Angel Fire (21 page)

Mike went back to talking about Tepito; Seb’s eyes stayed on the girl, watching as she manoeuvred through the crowd. Thin, and so young, with big brown eyes and a dirty face. He knew she probably lived in one of the abandoned buildings not far from the
centro
, or maybe down in the sewers. It was a tough life – god, such a tough life, with so many dangers in it. Even now, years later, he was amazed sometimes that he’d made it out alive.

It had still been better than that place they’d put him in.

“Well, what about the Lagunilla market?” Mike was saying. “Is that one all right to go to?”

“Yes, it’s not too bad,” said Seb distantly. “Just stay in the streets near Francisco Bocanegra and Comonfort; it’s safer at that end.”

“Okay, thanks.” Mike smiled. “Hey, maybe I’ll ask those three French girls to come with me, if I can drag them away from the cathedral. You want to come too? I think that one, Céline, has a thing for you.”

Seb started to answer, but broke off as he caught sight of an angel gliding overhead. He shifted his aura to dull greys; brought it as close to his body as he could so that it appeared shrunken. On the balcony beside him, Mike’s aura looked far too healthy. He found himself edging closer, attempting to hide it a little. The angel cruised silently past, almost on a level with them. Seb tried to look as if he couldn’t see it, but its radiance burned itself into his skull anyway – the proud, fierce face; the powerful wings that seemed to glow blue-white, every feather outlined.

“’Cause I heard her talking with her friends yesterday,” went on Mike, “and if my high school French wasn’t failing me, she was saying that she thinks you’re really hot. Wondering if you’re a devout or not.” He grinned. “My advice? Just pretend that you are, man. Tell her how much you
lo-ove
the angels.”

Seb was barely listening to him. Below, the angel had chosen its victim; landed in a flurry of wings on the festive street.

It was the street girl.

Seb went very still, staring. He had never seen an angel choose a child to feed from before. The girl was gazing up at the angel with a look of awestruck joy on her face; her energy was pale blue. It wavered like a soap bubble, looking young and vulnerable.

“Seb?” He felt Mike shove his arm with a laugh. “You awake over there? God, I wish
I
had so many gorgeous girls drooling over me that I could take it in my stride.” He stroked his jaw with a musing expression. “Maybe it’s the stubble. I could always stop shaving...”

“Thanks, but I can’t – I’ve got some things to do tomorrow.” Seb heard his voice say the words. Somehow it sounded normal. Below, the angel was advancing on the girl, smiling, stretching out its shining hands towards her. With no conscious thought, Seb switched his awareness to his angel self and flew out in a rush, swooping down so quickly that the lanterns and the dancers were a blur.

He hovered in front of the girl, spreading his wings wide. The angel drew back with a flapping hiss. It was a male, and its gaze widened abruptly when it saw that Seb had no halo. “You – how—”

“Not this one,” said Seb. He had never spoken in his angel form before, but his voice came out with no hesitation, low and hard. Inside, he was screaming at himself.
What are you doing? For the first time in your life, you’re so close to finding her – and you’re risking it for this?

“Another one!” snarled the angel. “Half-human
mutant
– you shouldn’t even exist!” It came at him in a fury of brightness; Seb fought it back, beating at it with his wings. He sensed that it was scanning in great sweeps of thought, searching for the feel of his energy to find his human form. He could disguise his aura’s look, but not its feel; it would be on him in seconds.

A brief, frenzied attack, and then Seb darted away and whirled to face the girl. Her eyes were huge, full of wonder. They stared right through him. His spirits sank; he had meant to tell her to run, but she couldn’t see or hear him – only her predator, whose mind was linked with hers. Behind him, he heard the angel cry out in triumph. It had found his human form. Unless he somehow managed to destroy it, it would kill him and feed off the girl anyway.

No
, he thought, staring at her small, grimy face. Many things had happened in his life that he couldn’t stop – but he would stop this.

On the balcony above, Mike had lifted an eyebrow. “Really? What are you doing that’s better than hanging out with three French girls who think you’re hot? ’Cause this I have
got
to hear.”

Without answering, Seb straightened quickly in his human form, shoving his beer at Mike; he took off at a run just as he saw the angel come swarming up towards him. He flung himself out of the dorm and barrelled down the hallway; raced down the stairs. As he burst out of the front door, he knew that barely seconds had passed. The angel was now nowhere in sight as it searched for him, gliding through the upper floor of the hostel.

And in doing so, it had, for the moment at least, broken its connection with the girl.

Seb came to a skidding halt in front of her; crouched down so he could look her in the eyes. She still seemed dazed – there was a happy smile playing at her lips as she stared after the angel. He gripped her thin shoulders; shook them fiercely. “Run,
niña!
Don’t ask questions – just go – go!”

He gave her a shove; the girl gasped and seemed to come back to herself. With a frightened, startled look, she took off at a run, vanishing into the crowd.

Seb’s own angel was hovering overhead, looking out for when the creature reappeared. His human self rose slowly as he stared at the hostel. It was too late for him to try to get away; it knew he was here and would stop at nothing to find him now – and besides, his knapsack was still upstairs, with the girl’s shirt inside. He couldn’t leave it. Distantly, he was aware of Mike up on the balcony, gaping down at him; the rollicking music; the dancers still swirling past.

The angel came soaring out of the building. It saw him standing on the street below almost immediately, its beautiful face contorting in fury. Seb’s angel form darted in front of it and the creature roared and charged at him in the air, burning with light.

