Company of Angels 02 - The Demoness of Waking Dreams

Luciana take you to this fornace if she wanted to finish you off?” Arielle asked him as they sped toward their destination.
    “Because she never seriously intended to kill me,” Brandon said. “Every attempt she ever made on my life failed miserably, because she could never bring herself to do it. But that’s not the case with Jude.”
    Arielle fell silent. She pursed her lips and stared out over the passing lagoon.
    Once they reached Murano, Infusino quietly ushered them out of the boat.
    “We cannot simply pull up to the front of this factory,” said Infusino. “We must be subtle. There is a back way.”
    They disembarked and followed Infusino through a twisting passageway that led to the back of a large, brick building. Cylindrical chimneys billowed smoke into the night sky. Light spilled from the large windows into the darkness around them. From inside came the repeated ringing of metal striking metal, and the flaring roar of burning flames.
    Infusino motioned for the rest of the group to stay behind, while he and Brandon crept over to peer through the brightly lit windows.
    What Brandon saw there brought him to only one conclusion.
    They’re preparing for the End of Days.
    Torture instruments. Weapons. Ovens.
    Piles of dismembered limbs.
    How many bodies were there, he could not even say. The flesh was skinned and bloody, an amalgam of limbs so disfigured it was impossible to tell whether they were human or animal or both.
    And Jude. Trapped in the middle of a horrific scene, with demons all around him, prodding at him with burning-hot tools.
    For an instant, a primal urge deep in Brandon’s gut was finally satisfied.
    After all this time, my shooter is getting his punishment....
    He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, willing that thought away.
    Forcing himself to remember.
    Who I am…what I am....is a Guardian.
    Whatever base emotion had swept over him, whatever satisfaction he had momentarily felt at seeing Jude in pain—that was all overridden by the conviction that his role as an angel outweighed everything else. Brandon’s oath to protect humankind was more important than any revenge he could have wished on a miserable person like Jude.
    Backing away from the windows, the two angels retreated to the rest of the group and described the scene to them.
    Infusino said quietly, “We knew something like this was coming.”
    Arielle nodded in agreement. “We knew the demon ranks were massing, but we didn’t quite know how. This is only the beginning. There will be other groups. More preparations.”
    Brandon felt queasy, wondering whether his recent suspicions about Arielle were right.
    Whether what his gut told him was true.
    Whether she really was evil.
    Or whether Arielle was simply dedicated to her mission on earth—protecting humankind and fighting demons—and doing what she thought needed to be done.
    “Is this why you’re building the Redemption Center?” Brandon asked.
    She nodded. “Yes, and you must help me. We members of the Company all need to trust each other if we have any hope of winning. I don’t know how we’re going to defeat these demons. We’ll have to find a way. But we can’t stay here now. We’ve got to leave, formulate a plan and return later.”
    Later will be too late, he knew.
    “The rest of you can do what you need to,” he said. “I’m going in. Now.”
    “Wait,” said Arielle, reaching toward him. “You can’t just walk into a swarm of demons unprotected. They will rip you limb from limb and then burn you alive, just like they’re going to do to that human. Besides, he doesn’t even deserve to be saved.”
    “We can’t just leave him here,” Brandon said. He looked at her pointedly. “Torture is never justified.”
    He turned, steeling himself for what he must do. Or perish trying.
    Infusino grabbed his arm, holding him back.
    He broke free, tearing toward the factory doorway, toward certain destruction.
    * * *
     
    A lone feather drifted into Luciana’s view. The moment she saw it floating in the middle of the factory, a wisp of melancholy grazed over her. Because she knew that if the angel arrived now, Corbin would take him. And that would be the end.
    How can he have found me here?
    The iron doors groaned open once again. This time, every Gatekeeper in the factory turned toward the sound, the nearness of his energy pulling every gaze upward.
    Brandon stepped into the factory. As he walked onto the platform, she saw how stunning he