Unchained (Nephilim Rising 1)

They pushed through the throng of people. He kept a wary eye on Lily. She hadn’t spoken since Baal had touched her. A fine sheen of sweat covered her drawn face, and her lips were pressed together tightly.

Luke guided them to where Remy waited across the street in a Cayenne. Michael climbed in the front seat without arguing, turning to where Luke had forced Lily into the backseat.

“Let me see your arm,” Luke demanded.

She pulled away from him. “It’s not…not that bad.”

“Bullshit.” He reached out, prying her arm from her body. He stared down at the blistered skin shaped like a handprint. Luke exhaled slowly. “Get us back to the Sanctuary. Now, Remy.”

“What happened in there?” Remy asked as he pulled away before the squad of police cars and fire trucks arrived. “What the hell, guys?”

Michael ignored him. “Are you okay?”

“Does it look like she’s okay?” demanded Luke, eyes burning.

“The next time I tell you to run”—a shudder racked her body—“please listen to me.”

Michael stared at her face contorted with pain. His gaze dropped to her arm, and he swallowed thickly. Her skin literally bubbled. “I’m sorry. I was…” He was what? Transfixed? He’d never seen an angel before, but that wasn’t a good excuse.

She shifted in the seat, her brow creasing. “Just listen to us. Okay? When we tell you to run, we aren’t kidding around. There’s a very good reason for it.” She paused, prying one eye open. “What happened to William and his goons?”

Luke pulled his stare from her. “I killed him and the deadheads.”

Her other eye snapped open. “Really?” she asked in a tiny voice. “No shit?”

He nodded.

Lily giggled halfheartedly. “Ah damn, that’s good news. Wish I could’ve…seen the jerk’s face when you pinned him. Good job, Luke.”

Remy rolled his eyes. “Is anyone going to tell me what happened?”

“We will,” Luke spoke up. “Just get us to the Sanctuary first.”

Lily turned her face to Luke, who leaned over and whispered something Michael couldn’t hear. She pulled away from the seat, scowling as Luke slid an arm around her back, carefully pulling her to him. He held her arm immobile, and eventually her eyes closed.

Part of him wanted to climb back in the seat and apologize again. It had been his fault she’d gotten hurt. If he hadn’t stopped, they would’ve made it outside.

He faced forward, staring blindly at the crowded streets. She could’ve died in there, and for what? He rested the side of his head against the window, closing his eyes. Shit. He couldn’t deny that those things had been after him. They’d even been willing to kill Lily to get to him. Acid burned through his stomach.

He was definitely one of them…or something.

As soon as they arrived at the Sanctuary, Lily was handed off to an extraordinarily tall man that Luke had called Nathaniel. He had met them in a large and surprisingly normal reception area. Michael sensed this Nathaniel seemed to be the leader around here. With one glimpse at her arm, he had sworn furiously and then disappeared with her down a corridor. He had wanted to follow them, but Luke steered him in the opposite direction.

Seated at a desk in the middle of the large oval room was a pretty blonde. She smiled as they made their way past her. Scrawled in large letters across the back wall and in what suspiciously looked like pure gold was the word Sanctuary.

Luke leaned over, tweaking the sleeve of the receptionist’s blouse. “Working late, Sandy?”

She smiled. “It’s always a late night around here.”

They left her behind as they went through a set of double doors. Just inside, two armed guards were posted. All of this was new to him. When he left the night before, they had done so through an intricate tunnel system under the Sanctuary.

“Damn, you guys have more security than Fort Knox,” he muttered.

Remy snorted. “There’s a reason for that.”

The guards tipped their heads at the men. The one on the left with a name tag that read Number 1 stepped forward, entering a code into the small computer interface. The steel doors shuddered before swinging open. They stepped into a room that held two elevators. He looked at Luke, who grinned.

“Want to get something to eat?” Luke offered.

He glanced back, but the doors had closed. “Sure.”

Luke herded them into the elevator that Michael quickly realized led to the floors aboveground. They stopped on the second floor. Remy rubbed his stomach. “I hope the cafeteria is still open.”

“There’s a cafeteria in here?” Michael asked.

Remy nodded as he followed behind Luke. “The second floor has a fully operational kitchen and cafeteria.” He gestured at a set of glass doors. “There’s the gym, and if you go back down to the main level, you’ll find a pool and a daycare center for the employees who have children. Upstairs is the security firm.”

Michael’s brows furrowed. “There really is a security firm?”

Luke chuckled as he nudged open the cafeteria doors. “Yes. Several of the floors are a dedicated call center. Above that are the cubicle farms that house analysts, and then our executive offices take up the top two floors. All human-operated and supervised by Nephilim.”

“Do they know what you are?”

“Yes.”

His eyes narrowed on Luke. “You can trust them with that?”

