Hunting Angel (A Divisa Novel, Book 2) (Divisa Series)

by Weil, J. L.

  “AM and CW…” my voice broke off with a hitch. Our initials. Now he’d done it. For sure I was going to start bawling like a sappy twit, and I was definitely not a sappy anything.

  Not a big deal? Who was he kidding? You don’t get something personalized if it wasn’t a big deal.

  I came back from memory lane with a smile on my lips and suddenly heard the strangest sound. Don’t get me wrong, my house made all kinds of weird sounds, but this didn’t belong, sort of like a branch hitting the house. It started out as just a pesky scratch, but I couldn’t pinpoint the source. Ignoring it didn’t make it go away.

  Drats.

  Someday ignoring a problem was going to work.

  Then those little scratches were accompanied by the teeniest cry. At first, I was sure that I imagined it. Yet, whatever it was, they were persistent, and those tiny cries became more of a desperate yawl.

  We better not have mice.

  Muting the TV, I tiptoed through the house trying to locate the source. It didn’t help that every other floorboard groaned under my weight. As I approached the backdoor, it became apparent that the cries were actually more of meows. Cracking the door with caution, I wasn’t too sure that the only thing behind this door was an innocent cat.

  For once it was nice to be wrong. There pacing on the threshold was a tabby colored kitten. Cocoa colored stripes covered his fluffy coat. Where had this surprise come from? My guess, he was a wittle-bitty lost farm kitten. Poor fellow.

  It was at least a mile to our nearest neighbor. I didn’t even consider them neighbors, it was that far. I couldn’t believe he traveled the distance by his lonesome. His sad green-yellow eyes looked up at me, and he gave another pitiful meow. I bent down to pick him up, and the scamp darted down the steps. What a little pooper.

  Biting my lip, I debated going after him. In the end, I knew I couldn’t leave him out in the cold. Evening was approaching right around the corner, and he would probably freeze to death if I didn’t offer him shelter for the night. It was going to be one of those cold ass nights where you could see your own breath. Tomorrow I would take him into town and see if anyone was looking for him.

  Now, I just had to catch the stinker.

  I took a quick peek next door just to make sure I wasn’t under lockdown. There was a driveway of cars parked next door. They were apparently having some kind of Divisa powwow, which I hadn’t been invited too. Not that I wanted to be involved in their half-demon politics. Though I half expected someone to pop behind me and scold me for sneaking out past curfew.

  Cutting across the slightly damp grass to the edge of the woods, I kept my eyes glued on the kitty. He turned his head up at my approach, eyes glinting off the half-moon that shone through the branches.

  “Hey little guy.” I slowly crouched closer to his level. He watched me intently, looking ready to run. “Come here, kitty, kitty,” I coaxed in baby talk and held out my hand.

  We never had pets growing up, so I wasn’t even sure if this kind of thing was effective. I inched forward and he dashed just inside the one place I wasn’t very keen about entering.

  “Seriously,” I muttered in aggravation and regretted not grabbing a hoodie. The last thing I wanted tonight was to be chasing a stray kitten through the woods.

  I knew that I shouldn’t follow the little rascal into the woods, but I couldn’t help myself. He was lost and alone. He needed my help. A little farther into the forest wouldn’t hurt. It was not like I was miles away. I could still see my house in the distance. Straightening my shoulders, I took a deep breath and crossed into the place of my nightmares.

  A chilly gust of wind lifted my dark hair and sent a shower of brownish dead leaves shimmering around me. An eerie shiver shuddered through me, skirting down my spine. Just like my spooky old house, there was something dark and forbidden living in these woods. Not just the hounds from hell that roamed at twilight, not just the lower demons sent to cleanup. Or maybe it was all of that and more. Blood had dripped on the forest floor of needles and crumbled leaves. Creatures and humans hunted in here. Maybe it was that these woods had seen more than I could wrap my mind around.

