Lilliah reached for him, but he grabbed her wrist, his pale skin darkening and his eyes turning red. Blood-red. Just like Lucifer’s.
Forgetting her training, forgetting everything but fear, Lilliah screamed and tried to pull her hand back.
“Lilliah!”
Before she could call out to Azrael, the guy moved fast, pulling her to the floor with more strength than she had imagined someone of his build capable of.
“He’s coming for you,” he spat, his face inches away from hers.
His fingernails bit into her skin as he loomed over her. Lilliah twisted her head and gagged when he leaned in so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. He smelt rotten and damp.
“Run. Please, run.”
As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Lilliah sat up on the floor and focused on getting her breathing under control. What just happened?
“Lilliah!” Azrael shouted again, this time sounding closer.
“Here,” she croaked, rubbing her wrist and holding it close to her body.
Azrael swung around the corner and cursed when he saw her.
“What are you doing in here?” He knelt down and grabbed her face with both hands.
“I wanted to see it,” she stuttered and looked around the room.
“Did you fall?”
She let Azrael take her wrist and examine it.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Benedict walking towards them. “This was dangerous, Lilliah. You should have stayed outside.”
“There was a man.” She swallowed, purposely ignoring Benedict. She didn’t need him to remind her of how stupid she had been; the bruise on her wrist was proof enough. Exploring the building, wanting to confirm for herself that her dream had been real, had seemed like a good idea while she had been standing outside. Now it sounded morbid and completely reckless.
“What man?” Azrael helped her off the floor and pulled her in close to him.
Lilliah breathed him in deep, his scent instantly relaxing her. She could still smell the stranger, as if his smell had seeped into her clothes, dirtying them.
“There was a guy here. He was … strange. He grabbed my wrist and told me to run.” She looked between the two men in front of her. They stared down at her, waiting for her to continue. “He was young, I think. He looked kind of homeless.”
“Most likely was homeless,” Benedict cut in and scanned the floor, clearly trying to find some evidence of homeless people. “He probably just wanted to get some rest.”
“His eyes turned red.”
Lilliah had barely muttered the words when Benedict and Azrael sprang into action.
“Was it Lucifer? Tell me what he said, word for word,” Azrael demanded as he dragged her out of the room, heading for the back door. Benedict stayed close behind them.
“It wasn’t Lucifer.”
She let out a shaky breath once they were back outside and in the sunlight. Nothing bad ever happened in the daylight. She lifted her head up and breathed in the clear air. Or as clear as it could be in central London.
“How can you be sure?” Azrael stopped walking and rubbed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I should have known he’d come back.”
“It wasn’t him,” Lilliah stressed. “It was a young man. He looked afraid, but he sounded like he wanted to help me. He kept telling me to run. He screamed and then his eyes turned red.”
“What did he look like? What was he wearing?” Benedict asked. He was already taking out his phone from his trouser pocket. “I’ll ask around to see if he sounds familiar to anyone.”
Lilliah described the guy as best as she could, from his smell to his dirty shoes. “I don’t want you to hurt him. I just want to talk to him.”
“He hurt you,” Azrael reminded her. “He grabbed you and threatened you.”
“He warned me. He was warning me about Lucifer.” She didn’t know why, but part of her wanted to protect this mystery man. He had looked so broken, so scared, and yet he had tried to warn her. Why?
“We’ll see what he wanted when we find him. He might be our only chance at finding Lucifer. I want a copy of the footage of every surveillance camera in this area. One of them must have caught him. I want every werewolf and vampire to know that I’m looking for him.” Azrael spat the last word, then grabbed Lilliah’s hand and led her to the main street.
Luckily, the policemen were no longer standing outside, and they all managed to leave the alley without being seen.
Rebecca and Sebastian were standing on the other side of the street, cuddling each other and smiling. They looked so relaxed and so oblivious to the world that was crumbling around them, Lilliah wanted to keep it that way.
“I don’t want to tell Rebecca or Seb about this. Not yet anyway.” Lilliah pulled Azrael to a stop before they could cross the road.
“You don’t want to tell them about Lucifer?” Benedict clarified as he typed into his phone without looking up.
Azrael, however, was solely focused on Lilliah, searching her face. For what, she wasn’t sure.
“You shouldn’t keep this from them.” Azrael told her softly.
“I’m not. I just don’t want them to worry when we don’t even know what we’re dealing with, especially when it might not be Lucifer.”
“Okay,” Azrael agreed.
She waited for Benedict to agree as well, and when he did, nodding curtly, she crossed the road, heading towards her friend and brother.
“What the hell took you so long?” Sebastian shouted at them, with his arm still around Rebecca’s shoulders.
“We had to be thorough.” Azrael kept an iron grip on Lilliah’s hand.
“Why’s your side dirty?” Rebecca leaned over to get a better look at Lilliah’s clothes. “You’re filthy.”
“Shit.” Lilliah used her sleeve to wipe away some of the black soot from her shirt. “I fell over.”
“How?” Rebecca demanded, staring down at Lilliah’s black hands.
“It was dark.” Lilliah stopped rubbing her side; the dirt wasn’t going anywhere. If anything, she was just spreading it around.
