Arrival of the Beast (Lucifer's Clock Series, Book 2)

Christian Missionaries

Angelica struggled against Gabriel as she pulled her out of the car. "Get your filthy angelic hands off me!" she yelled like a crazy person.

Gabriel ignored her as she pulled her up the driveway and to the house. The door swung open with Connie standing in the doorway. She sighed in relief and grabbed Angelica in a bear hug.

"I was so worried about you!"

"The same way you worry about your angel, Raphael?" Angelica asked in a snide tone.

Connie leaned back and looked at her with a frown.

"It won't work between you two. You are a traitorous witch and he is a cowardly angel. Trust me, I know." Angelica smirked.

"What's wrong with her?" Connie asked, backing up. She looked at Gabriel for answers.

"Her other side is manifesting," Gabriel said. Gabriel tried to pull Angelica into the house, but she couldn't. Angelica hissed as she looked around the entrance of the house.

"She can't enter," Connie said, her lip trembling.

"Great! Now let me go!" Angelica hissed.

"Is there something you can do?" Gabriel said to Connie.

Connie nodded frantically. She rushed inside the house to her bedroom of potions and spells.

"There is nothing she can do. Why are you wasting your time, Gabriel?" Gabriel ignored Angelica. "You all are pathetic. You can't stop me."

Michael appeared behind Gabriel. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"She can't go in," Gabriel said, looking over her shoulder at him. "Connie is seeing what she can do."

"It's a pity you made it back," Angelica said, looking back at Michael. "I was hoping my father ripped you apart."

Michael exhaled slowly and diverted his attention to Connie, who had returned.

She had a mortar and pestle in which she was grounding a mixture as she chanted foreign words.

"What are you going go to do with that, witch?" Angelica sneered. "Are you concocting another memory spell? Perhaps the same one as you placed on my mother?"

Connie faltered in her chanting.

"Ignore her," instructed Gabriel.

"Did you tell them how we saw her in the mall that day, and you ran away? How could you do that to someone you called a friend, Connie? Didn't she deserve to know the truth?"

A look of guilt seized Connie's face as she glanced from Michael to Gabriel.

"What is she talking about, Connie?" Michael asked.

"I-I wanted to tell you, but I thought it was best not to. I saw her a couple of months back at a mall in Richmond."

Gabriel sighed, exasperated. "If Angelica knows about her, you can bet Lucifer does too. We need to find her right away, but let's finish this first."

Connie took a glob of the brown substance and smeared it across Angelica's forehead.

Angelica growled at her as if she were a feral animal. "I can't wait for the day that the Malebiches gut your family and eat their remains while you watch."

Connie ignored her and chanted, "Bring Angelica to the light, return the beast to the darkness of night." The wind howled around them as Connie chanted. Then it suddenly stopped. Angelica's eyes closed, and she fell to the floor.

"Is she alright?" Michael asked hovering over Angelica's body.

"I don't know," Connie said, touching Angelica's forehead. "I have done all I can. The rest is up to Angelica."