Gabriel nodded. “I’ll pay the bill then I’ll walk you back.”
“Thanks, Gabe.”
“So you feel okay about the plan we’re working with?”
“Yeah. It’s a good one, and I think it’ll work. Ish is beautiful and intelligent and she’ll distract just about everyone with eyes while that kid, Arthur, infiltrates Transom.”
“Ah, yes, the Purgatory aspect of the plan that Ondrass told us about as we were all leaving. And you’re okay with that too?”
“Agrat vouched for him.” Angelique shrugged. “I don’t know him, but her recommendation is good enough for me. If he’s half as good as she thinks he is, then he’ll be a damn perfect spy. I’m impressed that Lilith came up with the idea and more impressed at how fast Adramelek and Ondrass put it all together and told us before we all ’ported out.”
“I think so too.” Gabriel pulled his wallet out of his pocket and withdrew money to pay for their order and a generous tip. “All right, shall we head back?”
Angelique nodded. “Sounds good. Thanks for this, Gabe. You were right, I did need a bit of time to de-stress and talk. Being the alpha is great, and I wouldn’t change it for anything, but like you said, sometimes the commander needs to vent, and if there’s no one around to vent to, it gets bottled up until you explode.”
“Any time you need to talk, you call me, yeah?” Gabriel got to his feet, leaving the money on the table. “I ain’t ever so busy that I can’t come and listen. And if I can’t come that moment, you bet I’ll be there soon after.”
“Unless it’s a life or death situation, then I’ll want you there yesterday,” Angelique said as she also stood.
Gabriel chuckled. “Count on it, Trouble.”
Angelique moved to him and gave him a hug. Her arms were tight around him and her head pressed against his chest. Gabriel enveloped her in his own arms and kissed the top of her head in a paternal gesture.
“There now,” he murmured, “everything will be fine.”
“I know,” Angelique said, her voice slightly muffled against his chest. “You and the other Archangels and our Archdemons are on the job. We can’t help but win. See”—and she looked up at him, mischief on her face—“this is where I can be cocky. I have faith in you guys. So you can do no wrong, none of you.”
“Gee, no pressure, then,” Gabriel teased.
“Nope!”
He ruffled her hair. “We’ll do our best to get the job done.”
“And I can’t ask for more than that.”
AHIJAH WONDERED if his brother had taken leave of his senses.
“So it’ll be good and then we’ll head on down to Colorado and get this shit done,” Hiwa said.
Ahijah pinched the bridge of his nose. “You want us both to go to Russia with Angelique’s pack and that angel and be their interpreters? Don’t they have a Russian guy meeting them there to do that? How did you find out about this?”
“I eavesdropped. And I do and they do, but it’s better if we go too. I’ve got more contacts than the shifter does. I don’t even need to ask him about that, it’s just a plain fact.” Hiwa shrugged. “What’s the problem?”
“Russia is cold,” Ahijah said, as if that explained everything. It didn’t, of course, but it was all he could think to say that wouldn’t upset Hiwa. He didn’t want to go to Russia, he didn’t want to wander around a newly occupied, formerly abandoned Soviet-era town, he didn’t want to visit a gulag, and he certainly didn’t want to mingle with the criminals who no doubt inhabited the area.
“Yes, and Australia’s hot. So?”
Ahijah took a deep breath. “I don’t want to go.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like the cold.”
Hiwa stared at him. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“Fine, you come to Brazil and stay for more than ten minutes,” Ahijah retorted. He knew they sounded like a pair of squabbling children, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“No. It’s too hot.” Hiwa pulled a face. “Okay, point taken. But Ahi, I need you.”
“Why?” Even as he asked, Ahijah knew he would give in. He usually did, when it came to Hiwa. Idly, he wondered why he’d even raised an objection in the first place.
“Because you’re my brother, I know you and I trust you. I don’t know these Venatores, and I don’t know the angel very well. I need you there to watch my back.”
“I don’t think anyone’s going to stab you in it, at least, not from our group,” Ahijah said.
“Yeah, sure. Remember Camael?”
Ahijah sighed. “Yeah, okay. I remember. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, and you’re right. For the record, I’m not happy about this.”
