The Fallen 4 Read Online Free

fight anyway. “Two hours. Then you wake me up. Deal?”
    Vilma moved in close to him again, ushering him from the room.
    “Shower first. You stink like death,” she said. “Then two hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
    “You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Santiago.” Aaron surrendered as the reports of even more horrors droned from the television in the other room.
    Two hours. And then back to work.
    *   *   *
    Vilma waited until Aaron was finished with his shower, and then escorted him to bed.
    He’d done exactly what she’d thought he would, telling her that he was feeling much better and much more awake, and that he could take care of those bats and be back for a rest in no time.
    Vilma didn’t even feel it necessary to respond. She and Gabriel escorted Aaron, wrapped in a towel, from the shower room to the bedroom they shared.
    “Sleep,” she commanded, pointing to the mattress.
    He looked like he was about to argue, and then thought better of it. Smart boy .
    Aaron stumbled across the room like the Corpse Riders they’d encountered not long ago. At least he now smelled better.
    He fell onto the mattress, and barely had the sheet and comforter over him before he was asleep.
    “Do you think he’ll stay there if we leave?” Gabriel asked Vilma.
    “You could stand guard if you want, but I think he’s down for the count.”
    “And how about you?” the dog asked her.
    “What about me?” she questioned, heading back to the TV room, where they’d left the others. She wanted to be sure that Melissa and Cameron were listening to her orders.
    “You’ve taken on more responsibility as second in command, and you haven’t been sleeping all that much either,” Gabriel reminded her.
    “I don’t need that much sleep,” she lied. “Never have. I was always the early riser in my family.”
    Which wasn’t a lie, but it had had more to do with her studies in school. Those days seemed so very long ago now. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d even looked at a book.
    “You look tired,” Gabriel said, looking up at her as they walked.
    Vilma stopped, and squatted down to his level.
    “I’m fine.” She scratched him behind one of his golden yellow ears. “It’s just that things are a little intense around here.”
    “I worry about you,” Gabriel said, and licked her hand. “I worry about all of you.”
    She smiled, leaning forward to kiss the top of his head.
    “Good ole Gabriel,” she said. “It’s nice to know that somebody is looking out for us.”
    She stood then, knees cracking as she did.
    “That didn’t sound good,” Gabriel said.
    “It felt even worse.” Vilma laughed. “Must be getting old.”
    There was truth to what she said. Over the last few months she felt like she’d aged physically, and mentally.
    She was sure that she wasn’t supposed to feel this way at nineteen, but then again, most nineteen-year-olds weren’t out killing beasts that seemed like they’d crawled out of Stephen King’s worst nightmare.
    “Or maybe you’re just not taking care of yourself the way you should,” the dog suggested as they walked down the hallway again. “I’m just saying.”
    “I’m not going to deny that there’s some truth to what you’re saying. Which is why I put Aaron to bed, and told the others to…” Vilma trailed off as they entered the TV room and saw Melissa’s wings emerge from her back. Cameron’s wings were out too, and he was about to cloak his body with them to disappear, off to who knows where.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Vilma asked, striding into the room.
    Kraus stood silently nearby, putting away his creams and salves.
    “We’ve had a breather,” Cameron said. “There’s something going on at the Great Wall of China, and an ocean liner isunder attack off the coast of Africa. We thought we’d go and check things out before—”
    “No,” Vilma said.
    Cameron gave her a quizzical smile. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
    “What