Blood and Feathers (46 page)

Pye Parr for beautiful artwork and for generally just being very cool.
Someone’s
got to do it...

“Team Angel”: Adele Wearing, Ro Smith and Jenny Barber, for feeding (and occasionally slapping) The Ego.

Rob Shearman, Tom Pollock, Lizzie Barrett, Jenni Hill, Fiona Higgins, Gary McMahon, Sarah Pinborough, Guy Adams, Mike Shevdon and Michael Marshall Smith, for a thousand kindnesses.

Sonja, for Milton and Marlowe and so many other things.

Will, for friendship, support and endless patience & encouragement. I owe you.

Vinny, for letting me borrow your name and maintaining a sense of humour even when I dropped it off the top of a nine-storey building. You’re the best kind of angel.

Tesna, for being a better friend than I ever deserved, and for being the devil on my shoulder.

My dad, and my mother – who once asked me what I was doing this for. I miss you, and I hope this answers your question.

My husband and my son. You already know why.

And to you, reading this – whoever you are, wherever you are. Thank you.

Blood and Feathers Playlist

T
HESE ARE THE
tracks I was listening to while I wrote
Blood and Feathers
. Some of them go with specific scenes, some are kind of attached to characters – Vin, for instance has his own little theme tune hidden away in here, and so does Mallory. Which song goes where... I leave you to decide for yourself.

All the Right Moves
: OneRepublic

Make Me Wanna Die
: The Pretty Reckless

Believe Me
: Fort Minor

Slip Out the Back
: Fort Minor

It’s Not the End of the World
: LostProphets

Only Man (Jakwob Remix)
: Audio Bullys

Burning in the Skies
: Linkin Park

When They Come For Me
: Linkin Park

New Divide
: Linkin Park

Dreamcatcher
: Unicorn Kid

The Island, Pt I (Dawn) & Pt 2 (Dusk)
: Pendulum

Witchcraft (Rob Swire’s Drum-step Mix)
: Pendulum

Ich Tu Dir Weh
: Rammstein

Bulletproof Heart
: My Chemical Romance

The Only Hope For Me is You
: My Chemical Romance

Teeth
: Lady Gaga

Walking in Circles
: Dead by Sunrise

Dead Reckoning
: Clint Mansell

End Credits
: Chase & Status with Plan B

Angelic Sigils

The angelic sigils which appear in
Blood & Feathers
are, technically, “real”... that is to say, these are some of the sigils historically used by alchemists and others as part of rituals to invoke or conjure angels: the most famous (or infamous) practitioner being John Dee.

Along with Edward Kelley, Dee devised (or “received,” as he claimed) an angelic language and alphabet which he recorded in his journals, and which later became known as Enochian.

The sigils for the five Choirs in the
Blood & Feathers
world are show below.

Barakiel

“If I told you Barakiel’s very handy round the card table...”

Gabriel

“You can always rely on Gabriel for a bit of old-school wrath and vengeance.”

Michael

“I’ve never even
met
one of Michael’s choir. There aren’t many of them, and they’re the big guns.”

Raphael

“You’re a healer, aren’t you? That’s what you
do
, isn’t it, when you’re one of Raphael’s. That’s all you do.”

Zadkiel

“Zadkiel. He’s all about memory and the mind and stuff.”

The angelic war has spread out of control, and violence erupts across the globe as the Fallen’s influence grows.

As the Twelve walk the Earth, the Archangel Michael is determined to destroy Lucifer once and for all, whatever the cost – and Alice, Mallory and Vin will be called on to sacrifice more than they ever imagined possible.

The Fallen will rise.

Trust will be betrayed.

And all hell will break loose...

BLOOD AND FEATHERS:

REBELLION

Coming August 2013