"Yes," Nick said. "But what about Akain?"
"Get in your car," Alec said. "We'll go deal with him right now."
Nick nodded and went to his car. Brittney and Chloe followed him, getting in the back seat together. Harper got in the front seat, and Conner, Alec, and Sarah went back to Conner's car.
"We're following you," Alec said. "Get going."
Nick drove carefully, his face blank. "He's going to take my soul, you know. That was the price for failure."
"We're not going to let that happen," Chloe said. "I promise. Right, Harper?"
"Right."
Brittney nodded as well.
It took them nearly an thirty minutes to get to where Akain 's office was. Nick led them inside to the lobby. There was a beautiful receptionist there, and Harper recognized her as a succubus. She started to turn her attention to Nick, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
Harper stepped forward to her. "Don't even think about it."
The woman gave her a fleeting look, pouted a bit, and then said. "Fine. You're here to see Akain?"
"Yes."
The succubus got up, went to his office, knocked, entered, and was gone for a minute. Then she returned.
"He will see you," she said.
"Good," Alec said. He turned into his vampire form, and Conner turned into his incubus form. Sarah followed their lead, turning into a giant panther. They filed in together, and Harper shut the door behind them.
Akain looked at them all. "So, here we are. The famed Afterlife crew. What can I do for you?"
"You sent this man to kill us," Alec said.
"I did," Akain said, with a touch of a laugh to his voice. "I see that he failed."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to test you," Akain said. "I wanted to see if the rumors were true, that you're toughest group around. I'm not disappointed."
"You were testing us?" Harper demanded.
"Yes," Akain said. "I wanted to see if a mere human could take you out... if he was properly motivated. I see that did not happen. Yet... you look like you've all been through hell. Was he more successful than I gave him credit for?"
"No," Alec said. "We killed about thirty demons tonight, blew up Trinity's left arm, and convinced Nick to let Chloe go. Now, he says you want his soul. Do you really want to fight all of us for it?"
"Oh, no," Akain said. "Not at all. I've gotten what I wished, which was to meet you all." He smiled at them again, his teeth flashing. "You see, we're going to be doing some work together in the future, and I wanted to make sure that you were the right people for me."
Harper shook her head. "We're not here to work with you."
"I know," he said. "But you will. Trust me on this, you will. Now, if you will kindly leave me be, I will allow Nick to keep his soul. I have an appointment soon."
Alec glared at him. Akain just met his gaze, and then let out a laugh.
"Go," he urged. "Unless you're ready for another fight."
"Come on," Chloe said, touching Alec's arm. "We got what we wanted. It's time for us to go home."
FIFTEEN
Harper raised her bottle of beer and clinked it against the other five that were raised.
"To taking down Trinity," she said.
"And getting Chloe back," Brittney said.
"And retrieving those paintings," Conner said.
"And to Nick," Chloe said.
"And to shoe detonators," Sarah said with a smirk.
"To everything," Alec concluded. They all took a sip of their beers, and laughed. It had been three days since Harper and Brittney had gone in to give their statements. In that time, everything had pretty much gone back to normal. Except for Alec's apartment, which was still being worked on. He was going to be staying with Harper and Brittney for the foreseeable future.
The two women had decorated the house in browns, reds, and green to celebrate the coming of the fall. Harper was glad summer was over. She loved the time of the year when the leaves started to fall off the trees and the wind started to get sharp. It was not only beautiful, but it was relaxing. She had always gone with her parents on a trip in the fall when she was young. Her and Brittney had kept up the tradition; Harper had always saved her vacation days for the beginning of fall, and they'd traveled around, visiting other cities. She didn't know if they were still going to do that this year or not.
Conner smiled. "So, Eklund got his promotion, and he said you and Brittney -- any of us -- can play FBI agents whenever we'd like if you keep up the good work."
"I think I've had my share of it for now," Brittney said.
"Same here," Harper said, shaking her head. "I can't believe we pulled it off. John's going away for fifteen years I bet. We won't have to deal with him again anytime soon."
Brittney smirked and put her arm around Chloe. "No, we won't," she agreed. "Of course, there's still Akain to deal with... he wants us to do something for him."
"Working for a demon," Sarah said. "I would have said it's a terrible idea if I didn't work with you guys. Maybe the job will be something fun."
"Yeah right," Brittney said.
"Don't forget, there's the rest of Trinity to watch out for," Harper said. "They're going to want revenge for what we did."
Brittney grimaced.
"We can handle them," Chloe said. "No problem. You've got me now, so it'll be easy to make sure they stay out of our way."
"No more talk of work," Conner said. "We're having a housewarming party for Brittney and Harper... and Alec too, I suppose. So let's focus on that for a while. We deserve a some time off after this nightmare."
Everyone murmured their agreement. They went back to the living room where there were shot glasses sitting on the coffee table next to a bottle of tequila. Harper poured everyone a shot, and they all took it. Everyone but Alec and Sarah winced at the harshness of it. Harper smirked at Conner as he made a face.
As they all sat down and began talking, Harper thought of Ileana. She wondered if her great-grandmother would have been proud of her. She thought it was very likely. She glanced at Alec, and realized that being around him was no longer a struggle against loving him or not. She knew there would always be a spark there, but she was getting over him.
Conner put an arm around her, and she leaned against him. "If we can't talk about work, what can we talk about?"
He considered for a moment. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "We could play twenty questions..."
Everyone groaned, and Conner held up his hands. "I'm kidding! God, I'm kidding!"
Alec suddenly blinked and turned to Sarah. He gave her a sly smile. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"What?"
"It was a guy stalking Chloe."
"Okay?"
"We had a bet," Alec said. "And you lost that bet. So you're going to be helping clean Afterlife for... what was it? A week? Have fun with that."
"You're terrible," Sarah said. "I didn't think you'd remember that bet."
"Never bet against Alec," Conner said. "He's been alive too long and knows too much. And he never lets a bet go unfulfilled."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "Fine. I'll clean Afterlife. But just so you know, it could have been a girl. If I was going to kill someone, I definitely wouldn't resort to poison."
Alec smirked at her, and then glanced at his phone for what must have been the hundredth time that night. Then it buzzed in his hand.
"Excuse me," he said, "I have to get this."
He took the call outside, so as not to distract the others.
"So, how about some drinking games? I've got cards," Brittney said.
"Sure," Sarah said. "That sounds like fun."
Chloe and Harper both nodded. Brittney took out a deck and began to deal. "We'll play Presidents and Losers," she said. "It's a fun game..."
She began explaining the rules. Soon, they were all playing, and drinking, and laughing. Harper became the first loser when she came in last. Chloe became the first preside
nt.
"You get a rule now," Brittney said.
Chloe thought for a moment. "Okay," she said. "Every time Conner takes a drink... the loser does as well."
Harper groaned. "You're trying to get me drunk," she said accusingly.
Chloe just batted her eyelashes at her. Conner picked up his beer, and Harper sighed, picking up her own. They clinked them together and took a drink.
They were four rounds in when Alec returned.
"Hey," Sarah said, turning towards him, "since we're taking some time off... does that mean we can go on vacation?"
"Yes!" Harper said. "We can all go traveling. Brittney and I usually go by ourselves, but it'll be fun with all of you guys."
Alec shook his head. "No."
Harper frowned. "No?"
"No," he repeated. "We have a job."
About the Author
Kaitlyn Meyers lives in the western United States near Lake Tahoe, CA. You can find her on the shores of the lake anytime of the year.
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Kinda Like Van Helsing (Afterlife Book 4) Page 14