The Watchers Wake

Chapter 40 - What Betrayal Tastes Like

CHAPTER 40 - What Betrayal Tastes Like

“They are coming!” Aze shouted as if we weren’t all aware of that.

It almost felt like we were standing on an underground platform with an express train approaching.  The sounds and the feel of the air moving all felt so similar.

My stomach knotted with fear.  Was I doing the right thing?

Natalie I will support you but you must support me too.  If they threaten anyone of us you must judge with me.

Fine, but let’s try to avoid it first.

We braced ourselves as they reached the top of the stairs.  There was now only the short landing between them and the door. 

Damn, this wasn’t going to work.  Please make it work, please...

Suddenly the door flew up from where it was lying and slammed itself back into the frame.  It glowed with light as it seemed to remake itself, re-hang itself and then seal itself tight.

“Aze did you do that?” I asked quickly the words all coming out at once.

Aze swore, loudly.  I took that to mean, no.

“Language Ramiel, there is a lady present,” the matter-of-fact voice came from behind us.

We all spun around to meet this new threat or at least my body pivoted.  My eyes were torn, the vampires seemed to be more of a threat.  If this voice was a danger he would have attacked us rather than chastising Aze.    

However the question was - why didn’t we feel the presence of someone else before?  Why couldn’t I detect him now, our eyes of night was working well enough?  Something was different.

I swung my eyes from the now harmless looking door which, given the screams of frustration coming from behind it, was holding the vampires in.   Instead I turned to look towards the other side of the car park. 

Standing casually in the open was a man, just a solitary man in a crisp white suit, white shirt and tie.  He almost glowed in the moonlight. 

Scott moved closer to me and our hands lifted up and found each other, we prepared ourselves.  We were ready should this strange man attack.  But even as I thought this I acknowledged how it silly it sounded, I mean he was wearing a white suit! 

“I can’t begin to tell you how ridiculous you look,” he said dryly.  “What are you going to do?  Give me a tan?”

Aze swore loudly, again, and then relaxed his stance.  Adam cursed too but under his breath.  His shoulders slumped and he took several steps away from the man in the white-suit.  I could just see him out of the corner of my eye as he leant against the car.  Jari was still lying on in the asphalt, still unconscious.  And Tur and his boys were gone, disappeared. 

“Aze, Adam, what’s going on?” my voice quivered.

I glanced back to Aze who was looking away from me.  I caught the small shrug before I turned back to the suited man who looked partly amused, partly bemused and partly annoyed.

“So who called you?  Come on Rag, what are you doing here?”

He knew him?  And this wasn’t a friendly greeting, this couldn’t be good.

Aze still wasn’t looking at us but he was scowling at the ‘man’ in the white suit, and he was obviously furious.  Yet he slumped against the car next to Adam and jammed his fists in his pockets.

I looked at Scott who looked at me.  We were the only ones still prepared for an attack.  Scott shrugged at me before he straightened up, drawing me up too.  He held me and he shielded me at the same time.  He obviously didn’t trust this situation any more than I did.