Then Victor went and ruined it all when he burst out laughing and turned to dream guy and said: “She doesn’t even know who the hell you are? Ah I can’t wait to tell the guys.”
* * *
Hunter let out a heavy sigh, this was just not his day. “We haven’t been formally introduced.”
“This goes beyond formal introductions.” Victor laughed.
Hunter was going to have to punch his brother in the face. He stepped around his laughing brother and looked at Lailah, “I am Hunter, and you have to trust me when I tell you, you are not safe here.”
“Okay, but why?” Lailah asked looking around. “I wasn’t safe at my apartment because there was some freak watching me there. And now Detective Banner has lost his shit, so I’m not safe here. Where exactly am I going to be safe?” Lailah asked. Hunter was glad she wasn’t crying. Getting mad would serve her a lot better than bursting into tears like he would have thought a female might have done.
“Like you heard me tell my brother, who if he doesn’t stop laughing soon is going to be bleeding on the floor, I would like to take you some place safe. I would like to take you to the Infernos,” Hunter explained.
Lailah was already shaking her head. “Um no, that isn’t going to work for me because the Infernos don’t really exists. That is just a story.” She shook her head again. “I’ll go get you the book, it’s a very interesting read,” Lailah said her voice getting really high almost hysterical.
Hunter grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, not hard, just enough to get her attention. “Lailah, you know Others exists. You know you are special. So why can’t you believe the Infernos exists? Hold it together,” Hunter said in the calmest voice he could muster.
Maybe after everything Lailah was finally going into shock. Hysterics over tears, Hunter was torn. “My life is falling apart.. If I believe the Infernos are real, then I have truly fallen down the rabbit hole,” she admitted.
“Do you have that book too?” Victor asked finally sobering.
“Shut up,” Hunter growled over his shoulder to Victor. His brother wasn’t helping.
“Yes,” Lailah said at the same time.
“Here is what we are going to do we are going to call the police and report a robbery, then we will untie your friend and then we will leave. Victor and I will take you back to your apartment where you will get a few things and then we will take you to the Infernos where you will be safe,” Hunter calmly said he needed Lailah to listen to everything he had to say and most importantly he needed her to follow his instructions. “Do you understand?”
Lailah nodded but she had a deer in the headlights look, “Repeat to me what we are doing?” Hunter asked her. Lailah repeated the plan and he nodded.
“Okay let’s get your friend untied and I will plant memories in her mind you didn’t feel well so you went home,” Hunter said.
Lailah was shaking her head, “That won’t work. I’ve been staying in the apartment above the bookstore, because of the creep watching my apartment since yesterday.”
Hunter groaned, that explained where she had gone. With his luck, the Fallen were waiting back at her apartment for Lailah to return. Waiting to hear from Uriel. Hunter should report back to Uriel, letting him know he had located Lailah. And he would do just that. When Hell froze over. Uriel and the Fallen were a bunch of idiots who couldn’t watch water boil much less Lailah.
“Okay, so I will let her know you got a call from someone in your apartment complex that the guy was gone?” Hunter explained, “And you went home to check?”
“Yes, that will work,” Lailah said.
“Perfect.” He pushed her toward Victor. “You take her to her apartment and I will meet you there.” Hunter was asking a lot of his brother.
Victor nodded, “So most people hate Flashing but I promise if you do as I tell you it will be fine.”
A moment later they were gone, Hunter untied the other female and Tread her mind planting the suggestions and then placed her out in the store waking her just as he left the store. Hunter then walked up and down the street looking for Banner but he didn’t see him or sense him anywhere. There was something about the man, that just didn’t sit well with Hunter. He wondered who Banner really worked for. If Hunter was a betting man he would go with the Tribunal. But without further evidence, it was a stretch, the Tribunal typically didn’t use mortals and Banner was definitely a mortal. Hunter knew he needed to get Lailah off of the mortal plane before he turned his sights back to Banner. Once he did he would hunt Banner down and make him pay for terrorizing Lailah. Hunter swore, he didn’t like not having answers. Especially when there were innocents involved. Grinding his teeth together, he let the shadows wrap themselves around him and he waited until the police arrived and he was sure Lailah’s boss and the bookstore were safe before he Flashed to Lailah’s apartment.