“Noted.” Hiwa was grinning, though, and Ahijah heaved another sigh. “Wear warm clothes.”
“No, I thought I’d wear shorts and a T-shirt. Honestly, Hiwa, how dumb do you think I am?”
“I don’t think you’re dumb at all. It’s just a thing—being all… what’s the word? Considerate.”
“Okay.” Ahijah gave up. “I’ll get ready. When are we going?”
“We’re being ’ported out in an hour.”
“Great,” Ahijah said, aware that he sounded profoundly unenthused.
“It really is. It’ll be awesome. I mean, we’ll do the job, but you’ll be in Russia with me, and that’s awesome.” Hiwa’s smile seemed to split his face in two.
Ahijah didn’t have the heart to tell him that was part of what he wasn’t looking forward to. He didn’t want Hiwa showing off his criminal talents, and he would prefer not to know anything about that part of his brother’s life. But Hiwa was smiling at him and looking so happy, Ahijah mustered up a smile in return and nodded.
“Yeah, it’ll be great.”
FOUR HOURS later, Ahijah wondered if he’d ever be warm again. Despite the many layers he wore and the parka with its fur-lined hood drawn up around his face, his teeth were chattering and his feet felt like ice. The Venatores, in their wolf shapes, looked unconcerned, but, Ahijah reasoned, wolves were used to the cold and they had built-in insulation that he, a summer-loving Nephilim, did not.
Hiwa was talking to a man who’d introduced himself as Piotr, and Ahijah wondered how Piotr had gone through life without being stabbed. He looked so much like the old Soviet leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, that Ahijah wasn’t convinced that someone hadn’t resurrected him for the late twenty-first century. Piotr and Hiwa were laughing and joking, and Ahijah deeply resented the pair of them. Couldn’t they at least pretend to feel the cold?
He looked around the town they were in. Kadykchan, he’d been told it was named, and it was like all Soviet era towns he’d ever seen. The buildings were gray and uniform, residential blocks standing in bleak formation like concrete soldiers frozen in time, merely awaiting orders from their Soviet leaders to march out and attack winter itself. Snow and pellets of ice fell fitfully around them, and there was a constant wind driving everything to and fro. Between the white of the snow and the gray of the concrete buildings, Kadykchan was one of the most depressing places that Ahijah had ever seen.
Attached to one wall of a building nearby was a faded hammer and sickle, the red paint having peeled and bleached to an unwholesome pink color, a sad yet defiant symbol of a regime that had destroyed the lives of millions and left its mark, like a stain, upon the soul of the land itself. Russia could be beautiful—Ahijah knew this, had seen Russia in summer and spring when flowers bloomed and children played, their laughter a joyful soundtrack to the sights and scents of a country alive and happy. But here, in this bleak northern town, Ahijah felt nothing but sadness and pity.
“So,” Hiwa’s voice cut into Ahijah’s thoughts, “Piotr says that only a skeleton crew of guards are living here in town now. Most of the other residents were here to be processed before being moved down to the gulag. I can get into that without any problem, but it’s going to be difficult to explain why I have wolves with me. This is what I propose. You all stay h
ere and wait for us—Ahi speaks Russian—and Piotr and I will go and see what we can find out.”
Angelique, identifiable by the pattern of silver on her muzzle, nodded. “That makes sense to me. I don’t think any of us speak Russian, and I really don’t want to be shot by a bored gulag guard.”
“I don’t want to be shot, period,” Baxter said, his mental voice wry. “We should’ve stayed home with Declan and Liam.”
“They opted not to come at the last minute, but you don’t have that choice, soldier,” Angelique said. “I need you in pack.”
“I know, I know. I’m just joking. Badly, because I’m cold and I can’t feel my paws anymore. Can we at least wait out of the weather?”
“Da,” Piotr said. He’d clearly heard the telepathic voices of the Venatores, although Ahijah realized that was probably more because of Piotr’s own shifter nature than anything else. “There is a room in the guard hut by the old fairgrounds that is prepared for such endeavors. There is a stove there, and refreshments. It is not much, but it is better than nothing.”
