my equally strong desire for a drink of water just then, when my eyes were drawn to something in the distance.
Then I saw it: Something pierced the sky in the distance like lightning. Except it was going straight up.
What is that?
Kreios was drawing the entire Nri clan out from its high citadel, the physical amplifier for its Babylonic power. The skyscraper had served from the time of its construction as a conduit for the transfer of power from the spirit realm to the natural. As such, Kreios reasoned, if it could be destroyed or at least minimized in the battle, the Nri would scatter like roaches when the lights came on. He trusted that El had a plan.
If the feint was to work properly, he would have to slow down and give the demons something to attain. In other words, he would have to let them catch up a little. Once more, he had to demonstrate what he believed with action.
But as he did so, he felt an old familiar drain on his angelic abilities. His heart sank. This could simply not be so.
Now he was entirely exposed in the sky, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, no weapon in his hand and no clues from El as to what to do next. The more he fell back, the more his strength was sapped. He had gone too far this time. Past the tipping point. They would have him soon, and when they did, his life would indeed end.
Unless El does something.
Kreios fell still farther back. He reached out to El, questioning.
“Just watch,” was all he heard.
Nwaba watched his entire army depart, giving chase to a single angel. He began to have second thoughts as to the tactical sustainability of his last orders. He considered a countermand, but in the end dismissed it as impractical. Besides, he didn’t have even a single courier to send so that the order could be rescinded. He growled and let it be.
The tower could remain unguarded as long as the primary foe was completely engaged in battle, and that was Kreios.
But is it? Doubts filtered in around the edges of his mind. Was Kreios indeed the primary source of enemy power, or had Nwaba fallen for a ruse of war? It was too large for him to understand. Nevertheless, he had his instincts. And they were telling him to fly, that it was no longer safe to stay in the tower now. It was a target, and he, if he was smart, would get away from it as quickly as possible.
But where to go? Somewhere with leverage, that’s where.
He whipped his long thin tail around, skillfully cutting the chains that held the bait man aloft. He fell to the floor a wreck, beside the now fully thawed body of Kim. She was nothing but a cadaver.
The only pulse that remained within her now found its source in the Bloodstone. When the two were united and the transition ritual performed, she could be discarded. Until then she would remain useful, however.
“Mr. Emmanuel, we depart now. Gather these slaves.”
CHAPTER IX
I STOOD ON THE ground slack-jawed, looking at something impossible.
A bolt of pure light, evidence of heaven, shot straight up into the sky.
Kreios.
I spoke my grandfather’s name in awe: “Kreios!”
When I first saw him blasting through the atmosphere on a trail of light, my heart took to flight as well. I remembered his training; that love is the most powerful force in the universe. Indeed, love was all I could feel when I saw my grandfather. It was an awesome thing to see him take to the skies.
I let the waves of emotion roll over me. I allowed my heart to roam free in the excitement of knowing that my grandfather was still alive, that I might soon be reunited with him, that he might soon learn the truth about me—that I, too, was still alive. I had to get to him.
I realized then in my reverie that I had closed my eyes.
I opened them to discover that I was more than twenty feet above the pavement.
What the heck?!
Thankfully, She interrupted my alarmed thoughts. “Concentrate!”
I obliged, wide eyed. I thought of the last thing I could remember before I found myself hovering above the street. Kreios. I was thinking about seeing him again. Our reunion. I stared at the horizon, at the vertical line described by my grandfather’s incredible flight through the air.
I glanced down. I was now more than one hundred feet above the ground, in