Ruined (The Seraphim Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Explain me, huh?”

“Yeah. You look at least twenty-eight,” she told him. “What if she says we can't see each other?” She was making it sound light-hearted, but she really had been thinking about it. No one would be able to stop her from seeing Azrael, but her mum’s disapproval wouldn’t help anything. “How awkward would it be if my mum doesn’t approve?”

“Awkward?”

She smiled, not needing to see his face to know he was smiling as well.

”Don't worry. I won't go running because of the prospect of a scary mother. And besides, she'll love me.”

“Oh, really? A little overconfident, aren’t you? I think you’re underestimating my mum.” The odds were her mum would love him. Azrael really did have a way with charming people. Especially women.

“Don't worry. I'll make her love me.”

“You hope,” she corrected.

“I know.” He laughed. “Now go to sleep.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s nearly four in the morning. So go to sleep.”

“Oh, my God. I was really tired earlier, but I’m okay now.” She was doing it on purpose now, purely to irritate him.

“Well, try.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“I don't think I could. I mean—”

Azrael flipped her over so quickly that all she could do was squeal and laugh as he turned again so she was lying on top of him, her body pressed against him and her face hovering above his.

“Well, now I’m really not tired,” she said through her laughter.

“Maybe I just wanted to scare you.”

“You don't scare me,” she told him honestly.

“Good,” he mumbled, leaning up to kiss her. “Never fear me. I could never hurt you. My body and my heart wouldn’t allow it.”

“I like that.” She smiled, the butterflies in her stomach going wild.

“Good,” he said again, this time through laughter. “Now go to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” He closed his eyes.

Lilliah didn't move off him. Instead, she got comfortable and placed her head in the crook of his neck. His arms lifted up around her, holding her tightly. “What are we doing tomorrow?” she asked.

“We're going to meet that man from the club and ask him about your mum. And we have to move to a flat I have in central London, get you new clothes, that sort of thing.”

“Can I come with you to meet the guy?”

“Yeah. Now go to sleep.”

She really did have a busy day, she realised, quickly kissing Azrael’s neck as she closed her eyes. She thought she'd have nightmares that night, but she didn’t. She slept peacefully and deeply, safe in Azrael’s arms.

Chapter 17

“Make arrangements straight away. I want it all sorted before I arrive. Yes.”

The sound of Azrael’s voice woke her. She didn’t open her eyes straight away. Instead, she lay there, listening to him speak. It was obviously business-related; his voice changed when he was talking business. It somehow got colder and stronger. She could hear him command things down the phone and started to feel sorry for the person on the other end.

“No, Dena will not be handling it. She won’t be coming back. Stop asking me questions and just do your job!”

Now would probably be a good time to wake up,
she decided, stretching.

“Morning.” The bed sank as Azrael lay next her. “I was just about to wake you up. But then I realised you were just pretending. How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.” She shrugged shyly. Would she ever be able to trick him? “What time is it?”

“Early still. Just past seven. Benedict's here.”

“It’s seven in the morning?” she moaned, sinking farther down in the bed, trying to pull the quilt over her head. “No, it’s too early. Please just let me sleep.”

“No can do, I'm afraid. We have a busy day,” he replied with a smile, flipping the quilt so he could see her face.

“Can't our busy day start at nine?” she pleaded, trying to flutter her eyelashes.

“No,” he replied, giving her a smile and pressing a quick, hard kiss on her lips before jumping off the bed and heading to the door. “I’ll go and wake your brother and Rebecca.”

“You’re already dressed,” she noted, letting her eyes drift over his black trousers and shirt. “What time did you get up?” He looked great, as always. How was it possible for him to have such little sleep and still look so good?

Stopping once he’d reached the door, he turned. “I woke up at five.”

“Five?” she shrieked in disbelief. “You’ve had one hour of sleep?”

“Yes. I have a lot to do today. Besides, you needed your sleep. You were happily snoring away.”

“I do
not
snore!” She laughed, throwing a pillow at him and missing by a mile.

“You really do,” he told her, already leaving the room. “And you have a terrible throw.”

