"Get away from me!" yelled someone. The words were in English; the voice sounded American. The faint thud of silenced gunfire came from nearby.

The drive ended. Electa pressed against the side of the house, deftly screwing on her own pistols silencer before peering around the back.

A chaos of scrambling bodies; three angels swooping about like giant moths to a flame. There were five AKs--two girls and three guys--and they were shouting, waving their guns around. The angels were toying with them, Electa saw grimly--laughing as they darted towards their opponents and then away again, biding their time before they ripped their life forces away.

Vexin stayed besides Electa, copying her pressing to the wall. He bit his bottom lip.

They were in a concrete courtyard; there was a back door with a light over it, casting a circle of luminance like a bizarre stage set. A muscular blond guy stood in the spotlights center, grasping a gun with both hands and swinging it wildly.

"Come on, cabrona!" he screamed at a female angel. "Come and get me!" His accent was pure Texan.

Electa saw the angel decide it had had enough of playing; it went high and then dove at the guy, screeching. She tracked the creature as it moved, aiming for the pure, bright blue at the centre of its halo. Even through her concentration, she was shaking her head. Tex was flailing about so frantically hed be lucky not to blow one of his friends away.

Vexin stared in fright, concerned. He felt his stomach twist just a little at the awful sound of the angel.

The diving angel was still corkscrewing down, wings flashing. Electa shot; the creature seemed to sense her, dodging aside at the last moment. She shot again, anticipating the move this time, and the angel erupted into a million pieces of light. Tex gave a yelp as the shockwave blew him backwards, off his feet.

One down, two to go.

He asked Electa quietly of he could help.

"No...you should stay back."

Electa shot and the creature veered away sharply...and then it soared off and disappeared over the back wall.

Remembering the dozens of angels in the square, Electa's pulse quickened in alarm. The thing had gone to get them--in minutes theyd have an angel army coming down on their heads.

Vexin nodded, and so he did the best he could and stayed put and still.

She broke from the shadows, pounding across the courtyard. No one seemed to have realized she was there; she saw a rush of startled faces as she lunged at the wall; scaled it quickly and dropped to the ground. She ran down an alleyway, bursting out onto another street. The angel was flying fast, heading away from them.

'She told me I had to stay back... put... wich .... ih. ' he felt he had to follow her,but he knew she'd done angel stuff for a long time. 'But what if it turns on her and she needs help?! What if too many are there and she needs help?!'