Thief's Honour

Chapter Twenty One- Damien's Mistake

The room was almost empty, except for some art on the walls and a golden pedestal, with intricate carvings along the sides, in the middle of the room. The pedestal was empty.

They walked into the room, and shut the door. There was nothing in this room worth coming all this way to steal. Why had Damien directed them here?

"Call Damien," Madeleine ordered, "This can't be right. We didn't break into an angel facility for some stupid art. We'd rob the Louvre or something for that."

Aric complied, and turned the phone to speaker, so they all could hear the conversation.

"Do you have it?" Damien asked hopefully.

"There's nothing here;" Madeleine snapped. "Just some art and a pedestal."

"Impossible! I know what I'm doing. There should be a jewel in there. On a pedestal in the middle of the room. Even an idiot could see it." Damien snapped back.

"There's a pedestal," Aric replied dryly, "but no jewel."

"It has to be there!  My scouts were very clear. The jewel would be on a pedestal in the room, and-"

"Did your scouts actually see the jewel sitting on the pedestal?" Madeleine asked.

Damien hesitated. "No... because it was supposed to be arriving the next day."

"And did you send anyone later, to see if it actually arrived?" 

"Who would be so stupid to steal a jewel right off an angel?" Damien scoffed.

"Was this jewel pure white, with a sort of rainbow sheen to it? And glowing slightly?" Madeleine guessed.

"Yes!" Damien replied, "How do you know? Did you find it?"

Madeleine sighed, and motioned for Aric and Ayden to follow her towards the door. "It's not here. We won't find it."

She opened the door, and a pair of angels walking towards them stared at them, before disappearing to raise an alarm.

"We're about to have company!" Madeleine snapped, and the three of them raced down the hallway.

"What do you know about the jewel? Where is it?" Damien demanded.

"It's a long way from here. We're in the wrong country. You won't find it because I've-" She was cut off by a horde of angels attacking them. Aric pulled out a gun from his jacket, and started to shoot at them. The angels blocked the bullets, still advancing, until several ricocheted and-

Ayden doubled over, gasping. He coughed, and blood spurted out of his mouth. He fell to the floor. Madeleine dropped beside him. "Ayden!" She gasped, locating the wound that was rapidly leaking blood and applying pressure, trying to stop it.

He shook his head, and choked something.

"What?" Madeleine asked.

"G-go," he gasped. "Too- late- you need to go."

"I'm not leaving you!"

Suddenly, there was a bright flash from behind them, and Ayden was completely incinerated. Madeleine looked up, to see more angels. She stood up shakily, and she and Aric stumbled through a side door into a different corridor. She slammed the door shut, and blocked it with a nearby, conveniently placed chair.

"There's too many of them!" Madeleine gasped. "Get out of here. I'll hold them off!" She grabbed Aric's gun out of his hands.

"I'm not leaving you." Aric snarled.

"It's no good if they get both of us!" Madeleine countered, "And I'm just a mortal."

He still looked unsure. She grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him into a kiss. He kissed her back. It was rich, and beautiful. If only they'd had more time.

Madeleine shoved him away, with one last, "Get out of here!" before the angels burst through and Madeleine shot at them.

Aric had no choice but to run.

Bright flashes of light flew at her, but she dodged them. Similarly, her bullets did no damage.

"Wait! She's mortal!" One of the angels yelled to the rest.

The bright flashes stopped, and the gun was magically ripped from her hand. A single spell flew at her, and hit her square in the chest. Madeleine fell to the ground, and her vision blurred. Her last conscious thought was satisfaction that at least someone had gotten away.