Rebecca let her hair down and ran her fingers through the frizzy mess. “Everything’s just so different. I mean, magic is real. Vampires and angels are all real. The world just got a hell of a lot more exciting. I don’t want to waste it, you know? I don’t want to be like my mum, following a man around the world or even depending on a man. I want to live.”
Lilliah smiled. “Different? Yeah, I guess that’s one word for it.”
Chapter 2
“Ow!” Rebecca tensed. “That must have hurt.”
Sebastian was lying on the matted floor, panting hard.
“Dude”—he held up his hands in surrender—“you’ve gotten so fast. Just … just give me a second.”
They’d been training in Azrael’s state-of-the-art gym for the past two hours. Like most of the rooms in Azrael’s apartment, it had huge glass windows that overlooked the city of London. The view alone made it one of Lilliah’s favourite places, just below Azrael’s bedroom and the living room and kitchen. So it was fourth, but in an apartment with more than twenty rooms spread over two floors, fourth wasn’t bad. Even with its killer view, Lilliah always thought it strange that he had a gym as high-tech as this one, considering she had never seen him using any of its equipment. The whole room appeared to be just for show.
Lilliah stepped back. “I told you I had a lot of energy to burn off.”
“No.” Sebastian sat up slowly, sweat dripping from his brow. “That’s not energy. That’s issues. You have issues.”
“Oh, please.” She grabbed a towel from the floor and wiped her forehead. “You’re just saying that because you’re losing.”
She loved baiting him—one of the few perks of being a sister.
“This isn’t over.” Sebastian jumped to his feet, swinging his arms side to side. “But I do think your angel powers are coming back. I’m not using it as an excuse. I’m just saying.”
Lilliah had hoped and prayed for her powers to return. She’d gotten a taste of them when the evil witch, Ada Washington, had tried to kill her, but that was all it had been: a taste. She’d concluded that they weren’t coming back and that she would never feel the blue fire come from her body again. No matter how hard she tried, that amazing experience was over. Whatever had happened to her in that cave had been a one-off.
She dropped the towel on the floor. “My powers are not back. I’m just getting better.”
“Getting better?” Sebastian repeated with raised eyebrows. “Your punch felt like a sledgehammer.”
“See!” Rebecca shrieked from her seat at the edge of the training mat. “That’s why I don’t want to fight. I bruise like a peach. I’d be black and blue before you finished.”
“She’s good, but not unbeatable.”
Lilliah’s head shot towards the voice. Azrael stood in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame. His pitch-black hair was swept away from his intense blue eyes. Lilliah’s breath caught in her throat. No matter how many times she saw him, the feeling stayed the same. The excitement, the butterflies—none of it had dulled in the months they had spent together. If anything, her feelings had gotten stronger, and she loved it.
“I thought you were gone all day,” Lilliah said and didn’t stop the goofy grin from spreading across her face.
Azrael walked farther into the room, nodding politely in Rebecca’s direction and then again in Sebastian’s—his way of greeting. His eyes returned to Lilliah’s, and he stopped walking when their feet touched. Slowly, he bent his head until his lips were hovering over her mouth.
“I changed my mind.” His lips grazed hers as he whispered the words. After a quick peck, he straightened and took one step back.
Lilliah was too dazed to move or speak; she was barely breathing on her own. How does he do that?
“Oh, my gosh.” Rebecca fanned herself with her hand. “That was frigging hot.”
Lilliah’s cheeks heated.
“That was way too intimate for my liking.” Sebastian looked horrified. “No brother needs to see his sister like that.”
Lilliah assumed he was looking at Azrael, but she wouldn’t know; she was too busy staring at the floor, hiding her embarrassment and her smile.
“Want to train with us?” she asked, ignoring her brother. “I’m kicking Seb’s ass.”
Azrael grinned at her. He didn’t get embarrassed like her. No matter where they were or what they were doing, if Azrael wanted to kiss her or hold her hand, he would. Though she loved it now, she’d found it strange at first. Azrael hadn’t struck her as the affectionate type, especially not while in public.
