The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (29 page)

The judge looked at Chef.
“Do you think that everyone from the Luxembourg safe-house is
lost?”

Chef heaved a great sigh.
“It's hard to say. At a guess, I'd say no. There were some very
experienced, tough customers working there, not to mention a handful
of Angelics. I wish we'd been able to get inside to investigate
further. There may be clues as to what really happened, perhaps a
message. But we didn't have a chance to enter before that, whatever
it was, showed up.”

“
I was wondering
something,” Beatrice said quietly. She was staring at the
judge. “I was wondering if we stirred up that power in
Luxembourg because we took the Angel's Road? And because we had two
Angelics with us?” She flicked an apologetic glance at Chris
and Natalie.

“
Hmm.” The
judge narrowed his eyes and tapped his lips with a forefinger. “Now
that is a possibility. Even so, why does it matter now?”

“
Well, what if a
couple of plain old humans might be able to do what Angelics can't,
in this case?” She sounded a little excited. “What if two
or three of us staffers went back there the old-fashioned way, plane
or train, and checked it out for ourselves? We don't draw the kind of
spiritual attention that Chris or Natalie do, no offense, so maybe we
can slip in under their radar and find out more.”

“
Excellent idea.”
George spoke up for the first time. He looked at Judge Hawkes. “I
gotta tell you, judge. Leaving that place the way we did, tails
between our legs, doesn't sit well with me. I'll volunteer to go back
and poke around some more, even if no one else wants to.”

Alexander, Beatrice, even
Tony, began to speak at once, offering to return to Luxembourg. Chris
stared at them in amazement.

Here they'd been chased by
some unknown, powerful...thing, and these people wanted to go back
and basically throw themselves into the lion's den again? They were
either very brave, or just plain nuts. He watched them for a minute
and decided that it was probably a mixture of both.

“
Calm down, please,”
Judge Hawkes said as he raised a hand for silence. The room became
still but the staff members were watching him eagerly. He was staring
back at them thoughtfully. Then he looked at Chef.

“
What do you think?”

“
I think that I
don't want to lose any more friends to those animals.” Chef's
voice was gruff. “I think that if they are caught, whoever goes
will never be seen again. And I think that...it's worth a shot.”

All four of the staff
members had looked discouraged as Chef spoke but stared at him in
surprise as he finished. He shook his head as they started to thank
him.

“
Don't. Don't thank
me. The judge will decide if you can go or not. And if whoever goes
doesn't come back, their deaths will be on me. But tactically it's a
sound idea,” he said as he looked at Judge Hawkes. “I
doubt if Scythe or the Fallen will expect anyone to return to
Luxembourg so quickly, if at all. And if they go slowly, by train
through the tunnel to Paris, and on from there, they may be
undetected. Getting into the safe-house will be no problem for any of
them and maybe we'll get some intel that we can use.” He
shrugged. “But it's your call, Ethan.”

Chris and Natalie
exchanged glances. She hadn't spoken since they had sat down and
seemed at a loss. Obviously neither she nor Chris was included in the
conversation because they would not be going back. Chris didn't feel
he had a right to say anything and he guessed that Nat didn't either.
Both of them just listened.

“
I have to tell you
all that I don't like it. I don't like it at all,” the judge
said heavily. “The Fallen are whittling us down, one by one. I
can't afford to lose any of you.” The group seemed to hold its
breath. “But I also can't miss out on a chance to get the real
story of what happened at the safe-house, especially if anyone
survived. So, against my better judgment, I think we'll go with
Beatrice's idea.”

There were grins from all
of the staff members, but the judge looked at them sternly.

“
You are
professionals. Please act accordingly. I will only risk two of you on
this mad scheme. No more. And Tony, I'm sorry, but you won't be one
of them.”

As Tony began to object,
the judge cut him off.

“
You are the only
fully trained medic we have on staff right now. We cannot be left
without medical aid in the, hopefully unlikely, event that we are
attacked here at Valiant. You'll have to sit this one out.”

Tony accepted the judge's
order with good grace. Chris had always felt that the man was the
most level-headed of the staffers. It seemed that he was right.

“
The three of you
can decide between you which two are going,” Judge Hawkes said
to George, Beatrice and Alexander. Before anyone else could speak,
Alexander shook his head.

“
George, you and Bea
have worked together for a long time. I'm still the new guy. If
things go wrong over there, you both should be working with a partner
who knows how you'll react before you do. I hate to stay behind, but
your best chance of getting in and out in one piece is to go in as a
team.”

George clapped Alexander
on the shoulder and grinned. Beatrice thanked him.

“
Well, Georgie, it's
you and me, again,” Beatrice said. “What I did in a
previous life to end up stuck with you, I'll never know. Some sort of
karmic payback, I suppose.”

The man snorted. “Count
yourself lucky. At least I'm always around to pick you up when you
stumble. A full-time job, I might add.”

Everyone laughed at the
pair's mutual teasing. The judge cleared his throat and they looked
at him expectantly.

“
You really should
all get some sleep. You look done in. But Beatrice and George can
sleep on the trip.”

He stood up and went to
sit at his desk. There was a pad of paper there and he began to write
on it.

“
I want you two to
go and pack. Take only the essentials. You still have those bank
cards I gave you? Good.”

He was writing a list,
Chris guessed. A very methodical man, he thought. Not for the first
time.

“
Don't make any
reservations. Catch the trains as they become available. You both
have the standard false ID papers, so use them, not your own.”
He ticked something off of his hastily written list.

“
Grab two new cells
from the front desk as you are leaving. The disposable ones. I'll
have a driver drop you off at the edge of the city. Both of you are
experienced enough to shake any tails you may pick up before you
reach the train station.”

