by G. Bailey
“She won’t be harmed. We are not the monsters here,” he promises me, almost sounding honest enough for me to believe him. Almost.
“She is a child, and your people just held a dagger to her throat,” I bite out.
“You know as well as I what she is, what she will be. She will be a monster, and you won’t be able to stop her. A witch’s mark is their destiny, and what she will do, will get her and everyone near her killed,” Connor replies.
“Hali is no monster, nor will she ever be. You and your suck-up race judge everyone before even giving them a chance,” I say, giving him a disgusted look.
“You say ‘your race’, like you aren’t one of us,” Trex interrupts, and I shake my head, not bothering with the annoying Protectors any more. I try to open my door the moment the car stops, seeing its locked and getting damn annoyed enough to want to break one of the windows.
“Child locks,” Connor says, a smirk on his lips before he gets out of the car at the same time Trex does. I wait for Trex and Connor to speak to three Protectors in hoods outside the car, not being able to hear what they say. I roll my eyes, climbing over the middle part of the seat and letting myself out Trex’s door. They don’t notice me until I slam the door shut and lean against it as they all turn to face me with shocked looks. Did they really think I’d just sit there? The three Protectors actually take a step back, their hands going to their swords on their hips that I can see when their cloaks move.
“Are we going inside or what? I’m getting bored and want to know what the fuck you all want with me,” I ask, making Connor cough on a laugh and Trex narrow his eyes at me.
“Stand down, she won’t attack us,” Trex says and waves his hand at the glass doors of the building. “After you miss–”
“My name is Evie, none of that ‘miss’ crap,” I say, lifting myself off the car and walking towards the doors. I pass the three Protectors, and I can’t help myself.
“Boo,” I whisper, and one jumps back, falling onto his butt. I laugh as I walk away and into the building as the automatic doors open.
Evie
“Nice place, all shiny and shit. Not that I expected anything different,” I drawl, lifting my head, looking at the very gold and shiny building I’ve walked into. There are five elevators in the middle, made of glass, and they stretch all the way up to the top of the building. At the top, the ceiling is made of gold, but all the glass in here makes it seem bright. There is no one at the circler counter in the middle of the room, which is odd. Three Protectors, in perfect, expensive-looking suits come out of one the elevators, and stop dead in their tracks. They all panic, getting back in the elevator and one keeps pressing the button again and again until the door shuts.
“We don’t need your comments on decor,” Trex snaps, eyeing the scared Protectors in the elevator as it goes up. He walks ahead, and I try not to laugh at his stuck-up attitude. I follow him to the middle elevator, getting in with him and Connor. We are silent as Trex presses the button for the twelfth floor. The other Protectors wait by the door, their hands on their swords as they watch.
“Out of interest, why am I here? What could you possibly want me for?” I ask them, wondering if I can get them to tell me. I don’t like the unknown, and this whole situation is exactly that.
“We need your help,” Connor says, and Trex grabs his arm.
“Don’t say another word,” he growls out, and Connor pulls his arm away, keeping his eyes locked on Trex. Why would they need my help? I can’t help but try to think of anything the Protectors could want me for, and I don’t come up with anything. It doesn’t make any sense. I look back at the guys, seeing them both still glaring at each other as they have a silent conversation.
“There is a lot of tension here, is it sexual? I could totally see that happening between the both of you,” I ask innocently, and Connor chokes on a laugh as Trex’s face goes red.
“It’s best you shut up now, blue,” Connor says, still laughing a little bit. We go silent as the door opens to a long corridor. This corridor is lit with white spotlights on the floor, that make a path to massive glass doors at the end. The glass is coloured with red swords in a circle, and a woman on her knees. The woman has runes down her arms, each one is lit up the colour they are when you use them. The blue for holy fire, which burns demons, and it looks like a rose. The red rune for portals, which looks like an archway in a circle. The white rune, which is shaped like a sword in a triangle and lets us heal and finally to the last rune. The black rune shaped like a skull. The black rune I’ve never used before, and I don’t have a clue what it does. I have a feeling like I shouldn’t use it, and I usually listen to those kinds of feelings. Well, most of the time.
“A little advice, be respectful,” Connor says as we get to the door.
“Sorry, that’s really not my plan,” I smile innocently as the doors are opened. Connor and Trex walk slightly in front of me, blocking my view of the room, but they did just what I wanted them to do. I quickly slide my dagger out of the holder on my hip, and jump on Connor’s back, holding the dagger against his neck as I look around.
“Fuck,” Connor mutters, holding his hands in the air.
“Don’t move, you wouldn’t want me to slip,” I say sweetly next to his ear, holding the dagger close. The room is deadly silent as I look around, ignoring Trex as he glares at me. There are three thrones in the middle of the room, the floor is made of red glass by the looks of it. I glance around at the five gold statues in the room, four of them are men, and there is one woman. She has long hair, and a smile on her face as she reaches up in the air for something, and for some reason, she looks familiar to me. She has runes etched on her face and a crown right in the middle. It makes me freeze, but not enough to forget where I am. I pull my eyes away from the statue to the four hooded people in the room.
