by Layna Snow
She needed to have that skill. It would help in the future, and it would help now. It would be nice to know that she could kick some butt if she really had to. She never wanted to be at someone’s mercy again.
She put up her thumb, the nail facing the guys and touched the thumb to her chest, signaling ‘self’. Then put her closed fists up to her right shoulder, the left over the right one, the sign for ‘defence’. It happened so fast, automatic that she almost forgot that they didn’t know ASL.
Well, that’s bright, Soph.
She could have bonked herself on the head with her hand. Of course they didn’t know it. She took for granted what people in the small community did for her so that she could communicate with them. It just reminded her of how much she missed that little town.
“What the hell does that mean?” Adrian asked, his eyes wide and surprised as he watched her.
Sophie rolled her eyes. It was so difficult to talk with them, and she wished she could just open her mouth and say things like a regular person. Instead of she’d have to find another way to get her point across.
Putting her fists up again, this time in what she considered a fighting stance, one foot in front of the other, she mimed a few punches. And she thought they were pretty great.
At least she didn’t fall over!
The noise that greeted her wasn’t clapping or cheers, or even sounds of understanding as she had hoped, but laughter. Of course, it had come from Sin. Thane wasn’t making any noise at all, just looked somewhat disappointed.
“So, you want to learn to fight? Well, I don’t think that’s such a great idea. You’ll be a menace to yourself and everyone around you.”
What the heck did that mean?
She glared at him. The only way that she could express her anger.
If he wasn’t going to teach her to fight, then she’d have to learn another way. She was not going to be a victim anymore.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared him down.
This was a part of what she bargained for. She wanted help and would get it from them. She wouldn’t let them take over her life completely. She wouldn’t let them distract her from her ultimate goal.
Even though a weak voice whispered in surprise and about her bold moves, she felt no fear. She would never act this way at home, but for some reason, she was sure that they wouldn’t hurt her if she stood her ground.
“I know what you’re thinking, girly, and I’m not going to fall for it. I think you’re missing the point here. You’re supposed to do what we say. You’re supposed to let us protect you. Not go looking for danger.”
He was right, in theory, nonetheless she wanted to know how to protect herself. She wasn’t going to give up everything she wanted for these three weeks. She could always get out of this relationship.
If they wouldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, then she didn’t need to hold up hers either!
“Fine,” Adrian said when she didn’t break eye contact, “We’ll show you some stuff but we don’t want you to have to use it, so it’s only for emergencies. Kay? It’s not really enough to go against the baddies down here. That would take too long, and I’m not sure you’re the fighting kind of person.
13
Axel walked into the room, his eyes automatically assessing everything around him.
It was a habit that he had since he was one of Heaven’s Warriors. He knew that at any time death could come. You had to always be prepared.
When he was an Angel, he thought nothing of it, but now he let his emotions influence his perception. They were affected by minute bodily observations.
That was why he let his instincts free as he studied the people who sat along the table.
There were seven of them—at least there should be seven, but one was missing. Not all of them were Fallen, not all of them were warriors, but they were important people to his group.
They were the Hunters: people who were pulled together in order to get rid of those who take advantage of Humanity. They were men and women whom he had trusted for years.
As much as he could trust anyone.
“Good, most of you are here. I was starting to wonder if I’d get you all together. Before I hear about how your current missions are going, I’d like to update you on a few things.” He said, coming to stand at the head of the table.
Axel didn’t like to sit in the presence of danger, and these people could be dangerous. They could move quickly, kill effortlessly. It was a dance to some, a game to others. For him, it was a way of life. He needed to know everything to be able to make decisions. It was the reason he kept the door in sight, in case an enemy were to enter. Or his missing Hunter.
The building looked like an old manor house. Its secrets hidden, somewhere off the grid where no one ever looked. Its underground levels were unknown, much like the Hunters themselves. It was essential to keep them safe.
Jai sat back, her black boots resting on the slick table edge. Her expression was smug, confident, but he knew better.
He knew that she didn’t miss a single thing. She was a Clouded Leopard-Shifter, a distrustful and secretive creature naturally, before adding in the horrible events in her past. She didn’t fool him with a stifled yawn, he knew her too well to believe she would be bored, or that she would show it if she were. Her Chinese heritage gave her a more catlike appearance, but that was all she seemed to accept of it. She denied her heritage and her people long ago.
“I will go over what we already know, for the few of you who were on other cases while we had the last few meetings. The Alliance has recently tried to acquire another Fallen. They seemed to have found a way to get the Humans to work with them. A man named Timothy Phillips was contacted by the Alliance. He was a doctor and a researcher who had very few morals. We assume that there is a screening process for new members. The biggest requirement was that he was to bring them a Fallen.”
Most of the people around the table knew this information, but the ones that didn’t seemed appropriately annoyed. Julian cursed, running his hand through his thick golden hair, his deceptively laidback look now turning to anger.
Connor let out a breath, his sharp navy eyes focusing and measuring. Axel had guessed he would be the one who had questions. “Would this not be a good thing? If we know how they contact people, then we can get one of our men in there.”
