The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

She really is strong. Then he dismissed
the thought from his mind and went back to watching the clouds roll
by.
    Chris drifted off again,
so he never knew if it was just a few minutes or an hour later when
he was woken up by at shout from Natalie.
    He sat up with a jerk and
looked around. Natalie was still sitting two rows ahead beside the
judge. As he watched, she sprang to her feet and looked straight at
him.
    “ It's coming! That
thing that Gloriel felt back at the Nest. Somehow it's found us and
it's coming!”
    She sounded panicked but
the judge stood up quickly beside her and took her arm.
    “ Control, Natalie.
Get control. Tell Gloriel to be calm. We have nowhere to run so we
must not panic.”
    She looked at him wildly,
the whites of her eyes showing clearly, but under his calm gaze,
Natalie slowly relaxed and finally took a quivering breath.
    “ Better now?”
Judge Hawkes asked.
    “ Much. Sorry about
that.” She gave herself a little shake. “I don't usually
get the vapors, I think they used to call it. But Gloriel is afraid
and that's not something I'm used to.”
    “ Understandable.”
The judge looked at everyone quickly. Chef was standing in the middle
of the aisle. The rest of the staff were either sitting up alertly or
were standing next to their seats. Everyone waited for the judge to
take charge.
    “ Mario,” the
judge said as he looked at Chef. “Check with the crew. See what
our flight time is like. And see if they've noticed any anomalies on
their radar.”
    Chef nodded once and
quickly walked to the cockpit. He tapped on the door once and then
opened it and went inside.
    “ The rest of you,
stay alert. We haven't any weapons, obviously, but you are all
trained in combat. I have no idea what could attack us out here, at
this speed and height, but I want you all to remain calm. Remember,
you are professionals.”
    He glanced at Chris and
Natalie. “And you all know your duty. Protect Christopher and
Natalie at all costs.” He leveled a stare at each of his staff
members. “Understood?”
    Everyone either nodded or
murmured an affirmative.
    “ George? Check on
our lovely flight attendant, would you? Perhaps suggest to her that
she stay back in the galley for now, just for safety purposes.”
    “ Yes, you honor.
I'll do that.” George got up and slipped past Natalie. He moved
quietly and smoothly for a large, muscular man.
    “ Now, Natalie,”
the judge began. “What exactly...”
    The door to the cockpit
slammed open and Chef stepped out into the aisle. His face was very
pale and he locked eyes with the judge immediately.
    “ Both the pilot and
copilot are dead,” he said in a heavy voice.
    “ Dead?” Judge
Hawkes stepped into the aisle. “How?”
    “ Throats cut. I'm
guessing at least an hour ago. Right around the time the plane took
that little dip. It's flying on autopilot at the moment.”
    The judge's expression
became grim. “Margaret.” he said coldly. “Beatrice,
Davidson, get back there and help George. Right now!”
    Both of the staff members
jumped to their feet. Chris was staring around in shock. Both pilots
dead? But why? Who would fly the plane? And then he heard a high
scream of rage mingled with a deeper shout of surprise and the
curtain that separated the galley from the rest of the plane was
ripped off of its rod as George flew through it, his big arms wrapped
around Margaret.
    She was wielding a knife
but George had her arms pinned to her sides and she couldn't use it.
She was struggling wildly, trying to bite his face, her eyes rolling
madly. Bits of saliva sprayed from her writhing lips like a mad
dog's.
    Beatrice moved quickly
forward, looked down at the older woman with an expression of
contempt and slammed her fist into Margaret's jaw. The flight
attendant's eyes rolled up and she collapsed. George released her
gingerly and quickly got to his feet.
    “ Thanks Bea,”
he said. She nodded and then grabbed the cord from the curtains that
were lying