Angel's Messiah (12 page)

The hawk blinked twice. Drake moved his arm slowly, until the hawk was close to his ear. The hawk twittered, clicked, and screeched to convey its message, then waited patiently for a response.

“Tell him I shall meet him on the ledge. He is to come alone, with his hands on his head, as an act of good faith. If he does not do as I ask we will kill him.”

The bird blinked twice and took off to return with the message.

“What was the message, Drake? Who seeks a meeting?” someone from the crowd asked.

“It appears someone has come back from the dead, if it truly is from him. He says he has an unusual request that only I can help him with.”

“And what’s that?” someone else yelled.

“If I knew, I would not have to meet with him,” Drake replied dryly. “Now, down to the business of the day.”

Drake thought about Helena, and how the final dagger had returned to him a short time ago. It saddened him that she was dead. She had succeeded in what she set out to do. Now Danizriel had supposedly returned from the dead. More likely another angel came seeking revenge for his part in Helena’s plans. If he needed to he would use one of the daggers. They were a most effective weapon.

Danny arrived at the appointed location at the designated time, with his hands on his head, alone as requested. He had not planned on asking any of his fellow angels to accompany him. They would not have approved of his plans.

Four vampires appeared behind him within moments of his arrival and pulled his hands down from his head, pushing them against his back, palms facing inward. They would not risk an attack by angel fire.

“When I received your message, Danizriel, I thought it to be a trap of the angels, which is why I suggested here, a much more defensible position from our point of view.”

Drake’s hand lightly brushed the hilt of the dagger he had strapped to his thigh. Whether or not he used it would depend on what Danizriel had to say.

“How is it, Danizriel, that you are alive and Helena is not? Not so long ago it was the other way around.”

“Helena is alive,” Danny said. “I was sent back to her after she killed Raphael.”

Drake unsheathed the dagger and strode over the Danny. He held the blade in the air and twisted it around, so that Danny could see it. Danny recognised it as the dagger Helena had tried to take her life with.

“Helena said the last of the daggers would return to me when she died. If she is
not
dead, where is she?” Drake demanded.

“She is
not
dead, but she is not here anymore,” Danny said.

“Stop it with the angelic trickery and speak plainly, Danizriel. Your fate is riding on whatever it is you have to say.”

“He has her, Drake and I cannot help her.”

“Who has her?”

“Satan. Why else would I be here? I need
your
help.”

Drake waved his hands and the vampires let Danny go.

“Leave us,” Drake said.

“Drake, it could still be a trap,” one of the vampires said.

“Danizriel, do you seek to trap me, kill me or harm me in any way?” Drake asked.

“No,” Danny replied.

Drake waved the vampires away. They all knew the straightforward answer Danny had given was not a lie. Heavenly angels were incapable of lying.

“I have been forbidden from trying to contact her when she resides in hell,” Drake said.

“She’s not residing there willingly. She has been calling to me for help, but as you know, I cannot travel to that domain, not as I am.”

“And what do you expect me to do?”

“When I told Helena our lives were to resume as they had been — hunting, patrolling and killing — she told me she would not harm any of the vampires that aided her during her time of need, unless they posed a threat. She has been good to her word and not hunted any who gave her aid.”

“Was she responsible for the strange werewolf deaths?” Drake asked.

Danny nodded his head and Drake thought about what the implications of her new
skill
might be.

“I think, Drake, she has, or at one time had, the same hold over you that she has over me. I need you to help me get her out of there.”

“Why should I?”

“Tell me, Drake, when she asked you if vampires were capable of love, why did you tell her
yes, but it never ends well?
”

Drake grimaced. “Curse you angels, how you share your bond. Has she hidden nothing from you?”

“She hasn’t been around long enough to learn how to hide anything intentionally. I don’t think she would, even if she could. She does
not
like secrets.”

Drake tapped the flat of the dagger against his lips, tempting fate. One nick and it would be all over for him.

“Do you know exactly where she is kept?” Drake asked.

“Yes, when she calls for me it’s like a beacon.”

“Has her position changed at all, since she first started calling for you?”

“No. For the past three days she has remained in the same general area,” Danny said.

“You waited
three days
before approaching me?” Drake asked in disbelief.

Danny shrugged his shoulders. “I admit it took me a while to think of asking you for help.”

“Show me where she is.”

Danny produced a map of hell. It was based on the information Helena had previously relayed in her messages to him, and the location from which she was calling. She was in a room in the west wing, the same room she had stayed in the last time she was a guest in hell. Danny knew where she had stayed in hell, and other things as well, from what little memories she could share of her time in residence, through the bonding of their minds.

“Do you realise how hard it will be to get in
there
,” Drake stabbed a finger at her location on the map, “never mind getting to her?”

“Yes.”

“And still you would ask it of me?”

“If you love her as I do, or once loved her, you will help me. Remember, Drake, where there is life there is hope.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Danizriel?” Drake snorted. “That while she
breathes
I may still have a chance?”

“Anything is possible. If she is changed by the experience she may prefer your company to mine.”

Drake laughed. “I can only hope, Danizriel.”

“So you will help?” Danny asked, full of hope.

“I must think on this and consult with some of the others. What you ask is no small thing.”

“I don’t know how much longer she can hold on. Her calls are becoming weaker.”

