Chapter 26
Henry
Istared at the document Vicky had sent and bit back the snarky comments. She meant well. Unfortunately, the meditation techniques described in the document wouldn’t help Nick. It was like trying to teach someone to drive, but making them wear a blindfold.
The best these exercises could do was keep him calm. They wouldn't stop the electrical fluctuations, or keep him from hearing conversations across the building.
Closing my screen, I walked to the corner windows.
On the street below, people rushed from place to place, their lives burning bright and fast like sparklers on the Fourth of July.
They were oblivious that we moved among them, which is how we wanted things.
Humans harbored too many prejudices and insecurities. They attacked anything different.
Generalization? Yes, but also accurate way too often.
My phone buzzed with a text.
{Trevor: Nick left work early. B said he heard people talking through the walls!}
“Fuck!” I nearly slammed my phone onto the table. Nick’s powers were developing faster than we'd anticipated.
Closing my eyes, I tried to feel Nick through our bond. HKarlin were rare, but there was a little written on how bonds worked. According to what I found, we should be able to feel each other anywhere in the universe. Not sure how anyone tested that theory.
Nick’s aura was faint, but it held hints of confusion, anxiety, fear, and isolation. Unfortunately, until he learned the truth about himself, I was powerless to change those feelings.
Trevor’s suggestion that I tell Nick the truth if his powers continued to grow was tempting, but shortsighted.
I heard the anguish in Uriel’s voice when he implored me to trust him.
This wasn’t a power play by my uncle. He was scared for Nick.
As Dad had said, we followed his visions this far, it would be foolish to stop now.
I poured a glass of water and let the cool liquid wash down my throat. My gaze settling on a picture of me and Nick at Zeke’s party. Brenda took it after he and Ares had spoken. Nick’s smile made the room brighter. Yes, it was a cliché, but in this case it was true.
Nick’s energy was invigorating because it was so innocent. He hadn’t let his shitty family dim his spirit. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the world would be poorer if he died.
Setting my glass down, I reached for my phone. I couldn’t tell Nick the truth, but I could keep him happy and calm.
Before I could hit Nick’s contact, my phone rang. The brief hope it would be Nick died when I saw the name.
Uriel.
Had he heard my conversation with Trevor and called to reinforce his directions? My thumb hesitated over the screen before I answered.
“Uncle Uriel?” I couldn't keep the uncertainty from my voice.
“Listen carefully.” Uriel's lack of greeting reinforced I was in for a lecture. “Nick is heading to Alex’s place right now. You need to get to him before he gets there. His life is in grave danger if you don’t.”
My body tensed, every sense heightened. "What kind of danger?"
“The Drevlin released a D'val into the city,” Uriel said. “Nick is leaking power and the creature is tracking him.”
A cold weight settled in my stomach. A D’val could give most angels a tough fight. Nick might have powers, but he didn’t know how to use them. Something else gnawed at me. “How do you know where Nick is going?”
“Alex lives at 1797 P Street, NW,” he said. “You need to get there immediately.”
Something about this didn’t make sense. “Does Alex know Nick's coming? And how do you have his address?”
“Focus, Henry.” Uriel's voice turned sharp. “Nick overheard you and Trevor talking about his powers. He's confused and scared. He's going to Alex to talk because Nick trusts him.”
There were so many questions that needed answers. The biggest was how did Uriel get this information? The urgency in his voice, however, told me questions could wait. “I'll find him.” I started for the door.
“One more thing,” Uriel’s voice froze me. “You’re going to need to use your powers in front of him. It’s time for Nick to learn the truth.”
My arm went slack, and I nearly dropped the phone. All the warnings made sense. Nick’s powers were a flame that would attract a Drevlin moth. “Understood. Is there more than one D’val?”
“Not at the moment,” he said. “But alert your entire team to be safe.”
The line went dead before I could ask anything else. It took me a second to process everything. Opening the desk drawer, I pulled three dense metal rods the size of my thickest finger and pushed them into a back pocket. They were the perfect weight for converting matter into energy.
We’d trained for this, but now that it was happening, I felt woefully unprepared. I pulled up the group text and started typing as I rushed out of my office. After a few seconds, I realized I needed to talk if I wanted to explain things properly. I hit Trevor’s number as I ran down the steps.
“Henry?” Trevor said when he answered. “Did you learn anything new?”
“I need you to listen carefully,” I said. “There’s a D’val in the city and it’s tracking Nick.”
The conversation with Trevor took longer than I’d expected. He had a lot of questions, justified given the circumstances, that I needed to answer. Still, the longer we spoke, the longer it took me to get to Nick.
I debated flying to him, but showing up in an Uber was easier than explaining why I had wings. It also helped me conserve my strength. It didn’t take long for me to regret my decision.
The car arrived within a minute, but the good start ended at the first turn. Traffic heading toward Dupont Circle was heavier than normal for pre-rush hour on a Monday afternoon.
I pulled out my phone to check the map, and four text messages showed on the screen. Brenda and Vicky were the closest and on their way. My cousin was skeptical of anything Uriel said or did, but she didn’t hesitate to join us. Hopefully they avoided the traffic that ensnared me.
Zeke and Orion were too far away to drive, so they were going to fly.
