Apocalypse's Horsemen (Devil's Assistant Series - Book 3)

Apocalypse's Horsemen [23]

Coughing and spluttering, I kept moving forwards. Dread filled the pit of my stomach as half of Lucius office was obscured. I didn’t want to see. Didn’t want to know and yet I had to see it for myself. The smoke was too thick, too heavy to see more than my hand in front of my face. I beat my wings and through the gap in the cloying particles I could finally see. The spot where Lucius had been only seconds before was now nothing more than a gaping hole in the side of the building. It was like some fiery beast had bitten a huge chunk from the building.

More flashing lights streaked through the sky and smashed into London. I felt the tremor that rippled through the city but let out a breath of relief. The impacts were further away now and yet there was no doubt each fiery strike wrought more devastation. I tried to feel guilt at the loss of life but my attention was now focused on the bigger picture.

Beating wings had my attention snapping to the left. An angel hovered in the sky just a few feet out side of the broken windows, his head lifted to the sky above while his left hand was wrapped firmly around his angel sword. He was wearing nothing more than a short tunic that would surely give those below a startling view. I didn’t even want to think about what existed beneath the clothes of an angel. It was such a ludicrous thought when the city was under attack.

Closing my eyes, I tried not to think about Lucius or the angel’s lack of attire. Instead, I beat my wings, calling my own angel blade as I moved outside of the window to join him.

“Father will not be pleased. He dislikes suffering. He bares the pain and suffering upon his shoulders as if it were his own.” The solemn words were spoken in a matter-of-fact tone and yet when I actually met his stare, I saw the pain that was reflected there.

“Do you know what it is?” I asked as I watched more and more lights flashing through the sky.

“They’re rocks falling from the sky.”

“Meteors? Is it the Horsemen?” I asked but already knowing the answer. To prove my point, a flash of light went hurtling through the air and then, with no provocation, swerved course mid-flight and came careening towards us.

Not able to move out of the way of the piece of space rock hurtling towards me, I held up my blade and swung it before it could make contact.

I felt the reverberations all the way up my arm as the flaming ball of light diverted to the let while I was sent propelling backwards. If it wasn’t for the steading arm of the angel, I would have fallen back into the burning building behind me.

“Thanks.” I murmured, moving my blade to my other hand and then shook out my tingling arm.

The angel inclined his head as he continued to hover there, his eyes watched over the city while his lips pressed into a thin line.

“What’s your name?”

The angel turned his attention to me for a brief second, his face cold and harsh – the face of a warrior.

“It does not matter. There is a high likelihood that neither of us will survive today and it would be a burden to know the names of those that are lost.” With those words, the angel beat his wings, his slender frame lifting his in the sky as his silver hair glowed with power. 

With a shake of my head, I slowed the beat of my wings and allowed my body to fall from the sky slowly but with little grace. I dropped to the ground outside of Satani Media.  There was a gasp. I turned and saw a man backpedalling. I had thumped to the ground less than two feet from the man and the final beat of my wings had sent his hat flying from his head and his spectacles in disarray.

“It’s not safe here. You need to leave the city now.” I nodded my head upwards just as another streak of light flashed overhead.

It struck the very top of Satani Media sending glass and debris raining down at us. The man simply stared at the instruments of death coming towards him with a blank expression on his face. With a growl, I closed the space between us, my wings cocooning the pair of us within.  

I felt every blow and scratch as I was struck from all sides. The attack did not last long and as soon as the last piece bounced off of my wings I released us. I met the man’s stare, wanting nothing more than to wipe the gormless expression he had on his face, and gave him a hard shove away from the Satani Media skyscraper.

 “Go. NOW.” My words were firm and seemed to break through his shock.

With a hasty nod, he scooped his hat from the floor and hurried away as fast as his feet could carry him. I rolled my eyes.

When he disappeared around the edge of the next building, I lifted my head to peer up at the buildings around me. Each appeared to be standing relatively strong despite the blows that they had been struck but they were nothing more than glass and steel. I had no doubt that they would tumble should the strikes continue.

I sighed. Now was not the time for pessimism. There were horsemen to catch and standing here thinking about the worst eventualities was not going to help our cause.

There were several Angels already gliding through the air above me so I folded my wings against my back and followed the path beside the Thames. The horsemen would be close. I could feel it within me. They would want to watch their destruction – to see the terror that they have caused. It was all about ego and revenge. They would need a good vantage point to see the world crumbling under their attacks.

I used my wings to lift my body into the air, I raised myself ten… twenty… fifty feet in the air and then reviewed the world around me. I almost smacked my head in stupidity. The shard was a relatively new building on the London skyline but it surpassed even the Satani Media building in height. It gleamed bright, untouched by the destruction around it.

It was a textbook move by the villains. They may as well have put a giant ‘X’ over their hideout.

 I waved my hand at the closest Angel that was hovering no more than twenty feet away to grab their attention. It was a woman with long dark hair braided to the back of her hair so tightly it appeared painful. She made no attempt to hide the obvious contempt she held for me. I would have startled had my mind not been occupied by much graver things.

She was beautiful like every angel I had ever seen. She was dainty but strong, her angel blade a powerful double edged blade that glinted in the light with deadly promise.  I ignored the glare she was sending my way, the way her delicate oriental features had screwed up in distaste and instead gestured towards the shard building.

She nodded her head after tilted her head as she peered hard at the building. I had no idea what she was looking for but I took it as a good sign when flew away without as much as a word.

I did not have time to assess her hostility and instead set my sights upon the Shard building. This was it. Soon all the angels would know and our counter attack would begin. I could feel the energy that suddenly passed through the air. The countdown had started.

I closed my eyes and murmured a quick prayer under my breath.

And then I waited.