“They gave you the Mulligan’s most brutal enforcer as a babysitter? Apparently, man flesh must be the hot new Christmas trend this year.”
As if on cue, the Gargoyles walked through the door, and Blue was on his feet with his gun pointed at them almost as quick as me. The Gargoyles tensed, brutally long knives unsheathed and in front of them in an instant. The violence in the room was an almost physical force. We were one wrong move away from a massacre.
“Well, isn’t this fun? Hope, meet my very own matching set of extremely inappropriate gifts, compliments of Luc. Romanus, Rouen, this is my sister Hope. That is her, uh, bodyguard, Blue.”
Everyone stared, and no one lowered their weapons. I took a deep breath for strength. “Seriously, stop measuring dicks and put your weapons away.”
There was a knock at the door, and every single one of us whirled toward the door with weapons raised. When Adnan, adopted Syrian orphan and now bad ass ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet company, poked his head inside. He looked amused rather than scared.
“Did someone say dick, because I brought one of my very own,” he said dramatically. Framed by the doorway was Nazir.
I dropped my gun. “Fuck.”
Adnan laughed, his eyes roaming all over my Gargoyles. “Oh, Relly, you can say that again.”
Chapter Five
Nazir Ashear was basically a ghost. A name that my parents smiled over when they talked about old times, when we were younger. A name that made Clary tear up a little, but she’d always smile as she said it. Adnan was the only one who knew Nazir at all.
He’d join military school when I’d been four. I barely recognized him except as this glorious big kid that Adnan absolutely worshipped. Living through the Syrian war had changed Nazir, even as a boy.
After military school he’d gone on to join the army, then became SAS, then covert ops, and then he’d dropped it all to join some renegade offshoot of the Legion and became a mercenary. Or at least that's what Lux said, his voice filled with something that sounded like worried pride.
I barely knew him. I’d seen him once when I was sixteen, at Adnan’s debut performance as lead dancer for the Ballet Company. He’d come home to see his baby brother achieve his dreams. Even though Adnan’s left leg was amputated from the knee down, the best prosthetics that money could buy ensured Adnan could do whatever his heart desired. Nazir had sat at the back of the theater, his back to the wall, with Lux. The rest of us sat down the front row, cheering so loud that I thought they’d kick us out.
I remembered Hope’s face when she’d read him, though. She’d flinched, a barely perceptible expression, but I’d seen it and so had Nazir. Hope hugged the Devil with joy on her face. Whatever she read in Nazir that was enough to make her flinch had put me on guard and I’d remained that way, even after he’d disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Until now.
He was tall, over six feet, and strong. Strength poured off him in waves, his forearms and biceps huge, tattoos running up and down their length, except for his hands. He was dressed as a civilian, but he didn't do a very good job of it. Even in worn Levi’s and a t-shirt, he looked like a mercenary. Wraparound sunglasses were on top of his head, and a gun was in his hand. He looked unflustered as he took in the other three armed men in the room, positioning himself in front of Adnan.
I sent Hope an accusing look. “Seriously?”
She shrugged. “I’m your twin, Rella. I know what you are going to do. I don’t want you to die doing it. So I called in a favor.”
“Not a favor if it’s family,” Nazir muttered, but his eyes didn’t leave the threats in the room.
“Ace told you, didn't she?” Hope just grinned. I scowled at the men in the room. “Let’s just all put our guns and stupidly big knives away, okay? Seriously, Rouen, where the fuck were you keeping that thing?”
Rouen just waggled his eyebrows at me, but he made the knife disappear. The other three didn’t make a move to disarm.
“Simmer down guys, we are all friends here.”
I pointed at Blue. “Murdering mob enforcer.” Then at Romanus and Rouen. “Murdering Demons.”Then at Nazir. “Mercenary.” The murderer part was implied.
“Seriously, there's so much machoness in this room, I think I’m getting a hard on,” Adnan stage-whispered to us from where he'd perched on the side of Hope's bed. We grinned, and Blue flicked an eye to him, the good Catholic killer that he was. Nazir eyed them all for any sign of disgust at Adnan’s sexuality. Pretty sure he’d put a bullet in them to teach them to be more tolerant.