Remy glanced over his shoulder. “Yes. If they told anyone about us, no one would believe them anyway.”

“And we’d kill them,” Luke added nonchalantly.

He stumbled. “Are you serious?”

“No.” Remy shot Luke a dirty look. “We wouldn’t. We can’t kill humans who aren’t possessed—no matter what. The act alone would turn us minionic.”

Good to know.

Luke stared down at several slices of pizza that had been warming in a tin container under a heat lamp. “And he means no matter what. We can’t even kill them if they’re trying to kill us.” He picked up three slices and dropped them onto his plate. “Sucks ass if you ask me, but no one ever does.”

Michael mulled that over as he picked up a white plate and dropped two slices on it. He wasn’t letting himself think too much. He felt frayed at the edges.

“Is Lily going to be okay?” he asked.

Remy grabbed three sodas out of the cooler and brought them over to the table Luke had sat at. “I’d think so, but then again I have no clue what happened.”

Luke swallowed a huge bite of pizza. “She’ll be okay. Nathaniel will get her fixed up. We have some of the best doctors here. Those who are suited for the type of injuries we show up with.”

He sat across from them. “What was that back there?”

Remy popped open his soda. “Yes. Do tell.”

“Baal,” said Luke with a mouth full of pizza.

Remy gave a low whistle. “Oh man.”

“He talked as if he knew Lily,” Michael said.

Luke stiffened. “When Lily was fresh, she made the mistake of going after Baal when she spotted him with a police commissioner he was corrupting. No—don’t ask who. I’m not telling.” He pushed away his plate, the last slice of pizza untouched. “You never take on a Fallen alone, and especially not Baal.”

He really wanted to know who the commissioner was, but the closed expression on Luke’s face said he wouldn’t get an answer from him. “Why would she do that?”

Remy shrugged. “Because she’s Lily, and believe it or not, what you see today is a toned-down version of what she used to be.” He shook his head, sending dreads into his oval-shaped face. “She was really young when she went after Baal. At seventeen, our Nephilim are ready to fight. She learned the hard way.”

“Seventeen?” He couldn’t believe it. “You guys let kids go out and fight?”

“Our seventeen-year-old Nephilim can kick your ass clear across town.” Luke fiddled with his soda. “Age has nothing to do with fighting the Fallen. She knew better, but…shit, she’s Lily.”

“How old is she now?”

Remy’s lips curved. “Lily’s twenty-six. She accepted the Contract at twenty-two.”

Shit, that girl barely looked twenty-two. “Contract?” When neither man answered, he sighed. What knowledge they had shared about Lily’s previous run-in with Baal was vague, and he was sure they were leaving out details for her sake. “The burn on her arm was from him touching her?”

“Eat something, and I’ll tell you everything.” When Michael complied, Luke leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. “Baal is one of the most evil bastards you will ever meet. He’s been on Earth since the days of Adam and Eve. His touch, if he wills it, can burn anything.”

Remy gestured at him with his pizza slice. “Rumor has it that when other angels began to fall, Baal burned and ripped the wings from their backs.”

Michael had trouble swallowing the food. “What was he doing there?”

“Apparently he was bored,” stated Luke. “Or he was coming after you. It’s very odd. The Fallen don’t make a habit of getting their hands dirty.”

He, too, pushed away his plate. He had no real appetite. Not after everything that had happened. “Was the other one a…good angel?”

Remy slowly turned to Luke, his expression expectant. “And who would that be?”

“Julian,” muttered Luke.

Remy dropped the slice he was holding. “No shit? You’re serious?”

Luke’s face puckered. “Would I joke about something like that?”

“So who is Julian? What’s the big deal?” Michael asked. “He saved our ass back there.”

“Julian is one of the Fallen,” Luke said. “He fell hundreds of years ago, if not more. He isn’t one of the good guys.”

“That makes no sense. You had said the Fallen were evil. Then why would he help us?”

“He wasn’t helping us.” Luke wrapped his fingers around the empty can of soda. “Julian doesn’t give two shits about us. He was helping Lily.”

That didn’t clear up anything for him.

Remy eyed Luke warily. “He’s like the friendly neighborhood angelic stalker.”

“What?” he spit out.

Remy leaned back and added, “Julian is complicated. He’s helped Lily out a couple of times. The last time Baal got his hands on her, Julian was the one who got her out.”

Luke squashed the soda can and stared at Michael. “Julian cannot be trusted. Yes, his stalking habits come in handy from time to time, but you cannot trust him. If he got hold of any one of us, he wouldn’t think twice about ending our lives.”

Michael slid his half-full soda away from Luke. He wasn’t hungry, but he was thirsty. “Does Lily trust him?”

Remy glanced away, but Luke exploded. “No! Lily is not that stupid.”