Gripping his pistol tight, Connor instinctively steps between his sister and the demons. He keeps the weapon pointed at the ground, though. And he keeps himself from directly staring at any of the creatures, for fear of provoking them.

"You’re kind isn’t welcome here."

Disbelief floods Connor’s thoughts as he slowly turns his head to see, out of the corner of his eye, Jackson has stepped away from Elizabeth and is brandishing his knife toward the demons. Connor tries to get his attention and gesture for him to shut up, but is ignored.

"Get the fuck out of here, demon." Jackson says. "Now."

The demon lets out a guttural laugh. "And just what are you planning on doing with that toothpick?"

Jackson throws his shoulders back and holds the knife up at face level. "I’ll cut out your other eye." His men around the room nod and voice their support for this threat.

A dark red blur is all Connor sees as he feels a rush of air sweep past him. He instinctively spins around to see the demon has closed the distance between himself and Jackson. A moment passes as the entire bar seems to hold its breath. The look on man’s face turns from confusion to agony, and blood begins to leak from his mouth.

"What was that about my eye, human?" the demon says in almost a whisper as he leans down, inches away from the man’s face.

Jackson’s body drops to the ground with a thud, and Connor can now see a gaping hole in the man’s chest. When the demon steps back and turns around, he scowls at the sight of the arm that is now slick with blood. With a wicked grin, the demon licks some of the blood from his hand before turning his attention to the rest of the bar.

"I trust that was a sufficient enough demonstration to dissuade any further resistance," he says.

Movement from behind the demon catches Connor’s attention. Elizabeth is stepping toward the exposed back of the monster. Connor subtly shakes his head at her, causing her to pause. He can see in her eyes that she is debating her next move. Hopefully, despite their differences, she will follow his lead this time. After a moment, she nods her assent and takes a step back.

The demon walks around the room, regarding every person he passes intensely. "We are looking for someone," he says. "Our information indicates that they are here and, as soon as we find them, we will be on our way. Until then, I want no more acts of aggression. Is that clear?"

With the demon moving across the room, Connor moves to his sister. "Be ready to run," he whispers.

"I don’t run," she says.

"Against three demons, yeah, you do." He presses his pistol into her hand. "But be ready to fight if it comes to that."

She says nothing, but accepts the gun. He shifts in front of her, in order to better conceal the weapon.

"As long as you give us your full cooperation," the demon continues as he circles the room, "this shall all be over in but a moment. Then you may all return to your pathetic lives."

Connor sees that the doorway is now unblocked as the two other demons have began circling the room as well. He catches the attention of David and Johnson and nods toward it. David nods his understanding as Johnson’s hands fall to his sides, brushing the grips of his revolvers.

The lead demon makes his way back toward the siblings and stops in front them. With a disinterest look, he eyes Connor up and down before waving him off with a grunt. Connor tries to keep his face neutral but has to grit his teeth when the demon turns to Elizabeth and licks his lips as a wicked grin spreads across his face.

"Hello, my dear," he says and leans in close to sniff her. With his bloody hand, he reaches toward her.

Connor reaches for the knife on his vest but, as he grips the handle, a high pitched screech fills the room. It is soon accompanied by the building shaking violently, and he grabs Elizabeth to keep them both upright. The demon takes a step back, and Connor uses the distraction to pull his knife free. He glances over to see Johnson unholster his revolvers and David pick his rifle up off the bar. Before any of them can make a move, though, a blinding white light fills the room.

The noise, shaking, and light soon begin to subside. As Connor’s senses come back to him, he glances around the bar. Everything seems to be as it was until his eyes go to the center of the room. The same light that once filled the room is now receding inward toward two figures, creating a bright aura around them that makes it hard to discern any of their features. As the light fades, and he can make out the two new arrivals, Connor’s hope of getting out of this situation drops. For now, standing in the center of the room, are two angels.

He has rarely seen them this close. It always amazes him how human they appear. Only two key differences set them apart, physically. The first, and most notable, are their beautiful, bird-like wings that protrude from their backs. Second, their eyes are piercing white, almost as intense as the light that had just filled the room. Adding to their strangeness, their bodies are covered in intricate tattoos of symbols that he does not recognize.

One of the angels is a massive brute of a being that stands even taller than the lead demon. Connor can see his head scraping the roof of the room even as he hunches over. The tattoos that cover his body seem to highlight and accentuate his muscles and imposing form. Though being of such considerable size, Connor notices he looks toward the other angel with the look of a guard dog to its master.

While he may not be as tall as the first angel, the second one still stands a couple inches taller than Connor. He is well built and holds himself with an air of authority. His eyes move sweep slowly across the room, and he seems to be unperturbed by the demon glaring at him with a fire in his eyes.

"Remial," the lead demon says in disgust.

"Malphas," Remial replies in a dismissive tone. His eyes continue to scan the room, lingering on Elizabeth for a few moments, before finally turning to the demon. "Leave."

Malphas bares his teeth. "Your arrogance knows no bound. I should rip you to shreds."

The giant angel starts forward but the other one holds out his hand.

"Flee, or die where you stand," Remial says.

"I do not fear you, angel." Malphas makes the word ’angel’ sound like an insult.

A faint white aura begins to surround Remial. "Your fear makes no difference to me," he says. "You will die just the same." The aura fades into ball of bright light in front of his chest.