Azrael motioned at Lilliah and Benedict. “We need to look into this further.”
“You guys can look into it. I need some girl time with my best friend.” She walked over to Lilliah and linked their arms. “We’re going shopping.”
“Okay …” Lilliah drawled out. She had no idea how, but Rebecca knew something was wrong.
“Do you think it’s wise for you to go anywhere? You have just fallen over,” Azrael stressed, still refusing to let go of her hand.
Lilliah tried not to smile at Azrael’s code. When he’d said “fallen over,” he’d meant “attacked by a strange man.”
“What are the odds of me falling over twice in one day?” She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. If she were being honest, she wanted to see the strange man again. She had so many questions to ask him.
Reluctantly, Azrael conceded. “Fine.”
“Well, that’s great.” Sebastian threw his hands in the air, trying to act angrier than he really was. “Guess I’ll be going home then.”
“We’ll drop you off,” Azrael offered the girls.
Rebecca shook her head, already pulling Lilliah away. “No, it’s fine. We’ll walk. See you guys later.”
Azrael looked bewildered as Lilliah managed a half wave.
Once they were out of view Rebecca asked, “So are you going to spill what the hell is going on? Or do I need to drag it out of you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lilliah tried to carry the lie on.
Rebecca still wasn’t buying it. “Cut the crap and just tell me already. Don’t you trust me? Is that it?”
Lilliah exhaled. “Don’t be stupid, of course I trust you. I just didn’t want to drag you back into everything.”
“Are you kidding me?” Rebecca pulled Lilliah to a stop and stepped back. She was frowning, her eyes searc
hing. “What the hell? I’m already in this,” she shouted, fluttering her arms in the air. “This is my business too.” She looked away, lips pressed together.
Lilliah bit the inside of her cheek, guilt slowly filling her stomach. “You’re right. I should have told you.”
“Goddamn right you should have told me—and Sebastian,” she added, her eyes widening accusingly. “So”—she linked her arm back with Lilliah’s and started walking again—“tell me everything.”
“I’m having dreams again, about Lucifer.”
She let that sink in for a moment as they walked down the street. People rushed passed them, most likely heading back to work after their lunch or into the many cafes and restaurants that populated the neighbourhood. A couple of girls stopped to take pictures, possibly tourists. Everything around them looked so normal, yet here they were, talking about the Devil and the very real possibility of him coming back. Part of her wished she were one of those girls on a day out, taking pictures and worrying about nothing else. But she wasn’t.
Breathing in deeply, Lilliah continued, “He talks to me in them. Last night, he burned down a club.” She nodded her head back in the direction they had come from. “That club.”
“So it’s real?” Rebecca shook her head. “And that’s why Benedict’s here?”
“Yep.”
“That’s crap.”
“Yep.”
“So the Devil’s back?” A few passers-by turned to look at Rebecca, a few with raised eyebrows while others just looked amused.
“I think so. There was a guy in there.” She bit the side of her mouth, thinking of a way to describe her attacker without making it sound so bad. “He was weird and kept talking in riddles.”
“Oh, my gosh. Is that why you fell?”
“No, he pushed me. But I don’t think he wanted to hurt me. At one point, he looked as if he were in pain. Then his eyes went red.” She left out the last part.
“He attacked you?” Rebecca shrieked, her mouth slightly agape in horror. “When something like that happens, you tell people. And by people, I mean your best friend and your brother. We need to know this stuff. It’s dangerous and scary, but we’re in this together.”
Guilt sat heavy on Lilliah’s chest like a slab of concrete. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, it’s done. And Lucifer’s back. All of this is just perfect!”
“Wish I hadn’t told you?” Lilliah asked, testing out the water. She wasn’t sure whether Rebecca was mad at her or at the situation.
“Nah,” Rebecca said easily. “If the world’s going to end, I want to know.”
Lilliah was about to deny that the world was ending when a thought popped into her head. “What would you do if the world were ending?”
“Have the time of my life and spend time with the people I love.”
Lilliah nodded along with what Rebecca was saying.
“But hey.” Rebecca nudged her. “At least this time around, if Lucifer ends the world, you won’t die a virgin.” She giggled at her own joke.
“Me and Azrael haven’t done that yet.” Lilliah tried not to blush; she didn’t want to talk about her embarrassing lack of a sex life.
“Wait, what?” Rebecca stopped again.
“We can’t keep stopping.” Lilliah tugged on her friend’s arm. “People are getting annoyed.”
Rebecca didn’t budge. “You’re still a virgin?”
Lilliah’s gaze shot towards the people walking past them, hoping they hadn’t overheard.
“Shh!” Her face was burning. “Yes, I’m still a virgin.”
“Oh, this can’t happen.” For reasons beyond Lilliah’s understanding, her virginity, and not the Devil, seemed to annoy Rebecca.
“There is more to a relationship than sex. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tried.”
Lilliah didn’t even want to think about how many times she had tried, from lying down on the bed and offering herself to him like a sacrificial lamb, to playing it cool and copping a feel while they were both in bed. The amount of times he had turned her down had gotten embarrassing.
