Rule Breakers, Soul Takers (Hell Runners Book 1)

by Jacqueline Jayne

  “Since you’re in such a good mood, I have a confession to make.”

  “What?” He rubbed her shoulder in a lazy caress.

  “There is no mission to the Passion Pit. I conned Swift into concocting an excuse good enough for you to accept I quit drinking Holy Water.” She stroked his damp chest hair and shot him a sheepish look. “You mad?”

  “How can I be mad?” He kissed her on the lips, sweet and quick, but he didn’t settle back down. He rubbed her arm, and his eyes settled on hers in a serious gaze. “Will you still be here in the morning? Or will I wake to an empty bed?”

  She didn’t ever want to leave, didn’t ever want to go back to her apartment at the complex. But that was too much all at once. One day at a time would be enough.

  “I’ll be here. We’re nowhere near done. And I need to find out if you can cook, too.”

  “Cook?” He laughed out loud and then wrestled her on top of him. “I do all of my cooking in the bedroom.”

  Feeling his hardness beneath her, her body reacted with the familiar heat of anticipation. She sat up and straddled his body, squirming in the delight he wanted her again. “I thought you couldn’t move it.”

  She ground her hips in a circular motion.

  He moaned, reaching up to caress one of her bare breasts.

  “It’s moving on its own. But what do you expect, parading around the place in your best birthday suit.” He propped up on an elbow. “The rest of me could be persuaded, too.” He hooked a hand around her neck and pulled her in for a long kiss. Breaking it too soon, he flopped back onto the pillow and crossed both arms behind his head. “How about you be in charge this time?”

  “I’ll need one of your shirts. I only have the one, and there’s not enough of it to—”

  “Not that. Trust me, I don’t need to be tied up. You, uh…know any cheers?”

  “A cheerleader fantasy?” The joy of a wicked grin had her lips spreading. Had he remembered she’d been captain of her high school squad? “I think I can handle it.” She swung one leg off the bed, then the other. “But I didn’t bring my skirt or pom-poms.”

  “Trust me. I prefer you without the skirt or the pom-poms.” Though he smirked playfully, his eyes brimmed with heat. He rolled to his side and wadded all the pillows under his head. “Now show me what you got, Princess.”

  »»•««

  The ringing of his cell phone woke Jesse from a sound sleep. Exhausted, he couldn’t convince his body to move. He let it go, assuming it was Swift. After ten rings or so, it stopped.

  Before he drifted off again, the ringing recommenced.

  Son of a bitch.

  Prudence stirred, turning over on her side without opening an eye. No point in both of them waking. Practically falling out of bed onto his feet, he palmed his phone and stumbled into the living room.

  Midmorning light glared through the curtainless windows, and he squinted against the harsh rays, hitting the answer button.

  “Lo?”

  “Is Prudence with you?” The sound of Jack’s voice nearly knocked him on his ass. Not because he knew his daughter spent the night, but the urgency in his tone.

  Instantly awake, he answered. “Yes.” No point in lying. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Della. She hasn’t answered her phone in more than a day.”

  “Maybe she didn’t charge it.” Lame, considering how panicked he sounded, but reasonable nonetheless.

  “She hates the cell. I’ve been calling the house phone. I keep getting the answering machine. I think something’s happened to her. Shit, Jesse! I think the Watcher’s gone.”

  “Watcher? What do you mean by Watcher?” Jack’s flood of information had him in the kitchen, searching the junk drawer for paper and pen. He found a small spiral pad and a knife-sharpened pencil. “Give me the details.”

  “No. Time.” The rush of wind, of voices, of blowing horns and revving jet engines overlaid Jack’s voice. Airport. He was headed home early from his second search for the elusive Oregon teenager. “I’ve got to go. Both of you get over to the house. Prudence will fill you in on the way.”

  The line cut off.

  Prudence would fill him in?

  Intuitive and a born worrier, she’d never ignore danger. And she told Jesse everything. Usually more than he wanted to hear. Yet she’d not breathed a word about a Watcher.

  But Jack wouldn’t hunt down his daughter if there wasn’t real danger.