“I lived without you for centuries,” he had explained when Lilliah had brought it up. “If I want to kiss you or touch you, I will.”
She had liked his explanation—a lot.
“I can see that.” Azrael was still smiling at Lilliah when his eyes flicked to Sebastian. “You think you can beat her?”
Sebastian pursed his lips as if mulling the question over. “Hell yeah, I can beat her.”
Azrael laughed. “Okay. I want to see it. We’ve been training for a while now. I want to see how well she’s doing.”
He walked off the mat and stood next to Rebecca, clearly enjoying himself. Lilliah loved how relaxed he was in front of her family and friends. He’d been so uptight when they’d first met.
“You and I have also trained a few times together,” Sebastian reminded him. “Remember those?”
Lilliah chuckled at Sebastian’s joke.
“I remember, but you only turned up twice,” Azrael shot back playfully.
“I might come back after this.” Sebastian jerked his head in Lilliah’s direction. “She’s in the zone today.”
Lilliah was still buzzing. It took a lot more to tire her out these days and she was ready for round two.
“Are you guys going to stand there and talk all day, or are we going to fight?” She took a few steps back. “I’m getting old over here.”
“Ooh.” Sebastian widened his eyes in mock horror. “Okay then, Scarface. Keep it together. I’m ready.”
Lilliah got into her fighting stance. Sebastian jumped around for a minute or two, either joking around or just wasting time. Her eyes flashed to Azrael. His arms were folded over his broad chest, a small smile playing on his lips. Just like every other day, he was wearing all black—his signature style, which suited him perfectly.
Sebastian finally stopped bouncing around. “Ready. Let’s do this.”
He didn’t wait for the count in; he pounced, his fist poised to slam into Lilliah’s face. Lilliah fell back, caught off guard by the sudden attack. She quickly regained her footing and dodged Sebastian’s punch. She deflected his second hit, then his third, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. That’s what Azrael had taught her: don’t rush it, study your opponent and stay alert. They’ll show you their weakness soon enough. She moved quickly, getting the occasional hit in, but mainly stayed on the defensive.
He wasn’t protecting his right side properly. She deflected his attack, moved around him, and threw a hook to his side. He curled over in pain. She moved in again and wrestled him to the floor. Sitting on top of him with her legs locked around his waist, she trapped his head under her arm and applied pressure to his throat. Sebastian would lose consciousness in seconds. She looked up at Azrael. He was watching intently, almost scrutinising her every move, but his eyes were twinkling.
Sebastian flapped his arms around, trying to get out of the hold. Lilliah loosened her grip a little; she honestly didn’t want him to black out.
“What the hell?” Sebastian thrashed again. “Okay, I give up.”
Lilliah released him instantly. “I love beating you.”
Azrael walked over to her and offered her his hand.
“You did well.” He helped her off the floor. “You took your time and waited for the perfect moment. Your strike was strong.”
Lilliah listen and nodded, trying not to smile too hard. That compliment, coming from him, was
huge to her. Azrael knew how to fight; he’d been doing it for centuries. Plus, he never said anything he didn’t mean. So that fact that he thought she fought well made Lilliah want to fist-pump the air and then run around and high-five everyone. She didn’t, though; she held it back.
“I wasn’t in the mood to fight,” Sebastian said, going to stand with Rebecca. “You know what I mean?” He looked to Azrael for confirmation and got none. “I feel like you have to be in the zone. I just wasn’t today.”
Lilliah held back her laughter. “Whatever.”
“You’ve gotten good, Lilliah. I bet you’d even give Azrael a run for his money.”
Lilliah whirled around, her mouth agape. “Benedict.”
Benedict Ravensmith was a powerful warlock and the closest thing Azrael had to a friend. Lilliah hadn’t seen him in a month. He’d been away in New York, looking after The Cure. Following Ada Washington’s betrayal, everything had fallen into chaos, and Benedict was trying to set things right.
