Never An Angel

Fourteenth

        Magdalen deliberately parked a block away from where she was to meet Aodh. She stepped out of her vehicle and moved to the sidewalk, shifting close to a nearby building to avoid other pedestrians. She pulled out her phone and called Murello. "Ready," she said as soon as she heard him pick up. "I'm about to meet him. You're set up?"

     "Ready here," he responded immediately. "Waiting for the sign."

     Looking up, Magdalen squinted. She noticed one of the sisters shifting atop the building across the street only to disappear into thin air. "I'll talk to him for a bit, get him comfortable," she said, lowering her gaze. "When I'm ready I'll send you the signal. Waste no time getting things started as soon as you feel me. We can't screw this up."

     "I've got the chain ready to pull. As soon as you give me the go, everything will fall."

     "Nico?"

     "Waiting."

     "Declan?"

     "Your boy? With the others he gathered. They're set, too. Everything is. Don't you worry. You just do your part."

     "Alright. I'm going."

     "Wait. You've got your backup?"

     "Yes, I think so. They may or may not allow me to get a few scratches before they intervene."

     "Who have you enlisted?"

     Magdalen looked up again but only saw long shadows vaguely shaped like women, or perhaps tall birds. "The Erinyes sisters."

     "The Eri- The Erinyes sisters! How in hell did you convince them to help you? They hate everyone. But more severely, they hate you."

     "But they see the bigger picture. Besides, not all of them hate me, exactly."

     "Hells... Well, as long as they're helping and not hurting. Good luck."

     Magdalen grunted then hung up. She shoved her phone in her pocket and started walking toward the meeting place. She resisted looking to the sky for the sisters to prevent what little help she had to be discovered and continued on with her face forward. She was familiar with the area but wondered what Aodh found so interesting that he'd want to meet here in particular. The majority of the buildings around were middle-class businesses- doing okay, steadily making money, but nothing special. It was a quite open area as well.

     Coming upon a neat diner at the end of the street, Magdalen opened the door, immediately noticing that the bell above moved but did not ring. It didn't escape her that the inside was entirely different than what could be seen through the windows from outside. She saw through the magic curtain and blinked at empty booths. There were no waitresses to be seen, or even a cook in the back. She stood by the door and listened to it shut air-tight behind her.

     "You made it," said Aodh, coming out of the back. His dress shoes sounded on the floors. "And you didn't bring your lapdog."

     Magdalen held her tongue. She scanned the diner instead, waited exactly three seconds, then said, "If there's no food or drink to be offered, I'll consider it an affront."

     "Ah." With a snap of his fingers, a waiter and cook appeared. He swept out an arm. "I thought meeting alone would be more appropriate."

     Magdalen followed his arm and went to sit at a booth. "We're not alone."

     "Did you bring someone?"

     "Don't play a fool."

     Aodh sat across from her. "Yes, I do have my select few. They are hidden to make you feel more at ease. A mistake in judgment, I suppose. I don't feel anyone with you."