“I know there’s more than just sex, but you said you were ready—that you wanted to take it to the next level.”
“I did.”
“Then try harder.” Rebecca wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Azrael has probably been with so many women.” She shuddered at the thought. “Maybe he doesn’t want that kind of relationship?”
Saying the words out loud and admitting what she had been feeling for weeks depressed her. She knew they had only been seeing each other for two months, but it felt like so much longer. To her, there was no one else but Azrael, and she had thought he’d felt the same way. However, the lack of action in the bedroom department said otherwise.
“‘That kind of relationship’? What, like the normal kind? What you need is lingerie, a wax, and some alcohol.” Rebecca looked up at her friend. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter 3
Lilliah paced around Azrael’s bedroom, searching for a distraction. She didn’t dare put on a dressing gown to cover herself up; she wanted to be ready for when Azrael came home. Finding the perfect underwear set had taken her and Rebecca hours. Finally, they had settled on a really expensive black lacy number with garters. She wanted Azrael to feel the “full effect,” as Rebecca had put it.
Sitting down at the end of the bed, she kept an eye on all the candles she’d lit around the room. Waiting was becoming too much, so she got up and started pacing. She had promised herself that tonight would be the night. She wouldn’t let Azrael turn her down for the millionth time. And if he did, she would demand to know why.
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm herself against the chill in Azrael’s apartment. “It can’t be romantic if it’s freezing, now can it?”
Lilliah headed out of the room. Azrael’s apartment was huge and modern, completely different from his country mansion that had burned down. She made her way through the open living room to the iPad that controlled the apartment and turned up the heat. It had taken her weeks to get the hang of the app and she still found it strange that Azrael had something so high-tech. She couldn’t imagine him sitting down one day and deciding to have it installed. She made a mental note to ask him about it at some point.
Lilliah looked around the apartment. At a glance, with all the furnishings, it seemed like any other home, but upon closer inspection, she realised how empty it was. No pictures hung on the walls or sat in frames on the shelves. No cushions or books or anything remotely personal hinted at who lived here. A few of Lilliah’s things were scattered here and there, but apart from that, the apartment was empty. One of the things she loved about the apartment was the windows. A huge wall of glass stretched from one side of the apartment to the other, with the city of London sprawled out beyond them.
“I want to look further afield. I don’t think he’d stay in one place.”
Lilliah froze when she heard Azrael’s voice. She’d been too preoccupied with the view that she hadn’t heard the door open. Who is he talking to?
“You’re right. I’ll ask around and see what people are saying.”
She dropped behind the sofa when she heard Benedict’s voice.
Oh God, oh God, she thought, panicking. Though she was lying flat on the floor, she still tried to cover herself with her hands. Benedict couldn’t see her like this.
“Yes, he’s somewhere. We need to know where.” Azrael sounded closer.
Lilliah squeezed her eyes shut.
“Stop,” she called out, then pressed her lips together.
“Lilliah?” Azrael asked. She didn’t have to see him to know he was standing a few meters away. “Why are you on the floor?”
“Stop! Please,” she shrieked. “I’m almost naked.”
“Benedict, leave.” She heard scuffling and then a door closing. “Angel?”
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Azrael was standing over her, smiling.
“What are you doing?”
“Just … chilling.” She attempted to smile as she lifted herself onto her elbow. Her face was on fire. This was definitely not how she had imagined their night going.
“Chilling, huh?” He squatted so he was at eye level with her. He ran his fingers over the black lace. “Do you always dress like this when I’m not around?”
“Sometimes.” She tried to act casually, but her hands were shaking. This wasn’t sexy. How could she move on from this? How could she get to the sexy part? Biting her lip, she held out her hand. “Are you going to help me up or not?”
Azrael smirked then grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I would have killed Benedict if he had seen you like this.”
She laughed nervously.
“What were you doing?”
Her smiled faltered. “Well”—she awkwardly motioned to her underwear—“this is what girlfriends do when they want to seduce their boyfriends.”
“Seduce me?” he repeated, amused.
Lilliah nodded, now frowning.
“I love you, Lilliah.” He pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was tender and sweet and annoyed the hell out of her. “Go and put some clothes on. I’ll make us a sandwich.”
Lilliah stood on the spot, completely dumbfounded as Azrael walked into the kitchen.
“Put some clothes on?” Her mouth hung open. “What?”
“You’ll get cold,” Azrael answered as he grabbed a loaf of bread from the cupboard. He went to work on the sandwiches as if she weren’t standing in his living room half-naked.
“Oh, yeah!” She threw her arms in the air and turned to storm out of the room. He wasn’t interested. Her temper burst. He wouldn’t get away with this. He wouldn’t make her feel like crap.
“You know what?” she demanded, changing her mind and storming back into the living room. Azrael looked up from his sandwich. “Why don’t you just say it?”
“Say what?”
His calm disposition angered her further. “That you’re not interested!” she screamed. “Then I wouldn’t have to make a complete fool of myself!”
“You think I’m not interested?” He was fully smiling at her, and she wanted to hit that smugness off his face.
Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2) Page 3