Trevor, however, wasn’t able to fly and conceal himself yet, so he’d need to drive.
“Of all the fucking days to work from home,” he complained.
He wasn’t wrong about his timing, but it was probably for the best. Trevor was the weakest fighter in our group.
This way, no one had to protect him if we got into a fight.
My backup confirmed, I extended my senses to find Nick. The faint pulse of his energy didn’t help me pinpoint his location—I assumed he was still on the Metro—but his aura had hardened into something more resolute.
The irony of the situation wasn't lost on me. After weeks of keeping the truth from Nick, I was now racing to tell him everything.
Traffic slowed to a crawl after just three blocks. Cars clogged the intersections, and impatient drivers leaned on their horns.
“What's going on?” I asked the driver as if he could see better than me.
“Dunno.” He tapped his GPS screen and zoomed out. “Must be a bad accident. That’s a lot of red.”
At the edge of my senses was a presence that didn’t belong. It stood out like an adult in the Pre-K room. The D'val's presence. I didn’t need to check to know it was the cause of the traffic jam.
My phone vibrated.
{Victoria: Police reports of large animal near Dupont Circle. Multiple injuries.}
How stupid was I to think a D’val in the middle of DC wouldn’t cause a commotion. I didn’t text her back. She knew where I'd be. I checked my position on the map, and decided to mitigate my mistake. “I'll get out here.” I had the door open before he could answer.
“Your call,” the driver said.
He’d be stuck in this mess for a while, but I didn’t feel too bad.
I paid for the full ride. I weaved between the stopped cars and heard the retort of small arms fire.
A few people stood beside their vehicles, looking ahead.
One woman spoke excitedly into her phone about a “bear loose in the city.” A man suggested it was a terrorist attack.
The problem with forcing the unfamiliar into known categories was the downside if you were wrong. A D’val was worse than anything these people could imagine. I doubted the police could stop it without help.
Sirens wailed, but the cops were as stymied by the traffic as everyone else.
I passed two empty police cruisers with their lights still flashing.
The sudden, continuous sound of gun fire sent the crowd headed in the opposite direction.
Swimming through the fleeing people, I noticed the police had established a perimeter at the next intersection.
They were waving people away from whatever lay beyond.
“Stay indoors,” a cop with a bullhorn shouted. “Do not come outside. This is a police emergency. Clear the area now!”
I pushed forward, earning a hard stare from the nearest officer. “Back away.” He snapped his finger toward the way I’d come. “This area is off limits.”
The cop seemed more interested in exerting his authority than protecting citizens. “My friend's in there,” I said, trying to see past the barricade. “I need to find him.”
“Not possible,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “If your friend's in there, he’s been ordered to stay inside. Now move away.”
The man was a jerk, but I felt sorry for him and his fellow officers. They had no chance, which meant people would get hurt.
A scream cut through the air, followed by a sound no human had ever heard. The chittering roar raised the hair on my neck. Glass shattered, followed by more gunshots and people screaming in terror. “We need backup on Connecticut! It's heading west!”
West. Toward Alex's place. Right where Nick was headed.
The officer turned away, and I backed up, looking for another way around the perimeter. There were places I might slip through, but I’d only end up distracting the cops. This was a time for subtlety.
I slipped down a service alley. Two officers blocked the far end, but they focused on keeping civilians away. Using the moment, I jumped onto a fire escape and ran up to the roof.
From my vantage point, I surveyed the havoc. A police car lay on its side, windows shattered. Officers had formed a defensive line, weapons drawn. Beyond them moved a dark shape—seven feet of muscle and claws, reptilian and insectoid features blended in impossible ways. The D'val.
I searched for Nick, hoping the train bypassed the Dupont Circle Station. My luck ran out. He was closer now, and his fear rolled off him in waves. Scanning the crowds, I couldn’t find him.
People ran in panic as gunshots rang out. They’d need something more powerful than.9mm bullets to stop the creature. Right now, all they did was enrage the beast plodding toward them.
My fingers wrapped around one of my metal cylinders. Killing the beast would be the surest way to protect Nick. The crowd, police presence, and the media meant it would be very public if I killed the beast. I needed to wait for backup. Vicky was the best at concealing our identities.
The D’val shoved one police cruiser into a second one. Before it attacked the officers, it froze, seemed to scan the area, and then changed course. I couldn’t see Nick, but I was certain the creature had found him.
Out of time and options, I released my wings. They unfurled with a soft rush of air, stretching wide before settling against my back. It felt good to let them out after months of non-use.
I stepped to the edge of the roof and wrapped myself in a blanket of power to hide my presence from people and recordings.
Satisfied I wouldn't be seen, I leaped from the roof, my wings catching the updraft between buildings. The sensation was exhilarating, even in these circumstances. I didn’t, however, have time to enjoy the moment.
The creature had moved into an alley and was moving in the direction of the Metro exit Nick would likely have used to get to Alex’s place.
From high over the city, I finally spotted Nick. He moved cautiously toward a cut that unwittingly would put him on a collision course with the D’val.
Tucking my wings, I dove just as the creature entered the same alley Nick tried to use to get around the perimeter.
Nick froze as the D’val snarled. I converted the metal in my palm to energy and focused it in both hands.
I’d likely only get one clean shot before the beast reacted to me. I planned to make it count.