Blood and Feathers (7 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Lilith

A
T FIRST GLANCE
, Alice thought the statue was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen: an angel, its carved wings outspread and hair tumbling over its shoulders. But close up, it seemed out of proportion: the wings were foreshortened and its neck bent at a strange angle. From a few feet away, the angel that had looked so lovely was cold and hard and – there was no denying it – ugly. Alice wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly aware of a chill in the sunlit air.

Mallory stopped right in front of the statue, his arms folded. “Take a good look, Alice. She’s one of a kind.” He cleared his throat, and Alice could swear she saw a shadow crawl across the surface of the stone. Mallory’s eyes narrowed. “Hello, Lilith.”

“Mall-ory.” The statue turned its head and looked straight at them. So this was one of the Fallen, Alice thought. She didn’t seem all that bad. Her voice was a sigh, rolling and breathy.

“Been a while, hasn’t it?” Mallory was tossing his flask from hand to hand.

“And here I am,” she said.

“You always were a glutton for punishment. And he’s right.” He jerked his head towards Vin, who was lying on top of a nearby tomb, stretched out in the sun. “Time’s not been kind.”

“Time? Time is nothing. A heartbeat in hell is forever, and hell is never kind.”

“You made your bed. Don’t come bitching to me about it now.”

“And what would
you
know of my bed, Earthbound?” Lilith smiled unpleasantly; she had too many teeth for it to be pleasant.

Mallory snorted. “More than enough to keep me out of it. But you know that already.” He studied her for a moment. “Now then, Lilith. What am I going to do with you?”

“Are they letting you make your own decisions now? How... surprising. Does your keeper know? I would have thought to find
him
guarding such a precious prize.” She looked straight at Alice, who shivered and took a step backwards.

Mallory stepped between them. “Maybe – but he’s not here, is he? You’re dealing with me.”

“You? One of heaven’s brutes. Unthinking drones, that’s all you ever were, and all you’ll ever be. A coward who didn’t even have the courage to stand with us and Fall. Now look at you! Neutered. A little puppy dog waiting for its master to throw it a scrap.”

“Speaking of masters,” Mallory said, “how’s yours?” He smiled brightly, pulling out his gun, and Lilith cried out as Mallory brought his Colt level with her forehead. “Goodbye, Lilith.” He pulled the trigger, and she exploded in a shower of dust.

At the sound of the gunshot, Vin raised his head and peered over his sunglasses, propping himself up on his elbows. “That wasn’t at all harsh, was it?”

“What? It’s Lilith...”

“I know.”

“...and she’ll be back again soon enough.”

“I
know
. And, boy, will she be pissed.”

“By the way, thanks for the help there. Really had her stone-cold stuck, didn’t you?”

“That’s the thing,” Vin sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the tomb. “She was moving, wasn’t she? Shouldn’t have been able to. I fixed her, then came straight to you. By the time I was back, she was almost free. I’m worried I’m losing my mojo.” He held up a hand in front of his face and wiggled his fingers.

Mallory frowned. “You mean, she was breaking loose? That soon?”

“That’s what I said. Shouldn’t happen.”

“But it did. I don’t like it.” Mallory crouched down and scooped up a handful of the dust that had been Lilith, letting it run through his fingers. Shaking his head, he brushed his palms together and turned to Alice. “So, you’ve just met your first Fallen. That’s what we’re up against.”

“She was a statue. Are they all...?”

“No! No, that was Vin. Remember I mentioned angels – even Earthbounds – having gifts? That’s Vin’s. He can turn the Fallen to stone. Which is only occasionally as useful as you might imagine. They break free eventually, of course, but I’ve never seen one shake it off so quickly, especially not one like Lilith.”

“She was... nice. You two have got some kind of history, haven’t you?” Alice heard Vin choking back a snigger.

Mallory scowled. “Not exactly. Sort of. It was a long time ago.” He leaned around her and pointed at Vin. “And you can stop that. You said you’d dealt with her, and I believed you. I brought Alice, so she could see what’s hunting her. So she could understand. What if Lilith really had got loose? What if something had happened to....”