  Letting out a nervous laugh, I realized how incredibly silly I was being, working myself into a tizzy. Moving forward, I spotted the nuisance not too far in front of me. It was time for a new approach. Cautious be damned. I marched right up to the rascal, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and–

  The snapping of a twig sent my heart in a downward spiral. My heels dug into the partial frozen dirt as I stood and spun in wild circles, searching. The furball forgotten and my own instinct for survival kicked in. Though I could see no one, I knew I was no longer alone in the trees. A ghostly silence hit the air, and the only sound was the quickened rise and fall of my chest.

  I never saw it coming. Never new was lurking about, because at that moment a wet rag was pressed against my mouth and nose from behind me. I opened my mouth to scream, Chase’s name on the tip of my tongue – a fatal mistake. No sound came out, and it was followed by the smell and taste of a pungent odor. Frantic, I fought but in seconds my limbs refused to obey my brain. Heavily, I felt myself sink into oblivion.

  My eyes lost focus, blurring the forest into a muddle of colors. There were voices behind me, smothered from recognition.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter 21

  I woke up with the feel of cold steel pressed against my cheek. Goosebumps covered my arms, chilling me to the bone. Disoriented, I slowly lifted open my eyes, fluttering against blackness. A musky dampness filled the air, tickling my nose.

  I blinked, which to my annoyance didn’t really do much.

  There was a heaviness to my lids that made it difficult to keep them open. A fog snared inside my brain. When the cloudiness lifted and my vision finally cleared, I wished for blissful darkness again. Nothing made sense.

  What happened to me?

  Where was I?

  Because I was pretty sure I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. And if this was Oz, where were my ruby red slippers? Had I slipped down a rabbit hole and landed in Wonderland?

  All fairytales start with a bump on the head and as I sat up, I was damn sure I had one of those. Cursing, a stinging pain shot through the back of my head and made me gasp. I rubbed the tender spot and got my first glimpse of my surroundings. It wasn’t a palace.

  Nothing in a million years would have prepared me for the sight at which greeted me. This was far from a Never Never Land and there weren’t going to be any dwarfs at my rescue. Not in a room this tiny.

  I looked around the closet size room wildly, my blue eyes going wide. There was nothing but a metal bed bolted to the floor and a door with thick bands of bars. It was a cell. My stomach knotted unbearably. Stark fear rose in my throat like bile, coating it with pure panic.

  Reality descended upon me all at once.

  I was trapped.

  Captured.

  A prisoner.

  This was the kind of thing that only happened on CSI. Only happened to other people. Not me. I did not want to make the local news. I was not that girl on the side of the milk carton who’d been abducted, whose mom was frantically going out of her mind with worry.

  Mom.

  She was going to be beside herself. What would she do without me? I hated having to think about her mourning for me. What she would go through? How long would it take her to notice I was missing? Sometime days went by without us really seeing each other, just a text here and there to make sure I was alive. I knew Devin would take care of her, but it had always been just her and I. She needed me.

  I needed her.

  Desperately.

  Right now I would have given my right arm to see her, just one more time before I left this life, because surely this was the end. I had no plan. No means of escape. No one probably even knew I was missing.

  Not true.

  Chase.

  He would have known something was wrong. I had to believe that he would have f
elt something. At the very least, he would have sensed that I was no longer near. For the first time, this soulbond meant something more than just a nuisance. It might save me. At least it gave me hope.

  I’d barely had time to bask in the glow of being in love with Chase and now…

  Would we ever see each other again? I was glad now more than ever that I’d actually had the gumption to tell him how I felt. It had surprised not only him, but me. Picturing his face, his silvery eyes, that impossible smirk, his dark and deadly voice, I missed him miserably.

  My chest began to pang from being separated, knowing I was moments away from extreme panic. Memories of the woods, of voices, and the little tabby kitty I’d wanted to save came crashing back like a bad train wreck. I thought back, racking my brain for an explanation. I remembered someone sneaking up behind me. I remembered fighting and thinking if I could just scream Chase’s name, but I’d never gotten the chance.

