Entanglement

Azlynn stared down at the plastic ID in her hand. She had yet to get used to the idea of having a human identity. She had met up with one of the angels' contacts before going to the LAPD to obtain her receptionist job in order to pick up her falsified life. According to her birth certificate and other records, she was Azlynn Rose Doyle: twenty-one, born in Seattle, Washington, and a criminology major at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Despite the flawlessly faked identity, Azlynn had still had to use a little bit of Compulsion to convince the police department to hire her. After a charming smile and a mental nudge, she had been hired on the spot and had been sitting behind a desk checking people in and answering telephones for the last two weeks. It was far from glamorous, but Azlynn was happy to be doing something other than watching from the heavens.

Tucking her ID back inside her wallet, Azlynn leaned back in her seat, watching the officers and the detainees shuffle back and forth through the lobby. Observation was a skill Azlynn had mastered. She swiveled in her chair at the sound of a loud curse, and glanced over to see a tall, dark-haired man being led out of the holding cell area.

"...and on top of the outstanding tickets, your registration as a Non-Human Entity is almost expired," a burly policeman was saying to the slouchy man. "You may want to get that renewed before you leave."

"I'll get right on that," the man muttered.

"Good. We have a receptionist right over here who'll be happy to help you out with that while you wait for your ride." The beefy officer shoved the dark haired sloucher towards Azlynn's desk. The guy started to protest until he caught sight of Azlynn sitting patiently, waiting for him to approach her. He raised his sunglasses to eye her. "How about you send her to arrest me next time," he said tot he officer. "I wouldn't mind if she put handcuffs on me."

"Smart ass." The officer shook his head. "Go get your registration renewed, DeMarco, and don't let me catch you makin' trouble around here again."

"Yes, sir. I most certainly will not let you catch me." 'DeMarco' gave the officer a sarcastic salute, then sauntered up to Azlynn's desk.

"Current NHE registration please?" she said sweetly before he could open his mouth. He tossed it on her desk, and Azlynn picked it up, reading through the information to type it into the computer. Dante DeMarco. He was a Weredragon from Brooklyn, New York.

"So, do you come here often?" he asked with a smirk.

"No, but I'm fairly sure you do," Azlynn replied, handing his registration back with a sugary smile. Dante raised an eyebrow at her. "Ooh, kitty has claws," he drawled.

"I sharpen them every morning," Azlynn shot back coolly, typing some more things into the system. Dante continued to appraise her with his dark silver-gray eyes, and she pointedly ignored his stare. Even if he was, marginally, attractive, he was obnoxious and arrogant and Azlynn had no desire to encourage his flirting. She was printing his new NHE registration when she noticed the redhead walk in with the blue-eyed policeman that was always hanging around with the chief. Miller, she thought. His name is Sergeant Miller.

"Drew, this isn't really necessary, is it? I already gave you all the information you need for the report; does will really need to see me?" The slight redheaded girl had to take two steps to keep up with Miller's long-legged strides.

"Will's going to want to talk to you; make sure you're okay," Miller said without slowing down. He nodded briefly to Azlynn; he was always polite to the dispatchers and receptionists. Then he and the protesting redhead disappeared down the hall and into the chief's office.

Azlynn tucked a stray strand of night-dark hair behind her ear and went to the machine that processed NHE information and spat out the registration cards. Sometimes she felt a little guilty not having one herself; but angels typically worked incognito and invisible while conducting their business on Earth. And besides, what was she supposed to identify herself as? The Freak of all Freaks?

Shaking her head, Azlynn turned to face Dante. "Here's your new registration card. Be sure to have it on you at all times-" She broke off as a chill finger trailed down her spine. Her silver protection amulet was growing hot against her skin. That could only mean trouble. Azlynn shoved Dante's registration card into his hands and came out from behind the counter, her eyes searching the lobby for any sign of danger.

"Hey, what gives?" Dante muttered as she shoved past him. Azlynn walked towards the chief's office. Located several feet from it was the elevator that led to the morgue and the labs. The closer she drew to it, the hotter her amulet became. Azlynn pivoted, racing for the fire alarm, moving so fast that time stood still. She yanked on the alarm, and a piercing wail filled the station. People began covering their ears and rising from their desks.

But they weren't fast enough.

