by JP Epperson
“She insisted that you—well, we—needed more fighters. They decided too many people already knew too much. So she stood before Julius and demanded his approval. He denied her flat out. When she got back, she was very cryptic, but said he had left her no choice but to defy him, and she immediately summoned Nicholai and Talon while Olivia was healed.”
Olivia, Nicholai, and even Talon looked at me and nodded in agreement with Liam’s story. I, who was rarely surprised by anything or anyone, was speechless. I supposed I had been a tad hard on Anselma. It seemed she was on our side to begin with but her hands were tied.
Colton looked flabbergasted, as though someone set the moon on fire or something. It was almost unfathomable to picture one of the most well respected archangels defying specific orders. For her to defy Julius was almost unthinkable. Julius, an Angel of Decision, had developed quite a reputation for hastily condemning angels to an eternity of Hell. Not only that—it was rumored that he enjoyed it a little too much. There would most certainly be penalties for Anselma’s actions. That was not something I wanted for Anselma. I had to solve this case as quietly and quickly as possible. I felt like I owed it to her in some way.
I walked to the cell where the boy was confined. I could scarcely believe that I was hesitant. I wanted so badly for this to be the boy we had sought since we first saw his picture, but I was more than skeptical after facing disappointment and danger at every corner. I reluctantly reached the prison cell. I lingered for a moment, bracing myself, then I looked inside.
I gasped.
Chapter Sixteen
“Theodore,” I said. It wasn’t a question, more of a relieved statement. The boy was sitting on the bed, his expression not fearful, reassured, or even shocked, as I had been expecting. Instead he sat patiently, as though he had been expecting us all along.
“You’ve come for me,” he said, as his head tilted to the side observing me. The others stayed back. Perhaps they didn’t want to frighten the boy. He was not like other boys his age, and I nodded my head for them to show themselves. He made eye contact with all of them before saying, “Most people call me Teddy.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” he went on. “But I think we should leave now.”
“How much time do we have left?” I asked. “Oh, I’m Belleeza by the way.” The others looked slightly skeptical, but I could tell there was more to this kid than first appeared.
“Approximately five minutes. They are bringing twice as much back-up as before, but I cannot leave with you.”
I looked at the boy, confused, about to tell him that he most certainly could and would be leaving with us, but he continued with his reasoning.
“There is a girl, I will not leave her.”
Talon easily lifted the prison-cell door off its hinges and the boy walked out, joining us. I was about to say that I would come back for the girl once he was safe, but Teddy stopped me with a knowing look in his eyes. He grabbed my wrist firmly but not rough—more to get my attention than anything else. I was surprised to hear a growl-like grumble coming from Talon when Teddy reached for me, but he kept his thoughts to himself as Teddy spoke.
“I cannot leave her. I will explain later, but I would rather stay here in my prison cell awaiting whatever cruel fate has in store for me than leave her.” He looked at me imploringly and I saw resolve in his eyes. I nodded.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go get the girl. You wait here with the rest of the team.”
“Uh, that’s not likely,” Colton said. “She means you wait here with the rest of the team and we’ll go get the girl.”
I rolled my eyes but conceded, flourishing my arm out in front of me to allow him to take the lead.
“If I may . . .” Theodore spoke again. “I would suggest taking one more person for back-up with you.” I looked at him, considering his words. I nodded my head and Nicholai came to stand with Colton and me. Someone grumbled and I knew without looking that it was Talon.
We turned to go when Theodore stopped us again. “One more thing, Belleeza.”
I waited, curious to hear what he had to say now.
“I know you won’t listen if I tell you to remove your necklace.”
My eyes narrowed. He was right. I never removed it.
“So,” he continued, “just mind your necklace, okay?”
I turned, bewildered, and followed the other two out, leaving the eerie wooden door behind us.
We were back in the empty corridor lined with matching wooden doors. I had an urge of morbid curiosity to peek inside all the other doors. Reading my movements, Colton and Nicholai each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me along. I smirked. This was almost déjà vu; we’d worked together on so many missions in the past that we all knew one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Nicholai gave a low chuckle and Colton shook his head playfully and led us to the door that would take us to the girl.
We emerged on the other side of the door and instantly the laughter was erased from our faces and replaced with the angry glares of war. The dungeon was completely silent. If not for our stellar hearing alerting us to the girl’s shallow breathing, I would have thought she was either gone or dead. As it was, I could tell that while not dead, she was distressed or hurt. Colton, Nicholai, and I were all well aware that there were demons hidden somewhere in plain sight. We also knew that the demons were as aware of us as we were of them.
We stepped lightly but continued to move forward. We knew they could hear our steps, so it was more out of habit than anything. The girl’s prison door was open, but her cell was empty. From the shadows at the far end of the chamber, a deep voice boomed.
“Give us the boy and you can have the girl. Refuse us the boy, and the girl dies along with you.”
I heard a muffled sound and they came into view. An enormous demon held the girl with a knife to her throat. He was a brute of a demon. She was clearly alive, but she made no noise or movement, I think she might have been in shock. The knife was just for show—we all knew he could do much worse with his bare hands. As if he heard my thoughts, the demon clenched her tighter against his chest, reminding me of a boa constrictor. His skin was so dark it was hard to make out where the shadows ended and he began.