“Dude, as long as there’s a roof and a floor, I’m good,” Baxter said. “Thanks.”
“It is no trouble. I will take you there now and then Hiwa and I will go on to the gulag.”
“How long do you want us to give you before we sound the alarm and yell for Archangels?” Ahijah asked.
Hiwa and Piotr exchanged a long, thoughtful look.
“Say four hours?” Hiwa said, turning back to Ahijah.
“Right. You better not be a minute late, because as soon as we hit the four hour mark, if you’re not back, I’m yelling for Uncle Mike and the others,” Ahijah said.
Hiwa grinned. “Uncle Mike would just send Uncle Gabe.”
“And do you really want to deal with a cranky Uncle Gabe? He’s not a fan of the cold either,” Ahijah said.
“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” Hiwa wrinkled his nose. “Anyway, I don’t think you’ll have to do anything. We’ll be in and out in a jiffy.”
“Mhm.” Ahijah wasn’t at all convinced by his brother’s glib words, but he chose not to press the point. He hadn’t seen Hiwa so happy in a very long time, and that alone was softening Ahijah’s desire to orate at length about how much he hated this job and Russia in the winter and Soviet architecture. Not to mention how much he hated the idea of gulags, let alone there being one working and active in the here and now.
“Let’s go set up my brother and the wolves in this guard hut,” Hiwa said to Piotr.
Piotr nodded and turned on his heel, leading them across the snow and ice covered ground. He kept his head down as he walked into the wind, leaning forward slightly. The wind seemed to alternate between a gentle breeze and a force verging on a gale, and by the time the little group reached the shelter of a cluster of buildings, Ahijah felt exhausted.
“The municipal entertainment area, huh?” he asked his brother.
Hiwa nodded. “Swimming pool there, cinema there, this one’s the library and the municipal offices are next to it. The fairgrounds are just past the pool building.”
“Hiwa,” Ahijah began, lowering his voice, “I don’t like this. I don’t like the plan of separating. This isn’t exactly a safe part of the world right now.”
“I’ll be all right.”
“Okay, but what about the shifter? He’s not immortal like us. What if he gets into trouble?”
Hiwa frowned. Ahijah could see the creases in his brother’s forehead and the slight squint to his blue eyes that illustrated Hiwa’s expression. “I’ll take care of him.”
“I can see I’m not going to talk you out of this,” Ahijah said. “So I’ll just say be damn careful and yell for help if you need to. I’m not kidding about shouting for the Archangels the second the clock ticks past four hours.”
“I know. Anyway, Vel and Asaf are supposed to be floating around, so they’ll be keeping an eye on things.”
“As I can’t see them, I’m not going to count on that. This is making me really fucking nervous.”
Hiwa rested a hand on Ahijah’s shoulder. “I can see that. I’ll be extra careful. I promise.”
“Okay. Well, let’s get on with it. The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back.”
Hiwa chuckled softly. “That’s the spirit.”
Ahijah rolled his eyes as he walked, wishing that his brother wasn’t so exuberant about things and that he’d stop behaving as if he were on a high school excursion. He heard Hiwa chuckle again, and he rolled his eyes once more.
The fairground was just as depressing as the rest of the town. Everything was rusting, and the combination of red-brown metal, peeling paint, and gray slush made it seem as if the whole place was weeping. The guard hut was a small building made of wood boards, seemingly held together by wishing alone, Ahijah thought. The door was crooked and slightly askew and the single room within was dusty. It was, however, out of the weather, and Ahijah felt much better as he pushed the hood back from his face and off his head.
There was an old wood stove against one wall and a pile of threadbare blankets stacked on one of the two armchairs that were positioned close to the stove. Piotr moved to it and began to lay in wood from a bucket beside it, and then lit it with a silver cigarette lighter. The warmth was almost instant, and Ahijah took the blankets off the armchair and laid them down on the ground for the wolves. Then he sat down and watched as Piotr picked up an old kettle and went outside. He heard the sound of running water, and several moments later, Piotr returned and placed the kettle on top of the stove.