  Marching into the bedroom he hit the light switch, and she groaned, burying her face in the pillow.

  “It’s too early,” she complained.

  He hated breaking the spell of last night. Their extended lovemaking still warmed the sheets and his heart. But it couldn’t be helped. He hoped when she filled him in that all his worries would dissipate.

  “Prudence.” He shook her by the shoulder. “Get up. Your father called.”

  She arched her back, poking her head up with her hair fetchingly scrambled over her face and the shoulders of his T-shirt she used for a nightie.

  “Dad? Called here?” She scrambled around, brushing the hair out of her face with her hands.

  “Your mother hasn’t answered the phone in twenty-four hours. He’s worried. Jack never panics.” He spoke calmer than he wanted and then forced out the hardest part. “And he chased you down for a reason. He said…” Jesse paused to swallow. “He said he thinks the Watcher is gone and that you’d fill me in?”

  She bounded off the bed and grabbed her shorts. “Dress. We’ve got to go. Now!” Prudence slipped both legs into her shorts, hopping to hike them up and then rummaged through the sheets. “Where’s my shirt?”

  “Talk to me.” He needed an explanation. “Chill for a second.”

  “Chill?” she said, eyes wide with fright. “We can’t. You don’t know. Of course, you don’t. I didn’t tell you. But then I don’t know all that much either.” Breathy, her words blurted out in a hurried stream. “I wanted to tell you. But as Dad pointed out, if the Guardian Angel knew I told, he’d go away. And we needed him. He protected us. Maybe even helped you find Ellie, though I’m not sure how.”

  She stopped her frantic search and looked him square in the eye. “Secrets are stupid. But I don’t mess around with Watchers. Honestly, I put it out of my mind. I had to so I wouldn’t slip and say something.” Stomping a bare foot on the floor, she cursed. “Shit. Why didn’t I trust my gut?”

  He wanted to say, why didn’t you trust me? Without thinking about it, he’d dressed in the time she’d freaked. Spying a corner of lace, he pulled her top out of the rumpled bedclothes and tossed it to her.

  “Start from the beginning.”

  She wiggled into the top. Cute and sexy. Any other time he’d tear it off of her. But last night would have to hold him.

  “A Guardian Angel has been hovering around my parents’ house, gliding over the woods, like a tireless bird. Somehow I got the feeling I was included on the watching.”

  “What made you think that?”

  “I saw the Watcher the morning I drove back home. Right after Dad pointed him out, you called to tell me you found Ellie. I believed it was his doing. Finding her so fast was too convenient, and I don’t believe in coincidences. I believed he was there to help us.” Her voice escalated as the words tumbled out. “As I’m sure you know, to disclose a Watcher’s presence will send him away. He might even exact punishment for being ungrateful. If he was protecting my parents, if he had anything to do with finding Ellie, I didn’t want to lose him. And then when I learned about Heaven’s Door, I was sure he came to smooth the way. Even the best Hell Runners could use help.”

  “Okay.” Jesse accepted her logic. “Understandable. But believe me. This Watcher had nothing to do with finding Ellie. It was all Connie, Swift, and Niall. And from all I’ve read about how Watchers protect humans—the way they punish them for being weak or for simply discovering their presence—I don’t trust them.”

  She dropped onto the bed and leaned
onto her knees as if exhausted. “No. He wanted us to know he was there.”

  He kneeled on the floor in front of her to force her gaze on his. “Explain?”

  “Dad found his halo. And—”

  “The Watcher’s halo or one that belonged to another?”

  “Another Watcher’s halo? Are you saying he’d—?”

  “I’m not saying anything yet. We need more intel.” He grasped her gently by the shoulders. “Think back. What did you see?”

  She closed her eyes, pursing her lips thin and biting into the corner of her mouth. After a quarter minute, she shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t remember if his halo had been in place.” She met his stare. “He flew so far away.”

  “Okay. You said and, was there something else?”

  “Yes. A piece of cloth we believe had been wrapped around the Watcher. Dad had tripped over it in his garage. Before he found the halo.”

  “What makes you think it had been wrapped around the Watcher?”

