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Everyone tenses, turning toward the opening
A flapping hellion crashes and tuel skids after it in a jumble of white feathers and curses
‘Raffe!’ I rush up the stairs to hiround with disorientation in his eyes The spotted hellion flies out of his grasp It flitters in a panic into the hovel, and the Watchers swat and kick at it until it frantically flies back out of the hatch
Raffe blinks at ets up
‘Are you okay?’ I’ve never seen him so disoriented He looks like I must have when I first arrived here
And then it hits reat coincidence that he landed near me, but of course, I’h hiet here?’ I ask
But he’s not looking atat each other as each Watcher comes out of the hovel They position theh in a dreauys know each other’ I aardly step back
‘It can’t be,’ says Flyer
‘Commander?’ asks Haith doubt in his voice ‘Is that you?’
‘What do you mean Commander?’ asks Beliel as he turns his eel Raphael,’ says Theret yourself down here?’ asks Cyclone
‘Your wings’ says Howler ‘How are they pristine?’
It’s ironic now that Raffe finally has his angel wings back that he’s in the land of demons
‘Are you on a ht he was the only archangel who could come down here You haven’t turned into a diplomat, have you?’
‘Maybe it’s a trick,’ says Hawk ‘Maybe it’s not really hiest kill you ever est kill you ever made, Cyclone’ Raffe brushes dust off himself
‘It really is you,’ says Cyclone
‘What happened?’ asks Flyer ‘How are you here?’
‘Long story,’ says Raffe ‘We have much to catch up on’
‘Betrayer!’ Beliel looks furious He slarapple as Beliel tries to purab hiles against his buddies ‘I left her in your care! Do you knohat they did to her? Do you?’
The Watchers subdue Beliel, putting a hand over hisin his ear to cal up ‘Is this a good place?’
‘There are no good places in the Pit,’ says Hawk
‘We should go someplace where we have easy escape routes,’ says Ther for ascrealing, but he’s breathing hard and fast Hewith his ears
‘Let’s get out of here,’ says Cyclone He takes the lead The rest of us follow
Even though Beliel is obviously furious with Raffe, he still walks with his back to hiroup as if it never occurred to hi muscles start to unclench, and the tension in his shoulders softens as he walks