Aeldrin moved. I watched him move, every fiber of my being on fire with the mixture of terror and triumph that only close contact with Chaos can bring about. Before he left the room, he paused and half turned, a frown forming on his darkly handsome features. Then he smiled.

I knew that smirk. It was the same knowing look Lucifer gave me as I attempted to break into Loki's cave. Had Aeldrin access to wings while encased in the body of Alex, I'm sure he would have twitched them in that same mocking salute. I remember pictures from Aeldrin's files, but not until that exact moment had I ever fully realized the similarities in appearance between the Morningstar and Lord Aeldrin.

Those similarities did not leave my mind as he exited the classroom. I had not been cloaking myself as well as I should have been, that's what that smirk meant. He knew I was there, and that meant there would soon be trouble.

I was reasonably sure, however, that he was unable to directly pinpoint which human body contained the angelic presence. I was still safe; the mission had not been compromised too far. But then... why hadn't I sensed him earlier? Chaos energy isn't exactly subtle. I should have been aware of his presence as soon as I had entered that classroom. I should be able to sense Aeldrin no matter where he is; he's a demon Lord, for Christ's sake! They leave imprints in reality larger than most archangels do!

The fact that Aeldrin was capable of such stealth was worrisome, but more disturbing was the fact that he sensed me. I would have to triple my cloaking efforts.

Geometry ended. Drama began.

Drama was a large class with a mildly insane teacher. Her name was, ironically, Holly Wood. She announced this cheerfully as I introduced myself. The class was picking out monologues today, so when the time came, I made my way over to a table of books and began leafing through one.

It gave me time to think.

I reached out with my mind, casting about for any hint of Chaotic energy. There was surprisingly little; Aeldrin was masking himself well; I probably wouldn't be able to sense any Chaos energy unless I already knew where it SHOULD be emanating from. So I switched tactics, and checked for Loki's mark, or any corruption thereof.

Found it.

It was still Alex. Aeldrin was keeping to one body apparently. That made things MUCH simpler for me. He was sitting in Chemistry, and, like most of the class, alternating between taking notes and staring off into space. The difference was that when Aeldrin stared off into space, he was really doing EXACTLY what I was doing at the moment, searching for another mind. Since I already knew who HE was, I was able to tap into his search stream and find out what he was looking for.

Enhanced Awareness was the first thing he was searching for, as well as Angelic Presence. That didn't surprise me much, from his files I knew that Aeldrin believed that overestimating ones opponent was equally as dangerous as underestimating them. I then misdirected his search so that it pointed toward the blonde Cherub I'd seen earlier.

I returned to my body with a feeling of renewed confidence in my skills as a field worker. I made sure I kept the psychic equivalent of a firewall around myself, and went through my day as a normal human would.

I saw Alex again in my Spanish class. He fell asleep almost as soon as our teacher started talking, along with half of the class. I, being a good little Angel, managed to stay awake, but admittedly I paid absolutely no attention to what she was saying. If I really wanted to learn Spanish I'd have Gabriel deliver me the information directly.

I checked to see if Aeldrin was still searching for me, but it appeared that he really was sleeping. The sudden irrational urge to flip a pencil at his forehead nearly overwhelmed me, but control is all part of being an Angel. Besides, someone else did it for me.

Now that I was sure that Aeldrin was rooted in a single body and not causing havoc at that exact moment in time, I put my body on autopilot and let my mind rest itself in a trance state. I did not return from this state until I entered my home.

"Hello!" Chirped a random mass of blue haze that was occupying an armchair in my living room.

I stopped in my tracks and stared. Quite a few smoky clouds of color were drifting around the room or hover above my couch. There were several ways I could respond, so I tried them all at once.

"Hello. What in the name of God are you and who gave you permission to make my life more bizarre than it already was?"

Larin swept into the room carrying a tray of cookies. "That's Carl. Don't torment him, Nerilnine. These are friends of mine."

I swiped a cookie from the tray. "Sweet. I see dead people."

The blue cloud that was Carl made a sniffing sound. "That movie was completely overrated. Very rarely do we take on the appearance of an actual dead body, it would be irrational for us to do so."

"I'm wondering at my own rationality at the moment, talking to sentient smoke."

"It would be worse if you were talking to nonsentient smoke." Remarked one of the other semi-corporeal spirits.

I took another cookie and conceded the point. "Larin, when you're done entertaining, I'd like to talk to you."

She nodded in a distracted sort of way, caught up in an animated conversation with a hazy green cloud.

***

I opened my laptop. I was unable to keep a constant mental trace on Aeldrin without leaving myself open to psychic attack, as of that moment at least. Using the same Divine Search Engine I'd used before, I located Aeldrin again. This time it was much easier, since he actually was staying at the place the school records claimed he was. Not the smartest move for a demon, but I supposed he thought himself invulnerable.

Or perhaps not. The information I found on Aeldrin was on a highly illegal site that was used mostly by demons who wanted to spy on immortals. I have at least four accounts on that site, though it put my job at risk. It was increadibly useful, however, as it gave me details on Aeldrin's current actions. He was placing a spell around himself. It was a highly advanced ward, I didn't even recognize it, but when suddenly the stream of information was cut off, I believed in its efficiency.

I REALLY need to learn that spell.

Naturally, as soon as I thought that, I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my neck. Not having had the time to set up any proper wards, I had put together a spell that would warn me when something was watching me.

Refusing to give into paranoia, I checked the door to see if it was Larin or one of her wispy friends looking in on me. It wasn't. I checked if it was Gabriel checking in on me from his office. It wasn't. I checked if it was the Almighty, an unlikely possibility but not entirely impossible. It wasn't.

Finally resigning myself to it, I checked if it was Aeldrin.

Holy shit. It wasn't.

Now thoroughly confused, I checked to see if it was demonic in origin. It wasn't, but it was definitely not angelic either. It wasn't the Morningstar, as that would have resulted in an Angelic presence, albeit a twisted one. Fed up with paranoia, I just asked the search engine to find out who was watching my apartment. (Due to comfort of the current residents, I'm not going to tell you where it is)

It turned out to be a god. A powerful god.

Chaos himself.