He moved from the doorway and walked farther into the room. In a pair of dark blue jeans and a black shirt, he was dressed more casually than usual. He looked very relaxed. His beard, however, remained in immaculate condition, as always.
“You look great.” Lilliah walked towards him and reached out to hug him, but stopped. Benedict didn’t seem like the hugging type, so she waved instead.
“Benedict,” Sebastian greeted. Standing next to him, Rebecca gave a wave and a small smile. “About time you got back. Must be boring as hell at The Cure.”
“Sebastian,” Benedict greeted formally. “The Cure isn’t so bad.”
“The people are dicks, though.” Rebecca crossed her arms and snickered at her own joke.
Lilliah felt it when Azrael moved to stand behind her, and turned to look at him. Back in business mode, he wasn’t smiling anymore.
Lilliah turned back to Benedict. “Why are you back?”
Azrael snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her to his chest. Being so close to him normally calmed her nerves, but not this time. She felt on edge; something was wrong. Benedict kept smiling, but his eyes were no longer bright and happy.
“There’s some business I need to take care of,” Benedict replied smoothly.
“Right. I don’t believe you.” She stepped away from Azrael and angled herself to get a better look at their faces. “What’s going on?”
Her eyes bounced between Azrael and Benedict. Sebastian and Rebecca stood silently behind her, eyes glued on the exchange.
“Well, we don’t know wha—”
“Then tell me what you do know,” she said, interrupting Azrael.
Benedict wouldn’t have travelled all the way back from New York for any old business. He could say the word and hundreds of young witches and warlocks would fall over themselves to carry out his commands.
“You’ve changed, Lilliah. I like that.” He nodded in Azrael’s direction. “I think he needs someone who can stand up to him.”
Azrael looked amused for a moment but quickly returned to full seriousness. “We’ll talk about this later.”
His eyes flashed over to Sebastian and Rebecca.
“Oh, I saw that,” Sebastian said, pointing at Azrael. “I’m staying right here until you tell me what’s going on. You have me curious. I want to know.”
Rebecca nodded next to him.
“Okay.” Azrael sighed. “There was a fire at a club.”
He studied Lilliah’s face.
She inhaled sharply, eyes widening. The fire from her dream.
“Oh.” Rebecca sounded almost disappointed. Lilliah had told no one about her dreams—no one apart from Azrael. She hadn’t wanted to worry them if it turned out to be nothing. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Yes,” Azrael answered Rebecca but kept looking at Lilliah, his eyes burning into her soul. He knew what this meant, as did she. Lucifer.
“That’s really sad, but what’s that got to do with you?” Sebastian asked.
“The club was full of vampires and werewolves, even some witches and warlocks.” Benedict cleared his throat before continuing. “I thought it would be best for me to check it out.”
Sebastian still looked apprehensive.
Lilliah didn’t want to worry Sebastian and Rebecca with what she feared might be true and somehow conjured up a fake smile. “I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes.”
********
Lilliah stayed back with Sebastian and Rebecca while Benedict and Azrael scoured the burned building. The club was definitely the one from her dreams, and it was located close to Azrael’s apartment, right in the centre of London, which meant one thing: Lucifer knew where they were. Pedestrians walked past her, completely unaware of all the lives that had been lost in the burnt-out building just meters away. A few policemen were still hanging around outside the two main doors, making sure no one went inside. Benedict and Azrael had managed to enter through the back pretty easily. Benedict had told her on the way over that the police had ruled it a technical fault with no injuries. Apparently, when vampires and werewolves burnt, they left no remains. Lilliah shuddered as she looked at the front door. The woman’s face was still so clear in her mind. She had been petrified, and now she was dead.
“How many do you think died in there?” Sebastian dug his hands into his pockets. “It’s so freaky and dark.”
“Yeah.” Lilliah pulled her coat tight around her body. If he only knew of the horrors that had gone on in that club.
