The Falling (Book I)

Familiar Foe

William

I made it to Tobias' greenhouse in record time and opened the door. It was humid and balmy inside, a welcome change to the winter storm beating against the glass building. Tobias was not there but I saw the demon. His back was to me and he was wandering like he owned the place. His heavily muscled frame and black hair were familiar. Shit, that is her brother. I thought of a way to get him out without destroying Tobias' sanctuary or getting blood on the plants. The only way coming to mind was to force him out without drawing blood. I appraised him. He had more muscle than me but I was probably quicker as long as I got to him before he did that dirty trick the last time I faced him.

He abruptly stopped walking and inhaled before glancing over his shoulder and spotting me. His eyes narrowed and he turned to face me. His jaw clenched and he glared at me like I was the trespasser.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled.

"Me? What are you doing here?" I snarled back.

I lunged for him. His eyes widened in shock and a nuance of conflict passed over his face. He dodged my punch, taking a step back before flickering out of sight. I whirled around and saw him outside, the door of the greenhouse swinging on its hinges. Well, that was easy. I exited the greenhouse, mindful of shutting the door behind me. Tobias would cry if anything happened to his plants. The demon waited for me a few meters away, his closed fists in front of his face.

"You sure you want to do this?" he called over the wind, his tone mocking.

I hesitated. Mel would never forgive me if I killed her brother, but I could probably get away with wounding him enough to get my point across. It would be hard; just the scorn on his face alone was pissing me off.

"Oh, I am certain," I spat venomously.

He laughed and slammed his foot on the ground. "You are nothing but talk!"

A slab of earth slammed into my side. I grunted from the force and slid back a foot or two. It winded me, giving the demon time to close the distance and punch me in the face. My nose crunched and I staggered.

He was powerful; the last time, he was on the defensive. Clearly, his strong suit was offensive.

I brought my arms up to block his next blow. Before he could pull back, I hooked his arm in mine and broke his arm over my knee. He shrieked.

It struck me how much older he was than her. He was several inches shorter than me but he was definitely close to my age, if not older, and likely had as much combat experience as me.

He did not have his weapon, but he was not hindered by this in the slightest as he delivered a rib-crunching kick to my side. I shoved him back from me. The demon withdrew, staring at me with narrowed eyes. With a flick of his arm, the bone snapped back into place.

"I saw the way you looked at me. You remember me? Good." He remained in his odd fighting position.

My ribs healed and breathing grew easier again. "I recognized you in the greenhouse. I know you know about us. Return to Hell and I will forget I saw you."

The idea of ripping his arm off for Luke was certainly tempting, but it would upset Mel.

He smirked. "I am here on business; I was exactly where I was supposed to be when you barged in."

His smirk vanished and the vein in his throat jumped beneath his skin. "You are the one who has no business here. How about you piss off? Besides, what kind of brother would I be if I did not threaten my little sister's paramour?"

"You are dear to Mel. Do you really wish to fight an Archangel just to prove a point?" My patience was wearing thin and my fists alighted.

"Don't die," he warned.

He punched the air several times and I dodged the slabs of earth he directed at me, nearly slipping in the snow the whole time. I punched through one and it crumbled. I sent a wave of fire at him, the snow melting as the fire flew over it.

He hissed in pain as the fire hit its target. He was on one knee, wincing in pain from the third-degree burns blistering on his arms and face. I stalked over to him, prepared to deliver a finishing blow that would not kill him, but get my point across. He stared up at me with one eye horribly burned. I closed my fist and pulled it back. The stench of burning flesh made my stomach clench.

"Funny, she told me you could not kill something with your bare hands. I guess she is the exception," he croaked. I ignored him.

As I aimed, a bird screeched and sharp talons ripped through my hair.

I shouted as the claws gripped my hair and tugged, forcing me back from the recovering demon. The strength of the bird was alarming as I was met with considerable resistance when I struggled against it. I found myself unwillingly stepping with the bird to keep the insistent tugging of my hair from causing me too much pain.

The demon looked on slack-jawed. I slapped at the bird, hitting it a couple of times. It untangled its talons from my hair and flew over my head, landing on a nearby branch. Rubbing my head, I scowled at the bird, expecting to see an eagle. Instead, I saw a common raven with beady red eyes. It stared balefully at me, its feathers ruffled and singed from where I struck it. It gave a sharp caw as though it was telling me off, flapping its wings a couple of times. Its head swiveled sharply to regard the still kneeling demon, a soft croak emerging from its throat.

The demon staggered to his feet. His wounds were beginning to heal. "I was wondering when you were going to get here, Mels."

I gaped at the bird as it glided off the branch and landed in between us. Sure enough, it transformed into Melanie, the black feathers becoming smooth, pale flesh. The beak changed back into her small, hooked nose. The eyes sharpened with intelligence, and the red became pupils as black surrounded them. There remained a red tinge to the blackness of her iris.

She stared hard at me, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Despite how much she hated the snow, she did not hop from foot to foot like she did earlier. She was in a wide stance, her right leg slightly behind her left.

"You were going to kill him," she said with no inquisitive inflection in her voice. There was an edge to her voice I had never heard before.

My hands extinguished and I held them palms up. I exclaimed, "No! I was giving him a warning. I told him I was going to let him go, but he continued to fight me."

The red tinge in her eyes disappeared, and she turned to study her brother. He returned her stare smugly.

She asked, "Zane, why are you here? And so close to an angel's sanctuary?"

He wiped his face of emotion and turned his back on her.

"None of your business," he growled over his shoulder as he began to walk away.

"Does Father know you're here?"

He stopped moving, his fist clenched. I lowered my arms, concern building in my chest. I did not know if he would attack her.

She waited expectantly for him to answer. When he did not, she said, "Your silence says 'no.' Were you summoned?"

"What I do is no concern of yours!" he yelled as he whirled around.