“Then come back at nightfall. I will have a decision for you then.”

“Drake, if she stays too long, she’ll be lost … to both of us. You
saw
her eyes the last time she was there.
That
change can’t be allowed to happen again.”

Drake nodded his head. “I understand, but it is not my decision to make.”

“I thought your word was law,” Danny said dryly.

“It is, but I cannot leave my clan without making the proper arrangements, if an agreement can be reached.”

“Thank you, Drake, for your time. I shall return at dusk to await your answer.”

Danny turned and walked towards the edge of the ledge, fading with each footstep, until on the fourth he disappeared.

Drake walked to the edge and dropped over the side, landing in a crouch on the balls of his feet, his hands resting lightly on the ground. There was something Danizriel was not telling him. He was not sure he wanted to know what it was.

“Curse all angels and their bitches,” he said, and added wistfully, “Even the ones I desire.”

He ran swiftly to the nearest underground entrance. He’d already made his decision, the moment Danizriel said Helena was still alive and needed his help. He was not doing this for Danizriel. He was doing it for her. Drake knew there were a number of vampires he could count on to assist him in this dangerous mission. The specialists held her in high regard and his suicide vamps, as Helena had called them, would follow him willingly.

With the three daggers that had been returned he had weapons that would defeat any demon, except Satan himself. Drake knew that very soon Satan would be busy. Something big was happening in hell. If he was to help Helena he would need to coordinate his aid around this big event. All that was left to do was appoint one of his lieutenants to act as commander in his absence.

His first stop was the training room his nine specialists used.

“My friends, I need you to accompany me on a mission,” Drake said.

One of the specialists, the self-appointed spokesman of their group, asked Drake where they were to go, with the sign language they used to communicate.

“We’re going straight to hell, my friends,” Drake laughed.

The specialists looked at each other, then turned to Drake and bowed. They had accepted his mission.

“Bring whatever throwing stars you have left that Helena gave you. They may be useful against lower level demons.”

The specialist asked when they were to leave.

“At first light,” Drake replied. “I must attend to other things before we depart. Get some rest my friends. I fear not all of us will return from where we go.”

Drake headed to a number of chambers where vampires relaxed or slept. He handpicked ten suicide vamps to accompany him. They had been given instructions to hunt for a few hours before returning to rest. At first light they were to meet at the northernmost entrance.

When Drake’s party had been organised, he sought out Marcus, the lieutenant whom he had decided to leave in charge while he was gone. He may not be back for anything up to a year — if he returned at all — depending on how well things went. He spent several hours discussing strategies and tactics with Marcus, before returning to the ledge at dusk to give Danizriel his answer.

Danny was already waiting, with his hands on his head, when Drake returned.

“You can lower your arms, Danizriel,” Drake said.

Drake noticed the angel’s face looked drawn.

“What is your answer, Drake?”

“We leave at first light,” he said.

Danny sighed. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I make no promise I’ll be able to get her out, even if I
can
reach her.”

Danny nodded his head. “I understand. Perhaps I can assist with transportation to and from the entrance you’ll be using.”

“Now, Danizriel, you know I cannot reveal its location. The angels would forever be hovering nearby waiting to pick off unsuspecting vampires, werewolves and demons.” Drake narrowed his eyes and pointed at Danny. “If you try to follow us to locate the entrance the deal is off.
Do you understand?
”

Danny nodded his head again. “Yes. I will
not
do anything to jeopardise Helena’s life.”

“Then we understand each other perfectly. Naturally I’ll seek restitution, if and when I return. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must hunt. If I am to undergo a round trip to hell, I’ll need all the strength I can muster.”

Drake dropped off the side of the ledge, leaving Danny standing there on his own.

Danny hoped he’d done the right thing by not telling Drake of Helena’s condition. He may not have been willing to help if he knew she was heavily pregnant. Retrieving Helena, and the baby she carried, was all that mattered. He’d worry about whatever payment was demanded when the time came.

9.
Time to Feed

Drake had not hunted for a long time. Not since well before Helena had left. With considerable age came restraint, and as an ancient one, the urge and need to hunt was not as great, though for many it was still a sport they enjoyed considerably. As mortals became more violent the challenge of the hunt was greater for the vampires, particularly when hunting males. Some were actually quite good fighters, and instead of becoming a meal they were changed, to join the ranks of the immortals.

The blood of the thousands Drake had fed from should have been enough to sustain him through to the end of eternity, if necessary, yet it was not enough for what he was about to undertake. He knew the risks of stealing something from under Satan’s nose. If he and the others were caught, what awaited them would be worse than the pit — Satan himself.

Drake hunted now because he needed the additional strength to draw upon in need. If he were to battle with demons he would need to be the strongest he had ever been, increasing his reserves ten-fold. It was necessary, if there was to be any chance of surviving what was a suicide mission.

He felt he had been so
close
to being almost human again, if ever a vampire could be. He was robbed of his humanity too many years ago, when mortals were still young in this world, and a part of him had always loathed what he’d become. Helena had changed
everything
and nothing. Before Helena, he only knew that he had to live, no matter the cost. Now he wasn’t quite so sure. He had found a reason to die, something to die
for
. Love never ended well for vampires and it appeared he was no exception.