The Witch's Angel

by Arissa L. Utemark

I floundered briefly before I heard Theo’s quiet, desperate voice.

  “The Throne wasn’t meant for you, Cale.” Theo reasoned, his voice calm, as if trying to steady a wild animal. Cale turned his gaze to where Theo knelt on the floor, held by knightmares. “This isn’t the way. This isn’t you. These laws were set down by Heaven itself…”

  “Laws that my friends the knightmares have no problem breaking.” Cale interrupted hollowly.

  “You have no idea what you’re screwing around with.” Theo said through his teeth.

  “I’m the oldest, Theo!” Cale’s voice exploded from him like he was a man possessed. “I’m the most powerful of the three of us! How am I not King of Witches? Why her?”

  Cale looked at me with such disgust, I had to drop my gaze. I heard him give a snort as if I had just proven his point beyond any reasonable doubt.

  I suppose that’s exactly what I did.

  “I thought you of all people would understand.” Cale turned back toward Theo.

  “Understand?” Theo shouted incredulously. “Understand that you’ve murdered Mom? Understand that you’ve beaten the shit out of Danny? What the fuck do you think I would understand about any of that?”

  Shut up, shut up, shut up!

  Cale screamed.

  He ran toward Theo and threw his fist viciously into our brother’s already bruised cheek. Theo grunted in pain and my helplessness at the situation made my teeth grind together.

  “I’m taking what’s mine!” He yelled at Theo’s dazed form, limp in the knightmares’ grasp. He took a deep breath and straightened up, smoothing out his suit jacket as if getting up from a formal dinner party. “I couldn’t care less if you join Danny in oblivion.”

  Oblivion…no…wait, no!

  Please, spare my family…

  “Leave him alone, please. You…You don’t need to do this.” I tried again, hating myself for the tremor in my voice. “Please…you-you don’t even know she would have chosen me.”

  Cale turned back toward me, his charm firmly in place, that horrible smile stretching his face as he approached and knelt in front of me

  “I do know it, Danny.” He explained patronizingly. “You think I wouldn’t figure out the situation with the wand? The Queen’s wand?”

  The gift box hidden back in my bedroom flickered through my thoughts. I felt sick at the thought of it instantly.

  “I also know you can’t possibly handle this kind of power.” Cale said dismissively. He stood and gave a wave of his hand. The knightmares’ painful restrictions slithered off of my limbs and I fell hard on my hands and knees. I struggled to stay upright, my arms shaking as I heard Cale’s smart shoes retreating back toward the Thrones.

  “Witches, Angels, and knightmares,” He said as I looked up to watch through bleary eyes as Cale snatched the Angel’s Sword out of the scabbard, admiring the way the light caught the razor-sharp metal. “All under my command.”

  Please, spare my family…

  “Cale, no!” Theo croaked as Cale came at me with confident strides. “Think about what you’re doing!”

  I knew it was for nothing. Theo could shout all he wanted to. There was no thought in Cale’s eyes.

  There was only desperate, hungry, bleeding murder.

  “This isn’t you.” I found myself saying. I winced as he grabbed a chunk of my hair to pull me upright.

  Please, spare my family…

  “Heaven’s laws say you can’t give me the Throne willingly, so it has to be this way.” Cale whispered as if his voice were being filtered through a particularly fine sieve as he pressed the cold blade of the Angel’s Sword against my throat.

  “Don’t do this.” I found myself staring calmly into Cale’s eyes, the adrenaline of my impending bloody execution while my brothers watched burning through my veins.

  “Danny! Please!” Theo was screaming desperately, muffled to my ears as I held Cale’s gaze.

  It was surprisingly calming, looking straight into the face of my death. My thoughts were funneled down into a single, concentrated stream running through my head as I watched Cale’s eyebrows draw together, his teeth bared. It wasn’t anything like a plea for hope; nor was it any idea that I would walk away from this night to see another sunrise. It was just one desperate, shaky prayer tearing through me as it had for this entire exchange.