  I had been silenced. After that it was just blank, like a gaping wormhole. There were a few brief seconds where I remembered a nasty, rancid scent.

  It must have been chloroform.

  That explained the quick and sudden blackout. What kind of sick and crazy person would kidnap me?

  Really only one name came to mind. Yet I was still having a difficult time believing that this was real. It was too much of a cowink-a-dink that I just so happened to know a girl who had been missing for year and out-of-the-blue returned. Now her one mission in life was to kill half-demons, moi included.

  Deep down I really wanted to believe that the old Emma Travis loved, fought for, was still in there. However, under recent developments, I was going to have to think Chase might have been right all along.

  Emma was gone.

  And by gone, I meant in the sense that the person she used to be had taken a hike, checked out, gone over the deep end. She was a ticking bomb, a loose cannon, and utterly deranged. This was my professional diagnosis.

  Slipping off the metal bed, I stood legs wobbly and shaky as they touched the concrete floor. I knew in the pit of my stomach that there was no feasible way out of this chamber of terror, but I had to try. Even for just that teeny, tiny sliver of a chance that maybe someone screwed up and I could escape.

  Running my hands along the block walls for stability (I thought I might pass out again) and also to check for anything out of the ordinary. Like I knew what that would be. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t Agent Hotchner or Houdini. This wasn’t a video game. There was no restart. There was no do over. And I wasn’t an escape artist.

  As far as I was concerned, this place was Fort Knox.

  I pressed my palm against the frigid bars of my cell dejected, hands shaking. The distance between Chase and I had never felt so vast or dire. The aching in my chest started, telling me we’d been apart too long. It would only increase in tenfolds.

  Gripping the bars with both hands, every muscle locked up. I felt claustrophobic and knew I had to get out of this room. I don’t know what came over me. One minute I was shaking from head-to-toe, the next I was rattling the bars and screaming at the top of my lungs.

  All for nothing, except my throat was on fire, scorched and dry. I swear I swallowed blood. There hadn’t been a peep, not a single movement from anywhere in the vicinity. It made me wonder if I was in a padded room.

  Just fan-freaking-tastic.

  When it became obvious that no one was coming, I began to pace, which was quite difficult. There wasn’t much space and I ended more or less shuffling in place. Finally, I retreated to the bed with nothing else to do. Staring at the white walls, I figured I would go insane in a day. The least they could have done was giving me an Xbox, hell I would have even taken a Gameboy at this rate. Anything,

  Pulling the quilt around me like a cape, I prepared myself for what would no doubt be the longest night of my life. The stark darkness of the evening filled the tiny room, except for the sliver of light from under the door.

  The smell of the woods still lingered on my skin and painfully made me think of Chase. My chest ached in brutal pain, heavy with sorrow, fear, and missing Chase. I wished I could have seen the moon, the stars, knowing that he was out there under the same sky, frantic with worry for me. In a small way, it would have given me comfort, but in a windowless room, I had nothing but memories.

  Curled on the small bed, I couldn’t hold the tears a bay any longer. The floodgates opened like the breaking of a dam. Fat tears spilled down my cheeks, soaking the pillow. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. My shoulders shook in time with my loud blubbering. An unflattering sob snuck out from my mouth and I sniffled disgustingly. Not only were my cheeks streaked with red-hot tears, snot was dripping from my nose.

  On and on it went until there wasn’t an ounce of fluid let in me, just those clenching dry heaves that were doing a number on my tummy.

  When the hiccupping sobs stopped, a deep ache settled into my belly and muscles. I clamped my mouth shut until my teeth throbbed, refusing to shed another tear for these assholes. Then out of the dark, I heard the unmistakable sound of keys.

  Someone was unlocking my chamber.

  Chapter 22

  I watched in blunt fear as the lock on the heavy armored door turned and clicked. The unknown of whom or what was behind the door ate away my backbone. I had the urge to hide my head under the pillow, plug my ears, and hum a lullaby to myself. Anything to pretend this was all just a very bad and vivid dream.

  Except this nightmare was the real deal.

