Angel of Distrust

by Tabitha Barret

  Calin snickered. “If I can’t use my guns, how do you expect me to keep these things away from us?” he asked, motioning to the Shades.

  Vaughn slowly walked in a circle, paying attention to everything around him. “We don’t need to keep the Shades away from us; you need to keep them away from Liam and yourself. Oh, and Derick, who is standing too far away to actually be helpful,” he said, glancing at the nearest cave entrance where Derick was attempting to keep watch over the exit. “They eat mortals, not angels.”

  “I thought they ate souls,” Liam said, confused by Vaughn’s statement.

  “No, the Bhakṣaka eat the souls of the mortals and the Shades eat anything that isn’t an angel, usually,” Vaughn frowned.

  “Quiet!” Lucifer yelled. He knocked into Liam’s arm and pushed him out of the way, so that he could move to the next sealed off tunnel entrance along the interior wall that led to the Mortal Realm.

  Liam rolled his eyes and ignored Lucifer. This wasn’t the first time Lucifer had been rude to him. He mentally complained to Calin and Derick about Lucifer being a dick, but kept his ears and eyes open for the intruders.

  Shuffling to his left made Liam jump. He turned around and shoved his torch into a dark space that was too far from the torches spread along the outer cave wall to light up. Hopping back, he narrowly avoided a Shade that was crawling toward him. The creature was trying to claw at his leg and bite him with its exposed teeth. Its face was rotting away on one side and completely gone on the other. Its legs were missing below the knees so it was forced to crawl to hunt its prey.

  “These things are seriously nasty,” Liam said scrunching up his face.

  Trying being bitten by one, Derick replied inside his mind.

  You don’t have to be here, Derick. Go back to the Hall of Mirrors and wait for Anjali to contact us. I think she’s past due. You should try to contact her, Liam said, feeling Derick’s terror. He had seen the Shade attack through Derick’s memories and felt the pain from the bites in his leg. There was no reason for him to be this close to the monsters.

  Calin agreed and told Derick to go back to the castle so that he didn’t have to worry about protecting him too.

  Sighing, Derick quietly retreated.

  “Here!” Malcolm shouted as he lifted his sword and deflected one of the intruder’s swords. Only the hand holding the sword was visible, while the rest of the creature remained unseen.

  Malcolm struck the air where he believed a body should be standing, but the sword soared through the air without hitting its mark. Frustrated, Malcolm growled and kicked a nearby rock. “I hate these fucking things!”

  “Focus, Malcolm! I’m still missing half of my pinkie because of these assholes,” Vaughn chided.

  “What are these things called again?” Liam asked as he watched Malcolm attempt to fight the invisible creature.

  “They are immortals who have nothing better to do than waste my time,” Lucifer snapped. He walked in circles, staring at the ground. He gripped his sword in his hand and swung at a group of curious Shades. They retreated when they saw Lucifer and gave him space to move. “The Shades can’t see them, but they can smell them. I usually use them to track these beings, but you and Calin are distracting them with your presence.”

  Calin lowered his guns and turned to face Lucifer. “I’m more than happy to leave,” he said snidely.

  Lucifer shot him a look of warning and shook his head. Liam found it interesting that Lucifer was essentially asking for their help, even though he hated them.

  Lucifer is complicated like that. He hates us, but expects us to bail out his ass when he needs help, Calin snickered.

  Great, and here I thought I would never have to work for a shitty boss ever again, Liam said, rolling his eyes.

  Welcome to being a Nachtghul in Hell, Calin laughed. He turned to shoot a Shade in the face and watched its chin explode into little bits.

  Liam’s chuckle was cut short when he heard a blade whizzing through the air a second before he jerked his head back. A disembodied hand passed over his face as the sword missed him by an inch. He flexed his fingers to release the claws in his left hand, just as he’d practiced a hundred times since he and Anjali had been working to control his wolf, and slashed at an area of space on the opposite side of the sword. The creature was trying to trick them by angling the blade in a misleading direction to avoid detection. His claws met with skin and a spray of blood flew through the air. The creature grunted but didn’t show itself. Liam followed up with another strike with his claws, but came up empty.

