Imps & Angels

by Indra Frost

  I had a suspicion that his master was going to try and use my contract to his advantage, I just didn't know how. And that worried me.

  I looked over the four men in front of me, once again admiring their looks, but also taking in the rag tag group. I wasn’t sure why they were able to accept the hellhound into their ranks so easily, but he fit like he had always been with them. Maybe he had. I didn't know. Like Reed had pointed out, I wasn't a part of their team, and I never would be.

  I was the outsider, the one that didn’t belong. No amount of trying would ever change that. I was too evil, too damaged. Besides, if everything went according to plan, then I wouldn’t be alive long enough for it to matter.

  If Blayze didn’t already know what my actions would bring, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. If he was still able to feel things like guilt, then I wouldn’t be the one to cause that emotion.

  I almost started to smile, thinking about the ways I could go out and make it look like an accident. I would go out with a bang, and I would take Greg and Selasi with me.

  “Yes?” I finally decided to break the silence, playing dumb to what they wanted from me.

  The streets were becoming more populated as time went on, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Curiosity over unfamiliar people being in this area was bound to draw a crowd.

  I wasn’t sure if Clara was still the owner of this territory. If she wasn’t, things were about to get hostile. Hell, even if she was they might get hostile. She wasn’t known for her warm welcome, but she was a good ally to have.

  A man stepped out onto the street behind the guys and looked at me, showing me a bright symbol that looked like a tattoo glowing on his neck. After making sure I saw him, he turned and walked away.

  I watched as his figure grew more and more distant.

  The guys blocked my way, waiting for me to say something. I knew they wanted me to join them and offer my help, but that wasn’t going to happen. When they still didn’t say anything, and I had had enough of their soulful staring, I decided I would ignore them for the time being. They weren’t my enemies, but they weren’t my friends, either. I was bound to be alone, for my safety, and the safety of anyone I may get close to.

  I walked towards them, keeping my face blank even though I was amused, as they shuffled out of my way. I ignored them like I should have the first time they came calling, knowing it was for the best. A twinge in my chest told me that I had waited too long to push them away, and at least some part of me was invested.

  They stepped aside, their eyes burning into the back of my neck as they watched me walk away. Not bothering to try and stop me this time.

  My chest squeezed and I couldn't help but scoff at the foreign feeling. I was hurt that they didn't follow me. How stupid was that? Following me would result in their death. I should be happy the idiots finally decided to smarten up. But it still stung, and despite everything I was telling myself, there was a part of me that had hoped to be able to make a connection with someone. Or multiple someone’s in this case.

  I squished those thoughts a moment later as I heard their steps start up behind me; following me at a distance. Some part of me seemed to warm, while a bigger part of me knew that I should get rid of them. I wasn't going to be able to ditch them, not without the chance of losing my guide.

  The man I was following turned down another alley, not looking back once. It wasn't unusual, Clara was fond of her games. I wasn't going to be able to convince her not to do this, she was too paranoid for that. Always moving, always changing her looks. If the crazed witch I was looking for was smart, she would do the same, but then I wouldn't be able to get her help.

  I turned down the same alley as the man, ducking as the sword aimed for my head slashed through the air above me. I threw a punch, surprising my attacker and making his grip loosen on the weapon. I grabbed his wrist, twisting it and making him cry out in pain before he finally dropped it.

  At the same time as I did that, I bent forward and used his weight as a counter balance for a kick I aimed for the man coming up behind me. The others caught up to us, but Jesse held them back as I took down the second man. I watched as he fell to the ground and then I swung around to the shifter in front of me, knocking him out with one punch.

  The vampire, my second opponent, groaned from his place on the ground, rocking back to look up at me, before looking at his companion on the ground. The first man was out cold. After a moment I held out a hand to the vampire to help him up. He smiled as he took it, allowing me to help him to his feet.

  "You've gotten slow," an husky voice said from the open door at the other end of the alley. "And fat."

  There was a squawk of protest behind me, but my grin widened, covering my face. If there was ever a woman who I would consider a mother, it was this one right here.

  She was rude, sarcastic, and would sell me down the river if it would make her a quick dollar. But she was also strong, and well-loved by those in her territory despite that. She was also the woman who taught me how to fight.

  "And you've gotten old. Your wrinkle cream must not be working."

  It was the vampire's turn to gasp as he dropped my hand and backed away like I had set him on fire.

  My hair flew back as she used her speed to get down the alley in record time. I didn't even flinch as she held her dagger to my throat. Not many people could get away with talking back to the legend in front of me, but I wasn't afraid of her.

  After a tense moment she lowered her blade. Stepping forward with a smile, she reached out and pulled me into a hug. I allowed the contact but didn't embrace her back. It was my turn to tense as I waited for her punishment to be over. She knew I wasn't comfortable with physical contact, but this was her petty revenge for my comment. Even if she had dealt the first blow.

  She released me and stepped back, raising her brow in question. I knew what she wanted to ask, but I wasn't going to answer her. She was attuned to death, and furthermore, she was attuned to pain. My pain.

