Angel's daughter

Chapter 38

My throat was still killing me and now I was running out of air. I ducked into an alley, pulling Claire in with me. I took a breath, muffling the coughing,

"Why are we running? There's only two, we can take them"

"Pro life tip" I panted out, "When demons bring their dogs, you run" I grabbed her arm, "Hellhounds can't climb, we need to get somewhere high" I moved further between the two buildings, looking for something to climb, "There" I coughed again, pointing to the windowsill, "I'll give you a leg up"

"And you?"

"I can jump for it" I positioned my hands and Claire took a run up. I pushed up when her foot made contact and she just managed to grab it. I backed up from the wall, hearing the growls getting closer. I ran and jumped, pushing a foot off another wall to get higher and grabbed on to the same ledge as Claire,

"Now what?" I started coughing again, "Grace"

"Follow me" I choked out. I moved over to the metal gutter pipe and grabbed a hold, climbing up it and getting to the lower adjacent roof. I turned back to help Claire up before I held my chest, coughing again. Now though, we could take a breath. The hellhounds were in the alley but they couldn't follow,

"Breathe Grace" I nodded, sitting down on the flat roof. I realised there was a door to it. I pointed,

"Salt" My voice came out strangled now. Claire pulled out a box and started sprinkling the line in front of the door. Not long after laying it, the door rattled with growls. I took a breath,

"Ok. Now you can start explaining"

"I don't know" I said, "They probably want leverage again"

"How'd you know they were after you?"

"I didn't. I assumed and I was right" Claire's hands were still red from hanging from the windowsill,

"Damn that hurts" She shook them out,

"Try running without a bra" I muttered. Truthfully, I'd gotten dressed in such a hurry, I wasn't even wearing a shirt under the hoodie. I was roasting. I looked around us. This town wasn't constructed for my running and climbing and it had been difficult to find somewhere. Most of the houses were far apart and the central town area was small. I sighed, "We'll need another way to lose them"

"Like what?"

"Call Jody. She can ward the house for when we get there"

"You're still not answering my question" I took a breath before revealing my wings. They spread wide and far and it was clear from Claire's look that they were visible to her. The entirety of the wings were still covered in burns and I wasn't sure how they were still usable. There were large patches of bald, especially on the inside. The outside was largely untouched and was still covered in luscious black feathers. Moving them caused great pain and I groaned until the breath caught in my chest and I had another coughing fit. I held my chest. Claire reached a hand out and thankfully touched the outside of the wing, VERY gently. In fact, I didn't even feel it. She moved around me, circling to get a better look. It was the first I'd seen her lost for words. I held my hand out,

"You focus on hanging on and I focus on not crashing. Deal?" She gave me a look, "You think these have accuracy?" I spread my wings a little to emphasise the point. She saw the burns when I did,

"What happened to you?"

"It's a long story. Short answer is there was an explosion" Claire's face did some more contorting with concentration as she considered the singed feathers on the inside and looking back to the outside of the wings. I can't tell if she was considering if they work or if she's wondering about the burn patterns. Finally, she took my hand and I grabbed her upper arm. She took out her phone to call Jody. I'd a foot on the low wall of the roof, ready to fly at any time. We just needed a safe landing spot,