Peace (15 page)

“Why have you never done anything about it? You’ve just let them go about their usual routine when you could’ve stopped them.” Parker placed his hands on his hips and scowled.

Day lifted his eyebrows. “You forget that I’m not allowed in the heavenly realm. It was part of the Judge’s decision against me. One of the rules I’m supposed to follow.”

“And you actually did follow his rules? I’m shocked.” Basel eyed him suspiciously.

“I followed that rule. Mostly because I didn’t care. I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was happening to me. Besides, the earthly realm is my playground, so I can do whatever I want. It’s fun, and I enjoyed it for a while.” Day stalked from one end of the room to the other. “Then I spotted a puzzled little angel watching me.”

“The rest is history, as they say,” Gatian said.

Stopping, Day smiled at Gatian. “In a way. My goal became how to get Lam to really see me, then how to get him to throw away his goody-two-shoes attitude. I lost interest in the little schemes of the mortals in my realm. I no longer cared how I could make them screw up—or sell their souls to the devil.”

Everyone snorted, causing Day to chuckle. “Right, because what would I want with their souls anyway? They wouldn’t have gotten me anything special, except more bullshit from the Quad. I didn’t want to deal with all that shit, so I focused on Lam.”

“Corrupted him, you mean,” Parker pointed out.

“I guess, though I’m not entirely sure what you consider corrupting him.” Day glared at Parker. “It’s not like he started doing any of the things I’ve been accused of over the centuries. The rule he broke was the one about not spending time with me. Other than that, Lam did his job and helped mortals like he was supposed to.”

Basel frowned. “That’s not what the Quad told us he’d done. They accused him of doing all sorts of terrible things. Michael said they had proof.”

Day held up his hand. “If they had proof, they should’ve taken Lam before the Judge and had him sentence Lam. But they didn’t, and that tells me they had nothing. They chose to get rid of Lam because they were afraid he would figure out what they were doing.”

“Which is what? Why should we believe the Quad is doing anything wrong? Not telling us things doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad. It might just be we don’t need to know everything.” Parker shifted where he stood.

“Seriously?” Gatian shot Parker an incredulous look. “When I was one of the Horsemen, I’ll admit I didn’t care what was going on around me. I just did what I was told. Of course, Lam would tell you my attitude sucked. Yet if the Quad is doing anything they shouldn’t, I’d have wanted to know, because it could’ve come back on me.”

Basel stayed silent, but Corsin nodded as though he agreed. Day closed his eyes, settling his emotions for a moment before he opened them to gather everyone with his gaze.

“All this talking isn’t going to get Lam back,” he commented. “Where is Paisley? She’s supposed to help me.”

Aldo glanced over at Gatian, who nodded. “She left shortly after you did.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? She said she would help me. Why would she leave?” He clenched his hands, fighting the urge to punch one of them.

“I don’t know. Shortly after you disappeared, she went deathly pale as though she had seen—or heard—something. Said she had to go and to tell you she was sorry.” Baqir shrugged. “My guess would be someone found out she was helping you and called her on it. She did say her kind isn’t allowed to interfere.”

Day gritted his teeth and fought back the scream building in his throat. He pointed at Corsin, Basel and Parker. “Since you’ve agreed to help me find Lam, I need you three to go back to the heavenly realm and see if you can figure out where they’re keeping him. Once that happens, I’ll go get him.”

“What do you want us to do?” Aldo spoke up from where he sat.

Day sighed. “I would prefer you didn’t do anything. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Corsin grunted. “But you don’t have a problem doing that to us.”

“You offered, plus, no one will know you had anything to do with it unless you chose to speak about it. Just find him and get a message to me. I’ll do the rest.” Day held up his hand when Gatian started to say something. “I think you four will be important once I get Lam back. He’s going to need friends to watch him while I go and remind the Quad why they shouldn’t mess with me.”

None of the four looked happy about that, but they didn’t argue. Day motioned to the three angels. “Now go and search. I’m going to distract the Quad. While they’re busy being annoyed by me, you can sneak around.”

The angels rolled their eyes then disappeared. Before Day could follow them, Gatian grabbed a hold of his arm. He glared at him.