Rouen threw Adnan a wink and a grin.
Adnan clutched his chest. “Gay?”
I shook my head. “Kinda, but not really. Besides, he's mine.”
Now Adnan and Hope were staring at me. It had just slipped out. “Fuck it.” I leaned over Hope and kissed her cheek. “Get better soon, Hope. I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around my back and squeezed me hard. “Be safe, Rella.”
I gave Adnan a kiss on the cheek. He patted my butt. “Give them hell, but come back, you hear?” I turned to the other men in the room, most still hold in their weapons.
I gave Blue my best hard stare. “Keep her safe, or so help me god, I will find a way to make you hurt.” Blue just nodded once.
I pointed to Romanus, pushing down his knife hand. “Come on, Boulder Boy. Let’s go.”
I walked past Nazir and tried not to flinch at the intensity of his gaze. “You too, if you’re joining us. We have a hotel to settle into and a human trafficker to torture.”
His eyes widened a little, the most expression I’d ever seen on his face. I leaned close and whispered next to his ear.
“I’m not the good twin.”
Then I walked out the door. Damn, it was good to make a dramatic exit.
Charlie had been securing us a hotel room in a divey little place that paid its employees to forget faces and you paid by the hour. Pretty sure I got fleas from walking through the doors. No one else seemed to care, and I didn’t want to seem girly, but I hated bugs. Roaches were the worst and I’m pretty sure they were the only thing keeping this place standing.
When Charlie saw Nazir walk in behind me, well behind Rouen but in front of Romanus because the Gargoyles didn’t trust him, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
“Naz?”
Nazir surprised me and pulled Charlie into a hug, an actual smile on his face.
“Hey, Charlie. Look at you!”
I looked between the two of them. “Well, you two look cozy. Wanna share with the rest of the class?”
Charlie got his best ‘busted’ look on his face. The same one he got when he snuck hot cookies from Mammy Mulligans oven, or when Debra Depetra’s dad caught them making out in the back seat of his beat up ‘Stang.
“Charlie links me in to Adnan through secure channels. I haven't seen his face, though, in what? Five, six years?”
“Since Adnan’s debut.” Charlie smiled at Naz, and a wave of jealousy crawled through my gut. I just didn’t know who I was jealous of right now. The fact Charlie gave someone the smile that he usually reserved for me? Or that he’d gotten to know Naz the Ghost all these years and shut me out? I’d thought we’d shared everything, but maybe I was wrong.
I didn’t know dammit, and I didn’t care. I walked past them both, and towards the only door in the dingy little room. I needed a shower, a break from all the goddamn testosterone surrounding me, and a fresh pair of panties.
I undressed and tried not to stare at any part of the bathroom too long. I hopped into the shower cubicle and pulled the moldy shower curtain. At least the mold kind of made it a more opaque. But the water was scalding, and that's what I wanted right now.
The door to the bathroom opened and closed, and I somehow instinctively knew that it was Charlie. I also knew, in my gut, that none of the men in the other room would ever hurt me. Even Nazir, who I’d barely even met.
“Rella, you okay?”
&
nbsp; I sighed and wished I could rest my head on the tiles without the risk of contracting botulism. “Yeah, I’m fine Charlie.”
“Is Hope alright?”
This time I stuck my head out of the curtain, because I wanted to see Charlie’s face. “Yeah, Hope is fine. The Mulligan’s gave her Blue as a bodyguard.”
Charlie's jaw dropped like one of those cartoon characters. I chuckled and put my head back under the scalding spray. “Blue Halloran?”
“Uh huh. Guess they really love Hope.”
I heard the toilet creak ominously as Charlie sat on in. “They love you too, Rella. Just differently.” I poked my head back out and smiled at my friend. So much angst in the last 24 hours, but he still soothed my wounded feelings.
“I know, Charlie. I know Hope and I are different. Hope inspires that kind of loyalty in people, even in me. Hell, especially in me. She’s beautiful and fragile and people want to protect her. I know that all that sweetness is wrapped around a core of steel too, but it doesn't matter. Hope and I are twins, but we are different, and I’m okay with that.” I leaned back in and just let the water wash away the tension in my muscles. “Can you go out there and make sure they don’t kill each other?”
