Page 49 of Dark Angel

Percy lets out a sigh and nods in agreement. “All right.”

The ringing of the bell startles both of them. They’re not expecting any visitors today.

Adeline follows Percy towards the entrance. A concerned Tobias is waiting in the cold, his waistcoat pulled tightly closed in front of him to keep the chill from biting at his skin.

“Tobias, what are you doing here?” Percy asks, concerned.

Tobias moves into the manor. The sudden warm air brushing over his skin, making him shiver with relief. “We received news from the White Women. They found traces of strychnine poison in Clara’s bloodstream. It wouldn’t have taken long to kill her with that.”

“Strychnine. But that’s only found in Dark Angels, not Infernals.” Percy murmurs to himself, yet it’s loud enough for both of them to overhear him. “Dark Angels can’t be here, in London, of all places. They wouldn’t be able to conceal themselves, nor would they want to. This makes no sense.”

Adeline touches Percy’s arm, bringing him back to their presence. “Dear, I’m sure you will figure this out.” She reaffirms him.

Nodding, he touches Adeline’s hand with his own, stroking the back gently in circles. Turning to Tobias, Percy gives him a hard look. “I would like to speak with the White Women. Are they still at the Ascendancy?”

Tobias nods. “They are, but they’ll be returning to their stronghold shortly. They do have other pressing matters to deal with if you can believe it.”

“We need to go now, then.” He turns to grab his coat when he catches the look on Adeline’s face. It’s a look of concern; one Percy’s seen on many occasions. She’s always worried about him-and she has every right to. With the amount of times Percy’s caught fire lighting the hearth or passed out from the fumes of his poisonous concoctions and hit his head on the floor, he’s not at all surprised when she looks at him this way. “I have to go speak with them, Adel.”

She looks at him with creased brows before nodding slowly in agreement. “I know. Just don’t be home too late.”

*?*?*

“We came to inform you about Strychnine in her bloodstream, which is quite rare to find in any creature, let alone a Seraphim. We suspect the works of a Dark Angel is at play here. We can’t confirm yet, however, if the Dark Angel himself, or if another creature is completing the workon his behalf, made those carvings.” The dark-skinned White Woman explains to them in a placid timbre.

Tobias now knows her as Lavina, having introduced herself at their arrival in the infirmary. He shook her skeletal hand, trying not to crush her prominent bones underneath his own.

“The carvings are quite unusual,” she continues, “We are still analysing our research in the efforts of finding anything similar in our history of deaths, but that may take some time understandably. We are also unsure if this is a threat to all Marked kinds, or only your breed.”

Tobias cringes when she refers to them as a breed-as if they are a species of canines.

“We appreciate you helping us, Lavina. But are you saying this is a threat to us?” Percy questions a little apprehensively. He scratches his forehead, trying to wrap his mind around the information.

“We are not sure yet, Mr Chiswick,” her silver eyes glow at him like two finely polished coins, “we will need to wait and see if this occurs again. Perhaps then we will have more information on who did this. If it’s an isolated attack, then this is all the information we can give you right now.”

Percy nods to the woman wrapped in white fabric and silver details. “I will continue to read through the research I contain in my collection, although I haven’t stumbled over anything relevant so far. If something is at play here that’s occurred in the past, then I’m afraid I don’t much research on it.”

“We appreciate your efforts in helping us resolve this, Mr Chiswick. For your sake, I hope it’s an isolated attack, and that nobody else is harmed.”

“Well, thank you for coming to inform us. We greatly appreciate it.” Percy says, holding out his hand to her once more.

The woman gives a faint smile, shaking his hand firmly. “Do inform us if anything else arises. We will keep you updated if we uncover any more information on this. The Dark Angels are creatures you don’t want to get mixed up in. They’re wicked and vile. The onlyintention they have is to destroy life itself and rule over every realm. I’m sure you’re already aware of this, since you are angelic beings yourselves, but Dark Angels are the foulest creatures to face.”

Tobias’ forehead creases as he listens to Lavina. Concern is etched into her features as well. Normally, the White Women try to remain impartial, not overstepping and choosing sides. They are immortal beings after all, with demonic blood fuelling their bodies as well as Mortal, but they also have seen more than any other creature on Earth when it comes to demise.

“Thank you, Lavina.” Percy says again.

With a click of her bony fingertips, a silver spark flicks out. A silver portal opens up, swirling impossibly fast in a spiral whirlwind. Lavina gives them both of a short nod of appreciation before disappearing. The portal snaps shut behind her like a vault, vanishing into the void along with her and returning to an unscathed wall once again.

Tobias collects himself, turning to his friend. “Dark Angels.” He repeats, his mind still reeling.

Percy nods, still soaking up the information himself. “It’s not impossible.”

“It’s also not common.” Tobias reminds him.

Percy scratches his head once more, his black-framed glasses slipping further down his nose. “If we are being targeted by Dark Angels, then this is more serious than I first thought. Infernals, while demonic, aren’t always sent here to disrupt our world. But Dark Angels, that’s not something we’ve faced before.”

Tobias is quiet for a moment. Putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder, he squeezes it tightly. “Let’s just pray to the Angels then that this incident won’t reoccur.”

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