1
It felt like a dream. How could it not when she was so high in the sky? When her body was so numb against the cold she could barely move?
She hardly noticed the freezing grips of the dark angels anymore—not against the iciness of the air. She felt like an ice cube. She could no longer feel her fingers or toes. It was cold enough that it hurt to breathe. Even her thoughts had turned sluggish.
All six of The Fallen were gripping her as they flew in a group across the sky. Vaguely, Kaitlyn wondered how it must look to the people down below—though all she could see was the mountain that The Fallen had taken her from and its tall umbrella-like trees. She supposed that was a good thing. The last thing people needed to see was that the end was coming.
Where were they taking her? How would she get to hell? Shouldn’t they descend? Wasn’t hell below?
She squinted against the force of their beating wings, then shut her eyes. The cold was making them ache. They hadn’t been flying for long and already Kaitlyn was thinking wistfully of the flames. Their warmth. Their light. The hardness of Lucifer’s arms.
‘No!’ Kaitlyn thrust back her head. She would not think of it. ‘Jacob! Jacob!’
What had those two angels done to him? I will have you both, Lucifer had said. What had he meant by that?
‘Please let him be all right,’ she croaked.
The air vibrated with the force of the angels’ beating wings. It was so loud that Kaitlyn could hardly hear her own thoughts. There were black feathers everywhere. White faces. Determined eyes. Kaitlyn couldn’t get the face of that blonde man out of her mind. The way his blood sprayed down his shirt. She might not have done the deed—but she was just as much a part of his murder.
I want you to hurt them.
The witch and her purple eyes as she gazed at Kaitlyn in horror, the demons swarming around her. Kaitlyn would never forget that either.
The witch had begged Kaitlyn for help. And now you’ll die for him.
Though her mind spun with the events of the night, it felt like another life. Like somebody else’s life. Thud thud thud, went The Fallen’s beating wings.
She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Though she knew in her head that the likelihood of failure was high, there was always that little ray of hope that things would work out. In her heart she’d never conceived that the worst would actually happen.
She would cry if she could.
Lucifer was waiting for her in that cavernous room with its lizard-skin chair and fireplace and giant four-poster bed. They would have sex for real this time. What was going to happen? How would it happen? Would he try and woo her or would he simply take what he wanted?
Worse—would she go to him?
Kaitlyn winced.
Jacob.
Her eyes already narrowed against the freezing air, Kaitlyn squeezed them shut at a flash of sharp light. She gasped when an arm around her waist slipped and she sagged in The Fallen’s arms. Another flash of sharp light and it happened again.
Desperately, Kaitlyn grabbed onto the nearest pair of shoulders, clinging on tight. She looked down below her feet and looked away again. She was so high! Too high. Out of all the possibilities of things that could go wrong—to think that they might accidentally drop her!
Another flash.
Kaitlyn shrieked as she slid through The Fallen’s grips. More arms shot out, grabbing her arms and hips and legs. But at another flash those arms snaked away again. What was going on? Why weren’t they being more careful?
Kaitlyn screamed at a sudden jolt that knocked her out of the web of white arms. For a brief, horrifying moment, Kaitlyn looked down towards the Earth as it sped towards her: little broccoli trees and lego houses and cross-patch farms. It was so surreal it felt like a dream. This couldn’t be real. She couldn’t be falling.
She couldn’t be about to die.
The wind gusted through her clothes. It whipped about her hair. Kaitlyn thought she was screaming but the blasting air tore the sound from her mouth. Her eyes were watering and she couldn’t feel her body at all.
A glaring light to her right made her turn her head. But it hurt to look at and she squeezed her eyes shut. Something touched her across her back. Something wrapped around her waist. Something warm held her tightly. She was falling—then she was only kind of falling. Though she was still speeding at a terrifying pace, she could feel she was no longer plummeting out of control.
Kaitlyn dared to open her eyes. She was still diving. Tears streaked from her eyes. The wind blasted in her ears. She could still see the ground racing up to meet her, the houses so much bigger, the trees more like tall weeds rather than little blossoms of broccoli, but she was definitely slowing.
The white light was behind and above her now. She looked down at the arms wrapped around her waist and Kaitlyn suddenly understood: whoever was holding her was easing her descent. She was saved. Her angels had come to save her!
She could have sobbed.
