Taylor was on a mission and couldn’t be side-tracked by James’s antics. Impressing herself and her dad with her self-control, she ignored him and said to Eddie, “The sausages are especially good, did you do something different with them?”
Following her lead and ignoring James, Ed replied, “Thanks, Taylor, I’m glad you like it. I created a mixed spice and used it to season the sausage before frying it up.”
“Well, whatever you did, it worked.” Taylor grinned. In a spur of the moment decision, she blurted out, “Hey, Dad, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Me and Sam want to take advantage of the holidays and go on vacation with a couple of friends from school. Are you okay with me going?”
Seemingly surprised by the question, Ed paused before answering. Taylor added, “Sam’s dad already said she could go as a reward for her good grades, perhaps you could think of it as sort of the same thing for me.”
Taylor watched closely, as her father raised his arms and put them behind his head, and then tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. Oh crap, she thought, this is not good. Rare was the occasion when Eddie acted in this manner and then approved a request from one of his offspring. Usually it meant that he thought the idea was completely out of the question and he just needed a few minutes to think of the many reasons why he would reject it.
James’s face broke into that annoying smirk that made Taylor want to slap him, as he waited for his dad to reject his sister’s idea.
Shocking both of them, Ed’s face suddenly broke into a smile and he said, “Merry Christmas, Taylor, you have my permission to go.”
James’s jaw dropped open and he protested, “Dad, you can’t be serious, she’s only eighteen and not that smart—”
Taylor was too happy to contradict her brother’s insult. She got up and put her arms around Eddie’s neck, the way she used to when she was a kid. “Thank you, Dad. This is the best Christmas gift ever.” Not wanting to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but curious as to how she was able to gain his approval, she asked, “Is this a reward for something?”
“Sort of. Sam’s father and I have been talking about giving you and Sam something to congratulate you guys on your first semester at college, especially given how good your grades were. He called me this morning and told me what Sam had asked him for, and he convinced me to trust you and your judgment, and let you go on this trip. There are, of course, a couple of requirements."
“Of course, anything you want, Dad.”
“One: no boys are permitted. Two: you will call me every day without fail. And three: have fun and don’t do anything stupid.”
“I think I can handle those, I won’t let you down.”
“Good, now let’s go open some presents.”
Not wanting to interrupt the positive energy, Taylor sent a quick text to Sam to tell her the good news, and promised to call her later. The rest of the morning was spent giving and receiving gifts. Taylor had bought her dad a new watch that he had been talking about for weeks. For James, she presented a pair of weightlifting gloves, as he had been complaining that the heavier dumbbells “tore up his hands pretty good.”
His response to the gift was to be expected, “Thanks, Sis, maybe you’re not such a dork after all.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she replied. They both laughed, a rare moment of brother-sister bonding that was sure to be short-lived.
Besides permission to go on her trip, Eddie gave Taylor three gift cards—one to each of her favorite stores—an iPad, and a handful of CDs and DVDs that she had told him she wanted. James gave her a padlock for her bedroom door as a gag-gift and a newly released book by her favorite author. Happy with the successful morning, Taylor headed back upstairs to call Sam.
Chapter Three
Christopher put his cell phone down and smiled. Sam had just called to tell him the good news—she and Taylor were coming back to the Lair.
Originally, he had thought that some time away from Samantha would give them both a chance to do some things on their own. They had been spending so much time with each other, maybe some space would help their relationship strengthen further. Instead, every hour that passed without her was filled with emptiness and longing. Chris physically hurt inside when he was separated from her. Trying to fill his days with activities to take his mind off of Sam, Chris spent twelve hours a day coordinating the two top priorities as mandated by the demon Elders.
First, was the protection of Taylor, Sam, and their families. Around-the-clock security details maintained a close watch on them, but so far there had been no attempts by the angels to retrieve Taylor. Perhaps the Archangel Council realized that they had acted too hastily before, and now they were trying to be more patient in their plans. There was no doubt that they would come for her again. The only question was when.
The second priority was helping Gabriel escape from angel prison. It had taken Chris a significant amount of effort to convince the demon Elders that Gabriel was worthy of their help. Why should they help the angel that had provided the angel army with the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen? But Chris’s eye-witness account of Gabriel’s failed attempt to rescue Taylor, and his subsequent battle with Dionysus, the Head of the Archangel Council, was highly convincing proof that Gabriel could become an important ally in the War. It didn’t hurt that Gabriel had been accused of treason against the angel cause. “Any enemy of the angels is a friend to the demons,” Clifford, the head of the demon Elders, liked to say.
The end result was that Chris had been provided with what appeared to be endless resources to accomplish the demons’ goals. He was also allowed access to top-secret information that would give him a chance to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of infiltrating the angels’ underground prison.
It had come as quite a shock to Chris that there were actually angels acting as spies on behalf of the demons. In hindsight, it should have been expected. All throughout history, there are examples of people betraying their own kind for various reasons. Love, money, fame, to do the right thing: these were all possible reasons for disloyalty.
