Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series (16 page)

     “You should feed, to heal your
injuries.”

     “Yeah, probably.” I sat down on the
edge of my bed, ran a comb through the tangles in my hair, and avoided making
eye contact with him. “About that: are there other ways for me to take energy
besides leeching it away from other people, or draining you?”  I hated
even asking, but I didn’t want to be completely dependent upon him.

     “There are, but you can take
whatever you need from me.”

     “I know,” I glanced up quickly,
then wished I hadn’t.  His eyes were intense, and dark as he watched me
comb my hair. “It’s just, sometimes you may not be around, and maybe I would
need to, um, feed, for whatever reason.” 

     “There is energy in every living
thing; in plants, animals, humans.  All you have to do is learn to focus
your Will, and you should be able to draw from any available source. Does that
answer your question?”  I nodded.  I needed to practice, and learn to
focus on something besides
him
. 
“Good.  Come here, then.”

     Isabel sat, chin in hand, through
another incessantly boring class.  To the casual observer, she paid close
attention as she went through the motions of note-taking.  I, however, was
not just any casual observer. I enjoyed studying her in those rare moments when
she did not catch me doing so. It was not such an easy thing to do; her
awareness of me grew on a daily basis.

     Even as I watched from the long,
rectangular window cut into the classroom’s door, I knew she sensed me.  I
smiled as she twirled a long lock of dark hair around one delicate finger and
gave me a tiny wave with her pinky finger.  The cuts she had taken were
gone, as was the large bruise over her eye.  It had been a few days since
her attack.  I remained close by at all times, now.  I simply could
not bring myself to leave her, not knowing she was in danger.

     I had known an attack was a
possibility; she was too much of an unknown, but I had no idea that it would
come so soon, or from a Lesser Demon, of all things.  That troubled
me.  Why would a Lesser want her?  It made no sense.  They were
scavengers and watchers, not kidnappers.

     Carefully, Isabel laid her pencil
down on top of her desk. Lips pursed in concentration, she shifted her attention
quickly back from her teacher to the pencil.  Two tiny frown lines formed
between her brows.  The pencil twitched, then slowly spun around once,
before clattering to the floor.  After her attack, she took every
opportunity to practice focusing her Will.  At least she had stopped
fighting me, and seemed to be accepting her gifts.  That was something to
be happy about.

     She turned a lovely shade of pink
as she ducked to fetch her pencil. Only a few of the students around her turned
to see what had happened to cause the noise.  Her eyes were bright as she
lay the pencil in her open book with exquisite care. It was progress, after all
of her diligence. 

     “This is vastly entertaining,
Asher.  Do you do this all day long?” Grim slouched up against the lockers
across the way from Isabel’s classroom, his hands stuffed deep into his
pockets.

     “Hello, Grim.  What brings you
here?”  I turned towards him, the warm, happy feelings I had felt quickly
disappeared at the sight of him.

     He pulled his hands from his
pockets and crossed his arms over his chest.  His eyes were somber. “I
thought you might appreciate a little warning. You’re out of time,
Ashrael.  That little mess with the Lesser the other night was nothing but
a warning shot.”

     My mind raced with the
possibilities.  “Details?”

     “I have it on good authority that
there are a dozen Reapers headed this way.  Now.”  He cocked his
head, listening carefully.  Very faintly, I heard the inevitable sound of
wings.  “I suggest you take your little friend, and run.  Far and
fast.”

     “Running has never been my first
choice, Grim.  You know that.” Running would do no good; there was no
place on earth I could run with her to escape Fate.  I had known it would
come down to this, eventually, but I had hoped that we had more time. 
Isabel was not ready for this.

     A slow grin lit up his face. 
“So, we fight?”  His eyes burned red with anticipation. Grim always
enjoyed a good fight.

     I nodded.  “I must, but this
is not your fight.”  First, I had to get Isabel to safety, before all Hell
broke loose.  The sound of wings grew closer.

     “I think, for once, you may need my
help, Brother. If it’s all the same to you, I believe I’ll stick around for a
while.”

    “As you will.”  I had no more time
to waste with talking.  I stood beside Isabel’s desk with no more than a
surge of Will.  She looked up at me, lips parted, eyes huge.  I could
still surprise her.

     “What the…”  She glanced
around at the other students.  I had frozen time when I came for
her.  Twenty young faces were fixed in various stages of expression; most
looked half-awake or bored.  They would get over that soon enough.

