Looking around while waiting for my brothers and the shifters to join me, I marvelled at how everyone was bustling around about their day without a care in a world. Parents were pulling along children that were gaping up at the angels flying around in the sky, whilst the butcher down the street was selling blood, presumably to a vampire’s acolyte. I could tell where the demons were dotted here and there, as I could feel their presence on the back of my mind.

That feeling suddenly screamed ‘monster!’ at me as two of the 3 shifters walked up to stand behind me and it was all I could do to not flinch. Trying to appear nonchalant I moved so that they were no longer standing behind me and I could see them properly.

“Ready to go?”

“We live about an hour from the city to the north, I’m just having one of my companions bring the car around so we can leave.”

Sighing, I sent a look across to my brothers. They could deal with that statement when the car arrived. Shaking my head slightly, I walked back towards the doors to stand next to my dad.

“I’m going to end up punching someone.”

“Aye, I’m not surprised by that. But this must be a new record.” Chuckling, he lifted his hand around my shoulder and pulled me in for a side hug. “Whatcha all waiting for anyway?”

“A car.” Even I could hear the sneer in my tone.

“A car?”

Nodding, I repeated myself. “A car. With wheels and a roof.”

“I just don’t get it. They are easy to see. Why always with the cars?” Sighing and shaking his head, he turned around to head back into the Pillar. “You be safe now, and remember we’re always here for you.”

“I know, Dad, I know.”

Kissing the top of my head, he shook his head one last time muttering away about cars as he left. Turning back around, I saw everyone staring at me. Rolling my eyes, I strode back towards the others before stopping at my brothers. Our work ritual whenever someone mentioned cars was about to begin.

“So best of 3?” My offer.

“Yes.” Hawk’s logical agreement.

“You’re on.” Flint’s quiet confirmation.

“Bring it.” Clay’s cocky approval.

I was starting to believe that the confused looks on the shifters were going to end up permanent. They watched in amused horror at the sight of arguably the best team of Protection Angels standing outside the Pillar playing rock, paper, scissors and muttering about cheating.

“Goddammit.” Clay puffed out a breath in frustration. Throwing up his hands, he stormed off towards the shifters.

We hung back and watched with amusement at the faces of the shifters as it dawned on them that we couldn’t ride in the car with them. Looking sheepish, Wyatt turned around to apologise.

“I’m sorry, it didn’t even cross our minds that you wouldn’t be able to fit in the car. What solution would you recommend?”

“We’ll fly.” A chatterbox Hawk was not.

“What Hawk means, sir, is that we will be able to keep up with your vehicle from the air, you needn’t worry that you’ll lose us.” Flint’s quiet assured tone did what Hawk’s succinct sentence didn’t, the shifters exchanged glances and nodded.

“That certainly seems plausible, would you like us to take your bags with us?”

Seeing as we had weapons and personal items in them….

“No.”

“What Hawk means is, no but thank you for your consideration. They’re adapted for us to be able to fly with them.” Mentally, I directed a thought to Clay.

You three get ready to set off. Oh and tell Hawk never to get a job in diplomacy.

I could hear the chuckle in my mind as Clay passed along the message and I could feel the gust of air as the four of us snapped open our wings. Murmurs and gasps from the pedestrians around us sounded, angels were a common sight but something about taking off from the ground was always a people pleaser.

Praying to whoever would listen for patience, I double checked the straps on my bag before looking up to Wyatt and the Tweedle brothers. They wore identical stunned faces at the sight of our wings. I wish that was normal but it wasn’t, our wings were coloured weirdly to other angels and that made us a subject of gossip at the best of times.

“We’re ready when you are.”

“Of course, we’ll set off now.”

“We’ll hover until you manage to get going. Don’t worry about losing us, as Flint said, we can keep up.” Smiling confidently, I took a step back from the shifters before I started to beat my wings. I could feel the air behind me stirring with the matching wingbeats from my brothers as well as the stares as everyone in the vicinity stopped to stare. Snapping a sarcastic salute to snap the shifters back into action, the four of us took off from the ground and hovered about 10 foot of the ground. Breaking out of their daze, the shifters quickly got into the car and set off towards the north. We followed from above, keeping an eye out for anything that would make the journey longer. A few times, one of us would fly closer and knock on the roof to get their attention and lead them a way that had less traffic.

All too soon, we landed next to the car as it pulled through a security gate and into the compound of the North American Pack. I looked around the compound with awe at the sheer size of it. Looking like something out of medieval history meets rural living, the main buildings were large and foreboding, but the smaller buildings dotted around the land were more like wooden log cabins with thatched roofs. The most surprising thing though was how peaceful the area was.

“Please follow me, we’ll meet my son first before finding the Leo.”

Nodding our agreement, we followed behind Wyatt’s blond haired head as he entered the largest building in the centre.