  “I don’t think. I know. Dad thought it was some kind of cocoon because the back had been torn out. And he was right. Despite being all tattered and ripped, it was the most beautiful, pearly white material I’d ever seen.” Her eyes were forward but took on a dreamy gloss. She wasn’t looking at him anymore.

  “Why were you right?”

  “It felt so silky against my fingertips,” she whispered. “I wanted to feel more. To hold the slip of divinity against my face. I fisted a handful and then…” Her voice trailed off.

  “What?” He shook her by the shoulders.

  Prudence snapped out of it. “I had a vision. I couldn’t see much. The light. It was so bright. So strong and pure. But I felt the wings on both sides of me. Crazy and wild, flapping that actually hurt.”

  “Fuck! Not a cocoon.” All the muscles in his body tensed, and his stomach grew heavy like he’d swallowed a thousand stones.

  It couldn’t be. Deemed cruel and against the rules of redemption, Watchers had sworn off containment burials thousands of years ago.

  “If it’s not a cocoon, what is it?” His partner’s eyes widened.

  “A shroud. That…” The words stalled in his throat. “Watcher is no Guardian. You experienced the memory left behind in the cloth. All the flapping. He struggled against being imprisoned. Other Watchers tied him up in a Containment Ritual. Probably for good reason. Probably to keep him from seeking asylum in Hell.”

  Though shaking, she jumped to her feet. “Holy shit! Holyshitholyshitholyshit. I did this. I endangered Mom.” Without hesitation, she dashed out of the room.

  He followed on her heels.

  “Stop blaming yourself.” He reached the door first, blocking her exit. “You used your best judgment with what you knew. If a seal had been left on the shroud, it would have set off an alarm. You or your dad would have called the Artifacts Office instantly.”

  All the blood drained from her face, and she swayed.

  Dread filled him like boiling acid. “There was a seal. And you broke it.”

  “No,” she said through a stuttering sigh. “I didn’t break it. It’s whole.” Prudence clutched her forehead with a hand and took a step back. “You have to understand. I’d lost Ellie. We’d kissed. You’d pushed me away. Then I saw him…I don’t know. It all turned around. I thought I was more on my game than ever. I thought—”

  “Stop.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d no idea how, but he’d fix this. “No point in rehashing what can’t be undone. You did your best. Shit. Your dad bears the brunt of the blame. No one spouts off the rules more than Jack, and he deliberately ignored them.”

  Jesse expelled a cleaning breath. “Since the seal is whole, the Watcher’s power is limited. The seal is designed to keep him restrained so I’m guessing he can’t leave the confines of the farm. But someone busted him out. He couldn’t have escaped on his own. I’m afraid whoever did the freeing, is controlling the Watcher.”

  He crossed into the kitchen, yanked the dishtowel off the oven handle, and then opened the freezer door. Bunching the towel around his hand, he removed a plastic two-liter water bottle and placed it on the counter. “This should defrost enough for you to drink by the time we reach the farm.”

  She picked up the bottle and read the familiar label. “You keep frozen Holy Water?”

  He punched a couple of buttons on his cellphone. “Of course. I’ve got a girlfriend who becomes a superhero when she drinks it.”

  »»•««

  Prudence finished off the water that had defrosted as Jesse parked his truck near the side door of her parent’s farmhouse. She scanned the two-story, searching for evidence, or more specifically, destruction of the Watcher’s wrath.

  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The sun shined penny bright on the gleaming white siding. Birds chirped from the array of feeders hanging from Shepard’s hooks near the deck. And sweet country air blew warm and fragrant through the truck’s cab, carrying stronger ribbons of early summer roses and fresh manure.

  All appeared normal and happy and safe.

  Then again, so did all the First Ring illusions, until you crossed deeper.

  And, for certain, Mom was deeper.

  Prudence had calmed down a good bit on the drive over, her Hell Runner’s logical brain kicked in, balancing her daughterly worry.

  If the Watcher couldn’t leave the farm, then neither had Mom, or she would have called from a neighbor’s house.

  But they were in for a shit storm without a single clue as to why.

