Surfer's Paradise, Queensland, Australia; July, 2009
It was blowing a westerly today, and from her seat in the café Anna could see the cool wind whipping across the sand, pulling it into small dervishes that spun briefly along the beach.
But the sun was still out, and it was still too warm for a jacket with the latte to keep her warm. This was a north-eastern Australian winter, and the thought of snow was half a world away.
Sighing, she set her coffee down, slumping back on her seat…
Only to sit bolt upright again a moment later.
What in the hell…?
It was just a tingle, a feather-light touch, but even that was lightning-bright and electric with pain.
Where are you?
The reply was panicked and incoherent. A jumble of images that made her head ache as she tried to puzzle out the unfamiliar orientation. When she finally got it, she was on her feet in an instant.
Set low, they were set low and looking up. The perspective of a child.
I'm coming.
Fear touched her. Illogical fear, though she didn't understand why.
She strode faster, lining up landmarks and scents. It was a market, set up along the Esplanade. Anna smelt fresh fruit…and the musk of human terror. Worse, it didn't quite mask the sulfur.
There was a demon nearby.
Turning a corner around a block of stalls, she came to an abrupt halt.
A man in a police uniform was standing over a small boy, maybe no more that eleven years old. The boy had a green mango in one hand while the officer had the opposite wrist in a white-knuckle grip. There was a snarl on the man's face, the expression made even uglier by the fact that it was suppose to be a smile.
The sulfur scent got stronger and set her senses afire.
The answering rage rose up, and Anna stepped silently towards them.
"Officer," she called, full of false brightness for the benefit of the rest of the mortal foot-traffic. "Oh, thank God, you found him." She took the boy's arm from the creature's grip and gathered him close to her. "Why'd you run off, sweetie?"
Blue eyes stared back at her, wide and half-wild.
I'm here to help, she told him.
An answering rush of feeling. I'm scared, but I shouldn't be.
Why?
I could make him go away. But he'll still know where I am…
Not for long.
The conversation to less than a second.
When Anna looked up the officer's eyes were the colour of spilt pitch.
"You don't know what you're messing with, bitch," he snapped. "The munchkin in your arms isn't anything you can save." The smile came back, oily and inhuman. "Why not just let him go? Just leave and let me take him where he needs to be…I know someone who wants to have a real long chat with him…"
The boy's arms went around her then, and Anna tightened her grip on him.
"I know exactly what I'm messing with," she murmured coldly. "But do you?"
She turned her right arm, letting him glimpse the sigil on her pulse point.
The air went cold and smelt of fur and pine. For a second, the beach appeared covered in snow instead of pale sand. Their breath ghosted white from their mouths, and Anna smiled like a winter sun.
"Azrael is in the world," she whispered. "Azrael lies in wait."
The demon stared at her with honest terror. "No," he rasped.
"Yes," Anna laughed, "oh yes."
She looked down at the boy in her arms who was gazed at her, face full of puzzlement.
"Take my hand and think of stars," she told him.
He hesitated for only a second. Then his small warm palm was against hers. The link forged…
Rage spilled back onto the demon's stolen face as he realized what she meant to do. He reached for them, and Anna felt the air shift in front of her face with his movements a bare half-second before she closed her eyes and flickered out of existence. His roar of denial followed them into the ether.
There was the sound of shifting feathers, the beat of ethereal wings, and they reached for a night sky on the other side of the Indian Ocean.
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