If she couldn’t free herself, then the least she could do was get the others out. She didn’t want them to be here when Lucifer arrived.
Harold laughed. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Actually, yes. I do think you’re stupid.”
“I found you, didn’t I?” He raised his eyebrow, clearly proud of himself.
“How did you find me?” she asked, half interested, half wasting time. She’d seen the way he’d looked at Iris. His eyes hadn’t lingered on her for a second. He didn’t know who she was. The thought made her breathe a little easier.
“Benedict isn’t as clever as he thinks. He kept his phone close, but I eventually got my hands on it, but by the time we traced the call, the phone was gone. Thanks to your little stunt on the news, I knew you were near Las Vegas. My men were close by, waiting for my call. You called Benedict again, we traced it to you. And a couple of hours later, here you are.”
Lilliah’s body shook with laughter. “You snuck into his room?”
“Why is that funny?” Harold demanded.
“You snuck in like a rat.” She wasn’t laughing anymore. “Because that’s what you are: a rat. Vermin.” She leaned as far forward as she could. “And if Lucifer doesn’t kill you, Benedict certainly will.”
“We’ll see, Lilliah. We’ll see who the last one standing is.” Grabbing his grandson by the arm, Harold left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Lilliah tried again to untangle her hands, though it was no use. She looked around, plotting their escape. The bare room was small, with no windows and only one door. Other than the chairs they were sitting in, the room was empty. Their abductors had even gone as far as taking their shoes. She rubbed her cold feet together and decided to test the rope again. Eventually, Rebecca started to stir, and the others quickly followed.
“My throat.” Rebecca looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot. “Lil?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” She tried to jump her seat closer but didn’t get very far.
“What happened? Who are these guys?” Sebastian choked out.
“Someone from The Cure.” She stared at the door, expecting someone to come running in at any second. Were there any cameras in this room? “We need to get out of here. They’ve called Lucifer.”
“Why can’t people just piss off and leave us alone? We didn’t ask to be part of this or for the Devil to chase after us.” He was panting heavily once he’d finished.
Rebecca turned her head. “Got that out of your system? Feel better?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Rebecca looked back at Lilliah. “Now that the demon’s finished with his tantrum, what’s the plan?”
“It wasn’t a tantrum,” Sebastian cut in. “I was just saying, everyone’s treating us like the bad guys.”
Lilliah strained her neck to see her brother.
“The Devil is out there, yet everyone’s like, ‘Oh no, those eighteen-year-olds are definitely worse.” He put on a high, girly voice and then huffed at the end.
The room fell silent.
“It’s crap. All of it is such crap.” Sebastian spoke again, this time in his normal deep voice.
“So, you weren’t finished?” Rebecca asked.
The door swung open. Lilliah held her breath, expecting Lucifer or Azrael to be standing in the doorway.
A man walked into the room, his eyes jumping over all of them. “Which one’s the demon?”
Lilliah didn’t recognise him. Thankful, she let out a shaky breath.
“I said, which one of you is the demon?” He shut the door behind him.
Again, no one spoke. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilliah watched Sebastian and silently prayed that he’d keep his mouth shut. She had no idea what this guy wanted, but by the way he was flexing his muscles and clenching his hands, she could guess.
“Is it you?” He walked up to Sebastian and knelt. The newcomer’s hair was short, and he had a dark tattoo that covered his neck and disappeared down his tight black tank top. He was big, bodybuilder big.
Lilliah swallowed the lump in her throat. She still couldn’t tell what he was. Werewolf, maybe.
“What will you do if I say yes?” Sebastian cocked his head to the side.
“I would have been mightily disappointed if it had been one of these girls.” The man pulled out a knife from his trouser pocket.
“Leave him alone!” Rebecca shrieked so loudly that her voice bounced off the walls.
Lilliah heard a chair being dragged across the floor as Rebecca tried to pull herself closer to Sebastian to put herself in front of him.
The man leaned forward. “That’s sweet. The girly here wants to protect you.”