The fast descent soon plateaued and she found herself flying parallel to the ground like a superhero. Crazy laughter welled up in her throat. This night could not get any more wonderful or terrible or hectic or bizarre.
But it wasn’t over. They were close to the ground now, not far above the highest treetops. Kaitlyn felt pressure against her waist as whoever was holding her tightened their arms around her and began arcing upwards. And now Kaitlyn could hear the beating of wings. So loud. So powerful. She turned her head to watch them. Those brilliant white feathers. Who was it? She looked up. Amid the glow Kaitlyn could see a broad jaw, a sharp stern nose, fair hair. But it was his eagle-like yellow eyes that gave him away.
Samuel. He was okay! Unfrozen from Madam Sheree’s evil magic. And he’d found her!
He met Kaitlyn’s gaze but said nothing. Kaitlyn swallowed, her throat tight. There were so many things she wanted to say, she needed to say.
Kaitlyn turned her head at a flicker of movement, thinking of the others, only to discover a Fallen, his great black wings flapping like a crow’s. Kaitlyn screamed when a second Fallen to their right shot towards them. She felt the thud. She felt Samuel’s arms slip.
‘No!’
Then she was tangled between the two, icy arms vs warm arms, black wings vs white wings. The light vs dark. It was a blur of opposites and all Kaitlyn knew was how close the ground was and that she was tumbling.
Hands seized her under the armpits and she was flying again, not so secure as she’d been with Samuel though, as the next angel quickly and awkwardly wrapped their arms around her. Breathless, Kaitlyn looked up. It was Catherine this time, black dreads streaming backwards, blue eyes like crystals.
Kaitlyn looked back to find Samuel but he’d disappeared along with the two Fallen.
‘What’s going on?’ Kaitlyn cried. ‘Are they following us?’
Catherine either didn’t hear or chose not to answer. Kaitlyn sucked in a breath as another black figure appeared up ahead. Again, it shot towards them.
‘Look out!’
Tightening her arms around Kaitlyn, Catherine soared to the right, her great wings beating through the air. Before the dark angel could make contact, a second bright figure slammed into it from the side. Kaitlyn watched as they both tumbled together towards the ground. Her eyes widened as they vanished into the trees.
Kaitlyn shut her eyes. Whichever angel it was is going to be all right. They’re immortal. They’ll be all right!
More black figures converged, but they were keeping their distance now, two more of her angels keeping them at bay on either side with their dazzling light. A Fallen tried to attack again, only to pull back when the light of her angels turned searingly bright. Kaitlyn shut her eyes with a cry and turned her face away. The light seemed to pierce right through her eyelids.
She started to feel dizzy. She was feeling sick. The pressure of Catherine’s strong arms pressing against her ribs and stomach was starting to really hurt.
‘Put me down,’ Kaitlyn gasped. ‘I need to get down.’
No answer.
They continued on their journey. Kaitlyn kept her eyes shut, bracing herself against the pain, against the very real thought that she might be attacked again. Grabbing desperately onto Catherine’s arms, she took a shuddering breath.
They probably flew a long time—though Kaitlyn couldn’t know for sure, drifting in and out of consciousness. At least she was warm, Catherine’s angel heat keeping the frostiness of the air at bay. The deep thud of her beating wings began to slow. Kaitlyn’s stomach swooped as they started to make their descent. She forced her eyes open.
They were flying over a field. She thought she glimpsed sheep and cows but it was hard to tell for sure. Up ahead, she could see a large town twinkling like a constellation in the distance.
Again, Catherine tightened her grip around Kaitlyn’s waist as she slowed against the pull of gravity. Vomit surged in Kaitlyn’s throat, which she swallowed back down.
She couldn’t wait to touch ground again. She’d had enough adventure tonight to last a lifetime.
The moment her sandals touched the soft, cold grass she sagged. Catherine eased Kaitlyn to the ground. Rolling on her back, Kaitlyn stared up at the moon, panting. She lifted her hands in an attempt to brush the knotted hair away from her face but they were shaking too hard. Instead, she folded them around her chest. Her guts were sore from Catherine’s tight embrace. Her lungs were tight. Her body was quickly turning numb again in the icy air.
Catherine stood over her like a glowing beacon. In a daze, Kaitlyn watched as she quickly took normal form, her wings shrinking into her back, her light dimming until the moonlight glistened against her dark skin and her black dreads draped her big shoulders.
