Angel's Messiah by Melanie Tomlin Page A

days before approaching me?” Drake asked in disbelief.
    Danny shrugged his shoulders. “I admit it took me a while to think of asking you for help.”
    “Show me where she is.”
    Danny produced a map of hell. It was based on the information Helena had previously relayed in her messages to him, and the location from which she was calling. She was in a room in the west wing, the same room she had stayed in the last time she was a guest in hell. Danny knew where she had stayed in hell, and other things as well, from what little memories she could share of her time in residence, through the bonding of their minds.
    “Do you realise how hard it will be to get in there ,” Drake stabbed a finger at her location on the map, “never mind getting to her?”
    “Yes.”
    “And still you would ask it of me?”
    “If you love her as I do, or once loved her, you will help me. Remember, Drake, where there is life there is hope.”
    “What is that supposed to mean, Danizriel?” Drake snorted. “That while she breathes I may still have a chance?”
    “Anything is possible. If she is changed by the experience she may prefer your company to mine.”
    Drake laughed. “I can only hope, Danizriel.”
    “So you will help?” Danny asked, full of hope.
    “I must think on this and consult with some of the others. What you ask is no small thing.”
    “I don’t know how much longer she can hold on. Her calls are becoming weaker.”
    “Then come back at nightfall. I will have a decision for you then.”
    “Drake, if she stays too long, she’ll be lost … to both of us. You saw her eyes the last time she was there. That change can’t be allowed to happen again.”
    Drake nodded his head. “I understand, but it is not my decision to make.”
    “I thought your word was law,” Danny said dryly.
    “It is, but I cannot leave my clan without making the proper arrangements, if an agreement can be reached.”
    “Thank you, Drake, for your time. I shall return at dusk to await your answer.”
    Danny turned and walked towards the edge of the ledge, fading with each footstep, until on the fourth he disappeared.
    Drake walked to the edge and dropped over the side, landing in a crouch on the balls of his feet, his hands resting lightly on the ground. There was something Danizriel was not telling him. He was not sure he wanted to know what it was.
    “Curse all angels and their bitches,” he said, and added wistfully, “Even the ones I desire.”
    He ran swiftly to the nearest underground entrance. He’d already made his decision, the moment Danizriel said Helena was still alive and needed his help. He was not doing this for Danizriel. He was doing it for her. Drake knew there were a number of vampires he could count on to assist him in this dangerous mission. The specialists held her in high regard and his suicide vamps, as Helena had called them, would follow him willingly.
    With the three daggers that had been returned he had weapons that would defeat any demon, except Satan himself. Drake knew that very soon Satan would be busy. Something big was happening in hell. If he was to help Helena he would need to coordinate his aid around this big event. All that was left to do was appoint one of his lieutenants to act as commander in his absence.
    His first stop was the training room his nine specialists used.
    “My friends, I need you to accompany me on a mission,” Drake said.
    One of the specialists, the self-appointed spokesman of their group, asked Drake where they were to go, with the sign language they used to communicate.
    “We’re going straight to hell, my friends,” Drake laughed.
    The specialists looked at each other, then turned to Drake and bowed. They had accepted his mission.
    “Bring whatever throwing stars you have left that Helena gave you. They may be useful against lower level demons.”
    The specialist asked when they were to leave.
    “At first light,” Drake replied. “I must attend to other things before