Dark flight - Lore of the angelic book 1

Back on track

The Vampire wipes the blood off her lips and gets up out of her crouching position, staring down at the pale, bloodless body of the fallen angel paige girl she had drained. her screams had been almost as delicious as the contents of her veins.
"how foolish..."
persephone is sitting with her legs overcrossed on a stump she has dried off with her magic. Ophelia scoffs, the angel uses her powers for such frivolous things.
"are you done now?"

she's fanning herself with a brochure for a concert she picked up at the Cafe they had visited before.
"I still don't understand how they managed to find, detach and rehome the tracker to a replica of the book of thousand songs."
the red haired woman pulls out a cloth napkin from her pocket and wipes over her fangs, staining it with the remaining red.

"so now we have to stay in the snow even longer??"
the seer laments and her fanning speeds up.

"we ought to head back to try and pick up a new track on them... this may take a bit longer than expected."
the vampire waves her hand in a circular motion and recites an incantation, the snow melts under the emerging portal of pure energy, a portal into the angel realm.
"after you"
she offers and the angel hops off her perch and walks through gracefully, hair swaying behind her like a veil. Ophelia bites her lip so hard it begins to bleed. she hates persephone with every fiber of her being and after containing her anger for so long she has to take a breath before finally readjusting her neutral expression and stepping through, her mouth still smeared with a mix of her own blood and that of the dead fallen.

"... how long until they catch on?"
I cross my arms in front of my now dirty hoodie. Naz, Michael and John are semi fighting to flank me behind, Shannon has been looking over my shoulder with raised eyebrows from time to time as she explained what is happening, John and Michael occasionally falling into her word to clarify a few steps along the way.

"that's the thing, they found out, we got word from a neighboring pack that they found the messenger drained of blood. that means..."
Naz scowls.
"Vampires..."
I look up at the boys, but they ignore me.
"do we know which clan?"
Shannon shakes her head.
"there's no saying... could even be a renegade."

I give Deliah a pleading look, she sighs and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Vampires usually work in clans, their leadership regulates them to ensure they don't drink more than their fill, there have been clans who didn't regulate but most of those were disbanded. hearing this could mean that a new clan has formed, or that this particular vampire was a renegade who no longer follows clan rules. both options are extremely dangerous. a vamp hyped up on large amounts of blood is very difficult to stop."
Shannon nods in agreement.
"we just barely won a battle against the odds... besides there is a huge bounty on all of your heads, especially Alice"

I remember what the werewolf said to me before I knocked him out.
"Well I'll have to train more then..."
"most of all we need to get on the road and keep moving to my family's estate. that's the only place you will be safe, Alice"
I give him a look.
"I know."
Naz steps forward and slams his hands on the table.
"Shan, you are my alpha and I deeply respect you, you're a good leader, but Alice needs me more now"

Shannon nods slowly.
"you know that if you leave you can't come back, those are the laws of the pack"
I can almost see some tears well up in Naz' eyes as he gives her a confirming jab of the chin, lips pressed into a thin line.
"Take care of Mira for me. it's for the best."
I grasp his arm in a panic. his hands are warm and slightly damp, presumably with nervous sweat.
"you don't have to do this"
He looks at me and smiles warmly.
"But it wouldn't feel right to let you go without the extra protection you clearly need"

Shannon stops me when I try to argue further.
"let him make the decision, it is his step to take"
I feel tears in my own eyes as I shake my head, I don't want him to have to give up on this for my sake.
"I will do it. May I say goodbye to Mira?"
Shannon nods.
"You will always be a welcome guest here, Nazim. when all this is over I hope you can build your own pack and live a full life."

Naz ducks out of the room, presumably hiding his tears from me. I feel John's hands on my shoulders, comfortingly rubbing the base of my neck.
"It's alright Alice, he will be a great help to us and we will help him after everything is over"
I nod, still crying, and let him comfort me. I try not to notice the angry look Michael is giving him, I can't deal with petty fighting right now. Deliah hands me a tissue and I wipe away the smudges of dirt on my face along with my tears.

Next time I see Naz he is composed, all his things packed into a large rucksack. he gives me an uplifting smile.
"let's get on the road then"
I smile and reach up to ruffle his white hair.
"I'm glad you're coming along"
If he had a tail I swear he would have wagged it now, his icy blue eyes looking down at me with a twinkle of mischief and a strange sense of loyalty.

John is trying to figure out the beat up ladrover on the gravel path ahead. It's shannons, as far as I know he bought it off her with enough money to buy a brand new car, but it has enough room, Deliah even joked that if we can't fit everything in Naz can just turn into a wolf and sit in the trunk, to the great amusement of all involved.

"If you're done petting your new lap dog, I think you get shotgun"
Deliah pats me on the shoulder and walks to take the middle seat in the back of the car. she's the smallest, it does make sense. Naz pats me on the back and I giggle as he passes to throw his bag in the trunk and hop in next to Deliah.

Michael is standing next to the open driver side door and arguing with John loudly. those two will be fighting tooth and nail, I promise myself that I will never let them stay in the same room without me there, I am convinced they will choke each other.
"Get in"
John shouts over to me and I skip to the car, getting into the spot next to him.
"so, what's the plan?"
Deliah and Naz are bickering in the back of the car, something about him getting hair on her clothes... John sighs, clearly already annoyed.
"hit the road, avoid crowds and hope that they don't find us before we get to our destination."
"sounds like a plan"
as he pulls out I turn on the radio and flip through the channels until I find the rock channel, turning it up loud. I give John a grin, he grins back.
"that's better."

I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to really have fun with these strange individuals.