Part 20 (1/2)
He put a hand out to stop Annalise from moving and stood still so he could listen. The screams brought chills down his spine. It was the sounds of death and pain.
”We need to go the other way,” Annalise said, she tried to pull on his arm and tug him in the opposite direction of the screams, but Ash shook her grip off his arm.
”Wait.” He recognized one of the voices. If it was who he thought it was, there was no way he was going to leave her there to die. He crept slowly to the end of the cave, where the room branched off into three separate directions.
”Come on Anna,” he said, walking slowly through one of the openings. He wanted to be as quiet as possible; the last thing he wanted to do was to get caught again. The end of the path brought them into a huge room, it was lit up with candles all along the ceiling. The walls were empty, but stalagmites and stalact.i.tes pointed from every direction. In the middle of the room he saw a group of five or six fallen, but his eyes zeroed in on a girl with fiery red hair.
”Arie,” he whispered. She was fighting a dark haired fallen with a gun in one hand and a large sword in the other. She moved swiftly as she kicked a fallen to the ground and shot him in the head with a silver bullet. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride as she bent down to finish the fallen up. It was then that he noticed another redhead creeping up behind her. It was Endarial. He waited patiently for Arie to turn around and shoot her, but she was too busy trying to saw off the fallen's wings. He started to scream out to her when he saw Endarial spread her wings as she went in to grab Arie by the neck.
”NNNNNN!” A small hand shot over his mouth. It m.u.f.fled the sound of his warning. It pulled him to the ground. Ash closed his eyes, the sound of blood rus.h.i.+ng through his ears. He couldn't hear her scream, but he knew it was out there.
Chapter Twelve.
Annalise ”Fin!” Arie exclaimed as Annalise pushed Ash to the hard ground behind the rock. She could see the anger written all over his face, but she knew that they only had one chance to surprise the fallen that were only a few feet away.
”We will help them,” Annalise whispered, ”You must be quiet.” She slowly pulled her hand back from his face, her stance serious. She was trying to focus on getting them all out safely instead of this wave of emotions that was threatening to pull her under again.
Ash lowered his eyebrows but nodded his head, agreeing with her and pulling her closer to the rock so they could better hear.
”You make me sick, she's a mortal,” this coming from Loki. Annalise hadn't ever met him before today, but that deep voice would forever be burned into her brain.
”Do I look like I really care?” Finlay asked, still a touch of amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.
A slapping sound resounded through the tunnel. A fallen's hand against Finlay's face, Annalise was sure. She could hear Arie fighting against the fallen that held her when this happened, meaning the situation must be worse than they had antic.i.p.ated.
”If you don't care, then you wouldn't mind if we slit her throat.”
”You wouldn't do that,” Finlay said to test the waters.
Loki let out a menacing laugh, ”I thought you knew me better than that, Fin, we have spoken several times throughout the years. I know that you are one of those charged with turning us into what we are today.”
Annalise couldn't help but throw her hand over her own mouth, surprised that not only had Leon been one of those but also Finlay, and she had never had any idea. She knew that there were many battles with the fallen, but she did not know that both of the seraphs closest to her in her life had contact with them on a regular basis.
”That doesn't matter. I am well aware that you are one to partake in deals, so make me one,” the seraph's voice became more serious then.
”There is no deal to make here. I hold the cards, so to speak, I will kill the girl and then I will kill you.”
”No, no you won't,” Finlay said, trying to convince him otherwise, ”She is the daughter of one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. If you kill her, Sasha Raines will destroy all of you.”
”I don't fear that drunk.”
”You shut your mouth,” Arie spat, another slapping sound resonating through the s.p.a.ce, followed by the girl's cry.
”Why don't you tell her the reason why you gave her the mission to kill me? Hmm? Had that keeper you paid off tell her to come kill me and give her the weapon to do so?”
Finlay paused, and Annalise reached for Ash's hand, for she had a feeling what was coming next and she feared he would run out to start a fight. She begged him with her eyes to stay with her as the seraph's voice rang out. ”Ash was my charge, and it was his time to die. I knew that if Arie went on such a journey, that he would follow. He's a lot like me,” he said with a laugh, ”He is impulsive and irresponsible, and would jump at the chance to kill a legendary creature.”
”Fin, no,” Arie said, her voice low and sad, not willing to accept the information that she was hearing.
Ash turned his face to look at Annalise as the anger came over his face. She leaned into him and whispered, ”You cannot get mad at him. He was just doing his duty.”
”You didn't do your duty when you saved me, that shows me you guys have a choice.”
”Finlay takes his job seriously.”
Ash smirked, ”Yeah sure, just like he takes everything else so seriously.”
”He is your friend, do not go back to hating him.”
”Anna-”
”This is what I do as a guardian, Arie,” Finlay said, causing the two of them to pause and listen, ”I don't enjoy sending mortals off to die, but that's part of what I do. When it is their time, sometimes I have to make it happen.”
”You should have told me.”
”You wouldn't have listened. I'm sorry, Arie, but after I realized that I wanted to be around you more, I took you quickly as my charge so I could keep you safe. I felt remorseful for sending Ash to die, he was my friend. I haven't had any real mortal friends before...and I went back to you afterwards, to make sure you were okay since he had been attacked.”
”Oh, how sweet,” Loki moaned, ”You are so pathetic, she's a worthless human.”
”She is not worthless, you spineless snake,” Finlay spat.
Annalise moved closer to Ash as she heard the thunder crack, the atmosphere changing around them as Loki began to lose his patience. He had been the first and only seraph to be created with the ability to control storms, and he was both strong and efficient with his powers.
”You can do so much better, Finlay. Since you can't see this, I guess I will have to prove it to you.”
”Can I kill her now?” Endarial's voice rang out, unentertained, ”I am so very bored.”
”Of course, make it nice and slow.”
”Wait!” Finlay exclaimed, ”Stop, make me a deal.”
”There's no deal that you could possibly make to save your friend.”
”You can have me. Take me and leave her be.”
”No, you aren't going to do that,” Arie argued, ”I can take care of myself, don't let them take you.”
”Don't listen to her, Loki. You know that you want the knowledge I have, how to make a fallen. I will give it to you, whatever you want, just let her go free.”
”Is that right?” Loki mused, ”And all I have to do is let the mortal girl go?”
”Yes.”
”Well I can't quite pa.s.s that up, now can I?” the fallen said and gave instructions to his underlings that Annalise couldn't quite hear. She could hear several individuals moving around, weapons coming from their sheath, and she had to peek around the large rock to see what was happening.
Just as her eyes focused in front of her, Arie let out a scream. Finlay was willingly kneeling in front of Loki, eyes focused on the floor in shame. The fallen stood behind him, forcing his bent body lower to the ground and grabbing the seraph's wings. His large sword was in one hand as he brought it down on the wings and began to saw them off, bringing painful grunts from the lips of Finlay. His eyes were closed as he tried to bite back the pain, and only let some of it escape. Even in this position, Finlay wasn't going to allow Loki to have all of the control, even though he was agreeing for Loki to remove his wings. Arie was several feet away, being held back by Endarial, fear in her eyes.