A shadow loomed over the loveseat.
Alexa started to move, but it was already too late. “Milo!”
One of the men was pointing a gun at Milo’s face. The man squeezed the trigger…
But Milo was faster. He knocked the gun with his right hand while using his left to throw a punch into the man’s right temple. The man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed. Milo grabbed the gun and hurled it end over end into the chaos. It struck two other men on the head and knocked them out instantly.
He turned to Alexa. “Think you can make it to the elevator—”
Milo cried out as a volley of bullets hit him in the chest and threw him backwards onto the ground. He should have stayed down—an ordinary angel would have. But with great effort, Milo rolled over, grabbed a ceramic bowl from the coffee table, and hurled it. It flew straight and true and hit his attacker in the head before the man even had time to blink.
Milo spat a mouthful of angel essence and watery pink artificial blood.
“Damn that Hades.” He punched the ground hard and then looked over to Alexa.
“You. Get out of here!” he ordered.
“What?” Alexa was incredulous.
“You want to get killed? I said get out! Do as I say. I’m your petty officer, and you will do as I command.”
“The hell I will.” Alexa snapped back as a bullet glanced off her head, but she stayed with Milo.
“I’m not leaving you, even though you piss me off most of the time.”
It was probably against some code to abandon your petty officer. He knelt in a puddle of his own essence, and she could see that he needed her.
Milo flashed her an angry look, screamed a few curses over his shoulder, stood up, and then dashed across the room with bullets grazing him as he hurtled over the wet bar. It took two seconds for her to realize what he was doing. The remaining mortals all turned away from her and fired towards him.
He was creating a diversion for her to escape. Damn that golden boy.
Milo hid behind the bar as yellow and red flames spat from the men’s rifles. She could see that his eyes were shut tightly, his jaw was clenched, and his nostrils were flared. The seconds ticking by seemed like an eternity.
Suddenly bits of black material erupted on his chest, and his eyes went wide as he called out in shock. He fell to the ground and pulled the wet bar with him as he fell. A cascade of bottles crashed around him and interrupted the crackling gunfire.
“You idiot!” cried Alexa.
She shot across the room towards Milo. Bullets flew over her head, and she felt the sting of something hot graze her cheek. Her ears rang, and the sounds of the guns firing blocked out even her screams.
Her side exploded with pain, and she hit her hip when she spiraled down onto the floor. She felt the artificial bone break, and although she couldn’t hear it, the pain was real. She gritted her teeth, rolled over, and willed herself to her feet again. The translucent liquid that sustained her M-suit was dribbling from her mouth.
An acne-scarred man was hunched in front of her, like an animal about to pounce. He licked his lips as his eyes rolled up and down her body. He tossed his gun away, and then he smirked at her with the feral smile of a rapist who enjoyed hurting and taking what didn’t belong to him. She’d have much preferred he’d kept his gun.
Alexa squared her shoulders and balled her hands into fists. She wanted to punch his ugly face down into his neck and throw him out the window—
Don’t kill. Don’t kill. Don’t kill.
The words made no sense to her. Every female instinct demanded she defend herself.
She saw that the rest of the mortals were shooting at Milo like he was target practice. Somehow, he managed to avoid most of their fire. But for how much longer? An ordinary angel would have succumbed to so many wounds. But not Milo.
It dawned on her that after they’d killed Milo, the men must have agreed that they would come for her, to do unimaginable things…
Alexa swallowed the disgust that rose in her throat.
“Don’t do this,” she yelled at the man over the gunfire.
It was as though she was speaking under water. “I’m an angel—”
The man growled lasciviously and charged. He moved faster than she’d anticipated and reached out to grab her with his beefy hands.
Alexa couldn’t hear the gunshots anymore as she concentrated on the animal growl from her attacker. She moved by instinct, sidestepped, whirled, and landed a hard left hook across the man’s face. Then she kicked out and hit him in the knees. She heard a satisfying crunch as she leapt back.
“Bitch!” he hissed.
He limped towards her with blood gushing from his nose. His face was so contorted with rage that he looked like the monster he had become when he sold his soul. He reached down and pulled out a large hunting knife from inside his boot.
He leapt at her again, going straight for her neck. But she was expecting it. Alexa whirled away, and her attacker struck nothing but air. She slammed her elbow into his spine so hard that her arm ached from the impact. He roared and staggered but stayed upright.
Despite her drive to kill the man, Alexa said. “Please stop this. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I want to kill you, you sick bastard, she wanted to say.
“You’re dead. I’m gonna cut that pretty little face of yours. And then I’m gonna take what’s owed.”
He turned and charged again. He struck so quickly that she was unable to avoid him, and she hissed with pain as his blade sank deep into her arm. Before she could recover, he leapt towards her neck. She bounded back and deflected the blow, but not before she had felt his hot rancid breath against her face. She gagged as a trickle of his man-sweat sprayed her cheeks.
How the hell was she supposed to get out of this? Didn’t some mortals deserve to die? Rapists, murders, the dregs of humankind…did they get a free pass to Horizon?
If she weren’t bound by the Angel Code, she would have killed him by now, slowly.
