by Lizzy Ford
“What does he have to do with this?” she managed to ask without crying.
“With what?” Eddy asked.
“I’m not talking to you, Eddy.”
He cocked his head to the side and lowered the tablet.
What had Shadowman said? Something about being bound? Kaylee waited with a small hope that the archdemon would tell her Nathan had to die.
No answer came. Shadowman had retreated. Perhaps the response wasn’t worth the effort this time around.
“I take it back,” she said and picked up the handgun. “I can think of one person I wouldn’t mind shooting.” It would be even easier, because Nathan wouldn’t actually die. Spirit guides possessed the ability to heal.
With the images of Nathan fucking his ex replaying in her thoughts, and her emotions raw, Kaylee picked up the weapon and stood. She placed the dime at the tip of the muzzle and focused hard, imagining she was shooting Nathan.
The coin stayed in place this time for over forty shots.
Eddy watched. After a while, a cult member brought them lunch. Eddy accepted the tray supporting fast food bags and sat down.
“Come eat,” he urged.
Kaylee lifted the dime off the muzzle and lowered the gun. Her arm ached, but nothing hurt as much as the hole inside of her. How had she been such a sucker for some handsome man who made her feel special for a night?
She sat and ate in silence. As if suspecting she was struggling, Eddy glanced at her several times.
“You want to play a game?” he asked and handed her the tablet.
Kaylee looked from it to him. “You trust me not to email someone for help?”
“Who?” he replied. “Not your parents, and you don’t have any real friends.”
She sighed.
“Not judging. Just saying,” he said with a smile. “And you wouldn’t want police involved, because you know what I’d do to them, right?”
“Right,” she whispered.
“Take it. Watch cat videos or play a game. It’ll help you relax.” He slid the tablet to her.
Kaylee accepted it and sat back against the wall, eating French fries absent-mindedly. She pulled up the extensive list of games on the tablet, put there by Eddy, who played on his phone when he was bored. She tapped one before opening an Internet browser.
She typed the images from her only dream in over a month into the search box: Significance of lightning and rose petals. She hit the search button.
The top entry made her do a double take.
Barachiel, archangel of lightning, blessings, storms, and head of the guardian angels. Symbols include lightning and rose petals.
“What’s wrong?” Eddy asked, sensitive to the slightest changes in her.
Before Kaylee could close the window, he snatched the tablet. Eddy’s eyes fell to the screen briefly.
“On second thought, let’s watch cat videos together,” he said and sat down beside her. He closed the search results.
Kaylee wished she could be as relaxed and calm as he was about everything and doubted she would live long enough to find any sort of peace.
Eddy didn’t turn the tablet over to her again, though he was true to his word about sharing the screen so they could watch cat and animal videos.
SEVEN
“KAYLEE.” Eddy’s urgent whisper and a light shake awoke her from the sleep of death she’d grown accustomed to.
She blinked and rolled onto her back. Her body was stiff from their meager accommodations, which consisted of sleeping bags on the hard cement floor. The lights were on in the room and hallway, and Eddy was awake and alert.
“What time is it?” she mumbled, hating that he was a morning person even before he had a cup of coffee.
“Dunno,” he said, eyes on the entrance. “We need to go.”
She sat up and listened for the sound of them being attacked. It was quiet, as it had been when she fell asleep. Unable to sense what Eddy did, she nonetheless flung off the top of the sleeping bag and pulled on her shoes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“You hear it?”
She paused to listen again. “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s the problem. The ventilation’s been cut.” He motioned to the two vents near the ceiling. “I closed them, but it might not be enough, depending on whether they use gas meant to disable us or murder us.”
“What? Who?” she asked, growing alarmed.
“I assume 3G found us again. They’re definitely tracking someone or have inside help.” He left the doorway and went to the pitcher of water near the leftovers from their dinner. He ripped a spare t-shirt into two strips and dunked both into the water before tossing one of the rags to her. “Tie it around your nose and mouth. It’s not going to keep the worst away, and it won’t help your eyes if they use tear gas. I’m hoping they use smoke like they did at the bunker.”
Kaylee tied the wet, cold rag around her lower face.
“If they’re smart, which they always seem to be when it comes to strategy, they’ll have the entrances and exits either booby-trapped or sealed off. We have an alternative, but we have to reach it.” Eddy checked his weapons quickly and strode to the door.
Kaylee’s pulse raced. Eddy wasn’t cheerful or happy. He was on edge for the first time since she’d met him over a month ago. She guessed his transformation to mean he wasn’t optimistic about their chances.
The person who should have been her enemy was getting ready to defend her from someone who should have been her ally. Frustration and fury boiled within her again but were soon eclipsed by fear as she realized her life was at stake this night. 3G wasn’t going to let her escape and probably wouldn’t let her live.
“I’m ready.” She joined Eddy at the door.
“We got this,” he said and offered a quick smile. “Follow my instructions and as fast as you can. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to duck, you duck. Do not hesitate, Kaylee.”
She was too concerned to respond aloud and nodded.