“Sure thing.”
I heard the creak of the toilet again, “Charlie?” I poked my head out of the shower one last time, my hair dripping on the floor. “I, uh, I just… Thank you, I guess. I couldn’t do this without you.”
Charlie stopped and just stared. Then he leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips, barely a touch, but it was filled with emotion.
“Anytime, Rella.” He opened the door and walked out, closing it softly behind him. I leaned my head against the tiles, no longer bothered about the mold.
It had been a hell of a week.
Charlie had left clean clothes on the counter, because I’d stormed into the bathroom with no thought to towels or clothes. Slipping into yoga pants and a large black hoodie, I walked out of the bathroom, not sure if I was cleaner than when I went in.
Someone had ordered pizza, and an impressive stack of boxes sat on one of the beds. There was only one single bed, a double and a chair that had a suspicious stain in the corner. Honeymoon suite, my ass.
Rouen held out a piece of pizza to me but pulled it away when I went to grab it. He gave me an intense look, and I sighed. I opened my mouth and he placed it on my lips, and I took a bite. Nothing like a good pizza pie. Once I’d taken the bite, Rouen let me hold the rest. Naz just watched us, his face giving nothing away.
“It's a gargoyle thing,” I said and shrugged.
“Gargoyle?”
I nodded. “It’s their demon subspecies.” If the guys wanted to give Naz a crash course in gargoyle history, that was up to them.
“I thought you called them demons metaphorically.”
I gave him an intense look. “Have you forgotten already, Naz? Ace and Luc?” It would be easy to rationalize away as the delusions of a traumatized child. If he had chosen to forget, then I’d let him have that. Probably wouldn’t last though. My world had always been steeped in the paranormal. When Fallen angels came to your tenth birthday, you began to normalize it. Even Charlie knew, or at least heavily suspected he was the Devil. He did know he was something paranormal, but no one talked about the particulars.
But Nazir had been gone a long time. Naz held my eyes a little longer, and then ducked his head.
I moved on. “Did anyone catch Naz up on the plan?” I stuffed half a slice of pizza in my mouth and desperately tried to chew around it.
“Yes. And it’s a weak plan.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. “Oh?”
“The apartment is on the twenty-seventh floor. One way in, one way out if you exclude the elevator. He’ll have security, all armed with semi-automatic weapons. You have no exit strategy whatsoever from the twenty-seventh floor and I’m sure that even if the Gods smile on your little crusade and you find Volchek alone and actually manage to secure him, you won't have the stomach to get the information from him. He’s not going to roll over and rat out his bosses. You don’t seem like the torturing type, despite the badass persona you are trying to portray. Have you ever killed a man, Estrella?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, and ground my teeth.
“I didn’t think so. And torturing a man is infinitely worse.” He looked from Rouen to Romanus. “Maybe the big guys will do it for you, but it takes some serious stones to stand by while a man screams in pain. You are a liability in this operation.”
I growled, and launched myself over the bed at him, but Rouen caught me around the waist and pulled me back down, settling me into his lap. “Easy, Tiger. Fuck you are sexy when you growl.” I could feel the evidence of just how hot he found my growling growing beneath my ass.
“You underestimate her. If she wants to be there, then she will be there,” Romanus stated, staring Naz in the eyes. They stared at each other for so long, neither prepared to be the first to drop their eyes. Eventually Naz cursed, blinking as he looked away. A small smile curled Romanus’ lips, but it was gone in a second.
“We had an exit strategy,” Rouen said, catching Naz’s eye, but dropping them quickly. “It's a last resort, but it is pretty bulletproof.”
“Was that a rock joke?” I asked. I leaned my head back against his shoulder.
Rouen just smirked down at me, but looked back at Nazir. “We shift, and we can fly.”
“You shift and fly?” Naz repeated back.
Rouen grinned. He enjoyed this way too much. “Uh huh. Into dragons. Bulletproof flying dragons. But only little ones, though.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, basically pocket sized.”