“Hey!” Alice pushed Mallory’s shoulder, forcing him to step back. “I’m right here. You stop talking over me, or I’m gone. So far, I reckon I’ve done really well at all this, bearing in mind this time yesterday, I was still at work...” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Work! I’m supposed to be at work! What am I going to tell them?”

“Nothing. You don’t seriously think you’re going back there, do you?”

“Well, yes. I have to. It’s my job.”

“And the first place the Fallen will look for you. From now on, you don’t exist. And from now on, you don’t go anywhere without me.”

“Wow. Stalker much?” Alice rolled her eyes.

Mallory stared at her. “What? You think this means you get to be clever?” He picked up another handful of stone dust and threw it at her. “This? You think you know what’s coming, based on one of the weaker Fallen that Vhnori had already, supposedly, taken care of?”

“Woah, there,” Vin interrupted. “First of all, don’t call me that. Second, don’t you even start trying to blame me for anything. I told you...”

“Shut up, Vin,” Mallory snapped at him, then rounded on Alice again. “You need to wake up, Alice. Otherwise you’re as good as dead. Worse.” It was fairly obvious that there was a lot more he had to say to Alice, who stuck her chin out in defiance. She had had enough. Blowing lightbulbs, dead parents, angels, angels
with a drinking problem
, exploding houses, hiding in churches and now... talking statues in league with the devil. It wasn’t exactly
normal
.

Mallory didn’t get to finish whatever tirade he was about to launch into. Instead he sighed and stared at a spot somewhere over Alice’s right shoulder. She turned – a little reluctantly, as she was really getting warmed up for an almighty fight – and saw what he was looking at.

A tiny, bright point of light was hanging in mid-air not far behind them, sparks crackling about it as it grew larger and larger. Alice heard Vin mutter something under his breath, and suddenly she could see a shape in the light: a man... no, an angel. It was all getting a bit underwhelming, she thought, as Gwyn materialised and the light faded. All the fight went from Mallory and he hung his head, cowed. Alice wasn’t surprised. The look on Gwyn’s face was the sort you’d expect to see on a rhino that has just been slapped. He strode forward, his finger pointing very firmly at Mallory.

“You. Enough. Move!”

If Mallory was at all startled, he didn’t show it. Instead, he spun on his heel and ducked, somehow leaping sideways and drawing his gun at the same time. Alice froze, and would have stayed frozen if she hadn’t been hauled aside by Vin. It was a disconcerting feeling: she braced herself to hit the ground, but the ground never came. They were floating... She looked over her shoulder, and saw grey feathers, spread wide behind them. Vin set her down carefully, and pulled her behind the tomb he had been lying on. “Stay here.” He stepped back out again, leaving her huddled behind the stone.

There was a noise like the air tearing and then a horrible, hard-edged grating sound: nails on a blackboard. Big nails. Sharp nails. Beyond that, Alice thought she could hear the beating of wings, and she decided to stick her head above the tomb.

What she saw made her grip the edge of the stone plinth until her fingertips went white. Not far away, Vin was rolling across the grass towards the cover of the trees, his wings tucked tightly against his back. As she watched, Mallory hopped onto a gravestone, planting one foot firmly on the top of it and leaping into the air. As he jumped, he slowed, and opened his wings. Somehow, she had forgotten that he had them. Like Vin’s, they were a dirty grey – narrower than she had expected, perhaps. He hovered gracefully a few feet off the ground, his gun fixed on something below.

It was a dark shape, hunkered close to the earth; Gwyn stood over it, his own wings outstretched and glowing bright. Sparks shot across the feathers and glistened at his fingertips as he cracked his knuckles. The shape moved, revealing a pale hand inside all the darkness. A hand clenched in a tight fist. Was it a man? It had to be, surely – although it was twisted and wrapped in a mist that made it impossible to see clearly. Gwyn seemed to know what he was looking at and he crouched down, laying a palm flat on what must have been the thing’s back. There was a sharp crackle and the shape convulsed, letting out a horrible cry. Gwyn lifted his hand and peered at it. It tightened itself further into a ball, but Alice could still see that fist, creeping ever so slowly forward. Gwyn straightened up and stepped away, turning his back – and then the Fallen made its move.

