Page 56 of Revelations

By the end, no one was left standing. Everything, including homes, were burned to the ground.

She was too late to save anyone.

It didn’t stop her from wondering why she was sent there if there was no hope. It was on her way out that Greylyn glimpsed the responsible demon as it watched her with apparent interest.

The creature was ugly. A grisly gray mass with shiny skin, blackened out orbs where eyes should have been, and finger-like tentacles dripping with an inky black goo.

The monster smiled smugly, igniting her fury until it blazed to a feverish pitch in her own body. There was no thought process for what to do. Greylyn just attacked.

Grabbing a hold of the demon was the hard part—its skin was too slimy and gushy. The more she squeezed, the more her fingers sank into it like wet Play Doh. If she was not so blinded by rage, she would have probably recoiled in disgust. Instead, she held on and threw punches with her other fist as the creature thrashed around in a pitiful attempt to wrench itself free.

It was not built for speed or true physical fighting. It carried disease. That was all it did.

Greylyn had no idea how to destroy it. Instinct pulled her onward, slashing and punching as bit by bit the creature was pummeled until gooey pieces of it lay scattered around the ground. Not knowing what else to do, she took a severed arm from the burning pile of human bodies and lit every fragment of the creature on fire. To her surprise, the squishy material flamed quickly, and sizzled like bacon fat in a frying pan until it evaporated in a steady stream of dense smoke.

After the ordeal, she stumbled to a nearby stream to wash off the icky goo that covered her body, matted in her hair, and smelled of putrid tar. She knew that something was wrong, as she watched the creature, or what was left of it, burn.

Before she plunged into the shallow frigid water of the creek, her fingers had already started to blacken, and her breathing became more ragged. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she hacked up blood by what seemed like gallons, and then collapsed back onto the pebbled creek bed.

Apparently, guardian angels were not immune to the bubonic plague, after all.

She lay halfway submerged in the stream and nearly comatose on the algae-covered rocks on the water’s edge for hours before recovering enough to crawl out; waiting to die. Blackness tinged her vision, slowly banishing all light from her sight.

The last thing sheheard was the lonely howl of a wolf in the distance.

***

A gentle shaking catapulted her out of the nightmare just as everything had gone black. Nausea roiled her stomach, raising bile to her throat. Her eyes shot open at the sound of Jasper’s deep, soothing voice.

“Time to go, kitten. We’ve got work to do.”

Chapter 14 – Call of Duty

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, North Carolina

Greylyn neared the Marine Corps base, her mind swirling with frustration. She reflected on her main problem with all of this—Kael. Too bad that the more she distanced herself from the scene of the crime, the more her frustration and anger devolved into a replaying of the events from Claude’s garden, which stirred up completely different emotions.

Had she and Kael really kissed, or had it all been her imagination? What, if any, of the visions she had witnessed were real and what did they mean? Did they mean anything?

She had been so focused on her inner thoughts, that she failed to recall the drive at all. Part of her was grateful that he had saved Thomas. The other part…well, it was horrifying. Why save Thomas at all? She added that to the list of questions that she needed Kael to answer—before she pummeled him to death. Their day of reckoning was coming, and it couldn’t come soon enough for her. At least that was what Greylyn swore to herself, and everyone else.

After burying the bodies of Sofia and her psychic friends, and sanctifying the burial plot, the trio each went their separate ways. Thomas was packed off to his home in South Carolina to prepare for the next stage of the prophecy search. He was not happy about being placed on the backburner, but neither guardian angel was about to risk his life again anytime soon.

He already had a plan, though. “I’m booking us a flight to Ireland, Greylyn. I’ve searched everything I can online. If we need more answers about your past to figure this thing out, then we need to go back to the beginning. When you’re done playing with the marines, meet me back home.”

Both guardians attempted to talk him out of his quest, but he remained steadfast. Greylyn admired him even more for his determination and bravado. Having him along would add more worry for her, though. Still, he had flashed his brilliant, cocky smile just like a cute toddler fully expecting to get his way. Like a dumbass, she had agreed to this craziness.

Getting weak, Grey.

Jasper had been ignoring his guardian duties for the last few days to tend to the situation in DC, and the subsequent heist at the Smithsonian. He was needed in Illinois to quell a demon-instigated riot before an entire city went up in flames. Both guardians agreed to meet back up as soon as they were done with their respective obligations.

Greylyn regretted the distraction, but her guardian angel senses had been going haywire since around the break of dawn. Initially, she’d ignored the call and had gone back to the cathedral in the hope that Gabriel would appear again with more answers. After sitting through two services that morning, and crashing the wedding of a high-profile senator’s daughter, it had become clear that no amount of prayers would lure the archangel back to her side.

She needed to get to a Marine Corps base in North Carolina—now. She could not, in good conscience, abstain from her duties as a guardian angel.

Besides, with all of the guilt weighing her down, perhaps doing her job would help make amends. Or at least take her mind off her woes for a while. The sizzling sensation at the base of her neck let her know that the situation was urgent, so here she was…blaring Metallica at ear-splitting decibels as the miles blurred by for hours.

The sun had fallen again before the Camaro cruised down the main drag of town, outside of the military base. It was late at night and despite it being theweekend, there wasn’t much going on in the town, as evidenced by the lack of traffic. But there were plenty of dilapidated-looking bars and seedy tattoo parlors on every corner. None of them beckoned for her attention.

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