“So, if it went bad, you guys planned to turn into dragons, bust out the window and fly away?” Naz repeated. Kinda sounded crazy when you put it like that, but this was New York. No one would blink at a small flying dragon.
“I also planned to eat this Volchek,” Romanus said. “Anyone who sells women like meat deserves to be a meal.”
Naz flicked his eyes to me, then back to Romanus. “Agreed.”
As much as Naz pissed me off, with his cool expression and stupidly muscular thighs, Naz probably had the most experience at this kind of thing. I was just a normal beat cop who had plans to make detective one day. Charlie was more used to hacking bank accounts. The Gargoyles were a battering ram, not made for stealthy infiltration. I sighed.
“Do you have any suggestions on how to make the plan better, or are you just here to be a Debbie Downer?”
Naz grinned, and it thumped the air out of my chest. When he didn’t control his features like a mask, he was beautiful. Or sexy. Or some other thing that defied definition in a single word.
Rouen leaned close to my ear. “Better breathe there, Tiger,” he whispered quiet enough that it was for my ears only. “Don’t want to have to give you mouth to mouth.” His words were purred, and arousal made my skin feel tight. I wiggled my ass a little to even the playing field. I grinned at his near silent groan.
“Are you and he a couple?” Naz asked, and tension spread through the room like a wildfire, like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for my answer. I guess it better be the right one. I didn’t meet anyone's eyes, lowering mine to stare at the floor as I worked out my thoughts. I liked Rouen, with his easy laugh and cheekiness. I loved how safe Romanus made me feel, and the things they made me feel in bed together was out of this world. Then there was Charlie. Screw it.
“We aren’t a couple, but we are definitely a thing. Him too,” I pointed to Romanus. “And Charlie and I-”
“Are none of his damn business,” Charlie interrupted, but he was smiling. He’d known I was about to claim him as mine. “This isn’t the time or the place, Rella Rua.”
I smiled at Charlie, then turned back to Naz. I had a funny feeling that he was taking our measure, and he’d found us wanting.
“So, you are starting your own harem?”
“Do you have
a problem with that?” My eyes dared him to say anything.
He surprised me again with another smile. “No. I’ve seen firsthand that when it works, it works.” He turned to Charlie, his face shutting down again to his mercenary mask. “Charlie, can you get me schematics for the building and the surrounding block? We’ll have to do surveillance. If he’s a professional, he won't have the same pattern every day. If not, it’s hard to eradicate all routine from your day.” He crossed his arms across his broad chest. “We work out who his guards are, when there are shift changes, when he brushes his teeth, what his favorite restaurant is, whether he cried at the beginning of Bambi. We find the chink in the routine, and we exploit it. We strike when he’s most vulnerable, we get what we need, and we leave no loose ends. Do you get what I am saying?”
My lip curled. “Did you expect me to cry over the death of a criminal? Wrong girl, Naz.”
I ignored the appreciation that flashed across his face. I had ninety-nine problems and boys were at least three!
“Okay, here's the new plan.”
By the time we had every tiny detail worked out, contingency plans A through to Z, one of which was riding a dragon out the penthouse window, we all fell into bed. Well, I fell into bed beside Rouen, who had insisted with a lot of growling that I took the bed, and that he would protect my back. Naz had taken the stained armchair for first watch, and Charlie was in the bed beside me. Charlie had tried to protest that he could sleep on the floor, but I’m pretty sure once the fleas had finished snacking on him all night, he’d be nothing but a husk. Romanus had taken the single bed so he could relieve Naz in the middle of the night, so everyone had a chance to rest.
I woke in the middle of the night, and I couldn't see who sat in the chair keeping watch. The lights carpark were blown or shot out, so there was no external light in the room. I realized a hand tracing over my body was what had woken me. I was pressed into the curve of Rouen’s body, and I could feel the hard length of him against my ass. Again.
“Shh,” he whispered against my ear, his hand wrapping around my thigh, shifting me a little to hook a leg back over his, making way for his hand to travel up the inside my thigh, and press against my core through my yoga pants. I let out a little moan, but the hand that was under my face wrapped around to cover my mouth.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 37