“Just be careful. You might be more powerful than they are, but it’s four against one and I don’t want to have to tell Lam you got yourself injured to save him.” Gatian squeezed Day’s biceps then let go.

He nodded, realizing Gatian was right. He needed to proceed with caution until he knew for sure where Lam was. Once he got him out of there, he could deal with the Quad like he’d always wanted to. To be honest, he didn’t want to destroy them. Not anymore. He simply wanted to scare them into leaving him and Lam alone. He didn’t care what they did to anyone else.

“I’ll bring Lam back to you when I find him,” he informed Gatian. “You can take him wherever you want, though I think my home would be the best place to hide. I can strengthen the protections so the Quad won’t come after you there.”

“Fine.”

Day stepped away then released his power to vanish from the room.

Chapter Fourteen

Lam crouched behind the desk when Seth motioned. They’d gotten out of the dungeon, but were creeping around the rooms on the ground floor of the warehouse-type building, trying to find an exit. There were more guards than he’d thought there would be for two prisoners. He turned to face Seth when the Watcher dropped next to him.

“Why are there so many here?” he whispered. “I wouldn’t think that just the two of us would need so many guards to watch us.”

Seth shrugged. “I’m not sure. I never saw any others besides the three we took out downstairs. We need to get out of here fast, though. They’re going to notice that the others haven’t returned.”

He agreed, but he didn’t know how they could get out of there without someone seeing them. Then a thought hit him. Poking Seth, he got the man’s attention.

“Can you use that power you have to give us a chance to get out of here unnoticed?”

Wrinkling his nose, Seth seemed to be thinking then gave a slow nod. “I can try. I’ve never tried to make it work for more than just me.”

“Give it a try. We won’t be any worse off if it doesn’t work,” Lam pointed out.

“True.” Seth settled cross-legged on the floor behind the desk then took a hold of Lam’s hand. “You might feel like you’re wearing a cloak. That’s the best I can explain how the spell will feel.”

Lam nodded. He wasn’t concerned as long as it didn’t hurt him.

“Let me know if it gets too uncomfortable,” Seth told him then closed his eyes.

Obviously it was Lam’s job to keep an eye out and make sure no one got too close to their hiding place while Seth cast the spell. He didn’t let his gaze drift from the doorway. People passed by in the hallway, yet none of them even glanced into the room, which made Lam happy. He knew if anyone really looked in, they would spot them.

He grunted when the spell settled over him. Seth had been right. It felt like he wore a cloak, but it wasn’t as heavy—or uncomfortable—as Seth had seemed to think it would be. “Is that it?” he whispered when Seth let go of his hand.

“Yes. Hopefully it’ll work. Like I said, I’ve never cast it on anyone else.” Seth pushed to his feet. “Let’s see what we can do about getting out of here.”

Lam followed him, hoping Seth had a plan that didn’t involve them dashing out into the middle of the hallway. They paused at the door and Lam peered around the edge. He checked to see if the coast was clear. Before they could take another step, a shrill alarm filled the air. Seth grabbed his arm then dragged him back into the shadows.

“What the heck is that?” He fought the urge to cover his ears.

Seth shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe they figured out we escaped, but no one’s going in the direction of the prison.”

That was true. The angels streaming past the entrance were heading toward the front of the building. There was a lot of shouting and what sounded like a fight.

“Do you think someone’s attacking?” Lam couldn’t begin to think of who would do something that stupid. “We can use this to our advantage. Come on.”

He tugged on Seth’s hand then slid into the corridor. They kept close to the wall, giving the angels running past them as much room as they could. None of them stopped—or even seemed to notice—Lam and Seth, so the spell must have been working.

“I wish we could find a back door out of here,” he muttered, moving cautiously yet trying to appear as though he knew where he was going. Sometimes the best way to blend in was simply to act as though he belonged there—just in case the spell wasn’t working.

“So do I. Do we keep moving in the direction of the fighting or see if we can find another way out of here?”

Lam hated being the one in charge. “I guess go toward the commotion. Hopefully at some point, we’ll find another corridor that’ll take us out of here or around the fight.”