  I’ll die. You can take me…but please, spare my family…

  “Goodbye, sister.” Cale stated, his voice and face suddenly emotionless as he gripped the sword.

  Spare my family…

  My family…

  Please, spare him…

  I closed my eyes.

  Everything suddenly went loud and sideways as a massive explosion rocked the building and threw the Throne Room into chaos.

  Chapter 12

  The dust hung heavy in the air in the eerily calm aftermath of the explosion. I felt the massive weight of debris pressing me into the floor.

  Was I dead?

  Wait…

  Nope, not dead. Everything hurts. Hoo boy are those ribs broken.

  The ringing in my ears calmed to a dull hum just in time for me to hear someone begin shifting through the rubble of our once proud Throne Room.

  “Danny?” I heard Theo’s scratchy voice as it washed over me like a reprieve. “Danny! Are you okay? Where are you?”

  “Here…” I croaked. I swallowed some of the dust I’d breathed in and cleared my throat as best I could before croaking louder, “I’m-I’m here.”

  I looked around for something I could use before I stretched out and grabbed a piece of marble from a fixture on the north wall. The power from the stone was enough to begin to shift the pile on top of me.

  Theo sprinted over once he’d spotted me, reaching down to scoop up a piece of a wooden support beam. I felt his power join mine as we moved the pile, allowing it to fall to the side with a crash. A pained groan escaped past my gritted teeth as Theo wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me to my feet. Pain shot up one of my legs. I guessed that one of my knees was pretty badly twisted.

  “Theo!” I heard a familiar commanding voice bellow through the settling chaos. “Theo, please tell me you’re alright!”

  “Pat! I’m here!” Theo called into the dust as he wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders to support my weight.

  The mist swirled around Patrick as he strode toward us through the damaged room, his wings arching large, powerful, and dark behind him.

  Ah, Pat must’ve been the one to blow a hole in the Beacon before we had a chance to die.

  Do they make ‘thank you’ cards for that sort of thing?

  “Cale’s gone berserk!” Patrick explained desperately.

  Our dear General seems to be a bit behind the times.

  “The outpost was a trap.” Patrick went on. “I got back here as soon as I could. We have to find the Queen, Cale’s led a charge of knightmares to…overthrow…”

  He trailed off when he looked in the direction of the somehow still intact Thrones. I didn’t have to look to know what he saw.

  To be honest, I’m not sure I had the ability to look.

  “Heaven’s mercy…” Patrick breathed shakily, his eyes glued to my mother’s body.

  “Help me get Danny out of here.” I heard Theo say as he hiked my arm more securely around his shoulders. I gritted my teeth against the new wave of pain as it hit me and shook my head, trying to clear it. Theo could move okay and Patrick looked a little worse for wear, but still was still able to function after obviously fighting his way out of whatever was waiting for him at the outpost. I’m was a complete mess. That didn’t add up to ‘getting Danny out of here’.

  “Go.” I rasped as I felt Theo’s hand tighten on my wrist. “Leave me and go. There isn’t time…just get out of here.”

  “Shut up, Danny.” Theo snapped.

  “You shut up.” I shot back petulantly. What a dick. See if I volunteer to help him get to safety again.

  The sound of someon
e else pulling themselves from the rubble interrupted any further discussion.

  “Talia!” I heard Cale’s outraged shriek echo in the ruined Throne Room. “Get them! Kill her now!”

  Talia was part of this, too?

  The ominous swoop of wings disturbed the still swirling dust and I felt Theo tense. Damn it. With the three of us in this state, there was no way we could fight my brother’s Angel at full strength.

  “Shit.” Theo swore under his breath.

  Patrick turned toward Theo, a hopeless determination in his eyes, like he was trying to say goodbye with the bullet already on its way.

  Why didn’t they just go?

  Patrick reached up and cradled Theo’s head tenderly in his large, powerful hands, leaning toward him and pressing a kiss to the Prince’s lips. I let my head fall forward, averting my eyes, trying to give them their desperate last moments.

