Phoebe Wren and the Vortex of Light (20 page)

“
Cold?
Phoebe its over thirty degrees! What on earth is going on with you?” Eva had craned her neck round and was surveying her daughter with a mix of incredulity and concern.

Phoebe didn’t take time to answer, but leaned forward and unceremoniously jammed her arm between her mother’s seat and the car door, frantically grappling for the button to close the car window.

“Phoebe!” Eva protested, annoyed now by her daughter’s pushy behaviour. “Now you need to stop that! What’s gotten into you?
Phoebe!
”

“Sorry, Mum,” gasped Phoebe as her fingers found the button that operated the window and flicked it upwards. The window slid closed just as the infernal twins reached the Wrens’ Jeep. Graygor shot his wings out like a parachute and pulled back just in time, but Braygor wasn’t so quick, and he slapped face first into the Jeep’s passenger window with an almighty crack.

“What on earth was
that?
” exclaimed Jack, as he braked and prepared to pull off the road.

“It must have been a bird or something,” surmised Eva. “I didn’t see it, whatever it was. And there doesn’t seem to be any cracked windows.”

“Yes,” Demetrius piped up. “Must have been a bird or maybe a
bat?
” He looked at Phoebe, who had slumped back in her seat, eyes like saucers. She rolled her eyes at him and mouthed, ‘
a bat?
’ and Demetrius shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘
it was the best I could come up with!
’

“But I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now, right? If it was a bird or a bat, it’s gone now, no point looking for it. Best just keep moving so we aren’t late for our flight, eh?” Demetrius was not as adept as Phoebe at sounding offhand, and he was glad that Jack and Eva were apparently putting his peculiar behaviour down to moving nerves.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” agreed Jack, and he accelerated back on to the main road and resumed the remainder of the journey to the airport, which passed off without further incident. Phoebe and Demetrius, shaken by the close encounter with Braygor and Graygor, wakened up quickly and remained on high alert. They had no way of knowing when or where Captain Schnither and his hordes might show up, and the realisation that, for all intents and purposes, they were on their own now weighed heavily on them both.

When the family pulled up at Johannesburg International Airport, Jack parked the Jeep in parking zone D, from where Esau would collect it later in the day as previously agreed. He took a quick look around the Jeep’s interior to ensure that nothing had been left behind, then opened the trunk and heaved out his and Eva’s, Phoebe’s and Demetrius’s luggage. They claimed a case each, slung their hand luggage over their shoulders, and set off in the direction of the terminal building.

The Wrens and Demetrius cleared check-in quickly and without any hold ups. Ever the meticulous doctor, Jack had ordered all of Demetrius’s papers with military precision. He expected there to be no queries, and he was correct in his assumption. The party of four proceeded straight through security and, minus their cumbersome luggage, which they had offloaded at check-in, arrived in the departure lounge with an hour or so to spare. This unhurried, time to kill approach reassured Phoebe. It was an entirely different morning to the rushed adventure of Thursday 15
th
July when she and her parents had barely made their flight. As far as she was concerned, the less similar
this
day was to
that
one, the better.

Jack and Eva headed straight for the cafe, where they ordered lattes and found a quiet table, glad of the chance to sit down and relax after the hustle and bustle of the last few days.

“Do you guys want anything?” Eva asked Phoebe and Demetrius.

“No thanks, Mum, we’ll just go have a look around, stretch our legs,” said Phoebe.

“Okay Honey, but be sure to get back here on good time for boarding.”

“We will, no problem Mum,” replied Phoebe, then she and Demetrius scouted round the bustling departure lounge until they found a table and two seats in a forgotten little corner of the huge room. Phoebe sat down and put her bag on the other seat, while Demetrius went to the kiosk and purchased two cold drinks for them.

“Thanks, Dem,” Phoebe said as she gratefully gulped cold orange juice through her red striped straw. “I’m so thirsty! I guess being hounded by demons will give a girl a thirst!” She puffed out her cheeks, wafting her bangs from her forehead, then sighed deeply and looked across the table at Demetrius. “Aren’t you even slightly flustered?” she asked, somewhat bemused by his apparent nonchalance.

Demetrius continued to sip thoughtfully on his orange juice for a moment before setting the bottle down on the table and looking up at his friend.

“Of course I’m flustered, Bird,” he began. “In fact, if I started to think about this whole crazy adventure too much, I reckon I’d just turn around and go home right now! But I can’t do that –
we
can’t do that. You heard what Cosain said – this is our time, there are things for us to do. So, the way I see it, we can panic a bit, get ourselves all stressed out and scared – or, we can trust that there is a destiny for our lives, and that Cosain and those awesome warriors have got our backs. I know it’s scary without them right by our sides, but they know what they’re doing. We gotta trust them, Phoebs.”

“I guess.” Phoebe started, although her furrowed brows did not loosen any. “It’s just… Well, it’s just that I can’t help thinking about last time. What if Cosain doesn’t time this thing right? What if Schnither and the other delinquents outsmart the angels? Demetrius, what if this plane goes down too?”

