The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (37 page)

“
You are aware of
our three new young guests?” the judge asked them.

“
Certainly, sir. Did
you want them there as well, or..?”

“
No. They've had a
rough go of it. Let them rest and recuperate in the Infirmary. Also
ask Chef to join us.” Judge Hawkes looked around the foyer, or
lobby as Chris thought of it, and tapped a finger on the desk in
front of him.

“
After dinner, I
want Valiant locked up tight,” the judge told the women. They
watched him apprehensively. “”Double the patrols on the
grounds, close and lock the main gate, and refuse any requests from
visitors to enter the castle for the evening. That includes any
relatives or friends of staff. Understood?”

“
Of course, m'lord,”
the seated woman answered again. She was making quick notes on a pad
as he spoke. “Will any of the Angelics be patrolling tonight?”

“
No, not tonight.”
He smiled thinly. “We'll have to make do with staff only.”

Chris and the two women
watched the judge as he stood there. He seemed to be going through an
internal checklist.

Finally he looked at the
woman behind the desk again.

“
Sarah, which
clerics are in residence at the moment?”

The woman seemed surprised
that he knew her name. Surprised but pleased.

“
Well, m'lord, we
have three staying with us right now. They tend to travel between the
safe-houses rather frequently.”

“
I am aware, yes.
And they are..?”

She tapped at her keyboard
and scanned the computer screen.

“
There's Father
David Stern. He's just arrived this week from Argentina. And Rabbi
Levi has been here for a few months now.” She smiled as she
said this and Chris guessed that she was fond of the man, whoever he
was.

“
David is here?
Excellent. He's a good man.”

“
Yes sir. And
finally Sister Anna Clare. She's deep in her studies, finishing up
her Master's degree in Theology, I believe.”

“
Good. Good.”
The judge seemed pleased. “I want all three to patrol outside
tonight. Separately, of course. From six o'clock until dawn. Let them
decide who takes which shift. Four hours for each, I think.”

Sarah's eyes widened but
she didn't object.

“
Oh course, m'lord.
I'll contact them at once.”

“
Excellent. Thank
you.” He looked at Chris. “Come along, Christopher,”
he said and headed off again.

“
Your honor?”
Chris said tentatively as they walked up the circular staircase to
the second floor. “What's going on?”

Judge Hawkes didn't answer
until they had almost reached the hallway that led to his office.
Then he halted abruptly and turned to look at Chris, who almost
tripped over his own feet as he slid to a stop.

“
Tonight we're
attempting something extremely dangerous,” the man said. His
expression was very serious. “We have never attacked the Fallen
before. Not overtly at any rate. And I have to admit that it goes
against my better judgment to do so now. But it is a calculated risk
I feel we must take. Do you understand?”

Chris swallowed under the
judge's intense stare.

“
Yes sir. At least,
I think so.”

“
Good.” Judge
Hawkes began walking again, this time much more slowly. He fished his
keys out of his pocket as they approached his office.

“
It is quite
possible that, despite our best efforts, the Fallen will see through
our ruse and feel Sariel's presence when he calls back Jacob and
Tyler. If they do, they may react...well, violently. Valiant may be
attacked. Not by the human minions of our enemies; those we can
handle. But by something far darker and more dangerous. Perhaps that
unknown entity which pursued you on the Road.”

They reached the door and
the judge opened it and pocketed his keys.

“
If that happens, I
intend to defend this place with all the force that I have at my
disposal.”

Chris and the judge
entered his office and the man asked Chris to have a seat. The
conference table was once more set up in the center of the room.

“
This will not turn
into a replay of what happened at the Hawkes Nest,” the judge
said as he settled himself into his chair behind the desk. He sat
back and stared at Chris soberly. “If this ends up being the
place where we make our stand, then by God we'll make it a good one.”

He pulled out his cell and
began to tap away on it, leaving Chris alone with his thoughts, which
had changed from happy memories of Jake and Ty to morbid fantasies of
death and destruction.

He's not kidding, Chris
thought. I think I know him well enough by now to know that he's
serious about this.

Chris sat restlessly and
stared over the judge's shoulder out at the sunlit sky, waiting for
the others to arrive. It didn't take long.

The judge had left the
office door open and the first to peek a head in was Patrick. Judge
Hawkes greeted him and asked him to have a seat at the conference
table. While he did, glancing at Chris curiously, Anabelle arrived
followed closely by Alysa. She was chewing her gum busily and gave
Chris a sunny smile.

Finally, Francis walked in
with Natalie and Chef close on his heels, both of them grinning and
chatting animatedly. They quieted down as soon as they entered and
saw the judge's grim expression.

“
Have a seat with
the others, Christopher,” Judge Hawkes said as he rose and
moved to sit at the head of the table. “Chef, would you close
the door please? And lock it.”

Chef turned back, did as
he was asked and then took a seat silently. Everyone settled down and
watched the judge intently.

“
My friends, thank
you all for coming.” The judge put away his phone and took a
moment to look at each of them individually. Then he nodded.

“
We are about to
embark on a momentous evening. Things may happen tonight which we
don't expect. Or not. There's no way to know for certain.”

There were a few mystified
looks exchanged among the group and the judge smiled a bit.

“
Sorry to sound so
ominous. But we're finally ready to try to bring back our two lost
friends, Jacob and Tyler.”

“
Oh that's splendid,
m'lord,” Alysa said with a big smile. “How lovely! We
could do with a few more fresh faces around here. I haven't actually
met them yet, but Natalie makes them sound ever so nice.”

“
Alysa,”
Anabelle said with her usual eye-roll.

“
What?” She
looked at Anabelle with wide eyes. “Don't you want them back?”

