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down his face, and there are growing patches of wetness
beneath each arm. Sure enough, up ahead, the dirt road leads to a handsome
colonial. Three floors at least, with a heavy façade of bricks and white
siding.
    “Lotta cars out there,” Gabe
whispers behind me.
    Three SUVs and a jeep are lined up
behind each other at the end of the road. Next to the house is a large metal
barn. Inside the barn is…oh no.
    “We may be dealing with more than
just Hendricks,” Tarren says. “We’ll spread out, link up by Bluetooth and find
out how many angels are in that house. Gabe, you take point. Maya and I will…”
    “The barn,” I whisper.
    Gabe is already climbing up a tree
behind me. Tarren lowers his binoculars. “What?”
    “Humans. In the barn.” I feel the
whisper of their auras, even from this distance.
    “How many?”
    “I don’t know.” I close my eyes,
and try to hone my sense—that new and terrifying predator part of me that
automatically locks onto the pulse of human auras. “There’s something wrong
with their energy. They’re weak. Confused.”
    Tarren looks up at Gabe. They don’t
say anything, but I know those identical expressions. They’re sharing
something, and it isn’t good.
    “Shit,” Gabe whispers.
    Tarren turns back to the house and
raises his binoculars. “Four different vehicles…”
    A side door opens from the house,
and two men emerge into the daylight. One is tall and brawny, wearing a torn
muscle shirt and a pair of skinny jeans that suck against his powerful legs.
The second is short, slighter than his companion and blanketed with thick dark
hair on each arm. He’s rocking a heavy gold watch on his wrist that glitters
under the sun.
    “Maya?” Gabe asks grimly.
    No auras around the two men.
“Angels,” I confirm. “Both of them.”
    “That’s Hendricks,” Tarren says.
“The shorter one.”
    The two men stroll toward the barn.
Hendricks has something clutched in his right fist. It can’t be…leashes? My
skin breaks out in goose bumps.
    “Shit, shit, shit,” Gabe whispers.
His aura starts to jump, but he takes a deep breath and it soothes back down.
    The bigger of the two angles pulls
open the door of the barn. Hendricks saunters into the doorway and barks out a
laugh. Even from this distance, his loud, arrogant voice carries to my
sensitive ears.
    “How are we all doing today? No,
don’t get up. It’s fine.”
    “Tarren…” my voice trembles.
    “Quiet,” he hisses.
    “Who wants to join us for brunch?”
Hendricks says. “No volunteers? Again?” He laughs. “How ‘bout you hero boy? You
wanna save your new friends? Step on up.”
    There are scuffling noises. A weak
scream. The angels emerge from the barn, dragging two young men behind them on
leashes. The humans have their hands bound in front of them and collars around
their necks. The angels tug on the leashes. The tall, lanky boy in my field of
vision manages to keep his feet, but the other one stumbles and falls.
Hendricks laughs and kicks the fallen human. He then starts walking again,
dragging the whimpering boy across the ground. The other human, the one who
managed to keep his footing, bends down and pulls his companion up.
    He supports the boy’s weight, and
his face is set with grim determination. He is filthy, brown hair matted to his
head, deep cuts and gouges marring his pale face. He limps with abuse unseen
beneath a stained t-shirt and jeans.  But it isn’t just their bodies. Their
auras are battered, leeched of color, hugging close to their bodies. Weak as
the wavering flames of a dying candle.
    “What is this?” I can hardly get
the words out of my mouth.
    Tarren’s face is grim, set in
steel, but I can tell that he’s angry. Furious.
    “A farm,” he says. “It’s a human
farm.”

 
     
    Part Two
     

Chapter 6
    “We’re killing them now right?”
Gabe hisses as soon as the angels have dragged their human captives into the
house. His aura flicks dangerously out of his grip,