Lilliah craned her neck, trying to see what the stranger was doing. He wouldn’t stab Sebastian. What would be the point of sneaking in, to then just stab him? Why go through the trouble if Lucifer was on his way? No, Lilliah knew what he wanted. She could tell by his stance and the glint in his eye.
“You and me, demon.” The man stepped back, holding the knife out.
“You came in here for a fight?” Rebecca shouted and then laughed. “Does the thought of fighting a demon give you a thrill?”
Lilliah used the distraction to drag her chair forward. If she could somehow get to the knife, she could cut her rope. She had no idea how she would get it, but at least she had a plan—or that was what she told herself.
Sebastian stood, rubbing his wrists. The guy had cut his rope. If she could have, Lilliah would have jumped up and down at the man’s stupidity.
“As much as I’d love to fight you, we’re on a tight schedule,” Sebastian said, a smile in his voice.
The stranger threw the knife on the floor and lunged at Sebastian. They smashed through the chair Sebastian had been sitting in and landed on the floor. Rebecca and Iris cried out. Lilliah used her feet to drag her chair cross the small room, ignoring the pain shooting up from her heels. She had to cut her rope and help her brother.
“You’re hurting him!” Rebecca cried.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Iris chanted and squeezed her eyes shut.
Sebastian grunted in pain. She could hear the sound of fists pounding against something—her brother. She couldn’t look; she had to focus on picking up the knife. Using her feet, Lilliah dragged the blade closer and tried to use her toes to pick it up, but the knife fell to the floor. She lifted her head at the sound of a chair moving. Iris made her way to Lilliah and leaned forward.
“Put it in my hand,” Iris whispered, tears falling from her eyes as she tried to shuffle her chair around.
Lilliah let her eyes briefly flick to the fight. The enormous guy was on top of Sebastian. Using his weight to keep him down, he was hitting him.
“Not such a tough demon after all, are you?” The guy stopped his attack to laugh.
Lilliah could still hear Sebastian moaning in pain over Rebecca’s wailing. Determined, she used her feet to pick up the knife. With her grip tight, she manoeuvred around and placed the knife in Iris’s hand. Then she shuffled in her seat one hundred and eighty degrees, giving Iris access to her bound hands. “Cut my rope.”
“But I can’t see.” Iris panicked.
“Just try.” Lilliah froze as the man stood up from Sebastian and turned around.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He stepped over Sebastian as if he were nothing.
“Oh, my God.” Iris was sobbing as she sawed at the rope as fast as she could.
Lilliah didn’t cry out when the knife missed and cut her hand. Iris didn’t need to know she’d hurt her. She could already feel her shaking.
“You think you’re getting out of here?”
Just before he could reach them, Sebastian called out from the floor, “Leave my sister alone. Come at me again.”
“No!” Lilliah and Rebecca shouted at the same time.
“Leave him alone. Come after me!” Lilliah cried, staring down at her brother’s bloodied face.
“You’r
e nothing but a coward!” Rebecca shouted and thrashed her legs, trying to reach the man.
Lilliah felt the rope loosen around her wrists. She took the knife from Iris and waited for him to get closer.
“You’re just a bunch of kids.” He reached out for Lilliah, but she moved first, plunging the knife into his shoulder.
He fell back, shocked, and Lilliah moved in. She grabbed his head and smashed it into the wall as hard as she could. He fell to the floor in a bleeding heap.
“What happened?” Iris tried moving her body, unable to see their attacker unconscious on the floor.
Lilliah yanked the knife out of his shoulder and cut Rebecca free first, then Iris.
Rebecca fell to the floor and sat next to Sebastian and cradled his head in her lap, stroking his bruised face. “Are you okay?”
“He broke my nose.” Sebastian closed his eyes and turned his head into Rebecca’s lap.
Lilliah still gripped the knife in her hand. Iris was still crying next to her. “Lucifer is coming. We have to get out of here.”
She helped Rebecca get Sebastian to his feet. With one arm over Lilliah and the other over Rebecca, Sebastian was carried to the door.