* * *
Victor was fending off blows from a Fallen when Hunter Flashed into Lailah’s apartment If Victor hadn’t looked like he was having fun Hunter would have intervened. What he wanted to know was where the hell Lailah was.
Hunter rushed down the hall toward Lailah’s bedroom.
“Lailah?” Hunter called out.
Lailah rushed out of her bedroom and into Hunter arms, “Hunter,” Lailah breathed his name. Hunter wrapped his arms around her, “These men are trying to take me with them, they are saying I have to go with them, that I belong with them.”
“The fuck you do,” Hunter growled pulling her behind him as another Fallen came out of Lailah’s room and right at Hunter.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Hunter said to the Fallen. They didn’t know what they were doing, they were basically children. They had Fallen from the Elysian Fields and a collective which told them what to think and to feel. If they were still in the care of Uriel, they were barely Fallen. Almost like newborns to the mortal plane. Hurting them was wrong. They were still disciples of a God and Uriel, not like Marcus or regular men. These Fallen only knew what they were told. And Hunter didn’t like having to hurt them.
“She is ours,” The large Fallen raged. He was a big blonde guy with blue eyes and meaty fists which he swung at Hunter. Hunter easily ducked out of the way. “Ours to worship after her transition. And she will not be soiled by you Reapers.” The last part the Fallen screamed. As he rushed Hunter.
Hunter turned so he could grab Lailah moving her out of the way just in the nick of time. But it meant taking a solid hit to his side, which took Hunter to his knees. The Fallen and Hunter slid on the hardwood floor taking out a side table as they went, a tangle of arms and legs.
Hunter swung an elbow, connecting with the Fallen’s nose and felt it crunch. The Fallen let out a gurgle of pain. Hunter scrambled to his feet, he saw Victor had the other Fallen from the living room, in a sleeper hold Victor gave Hunter a wink. Hunter rolled his eyes and turned back to his opponent.
“We want the same thing, Lailah’s safety. The Reapers are better equipped to keep her safe,” Hunter tried.
“You are vial creatures, with black souls. How can you even think you could be in the same room with such a creature of light?” the Fallen said with such fervor spittle shot from his mouth.
“Hey my soul is not black,” Victor said defensively from the living room.
“Not helping,” Hunter shouted over his shoulder.
“May not be helpful but it’s true. Just ask Elle,” Victor shouted back.
The Fallen looked so incensed at this byplay between the two Reapers, Hunter wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just stroke out right there in the hallway, his eyes bulged out of his head and he turned an unhealthy shade of red. Hunter untangled himself from the larger man and jumped to his feet crouching down into a fighting stance he waited positioning himself between Lailah, who had ran down the hall and the Fallen.
“We don’t need to fight,” Hunter reiterated.
“You’re correct leave the angel here and no harms needs to befall you,” Hunter sighed at t
he Fallen’s words. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
“Not happening,” and motioned for the Fallen to move forward. The Fallen actually growled at Hunter.
Hunter had had just about enough of the Fallen and was about to launch himself at the big guy when he saw Lailah approached from down the hall. Hunter was about to intervene afraid Lailah would hurt herself. When she lifted a bat, she swung it with all the might she had, taking the Fallen out at the knees. Hunter cringed when he heard bones crunch.
The Fallen let out an anguished cry and hit the floor like ton of bricks. Hunter blinked a couple of times unsure he was actually seeing this, then stared at Lailah like he had never seen her before. Lailah gave him a beautiful smile.
“I am so tired of being talked about like I am not here. Of being told who I am, and what to do. This shit is getting old. Plus I’ve lived in Chicago, on my own for five years I can take care of myself if I’m not surprised. The men in my life lately, I swear, they need to take a chill pill,” Lailah said swinging the bat to her shoulder.