Regardless of their motives, these angel spies had become invaluable due to their ability to provide inside information to Chris, and to pass instructions to Gabriel. He hoped that all of the hard work was about to pay off. Picking up his cell phone and flipping it open, he pressed speed dial 9. When a voice answered, “Yessir,” Chris barked, “Operation Traitor is a go.” He snapped the phone shut and strode off towards an open transporter—it was waiting for him, ready to carry him to where the Elders were meeting.
Chapter Four
The last week had been a rush for Gabriel. Well, as much of a rush as life in imprisonment could be. Despite his lowly conditions—being stuck in a cold, gloomy, 12-foot by 12-foot stone box—he had felt a thrill each time he saw a folded scrap of paper flutter through the air hole in his cell door. After hearing nothing for almost a week, the communications were coming in on a daily basis now, evidence that plans were being ramped up and finalized. Based on the note he had received the previous day, it seemed that his rescue could come any day. The note, printed in the usual block letters, had read:
BE READY TO MOVE
THIS IS THE LAST COMM.
GOOD LUCK
Upon reading the most recent note, Gabriel had waited in anticipation, fighting off sleep until late into the night. Eventually he had succumbed to his body’s need for rest and fell asleep for nearly ten hours, using his soft wings as a bed. He was awake again now, feeling full of energy and hoping desperately that today was the day.
Gabriel assumed that the attempt would be made at night and, given that he had received his meager dinner ration more than three hours earlier, he waited on his feet for any sign that help was coming.
An hour later, he was still waiting and beginning to consider sitting down again to rest his stiff legs, when a noise caught his attention. Typically, this late at night the prison was devoid of sound, as the handful of inmates slept
in silence. There were no snorers in this bunch.
The sound was so soft that at first Gabriel thought he might have imagined it. But then he heard it again. A soft patter of a footstep, a scuff of a shoe on the rocky floor: someone was tiptoeing down the corridor, trying to muffle their presence.
Gabriel watched the door intently, ready to spring into action if needed. For all he knew it could be his executioner, and if so, he would fight like hell to protect himself. But some instinct told him that it was a friend, rather than a foe, and thus, he prepared himself to run and follow any instructions that were given.
The tread of footsteps ended abruptly and silence resumed. Gabriel strained to discern whether the visitor had stopped outside his cell. The clink of metal on metal: a key was inserted into a keyhole; it was very close, it had to be his door. Ever so slowly, without so much as a creak, his door opened. Good old fashioned angel engineering, Gabriel thought.
When the door was halfway open, a familiar face crowned by a fully white shock of hair popped through the opening and hissed, “Hey, cowboy, it’s time to get the hell outta here!”
Gabriel stared at his friend in surprise. “Sampson? I never would have…I thought you were true blue angel all the way.”
“If you want to stand here and discuss the pros and cons of treason, I’d be happy to, but then we’ll have to share a cell when we get busted, and I really don’t see us as being very good cellmates.”
“Right, sorry, let’s go!” Gabriel raced through the door and into the corridor.
Sampson noiselessly closed the door and whispered instructions to Gabriel as they snuck towards the exit. “The only guards on duty right now are ours. They’ll ignore us like we don’t even exist. Follow me at all times; there is only one way this is going to work.”
“Won’t those guards get charged with treason when the Council finds out I have escaped?” Gabriel asked.
“Maybe. That’s a risk they’ve agreed to take, but it’s likely that there won’t be sufficient proof to charge them with anything.”
They reached the prison gates and, without hesitation, Sampson unlocked and pushed them open. They turned to the right, down a passageway.
“Wait, Sampson! Where are we going? The way out is the other direction!”
“Didn’t I just tell you to follow me? Trust me, there is a much better route, unless you want to pass through the highest-traffic areas just to make this a challenge?” Sampson joked.
“Maybe next time. I’ll just follow you if that’s alright?”
Sampson picked up the pace and they quickly reached full angel running speed, blazing down the tunnel much faster than a pair of humans could. Gabriel was hot on his heels as they followed the path deep into the mountain. He could easily follow his friend, who was built like a tank—shorter than him, but far denser. Along the way, they encountered several angel guards, each of whom pretended that they didn’t see the pair of streaking angels fleeing down the tunnel. They passed many sealed doors that contained warnings of “Authorized personnel only,” or “Restricted access,” until the path finally reached a dead end—a rock wall blocked their progress.
“I told you, Sampson, there is no way out down here!” Gabriel snapped.
“Watch and learn, my friend,” Sampson replied calmly.
Sampson took a few large steps back, and then charged directly towards the solid rock wall. Gabriel thought his friend had gone mad, but then, when his shoulder drilled into the rock, Sampson crashed straight through it, rather than getting thrown back like Gabriel had expected. The mountain shuddered from the impact and the surrounding attack sensors were tripped, causing loud alarm sirens to blare throughout the underground complex. Their escape was no longer a secret.
Gabriel followed his friend through the rock, where a hidden passageway had been revealed. Sampson said, “We dug it just for you, buddy, now let’s not waste it by getting caught!”
