Free The Immortals by S. M. Schmitz Page B

leaned against the metal door of the church and closed his eyes again. He really wished she’d hurry up.
    Eventually, Dylan gave up and sat down beside him. He’d occasionally exhale impatiently, but apparently had no intention of leaving. Colin kept trying to reach Anna, but his mind was just as blank and empty as before, filled only with his own thoughts, his own panic and anxiety and despair. How could he have lost her? Surely, this must be a nightmare because this was impossible. They had been promised.
    It was past midnight when Colin finally heard the bolts on the thick metal doors slide out of place. He stood up quickly and pulled on the handle, the door swinging easily open. Dylan had fallen asleep and watched with groggy astonishment.
    Colin entered the church with as much reverence as he used to as a child, pausing by the font to dip his fingers into the holy water then crossed himself as he entered the interior of the church. It seemed empty but Colin knew it wasn’t. As he neared the sanctuary at the front of the church, he genuflected and crossed himself again, sitting at the edge of a pew. He kept his eyes fixed on the altar in front of him.
    Dylan hung back, sitting in one of the pews at the rear of the nave. Colin suspected he’d never even been in a Catholic Church before, and even the rituals he’d just displayed probably seemed bizarre and archaic to someone like Dylan. But Colin would never be able to abandon them, even if they were mostly contrived by men for no other purpose than people like ceremony.
    Colin had been in countless churches before, but he liked the familiarity of Catholic Churches, knowing he could find the same Stations of the Cross adorning the walls or pillars, the crucifix above the altar, the tabernacle at the center of the sanctuary with the candles always burning in the presence of the Host. He had held these buildings, these structures in such reverence as a child, and as a man, they promised the comfort of tradition and home.
    He felt her presence before he could see her, but suddenly, she was sitting next to him. Colin didn’t turn to look her, but kept his eyes on the crucifix hanging above the altar.
    “Where is she?” he asked.
    The Angel shook her head. “Oh, Colin. I don’t know. She’s disappeared.”
    Colin shot her an angry look, defiant, irate. “How can you not know where she is?” he hissed at her. “You promised she would be safe. That was part of the deal.”
    She nodded sadly. “I know. I remember. You’re the only one who can find her, Colin. I do believe that you can.”
    Colin exhaled and clenched his fists. There was no use trying to fight an angel though. “How? I can’t even sense her anymore. How am I supposed to find her? What the hell are these things we’re dealing with anyway?”
    Colin heard Dylan gasp from the back of the church. Apparently, he didn’t know angels weren’t particularly concerned with the language humans used. That was just another invention of man that didn’t concern them.
    “They’re demons. Powerful demons. They’re somehow eluding us, and we haven’t figured out how. That’s why we wanted you and Anna to be so careful here. We think they’ve been looking for you, and if they’ve taken Anna, we must have been right.”
    Colin shot her another sharp glance. “Why not just tell us all this three months ago? Do you have any idea what we’ve been through?”
    The Angel nodded sadly again. “Yes, Colin. I do. But I know you, and if you’d known she might be in danger, you would have tried to hide her, and at least here, you have help. You can’t do this on your own.”
    Colin studied her. She hadn’t changed at all, but then again, he suspected no angel ever changed. She still had the same long, flaxen hair, always shiny and smooth, the same pearlescent skin and soft gray eyes. But he also suspected she only looked like this for his sake. Angels probably didn’t look any more human than demons. He’d