Kaitlyn looked over as another angel landed, looking more like a flaming torch than a figure. She looked around wildly but there was no sight of The Fallen.
Kaitlyn pressed her freezing hands to her freezing face with a relieved sob. Against all the odds, she was safe. How was she safe? And what about Jacob?
‘Jacob.’ She pulled herself into a sitting position with a groan. Her head thumped. Her mouth was like sawdust. It felt like pieces of glass were lodged in her eyes.
She felt a warm hand grip her shoulder. Kaitlyn sighed as Catherine’s magic leached the pain away and flooded her with warmth.
Kaitlyn staggered to her feet. What a day! The miscarriage, the kidnap, now the heart-pounding escape in the clouds.
And what about Jacob? He was alone and injured—and that was only if The Fallen had let him live. If they’d let him live!
‘JACOB!’ she screamed.
‘Kaitlyn.’ Catherine’s voice was stern as she gripped her shoulder again.
‘No.’ Kaitlyn threw her off. ‘We have to go back. We have to save him! He’s all alone and he’s injured. They hurt him. They hurt him bad!’ Kaitlyn seized onto the angel’s wrist desperately. ‘We need to do something!’
‘Kaitlyn,’ came a man’s voice.
Kaitlyn turned. ‘Zeke!’ She grabbed onto him next. ‘We must go back …’
‘Samuel and David have gone to find him.’
‘But you don’t know where he is.’
‘We know where he is,’ Zeke told her gently, sharp black eyebrows sitting like arrows over his amber eyes. ‘We can sense him.’
‘You can sense him?’ Relief swept over her in a wave. ‘But how? The witch said you couldn’t.’
Zeke lifted his eyes to the sky. ‘He’s left the borders of whatever dark magic had him concealed.’
Kaitlyn tightened her grip on his arm. ‘Is he … is he all right?’
‘He’s alive.’
Kaitlyn stared at him wordlessly, then sagged to her knees in the grass. She dropped her head into her hands. ‘Thank God.’
Catherine gripped her shoulders again.
Kaitlyn didn’t shrug her off this time, enjoying the warmth, enjoying the positive energy pouring into her. Everything was going to be fine. He was alive. Samuel and David would find him and heal him. ‘And then he’ll come back to me,’ Kaitlyn whispered.
‘We must go,’ Catherine said.
Kaitlyn wiped her nose. ‘Hallowed ground. Right.’ She looked around. They’d landed beside a dirt road. There were trees. Moonlight. A cow was mooing. She could hear the roar of a car somewhere in the distance. There was a discarded can tossed in the grass by her knees. It was rusty. Wherever they were it wasn’t completely deserted.
Her breath came out in a mist as she said, ‘Where to?’
Catherine pointed over Kaitlyn’s shoulder. Kaitlyn looked. There was a farmhouse with a large barn. Smoke was coming out of a chimney. It was dark, except for a flickering glow coming through one large window, obviously where the fireplace was located.
Kaitlyn raised her eyebrows. ‘But that’s not a church.’
‘Christ was born in a manger,’ the angel said, as if that answered everything.
‘The location doesn’t matter, Kaitlyn,’ Zeke explained. ‘It only needs to be blessed by God.’ He looked towards the farmhouse. ‘They who live here are faithful. We must take care with what we bring into their home.’
’You mean what I bring into their home,’ Kaitlyn said.
Zeke held out his hand to help her up. Kaitlyn took it. They walked the short distance. Kaitlyn looked up towards the sky but she could see no sign of their enemies.
Catherine pushed open an old gate. The farmhouse’s fields were crisscrossed with wire fencing. Kaitlyn saw the shine of a small pool of water which a sheep was drinking from. It raised its head to look at them before leaning down to drink again.
Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around her chest. Her sweater was somewhat warm but as for her thin pants—she might as well be wearing nothing at all. She shivered. At least there’d be a nice warm bed.
They approached the door. There came a growl. Kaitlyn stepped back with a start when a big woolly dog rounded the corner of the house. Its hackles were up. Saliva clung to its chops. Its eyes glowed. Catherine raised her hand. Immediately, the dog stopped growling. It gazed at the angel with its big, droopy eyes. Kaitlyn held her breath. With a whine, it went right up to Catherine and pressed its nose into her palm. It licked it, then sat, its tongue lolling out of its sticky mouth as it panted. Drool rained down onto the porch.
