* * *
Thane dropped like a stone just as he entered the kitchen. The whole trailer felt it when his head made contact with the linoleum covered plywood floor. The other three were at his side at once. They gently rolled him over, and Father Lucas applied his most recent, unopened beer to the growing lump on Thane's forehead. He didn't keep it there long.
Armaros knew something was wrong as soon as the boy opened his eyes. They were too dark. Like back at the hospital. When he rose up to a sitting position, his movements jerky and unnatural, the big angel was convinced that Thane was not in control of his own body. Somebody was though, and they only had eyes for the former Watcher.
"Are you Armaros?" it asked him. The voice was unmistakably demon. Serpentine. All three remaining in the trailer recognized that at once.
"What do you want demon?" Armaros asked.
"Listen," it said. "No questions. There is no time. The boy is strong. I am Hidimba . . . friend to Og who is the final piece of the triad of Raphael. I am no enemy to you. I am not hurting the boy. He is . . . strong though. No time. They're coming for you . . . your brothers . . . the giants . . . back. Leave."
And it was gone. Thane fell backwards and would have bruised the back of his head also if Basia wouldn't have leapt to grab him. She was astoundingly fast. Quickly, she positioned herself on the floor behind him, and gently lowered his head down onto her lap. Father Lucas offered her the beer, but she didn't take it, instead she pointed above the refrigerator. "Ice," she demanded. The priest had it for her momentarily.
"Will he be all right?" Mundy asked.
"I'm sure," Basia answered. "The demon was right. He's very strong."
"Did the two of you know that Og was alive?" Armaros interjected. He assumed that they knew who Og was, and judging by the shaking of their heads, he was correct in that assumption. If the giant did truly live, then Armaros would find out, but he was not ready to accept the vague and labored words of a demon as fact. Not yet. They could have misunderstood the thing, or the whole episode could have been a trick of Azazel's. He couldn't be sure. He did know that he would err on the side of caution as far as the boy's safety was concerned. He wouldn't be taken by surprise. Not after just getting such a spectacular warning. He pushed thoughts of giants from his head and turned back to his young charge lying on the floor. "We need to wake him up," he announced.
The Peacock Angel: Rise of the Decarchs Page 54