  "What are you doing, daughter mine, that has you so close to the death that's been chasing you for years?"

  I frowned, looking at the men behind me who were now watching with mixed expressions of concern. I hadn't wanted them to know anything about the death that was coming from me. I just hoped they didn't take her seriously. But all of them, even the hellhound, looked worried about what her words could mean. Except maybe Jesse, the analytical observer who was taking everything in stride.

  I couldn't answer her with them watching me. Clara knew about the contract. She knew almost everything there was to know about my life. But that tended to happen when a banshee screamed for your death at the age of thirteen. She had seen all the possible ways I could die. It was right after I had been sold to Greg and I hadn't known what she was, or that she would see so much with one touch.

  Normal banshee's didn’t see as much as she did, but she wasn't normal. She was also a half breed, though she was born from two different types of demons. Not completely unheard of, but as with any half-breed, life wasn't pleasant for her.

  "I'm going against my contract. Lucy's dead." My words were clipped, but I didn't want anyone to see how much I was hurting.

  Even that sentence was a flame to my bones. Something dangerous crossed through Clara's eyes, and for a moment it looked like she cared about what would happen to me. But that couldn’t be true. Like Walter with Lucy, she must have been worried about losing one of her top money makers. Fighting lessons didn't come free, after all.

  After each lesson, I had to put those new maneuvers to the test. She would give me tasks to complete, things she wanted, or needed to be done. For every task I was able to complete, she would put some of the money towards my lessons, the rest went to her.

  I didn’t mind, I needed the training, and the work she gave me was easy. More often than not it was a private security gig in a club. Sometimes it was for one of her people when they needed to leave the territory. It wasn’t hard, and nothing
ever happened. Occasionally, she would send me to collect items that she felt were in the wrong hands, or that she wanted. She ran a black market for those items, fencing them off only to those people she felt wouldn’t use them for the wrong reasons. She only sold to those she trusted not to go against her, even if only because they were scared of retribution.

  Greg never found out as we had worked out a way to keep him in the dark, and most of the jobs were done after the fights at night. Those were the days that he never bothered to check in on me.

  I never got to know who paid her for the items she told me to get, and to be honest I didn't care. I only wanted to get stronger, strong enough I could put up a fight when Selasi came for me. He had just come sooner than I thought he would.

  I honestly hadn't thought he would be able to get out of Hell. I was planning on having to go back to kill him. While this would have been easier, it also came with more problems.

  Selasi didn’t care about collateral damage. He would kill everything in his way if he felt like it. The fact that there weren’t more murder scenes like the one in the warehouse was shocking. He wasn't patient, either, so I had a feeling that if he didn't get what he wanted soon, things would escalate.

  “And I heard Selasi is here?” Her voice was cold when she said his name.

  I nodded, fear trying to rise up before I squished it down viciously.

  That was one of the many ways she had seen me die, so she had demanded to know who he was. I had given her the barest details. She had wanted to know why I wanted to learn to fight. I had explained with as little detail as possible, but between that and the visions she was able to figure it out.

  After that, she started training me to kill Supes as well as general self-defense. I was grateful to her for it, even if it wasn’t out of the goodness of her heart.

  If I was being honest, I cared about her like a child would care for their parents. But unlike Lucy, she didn’t lie to me that she cared back. After a while I was able to convince myself that I only thought of her as an ally. The fact that she was the first one I ran to after this mess indicated I hadn’t been able to fool myself.

  She probably knew why I was here, too. It was partly because I wanted to make sure that she was safe and not dead like Lucy.

  Now that I was here, though, I worried that I had led Selasi right to her. It was clear he had someone watching me, someone that was good enough that I wasn’t able to sense them. It was probably his right hand man.

  The guys were silent through our exchange, and I was surprised that Clara had allowed them to stay. She didn’t know them, and she didn’t know what they were capable of. At least, I didn’t think she did, but she had her own ways of getting information. I wouldn’t put it past her to know more about them than I did.

  I would need to get her alone to get all the dirty details on the attractive bunch of guys. I turned a bit to look them over, curious about what she may know about these men I had debated working with. They were the most attractive men that I had ever seen, and every time I saw them, they seemed to grow more so than before.

  Clara sent a smirk my way, like she knew what I was thinking. I wouldn’t put that past her either, she had basically raised me, after all. She knew things about me that even I didn’t know.

  Besides, she could see the guys. She should understand my dilemma.

  “What’s going on?” Walker looked between us, the confusion clear in his voice.

  Jesse still had a hand on the wizards arm, like he needed to be held back. I raised my brow, giving them an odd look.

  What did Walker think he was going to do?

  “Yes, Alyth, why did you bring your cop friends to see me?” My head jerked around to see Clara giving me a look of both amusement and concern.

  “What?” The look I turned to give the guys behind me was accusing, like I hadn't known that they were cops this whole time.

  I'm not sure how she had figured it out so fast. They didn’t come across as overly stiff or judgmental. All my previous experience with authority had led me to believe those were universal traits. Then it occurred to me that she may have seen a new vision of my death that included them.

