Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2) (3 page)

“Maybe they were locked in?” Lilliah couldn’t look her friend in the eye; Rebecca would know she was lying. Lilliah had always been a terrible liar.

“Maybe.”

“I want to go inside,” Lilliah said, changing the subject.

“You want to go in there?” Sebastian motioned his head in the buildings direction. “Into the freaky burnt-out building where a lot of people died?”

When he put it like that, Lilliah didn’t think it was a good idea at all, but she needed to see the inside of the building for herself. “I’m going in.”

“Wait, how are you going to get past them?” Rebecca’s eyes widened at the two policemen. “I don’t want to go in there with you, Lil. It’s freaky as hell.”

“The way Azrael and Benedict did. Both of you stay here. I won’t be long.”

Lilliah crossed the road, keeping far enough away from the policemen so she wouldn’t draw their attention.

She ran down the alley, only slowing when she was sure that she was far enough away from the road and the policemen. She had been standing in that alley the night before. It had been a dream, but she had definitely been there. She remembered the old-looking bricks and the bins lining the building. Everything was exactly the same.

Before she could stop herself, Lilliah walked to the side door. Thankfully, Azrael and Benedict had left it propped open with a brick.

The smell of smoke hit her immediately, burning her nostrils and causing her eyes to water. Holding her forearm across her nose, Lilliah walked into the room. She could hardly see anything through the darkness, but she could tell the room was small. Stretching out her hands, she shuffled forward until she finally found another door.

She had expected to find Azrael and Benedict straight away, but instead, she was met with eerie silence. Thankfully, there was a little more light than in the room she had just come from. Lilliah walked further out into the main room. Glass cracked under her feet and tables lay on the floor, covered in black soot. Shivering, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Why had she wanted to come here, into a place where so many people had died?

“This was a mistake.” Lilliah backed towards the door. She could wait for Benedict and Azrael outside.

“I knew. I knew you would come.”

Lilliah spun around. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a small man standing in front of her. Even in the shadows, she could tell she had never met him before.

“Who are you?” she asked louder than necessary, hoping Azrael or Benedict would hear her. Meeting strangers in burnt-out buildings never ended well.

The man was no taller than five foot five. He was hunched over, his greasy, light brown hair covering most of his face.

“I just wanted to follow. I wanted to follow.” His arm twitched, and he turned away from Lilliah and stared at the floor.

His long, beige trench coat hung off his shoulders, and his worn Converse shoes were covered in mud. Lilliah had no idea what to make of this man—or was he a boy? She couldn’t make out his age.

“You wanted to follow who?” Lilliah took a small step back, feeling uneasy. More broken glass cracked under her feet.

The guy’s head shot up, his pale face a complete contrast to the darkness.
“Him.”

“Who?” she demanded again.

“Lilliah?” Azrael called out.

“Azrael?” She stood on her tiptoes and looked over at the bar. He had sounded so close, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“He can play tricks on your mind. He can make you do things.”

Lilliah swung back around. The man was standing in front of her, his dark eyes looking too big for his small, narrow head. 

Lilliah braced herself. He was small and weak looking. She had no doubt she could overpower him, but she really didn’t want to. He looked too helpless, with his big eyes and his bottom lip quivering, giving him the appearance of a lost child.

“He will take everything from you because he can get in here.” He pointed to his temple, the same lost look dancing in his eyes.

“Tell me who you’re talking about. Who did you want to follow? Who can play tricks on your mind?” Lilliah’s heart picked up pace until it was thumping hard in her chest. The hairs on her arms stood on end. She knew who he was talking about.

“He will take it all and you will not be able to stop him.” Grabbing the side of his head, the guy buckled over in pain and let out an ear-piercing scream.

Lilliah reached for him, but he grabbed her wrist, his pale skin darkening and his eyes turning red. Blood-red. Just like Lucifer’s.

Forgetting her training, forgetting everything but fear, Lilliah screamed and tried to pull her hand back.

“Lilliah!”

Before she could call out to Azrael, the guy moved fast, pulling her to the floor with more strength than she had imagined someone of his build capable of.

“He’s coming for you,” he spat, his face inches away from hers.

His fingernails bit into her skin as he loomed over her. Lilliah twisted her head and gagged when he leaned in so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. He smelt rotten and damp.

“Run. Please, run.”

As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Lilliah sat up on the floor and focused on getting her breathing under control. What just happened?

“Lilliah!” Azrael shouted again, this time sounding closer.

“Here,” she croaked, rubbing her wrist and holding it close to her body.

Azrael swung around the corner and cursed when he saw her.

“What are you doing in here?” He knelt down and grabbed her face with both hands.

“I wanted to see it,” she stuttered and looked around the room.

“Did you fall?”

She let Azrael take her wrist and examine it.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Benedict walking towards them. “This was dangerous, Lilliah. You should have stayed outside.”

“There was a man.” She swallowed, purposely ignoring Benedict. She didn’t need him to remind her of how stupid she had been; the bruise on her wrist was proof enough. Exploring the building, wanting to confirm for herself that her dream had been real, had seemed like a good idea while she had been standing outside. Now it sounded morbid and completely reckless.

“What man?” Azrael helped her off the floor and pulled her in close to him.

Lilliah breathed him in deep, his scent instantly relaxing her. She could still smell the stranger, as if his smell had seeped into her clothes, dirtying them.

“There was a guy here. He was … strange. He grabbed my wrist and told me to run.” She looked between the two men in front of her. They stared down at her, waiting for her to continue. “He was young, I think. He looked kind of homeless.”

“Most likely was homeless,” Benedict cut in and scanned the floor, clearly trying to find some evidence of homeless people. “He probably just wanted to get some rest.”

