See No: Hidden Evil #2

by Lizzy Ford

  “I can’t handle that garbage right now.” She leaned back against the wall. “What’s the plan when we leave?”

  “We rejoin what’s left of my people,” he answered. “There are emergency locations throughout the DC Metro area. If Bullet is alive, he’ll get word to me somehow.”

  She didn’t want to return to the cult protecting her. She couldn’t exactly go home or allow herself to trust Nathan again. “What happens when this is over?” she asked.

  “How do you mean?”

  “What happens to me?”

  “It depends on what we have to do to free Shadowman,” Eddy replied. “We think, but don’t know for sure, that you have to stay alive no matter what, or he disappears completely, too. We want him to lead us to the other archdemons. We help them, and we become part of the new world order when they clean up the planet.”

  “I stick around for all that?”

  “I believe so. There is a second theory Bullet believes to be true. Once the first gateway opens, Shadowman might be strong enough to take his own form. If so, he may not need you anymore.”

  She shivered. In that moment, Kaylee acknowledged a truth she’d been too afraid to admit. Eddy wasn’t protecting her. He was protecting Shadowman. She meant nothing to him beyond her function of anchoring Shadowman.

  “Then you’ll kill me,” Kaylee murmured.

  “I’d make it quick,” Eddy said in a conciliatory tone. “You’re a good person. You shouldn’t suffer. Promise. It’ll be much better than the first time you were killed.”

  Kaylee smiled, darkly entertained by Eddy’s sincerity. She’d been unsure and struggling since this all began, afraid to ask the questions she already knew the answers to. No matter what happened, no matter who claimed to be protecting her, she was dead once someone got what their cause wanted.

  Her hand went to the stones in her pocket. Amira had entrusted them to her the last time they met, before Nathan executed his plan. Kaylee vaguely understood what they signified. The three blue stones could locate the key holders protecting the gateways to Hell. Her stone located her and Shadowman, assuming he wasn’t with her. At first, she had believed the stones could guide her to the gatekeepers who might help her.

  Anymore, she began to think the stones had a different function. They could help her avoid the key holders, who would be needed to help Shadowman and Eddy’s cult complete their mission.

  “What of the women who hold the keys to the gateways?” she asked. “Why am I involved with them?”

  “I imagine it’s your link to Shadowman as one of the four archdemons.”

  “But why me? Couldn’t he have attached himself to anyone?”

  Eddy was quiet.

  Kaylee lifted her head to look at him. “Thus far, nothing has seemed random about this,” she mused. The stone belonging to her and Shadowman had been one of the many stones passed down from generation to generation of guardians.

  If it was her fate to be attached to Shadowman. If their connection had been determined at the time of Creation or shortly thereafter, then there had to be a reason. A reason why Nathan – the most powerful guide in existence – was her soul mate. A reason why the first gatekeeper had known her on sight.

  She wasn’t random. She hadn’t drawn the short straw or won Hell’s lottery. She had to be a player in this game, not a helpless, wimpy host for something much greater than she was. She was special, not cursed.

  Shadowman shifted within her once more. Her eyes went to one of the dark corners, where he tried to take form.

  “Am I right?” she demanded.

  Eddy followed her gaze.

  Sensing the archdemon’s discomfort, Kaylee laughed, surprising herself as well as Eddy. It was what Shadowman wasn’t telling her that left her feeling as if she was on the right course.

  “I can’t imagine an archdemon tells jokes,” Eddy said.

  Can I stop it? She willed the question to Shadowman.

  Shadowman didn’t answer, but the same discomfort reemerged.

  “How?” she asked out loud.

  Equals.

  Kaylee’s brow furrowed. The image of lightning and rose petals flashed through her thoughts. The dream featuring both had led her to the search engine result for a Barachiel, an archangel who she’d had no time to research before Eddy caught her.

  “What’s he saying?” Wariness crept into Eddy’s voice. The change in his tone was enough to warn Kaylee the assassin was on guard once more.

