Angel Burn (Book 1 Of Angel Trilogy)

Chapter 37| The Last AK

Chapter 37| The Last AK

Normal POV

Lucy looked at the two chairs. "Here, why don't the two of you sit at the table, and we'll take the bed?" she suggested to the agents. Smoothing her hair back, she quickly tied it into a knot.

"Call us Evergreen and Bickslow, please," said Evergreen as she took a seat.

Natsu propped his rifle against the wall without responding. He had no intention of getting chummy with these two until he knew what was going on. He grabbed the unpacked T-shirt he'd left out for the day and pulled it on, then sat beside Lucy on the bed, leaning against the wall and tapping his fingers on his knee.

"How did you find us?" he asked.

"Remote viewing," said Bickslow. "I've been trying to get a psychic fix on you for weeks; it's not easy when there's no personal attachment. Finally I saw that you were up in the mountains somewhere. I kept thinking it was the Rockies; I wasted almost a week scanning them before moving farther west."

Lucy's eyes widened. "But if you can do that, then the other angels can, too."

"It's a specialized skill, but I'm sure they're trying," agreed Bickslow. "You're just lucky that we found you first."

"We're lucky," said Evergreen. "Though it would have saved a lot of time if we hadn't lost you outside of Phoenix."

"That was you following us on the interstate?" asked Lucy.

Bickslow nodded. "I've got contacts in the Church of Angels; I heard through the grapevine that a couple of devotees almost got you in Texas— for a while after that, we were only a few steps behind you."

"Kudos to both of you, by the way, for keeping alive so far," put in Evergreen. "It's quite an achievement."

Lucy shook her head. "It's all been Natsu," she said. "I'd have been dead the first day if it wasn't for him."

"You saved me, too," said Natsu quietly, thinking of their battle with the angels in New Mexico. Their gaze met, and then he turned back to the agents. "How long has Project Angel been infiltrated?"

"About four months," said Bickslow. "Some of the agents in the field had already died or been subject to angel burn by that point. The rest were dispatched by the angels or are now missing, presumed dead."

Natsu had known it already, but it was like a hard kick to the chest anyway. He saw Lucy dart him a concerned look, her eyes full of sympathy. "Right," he said finally. "So how come I wasn't dispatched?"

Bickslow gave a sad smile. "Because you were the best. So the angels decided to use you for their own purposes — doing away with traitors like me."

Natsu's spine straightened as he came away from the wall. "What?"

"That's right," said Evergreen. "For the past four months, every hit you've done has been an angel sympathetic to humans, who was working to help save them."

"You're insane," he said shortly. "I watch them, remember? Every single one was about to feed."

Bickslow shook his head. "No, they were going to do something called marshaling, where they place psychic resistance into a human's aura. It can act as a protection against feeding angels. In the right conditions, it can also be passed on to other humans through auric contact— almost like a virus, but with positive effects."

Natsu's mind raced. He thought back to his last hit before he'd received the order for Lucy: T. Goodman, approaching the drunken businessman on the sidewalk. Don't be afraid. I have something to give to you.