“I do not snore,” she repeated, finally getting out of bed. “And I have no clothes,” she noted, picking up the clothes she had worn the night before. She really didn’t want to put them back on. They smelt, they were dirty, and the top had bloodstains on it. She sat on the floor, trying to decide whether it would be too rude to ask Edna to clean her clothes. Would they even have the time? A piece of paper sat neatly on the floor next to her pile of clothes, her name neatly written on the front.

“
There’s a pile of new clothes in the bathroom. I'll burn these.”

She sighed, relieved she would never have to look at them again, and thankful that Azrael had known what she would need before even she did.

“
Sorry about the clothes. It was all I could do with such short notice.”

Frowning, she walked into the bathroom. There was a neat pile of clothes, as well as a toothbrush.

He really did think of everything. She yanked the dress over her head, only remembering her injured back when it was too late. But the pain never came. She walked backwards until she could see her naked back in the mirror. It was completely healed.

“Being an angel is awesome.”

“Lilliah?” Rebecca asked, knocking on the door. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m in here,” she called from the bathroom.

“What are you wearing? Benedict brought some clothes this morning. Oh, never mind.” Rebecca burst out laughing as Lilliah walked into the room. “You look like you’re seventy,” she said, still laughing.

“Oh, please. You don't look much better,” Lilliah shot back, trying to hold back a smile. Their floral tops matched; however, Lilliah's was bigger, brighter, and just worse.

“No. No. Yours is just horrible! At least mine
fits
!” She was right; Rebecca's ugly shirt fit her, making it seem less ugly. Lilliah's shirt, however, hung off her, fastened at her neck and stopping just above the knee.

“That's true. Who the hell would think these tops were a good idea?”

“Apparently Benedict and Azrael went out earlier. I know Dena is a psychotic bitch, but she’s a psychotic bitch with taste.” She laughed, jumping to sit on the end of the bed. “And all of those beautiful clothes are gone. Burnt in the fire. What a waste!”

“Not all the house burnt down. You never know.” Lilliah shrugged, tucking the shirt into her dark-green cargo trousers. “Does this make it look better?”

“No. I didn’t think it was possible to make these clothes worse, but yep, you did it.”

“Okay fine. It'll have to do.” She sighed, giving up. “I'm starving. Let’s just go downstairs.”

“Edna's made some breakfast,” Rebecca shared as they walked down the hall.

“Oh, good. I didn’t eat last night. I was literally in the kitchen when Dena turned up.”

“I didn’t either.  Your phone just lit up,” Rebecca said, pointing to her pocket.

“Oh, it’s probably Jeremy,” Lilliah guessed. “I didn’t have time to text him back last night.” She dug her phone out. She was right; it was Jeremy.

“Do you text this much normally?” Rebecca frowned. “Because he never texts me.”

“Sometimes,” Lilliah said, trying to dismiss the subject. “It’s just because I didn’t text him back last night,” she told her quickly, not in the mood to talk about Jeremy. “Speaking of last night, what happened with you and Seb?” She stopped on the stairs, whispering the last part. “Pretty bold move with the whole ‘sharing a room’ thing.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rebecca agreed, her eyes scanning the stairs and hall to make sure they were alone. Nothing happened,” she quickly assured. “I just didn’t want to be alone. After everything that went on . . .” She shrugged.

Lilliah nodded in understanding. She would have been a mess had it not been for Azrael.

“So . . .” Lilliah hedged. “You both just went to sleep? No talking or cuddling or anything?”

“Pretty much. We were just so wiped out.”

Lilliah looked at her friend sceptically but decided to drop it, or at least save it for another time.

“As soon as we got in bed, I cried, and not just the small, cute tears, but full-on bawling my eyes out. I couldn’t help it,” Rebecca said, clearly a little mortified. “Seb was really nice, though. He didn’t say anything. He just hugged me and let me get it out my system.”

“Oh. I class
that
as something happening,” Lilliah decided with a smile. “I'm glad things are working out for you. Even though I find the whole thing so weird.”

“Are you two coming down or are you just going to stand on the stairs all day?” Sebastian stood at the bottom of the stairs smirking up at them, most likely having overheard their conversation.

“What?” Lilliah cut in, frowning. “What the hell are you wearing?”