Axel shook his head. “No, from the information we found in the email correspondences, we believe that they are using this as a cover to get Angels. We do not think that they would allow these individuals access to any Alliance information. We found others who were contacted. They disappeared. They aren’t in the Alliance’s systems.”
“Well, what’s the big deal, then? So they kill off some Humans who act immorally of their own free will. We can’t get them for that. Sure, it sucks for the Angels, but really, these are pretty small fish.” Julian said, shrugging. The Lion-Shifter might look like a lazy rich boy, but he was still a predator.
The Alliance for Humanity appeared like a small humanitarian mission on the surface. Deeper, they were a group of Humans who sought out the death of all the Hidden, Fallen, and Demon.
It wasn’t as quaint as it seemed. Those that worked for them actually existed in a huge operation that seemed to have multiple shell corporations. They also were associated with businesses that funneled resources. They used legitimate and illegal means to do their dirty-work.
Axel looked to Eden, the computer expert, to explain the magnitude of the problem.
The girl nodded, although her eyes avoided contact. She was always shy, which seem to contradict her species.
A Succubus needed sex regularly and Axel could never imagine her flirting with men. She spent all her time with her computers, which is why she was so good at them. “Well… umm.. we have dug deep and found out that,.. uh,.. The Alliance doesn’t just run the slave ring, like we had thought. It…um.. also ran the blood-slave enterprise, and was the reason for the assassination attempt on Se
nator Mentis. And it… well.. it, had connections to, er… that virus that attacked Incubi and Succubae. The Alliance is also the backer of, well… the guy who stole that Witch last month. And some other things…I think.” She finished, before looking through her notes.
Immediately, Julian stood, his hands banging on the table. “What?! That Witch was my case and you didn’t tell me that you knew who took her? I was supposed to protect her and I never knew that I was protecting her from the Alliance! I’m still on that case! Didn’t I deserve that information?”
“Sit down.” Axel ordered the other man, his voice hard and offering no room for mistake. “We didn’t know that the Alliance was behind that. We just received the information today from the tech team. It took them a while to hack into Brun’s computer and trace his steps. And we found some other information.”
Finally, Julian sat, although he didn’t seem happy. Axel didn’t care if the man was in a good mood. As long as he followed commands, he would be alright. Julian was the best at dealing with other people. He was charming, but he didn’t stand for injustice.
He knew that Julian’s anger was appropriate. Nothing piqued the blonde man’s anger like injured innocents and the fact that the woman was a Witch didn’t make her any less innocent.
The Hidden were mythological creatures that were alive and well, just hiding in the shadows. There was enough evidence of the Human’s potential reactions.
The Witch community never recovered after all the drowning’s and burnings.
Not that the Hidden were helpless.
Warrior Angels protected Humanity from Demons. But they weren’t the only ones capable of destruction. Hidden and Human alike could demolish whole civilizations, taking out the good with the evil.
It was why he chose to Fall. It was why he made this organization.
The innocent needed protecting. And the Human police couldn’t possibly do enough.
“Well.. M..most of the Alliance are actually Hidden, you know, rather than Humans as they want us to believe. There are, umm.. som…some other inconsistencies, as, umm, well. The head of the Alliance has far gr..greater power than we, umm, had thought.”
“Kellan Tolk is the leader, right?” Jai supplied helpfully, her voice cutting through the silence.
“Yes,” Axel concurred. “He is a Werewolf.”
“A Wolf-Shifter?” Malyk asked, his voice thin and calm. Out of all the seven, Malyk was the warrior that concerned Axel the most. The Dark-Elf had come from Faerie not too long ago and had rose up in the ranks. He was best at undercover work because he seemed to transform himself into anything. That level of deception was why Axel watched him closely. Right now, his hair was blue, shaved on the sides allowing the middle to be messy. His black eyes watched the room from under a pierced brow. His tattoos drew the eye.
“No, Elf He’s not one of us.” Jai growled, “The guy isn’t a Shifter. He can’t turn into an animal, isn’t even connected to an animal spirit. Just becomes a weird…thing. Like Bigfoot mixed with a jackal. Has to shift with the moon too. Weak and pathetic.”
Before the room could erupt into a shouting match about the Hidden, Axel stopped it. “Enough!” he said without raising his voice, however the command in his tone was sufficient.
“Tolk is a Werewolf. However, he’s something else too. There were reports that he has the ability to coerce some into working for him. We lost one witness who decided to join the other side.” Axel explained.
“Couldn’t she have just switched?” Connor asked, leaning in closer.
“No. We’re sure it was not a choice she would have made. Her father was captured, vivisected and killed by the Alliance. She wanted to hunt them down. Now she helps them get rid of bodies.”
“Literally,” Gage spoke for the first time. The large man was a Berserker, a Demon race that changed into a monster with uncontrollable rage. He was also Axel’s second in command, and best friend.
The man knew everything that Axel himself knew and so Axel wasn’t surprised that he had stayed quiet this long. He was generally a loner by nature, avoiding things that could bring on his killing rages. He was too controlled.
Axel understood Berserkers. They gained power from killing, and became uncontainable when outraged. They were also technically considered High Demons. Gage hated his species.
“She could have been tortured, or threatened.” Jai suggested. She would know about torture.
