Angel's Arrow

Laying Siege

Mal stopped in front of a full-length mirror to admire the body of the young woman he was wearing. The petite blonde form was pleasing to the eye but Mal was looking forward to being in his own body again. He still had lots of things to do, this plan was only in the beginning stages and he couldn't afford to screw it up. Those in charge were watching. Not only had he caught the attention of Angels but he failed to kill that feathered jerk and foolishly involved the silver arrows as well. The plan was to involve them later but now he would need to come up with someone else to run that particular errand. He cursed Gerry for snatching the girl before he'd bothered to find out who she was. Mal thought it served him right to have lost his head in the fight. He went over the desk and picked up the dagger resting on its polished surface. The ruby embedded in the hilt gleamed wickedly. Mal ran a finger over the sharp edge and smiled to himself. He had revenge on his mind, and he planned to use that cursed dagger to exact it.

Amy strapped another knife to her arm and tightened the laces of her boots. It had been a while since she'd worn full hunting gear and she felt unsteady under the extra weight. Juliet handed her a loaded cross bow and ammo pack. “I thought you might like to borrow this.” She smiled but it wasn't the happy kind.

“Thanks.” Amy strapped on the extra cross bow bolts and holstered the bow. Deciding that it would be her primary weapon during the assault on the Soul Eater’s lair.

“There will be other guys.” Juliet said softly. “There always is.” Lexi nodded her head in agreement. But she had multiple boyfriends at once, so her input was off track.

“Are you ready honey?” Their mother Gina dressed in black almost exclusively in black and wore her mahogany hair in a serious braid, so that it never obscured her eyesight. People actively avoided eye contact with her, and one sharp look could make big tough demons run away like baby Kikis. But despite her hard exterior, her family knew how warm hearted she could be. Their werewolf mother was a rock but occasionally she was more like a sponge. Gina smiled encouragingly at her daughter and on Amy's ready signal, grabbed a large broad sword and climbed into the family Jeep. Amy climbed in next to her and her siblings followed suit. She had decided to forgo the make-up and for the first time ever, her Ree marks made her feel empowered. They were off to kill themselves some bad guys.

The house was quiet. Mal had sent almost everyone else away so that he could work on his revenge plan in private. The only ones there were a hand full of vampires and some puppet guards. Artificial life forms with no real brain of their own. The nearest neighbors were miles away, so it didn't make sense when he sensed some living bodies around. He could feel them, warm living bodies just waiting to be inhabited. Too many for girl scouts selling cookies and too spread out to be a car passing by. They were coming from all directions. He had maybe 30 seconds tops before they entered the building. Cursing, he shoved the revenge dagger into the belt of the woman's pants and pushed all his papers into the paper basket on the floor. He was going to burn it. No way in hell was he letting those c***s get any of his records or plans. He'd just struck the match when a loud crash downstairs signaled the beginning of their attack. He dropped the match and started the fire just as glass shattered all over the house. The windows and mirror exploded, cutting into the soft skin of his host. Mal palmed the dagger and ran headfirst through the shattered window. He was on the second floor but there was an outdoor dining area with its roof just under the window. Mal landed on it and rolled. He hit the ground with a snap of bone, but he didn't care. He could easily numb himself to his body's pain. Instantly he was shot with two cross bow bolts. Amy stepped out of the shadows as she loaded up another bolt, a woman close beside her. The other one looked similar in her face to Amy but her short hair was much darker. She was also a much better aim. Nancy's second shot drove into his left ankle, stopping his attempt to make a run for it. Amy struggled with the cross bow until frustrated she tossed it aside and ripped a knife from its strap. She came at him furious over what he'd done to her and Kynan. Nancy tried to call her back, but Amy didn't listen. She was swift in her first blow to Mal's side but he dodged the next one and managed to catch her with his own blade. Nancy moved to help her sister but caught movement in the corner of her right eye. She only just managed to dodge the claws of a vampire as they slashed at her throat. As Nancy engaged the vampire, Amy and the Soul Eater struggled with each other. They moved quickly, slashing and dodging, never managing to land a hard enough attack. Amy was rusty but she still remembered enough to realize that Mal was favoring the higher attacks. She ducked low, twisting her body to step into his defenses to land her blade in his belly. Mal roared in pain and brought his own blade down onto her shoulder. He kicked her down and dove on top of her. Nancy got a shot off, hitting Mal in the head. But she had only killed the body, the demon was still alive and well inside. Amy struggled with Mal. His body wasn't that big but with him inside, she was strong. Panic struck Amy when she realized that she wasn't going to win.

Suddenly a blinding light came out of nowhere and knocked Mal away from Amy. She was blinded, but Amy could hear the unmistakable sound of a fist meeting flesh. Her sight came back gradually, and she was able to make out the form of one man beating another. Kynan threw his fist at Mal, over and over again letting his rage pour out of him. He was glad the woman was dead because he would have regrated it afterwards if she was feeling the abuse too. Her face was bloody and smashed and still Mal managed to make it smile. “Your b***h is going to die.” Amy watched as Kynan summoned a blade of bright heavenly fire and plunged it into the demon’s chest. Kynan's fire had done what the crossbow bolts couldn't. The Soul Eater screamed in terrified agony as his very soul was burned away. Kynan rose slowly to his feet as Amy struggled to hers. She wanted to throw herself at him and wrap her arms around him tight. But would he let her? Or would he strike her down with that awesome fire too? She got her answer when he reached out and pulled her against him. He held her so tight that she began to cry. Not from physical pain, but from all the emotions coursing through her. Kynan pulled back to see her face and wiped he tears from her face. “I'm sorry, so sorry.”

“Me too.” She told him. He kissed her and she forgave everything he'd said to her at the garage. Her chest was swelling with happy emotion. “What does this mean Kynan?” She asked, still a little warry.

“It means that I'm so not breaking up with you.” He kissed her again, this time making her on looking sister nauseous. They hadn’t even noticed the pile of vampire dust by her feet.

“Can you guys please do that somewhere else?” Sadie asked having just rounded the building in time to see all the mushy stuff. They ended the kiss, but Kynan still kept his arms around Amy as the rest of the family quickly found them. Most of them had clearly been fighting.

“We saw a light.” Raze called coming to a stop when he saw Kynan with his arms around his little sister. “You son of a...”

“It's okay Raze.” Nancy cut him off. “Kynan saved our lives. And they kind of made up so you can't kill him.”

“Please don't hurt him Raze? Or any of you.” Amy met the gazes of her angry family. “The Soul Eater had me pinned down. He would have killed me if it wasn't for Kynan.”

“How did you even know to come here?” Gina asked still suspicious of the angel.

“I don't know.” He answered honestly. “I felt this kind of tug and just followed it.” He'd followed it and that's when he'd seen that demon on top of Amy. He'd been furious and attacked. Amy pulled herself from his arms and picked a bloody knife from the grass. It was pretty with a shining ruby embedded in the hilt.

“I'm tired.” She told him. “Take me home?” He slid his hand into hers and flashed them out of there. She didn’t even have time to hear the outraged protests of her family.