Chapter 8

Startling upright in my bed, I blinked sleep away as my angel sword formed in my hand. Its glow lit up my dim bedroom, crackling angrily at the perceived threat. Instinct had my heart racing and adrenaline coursing through my veins. Glancing side to side, I tried to figure out what had pulled me from my sleep so abruptly but my room was still and devoid of any other lifeforms. At least it appeared that way.

Crash. Bang.

The sounds filtered up from the floor below as someone clattered around in my kitchen.

Slipping from my bed, I tiptoed over to the door. Holding my breath, as if someone would actually be able to hear it from the floor below, I took hold of the door handle in my free hand and gently pushed down the handle. My eyes closed as the mechanism squeaked loudly under my touch. The clattering and banging paused for a moment.

I froze, the handle still in my hand, my lungs burning with the need to release my breath. I wondered idly if I could suffocate. I wasn't a normal angel nor was I a demon so maybe I could still be affected by mortal weaknesses.

"Miss Holmes, is that you?" Castiel's familiar voice drifted at the stairway.

It took a moment for his voice to register and then exhaled loudly, my eyes closing in relief. Last night's events became clear in my foggy mind and I allowed myself to relax. My sword was reluctant to leave my side, the sword hissing at me before becoming incorporeal. I shook my head. Swords protesting – would nothing remain normal?

"Yeah Cass, it's me." I croaked finally, leaning against the doorframe to prop myself up.

"I'm making breakfast. It will be ready in ten minutes."

"I'll be down in five."

Catching the scent of frying bacon, my stomach rumbled loudly. I rubbed at the ache and slipped back into my room. Grabbing a bath robe from my wardrobe, I slipped my arms into the sleeves taking a small slice of comfort from the soft fluffy red fabric against my skin.

When I finally made it down the stairs, I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. In the kitchen, Castiel was created havoc and yet in the midst of it all Cass had laid out an amazing breakfast spread for us both.

Oblivious to my presence, Castiel danced around the kitchen, spatula in hand as he sang Katy Perry at the top of his lungs. It was undoubtedly the worst rendition of Roar I had ever been subjected to and yet it made my heart warm. To see him so alive when there was the possibility I would never have seen him alive again. I shuddered.

Dressed in a set of Lucius' black tracksuit bottoms and a plain white t-shirt, it was the most relaxed I had ever seen the angel look. He did a shimmy and twirl before coming to an abrupt halt when he caught me standing in the doorway. His cheeks flushed red and he quickly averted his gaze to the floor while he hid the spatula behind his back.

"Don't stop on my account."

Castiel rubbed at the back of his neck and lifted his head so he could look up at me.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away."

"Its fine Castiel, I was enjoying the show." I replied, offering him a genuine smile.

When he ducked his head once more, I quickly closed the distance between us. Reaching behind his back and I took the spatula from his grasp before setting it on the countertop. I then led the angel over to the breakfast banquet.

We both took seats at the island. Neither of us felt the need to fill the silence. Instead we made no attempt to talk as we filled out plates.

I was amazed at Cass's culinary skills. In addition to the Standard English breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried bread, Castiel had also made fresh Croissants. The buttery scent was delicious.

"This is amazing Castiel. How did you learn to make all of this?" I asked before ripping off another bit of the buttery pastry and popping it into my mouth. I almost sighed aloud as it hit my tongue.

Cass lifted his head and smiled.

"I haven't spent my entire life in Hell Savannah."

"That's wasn't an answer."

Cass laughed, his eyes twinkling for the first time in a long time. "But it's the only answer you will get. My affairs will remain private."

I opened and closed my mouth. For some reason, affairs and Castiel just never felt like they belonged in the same sentence. The fact that he had any kind of affair was enough to leave me gaping at him like a fool.

"You thought I remained celibate all these years?" Cass asked, his lips twitching with mirth. "I may have been an angel, but I am also a man."

It didn't take a genius to figure out he was laughing at me.

"Right, I'm sorry Cass."

We lapsed into silence for a moment. Castiel was focusing on his plate, ignoring my gaze on the top of his head.

"You've changed," I muttered finally.

His head lifted, his hand dropping his fork back to his plate with a clatter.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. But you seem much more..." I paused not quite knowing the word to use.

"Human?"

I startled but then nodded my head. "Yes, more human." I answered before taking a sip of coffee. "You were more like Gabriel before – stiff and closed off. Not that I didn't like you as you were."

"Calm down Savannah. I'm not offended by your words." Cass looked down into his own coffee cup as if he could find the answers to his problems at the bottom of the mug. "Facing your own mortality changes a person. I'm not the same man I was before. I don't think I ever will be."

Reaching across the island, I laid my hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

"We will all love you either way, Castiel. You're family and nothing will change that."

Nodding his head, Cass scrubbed a hand down face before letting me see the true depth of his exhaustion which lingered in the depth of his gaze.

"I know you've been put off of active duty at the moment but did you want to come with me today?" Cass popped a slice of bacon into his mouth, his eyes shutting briefly in delight before he met my gaze once more. "I need to check on a few more people on the list."

I nodded my head.

"Yes. You don't even know how much I want to be out there." I took a gulp of the coffee. "All of this PR work is exhausting. I was never meant to be a public figure. To think I actually wanted to be someone that made a difference."

Castiel laughed and shook his head.

"You have already made a difference Savannah. Without you, the world would be a very different place right now."

My cheeks were probably glowing from the intensity of my blush.

"It's not a compliment, it is the truth. You stopped things from becoming cataclysmic at Stone Henge. That was before your metamorphosis, back when you were still human. You are an extraordinary person Miss Holmes."

