The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (3 page)

“
I don't believe
it,” Judge Hawkes said into the phone. “I simply do not
believe it. We assumed you were dead! What's that?” He rolled
his eyes. “Of course I'm pleased that you aren't dead. What an
absurd thing to ask. Now listen closely. We're heading for the
airport. We should be there in less than an hour. Can you meet us?
We're pressed for time. No, I'm not running late for a social
occasion. Stop that.” His voice changed as he listened and then
the judge nodded. “Do you know how many we lost? Of course you
do. Yes, thank you. He was a good man. Okay, fine. Are you being
followed? Excellent. Meet us by the charter counter. And keep your
head down. Talon missed some of us. I'm sure they'd like to rectify
that oversight. Good. See you soon.”

The judge clicked off the
phone and put it back in his pocket. Both Chris and Natalie watched
him eagerly, waiting for him to tell them the identity of the caller.
But for a minute, he was lost in thought.

“
For God's sake,
judge!” Natalie exclaimed loudly. The man actually jumped in
his seat and turned to look at her in surprise. “Don't keep us
in suspense. Who was that?”

“
Oh dear. I am so
sorry. I was overcome with gratitude for a moment there.” He
smiled broadly. “Chef made it out alive.”

Chris let out a whoop and
the car veered off the road for a split second as the driver reacted
to his surprised yell.

“
Oops. Sorry about
that,” Chris told him. “That's amazing news, judge! How
the heck did he get out?”

“
I have no idea. We
didn't have the time to get into details. He's been on the move since
the attack. Apparently Talon would like to have a chat with him.”
The judge laughed coldly. “They have no idea what they are in
for if they do catch up with him. All they see is a fat, middle-aged
cook. Chef is something entirely more dangerous than that.”

Natalie was smiling, but
Chris looked at the judge skeptically.

“
He is? Why do you
say that, sir? He's a nice man and all, and I like him a lot. But
he's never struck me as someone I would consider dangerous.”

Judge Hawkes' laugh was
much warmer and more amused this time.

“
I know that, young
man. And Chef likes it that way. If he lets you into his confidence
and tells you about his life one day, maybe then you will understand.
But that is his tale to tell.”

“
Yes sir,”
Chris said, a little confused. “Anyway, I'm really happy that
he made it and he's okay.”

“
As am I. He's going
to meet us at the airport. I'm sure he can tell us what happened
during the attack once we're in the air. For now, just relax. It will
take almost an hour to get back to Ottawa and reach the terminal.”

The judge turned around
and stared out of the windshield. They had just reached the main
highway and the car turned left quickly and sped up to the speed
limit.

We're on our way, Chris
thought with relief. He sat back and thought about Chef. At least
someone made it out of the Nest. He grieved for Martin and the others
though and he found his happiness tainted by thoughts of their
deaths. He stared soberly out of the window and watched the miles go
by.

Once the group had reached
the airport, the tension among them all eased somewhat. Chris knew
that they weren't out of danger yet, but with all of the people
coming and going, the chance of an attack, according to Judge Hawkes,
was minimal.

All of them had piled out
of their vehicles in the parking lot and headed for the closest
entrance, while one of the staffers raced to the rental car counter
to drop off the keys.

They hadn't even had a
chance to unpack a bag since they had returned from the middle east,
so when they got to the charter counter, everyone had simply handed
over their luggage while the judge confirmed their flight.

Chris kept looking around
anxiously, hoping to see Chef and afraid to see a member of Talon. As
luck would have it, both things happened simultaneously.

Natalie had been scanning
the crowd and cried out, “Hey, it's him!” just as Chris
caught a glimpse of the familiar facial tattoo of a claw and said
quietly, “Look, there's one of them.”

The group looked around in
two directions at once.

Chef was striding across
the terminal toward them, his bulk easily parting the crowd as he
walked. He looked exhausted and appeared to have lost a few pounds,
but he had a smile on his face as he caught sight of the group.

At the same time, to one
side of the swirling crowd of travelers, a tall, lean figure wearing
a simple brown jacket and blue jeans stopped in his tracks and stared
from the cook to Judge Hawkes and back again, a look of shock on his
tattooed face.

Not very good actors,
these Talon, Chris thought with grim satisfaction. He caught the eye
of the man, his pale face topped with a short buzzed haircut, and the
gang member's look of surprise grew.

Chris smiled coldly at him
and tapped the judge on the arm while he was shaking Chef's hand
vigorously. Both men looked at Chris and then followed his nod and
looked at their enemy.

“
Talon,” Chef
snarled and began to stride toward the man. The gang member turned
white, spun on his heels and raced away through the crowd, almost
falling as he bounced off of several people. Two of them yelled
curses at his retreating back.

“
Mario!” the
judge barked at his friend. The cook stopped and looked back and
Judge Hawkes shook his head. “Let it go. We don't have time for
vengeance. At least not right now.”

Chef hesitated, then
nodded abruptly and returned to the counter. His scowl was replaced
by a broad grin as he hugged Natalie, who had tears on her face, and
then did the same to Chris.

Although a little
embarrassed, it had been a very long time since Chris had shown
emotion in public, he hugged the man back with great affection.

“
Ah my friends,”
Chef said in his booming voice as he released Chris. “My heart
soars to see you all well. We have much to talk about.” He
looked around at the swirling crowd. “But not here, eh?”

“
Agreed. We'll speak
once we're in the air,” Judge Hawkes said as he nodded at the
young woman behind the counter and put some papers into a pocket.

“
Everyone, follow
me. We'll get through security fairly quickly, I think, and the plane
is waiting for us.”

