Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2)

by Sophia Stafford

  Ruthless

  By Sophia Stafford

  Copyright © 2015 Sophia Stafford

  All Rights Reserved

  Chapter 1

  Lilliah stood on the cliff, the cold wind blowing her blonde hair around her face, the daylight slowly disappearing. She looked out into the distance, where nothing but fields stretched on for miles. “Why do you keep bringing me here?” she asked, folding her arms to shield herself from the wind.

  “Maybe I like your company?”

  Even though she had been expecting it, she stiffened at the sound of Lucifer's voice. She didn't need to see him to know he was standing behind her.

  “Or maybe you like taunting me?”

  She faced him, eyes scanning his appearance. Like Azrael, he wore all black. His dirty blond hair untamed and sprouting in every direction, his blood-red eyes narrowed at her.

  “Or that.” A sinister smile crept across his lips. “Torture is more my style.”

  “I need to keep reminding myself that you're not here.” She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “None of this is real.”

  “This is as real as it gets,” Lucifer said. His large hands grabbed her by the arms, and he pulled her towards him. She flinched at his ice-cold hands. He had never touched her in the other dreams, and Lilliah really didn’t like it.

  “Get off me!” She punched and kicked as hard as she could. She was about to scream again when her eyes widened. They were no longer on the cliff. They were in a dark alley. The music from a nearby club thumped in the background, and the sounds of traffic and the smell of pollution filled her senses—a complete contrast to the open air and fields. They were also in a different time; the sun had long since set, and they were well into the night.

  “Why have you brought me here?” She broke free from his hold and looked around, searching for a clue as to where they were.

  “I want you to see. I want you to really see that I'm here. I'm back.”

  Lilliah turned to him, frowning, her heart pounding in her chest. “What are you going to do?”

  Lucifer didn't speak at first, just smiled.

  “In that building”—he nodded towards the brick building on his right—“are vampires, werewolves, witches, and warlocks.” He returned his attention to Lilliah, his hands casually tucked in his trouser pockets. “They're all abominations that need to be eliminated.”

  The smoke caught Lilliah's attention first; the smell of burning. She could almost taste it. Everything felt real—too real.

  “They will all burn.”

  “No.” Lilliah ran to a side door, where smoke was seeping through. She tried to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. “They're all going to die!”

  “That's the plan,” Lucifer said from behind her.

  Ignoring Lucifer, she ran for the street. She didn’t care what they were; she couldn't let these people die.

  “You're wasting your time,” Lucifer called after her, but she didn't listen.

  Lilliah rounded the corner and headed for the main double doors. She pulled on one and then the other, but they were locked.

  “Help us!”

  “Please, someone!”

  With tears burning her eyes, Lilliah pounded on the small window in the middle of the door. “It won't open,” she shouted as a woman's face came into view. She was young, pretty, and screaming.

  “Lilliah, wake up. Lilliah!”

  Lilliah's eyes shot open. Her heart thumped in her chest and tears still burned her eyes as she focused on Azrael's face. Azrael—her angelic boyfriend, and the man who would literally give his life to save hers. Lucifer couldn’t get to her here.

  “Azrael?” she choked out his name.

  At the sight of his black satin sheets and dark wood bed frame, she breathed a little easier. Azrael was leaning over her, his pitch-black hair hanging down. The tips of his black tribal tattoo peeked out over his shoulder from under his T-shirt. It was familiar—he was familiar—and she was safe.

  “Oh, my God.” Her whole body shook.

  “Angel?” Azrael pulled her towards him so her face was pressed against his bare chest. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe.”

  “I had another dream.” Lilliah pressed her lips tightly together. She could still smell the smoke. “Lucifer was there again.”

  “It's just a dream.” Azrael ran his hands over her hair. “None of it was real.”

  “No.” She pulled back to see his face. “This was different from the others. It started out the same but, but …” Her hands ran over his chest, needing to confirm that he was indeed real. “It ended differently.”