  They broke apart, their faces still close as they breathed together.

  “Pat…?” Theo began, his whisper a soft question. Patrick swallowed thickly.

  “I love you.” Patrick’s poured whole worlds of weight onto his words to make sure they would sink into the Prince. “I love you so much. It’s all up to you two now.”

  “What…?” Theo’s confused tone voiced my own thoughts.

  The General took a step back and I looked up to see Patrick; strong, brave, warrior Patrick, blink the tears out of his shining eyes. He put one hand on Theo’s shoulder and the other hand on mine. Theo figured out what he was doing just before I did.

  Transport spell.

  “Patrick! Pat, no!” Theo screamed.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  The blinding flash lit up the Throne Room and the General stood alone.

  Patrick let his hands linger on empty air for a brief moment, letting himself remember Theo’s handsome and open face, the warm skin of his husband’s shoulder under his fingers, the feeling of his lips as he kissed him.

  He released a shallow, shuddering breath. They had escaped.

  “General.” A voice from behind him broke him from his respite.

  Patrick turned toward the voice, paying no mind to the knightmares that bubbled from the ground like tar and pitched their bodies up to surround him.

  They were not his concern.

  Talia stood before him, her jaw set as she glared at him with stony determination, her fiery red wings extended behind her.

  Patrick squared his feet, ready to fight to his last.

  The General stood alone.

  Chapter 13

  Luke turned his cruiser down the street that dispatch had directed them to, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel a little too intensely to be idle fidgeting, his left leg bouncing against the floorboards next to the car door. He saw Carl glance over at him from the passenger seat out of the corner of his eye and knew the question was coming before his partner even opened his mouth.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Carl asked.

  “What do you mean?” Luke replied, not particularly interested in what his partner meant.

  “I mean what’s go you so jumpy, Kid?” Carl tried again.

  Luke grunted vaguely. Carl grunted back, undeterred.

  “Seems like you been antsy over the past couple days, but now you’re bouncing the car with your damn fidgeting. You nervous about something?”

  “I’m not nervous.” Luke started, shaking his head. He stopped, unsure how to describe the edgy feeling crawling under his skin. The feeling like he should be somewhere else, somewhere specific or something terrible was going to happen. The vague sense of something missing that he had always sort of brushed off as everyday tension had gotten a lot worse lately. He struggled to find the right explanation. “I’m…uncomfortable. I dunno what it is.”

  “Well, keep playing tap dance on the steering wheel.” Carl snorted, waving his hand at Luke’s restlessness. “That’ll sure fix it.”

  “You wanna drive or you wanna complain?” Luke offered, taking the teasing as an invitation to stop the conversation. Luke appreciated the gruff patience that Carl had given him ever since the older detective had been paired with him. It was supportive without being too overbearing.

  “I want you to calm down and find this place.” Carl answered, checking the address with a glance down at the small notebook resting in his lap before looking back out of the passenger side window. “Should be around here somewhere.”

  Luke counted down the numbers on the houses in the slightly rundown neighborhood a few miles from downtown.

  “There it is.” Luke heard Carl say. The detective pulled the cruiser next to the curb and put it in park. The house was not quite in disrepair, but the peeling paint and dated design showed its age. A line of homes just like it nudged up to one side, while a small alleyway opened on the other edge, a few trashcans scattered at the mouth next to the patchy paint of the siding.

  Luke felt oddly drawn toward it.

  “This is our vic’s house?” Luke asked, taking the keys out of the ignition and pocketing them.

  “Should be.” Carl confirmed as he and Luke climbed out of the car and approached the house. Their shoes felt heavy on the weathered wood of the porch as they thunked up the stairs to the door. Carl rapped sharply on the screen door and Luke adjusted his tie before unclipping his badge from his hip.

  The door swung open with a squeak and an older woman in a bathrobe squinted suspiciously at out at them. Luke vaguely remembered something about the victim living with his mother.

