The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (27 page)

I heard. Brace
yourself. This will be...unpleasant.

Chris knew that everyone
was now staring at him and he gave them all a slight nod and then
took a deep breath. Somehow he could feel Sariel gathering his power.
It felt like a mild pounding in his temples, as if it was the prelude
to a headache.

He looked past the tables
and chairs, through to the street and the passing people and cars.
And then he frowned a bit, wondering if Sariel's efforts were
screwing up his vision.

“
What's the matter?”
Natalie asked him under her breath. He flicked a quick look at her
and found her staring at him. “You're really pale.”

“
I'm not sure.”
Chris indicated the street outside of the shop. “Do you think
it's gotten darker out there? It's not sundown yet, is it?”

Chef checked his watch.
“It's three-thirty. What are you talking...”

The big man's words died
away as he turned to look at the scene behind him. People outside had
stopped walking, several had stumbled to a halt, and they were
looking around in confusion. Chris heard some of them yelling as they
pointed toward the sky.

“
What the hell?”
George started to stand up.

“
No!” Chris
cried out. George stood there and looked down at him. “Stay
where you are. We're leaving, with or without you. So don't move.”

His expression made it
obvious that George wanted to investigate whatever was happening
outside, but Chef pointed abruptly at the man's chair and he sat down
again with a loud thud. He looked closely at Chris.

“
Is that being
caused by whatever is coming?” he asked, hooking a thumb at the
street.

“
No idea,”
Chris said, his head now pounding in time with his heartbeat.
“Just...just stay there. Please.”

George nodded once and
kept watching the front window. Everyone else was doing the same.

All right, Chris. We
are leaving in ten seconds.
Sariel's voice
sounded strained.
Hang on.

“
Ten seconds, guys,”
Chris said with difficulty. The pain was blinding him. Or was it just
that the light was continuing to fade?

And then the entire room
went black. A small line of lights was glowing with a ghostly
radiance above the display of pastries behind the counter. The rest
of the room was hidden by the darkness.

Chris heard screams and
cries of fear coming from the street. Cars screeched to a halt, there
was the sharp sound of metal crunching on metal, and Chris saw
headlights being turned on, lighting the street with flashes of
brilliance.

“
Oh my God,”
Natalie whispered. It sounded loud in the dead silence inside the
shop. “What's coming?”

There was a massive pulse
of sound, deep and earth-shaking, like a giant footstep. The front
window shattered, launching shards of glass in all directions,
glittering sparks in the reflected light. Chris saw a deadly mass of
those fragments streak across the room toward them. But before he
could duck, before anyone could react, he felt like someone had
yanked him back by the collar. There was an instant of intense pain
shooting down his spine and he gasped loudly and then...

He found himself lying in
a heap on a glowing surface, surrounded by moans and a few curses. He
sat upright painfully and looked around. They were back on the
Angel's Road.

Chris could only sit
there, legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back on his hands,
as he looked at the rest of the group.

Chef was staggering to his
feet, a disconnected look in his eyes. Natalie was lying near Chris,
propped up on one elbow and blinking slowly. The others were either
getting to their feet or trying to.

The new man, Alexander,
was helped to his feet by George. There was a long gash in his
forehead and his face was bone white. George pulled a handkerchief
from his pocket, folded it up and offered it to the other man, who
pressed it to his head with a muttered thank you. Chris wanted to
stand up, but his legs felt rubbery and he decided that sitting up
was the most that he could manage at the moment.

He watched, feeling a bit
dislocated and fuzzy, as everyone finally got to their feet. Chef
lifted Natalie up gently and she smiled. They both looked down at
Chris and Natalie's eyes widened. She knelt down next to him and
pulled out a handkerchief of her own.

“
Hey Chris,”
she said, her voice gentle. “Your nose is bleeding.”

“
Really? Huh. What
do you know.” He looked at the cloth she was offering him and
frowned. “It isn't used, is it?” he asked, managing to
smile.

Natalie chuckled and put
the handkerchief into his hand. “No, you idiot. It isn't used.
Now hold it against your nose to stop the bleeding.”

“
Yes ma'am,”
he said and pressed the cloth against his nostrils. The metallic
taste of blood trickled down his throat and he swallowed with a
twinge of disgust. He'd always hated that taste, even if he'd had
more that a few chances to get used to it. Split lips, smacks to the
face and biting his tongue to keep from screaming; yeah, he'd tasted
his own blood a few times.

He managed to stand up
slowly while blocking the nosebleed and then stood, waiting for it to
stop.

Chef had been watching him
carefully, but apparently he was reassured that Chris was okay and he
leaned back and stretched. Chris heard his spine crack in a few
places.

“
Well now,”
Chef said. “That was unpleasant, wasn't it?”

“
Understatement,
sir,” Beatrice said as she brushed dust off of her jacket. “I
hope the next time we get on the on-ramp to the Angel's Road, we
merge a bit more gracefully.”

There was some general
laughter at her statement, but Tony, looking thoughtful as always,
didn't join in.

“
What exactly
happened back there?” he asked of no one in particular. “I'm
fairly certain that there was no eclipse in Luxembourg today. So what
made all the lights go out?”

They all exchanged glances
and several shrugged. Natalie looked pointedly at Chris.

“
Any word from on
high?” she muttered.

“
I'll check,”
Chris replied with a grin. He was feeling more like himself by the
minute.

Sariel? What just
happened?