“
Of course I do. But
there's a danger in this, is what his lordship is getting at. Aren't
you, sir?” she asked the judge.

“
Precisely right.”
Judge Hawkes cleared his throat. “When Ghost begins his
assault, we will attempt to resurrect the two Angelics. Or rather,
Christopher and Sariel will,” he added with a nod at Chris. “If
the diversion does not work, and the Fallen feel this use of power,
they may respond by attacking Valiant.”

Alysa's grin faded to be
replaced by a look of trepidation. There were worried murmurs from
several of the others. Chef and Natalie quietly exchanged dark looks.

“
Now I am not saying
this will happen,” the judge continued. “Only that it
might. If it does, Valiant is ready for them. It is the oldest and
most secure of all of our houses. Every inch of the walls, floors and
roof have been imbued with religious talismans and icons. The bricks
and mortar were blessed and consecrated as the castle was being built
and many clerics of numerous religions have re-blessed the building
over the centuries.”

Chris was listening to the
judge, fascinated. He had no idea that the castle was so spiritually
protected. He also had no idea if these precautions would work, but
the judge sounded very confident in the defenses and he took some
comfort in that.

“
When darkness falls
tonight, the shields will be lowered over all of the windows and all
doors will be sealed.”

The judge looked sharply
at Chef, who had raised his hand.

“
Yes, Mario?”

“
Ethan, who is going
to be patrolling the grounds? I'm sure that the main gates will be
locked, but we cannot assume that the Fallen or their agents won't
find a way past the outer walls.”

“
Yes, I know. We
have three clerics in residence at this time. All will take a turn
patrolling through the night. The patrol strength will be doubled and
I will have another squad standing by as reinforcements, just in
case.” The judge paused. “All will be armed.”

There were gasps around
the table and Chris looked at the others curiously. What was the big
deal with them being armed?

“
M'lord,”
Francis spoke up hesitantly. “Perhaps you've forgotten, being
away for so long and all, but the authorities in England rather frown
upon civilians using guns, even to defend their property.”

The judge raised an
eyebrow at Francis, who blushed.

“
Thank you, but I am
aware. Quite frankly, if it helped us defend Valiant and keep all of
you safe, I'd gladly use cannons and be damned with the
consequences.” There was a shocked silence and Judge Hawkes
smiled. “But I doubt if it will come to that. As I've said,
this is all just a precaution. I believe that Ghost's attempt to draw
the Fallen's attention away from us and on to himself will work. They
have never been challenged so directly before. And their arrogance
alone may well be their undoing.”

“
Where is the attack
taking place?” Chef asked.

“
Moscow,” the
judge replied and smiled as Chef's eyes lit up. “Yes, I thought
you'd approve.”

“
What's so special
about Moscow?” Patrick asked, speaking for the first time.

Instead of answering,
Judge Hawkes looked at Chef, who was still grinning wolfishly.

“
Moscow,” the
big man said, “is the world-wide headquarters for all of the
Fallen's minions. Talon, Scythe, all of the gangs of followers around
the world receive their instructions from there. If any attack is
going to get the undivided attention of our enemies, that will be the
one.”

“
And that's another
reason for my precautions,” the judge added. “An attack
on their main HQ will infuriate the enemy. But it will also,
hopefully, leave them disoriented, bewildered enough for Ghost to get
away and for Sariel to do his work.” He sat back with a tired
sigh. “At least we hope it will.”

There was a long moment of
silence following the judge's explanation. The teens looked at each
other but said nothing.

After a few minutes had
passed, Natalie looked over at the judge.

“
So what do we do
now?” she asked simply.

“
Now?” Judge
Hawkes stood up and smiled at them affably. “Now we have
dinner.”

All of them ate together
in the dining room. They were joined by George, Ramona and Beatrice
for dinner and Tony dropped by just in time for dessert. The mood
around the table was serious, but Chef got them laughing once or
twice with some timely jokes.

When they were done, the
judge sent all of the Angelics to their quarters to get some rest.

“
I want all of you
in the Infirmary before midnight, so try to catch a nap if you can.
I'll tell the front desk to call each of you at eleven-thirty, just
in case you do doze off.”

And with that, Judge
Hawkes shooed them all off, asking Chris to stay behind for a moment.

Once they were alone and
the dining room was empty, the judge and Chris sat across from each
other. Chris made himself a third cup of coffee, convinced that he
wouldn't be able to get any sleep before midnight anyway. The judge
sipped some tea.

“
How are you feeling
about all of this, Christopher?” the man asked abruptly,
catching Chris off-guard.

Chris put down his cup and
thought about it for a moment.

“
I'm nervous, sir,”
he answered at last. “I've had this feeling for some time now,
and I've told Nat about it, of...something coming. Something dark
just over the horizon. Like the feeling you get when there's a
thunderstorm on the way, but the sky is still clear and blue. You
know?”

The judge nodded silently.

“
Well, like that. I
think it started not long after we arrived here and it's been chewing
on the edge of my mind ever since.” He laughed uneasily. “I
learned to follow my instincts on the street, sir.” He looked
at the judge curiously. “Did you know that for a few months I
was on the streets twenty-four seven?”

“
Really? No, I did
not. I thought that you always had a refuge at night, with your quite
clever scheme of renting homes under a fictitious name and using the
funds you managed to withdraw from your parents' accounts after their
deaths.”

Chris nodded. “Mostly
I did. I was luckier than a lot of other kids out there. But for
about four months, just after I turned twelve, there was a screw-up.
Details don't matter, but I ended up sleeping in parks, under
bridges, all that for a while. It was a scary time.”