something like this happened.”
“Yeah, about that. What the fuck?” Klein piped up from his corner. “You turned that guy to ash and banished him to the ether.”
I saw Riley’s face blank, and I wondered where he had gone. He shuddered. “There are a lot of things that I can’t remember.”
“Can’t or don’t want to?” This was Viho.
“Does it matter?” Riley growled.
“Alice, you need to round up any of the humans here and get them out of this place before it’s too late,” I said. “Are there any other exits other than the front and back door? The cemetery behind the church is infested with demons.”
She gave a quick nod. “There is a tunnel beneath the convent. It was built back during the Second World War. It will take us several blocks away.”
“Good,” I said. I looked at Viho. “You can go with her if you want.”
Viho gave Alice a sad smile. “My place has always been in the thick of the fight, as we well know.”
“What has been always will be,” Alice said. She and Viho embraced again. There was a sadness about it that I felt even from ten feet away. Loss. Grief. Regret. That wasn’t what I wanted for my life.
My attention returned to my dark angel. Here was the wild card. “So you can’t tell them to stand down. You are sure?”
“Bruno has orders. He can’t do anything but obey them,” Riley said.
“But you could just tell him that you don’t want to fight anymore,” I argued. “If you are in control of him, you can send him back to the ether.”
“I wish it was that easy,” Riley said. “I also told him that he wasn’t to listen to anything I said unless I returned to him with specific proof.”
“What proof was that?” I asked feeling a pit of dread growing in my stomach.
“Alice’s head,” he replied.
I was right. I didn’t want to know. Then I had an idea. I whipped around to Viho. “We need a demon head, and we need one fast. Preferably a female. Do you think you can get one without being too obvious about it?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Viho said with a short nod. He motioned to Klein. “You’re with me.” I could tell that Klein was less than thrilled, but he followed Viho out of the room.
“You’re going to use a glamour spell,” I said to Riley. “As long as it holds long enough for you to give Bruno the command, then we can avoid any more bloodshed.”
Riley looked at me doubtfully. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
I barked a mirthless laugh. “You can rip your mother’s heart out and threaten to take her head as proof, but you don’t think you can cast a simple glamour spell?”
“It’s not that,” Riley said. “I don’t know if I can face Proctor without him knowing that I’m not all…there anymore.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said. “For now, let’s move. We’ll go to the church. That way if they break in, it’ll hopefully still give Alice and the others a chance to escape.”
I motioned for Riley to follow me, but his feet seemed frozen to the ground. “What is it?”
“I feel something,” Riley said. “There a shift in the air. I don’t know what it means, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“Shit,” I said. I had an idea of what it meant. The spell for consecrated ground would keep the demons out for the time being. But it wouldn’t keep the angels out. It practically was their house after all. I broke into a trot. Riley was on my heels before I was even in the hallway that connected the convent to the church. I felt the strangest sense of déjà vu. Riley and I had done this before. We had gone to battle in this same church, but now things were so different. Now Riley was the one who was conflicted and had lost his way. I was the one who was going to have to protect him from the ones who wanted to harm him.
I pushed through the doors into the church, and as I saw the altar, the air lit up in what seemed like a million particles of light. Even though the sun
“Yeah, about that. What the fuck?” Klein piped up from his corner. “You turned that guy to ash and banished him to the ether.”
I saw Riley’s face blank, and I wondered where he had gone. He shuddered. “There are a lot of things that I can’t remember.”
“Can’t or don’t want to?” This was Viho.
“Does it matter?” Riley growled.
“Alice, you need to round up any of the humans here and get them out of this place before it’s too late,” I said. “Are there any other exits other than the front and back door? The cemetery behind the church is infested with demons.”
She gave a quick nod. “There is a tunnel beneath the convent. It was built back during the Second World War. It will take us several blocks away.”
“Good,” I said. I looked at Viho. “You can go with her if you want.”
Viho gave Alice a sad smile. “My place has always been in the thick of the fight, as we well know.”
“What has been always will be,” Alice said. She and Viho embraced again. There was a sadness about it that I felt even from ten feet away. Loss. Grief. Regret. That wasn’t what I wanted for my life.
My attention returned to my dark angel. Here was the wild card. “So you can’t tell them to stand down. You are sure?”
“Bruno has orders. He can’t do anything but obey them,” Riley said.
“But you could just tell him that you don’t want to fight anymore,” I argued. “If you are in control of him, you can send him back to the ether.”
“I wish it was that easy,” Riley said. “I also told him that he wasn’t to listen to anything I said unless I returned to him with specific proof.”
“What proof was that?” I asked feeling a pit of dread growing in my stomach.
“Alice’s head,” he replied.
I was right. I didn’t want to know. Then I had an idea. I whipped around to Viho. “We need a demon head, and we need one fast. Preferably a female. Do you think you can get one without being too obvious about it?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Viho said with a short nod. He motioned to Klein. “You’re with me.” I could tell that Klein was less than thrilled, but he followed Viho out of the room.
“You’re going to use a glamour spell,” I said to Riley. “As long as it holds long enough for you to give Bruno the command, then we can avoid any more bloodshed.”
Riley looked at me doubtfully. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
I barked a mirthless laugh. “You can rip your mother’s heart out and threaten to take her head as proof, but you don’t think you can cast a simple glamour spell?”
“It’s not that,” Riley said. “I don’t know if I can face Proctor without him knowing that I’m not all…there anymore.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said. “For now, let’s move. We’ll go to the church. That way if they break in, it’ll hopefully still give Alice and the others a chance to escape.”
I motioned for Riley to follow me, but his feet seemed frozen to the ground. “What is it?”
“I feel something,” Riley said. “There a shift in the air. I don’t know what it means, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“Shit,” I said. I had an idea of what it meant. The spell for consecrated ground would keep the demons out for the time being. But it wouldn’t keep the angels out. It practically was their house after all. I broke into a trot. Riley was on my heels before I was even in the hallway that connected the convent to the church. I felt the strangest sense of déjà vu. Riley and I had done this before. We had gone to battle in this same church, but now things were so different. Now Riley was the one who was conflicted and had lost his way. I was the one who was going to have to protect him from the ones who wanted to harm him.
I pushed through the doors into the church, and as I saw the altar, the air lit up in what seemed like a million particles of light. Even though the sun
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