  “Baby, it's been two months. Lucifer is back in Hell. These are just bad dreams.”

  She shook her head. “This was different. There was a fire and, and vampires, and werewolves. They died.”

  “Okay, okay.” Azrael drew her back to his chest, encircling her in his arms, and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “A fire?” he repeated. “First thing tomorrow, I'll look into it. I'll find out whether there was a fire.”

  Lilliah lay next to him in bed.

  “Just try and sleep, okay?”

  “We could have been anywhere.” She pressed her cheek against his chest and breathed in his scent. “We could have been anywhere in the world.”

  “I’ll search the entire globe if I have to. If there was a fire, I’ll find out about it.”

  Azrael leaned over and turned out the light.

  Lilliah lay in the dark, too afraid to sleep. Two months. It had only been two months since they’d sent Lucifer back to Hell. Two months since she and her mother had been stabbed. Instinctively, her hand moved to where the scar from the stab wound should have been. Two months since she had fought Lucifer, but three months since she had found out she was a fallen angel, daughter of the Archangel Michael, and that her twin brother, Sebastian, was a demon who had been sent from Hell to kill her. The stab wound might have vanished thanks to her healing abilities, but the horrors of the memories remained. Not all the memories were bad, though; some of them were the best of her life.

  She looked at the clock on the sideboard: three in the morning. She knew she couldn’t go back to sleep, so instead she went over the dream, recalling every detail just as she had done every night since the dreams had begun.

  *******

  The next day, Lilliah walked into her mother’s rented house, her eyes still tired from her lack of sleep. But she had promised her mother she’d come and visit, and it seemed this was the only time her mother could fit Lilliah into her busy schedule.

  “Morning.” Lilliah yawned. “Wait.” Her eyes trailed up the wall, taking in the light cream paint. “Have you redecorated? I like it.”

  Her mother, Anna, rounded the corner, her rich brown hair bouncing as she walked. Normally, at five foot ten, Lilliah would have towered over her mother’s five-foot-five frame, but today, Anna was wearing heels.

  “The room needed to be lightened up. I always feel strange about decorating this house. It feels like a waste because the new house should be finished soon, but I thought what the heck? One coat of paint wouldn’t harm anyone.” Anna reached up and hugged her daughter.

  Lilliah's childhood house had been destroyed when vampires had blown it up while trying to kidnap her mother. Anna didn't know that, of course. Thanks to Azrael and his warlock friend, Benedict, she thought the house had been destroyed in a gas explosion. She also had no idea about Lilliah's and Sebastian's supernatural history. They’d decided to leave that part out. The way Lilliah looked at it, it was healthy for children to have some secrets from their parents.

  “Don't you have class this morning?”

&
nbsp; “No,” Lilliah answered, following her mother to the kitchen. Just like all the other rooms in the house, the kitchen was bright and open, with light wood worktops and white cupboards, the décor more reminiscent of the countryside than central London.

  “Good.” Anna smiled and turned on the electric kettle. “I have just enough time for tea with my daughter. I feel like I never see you these days.”

  “Oh, come on!” Lilliah rested her elbows on the kitchen counter, smiling. “Don't do that. Don't make me feel guilty. Besides you’re the busy one these days.”

  “It's my job to make you feel guilty,” Anna teased, getting two cups from the cupboard. “When your children are young, you bribe them. When they’re adults, you guilt them. Still two sugars?"

  “Very funny.” Lilliah rolled her eyes. “Yes, two sugars, please.”

  “It's true.” Anna stirred each cup of tea, and then pulled out the tea bags and discarded them in a bin nearby. She handed one cup to Lilliah. “You and Seb are always out and about. The only way to get you to stop for a minute is to make you feel sorry for me. You do still live here, you know.”

  Lilliah scrunched her face. “I don't feel sorry for you. Anyhow, you should be happy. You always said I needed a boyfriend, and now I have one.”

  She brought the steaming mug to her lips.