Touched by his words but unable to deal with them, I started clearing away the empty dishes to keep myself busy. Castiel, after putting his own dishes into to soak, disappeared off to get changed. I stood for a moment at the sink, closing my eyes as I let his words sink in and envelope me. I felt something in me shift. After all of these weeks of being scared of my own shadow, I felt stronger.

With a shake of my head, I put the last of the empty plates into the sink and then hurried to get dressed.

A few hours later we were out on the roads. The added security at home had meant we only had one reporter to loose before we were free to chase our own leads. Our travels took us to the South Coast, to Portsmouth city.

It took us hours longer to make it to our destination as an accident on the motorway had forced us to crawl forwards at five miles per hour for several miles. When we finally arrived it was late afternoon and Sunday shoppers were out in force.

Our travels took us to a rundown block of flats. It was one of the few buildings that had been untouched by the city's attempt at redevelopment. The paint was worn and peeling, weathered by the salty sea air coming off of the Port. As we parked at the very base, I frowned through the windscreen.

"One of God's chosen lives here?" I asked, watching a group of men standing at the far corner. They were up to something. They were shifting restlessly and their eyes were searching the area around them, watching for something. No, they were watching something in particular.

"He does not discriminate against a person because of their circumstances. Sarah is a mathematical genius. She has the potential for great things." Castiel released his seat belt and patted the dashboard. "That's what He is all about. He gives people the potential to do great things but then it is their own free will to choose how they utilise their potential."

I nodded my head and turned off the car.

"So what do we do, do we just sit here and wait?"

"Yes, the lives of the chosen are supposed to be untouched by angels and demons alike. We are just to observe for now."

Movement to the right caught my attention. The wary glances the men had been casting suddenly made sense. A black track with tinted windows was parked down the far end of the car park. It was too new, too shiny to belong here. And the men in black combat gear were a tad suspicious too.

Two men emerged from the doors to the flat. They were big and burly, shaved heads and dark glasses over their eyes. As it was threatening to rain, it was clear these were a poor attempt to hide their identity rather than protection against the glare of the sun.

What was most remarkable, was the person they had between them. She looked to be no more than eighteen years old with long red hair which hung down to the bottom of her back. Tears were streaming down her face and the poor girls hands had been bound behind her back with cable ties. I glanced at the door expecting a parent to follow after her but there was no one.

"Cass, is that Sarah?" I asked, not wanting to know the answer.

Castiel glanced out of the window and growled.

"Yes."

"Can we intervene now?" I asked, my hand already reaching for the handle on the door.

"Definitely," he confirmed before slipping from the car smoothly.

Both of us shut the car doors quietly trying to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.

Moving as swiftly as my feet could carry me, I called my sword into being. It hummed happily in my grasp, pleased to be seeing some real action.

The men only noticed our approach when we were no more than ten feet away. Sarah's watery eyes met mine a second before she was forced into the back of the car. The door was slammed shut behind her cutting off her cry of protest. I ground my teeth together.

"Stop right there and let the girl go." I commanded.

The men turned towards me and Cass. Their glasses hid their thoughts from me but with a simple hand signal, both pulled guns from their pockets. Pointed firmly in our direction, it was clear from the confident way they held the weapons that both had been trained in firearms and had no qualms about using them.

With the muzzles of their guns pointed directly at me, the shorter of the two men, edged backwards. Then in a quick movement, he was sliding into the driver's side of the car. Seconds later the car's engine started and the vehicle peeled out of the lot. I managed to catch a last glimpse of the number plate before it was gone.

With a gun aimed directly between my eyes, I felt a little restricted. Would a bullet wound to the head kill me? I didn't really want to try and find out but our window of opportunity was closing. We couldn't lose Sarah to these men.

"Now Cass!" I shouted just as I dropped to the floor, letting my legs go limp beneath me and then rolling to the side, out of the path of the gun.

A loud shot rang out and somewhere behind me I heard glass shatter. I could only hope that no one got caught in the crossfire because as I swirled my sword through the air, Cass was already on the move. His body moved swiftly towards the gunman, his sword whistling through the air as in front of him. But the gun man was no novice. He dodged out of the way of the blade as it swept towards him, firing off another round towards the dark haired angel.

"Follow the vehicle Savannah, I have this coward."

I glanced over. The gunman clicked to fire another bullet. If it had fired correctly, it would have meant a terrible wound for Castiel due to their close proximity. But the weapon clicked uselessly within the heavy's hand. With a grin Castiel advanced towards the gunman sword in hand.

Satisfied he had it all under control I took a deep breath and then ran. In one step, my wings unfurled. Step two the flapped strongly behind me. By step three my feet were lifting from the ground. Never before had I worked so in sync with my wings but right now we were fluid, moving in unison. The wings beat strongly at my back lifting me higher and higher.

As the streets became smaller, I tried to locate the vehicle. It sounded easy in theory but there were too many cars on the roads and none of them were speeding down the streets like hellhounds were on their tail. And there were no black trucks with tinted windows.

Searching further and further out, I tried not to scream in frustration. As my eyes scoured the streams of traffic, all I could picture was the young girl's terror.

"They're gone." I muttered, glancing down at the streets below me as Castiel flew up to join me.

"Then there is nothing more we can do here."

I dropped my head to my chest, feeling the wind whip my hair about my face. "What about the gunman?"

"He's been incapacitated and is now secured in the boot of your car. We'll interrogate him back home."

I nodded my head, unable to say anything else.

"We'll find them Savannah. I'm sure of it." Cass offered in an attempt to reassure me.

I glanced down once more at the people going about their everyday lives as if someone hadn't just been kidnapped. "I hope you're right."