Eddy knelt beside her. He pulled off one of the many holsters he wore and wrapped it around her leg and hips to secure it against her thigh.
“If I tell you to shoot, you shoot,” he added. “It’s loaded.” Standing, he gazed down at her, the lethal edge present in every inch of his features. “If you use it against me, Shadowman and 3G combined won’t be able to save you from Hell.”
In that moment, Kaylee was more scared of her guardian than 3G. “I won’t,” she whispered.
“Great! Then let’s go!” Eddy gripped her hand and pulled her out of the room into the hallway.
They jogged down the hall. Everything was …silent. Kaylee hadn’t noticed the background purr of air conditioning until it was gone, and the only sound was that of their sneakers against cement.
Smoke curled through the periodic vents near the ceiling.
“Ah, smoke,” Eddy said in satisfaction. “So far things are going our way.”
Seriously? Kaylee shook her head.
They reached an intersection. Eddy slowed their pace and ventured into it.
Shots rang out, and he ducked back quickly. He released her to pull a grenade from his cargo pocket. Pulling the pin loose, he paused for a moment and then tossed it down the hall, towards the shooter.
Seconds later, an explosion rocked the warehouse. The walls shook.
“Easy as pie,” he said to her. He was starting to relax again, comfortable in battle. “There’s another route.” He started back the way they’d come. They ran in the direction opposite the grenade and shooter, past the room where they’d stayed the night, and around the next corner.
The sounds of pursuers shouting came from behind them. With their forms obscured by smoke, Kaylee prayed Eddy knew where he went, because she could see no farther than him. Eddy slammed to a stop. She careened into him, almost plowing him over.
Kaylee peeked around him.
Flickers of the black clothing worn by 3G members moved in
and out of view ahead of them, clearing lockers. It was difficult for her to make out how many there were.
Eddy took her hand again and crept forward, towards the black splotches marring the white smoke filling the hallway. She felt the edge of a corner. Eddy slid around it at the same slow speed until both of them were out of the intersection. They ran then into the fog, towards a destination she didn’t know. Her senses were heightened, and adrenaline drove the sleepiness out of her better than four cups of coffee.
She hadn’t believed the warehouse of self-storage lockers to be that big. Soon, her instinct was confirmed. The fog began to settle. They crossed through an area of charred walls and blood and ichor hanging from the ceiling. She covered her mouth, horrified and disgusted. Eddy pulled her through the space where his grenade had obliterated two men. He continued past the intersection they had originally tried to cross through.
He paused at another intersection and peered around the corner. Across from them were three cult members, one of whom beckoned them towards him.
Eddy released her, made a few hand signals to those across the hall, and drew two weapons. “When I say, run across the hall. They’re going to take you the rest of the way,” he told her.
“What about you?” Kaylee asked before she could stop herself.
“I’ll follow. Promise. I’ve kept you alive this long. I’m going to distract our enemies.” Eddy flashed her a smile. “If something happens, shoot first, ask questions later. 3G won’t hesitate to kill you. Got it?”
How the fuck had she ended up in this situation? How was any of this real?
Kaylee nodded. She could be dead in five minutes, if she didn’t do as Eddy said. Shadowman was weak, distant, and she doubted he was going to interfere unless her death was inevitable. Even in that circumstance, what could he do, if there was more than one person for him to fight off? He couldn’t protect her from bullets and grenades in his current state.
“Go!” Eddy ordered softly.
Kaylee darted across the hall. Eddy went with her, firing his weapons, positioned in front of her to prevent any of the others from shooting her. A smattering of gunfire answered his shots.
One of the cult members snatched her and slammed her against the wall in his hurry to pull her the remainder of the way. Eddy reached the corner and pressed his back to the wall. Someone shouted down the hallway, and the squelch of a radio sounded in the ensuing silence.
He lifted his chin towards those with her. One of them grabbed her and pulled, but not before she saw the blood splattering Eddy’s face. It wasn’t blood from those blown up by the grenade but fresh, bright. He’d been hit.
Kaylee’s chest tightened at the thought she was about to lose her only buffer between her and those who wanted her dead. She stumbled and focused on the three rushing her down the hallway. The smoke was settling. They tore through an intersection. Gunfire sounded, and the third person in their procession dropped to the ground.
The man holding Kaylee’s arm, who signed commands to the others, slowed. The woman behind her helped the downed man to his feet. Blood pooled from the wound in his chest.
Seeing blood left Kaylee terrified. It was easy to pretend everything would be okay until she witnessed those around her being shot. From the looks of things, she, too, would end the day being murdered, this time permanently.
They bolted through a third intersection. More gunfire, though this time, no one appeared to be hurt. The injured man returned fire before rolling a grenade that made the walls shudder when it exploded. Bleeding but on his feet, he joined the rest of them. They darted left at the fourth intersection, took another left soon after, and stopped.
Panting, Kaylee bent over to catch her breath. The others were equally winded.
“Almost … there,” the team leader, who had grabbed her arm, said quietly.
The others nodded.
