Fallen (59 page)

Abaddon smiled gingerly
and slowly turned around
,
reminding me of a hunter who just heard its prey caught in a trap
.

From where I am standing,
I
could
see Ezra in the middle of the alley with Rufus and Felix on both sides of her. Gershom stood a few feet away
,
close
r to me and much closer to the
Fallen One
s now.

A moment of silence, an impasse
,
followed.

“Go away,” I called out
,
but my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and repeated it with more force. “This isn’t your fight.”

“Ta hell it
ain’t,” Rufus
roared
,
offended.

His intensity made me shake.

Abaddon chuckled to himself
, overtly confident
with
his abilities
. H
e had no fear.

But it was Sarai’s reaction that alarmed me.

She was so sly about it that no one but me seemed to notice as she sauntered around the group, moving closer to Rufus.

“Rufus!” I called out
,
but he cut me off.

“We ain’t leavin’!” he charged back.

And then came Sarai’s soft, sweet voice.
“Now, now…”

That was all that was needed to bring Rufus to his knees, like a mountain crumbling to the valley below. He ended up with his hands on the ground, heaving
and
weeping.

The
Fallen One
s
watched
in
anticipation
, the rest of us in horror, as Rufus reached a hand up, grasping for the hem of Sarai’s
trench coat.
When she casually stepped away, he collapsed to the ground
,
sobbing.

In
the blink of an eye, the
Fallen One
s moved in unison, each one coming to stand beside or in front of the rest of us, as if they already knew exactly where we would be
positioned
and planned who each of them would guard.

Achan ended up in front of Ezra with Sharar to his left, guarding Felix, and Sarai to his right guarding Rufus.
Elam
didn’t need to go far because Gershom
had been standing next t
o
Elam
the entire time, already guarding him in return
.

Abaddon still
stood in front of me. He’d left me
hovering though I was trying
with every inch of my body
to fight against
it
, reaching for anything that might pull me to the ground.

“Stop struggling,” Abaddon said
,
drawing out his voice with a yawn
.
“This will all be over soon enough.”

I did stop, just long enough to think through our options.

My plan at self-sacrifice had failed.
Now
my friends, my loved ones
had
been pulled
into
a fight that
’s
lasted
centuries, one in which our opponents greatly outnumbered
us
and
were
far more powerful
.

My greatest fear had become reality.
Those
who
I loved had been drawn
into
my troubles and
were
now
going to
pay the ultimate price.
The
Fallen One
s had no soul, no empathy. They understood destruction, contention,
and
enemies. There would be no negotiati
ng and
no bartering, only bloodshed. Our blood.

Only a fe
w seconds passed since the
Fallen One
s had taken their attack positions
,
but it seemed much longer. Everything
was moving
in slow motion now. I watched
,
unable to help as Achan’s hand
closed
around Ezra’s head, grabbing the back of it and pulling her to him. Her hand came out from behind her back and a blade glinted in the streetlight as she was swept forward, against Achan. She tried to bring the blade up in defense but Achan’s strength was too much for her, catching her hand and twisting it until the blade dropped.
His
movement appeared effortless
,
as if he were simply reaching to take a treat from a child.

At the same time, Sharar bent down and swept Felix’s legs out from beneath him
, a blade slipping from Felix’s hand and sliding across the pavement
. Felix
landed
sprawled on the ground with Sharar on top of him, pinning him down.

With Rufus still cowering at Sarai’s feet, there was only Gershom left to defend us.
He and
Elam
circled each other, hands up
and
bodies crouched
,
as if each were ready to spring
toward
one another. As
Elam
passed by the blade
Felix
had
dropped
, he stooped to pick it up, smirking as Gershom’s shoulders rose with heightened tension.

“Please, let them go,” I heard myself pleading with Abaddon, who only turned and grinned.

“Don’t cry, Magdalene
.
”
H
e clucked his tongue at me. “You’ll get your turn
,
too. Oh, yes, you’ll get your turn.”

Abaddon winked at me, feeling very
confident
and
it dawned on me,
he had ever reason to be. He’d gotten the best deal o
f the century. Four for one, a
Fallen One
included.

Then
Abaddon’s face fell. In an instant
, I watched as
it turned from arrogant pleasure to
shocked
fury.

I didn’t see why at first
,
my attention concentrated on the assault
happening
behind him.

All of sudden,
there they were
;
countless
bright
,
white lights swooping down
into
the alley like
falling
stars
.
They stopped in pairs
,
flank
ing
the
Fallen One
s
.

The
Fallen One
s noticed, just as Abaddon had, sensing their arrival and releasing their holds
on Ezra and Felix
.
Rufus remained curled
into
a ball at Sarai’s feet.

Th
e white lights illuminated the
Fallen One
s
,
and I recognized fear in each of the
m
as they faced their new attackers with uncertainty.

Ezra and Felix, now free, attempted to pull Rufus to the
edge of the alley
but he fought them, making his best effort to stay beside Sarai, who only watched them with mild
amusement
.

A
voice spoke
then
, echoing
down the alleyway
,
its
tone
calm and
confident.
I instantly recognized the voice, and
my heart stop
ped
briefly
.

“I apologize for the delay, Abaddon.”

I turned my head to find Eran standing beside me
, no more than a few inches away
.

Excitement
s
welled in
side
me
,
so powerful I couldn’t have
contained
it if I’d wanted
to
. The nervousness now
displayed
on Abaddon’s face gave me even stronger encouragement.

I wanted so desperately to reach out and wrap my arms around
Eran
, wanted it more than anything in the world
.
My
desperate yearning
was only being
held back because I still
couldn’t
move
.

I’m not sure Eran would have allowed it anyways. He was a warrior
,
and he was now engaged in battle.
Besides,
I was nothing more
to him
than someone to save
.

Eran didn’t look my way but kept his focus on Abaddon, who stepped back a few paces
, his confidence faltering
.

It was Sarai who strolled forward, self-assured
,
placing herself
in the middle.

As she
strolled by
Abaddon, she
mused
, “
Don’t worry,
I believe I can handle this one.
” Her face curled up
into
a hideous grin as she continued her approach.