  Her core twisted, irate at the senselessness of it all. Perspiration already prickled sticky in her armpits. Confrontations with Guardian Angels weren’t part of the Hell Runners curriculum. They’d have to rely on gut instinct and luck. But didn’t they always? If the Watcher wouldn’t give up her mom, then he was in for the fight of his immortal life.

  They both checked their cell phones one last time before getting out. No texts, no voice mail, no missed calls on hers.

  “Anything?” she said, hopeful reinforcements were on the way. “Dad? Swift?”

  “Nada. Looks like it’s just us.” Jesse cracked his car door. “Where do you think your father hid the seal?”

  “Last I saw, it was in that barn.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the building where Dad kept his GSX. “But it could be anywhere. It could be in the vault at headquarters.”

  “I doubt it. Would your mom know?”

  “Yeah.” She reached across the truck’s bench seat, grabbing his hand. “They don’t hide anything from each other,” she said, wishing she’d done the same with Jesse.

  Though they’d talked the plan through, three times over, she wasn’t quite on board. If she was going to protest, now was the time.

  “I don’t want you to break the seal,” she blurted and continued before he could counter. “We can sneak Mom out somehow. And as long as he’s stuck, it buys us time. We bring in more Hell Runners. Question him until he breaks.”

  “He’s not gonna break.” Jesse pulled his hand away. “He may be trapped, but he can still inflict pain. On Della. On us. And he’ll last longer. He’s like a caged animal at this point, angry and distrusting. Free, we can track him. Free, he’ll fuck up, and ultimately, lead us to whoever’s controlling him. And that’s who we really want.”

  “Won’t it be worse? Especially on our own?”

  “No. We’ll move faster without the council dictating how to proceed. If we do it right, they’ll never know anything. Take out the leader”—he shoved his door open wide, and it creaked eerily— “and his army always disappears. Or…almost always.” He offered a wan smile and stroked her cheek. “You ready?”

  She didn’t like it but nodded nevertheless and then jumped out onto the gravel driveway.

  Light glowed from all the downstairs windows, warm and welcoming as always.

  Prudence approached the kitchen door ahead of Jesse, her knees unsteady from the apprehension gnawing at her insides. Only one way to beat
fear.

  Lean on love.

  From the step behind her, Jesse reached over and gripped the worn brass lever.

  She grabbed his fisted hand, stopping him from pushing in. The underside of her forearm rested against the length of his, the hard, corded muscles as supportive as steel.

  Selfishly, she delayed entry, twisting enough to meet his topaz gaze one more time. The solidness of his chest pressed against her shoulder and her belly did a little swoosh. “I have to say something first. I should have told you about the Watcher and…I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t say it outright back at the cabin and—”

  “You implied it.”

  “That’s not enough. Actions are important, but so are words. I’m. Sorry. And—I trust you. Completely. Always have. You’re right. Break the seal.”

  She finally took a breath, drawing in the musky vestige of their lovemaking embedded in his shirt. She held it in her lungs, clinging to what could have been her final moment of happiness.

  “Seriously sappy,” Jesse scoffed. “I think I love you better when you’re bitchy and argumentative.”

  “Bitchy?” She expelled all her breath. “I’m never—”

  “Cut the crap. We keep each other on our best game when we question. And I need that. So do you.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. “But today, I’m breaking the seal. Now keep your warrior’s face on. I like it. I’m used to it.”

  Without further hesitation, he shoved the kitchen door inward.

  A burst of sulfur-infused heat flashed out like a detonated grenade.

  The stench ate a trail into her nostrils and down the back of her throat. Sweat instantly soaked her face. Gagging, she forged inside, pulling the collar of her shirt over her nose.

  Flies swirled over their heads thick as a storm cloud, their united hum an ominous monotone.

  “Flies. Fuck me.” Jesse spat and then continued to curse profusely, striding past her into the center of the room.

  She groaned through the cotton of her shirt. “Stop. What is it?”

  “Hell Flies.” He slammed a fist onto the counter and spit out another string of swears through his tight lips. “In some texts, Baalberith has been represented by flies.”