  If they were adamant in sticking around until Greg was gone, then that could very well be the case. I would die when he did, so seeing them at the time of my death meant that they would be sticking around.

  I had mixed feelings about that. Though, I was glad that, at least for a little while, I wouldn't be alone. But staying with me would put a target on their heads. If Selasi reacted so badly to a friend sleeping in my bed when I wasn't there, I couldn't imagine what he would do if he saw the way the guys were hanging around me.

  But the reminder that they were cops made me pause. I didn’t work with cops; Walter had left a bad taste for them in my mouth. Not to mention the fact that I didn't exactly work with people that were on the up and up. Clara was a good example of that. I believed that underneath it all she was a good person. She never did anything to hurt people that didn't deserve it. But that line was thin, and it wouldn't be hard for her to cross it.

  “I’m sorry Clara, I didn’t know.” I looked at the guys out of the corner of my eye, thinking about what a perfect opportunity this could be. “I’ll get rid of them.”

  "Mhmm," She hummed, her amusement clear.

  She didn't believe me, and with good reason. It was taking a lot for me not to laugh too.

  I took a step towards the men, and Copeland stepped forward with his hands up. Blayze got into a fighting position, looking like he was ready to take me on, and I looked at him, amused.

  I wasn’t planning to fight them, I just wanted them gone. Clara would be moving again after this meeting anyway. They wouldn’t be able to find her without her knowing about it beforehand. She wasn't in any danger from them.

  “We’re not here to cause trouble, we’re on a specific mission. Anything outside of that doesn’t concern us.” Copeland spoke to Clara, looking at her from over my head.

  The urge to pout was strong, not liking that he was able to overlook me so easily. Whether that was due to the attraction I felt for them, or my pride as a fighter I couldn't be sure, but I didn't want to look at the emotion too closely. I looked away so that I didn't say something I would regret.

  Jesse tilted his head, eyeing me as I did the same to him, tilting my head right back. Something deep inside me perked up with his intense, searching gaze. I don’t know why, but I was curious about him. Out of all the guys, he was the most interesting.

  He was obviously intelligent, but not so great with people. The way the others treated him let me know that they respected him. But they were also used to his blunt, and sometimes offensive, comments. I didn’t think he meant them to be offensive. It was more like he didn’t see the use in sugar coating things and said exactly what he was thinking. I had to admit, it made him the one I trusted the most out of this group of jolly officers.

  I raised my brow at him, and he looked back, appearing, for the first time since I had met him, unsure. He looked at Copeland and Walker for reassurance, or some sort of answer.

  “Jesse?” I asked him, stepping forward a bit to get his attention.

  Blayze stepped in front of him, almost like he was ready to protect the winged panther should I decide to attack. Not that he needed the protection. He was more than capable of protecting himself.

  If I had intended to hurt him, that was.

  Again, I was struck by the odd picture that they made together. The fact that Blayze was willing to protect someone else was what took me off guard the most. It was such an odd gesture for a demon. Completely out of character. Demons didn’t help others, didn’t make friends. They made allies that would be able to help them move up in the hierarchy in hell. These guys wouldn’t be good allies for that. In fact, if anyone were to find out, it would actually hurt his standing. A demon that had friends, he would be a laughing stock.

  Right before they killed him.

  Jesse looke
d to the others again, but they just shrugged, not sure what to tell him. He looked at me, eyes searching for something. I almost felt bad about putting him on the spot, but he would be honest. It was more than I could say for the others.

  “They were worried.” His response was curt, and it made me smile. “They wanted to make sure you were safe.”

  “Does that mean you didn’t care if I was safe?” I gave him a fake pout, trying not to laugh when he shifted on his feet.

  He hadn’t said anything about them being cops here to investigate a crime, but to him it might not be relevant. If that was the case, then they really didn’t care where we were, and who I was meeting up with.

  “What? I’m not…I didn’t…I didn’t say that.” He was stumbling over his words now, and I couldn’t hold back the smile any longer.

  “It’s fine Jesse. You told me everything I needed to know.” I turned away from him as he looked at the others who were just as confused as he was about what had just happened.

  “Satisfied?” I looked at Clara, who also had an amused look on her face.

  She shrugged, uncaring. “If you trust them, then I do, too.”

  I glared at her. She knew full well I didn’t trust anyone. I looked back at the guys standing there uncertainly, shifting their weight from foot to foot. Then to Jesse who still had a confused look on his face.

  I wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he was watching me with something new in his eyes, something I hadn’t seen before, and I didn’t recognize it.

  Reed appeared from around the corner, putting his phone away and I looked over to see Copeland do the same. I frowned and debated whether I should ask Clara to help me get rid of them, but again my gaze was drawn back to Jesse.

  I guess, in a way I did trust one of them. I just hoped that small amount of trust wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass.

  “Then let’s get out of the open, his spies are everywhere.” Clara turned and headed to the door, not commenting on the new arrival.

  I followed her along with her men, not letting on how concerned I was about this situation as we were escorted inside. The vampire was carrying the shifter, who was still knocked out, over his shoulder. The sound of steps behind me letting me know that the guys were also following. And I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that.