Dark Kings (Feathers and Fate #1) - Sadie Moss Page 0,17
I am.
I unfurl my wings, shaking them out a little. Now I look more like myself. My true self.
“You can do this,” I tell my reflection, putting on my most determined expression. If I’m going to get back to Heaven, get back home, then I can’t give up. I have to do this. I have to convince the seven sins to side with us in the war, and to fight against the corrupted.
“What is home worth to you?” I ask myself. “Huh?”
Everything, I answer silently.
I can do this.
Rather than marching back into Beckett’s office with guns blazing, I go downstairs to the lobby of the building where there’s a ridiculously overpriced coffee shop. Then I order some food and a drink, and I wait.
And… wait.
Beckett works late. Later than usual, which is saying something. Since I’ve been trailing him invisibly for a week, I’ve got his schedule down pretty well. The last rays of sunlight are fading outside the large windows when Beckett finally emerges from the lobby elevator.
Ah, ha! Gotcha, sucker!
I walk out as well and start to follow him down the street.
“Hi!” I give him a beaming smile as I pull up beside him, hustling to keep up with his long strides. I’m still annoyed, but I’ve calmed down from our earlier confrontation, and I’m determined not to let him get to me. I’m going to succeed, even if it means wearing him down by annoying him every single day.
“You again?” Beckett shoots me a dismissive glance from the corner of his eye. “Do you not take a hint?”
“Nope!” I shake my head. “I admit I lost my temper back there in your office, so I took a little walk—and here I am again, ready to discuss how much you’ll be donating to the HDR.”
“I’m not donating anything.” Beckett keeps walking, and he’s really quite tall, annoyingly so. I have to practically jog to keep up with him.
I put on a burst of speed and slip in front of him, walking backward so fast I pray I don’t trip and go sprawling. “Listen, you’re a very busy man! I get that. You’ve got a lot of things to focus on and think about.” I narrow my eyes. “But I don’t. I just have this one, single mission, which is to convince you to donate. So which of us do you think is going to succeed?” I smile at him. “The guy who’s got a million things on his mind and doesn’t need one more problem on his plate? Or the girl who has nothing but time on her hands?”
Of course, I don’t know how much time I’ve got. Do I have a time limit? I’m not sure. But the sooner I can complete this assignment, the better, as far as I’m concerned.
Beckett stops walking, and I nearly crash into some poor guy behind me as I skid to a halt too. The imposing sin gazes at me, and he actually looks almost impressed. “Listen, Ms. Pope—”
That’s when I notice an odd smell.
Huh. It’s… it’s distasteful, coating the back of my throat and making my nose wrinkle. I know that smell, know it and instinctively hate it like all of my kind do. It’s the smell of sulfur.
Sulfur means one of the corrupted are nearby. But that can’t be possible. Sulfur this strong?
It smells like an entrance to Hell is being opened up right nearby, but that’s all wrong. Earth is neutral territory! Demons shouldn’t—
Suddenly it doesn’t matter what demons should or shouldn’t be doing, because in the alley right next to us, the ground opens up as if chunks of rock are falling down into molten lava.
A blast of heat and an awful, indescribable stench hits me, and demons emerge.
Oh, no.
Yup. This is totally a portal to Hell. This shouldn’t exist, since Earth is neutral territory. This isn’t where the war is being fought.
Why are these demons doing this? What’s going on?
There’s a street full of people just a few feet away. If I don’t stop these demons, I have no doubt they’re going to hurt innocent people and wreak havoc on the city.
I have to do something.
It’ll mean showing Beckett my true form and letting him see what I really am, but that matters less to me than stopping these corrupted before they hurt anyone. The demons might even be after Beckett, although who knows why that would be? He’s not exactly on their side, but he’s not on our side either.