  A burst of light broke through the darkened room at the same time the metal door scraped over the concrete floor. Blinking several times, I hugged my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible in the corner of the bed.

  It was pointless.

  The bed took up most of the small space, and I was hard to ignore in my white long-sleeve shirt. It practically glowed in the dark for heaven’s sake. As my eyes adjusted, a profile of a woman began to take shape.

  I expected to see the nasty Emma but the face that became clear was similar to Emma’s, older. There was a strong resemblance, different hair color. Hers was a pale blonde compared to Emma’s. But the eyes, there were unmistakably Emma’s. As green as summer grass, but they lacked Emma’s cynic nature. She looked so darn familiar, but I couldn’t place her face with a name. The woman was thin and had a soft, gentle smile on her lips, so opposite of Emma’s hardass persona. It felt false and out of place considering the circumstances. She carried a tray of food that made my stomach lurch.

  Hello, I’m a prisoner, my mind screamed. This wasn’t an extended vacation, and I hadn’t ordered room service.

  There was nothing to possibly smile about. I wanted this woman to cut the bullshit and not give me any pitied smiles. It hit me then, why she looked so familiar to me. I’d seen this woman once before, outside the tiny dance studio in town. She had been with a little girl and her husband.

  She was Emma’s mom.

  It was a family biz after all, and yet I was stunned to learn that she was involved. I couldn’t see her as being the mastermind behind the madness. That had to be all Emma’s dad, who I yet to official meet.

  No rush on my part. I would be just as content to never set eyes on the nutjob.

  She walked just inside the doorway, blocking the exit. My eyes flickered to the opened door and all I could think was, if I could just get through that door. The only thing standing between me and my freedom was a woman at least twice my age and not bigger than a stick. She looked like a push-over, nothing I couldn’t throw my weight into.

  “You don’t want to try that,” Emma’s mom warned in a quiet and calm voice, sad almost.

  I stayed silent, just staring at her while my mind worked like a hamster wheel, spinning and spinning. Why shouldn’t I try to get free? I could totally take her. How much worse could it be outside these four walls?

  She must have seen the doubt in my eyes. “I’m not alone,” she sighed. “There are men stationed outside this r
oom. Do you think you can get past them all? Men trained, armed, and ruthless.”

  My stomach dropped miles. My shoulders sagged. My eyes brimmed with hopelessness. “You’re Emma’s mom,” I said, surprised at how foreign my voice sounded.

  Mrs. Deen’s whole face lit up at them mention of Emma. It made me wonder if she ever got to spend quality time with her daughter or if husband monopolized it all with his grueling-demon-hate training exercises to kill.

  “I am.” She set the tray of food she’d been carrying on a tiny table right inside the door. Again, the sight of food made me what to vomit all over the pristine room. I averted my eyes before I emptied my stomach. “Here, I brought you something to eat. You’ll need to keep up your strength.”

  “Strength?” I echoed, afraid of what she meant. They were just going to kill me in the end anyway, what did I need strength for? I wasn’t deluding myself to think that they weren’t going to hurt me. Emma had made it plainly clear that she wanted us dead. I would rather starve to death then lead Chase, Travis, or Lexi here. But still…“For what?” I couldn’t refrain from asking, my own rapidly progressing thoughts got the best of me.

  Her green eyes got gloomy. “It’s not for me to say.”

  I got pissed. “The hell it isn’t.”

  Irrational anger was what it was all about.

  My emotions were all over the place, turning fear into anger. Anger because she wouldn’t help me. Anger that I found myself locked up and alone. Anger because Chase wasn’t here…with me…for me. But at the same time I was eternally grateful that he wasn’t locked up with me, knowing that I didn’t have it in me to watch the guy I love lose his pride. His honor. And most importantly his life.

  Chase would stop at nothing to protect me, even if that meant giving up his own. Possibly even giving up the lives of those he loved the most. He might not have said that he loved me, but I knew in the deeps of my soul the lengths he would go to protect me, and that had to mean something.