Just as they were about to reach for the doorknob, the door flew open and a much smaller guy ran inside.
“No!” Iris screamed, running at him and punching him in the face.
They watched in shock as he dropped to the floor.
“Whoa,” Rebecca said. “I was not expecting that.”
“That’s the first time I ever hit anyone.” She winced, rubbing her knuckles. “It really hurt.”
“That’s it?” Sebastian slurred, one eye swelled shut. “He’s knocked out?”
“That was amazing, Iris.” Lilliah couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice. Iris kept on surprising her. “Is anyone else coming?”
Iris stuck her head out. “Nope. Coast is clear.”
“Was he a warlock? You know what? Benedict doesn’t fit in with the other warlocks. He’s hard as nails, and all the others are really wimpy.” Sebastian lifted his arm from around Lilliah’s shoulder. “I can walk. I’m just sore.”
“You sure?” Apart from the blood and the bruises, he did look okay.
“I’m fine. Come on. We need to go.” Still keeping Rebecca close, Sebastian hobbled out of the room, with Lilliah and Iris following.
The corridor was carpeted, and small paintings of flowers decorated the walls. Though it was a complete contrast to the room they had been kept in, one thing was the same.
“There aren’t any windows,” Lilliah whispered. She had no idea where they were or where they were heading. She listened, straining to hear voices, but the place was eerily silent.
The corridor led to two doors on opposite sides of the hall. “Pick one,” Lilliah said, walking past Sebastian and Iris.
“That one.” Rebecca pointed to Lilliah’s left. “Because why the hell not?”
They made their way to the door on the left. Lilliah swallowed, preparing herself mentally and physically. Lucifer could be behind that door.
A gunshot rang out and everyone dropped to the floor. Lilliah looked back. Everyone looked panicked, but they were okay. The gunshot had come from beyond the door.
“What the hell?” Rebecca crawled closer to Lilliah. “That was a gun, Lil. I made a mistake, this is the wrong door! Turn around, turn around now.”
Lilliah nodded and rose to her knees. “Go the other way.”
They got up and ran down the hall. Lilliah pulled a hobbling Sebastian by the shirt towards the only other door.
Before they could react the door opened, and a man stood in the doorway. Lilliah pushed to the front, ready to fight, but silently praying she didn’t have to.
“I take it you’re Lilliah Daniels?” the man asked, looking at her for a second and then to the others. This wasn’t what she had been expecting.
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly, looking him up and down. He looked sharp in a well-tailored, dark blue suit. His light blond hair was swept away from his face, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviator glasses.
“And who are you?” Sebastian tried to stand taller, but winced and held his side.
“I’m here to help you.” He moved back, making room for them to leave.
They all eyed one another. Lilliah walked up first. They couldn’t stay in the corridor forever, no matter who or what was on the other side. The room she walked into was huge, which probably meant that the house was huge too. Men were lying on the floor, cowering and bleeding. Other men, all dressed in black army gear, stood above them, guns aimed and ready.
“Who are you?” Sebastian demanded again as he took in the sight before them.
“My name is Derek Watson. Please take a seat. You all must be in shock."
Derek Watson. The name sounded familiar, but Lilliah couldn’t remember where she had heard it.
“Why are you helping us?” she asked. Was he working for Lucifer?
Derek didn’t smile. “Because, Lilliah, I owe Azrael. This is me paying my debt.”
Her body jolted at the sound of Azrael’s name.
Then the name clicked. “You’re Kristy’s husband.” She pointed, her eyes widening as the memory slowly came back. “I met her. We went to her restaurant. Don’t hurt us. Please, Azrael has gone a bit weird. He’s not himself!”
Derek turned his back to her to speak with another man. The others looked at her as if she’d gone mad.
“He knows Azrael.” Lilliah dropped onto one of the spare sofas, avoiding looking at the men lying on the floor with guns pointed at their heads.
