Angel Falls (Cassandra Bick Chronicles Book 3)

by Sinclair, Tracey

  ***

  We straggled, exhaustedly, and I was struggling by now to put one foot in front of the other. It felt like days rather than hours since Jonesy’s attack in the alley, and the night wasn’t over yet. More than ever I wished I was one of those fictional characters who, no matter what their job, always manage to live in some super cool place like a converted warehouse or old lighthouse or church. My battered little flat was definitely starting to feel overpopulated. We were barely through the front door when Medea and Mariko came out from the kitchen to greet us, a recovered looking Val behind them. Mariko flew into Leon’s arms and he hugged her so tightly he lifted her off the ground: yup, I was calling it, more than just workmates. Katie embraced Medea with a ferocity that made me think I was right about her saving up her trauma until she could be comforted privately by her fiancée. Such was this giddy rush of reunions I thought, for a moment, Val and Cain might join in, but instead he just nodded coolly to her.

  ‘Wife.’

  ‘Husband,’ she responded, equally effusive. Laclos and Jonesy exchanged a glance at that, then we followed her back into the kitchen, which was where she tried to kill me.

  ***

  ‘How dare you mock me, human?’ Val snarled, suddenly, lunging forward, sword – seemingly from nowhere – now in hand. We fell back in astonishment, all of us but Cain, who looked as shocked as the rest of us but had reacted at lightning speed and grabbed her wrist.

  ‘Wife! Stay your sword!’ he barked, and though I wasn’t usually keen on that kind of husbandly edict, I admit I was relieved when, with a curl of her lip, the Valkyrie lowered her blade. Then I realised it wasn’t me she’d been yelling at. It was Katie.

  ‘You expect me to tolerate being so insulted!’ she spat, and we all looked at one another. Then with an internal eye roll I realised what was bothering her. Katie, having received both her fair share of blood and vomit back at Laclos’, had discarded her own t-shirt and pulled on one of mine. It was one she and Medea had bought me as a joke present, a reference to our joint love of superhero movies. It was only now it became apparent what a bad idea it was to be standing in front of one of Odin’s shieldmaidens wearing a t-shirt that featured a horned helmet and the legend, ‘I’d kneel before Loki’.

  ‘It’s a joke!’ I protested, stepping in front of Katie and trying not to notice how very long and very sharp that sword looked. Medea put her arm around Katie’s shoulders, face set in a grim line.

  ‘Really – he’s a character in a film.’ I explained. ‘That’s all.’

  Val looked to Cain.

  ‘She speaks truth?’

  ‘Probably,’ he shrugged, though clearly about as clued in as she was. But Laclos stepped forward with a low bow.

  ‘She does, my warrior. It is a film, a mortal amusement. The child knows nothing of your god of lies, and she meant no insult.’ Really, did everyone start talking like this around the Viking? But while I might have thought he was laying it on thick, Val seemed visibly thawed by his efforts.

  ‘Maybe when this is over we need to sit you down with a couple of Thor DVDs,’ Katie muttered, pulling away from Medea to help herself to some wine, shock sharpening the Scots in her accent.

  ‘My lord Thor is in your entertainments?’ Val looked at Cain, puzzled, despite the fact you’d think she’d know by now how much help he’d be on the pop culture questions. She was regarding us all like this was some giant prank, albeit one where she cut off our heads to show us how funny we were.

  ‘Um… he is,’ I unlocked and hastily scrolled down my phone. I knew having ‘shirtless Chris Hemsworth’ saved to my searches would come in useful someday. Val looked at the screen I held out to her, and her nostrils flared.

  ‘That is a great improvement on the original,’ she remarked, somewhat sniffily, which made Laclos laugh out loud.

  ‘Oh, angel. I do adore your wife.’

  Cain took a long look around the room and let out a weary sigh.

  ‘Jesus, I need a drink.’

