The walls were painted a generic magnolia and the only light came from a dim bulb which buzzed overhead. In the poor light I almost missed the set of doors which granted us access to the lift. They had painted so they blended in seamlessly with the dim interior of the cupboard.

With a ding the doors slid open, a warm and welcoming light shining from within.

Once both Castiel and I were safely within the lift, the door slid shut and the lift jolted into movement. Glancing upwards, I smiled and waved at the small camera perched in the corner. Trust the Madam to have remote control over the lift too. That woman couldn't leave a single thing to chance.

Lucius had tried to recruit her several years ago but the Angels had obviously won out. He had offered her an obscene salary to take over Phil's position after his departure from the company but nothing he had offered could sway her to his employ.

A small ding announced our arrival into the executive suite of Angel HQ. The office had greatly differed since Gabriel's leadership. Idly I wondered what she had done with all of his things because everything within the walls was new. Gone was the wall to ceiling bookshelves which had been filled with ancient tomes. Instead the space was sparsely furnished, the walls painted a crisp white. The only touch of colour and the only touch of femininity were the vibrant flowers which were perfectly arranged in vases about the space.

The woman herself was stood before the glass window, nothing more than a silhouette against the sunlight streaming through the glass. She knew we were here. It was clear from her body language she was aware of our presence, the way her head turn ever so slightly towards us and her hands clenched at her sides but everything in life was about posturing.

After several moments of silence, she turned and offered us a stiff smile.

"Welcome." Her voice was cool and collected, as far from welcoming as the woman could manage. "Please take a seat. I have already sent for some tea though by the looks of you two, you could both do with something a little bit stronger."

Glancing down, I tried not to let a blush form on my cheeks when I noted the rip in my top. No wonder I was drawing a few stares.

"We had a slight altercation." I offered, sharing a glance with Castiel before looking back at the woman.

Madame, or Ethel Brown as she had been christened, was a commanding woman. Her bone structure was sharp, made harder still by the woman's no nonsense nature. She pursed her lips at my words, her fingers pulling her suit jacket into position before she took a seat by her expansive white desk.

"Don't treat me like I am stupid, Savannah. I know more about your kind and the people I work for than any of those imbeciles do." She waved her hand towards the window before looking down her long nose to fix her imperious gaze upon us.

"That may be so but it is always best to be cautious. Telling your secrets when they may be used against you is never a wise move." I replied, offering a smile to her.

Madame's lips lifted at the corners ever so slightly before she leaned back in her chair. "I like you Miss Holmes. Most of the sycophants around here would have just wimped before leaning down to kiss my shoes." Quickly the expression left her face and she leaned forwards, her hands resting casually on the top of the desk. "That being said, you have not explained why you are here. I allowed you to come as a courtesy but I am not stupid enough to allow you free reign of our computer systems without knowing what you intend to use them for."

I glanced at Castiel who after a long moment nodded his head.

"We need to trace a vehicle." I started, my gaze meeting hers defiantly. "A young woman was kidnapped a few hours ago. There were gunshots fired and the perpetrators got away. We did manage to capture one of them however he has proved rather resistant to interrogation tactics."

Madame brushed a black strand of hair back into place in her harsh chin length hair cut. "And let me guess, you do not want the police to be involved."

"No, that would not be wise, especially when things are so tense."

"Very well," she said at long last. "I assume the woman who was taken is not wholly human or it wouldn't take two of you winged folk to play detective."

Turning her attention to her desktop computer, Madame's fingers started dancing over the keyboard so quickly they were nothing but a blur.

"What is the vehicle registration?" She asked her attention focused on the screen before her.

Castiel reeled off a combination of letters and numbers in quick succession. And then we waited.

"Well I have good news and bad news for you." Madame uttered before issuing a few unladylike curses. "The good news is I was able to track the source of the licence plates, at least I was able to after hacking into a few databases which could earn me a one way trip to Her Majesty's Prison."

I raised my brows. My hands were gripping on to my knees so tightly there would surely be finger shaped bruises in the morning.

"The registration plate you gave me is a diplomatic plate. This means it belongs to someone in the government. This could be someone from an embassy to someone in the MI5. The bad news is the plate is technically a ghost. There is no official owner to the vehicle. The only thing you can be sure of is whoever owns this vehicle had a lot of political power and more than likely a large bank account to go with it."

I closed my eyes and slumped back in the seat.

"The government. Are you sure?"

There was a sniff and as I opened my eyes, I watched as Madame leant back in her chair and folded her hands neatly before her. There was a hint of annoyance lingering in her gaze as she stared back at me.