  “Good evening, ma’am.” Luke greeted, smiling his most charming smile as he and Carl flashed their badges. “Sorry for the late hour.”

  “That was quick.” The woman answered, drawing the robe more tightly around herself.

  “Ma’am?” Luke felt the smile on his handsome face falter a bit in confusion.

  “You’re cops, aren’t you?” She reasoned shortly. “I just called it in a minute ago.”

  “Called what in?” Carl asked as they stowed their badges.

  “There was this big flash and a bang.” The woman waved toward the sidewalk, coming out of the screen door to join them on the porch. “Lit up the whole side of the house. It was nuts.”

  “In the alley?” Luke asked.

  “Over there.” The woman nodded toward the space between the houses.

  Carl spared a glance over at Luke before he tipped his head toward the alley. Luke nodded his agreement and stepped off the porch as Carl turned back toward the woman.

  “Was it like a gunshot?” Luke heard Carl ask.

  “No, I’ve heard gunshots before.” The woman said knowingly. “This wasn’t no gunshot.”

  Luke tuned out their conversation as he came to the mouth of the somehow pitch black alley, untouched by the glow of streetlights in front of the line of houses. He dug a small flashlight out of his pocket and clicked it on, allowing the limited beam to illuminate where he stepped. The last thing he needed to do was trip over a trashcan.

  A soft, muffled whimpering reached his ears. Luke froze, sweeping his flashlight beam between the walls of the passageway, looking around in the dark for the source of the sound.

  “This is the police. Is there anyone back there?” Luke called out in a strong voice.

  As Luke drew closer, he began to make out the soft sound of hiccupping sobs. He felt a stab of sadness to his chest at the sound. It sounded female and choked off, like whoever was crying was trying to keep it quiet

  “You don’t have to be afraid.” Luke found himself comforting to the darkness. “I’m here to help. I can help you.”

  His flashlight caught a small movement and he shined the beam in that direction.

  A woman was lying on the ground, turned away from him. She was littered in bruises and covered in dirt, but Luke breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw her soft cotton pajamas were intact and not ripped off of her. The bedclothes looked expensive and out of place in the alley and Luke dreaded to think what had gotten her here. He spared a gl
ance at the pavement under her and saw scorch marks, like she was a meteor that had crash landed next to the house.

  “Hey.” Luke soothed softly.

  Her body jerked and she turned around to reveal her startled face, wide green eyes staring at Luke, blinking away confusion. Blood flowed from what looked like a broken nose and one of her eyes was swelling shut. She scrambled backward until her back hit the brick wall, moving with a stiffness that told Luke she had at least a few broken ribs. She favored one leg and he saw the knee on the other swelling painfully as she dragged it across the ground when she moved.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s okay.” Luke crouched down to make himself less imposing as the woman looked around as if seeing her surroundings for the first time. He set down his flashlight and held up his hands.

  “Where am I?” the woman spoke with a surprising amount of command despite her slurred words, looking at Luke.

  “You’re in an alley just off 4th.” Luke supplied, remembering the address they’d been searching for.

  “Who are you?” She asked another rapid-fire question, wiping off some of the blood coming from her nose with the back of her hand.

  “My name’s Luke.” Luke answered immediately. “What’s your name?”

  She took a shuddering breath before leveling her gaze at him. He tried to look as trustworthy as possible, hoping the woman would let him help her.

  “Danny…my name’s Danny.” She finally answered shakily. “Was there…was there a guy here? I mean, did you find a guy somewhere around here? Answers to the name of Theo?”

  “No.” Luke stated firmly, a surprising surge of anger stabbing down into his stomach. “Did he do that to you?”

  Danny looked at Luke with confusion. Luke gestured to his own face to indicate her injuries. Danny nodded once in understanding before shaking her head. She leaned back until she hit the brick wall behind her once again, wincing as she took another stuttering breath.

  “There…there gonna be looking for us…” Danny groaned with a distress that tore through Luke. She blinked against a fresh wave of tears as she wrapped her arms around her chest and gave a violent shiver.