  ***

  Since we had long-since passed from late night into early morning, I made tea and coffee for those who didn’t have supernatural hangover-avoiding abilities as Leon and Mariko did the inevitable recap, though what they told us of the attack shed little light on our situation. Leon had seen Alastair, but not Amalthea, and there had been no sign of Josephine, so we had no idea if this was the Scotsman lashing out alone – I had only my addled Sense to indicate Amalthea had been there – or part of a coordinated action. I wasn’t sure which would be better, but I suppose the one sliver of hope was that it wasn’t someone else entirely who Laclos had happened to piss off. I was starting to lose track of our enemies.

  Cain was being uncharacteristically domestic, doling out top-ups of coffee, wine and beer (Jonesy drank coffee, but laced with scotch – a proper hunter breakfast), though I suspect this was less from wanting to be useful, more to avoid the awkwardness of his wife and his lover being in the same room, not to mention the fact that his new-found blood buddy was rather shamelessly eyeing up both of us. Still, you realise how very far from normal your life is when your immortal boyfriend is having to apologise to a Viking goddess about the lack of mead and asking the vampires if they want a bit more blood in their wine. I had wondered if he would recount his part of the story – his angelic part – but although he clearly thought of Leon and Mariko as allies, there were limits to what he would share, and Laclos’ slip aside, we steered clear of all mention of angelic interference.

  ‘So what do we do?’ Medea asked, ever the practical one, though she had to stifle a yawn to do so. She and Katie were clearly as knackered and ready for bed as I was, though Katie, used to nightshifts, seemed to be bearing up a bit better than we were.

  ‘We strike back and destroy our enemies!’ Val thumped the table with her bottle. Mariko looked at her approvingly – always one to appreciate a beautiful woman, she was clearly doubly impressed with one who took the same ‘slash first, ask questions later’ approach to conflict she herself favoured. Laclos leaned forward, chin in hand, and he looked so mesmerised by her presence I half expected him to bat his eyelashes at her.

  ‘Passionate as that argument is,’ Medea said, carefully. ‘It’s not really an actual plan.’ She cast an apologetic look at Laclos. ‘And, let’s face it, they were retaliating for Laclos’ actions. If we respond with aggression, aren’t we just repeating a cycle of violence?’

  ‘That is why we destroy them!’ Val thundered. Wow, I could see why she and Cain had got married. ‘The slain cannot seek revenge. Admittedly, I care nothing for the undead vermin,’ she went on, seemingly oblivious to the undead vermin sitting around the table with her. ‘But I owe this vampire a blood debt. He helped save my life, even though it was against his own interests to do so.’

  Laclos frowned, puzzled, and she looked impatient at his lack of comprehension.

  ‘You wish to bed my husband, do you not?’ There was a splutter of embarrassed disbelief from Cain, and she cast a disapproving look in my direction. ‘Had he looked at my mate in such a way when we were together, I would have struck his head from his neck. I can only assume your own desire for the vampire means you are no obstacle to him claiming his bounty.’

  Great. A few hours ago she was blind, now she was the fricking Mentalist.

  ‘Please don’t call me anyone’s bounty,’ Cain groaned. Val gave him an implacable look, and he muttered something about refreshing everyone’s drinks and went back to the fridge, opening the door and peering inside like he could find an escape route to Narnia.

  ‘Good lord,’ Laclos murmured. ‘You truly are a magnificent creature. How you were married to that one for centuries without being bored is baffling to me. He must be exceptionally good in bed.’

  Val looked affronted, though both Leon and Mariko perked up with interest at the word ‘centuries’. Shit.

  ‘On the battlefield or in the bedchamber, he is without equal!’ she announced, proudly, and Cain let out a mew
l of protest as the rest of us tried not to laugh. Val snorted at his embarrassment.

  ‘Would you have people believe I chose poorly?’ she demanded, to Cain’s back. He obviously wasn’t planning to come out of that fridge anytime soon. But, serves me right for laughing, because she then turned that gimlet eye on me.

  ‘And you, Cassandra Bick. I had thought you mediocre, but to have two such men in your thrall and to keep the company of such warriors, you must have… hidden depths.’ She sounded slightly begrudging: clearly she thought those depths were very well hidden indeed.

  ‘Um, thanks.’

