A clip was hurled toward Bobby by his father, but as he reached for it, a long tail lassoed his arm, pulled, and he was over the couch being dragged to sudden death. Marjorie was on her feet shrieking with Krissy. Rounds were going off, but Marj dashed forward, her hands outstretched before her, going into the smoke behind Bobby and whatever held him.
Berkfield shouted his wife's name to no avail, and then everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Marjorie released a battle cry, and white lightning ejected from her fingers into the billowing smoke. A thud was heard, whatever had been dragging Bobby re�treated, and he jumped off the floor, grabbed his mother's arm, and pulled her back behind the couch. Jasmine and Krissy were sobbing, but Bobby couldn't catch his breath to answer their frantic questions about his condition. His mother had him pressed to her br**sts, and there was no fear in her eyes.
"You want my son, you bastards, then you gotta come through me!" Marjorie shouted. "Give me a f**king gun, Richard. I'm going into that smoke to blow their heads off!"
"Truce!" a loud voice shouted with demon inflection.
"We did not come to war but to warn," another garbled voice shouted from beyond the smoke.
"Hold your fire," a light female voice said.
Everyone looked at one another.
"I do not regenerate like my friends. If you shoot me, I will be mortally injured."
"Then state your business," Shabazz hollered, jamming a new clip into the handle of his nine.
"We're looking for Carlos. We need amnesty."
The soot-and-sweat-smudged team passed confused glances.
"Who you be then, sis?" Mike hollered, raising his RPG as the smoke began to part with a form. But he lowered it slowly as a frag�ile, nymphlike entity with white wings stepped through the soot, slightly dirty and looking suspiciously like an angel.
"Demon illusion," Rider said. "On three, right in the center of her head."
As soon as he said it, a huge half-gargoyle half-male with black and green skin leapt before the nymph and wrapped his wings around her. "Kill her and I will lose my soul up in the godforsaken house-and you call yourselves Guardians?"
Rider looked at Marlene. "Wait... did dude just say the name of the Most High, or did I hear wrong? Mike, talk to me."
Big Mike lowered his weapon. "Speak!"
The nymph began coughing and the larger demons stood around her, gently trying to hold her and get her to a window.
"She needs air. She cannot tolerate the ash and soot of an in�ferno... we must take her outside."
The team slowly stood and looked at each other, and then watched the brigade of demons carry the small being, swathed in white like she were a doll.
"Oh, baby... come on, breathe for me," the large creature with a six-foot wingspan said through his fangs.
Marlene and Rider and Shabazz just looked at each other.
"I'm a healer," Marlene said, "and we got us another pretty good medic, too," she added, glancing at Berkfield.
"The escape through the barrier was a rough ride, and the distor�tion of energy may have affected her." The entity looked up at Mar�lene with normal brown eyes holding deep concern. "Can you help her?"
"Is she an angel?" Marlene asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"At my age I'm way too old to be picking up no spiritual attachment in the streets."
"She's a hybrid... part that, part nymph, and the sweetest spirit you would ever know," the entity said, no longer looking at Marlene, but down at the small dirty creature in his arms that was struggling to breathe.
"Marlene..." Shabazz said, shaking his head. "At least have them put her down on the beach and back off."
Rider pulled his shirt over his head and flung it to the demon squad. "Lay her down on the sand for our lead medic to work on her. Then you gentlemen would be so kind as to give her like fifty feet."
The large one holding the nymph nodded and complied. "Just make her better."
CHAPTER SIX