Page 16 of Metatron
He had a point. We didn’t have time to waste.
Given their refusal to join the Templars in preparing for battle, they were kept out of the loop as we—and by we, I meant mostly me—made plans. Despite having lost my job, I had no free time at all between my ambassador duties and supervising security for the hidden military installation that acted as a base of operations. Turned out my dad hadn’t been crazy after all when he sunk our savings into buying the large plot of land.
As an added bonus, the abandoned facility—which he’d picked up in an auction when the military downsized—had two spaceships that were being worked on for evacuation. While no one really discussed it aloud, we all knew those two ships wouldn’t be able to take more than a hundred between them. Our base alone had more than that. The sad truth? There didn’t exist a ship big enough on Earth to rescue more than a few, not to mention we’d never even made it past the moon, let alone another planet. I never told the crew working on those ships about the futility. Hope was all we had.
I worked closely with Metatron, and we maintained the bickering, as if we couldn’t resist as soon as we got close. His handsome butt would show up somewhere, and I’d have a go at him, and he’d be sarcastic right back. We’d part, only to be brought together again and again. I guess it shouldn’t be any wonder he featured in my dreams—usually wearing no clothes.
Did I find him sexy? Heck yes. If he kissed me, would I shove him away? Heck no. But you wouldn’t find me making the moves first. It just seemed like a bad idea. We were allies, nothing more. We couldn’t afford the emotional distraction. Or so I told myself. A part of me wasn’t sure I could handle it if I did make an attempt to seduce and he rebuffed. Best we kept things professional.
When the Templars sparred with the angels to improve our skills, I made sure to never be paired with him. Yet I’d have sworn he watched me. Unfortunately, the sessions usually led to me getting handed my ass. My petite size put me at a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat.
Those grueling sessions annoyed because they wouldn’t let us use guns. Tron called them unsporting. I scoffed at that logic. “According to who?”
“Killing should never be done from afar,” he insisted.
“I thought you told us we could use slingshots and bows?”
“Because they require not only skill by the user but that the subject be in visual distance.”
That caused me to snort. “Who makes these arbitrary rules?”
“It is known as fighting with honor.”
“I’d rather live. Let me ask, what will Hell’s forces be using?”
His lips pressed flat.
I prodded. “Well? Are they using swords and maces or something we’ve never seen?”
“You might have seen it,” he muttered. He glanced to his left, and for a second, I thought he might lie “Recent reports have placed them using projectile weapons. Only instead of bullets, they fire energy that can evaporate flesh.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I gaped at him. “And we’re supposed to fight back not using guns?”
“There is a possibility the combustion aspect of your weapons fails around some of Hell’s minions. They have many tricks. It’s why you will learn to fight with your hands.”
“Whoa. I want to go back to the part where you say our guns might fail. How is that possible?”
He roiled his shoulders, causing his wings to lift and drop. “Some of them are born with abilities.”
“Such as?”
“Mind control. Levitation of objects. Force grip.” He named off some stuff usually only seen in X-Men movies.
“Well shit,” I muttered. “How is it that the demons here never used anything like that?”
“The ones you’ve encountered thus far have mostly been simple-minded imps. On Hell, they would have been culled for being a waste of resources.”
I winced. “That’s not nice.”
Rather than reply, he said, “I think it’s time you showed me how the Templars handle nests.”
“If you insist. However, I don’t know how long it will be before we find one.”
“And if I could offer a location?”
“Sly, Tron, very sly. Okay. How big is it? Do we know how many demons?”
“Imps,” he corrected. “That is the correct term for what the twisted and undesirable. Astaroth appears to have been encouraging them to multiply that he might take command of and use them to sow chaos.” Astaroth being the demon prince stuck on Earth who’d been causing trouble. I’d heard stories of him second-hand from Lilith and Tamara, who’d both had run-ins with him.