Ava almost dropped Tara to the ground in shock at the noise. Her back knocked against the metal wall behind them and this time she felt it. Shawn burst into the room, giving Tara and Ava’s mortifying positioning only a momentary glance before he addressed them. Imogen was quick behind him, pulling on a hoodie with wide eyes.

“If it’s Ramiel,” he said, “he will be prepared and have enough back-up for all three of us. He knows we are together.”

Imogen added, “If it’s Bee, she will only be expecting Ava, possibly me.”

“We don’t have time to create two strategies and then wait until the final door opens to implement them,” Ava said as she righted hers and Tara’s clothing. They were now standing side by side.

“Shawn will take Tara,” Imogen ordered, her seniority within the group ladling her voice with authority. “He’s fastest and he knows Ramiel well. Ava and I will fight. If we all make it out, we meet back at the safehouse on the south end of the city.”

Shawn and Ava locked eyes and nodded solemnly.

Tara stammered and babbled. “W-wait! If they only have enough support for the two of you, having Shawn as well would mean you would outnumber them an-”

“Tiara,” Ava said, interrupting her ramble firmly. “I love you.”

Before she could answer, Shawn’s hands dug into Tara’s sides rigidly as he hoisted her up and against his chest. She was unable to hold back the choked sound of pain that came out of her but wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck compliantly. She desperately wanted to reason with them, but they knew best. They didn’t have time for discussion.

When the final layer of defence gave way and the metal doors crumpled before them, Shawn took off. Tara kept her eyes open, hoping to see Ava one last time, but he moved so quickly she saw only a grey blur covering her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut once they became dry and prickled with pain. Her body was bouncing against Shawn’s gently but at a speed higher than the rate she could blink at.

Tara genuinely did not have a clue how long or how far they had travelled when Shawn was finally certain they had lost any attempted pursuers. He halted suddenly, jolting Tara’s already curdling stomach. They were beyond the outskirts of the city, where sparsely scattered farms were all that could be found for miles. They took a break by some trees, Tara heaving a couple of times with motion sickness. They said nothing for a few minutes.

Eventually, Shawn announced, “we shouldn’t stay still too long. We’ll keep moving about until enough time has passed that I can check the Southern safehouse.”

Tara nodded but said nothing. She didn’t dare risk opening her mouth just yet.

With every stop, Shawn would ask her the same selection of mundane questions like a distant relative you keep bumping into at a family event. Was she okay? Did she feel motion sick? Did she need the bathroom? Was she hungry or thirsty? Every time she would feed back one yes and five nos.

She had just about conquered the motion sickness now. What she was struggling with was the cold; her white smock dress did not cover enough to keep the air from whipping up underneath as Shawn sprinted about. There were thick frills along the hem, but they didn’t have anything near the weight required to keep the wind from her skin. She had a lavender sweater over her top half but there was little point in it when all the winter winds were slicing up under her clothes, straight to her bare skin. She would not complain, though. There was nothing he could do about the weather or her lack of appropriate clothing.

Once Shawn had announced that enough time had passed, they headed towards the city again. The Southern safehouse was an abandoned farm right on the perimeter.

It was empty.

After almost half an hour of pacing around in the dry dirt, Shawn stopped still and sighed. Tara had never seen the happy-go-lucky Shawn carrying so much weight on him before. His face was dragged down by it.

“I need to go back and check the safehouse we left,” he said quietly.

Tara agreed; she couldn’t bear the waiting any longer. She had to know what had happened and where the women were.

He left her leant against a splintering chicken coop covered in ancient, dried poop. They shared a weary look, and he was gone. Instantly. Faster than the human eye could perceive.

Every sound and movement while he was gone seemed malicious. She was on the tip of a needle and the wind was trying to sweep her off it by sending shivers through the weeds and clacking sounds from the barn.

Thankfully, Shawn returned swiftly. Unfortunately, he returned alone and with a grave expression.

“The bunker was empty; Imogen had left a note.”

“So, she got out?” Tara was glad but she didn’t like that he didn’t mention Ava. It gave her a worse sick feeling than the motion sickness had. “What about Ava?”