Her amulet grew so hot that Azlynn cried out and yanked it away from her skin, and then the building shook as fire consumed the lower level of the police station. The impact of the explosion knocked Azlynn off her feet, but she was up and moving again in a mere second. The ground shook again, and this time fire and debris came from above; a deadly rain. The smell of pain, fear, and sulfur filled the air, making Azlynn grimace. Fire made from black magic, she thought grimly. Indeed, the fire was quickly dissolving into a seething pool of flame-colored liquid, eating away at the walls and floor. When it met flesh, this fire sank into it, burning people from the inside out. Azlynn was already moving. She cloaked herself with invisibility and spread her wings, flying as many people as she could to safety.

Terrified, agonized screams filled her ears, and she beat her wings faster, her training taking over as she gathered injured and uninjured alike in her arms, shielding them with her wings and depositing them outside, away from the liquid fire.

Those she couldn't save, she prayed for; murmuring the ancient words that soothed and guided souls over and over again. It felt like an eternity, but was in reality less than two minutes when the last of the survivors stumbled out of the building, and it collapsed in on itself. Azlynn tucked her wings away again, then shed her invisibility, dashing out of the crowd of coughing, bleeding, terrified people. She skidded to a halt, her eyes going wide as she saw an ivory and black tiger, and a furry skunk dragging an unconscious chief of police out of the burning station. The tiger's stripes rippled, and then its limbs stretched, and after a moment Sergeant Miller was standing before her, shaking his bleeding friend awake. The skunk scampered in circles around his feet.

"I'm fine, Drew," Chief Lawson grumbled, shoving the sergeant away. He stared at the chittering skunk and sighed. Sirens wailed and red lights flashed as paramedics arrived on the scene, taking as many of the critically injured as they could and racing them to the hospital.

"I should call Delia as soon as I can," Chief Lawson said. "This'll be on the news soon and she'll be worried sick."

Azlynn was preparing to slink back into the crowd and report to Gabriel, but the chief's voice stopped her.

"You, with the blue sweater. You stay here. I want to speak with you. And you too!" he shouted. Azlynn glanced around to find Dante, his sunglasses still on, trying to hustle down the street. "Yeah, you, with the shades. I want to speak with you too. Sergeant Miller, if you would be so kind as to escort these two to my house, as well as my little sister here. Delia should have something she can wear."

The skunk squeaked in annoyance, but Sergeant Miller scooped the furry thing into his arms, then he gestured at Dante and Azlynn to follow him into the parking garage across the street from the station.

"Is this really necessary?" Azlynn protested, following hesitantly. "I'd like to contact my family-"

"I understand, Miss Doyle, but this is important. Your family will be informed that you're safe."

There was a non-nonsense manner about him, and Azlynn didn't press the matter even though the last thing she wanted was to climb into the black SUV that the sergeant unlocked. She pressed herself up as close to the door as she could while Dante slammed his door and stared moodily out the window. No one spoke as they drove. They finally pulled up in front of a modest house in the suburbs. Azlynn saw a beige sedan parked out front, beside a VW Bug, and there was a curly-haired, curvy woman sobbing all over the chief on the front porch.

"Will, I was so worried!" she was choking out when Miller led Dante and Azlynn up the drive.

"Who are they?" the woman asked, wiping the mascara tracks off of her cheeks. Her almond-shaped hazel eyes narrowed curiously and she shoved her coffee-colored hair out of her tear-stained face.

"Let's talk inside," Chief Lawson said, waving everyone through the front door. Azlynn stiffly took the seat on the couch offered her, and Dante flopped down beside her, stretching his long legs out in front of himself. Delia gingerly took the skunk from Sergeant Miller and disappeared down the hall, leaving the rest of them to sit in awkward silence and stare at the walls. Delia reappeared, and Azlynn was surprised to see the petite redheaded girl from the police station trailing behind her, dressed in a pair of blue sweatpants that were rolled up at the bottom and a UCLA t-shirt that was both too baggy and too long for her.

Delia curled her long legs beneath herself and perched beside the chief on the love seat. Miller was sitting tensely on the edge of the recliner.

"A skunk, Charlotte? Really?" Chief Lawson asked as his sister sat glumly on the couch on Azlynn's right.

"It was the first thing I grabbed," Charlotte snapped. "I thought I was holding the fox one, but forgot that that one was at home, so it was most likely stolen with all my other stuff."

"You were robbed?" Delia gasped. "That's horrible!"

"Maybe if you lived in a nicer neighborhood-" Chief Lawson began.

"Can we not do this right now, Will?" Charlotte said between clenched teeth.

Chief Lawson sighed and let the matter drop.

"Are you going to tell us why we're here, or are you going to just subject us to all this Brady Bunch style love?" Dante snapped.

"You're here," Lawson said tersely, "because I'm curious to know just how you two knew the attack was coming."