“Why?” Seraphim asked, though she wasn’t looking at him when she asked it, she was watching the billowing smoke.

“Why what?” He asked, his jaw clenched as he began to feel the twitch of his old instincts in his fingers.

“Why is your house on fire?” She asked, her eyes scanning the horizon at her back, she reached out, grabbed more of the wafers and shoved them in her mouth and started to chew, she then turned entirely around and put her hands on the backrest of her seat and watched the fires grow even higher.

“Because somebody turned on a lightswitch. I still can’t believe they got here that fast, they must not have wasted a moment after you took down those jets.” Gabriel answered, though he did his best to keep his voice even, giving only a lingering glance to the back of her leg where the ichor that ran through her body turned an ugly yellow, like old pus, but there was no more of it, and she had turned without evident pain.

“You used fire against hellhounds? And it worked? And what is a lightswitch?” She asked.

“A thing that makes artificial light, think of it as a candle with a distant handle that automatically lights up.” He explained, and she nodded.

Seraphim went pensive as the noise of crackling flames raged high and hot. “Right, they had that in the room I was in, they left me in the dark sometimes, touched the wall, and the light came back.”

“Yes, but I made mine into a trap. Someone hit it, probably by reflex, the trap went off. I blessed some C-4 and rigged it up to some silver infused thermite in my attic. Even the toughest demon would have a hard time surviving that. You said you were held by the Theresans?” Gabriel asked and she nodded while her eyes were transfixed on the view they were leaving behind.

The dust rose like a cloud behind them before he cut onto the main paved road, and in the space of silence he thought it over more. ‘At least as professionals I can expect a certain consistency… They'll check the site thoroughly, and then try to set up roadblocks. If they were in a hurry, and if they haven’t gotten through the layers of red tape to find out who actually owns… owned, that house, then I’ve still got an edge.’

“Sit down, Sarah, you might draw attention.” Gabriel rubbed his jaw, his unkempt light brown facial hair compressed under his fingertips. He brushed a few crumbs free and cleared his throat as she turned back around and sat down properly in the seat.

“From who?” She asked and looked out the window, the isolated road ran long and cut through wide forests on either side, a metal rail stood several feet off the ground and when she craned her neck, she could see it ran down an embankment that held another slow moving river and yet more trees on the other side. “There’s nobody here.”

“Yet. But when we see someone, if you’re already properly seated, you’ll be less memorable, now please stay that way.” Gabriel added, he pressed the gas pedal harder and the jeep sped up.

“So how much ichor have they harvested from you in the past?” Gabriel asked, she snapped her head to the left and stared at him with mouth agape.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and let the silence stretch. “I know it’s an ugly question, but if they did it a lot, they might have some in reserve, maybe some ichor forged weapons or-?” He stopped when her eyes welled up.

“They never took any from me… this is… a thing humans do?” She asked.

Gabriel went very quiet, “Never?” He asked. “Did they ever force you to sleep with a succubi song, and then you wake up later with a bandage on your arm?”

“No-No never.” Seraphim shook her head.

Gabriel cleared his throat, “I want to help you… in spite of how it seems. But is there any chance you’re wrong?”

“No. I don’t think so.” Seraphim answered him. Her wide eyes with their welling of silvery tears he might have taken for deception were she human, but as she was, he couldn’t.

“You’re sure.” Gabriel said, and it was not a question.

She answered it anyway, “How- why would anyone-?” She clapped her jaw shut when he looked at her.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, and she didn’t answer, “You probably should.” He finally said and focused on the road.

“Look, humans have worked with spirit beings of all kinds for as long as we’ve been around. But in the last few hundred years or so, not all of that work has been cooperative, some of it?” Gabriel cleared his throat, “In some of it you are ingredients, prey.”

“Prey?” Her hand came up to her mouth and her chest heaved as the meaning of the word sank in.

“Your ichor is used to forge weapons of incredible power, or even just common tools of uncommon strength, your feathers burned to confine the smoke for inhalation. Even a capsule of wing smoke will grant significant power for a little while. The wings of demons are turned into body armor after some refinement, hounds of hell are used as hunting dogs by the ones able to obtain them, and some less scrupulous beings like the fae or the jinn or others are used in law enforcement or military capacities. In secret of course, but sometimes even against their own kind. So it’s hard to believe they just kept you locked up and asked questions.” Gabriel explained and kept one eye on her while she seemed to go numb and lose what color remained in her face.

“And how are you connected to this?” She asked.

“By being in it for as long as I can remember, till some years ago. Don’t worry about it, just think about the near future.” Gabriel said, shutting her line of questioning down.