     “There is no time to explain. 
You must trust me.  We have to leave. Now.”

     She did not ask questions, just
pushed to her feet, and grabbed her books.  Her head turned slightly, and
the books slipped out of her suddenly limp hands.  I did not need to ask
why.  Outside the windows lining the classroom, the skies began to
blacken.  Lightning sizzled up from the ground and a cluster of tornadoes
formed just north of the school.  It was pure over-kill.  Whomever
led this group of Reapers had a flair for the dramatic.

     I gathered the girl to my
chest.  “Close your eyes.  I will get you to safety, and then come
back to take care of this bit of business.”

     Her eyes widened as she pushed away
from me, and ran for the door.  “I can’t leave, I have to get Gwen.” 
  

     Isabel slid to a sudden stop as she
flung open the door to find Grim standing there.  Gwen hung at arm’s
length, by her shirt collar.  She growled and did her best to reach his
arm with her teeth.  He had managed to immobilize her. Otherwise, I was
sure she would have been kicking at him wildly.

     “You!” Isabel’s eyes were huge as
she looked him up and down.  He had left an impression at their first
meeting.

     “Hello, Darling, did you miss
me?”  He shoved Gwen into her friend’s arms. ”I’ve brought you a little
present.  You may thank me later.”

     Isabel, always pale, turned the color
of fresh milk.  Accusing eyes sought mine.  “Asher?”  That look
wounded me.  She doubted me, utterly.  In an instant, the trust I had
worked so hard to build, began to crumble.

     “I will explain later.”  If
she would listen to reason.

     “I hate to interrupt this
conversation, kids, but we have a problem on our hands far greater than your
little melodrama.”  He pointed his finger towards the windows, a mere
second before the glass imploded. The girls screamed and ducked under their
arms to avoid the flying glass. Grim was right.  We were out of time.

     “Run.  Don’t look back. 
Find a safe place to hide.  I will find you.”  I released the hold I
had on the class as I shoved Isabel towards the door. 

     Chaos erupted, immediately. 
Desks were overturned as screaming students fought their way toward the
door.  Isabel’s dark head disappeared around the corner, into the bowels
of the school.  Someone set off a blaring fire alarm, although there
really was nothing that could save them from this particular disaster.  It
was too late to hide Isabel, but I could still fight for her.

     I leapt past half a dozen terrified
students as they ran to save themselves.  From the corner of my eye I saw
Grim doing the same, and his smile was terrifying to behold.  My wings
ripped through my back and unfurled as I went through the broken windows. 
If Isabel had any chance of survival, I would have to buy us some time.

     A few powerful strokes, and my
wings caught air.  I climbed quickly to meet the Reapers before they could
get any nearer the school.  Grim was right. There were at least a dozen of
them descending quickly.  A lightning bolt shot past my head, barely
missing me.  It turned out to be only one of many.  They were not
playing. Ozone burnt my nostrils, sharp and strong; I could almost taste
it.  I rolled in midair to avoid the onslaught, and redirected a few bolts
of my own. 

     Grim had already engaged a couple
of our attackers.  I heard him laughing as he burned the wings off his
opponent.  At least one of us enjoyed this. Of course, no one ever said
that Grim was in his right mind. 

    Below us, students and teachers scrambled
to find hiding spots.  From their perspective, a sudden squall of freak
storms had blown up, and destroyed part of the school.  It was late
October, true, but storms so late in the season were not unheard of. The
damaging winds and lightning strikes would be attributed to Mother Nature’s
fickle behavior.  The survivors would tell stories of the inexplicable storm,
for years to come.  It was so much better than the truth: that war had
broken out, and Death was everywhere, with little hope of escape.

     I had to do something quickly, only
a few Reapers were bearing down on me; the rest were headed towards the
school.  Towards Isabel.  I grabbed the first Reaper to come for
me.  He was young, and arrogant, and foolish enough to think he could win
a fight with me.  His wings made a sickening sound as I ripped them from
his back; his screams were fueled by panic and rage. Hot blood sprayed the air
around us and rained down on those below. 

     It was a cruel thing that I had
done, but cruel things happen in times of war, and make no mistake: this was
war.  The young one’s wings would grow back in time, but it would take
years, and a wingless angel is no better than a human.  I had no pity for
him, however.  He had followed blindly, more than willing to slaughter the
innocent, and now he had paid the price for his stupidity.