Chris had flown a few
times with his parents and couldn't remember a smoother, faster trip
through customs and security. Natalie told him quietly that the judge
had connections and he'd just nodded gratefully. The past few days
were beginning to catch up with him and he wanted to do nothing more
than sit down and rest.

Their plane was a small,
private jet that had just enough headroom for Chef to walk upright. A
cheerful, middle-aged woman whose name tag read Mrs. Halbrock, but
who introduced herself as Margaret, welcomed them aboard and told
them to pick any seat they wished.

Chris grabbed a window
seat and Natalie slipped into the one beside him. He asked her if she
wanted the seat with the view but she shook her head.

“
I don't mind
flying, but I'd rather not be reminded of how high we are,” she
said with a nervous smile.

Chris chuckled and then
sat back with a tired sigh. “An angel afraid of heights. I
think that's irony, isn't it?”

She poked him sharply.
“Gloriel's the angel, numb-skull. I'm just the poor girl she
rides around in.”

“
Yeah, whatever.”
Chris closed his eyes. He wanted to talk to Chef. He was also very
hungry. But right now all he wanted was a nap. Natalie said something
but Chris drifted away before he could figure out what it was.

A gentle shake woke him up
and Chris sat up with a gasp. He looked around wildly.

“
What?” he
asked frantically, looking around in a panic.

“
Easy, my friend.
It's okay.”

The reassuring voice of
Chef brought Chris back to reality and he blinked twice as he looked
up at the kind face of his friend.

“
Oh. Chef. Hi. Sorry
about that. Are we there yet?”

The man chuckled and
slipped his bulk into the seat next to Chris. Natalie was chatting
quietly with Judge Hawkes a few rows away.

The flight attendant came
by and asked Chris if he wanted anything. He asked for coffee and any
food she could whip up quickly. The woman smiled in a matronly way.

“
You look like you
could use something sweet for energy, young man,” she said
kindly. “I'll find you something, never fear.”

She walked off and Chris
looked around at the rest of the staff.

Rabbi Eddleson had been
left back in the middle-east. He had decided to head to Jerusalem, to
speak to some mysterious elders. Chris didn't know anything about
that and the judge hadn't mentioned it.

The five other staffers
were scattered around the plane. George and Beatrice sat together,
laughing quietly at some joke. Tony, the medic, and Davidson were
sitting alone. Each looked like he was sleeping. And Ramona sat
behind Natalie and the judge, listening to their conversation
intently.

He looked at Chef, who was
watching him fondly.

“
You don't know what
a relief it was to hear that you had made it out,” Chris told
him.

“
I felt the same
about you and the others,” he replied. “For all I knew,
you had failed and been destroyed far from home.” He grabbed
Chris' shoulder and gave him an affectionate shake. Chris grinned.

“
So, did you get
it?” Chef asked in a low voice.

“
Get it?” For
a minute, Chris had no idea what the man was talking about. “Oh
right! The hilt.”

Chris dug it out of a
pocket. Oddly, the metal detector hadn't picked it up when he'd gone
through security. Weird. He showed it to Chef.

“
Ah. So that's what
it looks like.” Chef didn't try to touch the artifact; he just
stared at it intently. “Was it worth it?”

“
Well, we beat
Lilith with it, so I'm going to say yes.” Chris spared the hilt
a quick glance and slipped it back into his pocket. “But I
don't know how we'll ever find the other two pieces, not now that
we're on the run from those evil bastards.”

Chef looked thoughtful.
“Don't underestimate Ethan,” he said. “This is not
a retreat, not to him. It's a regrouping, a reorganizing. He has
resources that you wouldn't believe. I mourn our friends, especially
Martin, but the judge has already begun to plan his next moves. Trust
me, he will get past this and, once we are secure again, we can plan
the search for the other sword pieces.”

Chris pushed his hair off
his face and tucked it behind his ears.

“
So where are we
going?” he asked, still too tired to be more than a little
curious.

“
London. Actually a
small town north of the city, But we'll be landing in Heathrow and
take cars from there.”

London? Chris was
intrigued. He'd never been to England. He wondered what kind of house
the judge had there. He could only hope that it was more secure than
the Nest had been.

“
So how did you get
away?” he asked Chef. By his expression, the man had been
waiting for that most obvious question.

“
I told the judge
and the others about it while you were sleeping, but I suppose one
more time won't hurt.”

He settled himself more
comfortably in his seat and then waited while Margaret approached and
offered Chris a tray with a carafe of coffee, cream and sugar and a
plate of chocolate croissants. He set the tray securely on his lap
and thanked her politely.

“
Just doing my job,
young man,” she replied with a motherly smile. “I
remember my own boys always being hungry at your age. Enjoy,”
she added and made her way toward the cockpit.

“
Go ahead and eat,”
Chef said when Chris offered to share. “I've already had
something. Now, about my escape from the Nest.” He snorted and
gave a self-deprecating shrug. “It wasn't hard to do, because I
wasn't there when the attack came.”

Chris almost choked on a
mouthful of coffee and coughed several times after he forced the
burning liquid down his now tender throat.

“
You weren't there?”
he managed to gasp finally.

“
No, I was not. It
was my usual afternoon to go into town and get my supplies. The
farmer's markets are always well stocked once spring arrives and I
was looking forward to getting in some fresh vegetables.” He
made a tsking sound in his throat. “Canned or frozen simply
aren't the same, you know. At any rate, I was an hour away when the
mansion was attacked. As usual the staff had offered to drive me, but
I really dislike being carted around like some sort of celebrity and
so I declined.” His face grew pensive. “I wish now that I
hadn't. At least one more staff member would have survived if they
had driven me.”