21 Shades of Night, page 414
“It’s kind of a big deal. I’m going to need more time than that,” Famine says, standing up. He narrows his green eyes at me, but I’m not afraid of him. I’m not afraid of anybody.
“Tomorrow night is more than enough time. We’ll get back to you, brother,” Wade announces. He pushes his large body out of the chair and disappears in a black haze of smoke. The other two follow. When I’m sure they’re not going to come back, I hit my intercom button.
“Mena? Send Eva to the meeting room, now.”
“Right away, sir.”
A few minutes later, Eva enters the room, clasping her hand over her mouth as she lets out a hoarse cough. “Gosh, open some windows in here. It smells like demons have died.”
I roll my eyes as she strolls over to me and drops into the chair on my left. “What’d your brothers want?”
“Never mind.” I lean back. “I need a favor. It doesn’t require too much on your part…”
She arches an odd, well-shaped eyebrow at me. “What do you want?”
“I need you to search for Violet every day in the off chance that she comes back to Earth. My brothers… I can’t let them have her.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Trying to locate her means I have to touch you every day, and God knows my stomach isn’t as strong as it used to be.”
I grin at her. “It’s only twice a day. I’m sure your stomach can handle that.”
Her lips twitch. “This girl is really something special, huh?”
“She’s my only weakness...”
Eva exhales. “Fine. I’ll look for her once in the morning and once in the evening, but if War comes after me because I helped you find her before he did, I’m outta here.”
Easy enough. “Deal.”
Eva leans forward in her chair, extending her soft, papery hands to me. “Do you want to try and locate her now?”
I nod as I place my hands in hers. She closes her eyes. “You’re selfish, you know.”
“I know.” I’m selfish. I’m ready to end the lives of seven billion people to end my haunting memories and to keep Violet away from my brothers and me. A part of me hopes that if we ever met again in an after-afterlife she’d see my actions as a romantic gesture instead of a psychopathic one.
Chapter 16
Renewed
*
Violet
I STAND IN front of my mirror analyzing myself. I haven’t left my house in days and I’m sure the number of missed calls on my phone are about to tick over to the six digits mark. If I don’t make myself known soon Obss angels will show up at my door, demanding that I sign up for a mission. Luckily for them, I feel good today. The swelling has completely gone down and the bruising is fading. I let my hair down and it covers the slight bruising on my neck. Once I put makeup on over the top, they’re barely noticeable.
I’m fine when I leave home and I’m fine when I climb the stairs to HQ. Inside, however, I’m a ball of stress. People stare at me and the half-star that was sewn into the fabric of my new uniform. Every time someone’s gaze falls onto my ranking, it hurts my pride. Lucas did this to me...Soon after I enter, Lana falls into step beside me wearing her usual office get-up—long black formal pants with matching pumps and a nice white, silk shirt.
“Oh, good. You’re still alive.” A smile tugs at my lips. “Unfortunately.”
“Did you think about what I said?”
Not really.
“Yeah and I still think you’re crazy,” I tell her. I spent most of my time sleeping and re-reading Romeo and Juliet. Depressing stuff.
“Come with me,” she demands, turning on her heel.
“Lana, I’m behind on my missions—”
She snatches my wrist and drags me off to the side. People watch curiously as she pulls me through the office and into an empty room, slamming the door behind her. “Lana—” She silences me with the flash of her palm. I cross my arms tightly over my chest.
“Do you want to know what I’ve been doing the past few days?”
I shrug. “Not really.”
“I’ve been working with Govlonsky.” I cringe. “Yeah, that’s right. They reassigned me to a dude that spends most of his time spitting tobacco into a bucket. Do I deserve that because you fucked up?” I open my mouth. “No,” her shoulders slump. “No, I don’t. You need to make this right for the both of us. You are a kick-ass angel, better than most. I know you can kill one of the Horsemen, hell, you could probably take two, so don’t mope around here collecting your Tracker missions like it’s something you deserve. You are a hell of a lot better than that and you know it.”