Much to her frustration and despite her best efforts to stop them, Phoebe’s eyes filled with tears, and she blinked furiously in an attempt to stop them flooding down her flushed cheeks. Demetrius looked at her with kind, sympathetic eyes.

“
What if…
” he said. “
What if
Cosain knows
exactly
what he’s doing?
What if
our angelic heroes save the day?
What if
we get safely home to Ireland and discover our amazing destiny? You don’t want to miss
those
‘what ifs’ now do you?”

Phoebe wiped her eyes and smiled at Demetrius – he definitely always had the right words for her. “You’re right, Dem,” she said quietly. “Life is sometimes about taking chances, eh?”

“It sure is,” Demetrius smiled in response. “Now come on, drink up, it’s almost fly time and we definitely don’t want to keep your folks waiting!”

Phoebe slurped the last of her juice from the bottom of the bottle, wiped her mouth with a thin white napkin, then she dropped both empty bottles in the refuse bin and she and Demetrius headed back towards the cafe to find Jack and Eva.

Above them, unnoticed by the teenagers, Braygor and Graygor hovered close to the terminal’s glass ceiling. The diminutive mischief makers had been joined by Schnither and numerous other demons, and now they congregated like an undulating black cloud. It looked like some kind of freakish side show whose ranks were increasing by the minute.

“It is almost time,” Graygor chuckled. “Our moment has almost come. Abaddon the Defiler will see how lucky he is to have professional scoundrels like us on his team, eh brother?”

Braygor’s hacked purple lips broke into a distorted grin. “Yes brother, we will make His Heinousness proud, we will show him our worth – even if Schnither is too stupid to see it!” And the repulsive twins snorted and chortled with glee.

In the heart of the Celestial City, Solas, Dilis, Trean, Neam and Croga were awaiting the return of Cosain and Lasair, who had gone directly to the Throne Room of the Atoner to update Him on the progress of Phoebe Wren, her parents and Demetrius. The angelic brothers sat on the translucent emerald walls of the city’s Rapha Fountain, whose crystal clear waters ran day and night and possessed the power to heal the battle wounds of the Heavenly Host. On any other day, the angels would have been soothed by the sound of the fountain’s gently flowing water, and would have drunk in the beauty all around them – the cloudless cyan skies, the radiant crimson hue of the sun, the shimmering golden streets. But today, all of the warriors were on edge, anxious to hear word back from the Atoner, and eager to return to their mission without further delay.

“Should we not be on our way back to Phoebe?” queried Dilis, standing to his feet and stretching for the fiftieth time. “I just feel better when she is within my sights.” He sighed, stretched again and paced a few steps back and forth along the front of the fountain.

“I know, brother,” agreed Trean, his bright blue eyes clouded with concern for the angels’ young ward, albeit almost imperceptible, for he was a trusting soul. “But we can rest assured that the Atoner knows exactly what He is doing – we have seen firsthand how He delivers and redeems time after time, and yet we
still
marvel at His ingenuity. This will be no different. He knows best, we’ve just got to trust and do what He asks.” Trean smiled kindly at Dilis. He was the youngest of the Heavenly Host, and was not as experienced as Trean, who had pledged his allegiance to the Atoner aeons before Dilis was even created. The youngster was eager and brave and loyal, and his trepidation was entirely forgivable. Trean had no doubt that, in time, Dilis would become as assured as he and the other angels were of the infallibility of the Atoner’s divine plans.

“I have much to learn,” murmured Dilis, eyes downcast.

“And all the time in eternity to do it!” Neam grinned, displaying his brilliant white teeth, and Dilis visibly relaxed.

“Thank you for your patience with this whippersnapper, brothers!” he exclaimed, and the other warriors chuckled their approval of the earnest young angel.

Solas’s assertion broke through the angels’ voices. “Look!” he cried, “It is Cosain and Lasair.”

The warriors all rose to their feet as their captain approached. They could see from his purposeful stride and the placement of his hand on his sword that it was time for action.

“What news, Captain?” asked Croga, his brown eyes intent and focused.

“The Atoner is very pleased with your work thus far. Lasair and I updated Him on everything that has happened, and brought Him up to speed on the Enemy’s plans for the destruction of the Wren family. He has given the order for us to move; we are to leave the Celestial City and return to Phoebe, but we must not make our presence known until the last moment. Our attack, this final battle, must be the epitome of stealth. We will catch the Enemy unaware, route the powers of darkness back to the Abyss, and escort Phoebe and her loved ones safely back to Ireland. The Atoner has great plans for Phoebe and Demetrius, and Jack and Eva – exciting plans, which will have far reaching consequences for good. Now brothers, prepare yourselves for battle, but do not reveal yourselves until I give the command.”

“Yes, Captain,” chorused the angelic warriors in unison, as they extended their mighty wings and took to the skies, quickly rendering the Celestial City a shrinking image on the horizon. The angels flew with complete focus and great velocity, while a million miles below them in the departure lounge of Johannesburg International Airport, Phoebe Wren’s pulse quickened as the last call for Araco Airlines flight 454 to Ireland sounded over the tannoy.