Azrael trusted Derek. Of course, that could mean Derek was working with Azrael and Lucifer. She stared down at one of the guns the men were holding. No. If Derek were with Lucifer and Azrael, he wouldn’t have been fighting against the people keeping them hostage. And there would have been no need for guns. The warlocks would have handed her over willingly. Breathing a little easier, Lilliah looked around the room and motioned for the others to join her. They were still standing in the doorway, all of them looking hesitant and unsure.
“What the hell is happening?” Sebastian asked, staring at a man with a gun. “How do you know these people?” He lowered his voice. “Are they with the CIA or something?”
Rebecca sat next to Lilliah. “This is crazy, Lil. How did they find us?”
“Derek,” Lilliah called out. The panic that had subsided started creeping back up. Harold had said Lucifer was coming, which meant he was still on his way.
He looked over at her, his face devoid of any emotion. “Yes, Lilliah?”
“How did you find us?” She scanned the room. Harold wasn’t here. She stood. “Where’s Harold?”
“Harold?” Derek turned to the man standing next to him, who was also wearing a blue suit. He leaned forward and whispered something in Derek’s ear. “Oh, yes. The old man. Benedict wants him. He’s already been loaded onto a helicopter.”
“Benedict’s here?” Rebecca stood, her body sagging with relief.
“He’s not in the building,” Derek explained as if he were talking to small children. “But we will take you to see him.” He walked towards them, his hands clasped in front of him. “What did Azrael tell you about me?”
“Not a lot.” She tried to remember the conversation. By the time Azrael had told her about Kristy and Derek, she’d been quite drunk. “He said he helped you out with something a few years ago.”
“Yes, with the Mexico incident.”
Lilliah tapped her finger in the air and nodded. The more he spoke, the more she remembered. “He said you worked for the government or something like that. Real top secret stuff.”
Her eyes drifted back to the men holding the guns. Everything was starting to make a little more sense.
“I do work for the government,” Derek confirmed. “I can’t tell you the name, though, for obvious reasons.”
Lilliah nodded as if she understood what the obv
ious reasons were. She didn’t.
“As you can probably imagine, we can find anyone.” He rubbed his hands together, clearly very proud of himself.
“I think we should leave,” Iris said, speaking for the first time since they’d met Derek and, well, his army. Her skin was pale and clammy.
“We will,” Derek assured her. He looked a little perplexed by Iris’s appearance. “We’ll get someone to check you over as well. You don’t look well.”
“Lucifer’s here. I can feel him.”
She spoke the words softly, but the room sprang into action. The men with guns grabbed Iris and Rebecca by the arms, pulling them towards the door. Derek pulled out his phone and started walking with Lilliah and Sebastian.
“We have a code blue,” he reported, “A code blue. If you see the target, fire, then get out.” He slammed the phone shut and picked up his pace.
“You can’t fight them,” Lilliah tried to reason. “Your men will be killed.”
“They know their mission.”
Derek pushed open a door that led into a garden. A helicopter was waiting.
“Our mission is to get you four out of here,” Derek shouted over the noise of the helicopter.
Gunfire resounded from inside the house. Lilliah looked back, seeing the building for the first time. It was huge, with red brick and massive windows, where she could just make out the flashes of light as guns fired.
“Hurry.” Derek pulled her to the helicopter, the others running next to her.
“I don’t think so.” Lucifer appeared behind them. He grabbed Derek first and threw him to the ground.
“No!” Lilliah screamed, diving at him.
She landed on Lucifer’s back but he grabbed her arms and tossed her on the ground.
“Get to the helicopter,” she choked out to Derek, who was fumbling with his gun.
“I can’t leave you. This is the mission.” He aimed at Lucifer and fired. The bullets punctured his skin. Lilliah held her breath as Lucifer stood still, blood seeping from his wounds. Could bullets kill angels? Her hope crashed and burned when Lucifer smiled.
“Nice try.” He ran for Derek, moving so fast Lilliah could no longer see him, but she knew his destination and ran too. They collided and hit the hard grass together.
Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2) Page 18