“Kill him if you must,” the man in the middle says, pulling his hood down. The man has dark skin, brown eyes, and his hair is shaved off, so I can see the tattoos on his head. They look like symbols, maybe even runes, but I’m not close enough to see. He has a flame symbol on his forehead, and when the other three men lower their hoods, I see they all wear the symbol. It’s still clear to me who the leader is as they let him speak.
“Let me go, they won’t care if you kill me. You should have held the dagger to Trex’s throat if you wanted a useful hostage,” Connor bites out. I look over at Trex, who watches me carefully, and I know he is waiting for a chance to attack me. I grin, moving my dagger away as I jump off Connor’s back and hold my hands up. They aren’t going to attack me, I can see it in the way they stand. Everything points to Connor telling me the truth earlier, they need me for something, and I might as well find out what. Connor steps away from me, rubbing his neck.
“Okay, okay. I’ll play nice, what do you want?” I turn away from looking at Connor to ask the men who are in charge.
“My name is Keeper Cadean, and quite simply, we need your help,” he tells me with a dead serious expression.
“Why would I help your kind? You’ve hardly welcomed me with open arms,” I say, with a sarcastic laugh, and he nods in agreement.
“We will never welcome you into the protectors, because of our knowledge of who you are. We still must make a deal with you for your help,” he states, folding his hands together.
“And what am I?” I ask, wanting to know what they think.
“A killer, an assassin, and a thief. You could never be trusted in the royal Protector’s city,” he states simply.
“Explain what you want, I’m getting bored with all this,” I say, waving my hand.
“Two nights ago, our three princesses were taken. Our princesses were five days away from a ceremony that would make one of them our queen, and we have no other royal heirs,” Cadean says tightly.
“Do you think I took them? Are you kidding?” I say, with wide eyes, trying not to laugh.
“No, we do not think you took them. The princesses are the most powerful
of our kind, they would not be taken by a simple assassin,” Trex laughs, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“I could have, if I knew they existed that is,” I mutter.
“Our royal family is the best kept secret of the Protectors,” Trex tells me.
“Then why haven’t you gone after them yourselves, you all have runes like me,” I say.
“On the same night, our runes’ powers were stolen. We believe the kidnapper placed demon power into our water supply and food somehow. We won’t be able to use our rune powers until it is out of our system, which will be around two weeks,” Connor explains to me.
“Right, so let me get this straight. Your princesses are taken, you have no powers, and you want me to what exactly?” I ask.
“We have information that suggests the princesses are on the bottom layer of hell. We believe a couple of overlord demons took them for their power. We want you to rescue them,” Cadean says, and all I can do is laugh. They have to be kidding.
“I told you she wouldn’t help, she only helps herself,” Trex snaps, giving me a disgusted look, and I have to resist the urge to stick my tongue out at the moody fucker.
“We have something Evie wants, and she will help us,” Cadean states, his voice confident enough to make me pause and look back at him. He stands still, his brown eyes watching me carefully, like he knows I’m close to flipping out and escaping this hell hole of shiny crap.
“Like what?” I ask.
“I know why you are hunted, I know what your rune name is. I can tell you your past, I can tell you who you are, and make sure you are never hunted again. You help us, and you will have all the answers you have searched for, and you won’t have hide,” he tells me, and I pause for a second, running his answer over in my mind. I don’t know anything about my life, and he could tell me everything. I know my parents had to be Protectors, it’s the only way I could have my marks.
“And you let Hali walk free, and pretend you never saw her?” I ask, because she has to come with the deal.
“We will never speak of the death-marked witch, nor tell her kind she is alive,” Cadean nods. I slide my dagger back into the holder and cross my arms.
“Getting into hell is easy, but surviving there is hard. I’ve only been to the top layer, but I know the two layers below it are impossible to survive alone. I will need some people you don’t mind dying to come with me,” I say, and Cadean nods his head at Trex.
“I will travel with you. Connor and my brother, Nix, will join us,” he says firmly. I nod, looking back to Cadean.
“I will take Hali and leave to prepare,” I say.
“The witch stays here until you return. Think of her as a symbol of trust between us, after all you are the legendary assassin who cannot be trusted,” Cadean tells me.
“I want to see her before I leave then,” I demand and Cadean nods. I turn and walk towards the door with Connor and Trex following. I stop, letting them open the door and look once more back at Cadean.
“I always keep my word, and you’d best keep yours. If anything happens to her, there will be nothing between every powerless Protector, and me. I’m sure the demons would love to know that demon power stops rune powers,” I say, with a smile. He nods his head, almost in a bow, yet keeping his eyes locked onto mine. I don’t need to hear his words as I walk out of the room because I saw the fear flash in his eyes, and that’s all I need to know. They will keep their side of the deal.
Evie
“Evie!” Hali shouts as she runs over to me, nearly knocking me to the floor as she hugs me. I pull away, looking her over, and not seeing anything wrong with her before taking a deep breath. Even if they did promise not to hurt her, I still couldn’t believe it until I had seen her, myself.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she nods, her eyes flashing to Connor and Trex who have followed me into the room. She looks scared, and I don’t blame her. They are a little intimating, especially to someone like Hali who hasn’t been around Protectors before. Or giant men in cloaks with swords. She only knows I kill Protectors like them, sometimes, and that I believe they are bad people.