Kaylee’s thoughts were on Eddy, and she wanted to kick herself for hoping he survived. The sense of being weighed down returned, as if night itself were sitting on her. She wobbled and braced herself against the feeling. It didn’t last longer than thirty seconds.
“Let’s go,” the team leader said.
Kaylee straightened. She was unusually drained, more so than she thought healthy considering adrenaline should have perked her up.
They began running again, this time towards the sound of gunfire. They passed several heavily armed cult members who were positioned at the corners of intersections to provide cover as her group raced through. More than one cult member was gunned down, and she winced each time she heard a cry of pain.
Bullets exploded the cement wall near her head, and she ducked, startled.
“They’re behind us!” shouted one of the cult members escorting her.
The team leader didn’t respond but hunched his shoulders and continued to run.
More bullets zipped past her and put chinks in the wall. Kaylee sprinted as hard as any of those with her. At long last, the leader ducked around a corner and into the nearest room.
Kaylee sagged against the wall of another storage locker, this one much larger than the one where she and Eddy had taken cover. The team leader turned on the lights and darted towards the corner. The other two cult members made it into the room as well. The wounded man dropped to his knees while the woman took up position at the doorway, armed and ready to shoot anyone who turned the corner.
The leader paused in the corner and turned his gaze towards the cement flooring. Kaylee followed his look. If there was an escape anywhere in this room, she didn’t see it.
The leader cursed and planted his hands on his hips, staring hard at the floor, as if he could will a door to appear.
“Where is it?” the woman at the door demanded quietly.
“This is the right locker, isn’t it?” the wounded man wheezed.
“It has to be,” was the less than encouraging answer from their team leader.
Coldness penetrated Kaylee, and it wasn’t normal fear. “We’re in trouble,” she said. A murky vision flashed in her mind, two gunmen eliminating the last of the Satanic resistance in the hallway.
“I’ll find it. It’s the right place,” the team leader snapped.
“No. I mean, they’re coming. He’s warning me.”
The woman and team leader exchanged a look. He tossed her a grenade, and the wounded man lurched to his feet to stand on the opposite side of the doorway.
Kaylee pushed herself away from the wall to join the team leader, who continued to scour the floor. For what, she couldn’t tell. The cement was unbroken. There was no door, no underground escape hatch.
The sound of the grenade exploding down the hallway rattled the walls and floor. The sense of danger drifted out of Kaylee’s mind.
“It’s here,” the team leader mumbled.
It wasn’t. Or at least, neither of them was capable of finding whatever it was he sought.
Gunfire rang out from the corridor perpendicular to theirs. Seconds later, Eddy dove into the room. He staggered to his feet, one arm useless at his side and blood smeared on the floor from where he had landed.
“Kaylee, get ready to shoot anyone who comes through that door,” he told her.
With shaking hands, she fumbled with the snaps securing the weapon to her thigh.
A shot, and Eddy was sent flying into the wall behind him. A second one, and the woman dropped, a third, and the injured man fell.
A form all in black, down to the black ski mask, entered the room, weapons raised. He shot the man behind her next.
Kaylee froze. Why hadn’t Shadowman warned her about this guy?
The man pointed the weapon at her. To her surprise, he didn’t fire. Instead, he went to the man and woman at the door and shot both of them through the head.
It was when he stepped towards Eddy, who struggled to sit, that Kaylee raised her weapon. The gunman kicked Eddy’s weapon away. She released the safety as her assassin had taught her and rested her index finger lightly
against the trigger.
He won’t really die, she told herself. The members of 3G were all guides, who were mostly immortal.
“Stop,” she whispered in a shaking voice.
The gunman’s attention shifted towards her. He didn’t lower the weapon trained on Eddy.
“Eddy,” she said, unwilling to take her eyes off the man in black to check on her guardian.
“I’m good.” His voice was strained.
The gunman holstered his firearm and pulled off the mask.
That’s why he didn’t warn me. Shadowman had a thing for Nathan.
Kaylee’s heart stopped, as it always did when she was confronted by Nathan. His dark gaze was intent, his hair mussed from the mask, his stance on edge.
He lifted his hands. “Hi, Kaylee,” he said in the low, calm, husky voice that had made her melt into his arms once already. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Considering you defected to 3G, you’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you!” she snapped. Anger replaced her fear, further agitated by the tension she always experienced when Nathan was around.
She couldn’t get the images of him and his ex out of her mind.
And she wanted him so badly, it hurt.
If there was one person she could shoot, it was Nathan. After all, he would heal, unlike her.
“You left me for dead, Nathan!” she said.
“That’s not entirely how it happened.”
“You left me for the Satanist cult to rescue and heal!”
“That wasn’t my intention,” Nathan said, hushed.
“I don’t give a shit about your intentions, Nathan. I care about your actions.”
“Agreed,” Eddy said. The assassin rose unsteadily and balanced himself against the wall.
“You better have an escape plan, because I can’t get you out of this one right now,” Nathan said quietly, not taking his eyes from hers.
“Of course you can’t,” she retorted.
Nathan reached one hand towards his vest and unzipped it. He wriggled out of the bulletproof vest, tossed it and held out both arms.