  “I hurt it,” Liam yelled. “They are using misdirection. Don’t go for the obvious attack, they are intentionally pointing their blades in unusual positions to trick us.”

  Crevan huffed and slashed his sword through the air. “That’s why we can never hit them. Damn it! We need to kill these things once and for all!”

  Malcolm yelled in pain at the same time that Vaughn was tossed to the ground. Liam looked at both angels, but didn’t see any swords. Both of the angels had been hit by a fist or a foot. Apparently, the creatures also spoke English. This would be easier if only he and Calin were fighting them and could avoid speaking out loud.

  “What do they want?” Calin yelled as he scanned the area, hoping to avoid another sneak attack.

  “Takeru and Masao want their lover back,” Hades grumbled as he entered the cave with a torch in one hand and a sword in the other. “They were once proud warriors, brothers who tragically fell in love with a temptress named Luna. They sold their souls to the Shin No Kao, aka the Face of Death, a false god who enslaves mortals and grants them immortality, as long as they work for him. They became immortals so that they could free Luna. She stupidly attacked a Heavenly Angel and she was sentenced to life in the Hall of Shadows. The brothers are assassins for the Shin No Kao but use their free time to rescue Luna. These two invade Hell every few decades to try to free her. They hate each other so much and are so jealous of each other that it takes them that long to put their differences aside and return for another battle with us. In short, they are a pain in my ass.” He immediately swung his blade to block the sword aimed at his head. “They also have huge egos and don’t like being insulted. Now shut up, and kill them!”

  Liam bristled at Hades’ command and gritted his teeth. More than once, he’d almost shifted on the spot and bitten Hades. He didn’t like it when Hades made snide comments about Anjali. He was still trying to control his anger and his need to shift, so technically he could use it as an excuse and get away with biting him, at least once, without repercussions. He was waiting for the right moment to use his get out of jail free card.

  He watched Hades and Lucifer search the area, while Malcolm got to his feet and moved closer to the exit. He looked like he’d had enough fun for one day. Crevan was waving his torch at the Shades on the opposite side of their perimeter, who were working themselves up into a frenzy from the fresh blood. Vaughn was ignoring everyone and focusing on finding a sound that wasn’t being drowned out by the snarling and snapping of the Shades’ teeth.

  Liam shook his head. They were wasting their time. They were fighting enemies who were not only invisible, but were trained in the art of deception.

  Lucifer dodged another attack and swore at the brothers. “Cowards! Face me!”

  Liam threw up his arms in frustration. “Why aren’t they trying to leave? They could walk right past us without being seen,” Liam asked, annoyed by their strange game.

  Hades smiled. “Finally, an intelligent question. And here I thought Derick was the only smart one. The brothers can hide within the shadows. Their uniforms allow them to use the darkness as a cloak. Our torches can’t find them because there isn’t enough light in here. If they enter the main part of Hell, there is enough light to force them to reveal their true forms. They need to keep us chasing our tails so that they can kill us. They’ve been thwarted by us enough times to know that they are no match for us in the light. They would r
un like scared little children back into the dark places and bide their time!” Hades yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. This time he turned sideways just before two swords on either side of him tried to take off his arms.

  Liam rolled his eyes at Hades’ attempt to piss off the brothers. He looked down at the blood on his hand and frowned. He hated the smell of blood. His wolf was way too interested in the smell and craved a hunt, but in mortal form, it turned his stomach. He wiped his hands on his jeans and watched Calin shoot a daring Shade in the kneecap.

  Liam quickly looked down at his hand again. Blood was the answer. “If I shift, I can smell the blood of the injured one,” he said feeling hopeful for the first time.

  “Absolutely not!” Hades yelled.

  “NO!” Lucifer roared.

  “Why not…My Lords?” Liam asked begrudgingly.

  “I prefer my arms attached to my body. I’m told that you are still having trouble controlling your beast. Besides, you haven’t earned my trust yet. For all I know, you could be a sleeper agent who will crawl back to your real master and release Fenris,” Hades replied snidely. He tiptoed closer to the cave exit, while glaring at Liam.