  “He says the key to becoming stronger is Nathan,” she said, aware Eddy could read her if she lied. “But I don’t understand. He’s too weak to explain.”

  Eddy studied her briefly before relaxing again. “It makes sense if Nathan is your soul mate. You are each half of a whole. Shadowman may need that whole in order for him to regain his strength. Maybe he can draw off both of you.”

  “That’s not happening,” she muttered.

  “Your life went to shit about the time Nathan appeared, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Then chances are, Shadowman needs you both.”

  Kaylee considered then frowned. “Shadowman was strong enough for me to see him outside my body before I met Nathan.”

  “I imagine Nathan was near and you didn’t know it. Shadowman would’ve felt the connection. That might’ve been enough for him to draw off it and grow stronger.”

  “Maybe.” Kaylee didn’t want to know how long Nathan was stalking her before he officially entered her life. She wasn’t surprised by the idea, either, assuming Eddy was correct. “There are no coincidences I’m learning.”

  Eddy shifted, testing himself. He gritted his teeth and relaxed again. “Nope,” he said and released his breath. He paused on his knees. “I’ll be good to go in a few hours!”

  Kaylee glanced towards the corner where Shadowman had begun to melt. He remained too weak to stay outside her for long, though this was the longest since Nathan murdered her. If what Eddy believed was true, then Nathan’s brief appearance in the cellar had strengthened Shadowman.

  Equals, Shadowman had claimed.

  I’m special, she thought, comforted by the idea, even if she was terrified about what that meant. She’d been a ping-pong ball throughout all of this, batted between opponents who didn’t bother explaining the rules to her. Of everyone who could have helped her understand her role, Shadowman was the only one who gave her hope she was something more.

  “What’s equal to an archdemon?” she asked pensively. “Aside from other archdemons?”

  “Only an archangel.”

  From what little she recalled from Sunday school, there were only a handful of archangels, and they were all men in the versions she’d heard.

  She definitely didn’t feel like an archangel. Angels didn’t have fucked up lives like hers. Archangels were tough, from what she remembered from Sunday school. They were always smiting someone or leading armies or similar. Archangels had purpose and fought evil.

  Equals. She dwelled on the word, determined to discover the secret about herself that Shadowman already knew.

  Barachiel was an archangel. Kaylee’s cheeks were warm. It was not just presumptuous but embarrassing to believe she was that important! No mighty, enemy-smiting archangel would live such an uninspired life.

  But what if it was simpler? Shadowman could open a portal, and she had the power to close it or possibly prevent it from opening in the first place.

  I want to believe this shit. I want to make a difference on this earth.

  She’d been through enough to know the world as she knew it was very different from the reality of what it was. Kaylee plunged into doubt again.

  Nathan would know if she had a purpose greater than hosting Shadowman.

  The moment he crossed her thoughts, she shivered. Every time …

  She sighed.

  “Thinking of him again?” Eddy teased. “You always get this look on your face like you want to murder puppies.” He settled back against the wall.
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br />   “That’s an awful image!” Kaylee exclaimed. “Yes, I was thinking of him. Why do I have a soul mate, if things are going to turn bad at any time?”

  “Not everything makes sense. Like why you didn’t leave me for dead twice now. You know I’ll kill you someday.”

  She studied him. “Someday,” she repeated. “But not today. I don’t exactly have any allies right now. You are the least of all the evils chasing me.”

  “That’s the spirit! I’m the one keeping you alive.”

  The man had issues. But so did everyone else in her life. She never thought she’d be the best-adjusted person she’d ever known.

  Am I an archangel? Or was I at some point? She asked Shadowman with some trepidation.

  Equals, he replied again, this time with a sense he was unhappy answering the question.

  So … yes?

  He didn’t respond.

  But I’m special.

  Shadowman was displeased.