Her cheeks are flushed, her fists clenched into balls at her side. I’ve never seen her so worked up. Then again, I would be too if I had to be in the same room as Govlonsky. But… some things are just meant to be endured. God knows I’ve forced myself through plenty of unsavory situations. I step past Lana and turn around.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I’m sorry that you have to deal with Govlonsky, but I can’t help you right now. Maybe when I get my rank up I can request to have you back as my assistant, but until then, you’re just going to have to put up with it.”
Turning away, I exit the room, keeping my head down as I make my way to the missions’ office. In retrospect, calling it an office isn’t exactly correct. It’s more of a hole in the wall that we line up in front of. Seeing the office sends excitement shooting through my veins. I’m pretty excited to kill demons this morning, to be honest.
The line before me dwindles as angels receive their missions and soon I’m at the front of the line. “Violet Ashton,” I say to the receptionist with the pretty gold ringlets and she hands me a small glass mission tablet. I read the instructions.
Demon: Tracker.
Number: 2.
Location: Outskirts of Concave City. Logansville.
Great. Concave City. They couldn’t have given me a decent city like Port Burney or Los Hades. I ignore the warnings and tips on tracker demons that fill the next six slides and sign along the dotted line. Exhaling, I hand the tablet back to her and she gives me the form for the teleportation chamber. When I get there, the receptionist signs my forms immediately and I don’t have to wait longer than a second before Tom pops through the door, wearing loose jeans and a polo as well as beaming brightly.
“Violet, I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”
I smile. “Good, thank you.”
He flicks his hand, gesturing for me to follow him. I do. We walk through the maze of corridors until we reach his room. Clearing his throat, he closes the door behind us and I stand directly in the center of the room. Tom, however, leans against the way, bending his leg at the knee. He has all the time in the world, apparently.
“Are we going?” I ask, confused because he hasn’t taken up his position.
“I thought we could have a chat first.”
I tip my head. “What’s been happening with you?”
He stuffs his hands in the pocket of his jeans. His knits his brows together, curving them curiously, and I don’t miss the sympathetic gleam in his eyes.
Cautiously, I shrug. “The usual.”
“A little birdy tells me it’s not ‘the usual.’”
I arch a brow. If he already knows what I’ve been through, why doesn’t he ask me straight off the bat?
“Feeling a little nosey today, Tom? Not enough people to teleport?” I brush a speck of dust off my shoulder, trying hard to seem indifferent to his questioning. Truthfully, it hurts me every time I think about it.
He smiles at me. “I just want to make sure a friend is okay. Are you?”
Do I look okay? Can he see the subtle bruising? The deflation in my posture? “Are you referring to my compulsion?”
He nods.
“Yes, I was compelled, but I managed to remember it, so everything’s fine now.”
He glances down at my half star. Ouch. There goes my pride again.
“I bet it hurt… remembering your compulsion?”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” I sigh. “Yes, it was horrible.”
“It’s a barbaric technique, but it sure is effective.”
Sure is. I purse my lips. I don’t even want to talk about it. Taking the hint, Tom strolls over to me. He slips his hand in mine, a friendly gesture, and weightlessness consumes me. Colors swirl and mash before me as I’m pulled into tiny particles and then put back together again. I love being nothing. Strangely, it makes me feel like I have purpose... Like my broken heart and bruised pride aren’t a big deal. A dull ache at the base of my spine makes itself known and becomes as it supports all of my weight. The beautiful hues of nothingness disappear and the painful white walls of my existence surround me, boxing me in. I let out a disappointed sigh.
“You really enjoy teleporting, don’t you?” He asks, releasing my hand.
“Of course, don’t you?”
He shakes his head. “It gets boring after a while.”
With a wave, he disappears into nothing. I could never get bored of the pretty colors… I exit the teleportation room and slip into the reception room where Gladys sits with a straight spine, her nose buried in a book. I clear my throat, but she doesn’t lift her stare. It isn’t until I slip the form along her desk that she finally pays me any attention. Pursing her lips, Gladys stamps my forms and I exit the teleportation chamber.