She staggered back and nearly tripped over a bottle of dark liquor. She was not showcasing her abilities very well. She needed to be smarter.
She switched to the offensive and lunged.
He parried Alexa’s attack. But Alexa trapped his weapon with her right hand and hit his arm repeatedly with her left. She attacked faster and stronger. And when he finally dropped his blade, Alexa dropped to her knees, grabbed the liquor bottle, and smashed it against his head. Glass shards and liquid showered Alexa’s hand and arm. His body went limp against her.
Six more to go.
Something was wrong. It was too quiet. The hair on her arms rose, and she almost stumbled on a coffee table. She could hear the women whimpering. Some of them were escaping through a door at far the end of the apartment. Why weren’t the men firing? Was Milo dead?
She found him where she had last seen him. He lay on his side, his right arm bent in an unnatural position. He was covered in dust and debris, and his angel essence poured out of him like flashlights shining through a slice of Swiss cheese. Even though his hair was plastered over his face, she could see his eyes.
He looked at her and mouthed, Get out of here!
Although Alexa was relieved that he was alive, she knew he couldn’t last more than a few more minutes. It was a miracle he was alive at all. She didn’t understand how he could have survived. But there was no time to wonder about that.
She looked to the shooters. They were reloading. She knew it would take several seconds, and those few seconds were all she needed.
She leapt over the table and sprinted headlong into the first man. He barely had time to blink before Alexa smashed her fist into his skull. She felt him go limp as she slid free from him and sprang onto the next man.
Hurt not kill. Hurt not kill.
The man reached for something inside his jacket. Alexa smiled when she saw the glint of a silver blade in his hand. He swung, but Alexa rammed her fist into his
arm and sent his blade soaring into the air. She knocked his left arm aside, and as he staggered back she slammed her foot into his chest. The kick sent him flying and knocked him out instantly. His body crunched and slid across the room.
Alexa turned when she heard a grunt and went sprawling backwards as she was smashed in the face. But she was up again in a flash and kicked her attacker in the jaw. The man spat a mouthful of blood on the floor and aimed his gun at her face. Alexa turned just in time to see that the other men were closing the distance between them. Their guns were raised, too, but they couldn’t shoot without hitting their friend in the process.
“I don’t know where you learned to fight like that, but it ends now,” said her assailant. “Say goodnight.”
He pulled the trigger—
Alexa knocked the gun from his hand, and the bullet grazed her cheek. Spinning, she slammed her open hand against the side of his head and then hurled his limp body at the other men.
“Goodnight.”
Without breaking her stride, she leapt towards the two nearest men and grabbed a handful of their hair in each hand. She smashed their heads together with such force that for a horrible instant she thought she’d killed them both. She stared at their crumpled bodies. Their souls didn’t materialize. They were still alive.
Something sharp grazed her skin through her shirt. She dropped and spun, coming up face to face with the last man standing.
He was a huge dark man, and he was furious. His sick oily grin revealed his rotten yellow teeth and he smelled as if the soul he had already sold to Hades was rotting his body from the inside out. He looked as if he were by far the biggest of Hades’ dark hands. He was huge. He was a mountain.
Fantastic.
Alexa struggled to get up from her hands and knees. Despite her pain, she kept her focus on the man’s lifeless eyes.
She smiled. “Seriously? You want to fight me? Didn’t you just see what I did to your buddies over there?”
“Who said anything about fighting?” the man said. “I’m going to shoot you into ribbons. I’d hardly call that a fight.”
Alexa heard Milo groan as he struggled to get up, and she had to blink to see him against the brightness of the angel essence that was flowing out of him. If they didn’t escape soon, Milo wouldn’t make it.
Sweat stung Alexa’s eyes as she turned her gaze back to the giant.
“Only cowards use guns against little girls. A real man would fight with his fists. What? Afraid of little me? Let’s see what you got, big man. Prove to me that Hades didn’t make a mistake by hiring your ass.”
“It’s your funeral.”
The man tossed his gun and squeezed his hands into beefy fists. “I don’t need a gun. I’m going to kill you with these babies.”
“Now that’s a fair fight.” Alexa pretended to stagger, closing the distance between them, and then she lunged.
But the mortal seemed to have predicted her attack. He stepped aside quickly and slammed his fist into her spine as she went by. A blur of the marble tiles collided with her face when she fell. She ignored her pain and rolled over to face him again.
He had moved incredibly fast for a mortal man. Too fast. It was unnatural.
Alexa wiped her mouth and spit out a piece of tooth.
“What’s this? There’s no way a mortal man could move that fast. Especially one as fat as you.” She eyed him warily. “Hades did something to you, didn’t he? He made you…stronger, faster when he turned you into his dark hands?”
The man’s smiled widened. “He did.”
And then he slammed his fist into her stomach.
Alexa dropped to her knees and convulsed in pain.
He smashed her on the side of her temple, and she spun and fell again.
Alexa spat some of the sour tasting blood from her mouth. “How can you side with Hades? Don’t you know what he’s doing? What he is? I mean, you can’t be that stupid?”
The man smiled evilly as he circled her, enjoying every moment. “With the amount of money he pays me…I don’t care if he’s the devil himself.”