“No,” Malyk amended, “She was seen by one of my people out shopping just after she broke contact. She appeared happy and healthy.”
Malyk had people undercover all over the world, they spied for him. He had some extra resources too, which he didn’t share. Axel allowed that, as long as he was loyal to the Hunters.
“So, what does this mean? Tolk has someone in his company that has mind control powers. It’s not unheard of,” Julian surmised. He was always the most vocal of the group. He asked questions, gave opinions.
“Wait, did you say that he has been seen using other powers?” Connor asked, getting to the main problem. They could consider and argue about what might or might not be happening to others, however if he had been seen using them, that was different. It was proof.
“Yes, Sasha’s team interrupted a meeting at a club when they went to investigate some missing Humans. They fought and several of Tolk’s people died. The rest self-destructed. Tolk was there, vanished when Sasha was cornering him. He was there one moment, and gone the next.”
“How did they know that he’d be there? He’s never seen anymore.” Connor asked. He was a Human, and the smartest person that Axel knew. He relied on Connor’s insight.
“An anonymous tip was, umm, given to the police. Umm… About…the fight before it happened.” Eden explained.
“Speaking of Sasha, has anyone seen her lately?” Julian asked.
While some looked concerned, and others indifferent, Eden blushed, the pink evident even through her mocha skin.
“Alright, so we are working under the theory that Kellan Tolk has gained powers. Eden, Connor, I need you two to look into the source. He might be working with a group of rogue Witches, or possibly a Demon. Julian, keep investigating the Witch abduction. Everyone needs to watch their teams. Humans are learning of the Fallen from somewhere. The police had been warned of Alliance attacks. Either we have a leak in the Hunters, the Alliance has one, or they are trying to gain attention. Malyk, I need you to gather information on a new Angel that has Fallen; I want to know why. I’ll give instructions when you find her. The rest of you have your tasks. I will-“
Before he could finish, the door opened to reveal a woman in what looked like fetish gear. She had a short skirt that was made up of overlapping brown leather flaps, with rivets holding them together at the top, to a low hung belt, a drinking horn and small satchel tied to the band. Her top was small and made of the same leather, the rivets this time looking more like decoration going along the bottom of the corset.
Her long blond hair was loose, flowing around her as she stalked into the room, her tall heeled boots clicking as she stepped.
“Sasha, you’re late,” he told the Valkyrie, although he was sure that she knew the time. Sasha liked to be ‘fashionably late’ as she liked to call it.
“Women’s problems,” she said ominously, and looked around for a reaction. “Come on, that always worked in high school. Fine, I was showering, Kay? I spent too long in the morgue and smelled like dead people.” As she rounded the table for her chair, she passed by Eden and took a moment to place a hand on the shy woman’s shoulder before chuckling.
Eden blushed again looking away.
“I told everyone what you found. Was there anything else you learned at the morgue?”
She sighed. “Yeah, the guys we picked up from Club-Overcompensate were definitely poisoned. I’d say they either bit into a capsule in their mouths or released it another way. The team are analyzing their blood as we speak. I should know the chemical component soon. Looked a
little like a concoction that I saw in the 90’s. Same side-effects. They weren’t Human, though. The county morgue noticed. We had to take the bodies before anyone else knew. We spiked his coffee, so no one believes him. It’s weird though, that the Alliance didn’t get to them first. Either the Alliance is getting sloppy or they wanted these bodies found.”
“Let me know if anything changes. We will have to get more data. Now, I’d like to announce that as of two weeks from now, I will no longer be actively running the Hunters.” Axel said, only to be met with confusion.
“I’m not leaving. I’m not giving up. I’m going to be undercover again. I’m going to infiltrate one of the Alliance’s compounds. We need this stopped and the only way to do this is to get in and get knowledge. This means that I can’t be linked to any of you. So until this is complete, Gage will be in charge. I will report in to him whenever I can. Our identities are already linked as cousins, so they won’t take notice if I call him.”
The others were still surprised, Axel noticed, looking around at their faces. Julian even continued to swear. Finally Malyk spoke up. “Wait, no. I’m the one who does undercover work. I can do this. You look into the Fallen.”
He knew that the other man would offer. And on the surface it seemed smart, he was the head of the Hunters, and as such he was important. However Malyk couldn’t do this, Axel couldn’t investigate the Angel. It just wouldn’t work. “You have your instructions.”
“You don’t trust me, do you?” Malyk asked, sitting up straighter in his chair to glare over. “I’ve shown my loyalty but you won’t give me a truly important case. I’m just supposed to find someone? Why put me on lost-and-found duty?”
Annoyed, Axel leaned forward as well. His bulk making him much more intimidating than the slight Elf.
He might have allowed them too much say in what was happening day to day. Gave them too much leeway.
Maybe Gage would change that.
Frowning, he moved closer to the table so that he could put his fisted hands on top. “Don’t question my orders. I am still the leader here and that isn’t changing for a few weeks. She was my battle partner when I was an Angel and she would recognize me. You also have the skills. She will be difficult to find. I’m giving you a very important case to me. Screw it up and, undercover or not, I will find you and dismember you. Got it?”
