“Thanks for the tip,” I said. “Have you hunted many hellhounds yourself?”
Father Donahue let out a nervous chuckle. “Thankfully, no. We studied them at the seminary, but most of my information is from hunters who come here, much like yourselves.”
The priest handed over the bottles—two to Ty and two to me. I slipped them into the pocket of my jeans, hoping I wouldn’t need to use them.
“Thank you, Father,” I said. “For the water and the information.”
He nodded then did the sign of the cross. “May God be with you.”
Father Donahue showed us to the door, and we stepped back out into the main worship area of the church. As I turned to wish him goodbye, I caught him staring at the pews, his eyes wide with fear. Before I could ask if everything was okay, he promptly slammed the door closed.
Ty caught my gaze and held it. “Something’s wrong.”
I nodded and followed him through the church. “We should call the council.”
“Yeah, come on. We’ll do it outside.”
As we passed the pews, a man sitting in the front row lifted his head and looked at me.
When eyes as black as the night sky met my gaze, my steps faltered. I couldn’t have put an age on him if I’d tried. Nothing about him stood out in any way. His features were nondescript, but his gaze was ice-cold. An uncomfortable shiver rolled over my skin as he craned his head to watch us walk down the aisle. Even with my back to him, I sensed that he was still watching us, yet I didn’t sense any magical signature coming from him. That meant he couldn’t have been a paranormal being, but something about him felt wrong.
Ty pushed open the door and stepped outside into the bright, morning sunshine, and I followed him out.
“Did you see that man in the pews?” I asked.
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Ty shook his head. “What man?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know… There was something off about him.”
“You think that’s who had Father Donahue spooked?”
“Yeah, I think it was definitely him. Let’s—”
I was about to tell Ty that we needed to go back in to make sure the priest and congregation were okay, but I didn’t get the chance. A low, whirring sound was the only warning I got before an energy ball hit me in the stomach. The force of the blast knocked me off my feet and stole all the breath from my lungs. My shirt began to burn. I didn’t even have the air I needed to scream—and boy did I want to. When the nauseating scent of burning flesh reached my nostrils, I heaved.
“Alana!” Ty’s panicked shout reached my ringing ears as fear and anger knotted in my stomach. “Jesus Christ, are you okay?”
“Fine,” I lied.
Ty reached down to help me to my feet, but another burst of energy sailed passed, missing his head by inches.
It was quickly followed by another.
When the blasts forced him away from me, he pulled out his gun then frowned.
“We can’t have a shootout in front of a church in broad daylight. The council would slaughter us. It’s too risky.”
I had to agree. The hunters’ council allowed us to carry guns, but we were only supposed to use them as a last resort. Everything we did was to ensure that humans never found out about the things that went bump in the night.
“We need to get out of here,” Ty said. “Can you stand?”
I sucked in a few deep breaths to try to get some air back into my lungs, but breathing made the pain in my stomach explode.
I shook my head instead.
“Back… The church.”
I wanted to tell him about my fear for Father Donahue, but those three words were all I could get out.
Ty looked to the church’s entrance then off into the distance. “No. I don’t think we’d make it to the door. We need to try to get to the car.”
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“Where…the…warlocks?” I took in more air between each word, but each quick, shallow breath cost me.
Ty crouched then scanned the area. “I think they’re hiding around the front of the church.”
I knew from experience that warlocks were the only paranormal beings who had the power to create such strong energy blasts. Witches could technically summon the energy required, but they couldn’t sustain it.
The warlocks fired more blasts, one grazing Ty’s shoulder. We had to get moving. Out in the open, we were sitting ducks. I concentrated on getting much-needed air into my lungs, but pain lanced through my stomach. On instinct, I covered it with my hand then choked back a cry. It took only a few seconds before I realized my fingers were wet. I looked down, saw the blood that covered them and tried not to panic.
“Alana! Jesus. Why didn’t you say you’d been badly hurt? Fuck!”
Though Ty sounded angry, worry etched itself into every line on his face. He got low to the ground then crawled to my side.
“It’s not that bad,” I panted. “Just a scratch, really. I’ll be okay…in a minute.”
Ty shot me a dubious look then turned to where the warlocks were hiding, but when his eyes came back to mine, his face was grave.
He shook his head. “We haven’t got a minute. We need to move. Now.”
I followed his line of sight and saw two warlocks running our way, their long, black coats flapping behind them. The warlock in front had his hands outstretched and cupped, already producing more energy to throw at us.
“I hate to rush you, beautiful, but if we stay here, we’re chopped liver. You get what I’m saying?”
“Okay, let’s go.”
I let him help me to my feet. I felt woozy when I was fully upright, but I didn’t have time to let the dizziness pass. Ty took hold of my hand and started to run. I followed as best as I could, but I couldn’t keep up with Ty for very long. I was getting too tired.
I hated that I was holding him back.
“Stop,” I pleaded. “Please.”
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He stopped then turned to me, and instantly his take-charge expression became soft. He lifted his hand then curled his fingers around my neck. I shivered. For a moment, I got lost in his hazel eyes. In the bright morning light, I could see flecks of gold along with the green.