“Ignore them, they are stalking me now, and I can’t get rid of them for a bit. Just try to think of them as big teddy bears or something,” I say, making her chuckle and Trex growl something under his breath. I whistle as I look around at the room they have Hali in. Everything is white and black, spotless and expensive. The room we are in is a multi-functional room, with a small kitchen, a lounge area and a double bed near the windows that overlook the city. Everything looks top of the range.
“At least you have a nice room for a bit,” I say, and she widens her eyes.
“You’re not taking me home? I have to stay here?” she questions. I walk over to the sofa, encouraging her to sit next to me. She does, watching me with those pale eyes that seem to know what I’m thinking before I’ve said it. I keep my voice low, even though I’m sure Trex and Connor can hear me.
“I have to do something for the protectors, and it’s dangerous. I’m not going to lie to you and say I will certainly be back here in a few weeks, but I promise I will do everything I can to get back to you,” I promise her, hating when tears streak down her face.
“I don’t want you to go,” she says, shaking her head, and leaning over to wrap her arms around me. I hold her for only a few seconds, before pulling her back enough that I can whisper in her ear.
“I will send someone to save you, even if it’s not me that comes, you will be safe. Do not worry,” I tell her because I have friends, okay demons, that will do anything for money. Including breaking in here and saving Hali.
“Don’t go,” she begs, holding onto me tightly.
“Be safe and do as they ask, alright?” I ask, and she wipes some tears away as I let go of my hand. “You’re my family, and you’re stronger than this. We might not share blood, but we share spirit. I know it’s in there somewhere.” She looks away, before looking back and giving me a determined expression.
“Yes.”
“That’s my girl,” I grin, trying to keep my worry at bay as I stand up and walk to the door. I look back at her once, seeing her sitting on the sofa, and her expression never changed. She can do this, I can see it, and I will be back for her.
“I’ll see you soon,” I tell her, knowing I’m going to do anything I need to, so I can get back here. To her. Connor opens the door, sympathy flashing in his eyes for a second as I look at him, and walk past. I don’t need his sympathy. He was one of the people that helped captured and kidnap Hali.
“We have a car ready, but we need to make a plan,” Trex comments as we walk towards the elevator we came up in.
“I have a plan,” I state, and he raises a perfect black bushy eyebrow at me.
“Do you care to enlighten us on it?” he asks sarcastically. I wait until we are all standing in the elevator before I answer him.
“Have you ever been to hell? Do you know anything of what you have ahead of you?” I ask them.
“No, I’ve never been personally, but I’ve heard–” I cut him off.
“Then you haven’t got a clue what we will need to survive there. We will need a demon’s protection to get through without being killed, and I know a demon who owes me a favour,” I say.
“We don’t work with demons,” Trex huffs.
“You do now,” I say, walking out of the elevator when it gets to the bottom. This building is just as empty as the council one. It’s all glass again, and gold walls with crystal chandeliers. There are dozens of doors, which must be rooms for the other Protectors, but we only see one or two around, and they quickly run away.
“In hell, the first layer is freezing cold. You will need to wrap up warm and bring plenty of weapons as you’re powerless.”
“We will do that, what about the second and third layer? We heard it’s different,” Connor enquires, but I don’t have a clue, and the only demon that would know, is no one I’m going to ask.
“Not a clue,
but it is likely as bad as you are thinking it is,” I say dryly. It’s not a place I’m looking forward to going. My first and only trip to hell when I was eighteen was bad enough.
“Do you have a phone?” I ask them both as we stop outside the building. Connor pulls his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it, and handing it to me. I quickly type in the address, and my number underneath it, in his notes before handing it back.
“Come here at eight tonight. Wear something a human or demon would to a night club. No suits or cloaks,” I say, looking down at their outfits on purpose.
“We must leave for hell, not go to wherever this is,” Trex growls.
“This is our only chance. You asked for my help, so you’re going to have to trust me,” I say, going to walk away when Trex grabs my arm, pulling me to him. I look up as his green eyes stare down at me in anger and distrust.
“If you betray us, I will kill you. I don’t need my runes to do that, do you understand me, Evie?” he asks, using my name for the first time, and I grin, pushing my body closer to his.
“Totally. By the way, I’ve always liked a demanding guy. They are always best in bed,” I say, flirting with him to annoy him. As predicted, he pushes me away, scowling at me. I laugh, walking to the car, and look back at them.
“See you later, boys.” I wave.
Connor
“She was not what I expected. Not at all,” Trex says, watching the car taking Evie away and not looking away once. I think he expects her to jump out and start attacking us or something. Until today, until I met her, that’s what I’d expect her to do as well. She is nothing like I expected. Shiny, soft-looking blue hair that falls in waves around her. Glowing, fiery blue eyes and a killer body. If I’d met her under any other circumstances, I would do anything to get into her knickers.