  Kaylee didn’t have magic energy like Nathan or Eddy. The idea she was special gave her the first ray of hope she’d had in years. She was meant for something important, and it had nothing to do with following in her father’s footsteps and winning major cases, or marrying the wealthy guy her mother chose for her.

  She had a purpose, one that could change the world, if she figured out what to do and how.

  “What’s the smile for?” Eddy asked.

  “Things are starting to make more sense,” she replied honestly. “I don’t feel like I’m in the middle of a popcorn machine trying to control which way I pop.”

  Eddy was quiet. When she looked at him, he had rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

  Kaylee’s heavy fatigue returned, oppressing her ability to think clearly. She stretched out on the floor and extinguished the candle. She’d need her energy when Nathan returned for them.

  Eleven

  Nathan returned much sooner than Kaylee expected, although it was impossible to tell time in the cellar. Light spilled through the open trap door, and the lean form of Nathan slid down the ladder.

  “We have to hurry,” he said urgently, quietly. “We don’t have much time.”

  Kaylee rose.

  Eddy shifted, paused, and then stood as well. He wobbled and balanced himself against the wall.

  “Eddy, I take it,” Nathan said and extended a hand.

  The Satanist glanced towards her before smiling. “Nathan,” he said. “Great to meet you finally.”

  “If anything happens to her, I will tear you into bite-sized pieces and deliver your soul to Hell myself.”

  “Groovy. Glad we’re on the same page. ”

  Surprised by the cordial threat, Kaylee’s eyebrows shot up.

  Nathan turned away, unconcerned about having his back to the armed and lethal assassin, and scaled the ladder.

  Eddy motioned for her to go next. Kaylee hurried to grab a bottle of water, just in case their journey took a while.

  She climbed the ladder. Nathan reached down to help her up the last few rungs when she was within distance. He lifted her with ease that reminded her of how strong his naked form had been pressed to hers. Nathan wrapped one arm around her and stepped back until both her feet were on the cement.

  Trapped in the dark eyes of Nathan, with her body held against his, Kaylee couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Her instincts whispered a sigh, as if her soul knew she belonged there, in his arms. His body was warm and hard. His penetrating gaze seared straight into her soul. He, too, appeared to be under the strange spell. Did he feel the urge to melt, to stop resisting the otherworldly compulsion trying to force them together, to strip off his clothing, so there was nothing between them? She wanted to cry in frustration at the storm of emotions inside her and the sense this could be the only moment she would connect with Nathan before one, or both, of them became victims of the brewing war.

  Eddy cleared his throat. “Escape first, moon over one another second.”

  Kaylee flushed, becoming aware of herself once more.

  Nathan blinked out of the spell as well and released her. He pulled a sidearm from the holster at the small of his back.

  “I know you know how to use this,” he said and handed it to her. “If anyone gets in your way, pretend it’s me and unload every last bullet in that clip.”

  “Nathan –” she started.

  “Let’s go,” he said curtly. He strode towards the door without another word, leaving her to right her senses and swallow the apology she had been about to give. He didn’t deserve an apology after all he’d done, but she’d witnessed the pain in his eyes when he spoke the words. She didn’t want him to hurt, even if he deserved to.

  Eddy closed the trap door before limping towards the door. She walked with him, in case he fell, and tucked the weapon into the holster strapped to her thigh.

  Nathan led them through the warehouse. Kaylee’s eyes rarely left his black-clad form. If 3G ambushed them, she wouldn’t notice, not with her attention riveted to the man Eddy claimed was her soul mate.

  Nathan was putting his life in danger by helping her. She didn’t want to give him credit for wanting to make things right, but it was hard to deny the fact she and Eddy were screwed in the cellar. They needed the help, and Nathan was in the right place and time, likely on purpose.

  Sixty three. She couldn’t flush the images from her mind. Maybe all he had to do was sweet talk his ex and fuck her a few more times to be forgiven.

  Eddy’s pace was deliberate and steady, as if he were starting to feel his strength return.

