The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) by J.J. Thompson Page A

invisible
bonds. Chris could see the staff members doing the same. The stranger
ignored them all and continued to focus on Natalie.
    “ No, I know you
don't. But you shall have it anyway. Let it never be said that a
member of the Four was without some compassion. And so I will give
you the gift of a swift death.”
    Chris' heart was suddenly
in his throat. He began moving slowly, step by step, toward the man.
He didn't have any plan in mind. He actually didn't know why he was
moving at all. But he couldn't seem to stop himself. If this guy,
whatever he was, killed Natalie, he was going to have his head. Or
die in the attempt. A much more likely scenario, a little voice
inside him said.
    Natalie didn't reply to
the stranger. She continued to twist and pull at her bonds. The man
sighed dramatically.
    “ Not even a thank
you? Well, so much for angelic manners, I suppose. Be happy, child.
Your fate is so much kinder than what I have in store for the rest of
your companions. Like this little fellow, for instance.” And he
turned at stared directly at Chris for the first time.
    Chris stopped dead in his
tracks. He felt no force around him. He wasn't trapped like the
others. The man's ebony eyes simply pinned him, like a snake's
hypnotic glare pins a mouse before it attacks.
    “ And who is this? A
friend perhaps?” The man tilted his head as he had done
earlier. “No one of importance, obviously. I sense no angelic
presence within him.” He grinned broadly. “Rejoice, boy!
You are not infected by a holy parasite. You lucky child. And an
innocent, unlike those around you.”
    He shook his head and
looked mournfully at Chris, who detected a wild hilarity beneath the
false concern.
    “ I have no wish to
harm innocents. Indeed I don't. But we mustn't have any witnesses.
Very unprofessional, you know. However, like your dear friend,
girlfriend perhaps?” he laughed gleefully, “I shall give
you a swift death. It's the best I can offer, I'm afraid. But take it
in the spirit in which it is given and perhaps, after death, Gloriel
can take you under her wing as it were, and escort you to Heaven.”
    He folded his arms and
looked around at everyone. “And when you all reach those pearly
gates and walk through, enjoy yourselves. Sing songs. Pick flowers.
For soon Heaven will fall and my father shall rule in the place of
your impotent and so upstanding and moral God. So maybe we'll meet
again one day. Let us hope for that, shall we?”
    “ You're insane,”
Natalie said coldly. “Imagine that. An insane demon. Will
wonders never cease.”
    The man dropped his arms
to his sides and his face twisted with fury. He took two impossibly
large strides forward and lifted Natalie up by her neck until her
head banged off of the ceiling.
    “ I am not a demon!”
he spat at her. Then he shook her like a grown man would shake a
puppy and threw her to the floor. She bounced and rolled to Chris'
feet and he knelt down with a small cry and slipped an arm under her
neck to support her head.
    After a moment of terrible
stillness, Natalie opened her eyes and looked up at him, a trickle of
blood oozing from her mouth.
    “ I'm...okay, Chris.
Get me back on my feet.”
    “ No Nat. You're
hurt. Just lay there and...”
    “ He's about to kill
all of us. And I'm not going to die lying down.”
    She began to struggle to
sit up and Chris, with a low moan of futility, helped her to her
feet.
    The man had returned to
his original position and watched, amused once more, as Natalie
finally stood swaying, with Chris's arm around her waist to support
her.
    “ I dislike insults,
dear Natalie, and I'm afraid I have a bit of a temper. So please,
don't do that again. My brothers and I are not demons. Demons are
fallen angels, as you well know, who followed my father into exile.
We are as far above those lickspittles as the archangels are above,
well, Gloriel. And insanity is reserved for humans, not hell-born
like myself.”
    This time Natalie chose
not to