The Devil's Angel (The Devil's Assistant Series Book 4)

The Devi's Angel - Chapter 9

"No, that would not be wise, especially when things are so tense."

"Very well," she said at long last. "I assume the woman who was taken is not wholly human or it wouldn't take two of you winged folk to play detective."

Turning her attention to her desktop computer, Madame's fingers started dancing over the keyboard so quickly they were nothing but a blur.

"What is the vehicle registration?" She asked her attention focused on the screen before her.

Castiel reeled off a combination of letters and numbers in quick succession. And then we waited.

"Well I have good news and bad news for you." Madame uttered before issuing a few unladylike curses. "The good news is I was able to track the source of the licence plates, at least I was able to after hacking into a few databases which could earn me a one way trip to Her Majesty's Prison."

I raised my brows. My hands were gripping on to my knees so tightly there would surely be finger shaped bruises in the morning.

"The registration plate you gave me is a diplomatic plate. This means it belongs to someone in the government. This could be someone from an embassy to someone in the MI5. The bad news is the plate is technically a ghost. There is no official owner to the vehicle. The only thing you can be sure of is whoever owns this vehicle had a lot of political power and more than likely a large bank account to go with it."

I closed my eyes and slumped back in the seat.

"The government. Are you sure?"

There was a sniff and as I opened my eyes, I watched as Madame leant back in her chair and folded her hands neatly before her. There was a hint of annoyance lingering in her gaze as she stared back at me.

"Of course I am sure." Tapping her fingers on the top of her desk, the ebony haired woman turned her attention to the glass window behind her. "However because they have diplomatic plates does not mean they are operating under the direction of the government."

"Thank you for your help Madame." I said before sighing loudly. Running a hand down my tired face, I tried not to feel defeated. "It feels like we have more questions now than answers."

"No, we at least have a direction to start our search. It'll be a broad search but it's better than no direction at all." Castel murmured from my side.

"Now, not to be rude, is there anything else I can help you with? I have a full schedule today." Madame asked her severe voice cutting into our little discussion.

From her tone it was obvious our quota for help was used up so I just stood from my seat, smiled and then offered her a nod of my head. "No, that was everything. Thank you for your help."

Castiel was a presence at my side as we made our way back down to the lobby. It was much busier than before and we had to fight our way through the bodies. The lobby doors were completed obstructed by a group of giggling girls, their parents standing at their sides looking slightly harassed.

"Is there another way out? I don't feel like walking past the school patrol." I muttered under my breath.

Putting the baseball hat back on my head, I ducked so that no one caught sight of my face. All we needed now was a room full of excitable people catching sight of me. Castiel was safe, his identity still in the dark. For me, one glance and I could be outed and with a crowd this size it was difficult to know how many people were supporters and how many were potential threats.

Cass's hand wrapped firmly around the top of my arm and started pulling me in the opposite direction of the lobby doors. We wound through several service corridors before we broke from the building through a set of fire exit doors. A quick tinker with my angel blade into the door alarm system turned off the alarm system so our escape was not accompanied by the blare of the klaxons going off.

We were at the rear of the building in a large loading area which was overlooked by all of the neighbouring scrapers. The sunlight barely reached down this far, instead the place was cast with shadows. I shivered despite the lack of cold, my hand running up my arms to smooth away the goosebumps.

Pushing back my unease, Castiel wound our way through the alley way between the scrapers and emerged on to a side street. It was refreshingly devoid of tourists pushing their way down the sidewalk so I allowed myself to stop and take a few deep breaths.

"You stay here and I'll go and fetch the car. I have a feeling you will cause trouble if you get spotted right now."

I huffed. "Thanks a lot."

"I'm only speaking the truth. You have the potential to incite a riot." Offering me a wink, he danced out of the way before I could land a punch upon his body. It didn't stop me from trying.

Rolling my eyes, I said nothing further as Castiel spun on his heel and stalked down the pavement leaving me by myself. Standing at the head of the alleyway, I kept my head bowed as a group of pedestrians made their way down the street towards me. There were four of them, two men and two women. They were so wrapped up in each, the women cradled into the hold of their other half and their eyes looking at nothing but the man which held their attention so completely.

I realised too late that they were a distraction.

A sharp sting in my neck drew my gaze from the couples. Clapping my hand to the source of the pain, I pulled a tranquiliser dart from my flesh. It looked like it was supposed to be used on lion or some other great beast as the dart was so big. I was surprised there wasn't blood gushing from the hole in my neck. I supposed it meant they had missed anything important but I could already feel its contents working on my body. Numbness spread out from the point of impact on an alarming rate.

Calling forth my sword, I held it in front of me. It hissed and crackled dangerously. My body was tingling and not in a good way. I could my limbs becoming heavy. It took all of my concentration to tighten my fingers around the blade of the sword and keep it aloft.

Bodies were edging closer and closer to me. The men and women who had been snuggling in a sweet depiction of love were now stood around me, guns drawn and their attention focused solely on me. There was nothing loving about the expressions on their faces.

"Stay back," I slurred edging to the side.

Not looking phased at all by my sword and the threat it posed, the people converging on me just mimicked my movements ensuring I was completely surrounded. Black spots danced at the edge of my vision and finally I felt panic set in. Where was Castiel? Surely he should be back by now? I sucked in a sharp breath – did they have him already? Was he hurt?

Staggering forwards, I stumbled over my own leaden feet and fell to the floor. My hands were too clumsy and I couldn't bring them up in time to save my face from hitting the floor. Blood gushed but due to the drugs pumping through my system the pain was nothing but a dull ache.

My sword vanished in my distraction. I pushed my arms under my body and tried my best to push my body up off of the floor but it was like they were made of noodles not skin and bone. They slid away leaving me tired and panting on the floor.

My thoughts became muggier and muggier. My eyes fluttered closing longer and longer each time. I tried to fight it but already I could feel the tranquiliser doing its job. Sleep was the last thing I wanted but against my will I succumbed to the power of the drug.

As my eyes closed for the final time, I vaguely felt hands wrapping around my leaden arms and pulling me off of the floor. Then there was only blackness.