  They exited the underground compound, and Kaylee’s shoulders dropped. They’d made it through the worst part – escaping beneath 3G’s nose. Nathan led them into the night and to the edge of the forest beyond the parking area around the warehouse. He paused when they reached the trees and faced them.

  “The cameras in this direction have suffered a temporary short,” Nathan said with a half smile. “They won’t be blind for long. I’d recommend moving as quickly as possible. There’s a road half a mile south. I can’t help you more without landing in the kind of hot water even a guide can’t walk away from.”

  “No worries,” Eddy replied. “I can take it from there.” He moved past Nathan.

  Kaylee hesitated and started to follow, debating whether or not she thanked her killer or asked if he were placing his life in danger on her behalf. Nathan rested a hand on her arm, stopping her. When she looked up at him, any words she could summon fled.

  “Be careful,” he said roughly.

  Their proximity left her fevered, conflicted and utterly entranced. The sensation of being compelled toward him grew stronger with each interaction.

  If Nathan had anything to say, he was silent. He released her arm.

  This is torture.

  Unable to bear the tension or anyone’s suffering, Kaylee lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  Nathan’s response was fast enough for her to believe he’d been uncharacteristically waiting for her to make the first move. His arm slid around her to pull her body against his. He cupped her cheek in one hand, kissing her deeply. His familiar flavor and scent intoxicated her, removed her from their danger and surroundings. Heat raced through Kaylee, and desire roared. She melted against him, the primal part of her begging her never to leave his touch again.

  Nathan lifted his head, breaking off the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers, the thumb of one hand stroking her cheek lightly.

  “You need to go, baby,” he whispered in a husky voice.

  “I’m sorry I shot you. You deserved it, though,” she said.

  “We can call it even.” He squeezed her against him before releasing her. “Call Maggy if you need help.” One of his hands slid a piece of paper into her pocket.

  His heat and touch fell away. Kaylee felt the sudden loss to her soul.

  “We’ll see each other again,” Nathan told her confidently.

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nbsp; “Because we’re soul mates.”

  “Someone told you.” He glanced past her towards Eddy. “Yeah, we are. It means we won’t be apart long.”

  Kaylee stepped away, aware of Eddy watching. “I like that idea,” she murmured. “I think. As long as you’re not an asshole again.”

  Nathan smiled. “Go on, baby. It’ll all make sense later. But first, you need to escape.”

  Kaylee nodded and turned, ruffled by the sense she was leaving him behind. She approached Eddy and followed him into the forest. When she looked back, Nathan was already gone.

  “Are you okay, Eddy?” she asked, focusing on the path ahead of Eddy, in case he tripped or fell.

  “Great. This was the least worst beating I’ve ever gotten.”

  She would never understand the cheerful assassin whose body showed the signs of severe torture or battle. Was that why he was crazy? Had he been through too much and snapped?

  They reached the two-lane road a short time later. Eddy checked both directions before setting out to the southeast.

  “We need a car, don’t we?” Kaylee asked. “3G won’t be far behind when they figure out we’re gone.”

  “We should have some time. No one figured out we were there, aside from Nathan,” Eddy replied. “Not much surprises me, but there was no way he should’ve been able to discover us.”

  “You said he was the most powerful guide.”

  “Even so. It’s impressive.” Eddy shook his head. “He handles weapons well. He seems like a great catch.”

  “But you’ll still kill him if you meet him again,” she said.

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t admire him.”

  “Do you think you could kill him?”

  “It’d definitely be an interesting fight,” Eddy replied. “If 3G finds out what he did, I won’t have to worry about it.”

  Kaylee fell quiet, not liking the reminder Nathan was in danger.

  They walked for an hour, until Eddy’s pace lagged. Taking pity on him, Kaylee stopped to rest and sip from the bottle of water. Eddy glanced at her before he halted as well. She passed him the bottle and studied him in the moonless night.

  He wasn’t close to being okay.

  “You need to rest,” she said.