Rebecca turned to Lilliah, squinting her eyes at her. “The vampires and werewolves we’ve met were all strong. It’s a little strange that they all died. Couldn’t they have broken out?”
“Maybe they were locked in?” Lilliah couldn’t look her friend in the eye; Rebecca would know she was lying. Lilliah had always been a terrible liar.
“Maybe.”
“I want to go inside,” Lilliah said, changing the subject.
“You want to go in there?” Sebastian motioned his head in the buildings direction. “Into the freaky burnt-out building where a lot of people died?”
When he put it like that, Lilliah didn’t think it was a good idea at all, but she needed to see the inside of the building for herself. “I’m going in.”
“Wait, how are you going to get past them?” Rebecca’s eyes widened at the two policemen. “I don’t want to go in there with you, Lil. It’s freaky as hell.”
“The way Azrael and Benedict did. Both of you stay here. I won’t be long.”
Lilliah crossed the road, keeping far enough away from the policemen so she wouldn’t draw their attention.
She ran down the alley, only slowing when she was sure that she was far enough away from the road and the policemen. She had been standing in that alley the night before. It had been a dream, but she had definitely been there. She remembered the old-looking bricks and the bins lining the building. Everything was exactly the same.
Before she could stop herself, Lilliah walked to the side door. Thankfully, Azrael and Benedict had left it propped open with a brick.
The smell of smoke hit her immediately, burning her nostrils and causing her eyes to water. Holding her forearm across her nose, Lilliah walked into the room. She could hardly see anything through the darkness, but she could tell the room was small. Stretching out her hands, she shuffled forward until she finally found another door.
She had expected to find Azrael and Benedict straight away, but instead, she was met with eerie silence. Thankfully, there was a little more light than in the room she had just come from. Lilliah walked further out into the main room. Glass cracked under her feet and tables lay on the floor, covered in black soot. Shivering, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Why had she wanted to come here, into a place where so many people had died?
“This was a mistake.” Lilliah backed towards the door. She could wait for Benedict and Azrael outside.
“I knew. I knew you would come.”
Lilliah spun around. Her heart skipped a
beat when she saw a small man standing in front of her. Even in the shadows, she could tell she had never met him before.
“Who are you?” she asked louder than necessary, hoping Azrael or Benedict would hear her. Meeting strangers in burnt-out buildings never ended well.
The man was no taller than five foot five. He was hunched over, his greasy, light brown hair covering most of his face.
“I just wanted to follow. I wanted to follow.” His arm twitched, and he turned away from Lilliah and stared at the floor.
His long, beige trench coat hung off his shoulders, and his worn Converse shoes were covered in mud. Lilliah had no idea what to make of this man—or was he a boy? She couldn’t make out his age.
“You wanted to follow who?” Lilliah took a small step back, feeling uneasy. More broken glass cracked under her feet.
The guy’s head shot up, his pale face a complete contrast to the darkness. “Him.”
“Who?” she demanded again.
“Lilliah?” Azrael called out.
“Azrael?” She stood on her tiptoes and looked over at the bar. He had sounded so close, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“He can play tricks on your mind. He can make you do things.”
Lilliah swung back around. The man was standing in front of her, his dark eyes looking too big for his small, narrow head.
Lilliah braced herself. He was small and weak looking. She had no doubt she could overpower him, but she really didn’t want to. He looked too helpless, with his big eyes and his bottom lip quivering, giving him the appearance of a lost child.
“He will take everything from you because he can get in here.” He pointed to his temple, the same lost look dancing in his eyes.
“Tell me who you’re talking about. Who did you want to follow? Who can play tricks on your mind?” Lilliah’s heart picked up pace until it was thumping hard in her chest. The hairs on her arms stood on end. She knew who he was talking about.
“He will take it all and you will not be able to stop him.” Grabbing the side of his head, the guy buckled over in pain and let out an ear-piercing scream.
Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2) Page 2