“Where are we going?” She asked, looking away from him when her lingering look at him drew nothing else past his lips.

“To see an old friend.” Gabriel chuckled in spite of himself, “She’s going to be pisssssed.” He laughed in spite of everything, “She’s been promising to come get her clothes for years, and now they’re burned to ashes and she can’t even blame me for it. That’s almost worth losing my house… and that chair. I really liked that chair, too.”

“And this is funny to you?” Seraphim asked. ‘Given that he’s finally smiled a little bit, it must be. Humans are strange.’ She thought.

“Moreso because my house blew up. In any other circumstance, she’d say I did it on purpose, which is still at least a little true since I did rig the traps. But she can’t claim it was about her.” Gabriel smirked a little, “Not this time.”

“Okaaay…” Seraphim drew out the word, “How long will it take us to get there?”

That seemed a safe enough question, one that wouldn’t create a bizarre or incomprehensible answer. “And even when we do, what happens then?”

Gabriel didn’t answer, but he did seem to relax a little, the white knuckles of his hand regained some of their tan color. “First I try to find out why they’re really going so hard for you, it makes no sense to have something as valuable as a Seraphim and not harvest anything from her. Knowledge of the I Am, I can understand wanting that. But that’s all?” He shook his head, “No, no way.”

She didn’t add anything.

“Then,” he continued, “there are some safe places where spirit creatures can live in safety, out of the way corners of the world that are hard to get to. They’re called ‘Purgatory’, and even the less ethical fae, wildlings, jinn, and so on… even those won’t raid a Purgatory zone, because they need to hide out there sometimes, and no government or nongovernment agency would dare create a crisis like that and risk antagonizing their own allies. The problem is getting there.”

“I’m not a creature.” Seraphim said, looking down at her lap and clenching one hand into a fist and covering it with the other.

“What?” He asked as the engine roared louder when they hit a long downhill slope.

“I’m not a creature!” Seraphim shouted, “I’m not a something!” She added with another shout over the roaring engine and wind that blew through the windows and cast her hair as wildly about as that of a banshee in flight.

“I’m Seraphim! I-I think.” She closed her mouth, then mumbled as the jep hit the base of the steep hill and the noise lowered, “Just because I don’t remember my name…”

Gabriel sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

She looked down at her lap again.

The uncomfortable silence went on until they reached a tunnel, as the darkness enveloped them, he stopped the car. “Get out.” He ordered, and Seraphim opened her mouth to protest.

“But-” She started, and was immediately cut off.

“Hurry.” He urged and flung open his door.

When she saw him reach for the bags, including one in the back seat, she obeyed and stood uncomfortably shifting on her feet while he bent back in front and pushed several buttons, slamming the car door, he stood and watched it roll on.

“What-?” She wanted to ask, but he cut her off yet again.

“Self-driving cars.” He said while flinging the backpack over his shoulder and handing the other one to her.

She imitated his gesture to put it on while he explained and started to walk away, “They normally won’t go without somebody inside them, but a little override patch from a hacker I hired, and voila, instant deception.”

“Who are we-” She tried to ask and frowned when he spoke over her again.

“The eyes in the sky.” He said and crouched over a rusted brown sewer grate. He pointed up, “I can’t be sure they weren’t using a satellite to watch the road, even if they weren’t, the car was bought and registered through the same shell company. I made a few changes, but despite them, I still think they’ll figure it out. The route it’s taking has no other cameras for them to look through, so all they’ll see is the roof for hundreds of miles.” Gabriel grunted and pointed down the manhole.

“Go on, get in.” He said and pointed toward the dark hole in the concrete.

Seraphim grabbed her nose and pinched it shut.

“We’re going down there?” The rank smell assaulted her as nothing ever had before, and he quickly answered.

“I am. You can either do what I say or go off on your own.” Gabriel snapped, “Listen to me, my house is destroyed, my idiot brother is dead, and none of this was what I wanted. I’m keeping a promise to the last family I had, and that’s all. If you want to argue, or think someone else can be of more help to you than me, then get going.” He pointed toward the light at the end of the long tunnel. “It’s a whole lot easier for me to start over, than for you. But if you want my help, you’re going to have to trust me and just do what I tell you without asking fifty questions every time. We really don’t have time for them. Get me, Sarah?”

Seraphim scowled at him and looked to the distant light, and then down to the foul smelling hole. She huffed, then went to the rusty brown ladder and climbed down the hole.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” He said and climbed down after her, pulling the manhole over them both and tugging it tight as they went down.