  “You've never needed a boyfriend, Lilliah.” Her mother scowled. “You're a strong, independent woman. You don't need a man. It's just nice to have one around.”

  “That was some speech. I think we should take our bras off and burn them. Power to women.”

  “I'm not burning anything.” Anna laughed. “Bras are expensive.”

  “Mine isn't.”

  “Oh no, honey. You need a good bra.”

  “I don't have any boobs,” Lilliah reminded her and pointed down at her chest. “What do I need expensive bras for?”

  “I act differently when I have good underwear on. I feel sexier and more confident.” Anna tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, her cheeks glowing.

  Lilliah shuddered. “That’s so disturbing. I don’t want to think about why you would need sexy underwear. I don’t need to think about you and sex and boyfriends.”

  “I know.” Anna bit her lip anxiously. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, but I would like for you to meet Tom. You and Seb.”

  Her mother had a boyfriend—her first relationship since Lilliah’s father, Perry Daniels, had died. Lilliah wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, she wanted her mother to be happy, but she had never seen her with anyone apart from her dad. The whole idea was strange to her.

  “Yeah.” Lilliah stared into her cup of tea. She wanted to act like a grown-up and meet her mother’s new boyfriend without hesitation. She wanted to smile when her mother kissed Tom on the cheek or when they held hands, but she wasn’t sure she was there yet. Sebastian definitely wasn’t. “Maybe.”

  “You’d like him. And—” She took in a deep breath. “Your dad would have, too.”

  Lilliah’s head shot up. “I really doubt that.”

  “He’d want me to be happy.” Anna moved around the kitchen island to stand closer to Lilliah. With her teacup in one hand, she placed her other arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I know he would want me to be happy.”

  “How do you know?” Lilliah cocked her head. “How do you know he’d want you to get with someone else?”

  “Because he loved me that much.”

  Lilliah nodded once. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Though her situation was completely different from her mother’s, would she want Azrael to move on and be happy with someone else if she died? If they knew that there was no chance she would ever come back and be reincarnated again, like she had time and time again?

  “I wouldn’t want Azrael to move on.” Apparently not. “If I die, I want him to mourn me forever.”

  She was smiling, but she wasn’t joking. Just the thought of Azrael being with another woman made her angry. She drained her cup, ignoring her mother’s laughter.

  “Oh, honey. You’ve been dating him for a few months. You don’t understand love yet.” Anna took Lilliah’s empty cup to the sink.

  “I love Azrael.” Lilliah smiled. “I just don’t want him to be with anyone else.”

  “Then you don’t really love him.” Lilliah was about to speak when her mother went on. “Because if you did, you’d want him to be happy, with or without you.”

  “Or just with me.”

  They laughed. Her mother took a final swig of her tea and placed it in the sink next to Lilliah’s old cup. She picked up a cleaning cloth and quickly wiped down the counters.

  “Right, I have to get going,” Anna said, walking back over to Lilliah. “Some people to see and some things to do. Don’t be a stranger, my love.”

  “I won’t, Mum.”

  Anna kissed her on the cheek. “Good. I think Seb’s upstairs, but I’d knock if I were you. I think Rebecca’s with him.”

  With a wink, Anna left the kitchen.

  Lilliah stayed in the kitchen for a few more minutes, helping herself to a biscuit before heading upstairs. Sebastian and Rebecca were awake and laughing.

  Oh, God. Please don’t be sleeping together. Please don’t be sleeping together, she thought and knocked once on the door.

  “Shh.” Sebastian hissed, laughing. “What’s up?” he called out.

  “It’s me.”

  A second later, the door flew open to reveal a smiling, shirtless Sebastian, his dark hair tousled and messy.

  “Hey. I’m surprised you know where we live,” he joked, pushing the door open further.

  “I do still live here, you know. I’m here all the time,” Lilliah defended as she walked into the dark room. “You’re just not here when I am.”