Another demon stepped from the shadows, twirling his fingers slowly. I scowled. I hated that guy. He was so fast. I didn’t know what he was called or what his abilities were, aside from being faster than even Colton and me.
“You know,” I said, “I really don’t like being told what to do. So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to die.” I pointed at the brute. “And you’re going to die.” I pointed at fast-feet. “Then I’m going to grab the girl and call it a night. Any questions?”
The sound of a high-pitched giggle startled me as the brute tossed the girl to one side like a ragdoll. I thought she would crumble against the walls but instead hands that were not there a moment before caught her. Another giggle sounded and I groaned.
I really, really hated these bitches.
She materialized in front of us with a wicked grin on her face. She had her right arm and right leg wrapped tightly against the girl’s body. She licked the girl’s face from chin to temple, her tongue moving languidly as if it had a life of its own, as she stared directly at my face.
Nicholai looked disgusted as he asked, “Who is that?” His nose wrinkled and I thought he might spit.
“I’m Finders,” the human girl’s new captor said in her naturally soprano voice.
I took a defensive stance because wherever there was Finders there was . . .
“And I’m Keepers,” said another shrill voice from behind us, followed by a giggle. “And together, we’re . . .”
“FindersKeepers,” I finished for them, bored with the introduction I had heard time and time again. These bitches were fast—so fast. I had never gotten close enough to take them down. It definitely worked in their favor that they both had the ability of super speed and invisibility. They were twins. Basically, they we
re created together and connected in a way that even Colton and I could not match.
They were identical but for a few features. Even so, it was obvious they were twins. Finders had short blonde hair slicked down with gel and sticking out in random places and a stud piercing in her nose. Keepers had an eyebrow piercing and longer black hair that she put up in two messy buns at the top of her head. They both had fair skin and petite frames that were slightly covered with corset tops, leather pants that looked like someone had poured them into, and giant clear stiletto heels. They looked harmless. Like young punk rock chicks going to a rave—but it was all a façade. They dressed according to whatever prey they were hunting. They were a predator unlike any other.
“Still as sadistic as ever?” I asked.
Keepers giggled again. “It’s just so fun,” she sang.
I shook my head. The pair of them were severely twisted. One of their favorite things to do was to torture their victims to the point where they would do anything to survive. Then they would give the victim the choice to suffer this fate, or that fate, and once the victim gave in and chose, FindersKeepers would do the opposite.
“Why are you called FindersKeepers?” Nicholai piped up. He really was too curious for his own good sometimes.
“Because when we find something we want . . .” said Finders lasciviously, caressing her prisoner’s cheek.
“We keep it!” said Keepers, twirling around on the spot. “We keep them and we play with them.”
I laughed mirthlessly. Their idea of playing was to torture their victims for weeks and even months until they died. They were horribly skilled at it.
“I should send you back to Hell where you belong.” Colton spoke up, his eyes flashing with anger and hate.
“Isn’t that where you belong now too?” Finders asked, cocking her head and batting her eyelashes.
I agreed with Colton. The only reason they were still alive was because they had never been assigned to me. I’d tried in vain to get Evangelina to assign them to me . . . but it was to no avail. Apparently the powers-that-be felt it needed more “strategy and finesse” than strength and pride. I still found it hard to believe no one else had managed to stop them. I’d have to ask Evangelina about that if we ever got out of here.
“Give us the boy, Belleeza.” FindersKeepers spoke in unison. It was beyond creepy, even by my standards.
“Or will you leave us . . .” Finders started.
“With this one to play with?” Keepers asked.
It really irked me how they finished every sentence like that.
Keepers joined Finders’ side, pulling a snake out of her corset. Yeah, a snake, a live snake. It hissed and jerked, trying to lunge at the nearest thing it could get to.
“Well, I guess she’s all yours,” I bluffed. “I already got what I was looking for. She was just going to be the cherry on top.”
“Would you really leave her with us?” Finders taunted.
“Knowing what you could have prevented?” Keepers asked, as she pulled up the girl’s shirt, revealing a white cotton bra. She was a tiny thing with a pale flat stomach—not nearly as endowed as I was but she was young; that could change. It was the intrusiveness that had me fuming. FindersKeepers giggled when Nicholai looked down and Colton’s hands tightened on his weapons as he glared. I had full control of my face and my composure. Neither my expression nor my stance altered.
“Oh, come now, Belleeza, we know how much you hate this,” Finders said.
“Then she’s really going to hate what happens next, sister,” Keepers said, still holding the snake, a New Guinea taipan, and the girl’s shirt in the other. I knew what they were going to do. There was no need for the dramatic effects, but that was their style.
“Oh how we love a live audience,” FindersKeepers said together. Keepers loosened her grip on the snake. She kissed it, actually kissed it, and it bit her on the bottom lip. She giggled like it was a beloved pet. I guessed it probably was.
“It won’t be so pleasant for her I’m afraid,” she said in that creepy childlike voice.
