Chronicles Of A Fallen Angel-Chapter 58: Warnings

I woke the next morning to multiple messages on my phone.

Marco: Painting verified by client. Payment received. Good fucking work.

Vivienne: Haven't heard from you in a few days. Everything okay?

Unknown: Cemetery. Noon. Don't be late. -M

And one that made me pause.

Selene: I don't regret what happened, but I need time to process. Don't contact me for a few days. I'll reach out when I'm ready.

I stared at that last message for a long moment. It was direct, honest, and completely unexpected from someone like Selene. She was actually admitting she needed time to process her own feelings.

Progress. Real progress.

But Marcus's message concerned me more immediately. He'd felt my power usage during the vault job, which meant others had too. And if the Covenant was watching as closely as he suggested, I needed to know exactly what I was dealing with.

I replied to the essential messages.

To Marco: Thanks. What's next?

To Vivienne: Fine. Just busy with work. Dinner soon?

To Marcus: I'll be there.

I left Selene's message unanswered. She'd asked for space, and I'd give it to her. Pushing too hard too fast would undo everything I'd accomplished.

Downstairs, the safehouse was unusually quiet. Most of the team was out on their own jobs, leaving just Tommy hunched over his computers and Elena working at her magical workbench.

"Morning," Tommy said without looking up. "You're all over the supernatural rumor mill."

"What do you mean?"

He pulled up several message boards and forums that catered to the supernatural community. Thread after thread discussed the Mercier vault job.

"Multiple vampires dead in under five minutes"

"Some kind of divine power used"

"Mercier's offering 100k for information on the thief"

"Shit," I muttered.

"Yeah. You made a big splash." Tommy scrolled through more threads. "The good news is nobody's connected it to the Jackals yet. The bad news is everyone's looking for whoever did it. And the some darker organizations are apparently very interested. The convenant being one. "

"Define 'very interested.'"

"They've been sending people to interview witnesses. Checking security footage. Asking pointed questions about divine signatures." He looked at me seriously. "I don't know what you are, Cain, and I'm not asking. But whatever power you used in that vault? It put you on some very dangerous radars."

Elena spoke up from her workbench. "The Covenant doesn't mess around. They're old, powerful, and they have resources that make most supernatural factions look like amateurs. If they've decided you're worth investigating..."

"I know. I'm handling it."

"Are you?" She set down the ward she'd been working on. "You're juggling too many threats. Mercier, the Covenant, whatever political mess you're involved in with the asshole witch guy – "

"I said I'm handling it."

Elena held up her hands. "Your funeral. Just don't lead them back here. The Jackals can't afford that kind of heat."

I spent the morning preparing for the meeting with Marcus. If the Covenant was actively investigating, I needed to know what they knew, what they suspected, and how much time I had before they made their move.

At eleven-thirty, I headed out. Sarah caught me at the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Meeting a contact."

"What contact?"

"The kind I need to meet alone."

She studied me, and I could see her trying to decide whether to push. Finally, she just nodded. "Be careful. You've got a lot of people looking for you right now."

"I know."

"And Cain?" She hesitated. "About the other night. I meant what I said – it was just the job. But..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"But what?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Just be careful."

She left before I could press further, and I filed away the conversation for later analysis. Sarah was having second thoughts about keeping things purely professional.

But first, the meeting with Marcus.

---

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 looked different in daylight. Less ominous, more like a historic landmark where tourists took photos. But it was still largely empty at noon on a Sunday, which made it perfect for clandestine meetings.

Marcus waited in the same spot as before, near the large mausoleum in the center of the cemetery. He wore expensive casual clothes – designer jeans and a black button-down – looking like he'd stepped out of a magazine rather than being a three-hundred-year-old vampire.

"Punctual," he said as I approached. "I appreciate that."

"You said we needed to talk. So let's talk."

"Direct. Also appreciated." He gestured to the tomb. "Shall we sit? This might take a while." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

We settled onto the marble steps, and Marcus pulled out a cigarette. He offered me one, and I declined.

"First things first," he said, lighting up. "What you did in Mercier's vault was spectacularly stupid."

"I got the job done."

"You also announced to anyone with the right senses that there's a celestial being operating in this city. Do you have any idea how rare that is? Angels don't come to Earth. Demons, sure – they're always around. But angels?" He exhaled smoke. "You're a goddamn unicorn, and you just stood up and shouted 'here I am' to everyone who cares."

"I had no choice. Vampires in an enclosed space – "

"You shouldn't care about your tactical justification. You should care about the consequences." He turned to face me fully. "The Covenant has deployed a team to this city. Three investigators, all of them experienced in dealing with celestial anomalies. They arrived two days ago."

My stomach dropped. "How do you know this?"

"Because I pay attention. Because I have contacts in places that matter. And because one of those investigators contacted me yesterday, asking if I'd encountered anything unusual in my time here." He smiled grimly. "I lied, of course. Told them I hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. But they're good at what they do. They'll find you eventually."

"How long do I have?"

"Days, maybe a week if you're lucky. They're methodical, thorough. They'll interview witnesses from the vault job, trace the magical signatures, cross-reference with other incidents." He flicked ash from his cigarette. "And they will find you. It's just a matter of time."

I processed this information.

A week. Maybe less. And then what? Would they try to recruit me? Kill me? Take me somewhere for study?

"What do they want?" I asked.