The Fallen tried to work his way up to his knees but Lailah wasn’t having it. Victor and Hunter stepped up to stop him but Lailah was faster, she swung the bat taking the guy right in the stomach.
Victor and Hunter both took a step back, the girl knew how to swing a bat. Hunter didn’t know about Victor but he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that bat.
“Now somebody tell me what the hell they were talking about. Or I’m a swinging, and I’m not holding back because I’ve have a bad couple of days,” Lailah said placing the bat on her shoulder again.
Victor threw his hands up and walked back into the living room. Hunter’s mouth dropped open, he was dumbfounded and honestly just a little turned on. Okay more than a little. “Shit woman,” was all he could say. And he just stood there for a moment.
He opted for tying up the Fallen before answering her questions, “Let’s get these guys tied up. And I’ll answer your questions.”
“So Fallen Angels, like real Angels with wings and everything? Like flying around, with halos and stuff? White robs, and singing?” Lailah asked for the hundredth time. If she asked Hunter to take off the Fallen’s shirts again he was going to shake her.
“They are unconscious, they won’t know if we take their shirts off,” Lailah whined again.
“They don’t have wings anymore,” Victor tried to defuse the situation. “Their wings were taken from them when they fell.”
Lailah stood up and looked at them, “Oh how sad. Do you think it hurt? When they fell? When they lost their wings”
“If there’s a god.” Hunter snapped under his breath. He was getting more pissed by the second, “Maybe they deserved being ejected from the Elysian Fields. Have you thought of that?” He finally asked.
“Oh, what do you think you have to do to be ejected from Heaven?” Lailah asked, making Victor laugh, and Hunter roll his eyes.
“Elysian Fields. The Angels are not part of Heaven,” Hunter corrected her.
“There now?” Lailah asked shocked. “What else don’t I know, I’m so uninformed,” then she shrugged her shoulders, “The Elysian Fields then. What do you think you have to do to be ejected from the Elysian Fields?”
“When one of them wakes up we can torture them into giving up their secrets,” Victor promised.
“Seriously,” Lailah practically shouted with glee.
“No.” Hunter grunted.
“Yup.” Victor said at the same time.
Lailah rolled her eyes. “So which is it?”
“You do not get to torture the Fallen, Lailah.” Hunter told her.
Lailah’s shoulders fell, “You’re no fun.”
“We’ll do it when he isn’t looking.” Victor whispered loudly, making Lailah laugh. “I’ve always wanted to know what these prickly bastards are hiding.” Victor said giving the Fallen at his feet a disgusted look. Hunter was going to kill them both.
“What’s it like, do you think? The Elysian Fields?” Lailah finally asked giving the Fallen at her feet a thoughtful look. Making both Hunter and Victor stop dead and just look at her.
“Oh. Sorry. My bad, you wouldn’t know would you…,” Lailah said with a grimace and then looked anywhere but at the two Reapers.
“You do realize these are Fallen Angels, right? Disgraced Fallen Angels. There is a reason they were cast out,” Hunter felt compelled to add.
“Yes, you’ve been telling me that for the last thirty minutes. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve never met an Angel, Fallen or otherwise, I find it fascinating.” Lailah shrugged again. She now stood next to the couch they had pushed up against the window so they could truss up their prisoners she still had her bat that she now leaned on as she regarded their captives.
“So they aren’t the romantic heroes writers write about in all the romance novels?” Lailah asked.
Victor snorted and kicked the guy he had tied up, “You tell me. Do they look like romantic heroes to you?”
Hunter watched Lailah intently after Victor’s question. “They didn’t really ask if I wanted to go with them. They didn’t give me a choice. They just demanded I go with them. They were spouting off about me being their savior. What was that all about anyway?” Lailah asked with a heavy sigh.
She rubbed her palm against her for forehead, “All I know is for the last month my life has quickly been falling apart.”
“All I can tell you Lailah, is we will not force you to do anything you do not want to do,” Hunter told her.