Finders started to pull down the left side of the girl’s bra. “What should we do while she is paralyzed, sister? Remove some limbs and then suck out the poison so she can feel the pain?”
They giggled together. The girl did not budge. She was in complete and total shock, her mind protecting her from the things she was hearing and seeing. They’d probably filled her head with images of what they were going to do. Sick bitches. FindersKeepers knew there was no way I could walk away now, as did Colton and Nicholai. I knew that my guys would never leave her either. Colton gave me the look and Nicholai gave me a nod. They were giving me the okay to possibly get us killed to save this human girl.
I lunged at the twisted sisters and Colton and Nicholai attacked the two male demons. I was too afraid to use my light with the girl so close. My aim was precise, but the power of light is too much for angels let alone a young human. Not to mention we were not actually supposed to use our abilities in front of human witnesses. It happened on occasion, of course, in emergencies, but we had cleaners for that purpose. They could alter a human’s mind to rationalize something they saw and when it was called for they could “rewrite” a memory as well. Although they tried not to meddle too much with a person’s memory like that. I honestly could not blame them for that. It was a scary thought to have someone messing with your head. Unable to tell reality from fiction.
So, light-casting was out of the question. I was not willing to risk the girl’s memory, let alone her mind, as it seemed to be overwhelmed enough at present. I flexed my wrists slightly, and my two favorite daggers made their way down my arms. They were somewhat alive and did not require a sheath or holster. The handles to the daggers thinned and elongated until they could slither up to my forearms like snakes, where they would wrap themselves so tightly they would draw blood. That was what gave my daggers their power—they lived with my blood, and the best part was: they were made for me and me alone. Someone else could pick them up, but they would be just another set of ordinary daggers.
The daggers made their way down my wrists, the handles reforming as the blades slid into my palms, thirsty for blood. Simultaneously, I slung both daggers. One dagger severed the snake’s head in two and stuck into Keepers’ palm. The other dagger landed gracefully into Finders’ neck. She squealed, releasing the girl, who fell to the ground. Keepers whined like a child and stomped her feet when she gazed upon her dead scaly friend. She pulled the dagger from her hand, eyes narrowed, and she sneered as she threw it right at Colton’s face.
I loosed an arrow as I whipped around, taking aim for the dagger. My hair spun, slicing my cheek as I moved with the speed and grace of a leopard. I released the arrow and diverted the dagger with less than an inch to go before it would have speared Colton’s eye. He looked up from the demon he was struggling with and huffed out a word of appreciation as he caught the blade. He tossed it to me and did not even give it a second glance as the dagger automatically caught my arm and slithered back into place.
I turned back to see Keepers healing Finders’ neck. I seized the opportunity and lunged toward the twisted sisters, but my hands were struggling with the air. They had vanished together. Those two bitches were all of a sudden clutching one another in a different corner. Cowards. This is why they had never been captured. They were weak. They tortured those weaker than them, but never stuck around if it came down to a fight. It was beyond me how they managed to be called warriors.
“You can’t catch us, Belleeza, and this is a war you will not win,” the wicked bitches spoke in unison. “We are here to give you a message from our master. You will lose this war. It has been foreseen that you are the key to fulfilling the prophecy. When it is done, you will have taken our place as our queen—the mistress of the new Hell. There is no reason to fight it. It has been seen that no matter which path you take, the destination will always be the same.”
I was more than a little distu
rbed by their words. I thought back to the way I had sucked all the light from the corridor. And the way the rage had been building inside me since my encounter with Big Jack. And even before that, I’d always had the feeling I was more darkness than light. Being with Colton had kept me grounded, but when he fell . . . But join them? That was ridiculous.
I forgot that my emotions were open to Colton, and suddenly I could feel both his pain because he did not like anything that could hurt me, and his fear at the possibility of a prophecy like the one they spoke about. I felt my blood turn so cold it felt like it iced over as I realized that if every demon believed this prophecy, then there must be some basis of truth to it. The more my level of fear increased, the more my rage also increased, and it had pretty much reached its peak.
I charged the twins and was just about to reach them when I remembered something.
“Shit, the wind!” I shouted.
FindersKeepers had puffed their chests out like some kind of bird, while their arms were straight behind their backs, fists balled up tightly. Their mouths began to open and then continued opening much wider than was natural. The faint sound of a whistle over a breeze started coming from their mouths. It started subtly, but soon the entire dungeon was filled with the sound of a train, and the winds they created increased speed until I knew we were about to have a full-blown tornado aimed at us.
“Take . . .” I tried to warn Colton and Nicholai to take cover but I could not get the words out. Suddenly I was blasted all the way to the other end of the corridor. I slammed into prison cell after prison cell and I was not the only one. Colton and Nicholai were bouncing from floor to ceiling and prison cell, left wall to right, until we were all on the furthest side of the dungeon, banging into each other with wicked force. My head slammed into a wall torch and I could feel the blood bursting from near my temple. Nicholai’s leg moved freely, clearly broken as he slammed left and right. We were all scraped up, bleeding and broken. FindersKeepers giggled softly and yet somehow we could hear them from the other side of the dungeon without any problem, and without the winds ceasing.