     I wasted no more time on him. 
There were angels destroying the school, picking it apart brick by brick, in
search of Isabel.  The outside wall collapsed to a chorus of panicked
screams.  I threw the bloodied Reaper towards his companions.  He
made a useful wrecking ball.

     At least one of them cared enough
for him to catch him.  I took advantage of their distraction and
redirected a tornado into their path.  Above me, blood and feathers fell
nearly as heavily as the rain that lashed us.  Clearly, Grim was keeping
himself busy.  He loved a battle; I could hear him laughing as he
fought.  Crazy bastard.

     A Reaper broke away during the
confusion, and headed for the school.  She looked like a young girl, with
auburn curls hanging to her waist, and an angelic face.  Mairya. 
Cruel and capable, a Reaper with ice water running through her veins in place
of blood.  She loved a show; I had found the leader of this sorry
mess.  I didn’t hesitate.  I shot lightning straight for her spine.
 Her back arched, and her glossy black wings folded to her sides. 
She crumbled to the ground like a broken butterfly.  It was no killing
blow, but it would slow her down.  Killing a Reaper is about as easy as
drowning a fish.  Immortal cannot kill immortal, but we can certainly make
each other hurt.  And she was hurting now, if the bloody burn across her
back were any indication.  Instead of stopping her, it only fueled her
rage; I had made this personal for her.

     I took a hit from above as I
started after Mairya; my right wing was on fire. The rain pouring down with the
storm might have been enough to put the fire out, but it spread too quickly.
 Pain seared along my nerves and down my spine. It served me right for
letting myself become distracted.  I tucked my wings and went into a dive
before I had no other choice.  Someone above me screamed in pain or fury;
probably both.  For once, I was very glad to have Grim around. 

     The ground met me at a sickening
pace.  I spread my wings at the last possible moment to control my descent
and rolled as I dropped to the wet grass. It was effective in putting my wing
out, but the stench of burnt feathers surrounded me, and nearly made me gag.

     The school grounds were in total
chaos. Things exploded inside, glass shattered, and overhead, the storm raged
on.  Quickly, I searched the area for Mairya. I expected her to take
advantage of the situation and attack, but she was nowhere to be found. 
The tone of the screams coming from inside the school changed, and my blood ran
cold.  It was no longer just terror of the storm, but raw panic that I
heard.  It left little doubt as to which way Mairya had gone.

     Students and faculty poured out of
the school, not nearly as frightened by the storm as they were by this new
threat.  There was a trail of bodies in the hallway.  Mairya had been
killing whomever got in her way, apparently.  Reaping, just for the sake
of doing it, is forbidden.  This attack had to have been authorized by
Fate.  No Reaper would dare do such a thing, not without her
permission.  It was a tragic waste of human life.

     Utter shock and horror were clearly
written on the faces of the students and faculty who ran past me.  Even in
this state, they would neither see, nor acknowledge me. There would be time
enough to make sense of it all later, I supposed.  They would convince
themselves that the storms took their loved ones, and the tornadoes brought
sections of the building down around them. I did not have time to help any of
them.  I had to find Isabel before the Reaper did. 

     Fire alarms blared as the smoke
from the explosions set off the sprinkler system.  I found her in the
gymnasium, backed against the farthest wall.  Isabel had her friend tucked
into a corner; she did her best to guard the taller girl from the threat coming
for them.  Mairya was mere inches away from Isabel.  The two figures
were almost the same height, but Mairya stood a little taller, confident in her
abilities, and righteous in her anger.  I was too far away. Even if I used
the shift, I would never reach them in time to stop her. 

     Mairya could not take Isabel’s
soul, not with the binding that I had placed on the girl, but she could damage
her body irreparably.  She would die, and she would wander as a Sorrow,
and she would be lost to me.  My chest tightened and my breath stopped. 
This was it; I was going to watch her die, after all. It would not have
surprised me if I had taken to bleeding inside.   There was an
inhuman scream coming from somewhere, and only when I felt my throat grow raw,
did I realize that it was coming from me.

     It was but a moment in time, but it
seemed almost to play out in slow motion.  I rushed forward, knowing all
the while that I was too late, but unable to stop myself from trying to save
her.  Mairya’s burned back was already healing; she was badly damaged, but
not beaten.  Her hand came up, caressed Isabel’s pale cheek.  She
spoke softly to her as she laid her hand against the girl’s heaving
chest.  The Reaper smiled; her mission was at an end.  There was no
threat here, nor even a challenge.  Satisfaction was written large on her
lovely face.