Page 54 of Flirting with Death

Frustration built until I let out a half-scream and half-grunt before turning away. He would not help us. This was a useless visit. I would be better off with Samantha, not that I could be of use to them now.

"Goodbye, Father."

CHAPTER 30

Samantha

The warehouse was silent as we approached. I looked at Brook as she concentrated on a person I couldn't hear or see. We waited as she nodded and had a one sided conversation.

"Mika said that there are bodies in the main room. Off the hallway, there are a few rooms that have demons in them. The black mage is not here, but the muse has two trolls guarding her. No one is around if we go in through the back entrance like we did last night," she whispered what she knew to the rest of us.

We silently made our way to the exit they had used last night. It heightened my nerves waiting for a trap. This demon was always one step ahead of us. I shook out my shoulders, making myself loose before we pulled the door open and slipped into the dim hallway. Whoever owned this place had painted the walls an industrial blue. They had covered most of the steel beams with drywall, a few were still bare as if they were in the middle of renovations. It absorbed our steps in a way the open warehouse wouldn't have.

"This way," Ty stepped past me and pushed open a closed door that led to another long hallway that appeared filled with doors to offices.

It was empty, thankfully. I let out the breath I had sucked in the moment he had swung the door wide.

"Don't do that again, we need to be careful," I whisper-hissed at him as we traveled down the hall.

"I didn't sense any demons," he replied.

"Maybe because you don't have that ability," I sniggered.

He glanced over at me and shook his head. "I do now."

What had that other muse done to him? It made me pause for a second before I forced myself back into action. We'd need to have a chat about his reckless behavior later. Having power didn't make you invincible, you still had to be cautious. Was I the little sister getting ready to lecture my older brother? Yes, I was. He'd given me plenty of them over the years. It was about time I could turn the tables on him.

I hurried to the front of our rescue party, taking the lead from Ty. The hall turned to the right up ahead, and I could sense at least one demon nearby. Although they could be in any of the closed offices we had just passed. I held up my hand to stop everyone and then plastered myself to the wall as I edged to the corner and peeked around the edge. The trolls Brook had told us about lounged against the wall at the far end of the hallway. The hall seemed to be brightly lit in a way the rest of the place wasn't. They stood guard in front of the very last door.

I tugged my dagger out of the holder as I looked back at my team. The thought made me pause. We were a real team. For the first time in my life, I had people I depended on. And it didn't make me feel uncomfortable or afraid of losing them. It was the opposite. I knew we'd succeed because we were together.

"Two trolls, like Brook said, are at the end of this hall. No shadows for your pets to hide in." I glanced at Lex, and he nodded as they slipped to the ground near his feet. "There is no way of making it to them without them raising the alarm."

"Maybe we could lure them to us," Bellamy suggested.

"How?" Alastor asked. I eyed him. He had been abnormally quiet since he came back from the visit with his dad. He had been so deep in thought that I hadn't wanted to pry. As soon as he was ready, he would tell us. And I had to assume that the time wasn't productive to helping us or he would have told us all right away.

Bellamy gave him a droll stare. "How do you think?"

"What if they have a necklace like that vampire did?" Alastor returned his look.

"I don't think they are high enough on the payroll to have that protection," he replied.

Lumi held up a bead from his pocket. "Draw one of them to us."

"Good idea," I said, taking the offered distraction from between his fingertips.

I bounced it off the floor into their view, and silence fell all around. Then we could hear one of them grunt to the other before the shuffling sound of his lumbering body made its way to us.

We stepped back, all eyes on the spot he'd appeared. Brook had magic swirling in her palm, Lumi next to her, a matching ball floating over his hand. Ty looked like he was Spiderman and ready to shoot webs from him. Alastor leaned against the wall furthest from the opening, Cerberus sitting next to me, his full attention on the sounds the troll was making. Lex's shadows blended into the ones at our feet. Raiden had my back, his eyes glowing with unnatural light, and a puff of smoke swirling around us. While I could feel the power building in Bellamy.

Time suspended between us as the troll's labored breathing got closer. His eyes went wide as he turned the corner and saw us. He didn't have time to call out to his partner before Bellamy hit him with a thread of desire.

"Closer," he ordered, and the troll stumbled further into our hallway.

The second he was out of sight of the other, Ty blasted him, turning him to dust.

"What is it, Vinny?" the other troll called out. We could hear him leaving his spot near the door. Concern had filled his rough words. They might sound like gravel leaving his mouth, but I could still read the emotion behind it. Maybe he should have picked the right team.

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