Free Alice's Insurrection (Alice Clark Series) by Andrea DiGiglio Page A

supposed to endure? Cole squeezed her in his arms reassuringly, soothing her worries with his numbing shield rendering her back into an unconscious state in nearly no time at all.

     
     
     
     
     
    It had been weeks since another wave of chaos came crashing down on Alice’s head. As always she overcame her challenges and her own fears. She spent a lot of time at school working on dozens of paintings. She wasn’t sure if she was there to paint or play matchmaker with Briathos and Theresa but it didn’t matter to her what her reasons were. Some of her work was a snapshot in her brain of the two of them flirting like school children. She found a lightness about her work that felt refreshing, as her initial return had presented ominous pieces, staying true to her signature work. Though those pieces lingered in her mind, warning that they too could come to pass as so many of her earlier works had, she refused to live in fear of what was to come. She had faith, in a sense, that maybe not all things, but some of those lingering would work out in the end. She just hoped it wouldn’t trigger the End of Days. She was human after all, and as cruel as some humans had been to her, she found the good in people as well, and she was incapable of damning them in their entirety based on a small few. If she had thought that way, she would never have trusted any of the Fallen after she found out who the bounty hunters were.
    “Alice? I wanted to apologize for not telling you about myself sooner.” Alice looked up to find James staring down at her. The sunlight from the window bounced off of his silhouette. Alice burst into laughter, causing the entire room to jump, startled.
    “I’m so sorry. I’m not laughing at what you said. You have this ridiculous glow from the sunlight, you look angelic.” She tried to stifle her laugh but to no avail. Briathos smirked under his hand showing a blip of human emotion yet again. He had grown extremely attached to Theresa, even to the point of calling the Fallen his “brothers.”
    “You are something else , girl.”
    “I am that, yes.”
    “Coffee?”
    “Lead the way my friend” she said, following him shamelessly.
     

    OLD GRAY/SARIEL
     
    Old Gray sipped on his drink at the far end of the bar at Max’s. He knew something was off, something in the air told him so. The new bartender was a middle-aged man; he assumed he had better availability than his granddaughter. Of course, often her absence was due to some form of assault she endured and those seemed to grow rapidly as days went by. Closing time crept up slowly and methodically as he finished off yet another glass of whiskey. He nodded to the bartender on his exit in a silent goodbye until next time. He walked slowly as if time had been harsh to him and in a sense, he supposed it had. The air felt cold against his bare skin. He glanced around the mostly empty parking lot intensely. Something was off, someone’s eyes were on him and they burned straight through him. Someone was making a move or at least making their presence known and as small a blip as it was, it was enough for a Fallen to notice. “Come out of the shadows, you coward.”
    “No need. I’m only waiting.”
    “Waiting for what?” Sariel bellowed.
    “For an opportunity to make a point. Your Nephilim will surrender to me or God’s wrath may strike you down.”
    “I’ll take that as a threat, Rogziel. Funny you seem to be the only angel carrying out such a burdensome job.”
    “The only one strong enough to do so. Scamper home, Fallen. I’ll be back soon enough.” Rogziel stood hidden against a tree in the shadows but Sariel knew where he stood, where his breath caught the tree. He turned his back toward him fearlessly as he climbed into his truck and headed home.
    Almost home , he contacted Paul, Penemue, we have a problem; meet me at Kokabiel’s place and tell him and the others we are on our way. This is a Fallen only meeting.
    I will be there shortly.