  “You are too unpredictable in wolf form. Without Lady Black here to keep you in check, I have no guarantees that you will remember who you are and refrain from biting us. I do not want to fight two different types of enemies. I would rather be sliced by a blade than have sharp teeth in my jugular,” Lucifer yelled, waving away his suggestion.

  Liam growled, but accepted that he was forbidden to shift, even though it would help find the brothers.

  Hades looked at Vaughn and silently shrugged, signaling that he was at a loss.

  Vaughn sighed. “They have to be here, My Lord. Paris and Zel are standing watch near the entrance of the Hall of Shadows to stop the brothers in case they try to slip past us. Someone would have noticed a brawl by now.”

  Without warning, Calin was thrown into the horde of Shades as a blade slashed Crevan across the chest. Crevan yelled and fought back, but was immediately slashed across the leg before Vaughn and Hades could get to him.

  Vaughn raced toward Crevan, who was kneeling and groaning in pain. Vaughn was met with two quick strikes: one that caught him on the cheek and the other that hit his left arm above his elbow.

  Liam watched Calin fall into the teeth of the awaiting Shades in slow motion. Unconcerned about Lucifer and Hades’ orders, he shifted in mid-air and landed on his paws a few feet from Calin. He loudly growled at the Shades, who quickly retreated. Liam figured that they had never encountered a werewolf before.

  Calin continued to fire at the gnarled mass of bone and exposed muscle as he fell.

  Don’t shoot me while I’m trying to save you, Liam yelled.

  No promises! Calin yelled as two of the Shades pinned Calin to the ground and bit through his leather jacket to find his flesh.

  Liam barreled through a tight grouping of monsters and knocked them out of the way. He grabbed one of the Shades with his teeth, who was too busy trying to eat Calin to notice a giant white wolf growling at it. Liam clamped his jaws around the Shade’s neck and tossed him across the cave. Calin was able to free his arm and unload on the other Shade, who wanted to tear off his right arm.

  Liam roared at the Shade with the fresh bullet holes in its head lying next to Calin’s arm, forcing it to look at him in confusion. Though the Shades weren’t intelligent creatures, Liam could detect some kind of fear in its cloudy eyes. It slowly crawled away, but kept looking back at Calin as if it would come after him again, if given the opportunity.

  Though he was bleeding and in pain, Calin got to his feet and changed out the magazines in his guns to reload. He glanced at his left shoulder and his right forearm and swore. Liam saw through Calin’s eyes and realized that the wounds were bad. He wouldn’t be able to continue the fight for much longer.

  Thanks for the assist, but I’m still able to aim which means that I can keep fighting, Calin said, putting his hip against Liam’s side, and attempting to cover their left flank.

  I don’t know about that. You’re bleeding pretty badly and these Shades are drooling over the smell of your blood. I think it’s time for you to go rest, Liam said as he snarled at one of the Shades who was reaching out to slash at him with his boney claws.

  You just want me to leave because you can smell my blood too, Calin grimaced.

  It’s definitely not helping, he admitted.

  Liam bared his teeth at the horde and challenged a few of the braver walking corpses. Together, Liam and Calin slowly backed out of the horde, careful not to turn their backs on the monsters. Just as they returned to Calin’s original position, one of the Shades leaped at Calin from his left side. Unable to move his arm fast enough to shoot it, he braced himself for the impact. Liam saw the monster and jumped in front of Calin. He caught the side of the corpse along its ribcage and clamped down on the exposed bone. The sickening crunch was loud enough to be heard above Lucifer’s swears.

  Liam tried not to hurl when the ribcage disintegrated in his mouth and he was forced to spit out the bones. The Shade became limp and fell to the ground. He expected it to get up and start crawling after them, just as he seen with the others, but this Shade wasn’t moving.

  I told you that it was time to leave. Stop being stubborn, Liam said rolling his eyes. Is it dead?