“Vi! You’re back!” Janet squeals as I step out of the waiting room. It seems she’s been waiting for me to arrive and she’s even taken the liberty of assigning me a nickname. Oh goody.
“You’re really excited…” I point out, glancing awkwardly at the angels passing by.
“Of course I am. It’s been a while since I saw you last.” She twirls her red hair around her finger. Her makeup isn’t too extreme today. Her eyeliner is laid on a bit thick and so are the fake lashes, but the subtle blue eyeshadow she’s wearing beautifully frames her eyes. “What are you up to?”
“The usual… killing demons and stuff.”
Her eyes widen. “Awesome! Hey, I get off shift in an hour, did you want to hang out? We could see a movie or get drinks?” She picks at her nails and straightens her black pencil skirt.
“Oh, sorry, Janet. I’m kind of in a hurry. Maybe next time?”
I step around her and head for the location room as quickly as I can without it coming off as running away.
“Violet?” I glance over my shoulder. “I like it when you wear your hair down.”
I give her a tight smile. “Thank you.”
* * *
BY THE TIME I get a proper reading on the location of the Trackers and leave the Earth HQ, it’s night time. Bare branches interlace above me as I crawl through the thick underbrush of the Logansville Parklands, searching for the Tracker demons. The dry smell of decaying leaves tickle my nose and thorny wild vines tug at my catsuit, but fail to cling to the material. Rain drizzles down upon me, making me shiver whenever a few drops land on the bare skin at the back of my neck. I push past a few tiny trees and crush a few small saplings under my boot before I stepping out into the opening. Oops. The last thing Earth needs are less trees.
“Sorry, little guy,” I crouch down and try to rest the sapling up against another. When it looks comfortable (enough), I cautiously make my way through the clearing, wiping the sticky sap of the sapling on my thigh. In the distance, I hear the unmistakable growl of a tracker demon and my muscles tighten. A small smile plays on my lips as the growl surrounds. Two tones mesh together. There’s more than one and they’re hidden by the dense shrubbery. I close my eyes an inhale through my nose. I love this. Killing demons is what I live for. I open my eyes.
The thick dressing of the trees above allow a faint light to filter through. Right on cue, and with a gnarly growl, a Tracker leaps from the shrub, making itself known. My heart shoots into my throat and I gasp as I drop to the floor, letting the huge, black dog fly straight over my head and into a thick tree stump. It yelps and I scurry to the left, keeping both trackers in front of me. The smaller brown Tracker rushes and I let it get as close as I can before grabbing it by the throat and lifting it off the ground. The ropes of muscle in my arm ache as I hold it at arm’s reach so it can’t bite my face with its long teeth. The Tracker thrashes around in my grasp, growling and snapping at me. I reach for my knife at the back of my belt and it’s not there. I spot it two feet from my left, not far from the big black Tracker that has managed to gain its equilibrium. It lowers itself for another launch. I tense, contemplating my next move. It bares its fangs and I wonder if throwing the small Tracker at the black one the second his paws leave the ground would do anything to slow him down.
The black Tracker crouches and prepares for launch...only, his paws never leave the ground. The Tracker’s yellow eyes flared with fear and he turns on his paws, his tail tucked between his legs, and runs, disappearing into the parklands.
“Great, now I have to chase it,” I mutter to the little brown Tracker I still hold in my hand.
“Or you could pick on someone your own size.”
My heart swells painfully as his voice pierces through my flesh and ignites my blood. I drop the small, brown Tracker and he flees into the shrubbery, yelping like a lost puppy.
I turned towards the familiar voice and resentment slithers through my stomach. I do not want to see him right now, but there he is, leaning against a tree in his sexy business pants and sexy white buttoned shirt with that stupidly-sexy black tie. His dark eyes rake me from head to toe as I stand before him, confused and angry.