“Just a little farther, beautiful. We need to get to the parking lot. Somewhere with cover, okay?”
Ty called me beautiful.
I tried to focus on that and not the debilitating pain in my stomach or the warlocks who were trying to kill us. I nodded, but his expression had been so sweet and so sincere, I probably would have agreed to anything he’d asked of me. Ty ducked and pulled me into a crouch as another ball of energy sailed by too close for comfort.
I was out of breath again by the time we got back around to the parking lot.
Ty led the way to his car.
“No,” I argued. “Father Donahue’s in trouble. I’m sure of it. We need to get to him.”
“Okay,” Ty agreed. “We’ll take cover here and get back to the church as soon as we can.”
We hid behind the largest of the vehicles and it was all I could do to stay on my feet. The pain in my stomach was intense. It felt like a red-hot poker had stabbed me repeatedly. Not that I knew what that felt like or wanted to.
“I told the council they should issue us with silencers,” Ty griped as he peered around the side of a large truck. “Warlocks have never cared about secrecy. It’s inevitable that things like this happen.”
He turned back to me and put a forefinger to his mouth, signaling me to be quiet. I nodded to let him know I’d understood. The warlocks were in the parking lot. The only chance we had to escape was to fight them, but to do so, we’d have to get close enough so that they couldn’t hit out with any more energy balls.
The closer they got, the easier it was to hear their voices.
/> “Where are they?” one of them growled. “They’ve got to be here somewhere.”
“They’re here,” the other warlock replied. “Hiding.”
“They can’t hide for long.”
“Yeah, come on out, hunters. We won’t hurt you. We just want to talk.”
They just wanted to talk? Funny, I had a hole in my stomach that said otherwise. I knew that at any moment they would look under the cars then it would be game over. I held my www.totallybound.com
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breath, hoping they’d be close enough that we could jump out and surprise them. Throughout their conversation, Ty held my gaze and I took comfort in his nearness. If I’d been alone, I probably would have been dead already. What did that say about my hunting abilities? I frowned, wondering what my mother would have to say about the way I’d handled this mission. I’d only been in LA for a couple of days and already I’d run from a hellhound and had my stomach blasted by warlocks. I was behaving like a damn newbie, fresh out of the training academy.
Ty must have seen something in my expression, because he reached out and took hold of my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I appreciated the reassuring gesture, even though it did little to assuage my feelings of guilt. I was amazed at how quickly my perception of Ty had changed. At first, I’d thought him arrogant, but he wasn’t, not really. I’d mistaken confidence for arrogance. Ty was every bit as kind and as caring as my hunting partner Caleb, and he and I were like family, having hunted together for over five years.
“Okay?” Ty mouthed.
When I nodded, he raked his gaze over me and I wondered what he saw. My hair, dripping with sweat, clung to the side of my face. My ripped T-shirt wet with blood had seen better days. I was sure I looked a hot mess, but as he stared at me, something intense flared in his eyes. It was insane to think that a man like Ty—a man so strong and so sure of himself—
could want me. The trouble was that Ty didn’t strike me as the type of man who wanted a serious relationship—or a relationship of any description.
Ty had already told me that there was nothing wrong with having a little fun, so if anything happened between us, it would likely be physical only. Could I do that? Could I go to bed with someone just for the hell of it? I never would have thought so, but the more Ty stared at me with those captivating hazel eyes, the more I felt my control slipping. I wanted him. Of that, I was certain. And if he pursued me with even a small amount of purpose, I doubted I’d be able to resist.
The warlocks’ sudden silence broke the spell between Ty and me, bringing me crashing back to reality. Our time was up. Ty released my hand and I felt the loss immediately, even though I didn’t let it show on my face. I braced myself for the inevitable fight. Ty looked around the side of the truck again then his gaze came back to me. He nodded, once.
Ready.
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With no other signal, Ty and I stood at the same time and charged around the truck, catching both warlocks off guard. They were kneeling on the ground, looking under vehicles, their heads turned the other way so that by the time they heard us coming, we were right behind them. Yet warlocks were fast, almost as fast as vampires, so it didn’t take them long to get on their feet. They blocked our first punches and hit back with their own. I was able to move out of the way, but only just. I was much slower on my feet than usual, moving with a sluggish gait.
I was wounded and exhausted.
Ty and his opponent were trading blows and, like me, he made sure to keep the warlock close. We couldn’t afford to give them the space or time needed to fire up another energy bomb. The warlock in front of me snarled and grunted each time he threw a punch. He wasn’t an exceptional fighter, but he was strong enough to cause me trouble while injured. I tried not to show any sign of weakness to the warlock, because he would quickly take advantage of it, but he must have seen something anyway, something in my eyes—a frown maybe or a glance at Ty to check if he could offer me help any time soon.