“Imogen got away but is doing wide laps to ensure she’s not being followed. She said, um, Ava-”

“She got caught?” Tara croaked out.

The silence that Shawn allowed to simmer in the air gave her the answer.

Tara struggled to breathe for a few seconds before she managed to ask, “How do we save her?”

“By moving quickly. Do you remember when we explained that the realms are piled on top of each other like layers on a cake?”

“Kind of,” Tara mumbled, confused as to what this had to do with their current situation. She liked learning about their world, but didn’t he just say they needed to move quickly? Now didn’t seem the time for a lesson in the supernatural.

He took a deep breath. “If they reach the last layer, then I can’t help her. I can’t step back fully into hell because I won’t make it back out and neither will she. First rule of our organisation is we don’t do stupid self-sacrifice. If I can catch up to them immediately, I might still be able to help her. Luckily, I’m pretty sure there’s an opening nearby to follow them down.” He was pacing about again now, and Tara was no longer certain he was talking to her. “There are boundary barriers dotted all over the place on Earth, I think I can feel one nearby. Some of them are legit and guarded, but I need one made by an escape organisation.”

“I’m hearing a lot of ‘I’ and not a lot of ‘we’,” said Tara.

“That’s because I am giving chase and you will be running in the opposite direction.”

So, she and Ava were being forced apart again. Tara the helpless human was not allowed to be involved in any way.

At Tara’s sour expression, Shawn sighed and said, “You remember what we told you about how fallen angels can’t go back to Heaven?

“Because once they’ve gone to Hell, they’re tainted?”

“The same goes for humans. That’s why you have to stay up here and let me handle this. If you cross the boundary line you will never get to see Heaven. You’re a good kid; your chances of making it are actually pretty good. Don’t ruin that for yourself. Human souls stick around for a long time after their bodies die. You don’t want to spend that time in this hole; trust me.”

“But I want to help!”

“The best thing you can do to help is go somewhere busy, filled with humans. Imogen will find you once she has made sure she has lost her chasers.”

Tara blew out a distressed breath and squeezed her palms to her forehead.

Shawn softened his tone from commanding to apologetic. “I know you’re scared, and I know this is stressful but please do as I say, Tara.”

Tara held back a sob, her eyes prickling with unshed tears. “Okay,” she whispered with a wobble to her voice.

“You trust me?”

She sniffed back the tears threatening to overwhelm her. “Not to make me a coffee,” she said in her best attempt at humour. “But I guess when it comes to life and death strategy you have a bit more credibility.”

“Good kid. Get as far away as you can, okay?”

Tara nodded.

Shawn gave her face a squeeze with one hand, his own face holding an expression of sad determination.

He darted through the trees that lined the back of the mushy farmland until he reached two that had sprouted side-by-side. Tara watched him carefully, her eyes following his slim figure like a hawk. When he approached the two he had selected out of the cluster, the small pocket of space between them seemed to shimmer like the air above pavement on a baking hot day. He squeezed between them and disappeared.

Tara walked to the twin trees; the air between them continued to wobble and distort the image on the other side. She knew she had a decision to make, and quickly.

If Heaven was anything like her mother had described it to her growing up, it was worth just about anything to visit - even if only to get shuttled down to Hell for breaking some arbitrary rule after a week. But Ava wouldn’t be there. Or Shawn. And Daisy, bless her greasy soul, was definitely not making the cut. What was the point of living in paradise alone?

She would never forgive herself if something happened to Ava. Or to Shawn. A vacation to the clouds didn’t seem to match that no matter how she added it up.

Tara shuffled forward. The doorway still glimmered.

She had given him a whole five minutes - that was a reasonable amount of time to expect him to complete a rescue mission and return with her beloved. So… she had an excuse if he asked why she had followed him. That he had made her wait too long. A lot could happen in five minutes. He could have been captured. He could be calling out for her help. She could even tell a little lie and say she thought she heard his voice shouting her name.

The boundary line was still warped, the doorway into the below still open.

Whoops, her white satin trainer was planted on the other side of the boundary line. No going back now.

Something snagged her ankle and yanked her downwards like an anchor, determined to drag her to the bottom of the underworld.