“What are you doing here?” I demand, planting my hands on my hips.
“Me? I’m here to protect you. Who knows what’s lurking around here.”
I spit. “Protect me? You mean like the time you had me compelled?”
He smirks. “Precisely.”
“I was sprayed with a hose, beaten, and drugged until I remembered. And you’re lucky I did remember, otherwise I’d be dead right now...”
“I’m sorry,” he says. His eyes watching unapologetically as he twists the tip of the blade against his index finger without cutting the skin.
He’s not sorry. He’s not sincere. “You were an angel… how can you bring yourself to fight against your own people?”
He chuckles and the sound chills my bones. “They aren’t my people anymore. Demons are my people—I’m a demon.”
It sucks hearing those words come from his mouth. I chew on my bottom lip and swallow hard. “Right.”
Lucas’s eyes soften, becoming pleading and desperate. “Let me make you like me?”
I flinch. “What?”
He takes a cautious step forward. “Let me make you a demon. We could be together forever… we can love each other again without hassle.”
A bitter taste floods my mouth. I can’t keep up with him. He hates me and then he loves me? He wants me off Earth one minute and can’t live without me the next? God, talk about whiplash. “No. I’m an angel and that’s all I ever want to be.” The thought of becoming a demon makes me sick. That’s the last thing I ever want to do. Even if I do crave being back with Lucas again, I never want to become a demon to achieve it. It’s just not worth it.
“Ah, well, it was worth a shot.” His eyes turn eerily dark, his face etched with anger. It’s like my refusal flipped a switch. He reaches around his back and produces a small blade from his pocket. “Angels fall, V. I did.”
He extends his hand, one last chance to be with him. My heart compresses...a part of me wants to take his hand and never look back, but the other part… the other part wants to end his suffering because the man that stands before me isn’t the one I fell in love with. I swallow the lump that forms in my throat. “You didn’t fall. You were pushed.”
His lips curl into a sardonic smirk and he drops his hand by his side. There goes my chance.
“You’ve always had a good sense of humor. I think I’m going to miss that the most.”
Lucas dives at me, fast. I panic, unsure if he’s only trying to scare me or if he’s actually going in for the kill. It isn’t until he gets within two feet that I see the ice in his irises, the hollows of his cheeks, that I realize he isn’t Lucas.
He is Death.
Chapter 17
Clash
*
Lucas
I SWING AT her and the blade barely misses her beautiful face. Violet drops and rolls across the damp floor of the reserve. I didn’t come here to hurt her. I came here to keep an eye on her and keep her away from my brothers, but somewhere between then and now, my inner demon took over. She launched to her feet and I swing again. Clenching her teeth, she dodges my punch and kicks me square in the chest. Air is knocked from my lungs and I stumble back. Violet has become so strong, stronger since the days we used to train. I knew I made the right choice, making her an angel.
Violet steps into the dim light that breaks through the canopy and I catch a glimpse of the half star that’s sewn into the chest pocket of her uniform.
“Aw, did I do that?” Her hands clench. “At least now you won’t be in over your head.”
She leaps at me, baring her perfect white teeth in anguish. She comes at me hard, throwing combos she learned in my absence, all of which I manage to dodge. I grin at her as we duck and dodge through the forest, neither of us getting the upper hand. Violet growls, infuriated, and lunges at me. Cocking my leg, I kick her in the stomach and she grunts as it connects and throws her back. Surprisingly, she lands gracefully with her feet and hand planted firmly on the ground.
“Funny,” she says as I slip my knife into my pocket. “I was expecting you to hit a lot harder than that.”
I push off the soft forest floor, launching myself at her. She barely manages to get out of the way as my fist connects with the huge oak tree behind her. Pain radiates through my hand and up my arm, but I ignore it, turning my attention back to her. Her red hair dances around her as the cool wind blows it in different directions. Her blue eyes flicker with fear as the deafening crack of a tree, undecided on which way to fall, fills the forest.