Victor turned to Hunter with an incredulous look, he just glared back. He knew exactly what Victor was thinking. Victor couldn’t believe Hunter would give Lailah an option, give her the choice. Especially now they had royally pissed off the Fallen and in return Uriel, the prick. Which meant Marcus wouldn’t be happy, and, in turn, Celeste. Dante was bound to find out exactly what Hunter was up to on the mortal plane and the shit was about to hit the fan in more ways than one.
Once Dante was notified of what his offspring were up too Dante wouldn’t be happy either. The last thing Hunter should be doing was giving Lailah a choice in the matter. If Hunter knew what was good for him he would throw a bag over Lailah’s head and sweep her off to the Inferno’s where she would be safe regardless of what Dante had to say about the situation. It wasn’t the most ideal option, but Hunter had to let her make the choice. He couldn’t bring himself to force her.
There were some rules to the Infernos;, you were either there by judgment. Or there by your own choice. So he could force Lailah to go to the Inferno’s but if he did that then she could leave anytime she wanted. But if he gave her the choice when she got to the Infernos he could keep her there because she chose to go there of her own free will, and because he was a Reaper he could claim her and keep her there by rule of the Infernos. But she had to make the choice. He wasn’t going to make a mistake and take her there by force and lose her.
“Maybe you should start with why I need the cavalry in the first place? Do you know what Jimmy is in to? Why do the Fallen want him so badly?” Lailah asked Hunter.
Hunter seriously thought about lying to her. But just as quickly decided against it. Lailah deserved the truth, “They aren’t looking for James, Lailah. They only want you. They are only here to protect you. This has nothing to do with Jimmy.”
Lailah was shaking her head, “No, this is all about Jimmy. It’s always about Jimmy. I have nothing to do with—” she waved her hands around wildly. “The paranormal world. Jimmy does, not me. This is all his fault and when I find him I’m going to kick his ass.”
Lailah bent down to pick up her bat which had fallen in her crazed speech. “None of this has anything to do with me. I didn’t do anything to deserve this shit, and now I have a detective following me, Reapers lying in pools of blood, and Reapers appearing out of thin air. Crazy Angels trying to kidnap me. No, this isn’t about me, it can’t be. None of this shit happened until Jimmy disappeared.” She finally sho
uted at Hunter and Victor, “NONE. OF. IT!”
Victor gave Hunter a knowing look, “I’m about to bounce. You got this?”
“If you leave me with her like this, I swear by all the gods…” Hunter stumbled.
Victor smiled, “What?”
Hunter was desperate, “Please?”
“I have a warm woman waiting for me, and you have…” He looked over at Lailah. Who was stomping around the room, with her bat. She looked like she wanted to take someone out again.
“I don’t think I like you much,” Lailah told Victor pointing her bat at him. “An frankly I’m in the mood to take someone out, are you volunteering, Reaper?”
Victor burst out laughing, “You know if I had a dollar for every time a woman told me that.” Then to Hunter, Victor said: “She needs to get her shit together and then we need to get her to the Infernos before Uriel comes for his guys.”
Hunter couldn’t agree with Victor fast enough. Lailah might be on the verge of a nervous breakdown but the faster Hunter got Lailah off the mortal plane the better.
“Lailah, you need to make your decision.” He told her, “The Fallen, or us.”
Lailah threw her hands in the air, “I need to pack a few things. What do I even have to wear in the Infernos? Is it hot there? Humid,” Lailah shouted as she walked down the hall toward her room. The bat in one hand and rubbing her head with the other.
“You realize she has another headache,” Victor said. “You can see it in her eyes. She’s in pain.”
“It’s from her head injury,” Hunter insisted.
“Yeah… Keep telling yourself that,” Victor rolled his eyes. “Or maybe she is changing faster than you think. You need to tell her who and what she is, because from what I can tell she has no idea,” Victor said shaking his head. “Her head is going to explode if she continues much longer, without someone relieving the pressure of her power.”
“It’s not really my place to tell her,” Hunter stated.
Reaper Dreaming: A Reaper Novel Page 8
