Nephilum

Chapter 29

"You're kidding, right?" James said. We were still in the living room and I had just explained the demon and wings fiasco. I left out the part about my father though. There was no reason to tell him yet. He would probably think I'm insane anyway.

"Do you not see the wings?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

He shrugged. "Can I..." He asked, stretching his hand out towards my wings.

I nodded. "Sure."

I shivered slightly as his hand came into contact with my wings. It was such an odd sensation. It felt so weird, yet so natural.

"There's only one angel with this type of markings." He mumbled under his breath. He probably didn't even mean for me to here.

"Hmm?" I asked.

He looked up sharply, then back at my wings. "Nothing."

I shrugged, not thinking anything of it. Then suddenly, he froze.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The slightest hint of concern spilled into my voice.

"The demons know where you are. We're compromised. We need to leave. Now." His face had turned completely serious. I nodded.

"I'll go pack my stuff."

He nodded distractedly. I paused, debating whether of not to ask the question running through my mind.

He looked up and rose an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for?"

"Uh, so is there a way to make them go away? My wings, I mean. Like yours?"

He looked at me for a moment, his hazel eyes sparkling with amusement before snorting. "Yes, Lizzie. You envision them going into your back."

I blushed furiously, mentally scolding myself for being so stupid. "Shut up. How was I supposed to know?" I mumbled, fleeing to the elevators to my room. Once in my room, I glanced in the mirror and watched with interest as my wings sunk into my shoulder blades.

"Hurry up!" James said from the intercom. His voice was slightly distorted. 

I rolled my eyes, but grabbed my duffel bag. I hastily grabbed whatever clothes I could find and threw them in the bag. I also grabbed my phone charger. By the time I had everything packed and ready to go it had only been five minutes.

"Sometime today!" James said into the intercom. 

"I'm coming." I said back. Before I could get back to the elevators, James appeared out of thin air. He grabbed my arm and we were suddenly thrust into darkness.

We reappeared in a bright place lined with gold. Heaven. But I wasn't ready for him to take us anywhere yet and my feet fell out from under me. I landed on the ground with a surprised yelp.

"What the heck?" I exclaimed. I glared at James who just smirked and shrugged. "Could've warned me." I mumbled.

"Come on. Let's go." He said, all business again.

"I swear you have more mood swings than a teenage girl. And I would know since I am one." I muttered, following behind him.

I could practically feel him rolling his eyes at me.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"Council Hall."

I gasped dramatically and put a hand to my heart. "You actually told me something. Are you ok? Where did the real James go?" 

He rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement. We walked the rest of the way to the Council building in silence. The occasional angel gave me an odd glance, but I tried my best to ignore them. We were at the front steps of the building in no time.

I followed James as he led me up the stairs. I nodded politely to the woman behind the desk in the lobby and rode the elevator up to the same floor that Rodger worked on. I rolled my eyes as I followed James into Rodger's office.

Rodger looked up from his phone and shot me a fake smile. "What can I do for you today James?"

"We need another safe house. The condo got compromised."

"Hmm, how did that happen? This is the third safe house that has been compromised. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were just doing a bad job keeping your client protected."

James stiffened from beside me.

I stepped forward and in a sudden fit of anger started talking. "Listen up here you evil little cockroach. James and Michael have done nothing but keep me safe. They have saved my hide on more than one occasion and you're right-somehow my safe houses are getting compromised. It certainly isn't James' fault, but I have a feeling you know exactly who's doing it."

Rodger's eyes suddenly turned hard and he narrowed them at me. He leaned forward slightly as he spoke. "Those are pretty large accusations, girl." He spit in a low voice.

I leaned in even closer. "They aren't accusations if they're true." I replied in a cold tone.

"Alright guys," James started, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he glanced between Rodger and I. "we need a safe house. Now."

I stared into Rodger's eyes. He stared into mine-neither of us backing down. Suddenly, Rodger smiled his fraudulent smile and looked back to James. "Of course. I will contact Veronica."

I just glared silently at him. I had no real evidence, but somehow I knew. I just knew it was him. It had to be him, but nobody would believe me. Especially with him being a part of the Council. I needed to wait for the right time.

He couldn't say anything about what we did without risking outing himself, so I wouldn't say anything until I could be believed.

I bit my tongue as Rodger called Veronica and started the process of getting another safe house. I just stared at the wall, my arms crossed and a permanent scowl etched onto my features. James seemed to sense that it was safest for him to avoid me.

"Oh," James said, turning back to Rodger when he'd finished talking with Veronica, "we forgot to tell you, but Lizzie has finally got her wings."

Rodger's head popped up and he glanced at me curiously. "She has, has she?"

I refused to look at him and continued to glare into the wall; all the while ignoring the burning sensation as his eyes bored into me.

"Yeah." James replied. I could feel him looking at me too.

I blinked hard. It had to have been at least a day since I'd slept last and the fatigue was finally starting to catch up to me. James had said it would be another couple hours until Veronica found us a safe house and I was determined not to fall asleep.

"Lizzy, there's a couch on the next floor if you're tired." James suggested, after about half an hour. I had tried unsuccessfully to hide my yawn.

I shook my head. "I'm good." Was all I said.

James raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The chair I was sitting in was extremely uncomfortable, but at that point, it my have been the only thing keeping me awake.

A few moments later, my head started to dip and my eyelids followed quickly behind. Just as I was going to fall out of the chair, strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and under my knees. Seconds later, I was airborne. I was too tired to care though. I was barely concious.

The next time I came to I was being laid on a plush couch. The arms gently retracted and I felt a hand reach out and pull my glasses from my face. "Sweet dreams, Elizabeth."

With those last words in my mind, I allowed myself to drift off into the world of dreams.