The Renegades Book 5: Setesh's Secrets: The Renegades, #5

By Brian Hildebrand

Humans are confusing, according to Xaphan, a fallen angel new to Earth.
Unable to hide their angelic wings, Xaphan is forced to stay at home unless fighting crime with their superhero team: The Renegades.
Until now.

A chance encounter with the Egyptian god Setesh has shown Xaphan that it is possible to hide their angelic nature and live among humans.  Setesh is even willing to teach Xaphan how to do it.  But gods of chaos never do anything for free, and what Setesh wants in exchange could change the balance of power on Earth forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Hildebrand
• Release date: Dec 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201250799

Book preview

1

I do not understand the purpose of this mission, I announced to my fellow Renegades as we finished putting on our costumes and masked attire before getting into Ethan's van. I was putting on a black domino mask. My hero costume is more formal than any other I have come across, though it is also old fashioned, with ruffles that apparently went out of style a century ago. It also has holes in the back so that my wings can fit through.

Our mission for the evening was to stop a drug ring. The leader of our team, Claire O’Sheen, also known by vigilante name Sparrow, uncovered the drug ring. Finding criminals was one of her specialties.

Look, Claire began, as she put on the brown mask that she wore as Sparrow, drugs are bad.

I found that comment confusing, especially when my friend and roommate Valerie had taken some aspirin a mere few hours before. Aren't some pharmaceuticals helpful to both the physical and mental stability of humans? I inquired as the van took a smooth right turn. Ethan, the driver, had argued before that there was no reason to draw attention to ourselves by rushing or disobeying any traffic laws if we didn't have to.

Technically, but when most people say drugs, they mean the bad kind that screws with your brain instead of fixing it, M5 said. M5 is an android and my other roommate. He was putting on his combat helmet, which looked like a green and white version of a motorcycle helmet. The colours matched the rest of his robotic armour.

But wouldn't the market for such drugs be so low that no one would utilize them? My line of questioning continued.

Using them makes you feel good, Valerie, who goes by Stellar when in her blue-and-black nanite-created armour, replied.

So humans regularly conduct activity that is pleasurable in the short term but has painful long-term consequences? I pondered aloud.

It's the rare few that don't, Ethan Johnson, also known as Geo, commented. Ethan's attire looked much like what I had seen in the cowboy movies my he had convinced me to watch. Maroon Cowboy boots, hat, handkerchief tied to cover his lower face, and a maroon leather duster, accompanied by blue jeans and a black shirt that look similar to what any human would wear.

Yeah, Mike added, and I've seen these guys actually trying to sell the drugs near my school.

Mike Johnson was Ethan's younger brother. He had not yet gone through the human experience known as puberty, and thus looked younger than the others, even though the age difference between him and the others was small. Mike was dressed in robes that he had created with his magic, including a golden band that wrapped around his arms and connected to the Book of Darkness, the source of his magic.

That is troubling. I think I understand what the problem here is. How shall we proceed?

We stow the van a couple blocks away and head to the warehouse. They'll have guards so we’ll want to sneak in. Remember, taking down their equipment gets a lot of drugs off the street even if they don’t get arrested. Claire declared as she double-checked the pouches on her belt.

Ethan pulled the van over and we got out of the car. Though I attempted to hide it from the others, I was happy to get out of the vehicle and stretch my wings.

Ethan and I will go ahead and take a look around, wait for our signal, Claire declared as she and Ethan went ahead.

This was not the first time the two of them had gone ahead of the others. With Claire's past as a sidekick, and Ethan's past as a reluctant member of a super villain gang, the two of them had more experience.

I had not understood why stealth was so necessary before, but my friends had explained that leaders will run and let their minions fight to protect their escape. Which would solve nothing, as the peasant knows not the full measure of plans in the king's head.

After waiting several minutes for the signal, M5 shoved me back into the van. I was about to protest when he gestured his head to the right, Company.

My wings had become tangled up in the seats but the moment I fixed them, I looked out the window. There were three young humans, teenagers, approaching another human closer to middle-age on the corner nearby. The man was wearing a longer coat, and looked like he had not shaved in a couple days.