  Sebastian’s room was big. The curtains blotted out the mid-morning sun and the faint smell of greasy food hung in the air.

  “Lil.” Her best friend and Sebastian’s girlfriend, Rebecca, was sitting on the bed. Her hair was tied in a messy knot on the top of her head, and Sebastian’s shirt hung off her shoulders.

  “It stinks in here.” Lilliah sat on a computer chair near Sebastian’s bed.

  “We ordered out yesterday.” Sebastian pointed to an empty pizza box lying open on the floor. “So, what’s up?”

  “Maybe I just wanted to see my brother and my friend? Or maybe I want to go do something.”

  “Something, huh?” Sebastian laughed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. Her twin knew what she was talking about. “Yeah, I’m down for that.”

  “What?” Rebecca sat up straighter, shaking her head. “You’re not training. It’s boring as hell to watch.”

  Sebastian dropped on the bed next to Rebecca, nudging her shoulder with his. “Then join in.”

  “And get the shit kicked out of me?” She stared at Sebastian as if he’d lost his mind. “No, thanks.”

  “Oh, come on, Becca.” Lilliah smiled a little. “We wouldn’t hurt you. I just need to hit something.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not going to be that something.” Rebecca swung her legs off the bed. “Can’t we just go shopping like normal people? Let’s go to Starbucks!”

  Lilliah and Sebastian scrunched their faces.

  “We can drink coffee downstairs,” Sebastian pointed out. “Why the hell would I pay for something I could get in my own kitchen? And I wouldn’t have to get dressed to drink that coffee.”

  “It’s like ten.” Rebecca picked her phone up from the floor to check the time. “No, it’s quarter to eleven and you still don’t want to get dressed?” She shook her head but her amused smile gave her away.

  “That’s actually really disturbing,” Lilliah said, straight-faced. “You’re going to grow up to be a bum, jobless and friendless.”

  “Wow, that conversation got really real, really fast.” Sebastian smiled also, but then narrowed his eyes in his sister’s direction. “Besides, I’m not the one who dropped out of col
lege.”

  “Ooh, burn!” Rebecca burst out laughing but quickly stopped. Lilliah wasn’t finding this funny anymore.

  “You didn’t tell Mum, did you?”

  Lilliah had decided to drop out of college when they’d all arrived home. She had attended classes during the first few days back, but the whole idea of going to class every day, catching the tube, and acting normal seemed insane to her. She couldn’t go back to her old life and pretend like everything was normal.

  “Of course I didn’t.” Sebastian pointed at her. “But you need to.”

  “I will,” she assured him, the panic easing slightly. She was still searching for the right time to tell her mum, who placed a lot of value on education. “But right now, I want to fight and Azrael is away for the day, so I have no one to practice with.”

  “That’s great. Makes me feel real special.” Sebastian stood and walked over to the door. “I’m putting the kettle on. I need coffee before I fight.”

  Lilliah waited until he’d left to talk. “Aren’t you supposed to be at college?” she asked her friend.

  Rebecca bit her lip, trying to hide a smile. “Yeah, I’m skipping today.” She stood up from the bed, stretching her arms out. “I’m thinking about taking a year off.”

  Lilliah wasn’t surprised.

  “I was thinking me and Seb could travel for a bit.” Rebecca picked up her bag from the floor and pulled out a bright yellow T-shirt.

  “Sounds pretty cool.” Apparently, she wasn’t the only one struggling to return to her old life. “What will your parents think?”

  “Dad’s still working on his album and my mum’s following him around the world like a little dog following its owner.” Rebecca quickly changed tops, throwing Sebastian’s night T-shirt in the bag. “They wouldn’t care.”

  Lilliah didn’t say anything. Rebecca had had a very different life growing up than most, with her father a famous eighties pop idol who still had a huge following, and her mother a beautiful would-be model who had gotten pregnant with Rebecca at the age of twenty-two. Their lives had been fast and exciting, leaving little room for a child.