The pair flew down the tunnel, their feet barely touching the ground.
Chapter Five
Taylor heard her father answer the door. She was in her room packing, but his booming voice easily carried up the staircase.
“Hi, Sam,” he said.
“Hey, Mr. Kingston,” Sam replied. “How was your Christmas?”
“It was great, Sam, although I think I’ve spent about 10 hours over the last two days trying to set up the new surround-sound system that James bought me.”
Sam laughed. “Electronics never were your strong suit,” she said.
“No, I suppose not,” he replied. “Taylor’s in her room finishing packing. You can leave your suitcase here until she’s finished.”
“Thanks, Mr. K,” Sam said. Taylor heard her friend’s footsteps marching up the stairs.
Sam entered her room and flashed a model-perfect smile in a flurry of shimmering blond hair and lots of legs, highlighted by what Taylor would consider an overly short skirt. Taylor said loudly, “I am nearly done packing, but first I need your advice on which bikini to take.”
“Taylor, we’re not really going to need—” Sam started to respond.
Taylor gave her friend an icy look and asked loudly, “This one or this one?” She held up one black swimsuit and one red.
Catching on, Samantha raised her voice and responded, “Why not take them both, Tay?”
“Great idea,” Taylor said, throwing them both in her suitcase. She zipped it shut and said, “That’s it, let’s go.”
Taylor hauled her suitcase down the stairs to the door, where Eddie was waiting for them. Before he could open his mouth, Taylor said, “Don’t worry, Dad. We’ll both be very careful and I will call you every day as I promised I would.”
Taylor’s dad gave a wry smile and said, “And no boys, right?”
“Of course, Dad, see you in a couple of weeks.” Feeling somewhat bad about having to lie, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Following the girls outside, Mr. Kingston said, “Drive safe, Sam.”
“I will. Bye, Mr. Kingston.”
“Bye, girls.”
Once they were on the road and heading for the airport, Taylor felt it was finally safe to speak openly. “Any news from Chris on the mission?” she asked.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Sam replied.
“What?” Taylor asked, puzzled. Then she screamed, as a pair of hands covered her eyes from behind, temporarily obscuring her vision.
“Guess who?” a deep voice asked from the back seat.
Pulling his hands from her face, Taylor whipped her head around. A black-haired stud with two days-worth of rugged stubble was looking at her. “Geez, Chris, you practically gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry about that. I just thought I should come along to personally transport you back to the Lair.”
“Thanks, but that was really unnecessary. Any of the other demons could have done it. You should really be helping with the other mission. You know, the important one?”
“We should tell her, Chris,” Sam interjected.
“Tell me what?” Taylor asked slowly.
“Well, it’s nothing really. Your safety has just become a bigger risk, so I wanted to see to it that you made it back without any problems,” Chris said cryptically.
“We haven’t seen a single evil angel since we’ve arrived home, why would we be in danger?”
“I received a report from one of Sam’s security guards ten minutes ago. It seems that an angel scout followed Sam over to your house. As soon as I received the report, I teleported into her car.”
Sam said, “Yeah, you think you were scared when he put his hands over your eyes, Tay? Imagine driving along, when a dark form suddenly appears next to you. I practically swerved off the road into a tree.”
“What are we going to do about the damn angel scout?” Taylor said.
“Nothing yet. As long as he keeps his distance, we will just stick with the original plan: Park Sam’s car at the airport and then teleport from there.”
/> A scratchy voice suddenly spoke from the backseat. It came from Chris’s radio. “Chris, we have a situation here. Two other angels have joined the scout and they are flying above you, following your car. How should we handle it?”
Chris said firmly, “Take them down.”
“Consider it done,” the voice confirmed.
“Shoot,” Chris said. “That was our rear guard. They are following behind us in a car, but will have to stop to get rid of those angels. The car in front of us is also full of demon guards though, so we should still be protected.”
Chapter Six
Gabriel and Sampson burst through the end of the tunnel together, their shoulders lowered to absorb the impact of the thin rock wall that had been enacted to disguise the entrance.
Once outside, Gabriel paused to gulp down deep breaths of fresh air. “Ahhh,” he sighed.
“This is no time to stop and smell the roses,” Sampson said. “We gotta get outta here now!” In near-perfect synchronization, the two angels’ wings burst from the base of their necks and majestically spread into a V. They leapt high into the air and powered away from the earth in a burst of light, harnessing the energy of the full moon.
But they were too late.
The attack came from above and the impact was mind-numbing, like a sledge hammer to the head. One angel collided with Gabriel and another slammed into Sampson. Three or four more angel attackers piled onto each of them, swiftly tying their wings together with glowing ropes, rendering them useless. Their arms were also bound behind their backs before the squad of angels carried them back to the earth.
Knowing they would both be put to death, Gabriel and Sampson fought like cornered animals, but with only the use of their legs, they were no match for the strong angels, and were quickly wrestled to the ground and subdued.