"Of course I am sure." Tapping her fingers on the top of her desk, the ebony haired woman turned her attention to the glass window behind her. "However because they have diplomatic plates does not mean they are operating under the direction of the government."

"Thank you for your help Madame." I said before sighing loudly. Running a hand down my tired face, I tried not to feel defeated. "It feels like we have more questions now than answers."

"No, we at least have a direction to start our search. It'll be a broad search but it's better than no direction at all." Castel murmured from my side.

"Now, not to be rude, is there anything else I can help you with? I have a full schedule today." Madame asked her severe voice cutting into our little discussion.

From her tone it was obvious our quota for help was used up so I just stood from my seat, smiled and then offered her a nod of my head. "No, that was everything. Thank you for your help."

Castiel was a presence at my side as we made our way back down to the lobby. It was much busier than before and we had to fight our way through the bodies. The lobby doors were completed obstructed by a group of giggling girls, their parents standing at their sides looking slightly harassed.

"Is there another way out? I don't feel like walking past the school patrol." I muttered under my breath.

Putting the baseball hat back on my head, I ducked so that no one caught sight of my face. All we needed now was a room full of excitable people catching sight of me. Castiel was safe, his identity still in the dark. For me, one glance and I could be outed and with a crowd this size it was difficult to know how many people were supporters and how many were potential threats.

Cass's hand wrapped firmly around the top of my arm and started pulling me in the opposite direction of the lobby doors. We wound through several service corridors before we broke from the building through a set of fire exit doors. A quick tinker with my angel blade into the door alarm system turned off the alarm system so our escape was not accompanied by the blare of the klaxons going off.

We were at the rear of the building in a large loading area which was overlooked by all of the neighbouring scrapers. The sunlight barely reached down this far, instead the place was cast with shadows. I shivered despite the lack of cold, my hand running up my arms to smooth away the goosebumps.

Pushing back my unease, Castiel wound our way through the alley way between the scrapers and emerged on to a side street. It was refreshingly devoid of tourists pushing their way down the sidewalk so I allowed myself to stop and take a few deep breaths.

"You stay here and I'll go and fetch the car. I have a feeling you will cause trouble if you get spotted right now."

I huffed. "Thanks a lot."

"I'm only speaking the truth. You have the potential to incite a riot." Offering me a wink, he danced out of the way before I could land a punch upon his body. It didn't stop me from trying.

Rolling my eyes, I said nothing further as Castiel spun on his heel and stalked down the pavement leaving me by myself. Standing at the head of the alleyway, I kept my head bowed as a group of pedestrians made their way down the street towards me. There were four of them, two men and two women. They were so wrapped up in each, the women cradled into the hold of their other half and their eyes looking at nothing but the man which held their attention so completely.

I realised too late that they were a distraction.

A sharp sting in my neck drew my gaze from the couples. Clapping my hand to the source of the pain, I pulled a tranquiliser dart from my flesh. It looked like it was supposed to be used on lion or some other great beast as the dart was so big. I was surprised there wasn't blood gushing from the hole in my neck. I supposed it meant they had missed anything important but I could already feel its contents working on my body. Numbness spread out from the point of impact on an alarming rate.

Calling forth my sword, I held it in front of me. It hissed and crackled dangerously. My body was tingling and not in a good way. I could my limbs becoming heavy. It took all of my concentration to tighten my fingers around the blade of the sword and keep it aloft.

Bodies were edging closer and closer to me. The men and women who had been snuggling in a sweet depiction of love were now stood around me, guns drawn and their attention focused solely on me. There was nothing loving about the expressions on their faces.

"Stay back," I slurred edging to the side.

Not looking phased at all by my sword and the threat it posed, the people converging on me just mimicked my movements ensuring I was completely surrounded. Black spots danced at the edge of my vision and finally I felt panic set in. Where was Castiel? Surely he should be back by now? I sucked in a sharp breath – did they have him already? Was he hurt?

Staggering forwards, I stumbled over my own leaden feet and fell to the floor. My hands were too clumsy and I couldn't bring them up in time to save my face from hitting the floor. Blood gushed but due to the drugs pumping through my system the pain was nothing but a dull ache.

My sword vanished in my distraction. I pushed my arms under my body and tried my best to push my body up off of the floor but it was like they were made of noodles not skin and bone. They slid away leaving me tired and panting on the floor.

My thoughts became muggier and muggier. My eyes fluttered closing longer and longer each time. I tried to fight it but already I could feel the tranquiliser doing its job. Sleep was the last thing I wanted but against my will I succumbed to the power of the drug.

As my eyes closed for the final time, I vaguely felt hands wrapping around my leaden arms and pulling me off of the floor. Then there was only blackness.