Faith Heights

Chapter 55

I swished the kitchen knife in the air in front of me. The angel seemed to indulge in my pathetic attempts, and deftly swerved out of the way of my unbalanced attacks. I never made contact with him, but I manage to keep him at bay. At least for now.

I didn't dare glance over at Lucas and Nick to my left, but gravel was being kicked up around them like a hurricane, and I could hear clear grunts of exertion- and pain. I wasn't sure who they belonged to, but I could have taken a guess.

"Stay away from me," I called. It sounded more like a plea than a demand.

To my surprise, the angel raised his hands. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to help."

It was clear that, in his eyes, 'help' could very well mean kill.

"Help?" I repeated disbelievingly. "You murdered Leclair! How could you possibly help me?"

He didn't answer, instead lunging forward to my right, as if to grab for the knife. I yelped at his unexpected movement and swung the knife again. It came closer to catching his skin this time, but I didn't move my hand back fast enough, and the blade caught on his thick jacket. The angel caught my extended wrist before I could react, and twisted it so I had no choice but to drop the blade. I tried to kick at his knees, but he didn't even seem to notice my futile efforts. He held tightly onto my wrist, and, quicker than my eyes could follow, reached out with his other hand to wrench my head forward. He shoved me to the ground, and I felt the gravel grate at the skin on my cheek.

"What do you want from me?!" I screamed through clenched teeth, managing to swivel onto my back to face him.

He paused, as if considering how best to answer. "We want back what we gave to you."

Before I could grasp his words, he shoved my arm behind my back, and it rolled in pain. I managed to rise back up to lean on my knee, but he stopped me from moving any further. My shoulder felt like it was about to pop out of its socket, and black spots tinted my vision from the pain. The knife was on the ground, just a few feet away, but there was no chance of me reaching it.

The angel pulled me up to my feet and yanked me closer. For one terrifying moment, I thought he was about to fly from the ground- with me in tow. But before he could gain any momentum, I was knocked from his grip by what felt like the force of a brick wall.

I slid along the hard ground like a useless puppet before being pulled up again, this time by a much more welcomed face.

"Did I not tell you the knife wouldn't help you?" Nick scolded, although he had a proud glint in his eye.

"It was better than doing nothing." I spat back, ringing my hurt wrist. 

I looked around at the scuffle still raging. The angel that had attacked me look disoriented, and wobbled on his feet. Another angel was laying on the ground to the left, unmoving. Lucas was trying to fend two more off at once, but he was losing. Not a moment later, the angel to his right seemed to catch him off guard, and managed to sweep his feet out from under him. Lucas fought to regain his footing, but with two figures pinning him down, there was no use.

The last angel was quickly moving toward us. Nick grasped my arm. "I have a backup plan, but it'll take a toll on me," He panted. "I'm going to need your help to get us out of here once I release the energy."

I nodded, trying to slow my breathing. "What are you going to do?"

He looked back at the angels, as if readying himself. "There's a demonic spell I can use. It will neutralise all heavenly servants. It won't kill them, but it should at least buy us a little time to escape."