The demon spits and says, "No angel will ever-"

The ball of light shoots across the room. It flies passed Malphas’ head and strikes one of the other demons. Connor makes out a momentary flash of surprise on the demon’s face before it slams into him and he explodes in shower of black blood.

Remial does not break eye contact with Malphas. "You will receive no more warnings," he says.

A silence fills the room.

"I will not forget this," the demon finally says. He turns and walks out of the bar, with his remaining companion close behind.

A moment passes as nobody in the bar moves. Then Remial moves toward Connor and Elizabeth. Connor moves to put himself directly between the angel and his sister, and grips his knife tight.

Remial regards him with a smirk. "That will not be necessary, I assure you."

"We’ll see about that," Connor says.

"Is that any way to thank the one who just saved your lives?"

"I doubt that was for our benefit."

Remial cocks his head slight, and Connor gets the feeling that he is being studied. "You are a perceptive one," the angel eventually says. "It is true; I did indeed have my own reasons for saving you. To be more precise, for saving her." He turns his gaze on Elizabeth.

Connor keeps his eyes locked on Remial.

"I was the one the demon wanted," Elizabeth says.

"Correct," the angel says. "He was not the only one looking for you, either."

"You can forget it." Connor brings his knife up a little.

"You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice."

"There is always a choice."

"I must insist."

"I said ’no’."

Remial sneers and snaps his fingers. A pain like he’s never felt before explodes inside Connor. He doubles over in pain, clutching his stomach.

Elizabeth catches him before he falls to the ground. "What did you do?" she yells.

"I punctured one of his lungs," Remial says.

Blood spurts out of Connor’s mouth as he hacks and coughs. He feels the coppery tasting liquid filling his throat.

"Fix him." Across the room, David has his rifle aimed at Remial. "Now," he shouts.

The other angel begins to move toward him.

Johnson steps in between the angel and David. He takes aim with his revolvers. "I wouldn’t recommend that."

The towering angel shoots an annoyed look at Remial.

“Stand down, Barbiel.” Remial looks to Elizabeth. "Come with me and I will heal him."

Through the pain, Connor manages to say, "Lizzie, get out of here," before spewing out more blood.

Elizabeth looks to her brother, then around the room. Connor knows she is looking for some way out of this. "Okay," she says finally, a dejected look on her face.

Connor cannot let her do this. "No...," he says as he tries to stand. The sheer amount of pain forces him to drop back down to his knees.

"Okay, what?" Remial asks.

With resignation in her voice, Elizabeth says, "Okay, I’ll go with you."

"Wise choice." Remial waves a hand over Connor.

Connor feels instantly better. The memory of the pain still lingers, but the pain itself subsides and the blood no longer fills his lungs. He looks up to his sister. "Lizzie, you can’t.”

"I can and I am." She helps him back to his feet. "It’s my choice."

"Touching," Remial says.

A rage begins to burn inside Connor. He feels his hands tighten into a grip and he feels himself trembling. "I will get her back," he says, "and then I will kill you, asshole."

Remial grabs his sister and pulls her away from him. "I look forward to seeing that, boy."

The white light once again fills the room, emanating from Remial and the other angel, and blinds Connor. It is followed immediately by the screeching noise and the ground shaking. When they stop again, the angels are gone, his sister with them. A silence fills the room as nobody moves. After a moment, Connor heads to the door.

He exits the bar, into the heat of the afternoon sun, and makes his way across the street. Across the street is his old, beat up Jeep parked along the sidewalk. As he reaches the driver’s side door of the vehicle, he looks behind him to see David Johnson and Johnson exit the bar as well. He enters the Jeep and, a few seconds later, David opens the front passenger’s side door and climbs in. Johnson hops into the back, spreading himself out longways on the bench seat. The engine roars to life as Connor turns the key in the ignition. He shifts into drive and takes off down the empty street.

"We need a plan, Connor," David says.

"The plan is to get my sister back." Connor grips the wheel tight, his knuckles turning white from the strain.

"That’s not a plan, and you know it."

Connor tears his eyes from the road to shoot David an angry look. "What would you have me do?"

"Treat this like you would any other mission,” David says. “Gather intel, figure out what we’re dealing with, and call for back up."

"This isn’t just any other mission."

"Exactly. Your judgment wouldn’t be this clouded if it were."

"My judgment isn’t clouded."

"It is," David says. "Getting yourself killed is not the way to do make things better between you and Elizabeth."

"I won’t abandon her again."

They let that statement linger for a moment.

"I understand that,” David finally says. “I do. But dying while trying to rescue her won’t help anyone."

Connor takes a deep breath. "I can’t let her down."

"You won’t," David says, "but if we’re going to do this, let’s do it the right way."

A moment passes before Connor says, "We need help."

David nods in understanding and turns in his seat.

Through the rear view mirror, Connor can see Johnson with his arms behind his head and his feet out the window. His eyes seem to be closed. David reaches an arm back and gives the man a hard smack.

Johnson jolts upright. "What the fuck?"

"Keep your eyes open for a bit longer, will you?" David says with a shake of his head.  "We need you to call into Black Rock."

"The General?" Johnson says.

"Yeah. Tell him we’re coming in."

Johnson nods then turns around. He begins rummaging in the back of the Jeep. After a couple moments, he turns back with a satellite phone in hand. Sitting upright in his seat, he begins punching in a series of numbers.

David turns back to face the road. "You think he’ll know what to do?"

"If anyone does," Connor says, "the General will."

Next Chapter: Revelation