Alexa could see that Milo’s eyes were still open, but the agony on his face sent a wave of anger and vengeance surging through her. She had to end this now.
“I expected better.” The dark hand smiled at her. “You’ll be joining your boyfriend when I’m finished. An angel, you say? I thought you were supposed to be immortal. Invincible—”
His eyes rolled in the back of his head, and then the floor shook as the mountain-man crashed to the ground at Alexa’s feet.
“You can thank the archangel Ariel for that little move when you wake up.”
The arms and fingers of the fallen men around her began to twitch. The beaten men were beginning to wake up. She didn’t have much time.
Alexa rushed over to Milo. She strained not to show the panic that crushed her chest at the sight of him. She avoided his eyes and said. “We need to get you back to Horizon. Come on. Up.”
Carefully placing her fingers around his arms so as not to touch his wounds, she pulled him to his feet.
“I told you to leave,” Milo hissed, sweat covering his face. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
He staggered and nearly fell. Alexa wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and steadied him.
“You’re welcome.”
She headed for the door through which she had seen the women escape. “Besides, you needed help. Come on. This way!”
Milo was heavy. It was like trying to drag a grizzly bear. They moved forward with an awkward three-legged gait.
“Are you made of lead or something?” she said through gritted teeth.
She had won a tiny smile from Milo. “Steel. Like Superman,” said the angel.
They made it to the door in a few more clumsy strides. Alexa steadied herself and kicked the door open. It was a small bathroom and the women who had been hiding inside began to scream.
Alexa’s knees buckled at the sight of a glass shower. Water. Thank the souls!
“Get out! All of you! Out!” she bellowed.
With tear-stricken faces, the women barreled out of the bathroom, and Alexa and Milo were left alone in a black and white tiled bathroom with a shower that could fit ten people.
Alexa pulled Milo into the glass shower and helped him lower himself onto the tiled floor. Next, she grabbed the bath towel that hung from a towel rack and stuffed it into the drain.
“Give it a few minutes and there should be enough water to take you back,” she said as she turned on the faucets. Water flowed into the base of the shower and she splashed it onto her face.
She knelt next to the shower. She could see most of Hades’ men through the open door. They were still sprawled on the floor, but they wouldn’t stay out much longer.
“You disobeyed me, fledgling.”
Alexa’s attention snapped back to Milo.
“What?” she was incredulous. “You can’t be serious.”
Milo rested his head against the tiled wall of the shower. His handsome face was taut, his cheeks sunken. He was so big that his boots nearly touched the opposite wall. His coat rippled slightly as the water began to rise around him. “I said—”
“I heard what you said. I just can’t believe it. I just saved your ass out there. You should be thanking me, not scolding me like a little kid.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what it is about you, but you make so angry sometimes, I feel like my head’s going to explode.”
Milo blinked. “You should have left when I told you to. You put yourself in danger. I’m your petty officer. It was my duty, my responsibility, to keep you safe. This was not safe. This was reckless. This was very stupid.”
“Stupid?” Alexa resisted the urge to leave him and walk away. “Well, I don’t care what you think right now.”
She leaned over and secured the towel in the drain.
“You should,” Milo said. “You should care.”
“I don’t.”
<
br /> “It’s not like you can afford any more mistakes, Alexa,” said Milo, and for the first time she heard the strain in his voice. “The Legion doesn’t trust you. Don’t give them more reason to doubt you. Once that door is opened…”
He paused as though collecting himself. “Tartarus hasn’t been ruled out, not yet anyway. It’s always there. They’re going to expect a full account of what happened. They’re going to know you defied me.”
“Only if you tell them.” She was so close she could smell the sweat on him. “Is that the thanks I get?”
She felt his eyes on her before she looked at him again.
“I did what I felt was right. And I don’t regret it. Besides, you don’t exactly look like the type of angel that follows the rules all the time.”
She paused, waiting for him to answer, and when he didn’t she added, “So, are you going to tell them?”
He looked at her. There was something in his eyes that surprised her, almost like a sudden vulnerability—a show of his true feelings. But the look was gone in a moment.
He frowned and said, “I haven’t decided yet. Maybe.”
Alexa looked away and watched the water level covering his legs and slowly rising to his stomach. Strangely, she couldn’t look at him so she spoke to the giant water droplets in the shower.
“Why did you do that?” she asked suddenly.
She raked her fingers through the warm water as though she was testing its temperature, not that it mattered.
“Do what?”
“Shield me with your body. You didn’t have to do that. I know you don’t like me. So why did you do it?” She cringed at her own stupidity.
What was she, twelve again? What did it matter if her petty officer didn’t like her? It didn’t.
Milo was silent for a moment. The sound of the water falling around them was like a rainstorm on a hot summer lake.
“It’s my job.”
Alexa’s attention snapped back to Milo. She tried not to stare at the lean, muscled body that peeked through his shredded shirt.
He shrugged, the gesture both casual and intimate. He looked beaten, but his eyes danced with light. He was looking more closely at her now, as though this was the first time he’d actually seen her. He looked at her face and at the small scar just above her chin, at her hands, at everything.
The Helm of Darkness Page 5