The two battled fiercely in the street over the dance, flapping and struggling at each other; Seb felt the sizzle of the angel’s energy where their wings touched. The halo. He had to get to it; it was the way he’d defeated the only other angel he’d ever fought. But the creature’s great wings kept him at bay as they twisted together in the air – the angel trying to get to Seb’s human form with its vulnerable life force; Seb straining to reach that gleaming, pulsing circle.

“Hey, what’s going on – are you okay?” Mike had come out and was on the street beside him now, holding both bottles of beer. “Dude, you look like you’re seeing ghosts, or something.”

Seb shook his head, unable to take his eyes off the invisible battle above. His angel self was fast and strong, but he could feel that he was tiring. The angel snarled at him as they collided again, shoving at him with its wings.

“I’m fine,” he managed with an effort. “Mike, go inside. Don’t stay out here.”

Mike laughed uncertainly. “What – is this another dangerous place like Tepito? Yeah, we’ve got all these scary grannies and grandads dancing past – don’t know what they might do.”

Seb started to speak, but knew with a chill that it was too late – the angel had seen Mike standing with him. He saw its eyes narrow; it plunged at the angel Seb with an even greater ferocity, fighting to get past.
No!
Seb’s angel held it off somehow, his wings flashing in the light of the lanterns. The angel darted; Seb lunged but it wrenched away, soaring straight at Mike – not bonding with him, just attacking for all it was worth.

Seb grasped the thing’s plan instantly; knew it was a trap – but he couldn’t let Mike be hurt when he’d only been trying to see if Seb was okay. His angel self put on a burst of speed, whipping in front of Mike to protect him, just as he’d protected the girl. He stretched his wings out, holding the angel off as it feinted at him in a frenzy of radiance. Mike kept talking, oblivious to the drama being played out only feet away.

In his human form, Seb’s heart was thumping. He put his hand in the back pocket of his jeans and his fingers closed around his switchblade.

As he’d known it would, the angel went for him while his angel self was still shielding Mike. Seb didn’t let himself think. Dodging sideways to avoid its outstretched hands, he flicked out the blade of his knife and went for the halo before the angel could strike him with its wing. The blade glowed white as it sliced through; for an agonized second, his arm felt like it was on fire. An explosion of light that knocked him off his feet – the sound of the angel’s screams.

It was gone.

Seb lay where he was on the sidewalk, breathing hard as the remnants of the creature glittered gently over the dance. He brought his angel back to himself, relishing the feel of it safe inside of him. He had done it. Somehow he had done it. The half-angel girl flashed in his mind, and the realization that he was still alive and still had a chance to find her was like diving into a clear mountain pool.

“Uh...Seb?” Mike was squatting beside him. “Tell me that was some kind of Mexican folk dance, right? And that you didn’t
really
just start leaping around with a switchblade for no reason at all.”

Seb smiled. With an effort, he sat up. He was still holding the switchblade; he flicked the knife away and stuck it back in his pocket. Then he took his beer from Mike, pulling at it in a long sip. “Folk dance,” he said as the singers warbled into the night around them, guitars strumming. “It was definitely a folk dance.”

Mike shook his head. Settling cross-legged next to Seb on the sidewalk, he said, “You Mexicans are weird.”

“But you like us.”

“Yeah. Guess I’m weird, too.”

Seb gazed at the dancers, watching the bobbing colours of their auras as they spun past – and knew that sometime soon, he was going to have to think about what he’d just done.

He’d always told himself that at least the angels gave something back to humans with their touch – but if he really believed this made a difference, then why did he try to protect every human he ever met from them? Why had he just risked his life for the
niñita
, when for the first time in eighteen years, he might be close to finding the only thing he’d ever wanted? If he’d let the thing feed from her, then the street girl would have been happy for ever, no matter how she might have been damaged. Yet at least she had a choice now. Perhaps she could pull herself out of the streets, and be safe and well – find a happiness that was grittier, more real than anything the angels’ touch could give her. Seb shook his head in amazement as he realized: he’d do the same thing again, if he had to do it over.

“Nice night,” said Mike, tapping his hand on his thigh in time to the music. “The street dancing, and the lanterns. Nice.”

“Yes, it is,” agreed Seb. He didn’t really understand himself, but he supposed it didn’t matter. He reached into his pocket and touched the brass frame of the photo, stroking his finger across its smoothness. And he knew that his half-angel girl
would
understand this, probably a lot better than he did. He could feel her compassion for what had just happened, for both the street girl and himself; see the warmth in her green eyes. He let out a breath, drinking in the sense of her that felt so close now. He needed her; he always had. Somehow he knew that she needed him too.

I will find you,
he thought. It was a promise to them both.

But for now, it was enough to just be watching the dancers, basking in their happiness.

“O
KAY
,
THE RECEPTION
’
S
GOING
to be in here,” said Kara, pointing. We were sitting around the kitchen table with mugs of coffee, looking at Brendan’s laptop – he’d found floor plans for the hotel on the internet. “There’s a private reception with just the Church of Angels officials first, then we lowly peons will be allowed in.”

Alex and I had been there for just over two weeks, and it was starting to feel like a plan was coming together. Luis, after being hesitant to tell Kara too much, had now become a lot more forthcoming. Not only did he start opening up about security details, but he’d given Kara invitations that would get her and her “friends” into the reception for a private audience. It was a huge relief – if the word
relief
can be applied to something that fills you with utter dread.

“So we’ll be entering by the hotel front door at three o’clock,” said Alex, lightly touching the screen. “We’ll go in with the other guests...then up the elevator to the main function room.” His finger trailed along the map, then he glanced down at the printed schedule Kara had gotten from Luis. “Do we know where the private audiences are being held yet?”

Kara shook her close-cropped head. “But it’s got to be one of the rooms on the same floor, right? Maybe that one?” She pointed to a meeting room down the hallway.