  Pleased with what she clearly thought was some new truce, she slammed her bottle hard on the table again.

  ‘Husband! More refreshments. Let us toast this new alliance and drink to the slaughter of our enemies!’

  ‘Um… that wasn’t actually what we just agreed…’ Medea ventured. I got up and went to Cain, hoping the chill air of the fridge might cool my flaming cheeks. I leaned in beside him, and whispered into his ear.

  ‘Bet you wish the angels would come back and smite you now, right?’

  He gave a fervent nod.

  ‘Oh fuck, yes.’

  ***

  ‘So… tell me, this whole "undead vermin" thing aside, would you ever consider taking a vampire for a lover?’ Laclos asked, winningly, and Cain jerked out of the fridge so quickly he smacked his head on the shelf.

  ‘Jesus, Laclos!’ I exclaimed.

  Laclos looked from Cain’s aghast face to mine, all innocence.

  ‘I’m not saying now,’ he pouted. ‘But we are immortal, after all. It pays to establish one’s options.’

  I shook my head in exasperation, though couldn’t fail to notice Val didn’t look particularly outraged at the suggestion. I wondered how he could even think of such a thing after tonight, but then I also wondered how much of this was an act – it was becoming clear Laclos favoured the same defence mechanisms as me, snark and irreverence. It takes one to know one, after all, and I suspected he was far more affected by what had happened back in the crypt than he let on.

  Cain seemed less convinced of this, and shot Laclos a glare before turning to me.

  ‘Could we have a word?’ he nodded to the door, ignoring the fact that this request for privacy drew curious looks from the whole room.

  ‘Uh, sure.’ I went to follow him out, but both of us turned as Laclos stood as well.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want me to listen from in here?’

  I expected Cain to protest, but he just sighed, and with a weary look stalked out of the room, Laclos on his heels. Embarrassed at this rather obvious ‘I don’t trust you all’ tactic, I grimaced a vague apology to the room in general and hurried after them, trying to ignore how justifiably pissed off everyone looked at our departure.

  Laclos and Cain were waiting for me by the front door: when I opened my mouth to speak, Laclos shook his head. While I knew he had a better idea than I did of a vampire’s capabilities, I felt he was being over cautious – both Leon and Mariko were pretty young – but nevertheless I said nothing as we went outside the flat, to the corridors beyond. I just hoped none of my neighbours went to work early.

  ‘You’re not going to hit me for flirting with your wife, are you?’ Laclos asked, coyly. ‘After all, it’s probably your fault. All of that blood of yours inside me, I barely know if I’m reacting to my desire or yours.’

  ‘Oh, knock it off, will you?’ Cain snapped, annoyed. ‘There’s no ‘blood bond’ here. We are not linked in any way. You can’t see into my soul and you can’t read my mind.’

  Laclos put a hand to his head dramatically, Professor X style.

  ‘Right at this moment… you are thinking about punching me.’

  Despite himself, Cain smiled.

  ‘OK, maybe you can read my mind.’

  It was my turn to be annoyed.

  ‘OK, did you drag me out here so you could do your little Crowley and Aziraphale routine, or was there a point to this?’

  Laclos looked blank, but Cain looked pleased with himself.

  ‘Oh, hey, I know that reference. It’s a book!’

  ‘Well, good for you, Captain America,’ I snapped, which lost him again – a bit mean, I knew, but I was really, really tired. ‘Can we just get this over with?’

  Cain nodded, looking uncomfortable.

  ‘Look, I just don’t think it’s a good idea to let my wife get involved in this.’

  ‘Too much baggage, angel? Because awkward as it may be that your ex-lover just tried to kill your ex-wife and your current girlfriend’s lover had to use his blood to save her life, she seems a formidable ally to have.’

  ‘Wife,’ Cain corrected, which in no way annoyed me.

  ‘Current girlfriend’s ex-lover.’ I added, pointedly, but Laclos grinned.

  ‘For now, dear heart.’

  I ignored that and turned to Cain.

  ‘Much as I hate to agree with him when he’s being an annoying prick, he has a point. With you… under par and Medea out of the game, we need all the help we can get.’

