Wounded Angel (The Earth Angels) (5 page)

In short, people who were just like him.

With a click, he opened the link to NeoPhilim’s RSS feed.

Attention
Neo
-
Phytes
!

Heads
-
up
,
y’all
!
We
had
a
demonic
event
take
place
out
west
,
though
as
this
happened
some
time
ago
,
it’s
up
to
you
to
figure
out
if
it’s
important
or
not
,
okay
?
Cool
.

ShadowmanZeke
hit
me
with
a
story
about
a
demon
that
had
dropped
in
on
an
outdoor
concert
in
San
Francisco
.
Apparently
this
demon
wasn’t
much
of
a
music
lover
,
but
he
WAS
loving
the
chaos
he
created
by
taking
on
the
persona
of
a
dead
man
and
tormenting
this
deceased
guy’s
son
into
a
knife
-
flailing
frenzy
.
Luckily
no
one
died
,
mainly
because
Zeke
was
Johnny
-
on
-
the
-
spot
and
tackled
this
hell
spawn
before
it
did
any
real
damage
.
Not
so
luckily
,
the
demon
got
away
before
Zeke
could
properly
dispatch
it
.

For
the
record
,
Zeke
said
he
has
no
clue
if
that
incident
had
anything
to
do
with
what
our
fearless
leader
had
to
wrassle
with
here
in
Dallas
this
past
summer
(
for
those
of
you
who
don’t
know
the
story
,
here’s
the
link
to
the
blog
we’re
keeping
),
but
since
I
asked
for
anything
related
to
red
eyes
,
Zeke
thought
he
might
as
well
pass
this
incident
along
.

And
that
leads
me
to
my
next
PSA
.
Not
to
be
a
nag
,
but
I
need
everyone
out
there
who
has
a
story
relating
to
the
demonic
to
give
it
up
.
Don’t
be
shy
,
boys
and
girls
—
SHARE
WITH
THE
REST
OF
THE
CLASS
.
Thanks
to
all
the
info
that’s
appeared
on
these
boards
so
far
,
we
now
know
that
red
glowing
eyes
means
a
demon
;
red
-
veiled
eyes
in
a
human
means
they’re
possessed
,
and
a
faint
flash
of
red
means
a
human
has
become
demonically
corrupted
by
selling
their
soul
.

Don’t
forget
why
the
people
here
at
LSI
started
this
web
site
.
It
exists
for
the
sole
purpose
of
giving
the
descendants
of
the
Nephilim
as
much
of
a
warning
as
possible
.
There’s
no
getting
around
the
fact
that
some
form
of
earthbound
demon
has
targeted
your
kind
for
reasons
unknown
.
Long
story
short
—
you’re
on
the
endangered
species
list
.
So
keep
those
lines
of
communication
open
and
your
senses
sharp
,
okay
?
Not
to
be
a
drama
llama
,
but
your
lives
depend
on
it
.

Type
atcha
later
!
Macbeth

Nate tapped on the Comment box and let his thumbs do the
talking. “
Nothing
to
report
here
in
Chicago
,
Drama
Llama
...
except
that
my
ass
is
freezing
off
.”

The snark-prone keyboard-jockey Nate had come to know as
Macbeth responded immediately. “
Don’t
care
about
your
red
ass
,
dude
.
Just
red
eyes
.
LOL
.”

Another member of NeoPhilim, KyleTheFlash chimed in. “
What’s
a
delicate
Georgia
peach
like
you
doing
up
in
the
fucking
North
Pole
?”

Nate snorted. “
On
the
job
.
And
did
you
just
call
me
a
peach
,
you
beach
bum
?”

“
I’d
have
thought
you’d
object
to
being
called
delicate
,” Macbeth offered, ever helpful.

MenloNotThePark showed up next. “
Don’t
suppose
you’ve
run
into
any
of
our
kind
in
the
Windy
City
,
have
you
,
Nate
?”

Leave it to solemn Menlo to bring a derailing conversation back
in line. “
Nope
,
which
is
a
relief
.
I’m
not
fond
of
traveling
,
thanks
to
that
no
-
congregating
rule
we
have
.”

“
Has
anyone
ever
tested
that
rule
?” Kyle asked. “
I
mean
,
I
know
the
biblical
lore
—
the
ancient
Nephilim
got
wiped
out
because
they
hung
out
together
and
pretty
much
lorded
it
over
mankind
.
But
that’s
because
they
were
dicks
.
We’re
not
dicks
,
so
why
shouldn’t
we
sit
down
and
have
a
couple
cold
ones
?”

Nate shook his head. “
Unless
it’s
the
end
of
the
freaking
world
,
I’m
not
going
to
chance
it
.
So
not
interested
in
a
smite
-
y
smackdown
.”

Macbeth was the quickest on the draw, as usual. “
Is
smite
-
y
a
word
?”

Nate chuckled out loud and was in the process of defending his
wordsmith prowess when Macbeth’s employer and fellow descendant of the Nephilim,
SeraphSara appeared next. “
Macbeth
,
are
you
playing
,
or
working
?”

“
Umm
...”

Kyle clearly decided a grade-school comment was the only way to
go. “
Macbeth’s
in
trouble
.
Macbeth’s
in
trouble
.”

“
Morning
,
Sara
.”

“
Morning
,
Menlo
.
Keeping
Boston
peaceful
?”

“
As
peaceful
as
it
ever
gets
.
Macbeth’s
been
great
in
pulling
us
together
.
Don’t
know
what
I’d
do
without
my
daily
dose
of
NeoPhilim
.”

Nate had to smile. Menlo. The Bostonian was the calmest of
their group, but there was an understated relentlessness that radiated in every
word. From the start Nate had gotten a sense that of all the people he’d met on
NeoPhilim, Menlo was the one guy he’d hesitate in tangling with, and it wasn’t
just because he’d lost his main Nephilim gift. Though he’d always been a dud
compared to the rest of his family when it came to power, his speed and brawling
abilities were still present, and second to none. But with Menlo, he suspected
all that raw strength burgeoning in his muscles wouldn’t mean a damn thing.