“His eyes turned red.”

Lilliah had barely muttered the words when Benedict and Azrael sprang into action.

“Was it Lucifer? Tell me what he said, word for word,” Azrael demanded as he dragged her out of the room, heading for the back door. Benedict stayed close behind them.

“It wasn’t Lucifer.”

She let out a shaky breath once they were back outside and in the sunlight. Nothing bad ever happened in the daylight. She lifted her head up and breathed in the clear air. Or as clear as it could be in central London.

“How can you be sure?” Azrael stopped walking and rubbed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I should have known he’d come back.”

“It wasn’t him,” Lilliah stressed. “It was a young man. He looked afraid, but he sounded like he wanted to help me. He kept telling me to run. He screamed and then his eyes turned red.”

“What did he look like? What was he wearing?” Benedict asked. He was already taking out his phone from his trouser pocket. “I’ll ask around to see if he sounds familiar to anyone.”

Lilliah described the guy as best as she could, from his smell to his dirty shoes. “I don’t want you to hurt him. I just want to talk to him.”

“He hurt you,” Azrael reminded her. “He grabbed you and threatened you.”

“He warned me. He was warning me about Lucifer.” She didn’t know why, but part of her wanted to protect this mystery man. He had looked so broken, so scared, and yet he had tried to warn her.
Why?

“We’ll see what he wanted when we find him. He might be our only chance at finding Lucifer. I want a copy of the footage of every surveillance camera in this area. One of them must have caught him. I want every werewolf and vampire to know that I’m looking for him.” Azrael spat the last word, then grabbed Lilliah’s hand and led her to the main street.

Luckily, the policemen were no longer standing outside, and they all managed to leave the alley without being seen.

Rebecca and Sebastian were standing on the other side of the street, cuddling each other and smiling. They looked so relaxed and so oblivious to the world that was crumbling around them, Lilliah wanted to keep it that way.

“I don’t want to tell Rebecca or Seb about this. Not yet anyway.” Lilliah pulled Azrael to a stop before they could cross the road.

“You don’t want to tell them about Lucifer?” Benedict clarified as he typed into his phone without looking up.

Azrael, however, was solely focused on Lilliah, searching her face. For what, she wasn’t sure.

“You shouldn’t keep this from them.” Azrael told her softly.

“I’m not. I just don’t want them to worry when we don’t even know what we’re dealing with, especially when it might not be Lucifer.”

“Okay,” Azrael agreed.

She waited for Benedict to agree as well, and when he did, nodding curtly, she crossed the road, heading towards her friend and brother.

“What the hell took you so long?” Sebastian shouted at them, with his arm still around Rebecca’s shoulders.

“We had to be thorough.” Azrael kept an iron grip on Lilliah’s hand.

“Why’s your side dirty?” Rebecca leaned over to get a better look at Lilliah’s clothes. “You’re filthy.”

“Shit.” Lilliah used her sleeve to wipe away some of the black soot from her shirt. “I fell over.”

“How?” Rebecca demanded, staring down at Lilliah’s black hands.

“It was dark.” Lilliah stopped rubbing her side; the dirt wasn’t going anywhere. If anything, she was just spreading it around.

Azrael motioned at Lilliah and Benedict. “We need to look into this further.”

“You guys can look into it. I need some girl time with my best friend.” She walked over to Lilliah and linked their arms. “We’re going shopping.”

“Okay …” Lilliah drawled out. She had no idea how, but Rebecca knew something was wrong.

“Do you think it’s wise for you to go anywhere? You have just
fallen over
,” Azrael stressed, still refusing to let go of her hand.

Lilliah tried not to smile at Azrael’s code. When he’d said “fallen over,” he’d meant “attacked by a strange man.”

“What are the odds of me
falling over
twice in one day?” She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. If she were being honest, she wanted to see the strange man again. She had so many questions to ask him.

Reluctantly, Azrael conceded. “Fine.”

“Well, that’s great.” Sebastian threw his hands in the air, trying to act angrier than he really was. “Guess I’ll be going home then.”

“We’ll drop you off,” Azrael offered the girls.

Rebecca shook her head, already pulling Lilliah away. “No, it’s fine. We’ll walk. See you guys later.”

Azrael looked bewildered as Lilliah managed a half wave.

Once they were out of view Rebecca asked, “So are you going to spill what the hell is going on? Or do I need to drag it out of you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lilliah tried to carry the lie on.

Rebecca still wasn’t buying it. “Cut the crap and just tell me already. Don’t you trust me? Is that it?”

Lilliah exhaled. “Don’t be stupid, of course I trust you. I just didn’t want to drag you back into everything.”

“Are you kidding me?” Rebecca pulled Lilliah to a stop and stepped back. She was frowning, her eyes searching. “What the hell? I’m already in this,” she shouted, fluttering her arms in the air. “This is my business too.” She looked away, lips pressed together.

Lilliah bit the inside of her cheek, guilt slowly filling her stomach. “You’re right. I should have told you.”

“Goddamn right you should have told me—and Sebastian,” she added, her eyes widening accusingly. “So”—she linked her arm back with Lilliah’s and started walking again—“tell me everything.”

“I’m having dreams again, about Lucifer.”

She let that sink in for a moment as they walked down the street. People rushed passed them, most likely heading back to work after their lunch or into the many cafes and restaurants that populated the neighbourhood.  A couple of girls stopped to take pictures, possibly tourists. Everything around them looked so normal, yet here they were, talking about the Devil and the very real possibility of him coming back. Part of her wished she were one of those girls on a day out, taking pictures and worrying about nothing else. But she wasn’t.