  Calin pushed its arm with the toe of his boot and shrugged. “I don’t think they sleep, so I guess you killed it,” he said out loud. He stepped away just in case it was playing dead. “I’m not stubborn, I’m determined. I don’t like to lose and I don’t like being bitten. I will stand here all day and shoot them in the head if I have to.”

  Liam backed away and continued to spit out bits of bone. I think you need a new hobby. I hear that competitive darts are fun.

  Calin flipped him off and turned to see if Vaughn was okay.

  Liam looked over his shoulder to see what was happening with the Fallen when he smelled it. He had found the scent of the injured brother. His wolf side inhaled the scent of his enemy and told his body to crouch down low. He tilted his head and pinpointed the exact location of his enemy when a second scent caught his attention. It was heavy compared to the scent of the other warm beings in the darkness. The smell wasn’t exactly fear, but something similar to it, perhaps anxiety. It was the third scent that made his eyes narrow and the whiskers on his muzzle twitch. There were more than two intruders.

  Letting out an ear-piercing howl, Liam launched himself at the closest target, his nails scraping against the cave floor. As he got closer, he could almost see the outline of a cloaked figure. It looked like the warrior was wearing long flowing robes that wrapped around his body when he moved. Supposedly, Shin No Kao’s assassins could hide in the darkness, but he was a predator and could see in the dark. His instincts took over and the wolf pursued its prey.

  Calin sent another round of bullets at the Shades. “Hades, Liam’s in full-on wolf mode, so be careful. His thoughts are more jumbled and harder to sort through, especially when I’m trying to stay alive over here, but I heard Liam say that there are more than two intruders. He smells three of them and he’s going after the bloody one. I suggest you stay clear because he’s not in complete control,” Calin shouted.

  “Damn it! Who told him to shift?” Hades swore. He jumped backward and tripped over the uneven cave floor, landing awkwardly on his wrist.

  Lucifer raised his sword in defense and watched Liam chase an unseen opponent. “Perhaps he’s more useful than I originally thought,” he said condescendingly.

  Hades huffed as he got to his feet, but immediately turned to block the sword aimed at his head. He swung his sword in an unlikely spot, hoping to determine his attacker’s hiding place. He laughed when his sword found its mark and cut through his opponent’s shoulder. Assuming that the warrior had fallen to the ground, he threw out his foot and connected with something hard, presumably a leg or a knee. The grunt that followed alerted
Hades to the warrior’s position. Without hesitation, he swung his sword with both hands wrapped around the hilt. The warrior’s black hood was suddenly visible as part of his head flew through the air. The black robes of the warrior became visible as his head rolled across the rocky ground.

  “Find the third one!” Hades yelled.

  Derick shook off the inhuman growls of the Shades, the growls that haunted his nightmares and caused him many sleepless nights. As instructed, he headed back to the castle. He hated that his fear was too much for him to conquer, but after being at Maraquette’s mercy in the cave and having the teeth of those nasty things tear into him, he didn’t have a choice. He felt like a loser, but he couldn’t ignore how afraid he was. He was letting Calin and Liam down by running away, but Calin was right, he was more of a liability. He admired Calin’s take-charge attitude and Liam’s strength, even though they sometimes argued. Compared to them, he didn’t have any useful skills. Sure, he could read a book and figure out puzzles, but big fucking deal.

  Malcolm’s words upon his arrival in Hell constantly haunted him. “Watch your back and find a way to be useful beyond being a messenger pigeon.” He often thought about that when Anjali looked to Calin to protect her. He remembered how Alazar had wanted to train him how to fight, but he decided against it. He believed that it was more important to remain compassionate instead of becoming a cold mercenary like Calin when his guns were in his hands. Now he was starting to rethink his moral objection to learning how to fight.

  He was halfway back to the castle when he felt Calin’s pain and heard Liam’s wolf voice in his mind. Liam’s rational side sounded like a person; whereas his wolf side tended to be less conversational and more emotional the longer he was in wolf form. His instincts somehow spoke for him. Derick could see Liam fighting the Shades and cheered for him. For a second, he thought about going back to help Calin, but Calin immediately told him to go back to the castle.