The judge looked up at
Chef. “Am I missing anything?”

“
Dress casually,”
Chef told the pair. “Nothing flashy, nothing out of the
ordinary. No weapons, of course.” He held them both with a
steely gaze. “You're in it now. If you have to take out any of
the enemy to complete your mission, don't hesitate. You understand?”

Beatrice and George nodded
grimly.

“
Good. Dispose of
any evidence if you can. And keep on the move. A stationary target is
a dead target.” He shrugged and looked at the judge. “That's
it.”

“
Fine. George.
Beatrice. Go and change. Pack your things. There will be a car
waiting for you when you're ready to leave.”

His expression changed as
he looked at them both.

“
You've been with me
a long time. Both of you have been loyal and have gone above and
beyond the call, many times. I expect you back in one piece. Do you
understand me?”

Beatrice stood up, walked
to the desk and shook the judge's hand. George did the same. The
judge had stood up and shook their hands with both of his.

“
We'll be back, your
honor. I promise you,” Beatrice said in a level tone. “And
we'll find out all we can about what happened to our people.”

“
Good. I shall hold
you to that. Now move out. Time is not on our side in this.”

The pair said goodbye to
the rest of the group and shook hands all around. Natalie got up and
gave Bea a tremendous hug, which made the woman smile broadly. Then
with a final wave, they left the room.

I wonder if we'll ever see
them again, Chris thought. He shivered.

Judge Hawkes sent everyone
to their rooms with firm instructions to rest. As everyone was
leaving, he took Chris aside and waited for the others to move out of
earshot.

“
Christopher, the
reason I have allowed Beatrice and George to go on their journey,
even though my heart is against it, is that I need information
desperately.”

Chris nodded, wide-eyed.
The judge had seemed brisk and alert during the meeting, but up close
he appeared tired and anxious. It made Chris nervous.

“
So if Sariel
returns with information, any information at all, I'd like you to
come and see me immediately. Understood?”

“
Yeah, absolutely,”
Chris said. “You'll be the first to know.” He tried to
sound reassuring.

“
Good. Good.”
Judge Hawkes rubbed his eyes. “Off you go then. Get some sleep.
You've earned it.”

Chris hesitated. “You
should get some sleep too, sir,” he told the judge seriously.

The man looked at him in
surprise, and then a wide grin broke across his face.

“
Why, thank you. I
shall take that under advisement. Go on now. Sleep well.”

Back in his rooms, Chris
headed directly for the shower. He felt like he was five pounds
heavier just with the road dirt he'd picked up over the past day. As
he stood under the streaming hot water, he felt the tenseness in his
body begin to fade away, muscle by muscle and he sighed deeply.

He vigorously washed his
hair twice. The heavy mass seemed to attract dirt and he made sure
that it was as clean as possible. When he finally stepped out of the
shower, he barely managed to dry off before stumbling to bed and
slipping under the crisp, clean sheets. His head hardly touched the
pillow before he was asleep. And if he had dreams, he didn't remember
any.

The next morning, Chris
slowly woke up and lay in bed staring sightlessly at the ceiling. He
had glanced at his cell plugged into its charger on his nightstand
and realized that he'd slept for a straight fourteen hours. He felt
better than he had in a long time.

As he lay in bed, watching
the early morning light begin to stream through his window, Chris
tried to make some sense of what had happened over the past week.

First he poked around in
his head for any sign of Sariel, but he was alone. He ran his fingers
through his hair to flatten it and lay back, following the swirls and
patterns that decorated the ceiling.

Where had the angel gone?
Purgatory? What could he possibly learn there about the mysterious
force that had chased them? As far as Chris knew, only Sariel's
followers inhabited that desolate place. Then he blinked and frowned.

No, that wasn't right.
There was one more inhabitant now, wasn't there? Lilith. Maybe the
archangel had gone back to question Lilith! Would she help them?
Chris sincerely doubted it. That creature wanted them all to burn in
hellfire. He silently wished Sariel luck. He'd need it.

But how had whatever it
was on the Road known that they were in Luxembourg? They had gotten
rid of the spies in their midst. Was it really Natalie and him that
had given them away? How? Did they give off some sort of cosmic
vibration? A spiritual stink? Chris knew that he had street smarts,
but he wasn't even fourteen yet. What did he know about all this
stuff? He let the thought go with an unconscious shrug.

And then there was that
Horseman on the plane. What was he called? Oh, yeah. Askalon. The
very name made Chris shudder. How did that guy fit in with all of
this? And the other Horsemen, whoever or whatever they were? Sons of
Satan? Gees.

Chris' stomach squeaked
and then rumbled assertively and he realized that he was ravenous. He
looked at the phone again. Seven-thirty. Late enough for the
breakfast buffet to be laid out in the dining room. He lay still for
one more minute, then stretched and heard his joints crackle. Time to
get on with the day, he thought and rolled out of bed.

Natalie joined him as he
was on his second helping of ham and eggs and third cup of coffee.
Like Chris, she was wearing her standard t-shirt and jeans. She
grinned at the sight of him wolfing down his breakfast and went and
got her own plate of food.

When she returned with her
breakfast and full coffee cup, Chris sat back from his empty plate
with a contented sigh. He smiled at her.

“
Morning, Nat. Sleep
well?”

“
Oh yeah. Deep, dark
and long. I really needed it.” She looked at him closely. “So
did you. You're looking a lot perkier than you did yesterday.”

“
Perkier?”
Chris chuckled. “I don't think I've ever been called perky
before. But thanks. I guess.”

Nat just nodded as she
began to eat. Chris got up and refreshed his coffee. When he sat down
again, he noticed that Natalie was looking across the room, lost in
thought.