The man had not seen myself or M5. Valerie and Mike’s hiding had been different though. Valerie removed her nanite suit, and Mike removed his illusions, so the two of them looked normal.

One of the teenagers spoke to the man, Hey, you got the stuff?

The man looked straight at Valerie and Mike, ignoring the teenagers in front of him, You here for a reason?

Valerie nodded, Heard you're good for a hookup.

I don't know what you're talking about kid, The man said as he tried to leave, walking in the opposite direction of Valerie and Mike.

One of the other teenagers grabbed him by the arm, Hey! I've got the money, give us our stuff.

Let go, the man emphasized each word slowly, his voice threatening.

The teenager did not notice the threat. He yanked on the man's shirt collar, Hey, don't act like you don't know me man. You're the one who was at my school selling drugs months ago.

The man muttered, Idiot, and then grabbed the kid’s shirt collar and tossed him back into his friends. The action caused a vial of green liquid to fall out of the man’s jacket and shatter as it hit the pavement.

The man was furious. He breathed out a burst of smoke. The smoke wrapped around the three teenagers, tightening around them.

He had powers.

Valerie and Mike reactivated their vigilante costumes, but M5 and I were faster.

I flew in and punched the smoke man in the stomach. Or tried to. It felt like my fist hit nothing. He could do more than create and control smoke, he could turn into smoke.

The smoke man let out a dismissive sigh. I don’t have time for this. His entire body turned to smoke and he floated away into the night.

M5 and I were about to pursue when the communication device in my ear activated, Claire's voice coming through, Couldn’t find any openings, but I think we could take them. Xaphan, front door drill.

I hesitated for a moment as the smoke man disappeared around a corner. I could catch him if I wanted to. But that would delay me from dealing with our objective.

So instead I did what I had done on several occasions for the Renegades: I walked toward the front door and dared the criminals to do something about me. The building was old, and the windows were covered. The kind of place suitable for criminals. Two armed men stood out front. They were holding automatic weapons, guns that could fire hundreds of bullets a minute. I kept to the shadows as I neared the building. One of the men on guard raised his gun and shouted, Get out of here.

I ignored the request, flourished my wings, and activated the gem around my neck. The gem glowed with power as my body became a conduit for the fires of the Underworld, and I willed the hellfire to form into a ball in the palm of my right hand. Even the appearance of hellfire was terrifying to humans, for flames in the colours of dark red and black seem magical to them. The flames illuminated me enough for the humans to see clearly; clearly enough that they knew they were standing against an angel.

Face your judgment, I said. It seemed ridiculous to me, but apparently angels shouting about judgment will terrify most humans.

One of them screamed, dropped their gun, and ran for his life. I let him. The other stood there, too scared to move, he kept saying the words Oh god, oh god, oh god aloud, possibly because he was mistaken about whom I was working for. I stepped closer. He closed his eyes and started firing.

I created a barrier of flames between myself and the rain of bullets. The bullets melted before they caused me any harm.

The gunfire stopped, so I let my barrier drop.

I gave him a warning. That was a mistake.

He fumbled desperately for his radio as he backed away from me. He wasn’t running, but he clearly wanted to. I could have stopped him, but that wasn't the plan. If he shouted to everyone that there was a threat at the front door, then my friends could break through a window and enter from the back with little interference.

Claire told me once that she had performed this trick dozens of times back in her days as a sidekick. Sometimes the easiest way to sneak into a place is to have a very large distraction.

Angry fallen angels make great distractions.

With enemies running around from the backside of the building, sliding down the fire escapes, coming out the front door, and even a couple moving into position on the roof, I certainly had their attention. Within seconds, twenty-four guns were aimed at my chest.

When the first one opened fire, my flames moved faster than their bullets as I created a new barrier of hellfire around myself.

The battering rounds of gunfire reminded me of home, of the Underworld. Not because bullets and guns themselves are common in the Underworld, but rather the violence that the guns represented reminded me of the place I had called home for thousands of years. Some might think it weird, but chaos sooths me. The loud barrage might be jarring to most, but not to me.

The firing ceased. I assumed the enemies