No wonder the people were dazed: they had seen a Descended manifest in their midst, and had had all memory of it wiped from their minds by Zadkiel and his choir. Alice understood, and – if she was honest – was relieved, but on the other hand, if Zadkiel could make a hundred, two hundred people all forget what they had seen, what else could he do?
A shiver ran down the length of her body – one which had nothing to do with the chilly air. Michael with his fire; Gabriel with his lightning, and Zadkiel, who could take away your mind on a whim. She wasn’t sure who worried her more: the Fallen, or the Archangels.
An angel – a Descended – suddenly stepped into her path, blocking her way. He looked vaguely familiar, with sandy hair cropped close to his skull. He looked her up and down. “He said you’d come.”
People really did seem to be making assumptions about her today.
He blinked at her, then stood aside.
And there, behind him, was Mallory.
HE LOOKED ALMOST exactly as she had expected, down to his boots and torn jeans; his leather jacket was as ropey as ever. But there were more lines than she remembered around his brown eyes, and his dark hair was flecked with fresh grey. He was fiddling with his gun as the other angel stepped aside, so absorbed that he didn’t notice her watching him. The tiredness came off him in waves.
She felt unexpectedly guilty. She had spent the last six months being angry at him for leaving her; where had he been to leave him so worn-down? What had he been doing?
He looked up, and their eyes met – and for what seemed like an age, they simply looked at each other.
And then he was smiling, and striding towards her and throwing his arms around her; lifting her off her feet in a bear-hug, and before she knew what she was doing, she was crying.
“What’s this?” He pulled away from her, rubbing at her damp cheeks with his thumb. “If it’s that bad seeing me, I’ll go again...” He started to turn away, and she grabbed onto his arm.
“No. It’s not! Really.”
“I’m kidding, Alice. Stop being so bloody wet, would you?”
“Sorry.” She scrubbed at her face. “It’s been a bit of a trying day, you know?”
“Is that what you call it? Personally, I’d call it getting the shit kicked out of us. I think it’s fair to say we lost this one.” He safetied his gun and it disappeared into his jacket. “And you? How’re you doing?” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her out at arm’s length, ducking down slightly to peer at her. “You look like you’ve been in the wars.”
“Something like.”
“You’ve been getting into trouble, haven’t you?”
“No...”
“That’s not what I heard. I heard you’ve been causing quite a few problems for the Fallen. You and your little crew of Earthbounds.”
“What else was I supposed to do? What would you have done?”
“I thought you’d have learned by now that the last thing you want to do is follow my example, kid.” He grinned, and folded his arms across his chest. “But whatever it is you’ve been up to? It stops. Now.”
“Now you get to tell me what to do, too?”
“Damn straight I do.”
“You don’t just get to...”
“Now you listen to me, Alice...” Mallory’s voice was suddenly hard as he leaned closer to her. “You may think that you’re indestructible. You are not. And I’ve lost enough to know better than to let you go throwing yourself into every scrappy little fight that comes your way. You’re too...”
“Important?” she spat. “Yeah. Right. I remember.” And she did. She remembered Michael telling her that she was a weapon – his weapon, to be used against the Fallen as he saw fit.
“Yes. Important.” Mallory’s voice softened, and his eyes looked sad. He sighed. “But this is neither the time nor the place. We need to go.” He raised his voice, calling to the angel who had blocked her way. “Pollux! We’re moving.”
Alice glanced behind her and saw Pollux nod once. He really did look familiar, but she couldn’t work out why. She pushed the thought away, simply relieved to have found Mallory again. Descendeds might make people feel better simply with their presence, but this was something else, more than that. This was Mallory; here, now, back again. And Alice felt better than she had in a long time.
CHAPTER TEN
Echoes and Ghosts
“WHAT TOOK YOU lot so long? You look like shit, by the way.” There was a man sitting at Adriel’s desk, leafing through one of the ledgers. A man who was most definitely not Adriel.
“I see you’ve yet to develop anything like manners. Or charm,” Mallory replied, leaning against the door frame.
“Charm’s overrated.” The intruder leaned back in the chair and pulled a pair of sunglasses down from the top of his head, folding them up and stuffing them into the pocket of his jacket. “And speaking of people with neither charm nor manners, it’s good to see you.”
“Really? Did you miss me, Vin? I’m afraid I didn’t miss you. Not once. Not even slightly.” Mallory’s scowl crumbled, and he grinned. Vin winked back at him.
Alice shook her head. Some things, apparently, never changed.
“Where’d you get the book?” she asked, pointing at the ledger the Earthbound had been reading.
He blinked back at her, then pointed over his shoulder. “On the shelves. I got bored waiting. Don’t you guys keep some magazines in or something?”
“It’s not a dentist’s office, you know. How did you get in, anyway?” Alice leaned back out of Adriel’s office doorway, and looked at the door swinging open on its hinges. The way she’d left it.
Whoops.
She glanced back at Vin, who looked innocent. “Someone forget to lock up, did they? I tell you what: you’re lucky I didn’t lock it with me inside and leave the lot of you out there. Have you seen it out there?”
“Still trotting out that ‘I’m a lover, not a fighter’ line, are we?” Mallory had leaned across the desk and spun the open ledger round, and was now flipping through it. “We were outside.”
“And a fat lot of good I bet it’s done you.” Vin suddenly looked serious. “There are Fallen everywhere. In the open. Right there. You can say whatever you want about me, but I’ve paid my dues, and I’ve not complained – not once – but I’m not touching that mess. Not with a forty-foot pole. Screw it.”
Alice frowned at him. There was something... off about him, somehow. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.
She realised she wasn’t just frowning, but staring. And, being Vin, he was staring back with an expectant look on his face.
“It’s bothering you, isn’t it?” he said.
“I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, but yes.”
“It’s the hair.”
“Funny.”
Mallory cleared his throat. “No, really,” he said, “it’s his hair.”
Alice looked at Vin again – and now she saw it. The faint streak of grey that ran through his black hair and disappeared behind his ear.
Like Mallory, he had grey hair. New grey hair.
She looked from one to the other of them, and Mallory nodded. “I know. Later.”
Vin spotted the change in his tone, and ran his fingers through his own hair. “I thought it made me look distinguished. Silver fox, right?”
He ducked as Mallory threw the ledger at him.
It landed with a thump and a ruffle of pages. The room darkened, and the air filled with whispers and echoes. Alice, Vin and Mallory turned to see Adriel silhouetted in the doorway, his wings folding behind him. As he came closer, the heavy book flew back up to the desk – narrowly missing Vin again on its way – and settled on the polished surface.