Savage Wings: Book Three of The Whitechapel Chronicles

Chapter 8

"What exactly did He say? Did He threaten you?" I saw the way his lips thinned at the thought of it and resisted the urge to smile. Only Harper Cain would get pissed at the Devil for threatening my life.

"That's the weird thing, He didn't threaten me, although I was fucking terrified. He called me Michael and said He was going to enjoy the next part of the game, whatever the Hell that means. I got the impression that He was a little surprised to see Michael as a woman, but He wasn't at all phased by the fact that I wasn't Michael himself. He seemed....amused, if anything. It was as if He thought this whole thing was nothing but a big game. I mean, is that what this is? Just a game to keep Michael and Lucifer entertained?"

"You mean like some age old game of Battleships between an Archangel and the Devil? Well, I've no doubt they've spent eons manipulating us for their own cause, but it's definitely no game. It's a war. Although I guess judging by Lucifer's reaction to you, we now know that this isn't the first time Michael has sent his creations to face the Devil. The question is why? Why can't he do that himself?"

"I have no idea." I shrugged. "Garrick told me before he....well, he told me that I had to find Michael and that the answers apparently lie somewhere in Benjamin's journal but I haven't found anything so far. Did Benjamin ever tell you anything?"

"Nothing about Archangels that's for sure," he said bitterly. "He told me a lot of stuff over the years, usually about how I was a disappointment to him, about how I was wasting my life on Jenny, how I was meant to be his chosen one....but no, he never mentioned anything about Archangels to me."

"Oh." I slumped, feeling dejected. "Well then I guess I have a lot of reading between the lines to do." I untangled my fingers from his and stood up. "But before then, I have to go talk to Josiah. Why don't you go take a shower?"

Harper gazed up at me, arching a brow. "This place has a shower? Wow, maybe it's not that bad here after all."

"Don't go getting any ideas," I scolded, narrowing my eyes. "We won't be staying. At least, not if I have my way." Heading towards the door, I could feel his eyes follow me as I walked away.

"Megan?"

I hesitated in the doorway, slowly turning to look back at him.

"Do you think he's there somewhere?"

My mind drifted back to that moment, that one moment when I thought I had sensed him, a whisper of his voice, the scent of his skin, that familiar warm feeling that always made me believe everything would be okay.

"Yes," I said, with a small smile. "Yes, I think Garrick's there. In fact, I know he is. And I don't know why he hasn't come to me yet, but I'll fight Lucifer's whole damned army to find him if I have to."

*******

It seemed that The Smiling Man wasn't the only one who was waiting for me.

Josiah sat, in his usual chair in the main chapel, slouched back with one long leg resting on the other. It would have looked like a casual-Devil-may-care pose if it wasn't for the way his hands gripped the arms, his fingers digging into the fabric.

"That was cruel, Josiah," I said as I stalked towards him. "Even by your standards it was low."

He didn't move even when I stood directly in front of him, my toes almost touching his.

"I never said he was dead," he sniffed. "You assumed. You know, considering you're fighting on the side of the Big Man upstairs, you really should have more faith."