He didn’t rush, not wanting to find himself in the middle of a battle. They had no way to defend themselves. When they got close to the end of the corridor, Lam held up his hand to stop Seth.

“I’ll take a look to see where everyone is then see if there’s a visible exit,” he explained before edging to the corner.

Peering around the wall, he saw the crowd of angels milling around and a few still forms on the floor. There seemed to be some battle going on closer to the only door Lam could see.
Darn! Can’t get out that way.
He glanced to the left, and disappointment swamped him. It dead-ended in a blank wall.

He eased back to Seth. “The only way out looks like it’s blocked by whatever fighting is going on. The hallway ends in a wall if we go left.”

“Well, that sucks.” Seth squatted next to the wall and tapped on his bottom lip while he seemed to be thinking.

Lam crouched, unsure what their next move should be. Seth sighed then glanced at him.

“I guess all we can do is slip into the crowd, hope no one spots us and make our way to the exit. That’s the only thing I can think of.” Seth held up his hand to stop Lam’s protest. “I know it’s dangerous, but this whole escape idea has been from the start. You’re the one who decided not to wait until your boyfriend comes to save you. We have two options. We go back to our cells and wait. Or we continue on and take our chances.”

Sighing, Lam rubbed his hand over his face then frowned. “Take our chances. I’m not going back to that cell, Seth. Not when we’ve come this far.”

“Good man.” Seth clapped his shoulder then stood. “Let’s go. We’ll blend in, but keep to the outer edge of the group. When we get close, make a run for the door. Once we get outside, we’ll regroup and see where we can go from there.”

Taking his cue from Seth, Lam dashed into the open area as though he were joining the fight. No one acknowledged him, which thrilled him. He kept one eye on Seth and the other on the door. Each inch closer to their way out caused his heart to beat a little faster. Lam didn’t pay any attention to the place where the fighting was the fiercest. Whatever was going on wasn’t any of his business, as long as it didn’t stop until they were free.

Suddenly a voice broke through the tumult and he chuckled. Seth shot him a curious glance.

“I don’t really think it’s going to be much of a fight when you’re able to wipe the floor with the entire army standing against you,” he muttered.

“What are you talking about?” Seth tugged on his hand when Lam stopped. “You can’t just stop here. I don’t know if my spell will hold much longer.”

Lam grinned then started to lead Seth directly toward the worst of the fighting. “Don’t worry. We’ll be just fine.”

Seth seemed to be trying to dig his heels in, but Lam wasn’t letting him slow down.

“Lam, I don’t want to get thrown back in that cell. I already spent way more time in there than I ever dreamed I would. I would also prefer not to get injured or killed.”

“How did they catch you anyway? Maybe I shouldn’t have asked about the ‘invisible’ spell. I mean, if it was supposed to stop them from seeing you and they found you in spite of it.” He paused to study Seth.

“To be honest, I wanted them to find me. I was interested in what they were doing around here and I couldn’t get in without one of them bringing me here.” Seth scrubbed his free hand through his hair. “Turns out it wasn’t my best idea. I don’t think this is the right time to discuss my capture though. We are trying to escape.”

Snorting, Lam said, “I told you. Don’t worry. That’s an understatement. How much longer would you have stayed if I hadn’t been thrown in there? I assume you did have a plan on how to get out of there already in mind.”

Seth winked. “Actually, I was going to leave the day you showed up, but decided it would be far more interesting to stick around and see what you did. I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

“And you’re about to meet the most intriguing character in this whole charade,” Lam murmured as they got closer to the small knot of angels throwing punches and yelling.

“Is someone shouting your name?” Seth tilted his head as he listened. “Who is that?”

“That would be the one person who shouldn’t be here, but has come to rescue me.” Lam motioned for Seth to follow him. “You can remove the spell.”

The weight lifted off his shoulders just as the angels all flew through the air as though they’d took flight. Lam couldn’t stop his smile from blossoming when he saw who had tossed the guards.

“What took you so long?”

Day froze, his wild-eyed gaze landing on them, and Lam could tell he didn’t really see him for a moment. Not waiting, Lam strolled up to the fallen angel then rested his hand on Day’s cheek.