“Cups are behind you,” Piotr said, turning to Ahijah. “There is tea, as well. And coffee. But the coffee is not good coffee.”
“I’ll stick to tea, then.”
“That is wise. There is a tap outside for water, for you and the honored Venatores.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, that is all. Hiwa, shall we go?”
Hiwa nodded. “Yeah. We’ll be back soon, bro.”
Ahijah nodded as well. “Be safe.”
Hiwa grinned at him and then he and Piotr were gone, closing the door of the hut behind them.
“Did anyone bring a deck of cards?” Baxter asked. “We’ve got a long wait ahead of us.”
“I’ve got some,” Lily said.
Ahijah smiled as the wolves all shifted, resuming their human forms and unfastening the lightweight sacks that had been secured around their middles. They were shivering in the cold as they clustered close to the stove and dressed quickly, cursing and swearing as fingers made clumsy by the weather fumbled with buttons and fastenings and socks and in Baxter’s case, his prosthetic. Soon, they were dressed, and Riley, Baxter, and Lily sat on the blankets on the floor while Angelique took the other armchair. Ahijah was quietly impressed by how easily and efficiently they made the change, particularly Baxter with his prosthetic leg.
“Is your brother always like that?” Angelique asked.
Ahijah quirked an eyebrow at her. “Like what?”
“Like a little kid in a candy store.”
“Oh, that.” Ahijah wrinkled his nose. “When he’s excited, yes, he is. I think he’s excited about being in Russia again, for the cause of good for a change. He’s quite high up in the Bratvka, I understand, but I don’t want to know too much about that part of his life.”
Angelique shuddered dramatically. “Good call. I wouldn’t want to know much if my brother was part of the Russian mafia, either. It’s enough for me that my brother’s a missionary in the Sudan in Africa with his wife.”
“Dangerous job in that part of the world,” Ahijah said.
“I know. They love it, though. I guess it’s no more dangerous than what we do.”
Ahijah nodded. “That’s true. Okay, the kettle’s boiling, who wants tea?”
Everyone did, so he got up and went to get the cups and tea bags, finding in the process a packet of hard, dry biscuits and a small box of sugar. The sugar had turned into clumps, but Ahijah reasoned that once hot water hit it,
it would dissolve just fine.
“No milk, sorry guys,” Ahijah said, as he prepared tea for them all.
“That’s all right,” Lily said. “Although, considering the cold, it probably wouldn’t go bad out here.”
“Good point.” Baxter nodded his thanks as he took the mug that Ahijah handed him. “This town is damn depressing, don’t you think?”
“It’s as if all the sadness of the world came here to retire and to try and remember what hope was,” Riley said softly.
Ahijah found that a rather astute and profound description. He sat down again, holding his mug of hot tea in both hands. “That’s a brilliant way of putting it, Riley.”
Riley gave him a sad smile. “I was stationed in Estonia for a while during the war. There were a lot of towns like this, all Soviet architecture that hadn’t been fixed up for decades, falling down yet not quite, being held up by sheer stubbornness and determination not to fail. I’m told a lot of Eastern Europe and Russia is like that.”
“You’d have to ask my brother or Uncle Gabe,” Ahijah said. “They both spend a lot of time in this part of the world.”
“Is he really your uncle?” Lily asked. “And the other Archangels? Or hey, all of angelkind?”
“Sort of. It’s hard to describe.”
“Well,” Angelique said, “we’re going to be here a while, so tell us. We can swap stories. That’s a good way to pass the time.”
Ahijah had to admit she was right. He pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his parka, relieved that it hadn’t frozen over and was still working. The bars on the display showed that he was in range of a tower if he needed to use the phone and make a call, and that was more reassuring than anything else he’d seen here so far. He tucked the phone away again and shifted around in the chair to get comfortable.
“What do you want to know?”
“How you’re related to the Archangels,” Lily said instantly.
Ahijah smiled slightly. “You guys know who sired Hiwa and me, yes?” As they all nodded, so did he. “Well, we’re related simply because Semjaza was an angel, so we’re part angel and it’s a species connection, not being related as you guys are to your aunts or uncles or cousins or what have you.”
A Candle in the Sun Page 5