I brought you to the
Road. Sorry for the violence of your entry, but I had to pull
everyone through instead of creating a doorway and letting them enter
for themselves.

Oh, so that's why it
hurt.
Chris nodded and Natalie raised an
eyebrow. He held up a hand, silently asking her to wait for a second.

What I meant was, what
happened before we left that coffee shop? All that darkness and then
that, that awful sound?

There was a momentary
silence that Chris always assumed meant that the angel was thinking
through his answer. He wondered for the first time if Sariel held
things back, if he only told Chris what he felt he needed to know, or
could understand. It wasn't a reassuring thought.

A being of great power
was waiting for us in that city, Chris,
Sariel
finally said.
As you know, none of the
Fallen, even the most powerful, can use their full strength in the
day time, under the light of God. So whoever, or whatever, that thing
was, it blocked out the Sun's rays before it began its attack. I'm
relieved that we were able to escape in time.

You and me both,
Chris replied. He shivered at the last glimpse he'd had of the coffee
shop; glass shattering, people screaming and that deep, trembling
sound. He looked down at his arms and saw goosebumps raise all of the
fine hairs on his forearms until they were standing at attention.

Any idea what that
sound was? You know, just before we got away?

I don't know for
certain, but I would say that it was the sound of a footstep.

Chris' jaw dropped and
Natalie stared at him in surprise.

“
Chris? What is it?
What's he saying?”

He gave her a blank stare.
“He...” He cleared his suddenly constricted throat. “He
said that the sound we heard, that deep sound that came up through
the ground, was a footstep.”

He looked around and
realized that the group was watching him, looks of incredulity on
their faces.

“
A footstep?”
George repeated. “From what, Godzilla?” No one laughed.

“
I dunno. That's
what Sariel said. But he also said it was only a guess. He said that
whatever was coming for us was so powerful that it could block out
the Sun.” Chris looked at Chef. “How's that for scary?”

“
That's a good word
for it, all right,” Chef said. He sighed deeply.

“
We are in way over
our heads here, people. So I want some opinions. Do we move on to the
next safe-house, knowing that there could be a trap waiting for us,
or head back and hunker down in Valiant, discuss this whole situation
with Judge Hawkes? George?”

George took his time
answering. He looked up at the endless stars rotating in stately
display over the Road and seemed to lose himself for a moment.
Finally he looked around at the group.

“
I think Chef is
right. We are in deep water here. Our one advantage against the
Fallen was always that they rarely attacked during the day. We were
fairly free to move against them then, when they were weaker, more
vulnerable. But now? If they have some sort of heavy hitter who can
block out sunlight? We are in some serious,” he paused and
grinned a bit, “manure. I vote we head back, let the judge
figure this one out.”

“
Well said,”
Chef told him. “Anyone disagree? I'm willing to listen.”

Chris looked around. No
one spoke, although he could see that Beatrice wasn't happy. She
stayed silent though.

Natalie was scowling and
Chef looked at her curiously.

“
Did you want to say
something?”

She seemed to be
struggling with her words, maybe trying to come up with a convincing
argument to keep going and check the other safe-houses, but then her
shoulders slumped and she just shook her head once, staring at the
ground.

“
Very well then.
Chris, would you ask Sariel to take us back to the exit closest to
Valiant? I think it's time to go home.”

“
Okay Chef. Give me
a second.”

Did you want to come
out?
Chris asked the archangel.

No need. Now that I've
walked it once, I can simply direct you back to the proper location
on the Road.

Huh. All right then.
Chris looked at Chef.

“
He's just going to
send me in the right direction. I guess he wants to lay low for now.”

He waited and then pointed
to his right. “That way.”

“
All right, people,
look alive. Chris, has that nose stopped bleeding? Good. You lead.
Everyone follow.”

Chef looked at Natalie.

“
Sariel didn't
mention Gloriel this time. Do you want to bring up the rear again,
just in case?”

“
No problem,”
she replied, sounding almost disinterested. “I doubt we'll run
into trouble on the way back anyway.”

“
Maybe so,”
Chef said with a frown. “But try to stay alert just in case.
Right?” he added sharply.

Natalie's eyes widened.
“Yes, of course.” She gave herself a little shake. “I'm
on it.”

Chef nodded and waved
Chris in the direction that they had to travel. The group began to
move again, heading back the way they had come.

Time had no real meaning
on the Angel's Road, and Chris felt no fatigue as he walked. He wiped
some final bits of dried blood from under his nose, then stuffed the
handkerchief in a pocket of his jacket. He doubted that Natalie would
want the bloody thing back.

He gave his head a brisk
shake and then pushed his hair back and tucked it behind his ears.
The silence of the Road felt almost unnatural and Chris began to feel
a bit unnerved by it.

Minutes passed and he
began to wish that someone in the group would start up a
conversation, about anything. Talk about the events in the coffee
shop. Or chat about a recent movie. He would even have endured
listening to talk of politics, a subject that could put him to sleep;
anything to cut through the stillness around them.

But all he heard was the
light shuffle of footsteps, the occasional cough or clearing of a
throat and once, a muttered curse as someone stumbled over their own
feet. Chris thought it sounded like George. And that was all.

He snuck a peek over his
shoulder to see the entire group walking steadily behind him, heads
down, shoulders slumped. He wondered if they were feeling defeated or
were simply lost in their own thoughts. Either way, the silence
remained unbroken.