The punch to my stomach came as quickly as the bite of a cobra, and, just as quickly, I gasped and fell to my knees. The second punch seemed slower. Slow enough that I saw it coming, but not slow enough for me to do anything to prevent it. The warlock’s fist caught me on the side of my face, and that time I screamed when the socket of my right eye exploded in pain. Dimly, over the ringing in my ears, I heard Ty call out my name. He had to have seen what had happened and the panicked way he’d shouted revealed his worry. I lifted my hands to defend myself, but I turned to Ty, wanting to reassure him that I was okay. He wasn’t looking at me.
Ty had the warlock’s hands pinned behind the man’s back. He was struggling to break free, but stilled when he, just like Ty, turned to watch the other warlock. I knew without looking that he was edging away from me, his hands raised and parted, calling upon his energy. I moved my gaze back to him only to have my assumption confirmed. There was nothing I could do to stop him and Ty was too far away to help. As I waited, my life didn’t exactly flash before my eyes, but I did question the point of it all, especially if I was supposed to die like this—on my knees in a church parking lot while fighting the great fight. I was serving the Big Man, after all, but this was my time of need and He wasn’t there for me. I’d www.totallybound.com
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joined in the fight between the angels and the demons willingly, but the angels were supposed to look after…
Before the thought had even fully formed, the name was out of my mouth.
“Malaki!”
There was a bright flash then the angel appeared, looking even worse than when we’d seen him last. It wasn’t just his clothes and his makeup that were in disarray, it was his demeanor. He looked…weary. He glanced around the scene then frowned. With a small flick of his wrist, the warlock in front of me went flying backward. He came down heavily on the hood of a car then slid off and crumpled to the ground. The warlock Ty held stilled, as if afraid he would receive the same treatment.
“Where’s the book?” Malaki asked.
I shook my head. “We don’t have it yet. I just…”
When Malaki’s expression turned thunderous, I sat back on my heels, leaning away from him.
“You don’t have it?” he roared. “Then what did you call me for?”
I’d heard much about the wrath of angels, but I’d never experienced it first-hand. Malaki was the only angel I knew and he’d always behaved more like a rock star than one of God’s messengers, but as he towered above me, the glower on his face all I could see, I’d never felt so small or so afraid.
“I… I thought I was going to—”
“Die?” Malaki spat the question. “Is that what you thought? Did you somehow mistake me for a guardian angel? Aren’t you one of the chosen? Don’t hunters face death every day? If you can’t fight your own battles, then maybe you’re in the wrong profession.” He cocked his head to the side. “I thought you were the great Lizzie Day’s daughter, but you’re nothing like her.”
The jibe cut as deeply as any knife would have. I lowered my gaze, the pain in my stomach and face not even coming close to the ache in my chest. Humiliation heated my face.
Maybe he was right. I was nothing like my mother. Maybe I shouldn’t be a hunter. I’d faced life and death situations in the past, but never as frequently, and none I couldn’t fight myself out of. If I failed as a hunter, then I’d failed at life, because it was the only thing I knew how to do. I’d been born to hunt.
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“Hey!” Ty threw aside the warlock he’d been fighting with then closed the distance between himself and Malaki. Ty stood up to his full height, looking the angel square in the eye.
“What’s wrong with you? That’s enough. God damn it. Leave her alone.”
I held my breath, expecting the worst bu
t for the second time that day, Malaki surprised me. Instead of escalating the argument, he backed down. His gaze flicked over me before coming to rest on the warlock that Ty had fought, who’d been trying to slink away unnoticed.
“Any particular reason you attacked these hunters in the parking lot of a church?” he asked. “Enquiring minds and all that.”
The warlock huffed. “We had orders.”
Malaki cocked his head to one side. “And just who does a warlock take orders from?”
It was a good question, but the warlock didn’t appear to want to answer it. He glanced at his friend who had gotten to his feet and was glaring back at him, furiously shaking his head.
Malaki didn’t shout. He didn’t need to. He strolled to the warlock, met his gaze and whispered, “Tell me.”
The warlock’s eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no sound came out.
It was then that I felt it.
Just like before, an ice-cold shiver rolled over me and gooseflesh rose on my arms. I looked around the lot but didn’t see anything. I was sure, however, that someone was watching us. Malaki’s head whipped around and his expression turned murderous.
“Demon,” he said, nodding to Ty. “Get her inside the church. Now.”
It took a few seconds for my brain to register what I’d heard. When realization hit, I started to get to my feet and found Ty there to help me the rest of the way up. The fear I’d experienced the previous night returned tenfold.
“Come on, Alana. Let’s get inside,” he said, reaching out to me.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world to put my hand in his and let him lead the way. I glimpsed over my shoulder and saw one of the warlocks creeping up behind Malaki, his hands cupped together.
“Malaki, look out!” I shouted.
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Without turning, Malaki reached behind him, wrapped his fingers around the warlock’s neck then lifted him off the ground. He threw him as easily as if he’d been tossing a piece of paper into a trash can, and the warlock screamed as he flew through the air for a second time that day. He hit the same car as before and his body made a sickening crunching sound. This time when he slid to the ground, his eyes fell shut and I doubted he’d be opening them any time soon.
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