Kaitlyn released her breath.
They walked along the verandah, passing several darkened windows—clearly, the occupants were asleep—before stopping before the front door. Zeke knocked loudly. They waited. The dog sat on Catherine’s foot. Kaitlyn reached down to pat it. The dog looked up at her with its big, watery eyes and licked her too.
Kaitlyn straightened at the sound of footsteps. Her heart started to race. She had yet to deal with anyone “normal” since this whole misadventure began. Would they know her? Would they hate her? Would they even let them in? Kaitlyn glanced at the two angels. They were like statues amid their glowing auras. Zeke’s amber eyes were like little flames.
Kaitlyn stepped behind Zeke as the verandah light switched on. The door opened. It was a tall man with dark hair. He was dressed in a robe which he held shut at the chest with long, bony figures. Chequered pyjama pants stuck out from the bottom. He wore slippers. From the hall behind him came the flickering light of flames. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of them, his eyes falling upon Catherine, then Zeke, then Kaitlyn, then the dog. He looked at Zeke again. His eyes were wide.
Wordlessly, he sagged to his knees. Clasping his hands together, he bowed his head. ‘Angels.’
Just like that, he was convinced.
‘We need your help,’ Zeke said.
‘Anything,’ the man said, still bowed over his shaking hands.
‘We need your protection.’
That made him look up. ’My protection?’
Zeke stepped aside to reveal Kaitlyn. ‘Do you recognise her?’
The man stared confusedly at her for several moments. Then he sucked in a breath. ‘You’re that girl. You’re that girl everyone’s talking about!’
Kaitlyn swallowed. That girl. That girl.
The man turned back to Zeke. ‘They say .. they say the d-devil wants her.’
Zeke nodded.
The man exhaled deeply. Slowly, he stood, clutching at the doorframe with trembling fingers. ‘I have a family.’
‘We will do all we can to protect them.’ Zeke looked towards the sky. ‘Please. Or they will find us.’
The man wiped his mouth. He looked over his shoulder, then turned back. His eyes darted between the three of them. Kaitlyn clutched at her necklace. What if he didn’t let them in …?
He stepped back. ‘Come in, please.’
‘Thank you,’ Zeke said with obvious relief. ‘May God bless you and yours.’
The man didn’t answer as they bundled inside. The man closed the door behind them and locked it. He patted his dog’s head as he looked nervously out of the window.
‘My name is Jeremy,’ he told them. ‘Of course you’re welcome in my home.’ His eyes were bulging in his head as he gazed in wonder at Zeke and Catherine. He waved his hand for them to follow as he lurched down the hall. ‘I have food. Water. You must be cold!’
The hall was short. The timber floor creaked beneath their footsteps. The place looked cluttered but clean. The walls were a light shade of pink. It smelled a bit like Kaitlyn’s grandmother’s house with all its old wooden furniture. Several pictures hung on the walls on either side, showing a young family—with children. Kaitlyn swallowed.
There was a picture of a Madonna holding Jesus, looking serene, a yellow halo around her smooth hair. Kaitlyn stared at it as she followed the man into his living room. Kaitlyn didn’t ask permission but simply hurried over to the fireplace to warm herself up. Catherine and Zeke stood by respectfully.
Jeremy wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. ‘Please, take a seat.’
Th two angels nodded and smiled and took a seat on the couch. Kaitlyn dropped to her knees and stretched out her hands towards the flames with a sigh.
‘I’ll go get you something to drink,’ Jeremy said, hurrying through a doorway which must have led to the kitchen.
The dog lay down by Catherine’s feet with a groan.
Kaitlyn’s hands shook as she recalled the events of the night. Again, it had been too close. She wiped away the tears in her eyes. And what about Jacob? Where was he? Had David and Samuel found him yet? Was he even alive? It wasn’t right that she should be safe and warm while Jacob was cold and alone.
She remembered how he’d looked before The Fallen had taken her: pale and sickly and staggering over his feet—but determined. That blood on his face. Kaitlyn thought about how Zeke had saved her from the brink of death after she’d attempted suicide. What if we hadn’t been able to bring you back? came Jacob’s voice.
Kaitlyn wiped at her face again.