  ‘But this is personal for her, now,’ Cain protested. ‘The angels humiliated her.’ He looked away for a moment, his face assuming that now-familiar, ever-annoying ‘it’s like explaining nuclear physics to sheep’ expression. But what he said next surprised me. ‘You know, I was a pretty good husband.’

  I felt Laclos about to say a smart remark, but something in Cain’s expression stopped him.

  ‘But even if I hadn’t been…’ Cain went on. ‘Even if I’d been the kind of arsehole who thinks a strong woman needs a slap now and again – and trust me, back in the day that was a pretty common viewpoint – I would never have raised my hand to her.’

  ‘Because she would have cut your head off in your sleep?’ I suggested.

  ‘There’s that,’ he conceded, approvingly. I suspected Cain thought the best remedy for domestic violence was a permanent one. ‘But I mean… I dunno how much your movies about Thor and Loki cover about the Valkyries…’

  ‘They’re mainly focused on the hot guys, in fairness,’ I admitted.

  ‘OK. But… they’re a sisterhood. You hurt one…’ He trailed off. ‘Right now, she’s too pissed off and embarrassed to call the cavalry, but if things get worse…’

  ‘You mean there are more of them?’ Laclos asked, openly delighted.

  I pushed him out of the way.

  ‘OK, but why is that a bad thing? We’re pretty outgunned right now. The more firepower the better, surely?’

  ‘But at what cost, Cass? You live in one of the world’s most populated cities. You think a Valkyrie-angel-vampire smackdown is going to go down quiet?’ He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. ‘You saw what happened when I tackled the Counsel. It wasn’t taking him out that weakened me – it was stopping myself pulling half the city down with him. You think Aeylith and Baelam will be as careful if they end up in a scrap with a bunch of warrior goddesses?’

  I was about to protest when I realised what this was about. Val hadn’t been there when he’d agreed to give himself up to the angels. She didn’t know that was his plan – and, even little as I knew her, I couldn’t see her agreeing to it. But Laclos hadn’t joined those dots, yet.

  ‘So what do you suggest we do?’ he asked, his own calmness fraying.

  To my astonishment, Cain reacted to this seemingly harmless question with fury. He grabbed me and shoved me hard behind him, away from Laclos, and I had a moment to wonder what the hell was happening, then the room went white and I stumbled against him.

  A smooth voice said:

  ‘I suggest you surrender to the inevitable.’

  Both Laclos and Cain had stepped in front of me – one, admittedly, more steadily than the other – but peering past them I could see Baelam, arms folded, looking pretty pleased with himself. Seriously, was he watching us or something? Nobody’s timing is that good.

  ‘I thought we agreed a timescale,’ Cain said, evenly
.

  Baelam looked amused, though his voice had a thinly veiled veneer of disgust.

  ‘I thought I would… pop by to remind you not to get so distracted by your… harem… that you forget your obligations.’

  I rolled my eyes at this – what was it with everyone assuming it was all free love around here? – but Laclos reacted to this barb by stepping closer to Cain and, in an oddly intimate gesture, hooking a couple of fingers through the belt loop on his jeans.

  ‘I’m sorry, darling,’ he murmured, tilting his head towards Cain. ‘I thought you said it was the other one who was in love with you?’

  Baelam snarled at that – clearly he prided himself on being the professional one in his partnership – and raised a hand, and the walls around us started to tremble.

  ‘Will you be so smug when I bring this structure down around you, vampire?’ he hissed, and as he lifted his hand, the whole building shook. Terrified, I grabbed onto Cain, but he appeared utterly bored by the whole thing.

  ‘Oh, just stop it, will you?’ he sighed, and with a wave of his own hand, the world instantly stilled. Baelam gaped at him, astonished.

  ‘They told me you were weakened!’ he gasped, but Cain shrugged.

  ‘Guess not. Maybe you should be wondering what else they say about me that isn’t true.’ Then he smiled that lupine smile, and for a moment Baelam looked actually worried. Then he didn’t look anything – he was gone again in a wall of whiteness.