Alice leapt to her feet. “Look out!”

Gwyn whipped round in time to see the Fallen angel uncurl itself and lurch wildly towards him, fist raised, the darkness that had surrounded it dropping away. He jumped back, his wings easily carrying him out of reach, but then, the Fallen stopped. It drew itself completely upright and cricked its neck... and Alice was horrified to see it had wings of its own. They were black, the feathers sharp and spiny. It opened them out, and not so much shook as rattled them at Gwyn, all the time letting out a terrible cry. Gwyn smiled at it, coldly. And it turned its head and looked straight at Alice.

She found she couldn’t look away; no matter how much she wanted to, she simply couldn’t. Its face was that little bit too pointed: its chin too sharp, its nose too long, its eyes too close together. Apart from that, she thought, it could have been any man, any passerby in the street – once you got past the wings, of course. It –
he
– had broad shoulders and strong arms which he flexed as he began to turn his whole body towards her. There was a thick bright white mark on his skin, circling one of his wrists, and as she watched, his fingers trailed along it. His eyes turned red. Not just the pupils of them, or the irises, but the whole of them. And as he turned to fully face her, he laughed.

At least, he did until Mallory’s boot hit him squarely in the side of his head, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Mallory landed beside him, grabbing him by the shoulders and hauling him to his feet. Vin came scrambling out of the trees, rolling up his sleeves as he ran

The earth shook. Alice was pitched sideways, her head cracking against the stone. She saw stars, shaking her head to clear her vision. Gwyn was airborne, shouting something to Mallory, but Mallory was too busy trying to keep his footing and his grip on the Fallen to listen. Vin took a running jump, clearing the ground, his wings carrying him up above the Fallen just as he broke free from Mallory and made a run for it.

Still blinking back flashes of light, Alice watched as he ran straight at a hole in the ground; one that seemed to have come from nowhere. A gaping maw in the earth where there had been a grave. All three angels lunged for him – two from the air, one from behind – but as they did, the Fallen simply leapt into the void, his wings tucked behind him, and disappeared.

The ground shook again and, unsteadily, Alice stood up.

Gwyn, Mallory and Vin were all standing around the grave where the Fallen had vanished – now nothing but soil and grass and a headstone that said ‘Beloved son and father.’ As Alice staggered forward, Mallory took her arm. He looked at Gwyn. “Well, that’s new.”

“They’ve found something,” Gwyn muttered, scuffing at the long grass with a polished shoe. “They’re moving ahead. I’d heard rumours, but I was sure...”

“Sure that’s all they were? Yeah, me too. Until I saw one of the Twelve base-jump into an open grave.” Mallory took Alice’s hand in his. “Let’s look at you, shall we? Yes, I thought so. Tilt your head up for me?” He lifted her chin gently. “Nasty cut you’ve got there. Anything else we need to fix?”

“I... don’t think so.” Her head throbbed; her vision swam and she sagged against him. He caught her easily.

“Let’s get you inside. The sooner we can get you sitting down, the sooner I can patch you up.”

A
LICE DIDN’T REMEMBER
much of the walk back to Mallory’s little cupboard. Her head was spinning and a creeping darkness seeped in at the edge of her sight. She couldn’t hear what Mallory said – the only sound was a high-pitched metallic scrape. Given the choice between this and passing out, she took the easy option and passed out.

She woke to the smell of dust, among other things. She was on that sofa again. Mallory and Gwyn were huddled in a corner, their voices low, although she wondered why they bothered whispering; she was fairly sure she wouldn’t be able to understand them anyway. Mallory seemed to be able to switch between a hundred languages without even pausing, and it probably wasn’t a unique talent for these guys. There was no sign of Vin.

She groaned and dragged herself a little more upright. “Ouch.”

“Stay there, Alice. Don’t try and get up.” Mallory passed her a glass of water and she eyed it suspiciously. “I washed the glass. Gwyn saw me. It’s clean.”