Sebastian frowned, looking down at his black clothing. “A top and trousers?” he asked, confused.

“But they’re just plain black,” she shot at him almost accusingly. “They’re normal clothes.”

“Yeah, so?” He frowned. “Just because you look like a rainbow threw up on you doesn’t mean I have to.”

“Why do you get to wear clothes like that?” Lilliah asked, walking down the stairs and meeting him at the bottom.

“These are Azrael’s. They had to go out to get yours.”

I should have guessed, really
, Lilliah thought as she looked at Sebastian's clothes.
Although a little big, they looked good.

“You really do look awful.” He grinned, his eyes dancing between Lilliah and Rebecca.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Rebecca replied, pulling at her top.

“It’s actually not too far from what you'd normally wear.” Sebastian smirked.

Lilliah burst out laughing at Rebecca's disgusted expression.

“That’s not funny. I wear colours, but I make them look good. There was nothing I could do with these. There really was no hope,” she deadpanned, walking into the dining room.

“You know, the more I look at them, the more I like them.” Lilliah smiled when she saw Azrael and Benedict sitting at the table. Azrael’s head was bent over a newspaper.

”Morning,” she said to Benedict with a smile, taking the seat opposite Azrael as Sebastian and Rebecca took the seats next to her.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?” Azrael asked, leaning forward in interest.

How is it possible for someone to look so awake and so alert on so little sleep?
Lilliah thought, searching his face.
How is that fair?

“I'm okay,” she told him honestly. “Just a little tired. When did you get in? This morning?”

“A few hours ago. I can function on very little sleep.” His face lit up in a cheeky smile as he took a sip of his coffee. “Do you have any injuries you want me to look at?”

“No. I’m healing pretty nicely.”

“Good, good. Rebecca, what about you? You feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. Just really tired.” She yawned.

“Oh, there you all are,” Edna interrupted, walking into the room holding a teapot. “Did you all sleep well?”

“It was amazing, thank you.” Lilliah smiled politely. “Also, thank you for letting us all stay here on such short notice.”

“Don't even mention it, dear,” she said with a sweet smile as she poured tea into Lilliah's cup. “Azrael has been a friend for many years. Too many to count,” she said, pulling a face as Azrael looked up from his paper. “You’re all welcome anytime. Now I’ll go and get all your breakfasts.” Lilliah watched her leave.

“How’s the mansion? Is it all burnt down?” Sebastian asked, stretching his arms and leisurely draping them over the back of Rebecca's chair.

“No. It’s mostly the west wing that burnt down. I'm having builders come in today to assess the damage,” Azrael informed them. “Don't worry about the house. It’s nothing.”

To him, a mansion burning down might not be anything, but to Lilliah, it was everything. “What about all your things? All the paintings?” Surely they were all ruined now?

“Most of the paintings survived. The ones that didn’t . . .” He shrugged again. “They’re just paintings. I'll take you shopping later. We need to get you all new clothes.”

“Okay.” She decided to let it drop. “Then can we go and see the werewolf?” Lilliah asked anxiously, remembering their conversation from the night before.

“Yes. Then we'll go and talk to him. Benedict can stay with Sebastian and Rebecca.”

“What?” Sebastian demanded. “Is this the guy you were talking about last night? The guy who knows where my mum is?”

Azrael nodded once.

“Well then, I’m coming. I can’t just sit here while you all go out looking for her.” Sebastian's whole posture screamed he was ready for a fight. Lilliah's eyes darted from her brother to Azrael, who was looking slightly annoyed but not surprised.

“The club we're going to will be full of both vampires and werewolves. Maybe even some warlocks and witches. They will all know what you are,” he told Sebastian, possibly as a way of deterring him. It wasn’t working.

“Good,” Sebastian shot back confidently. “I want to be there.”

The silence stretched out over the breakfast table as Azrael watched Sebastian closely.

“Fine,” Azrael finally answered. “We'll all go. But first, we'll go shopping. We'll leave after breakfast.”

Sebastian agreed, happy with the outcome. Lilliah’s phone buzzed again.

“Jeremy again?” Rebecca asked, leaning forward so she could see Lilliah.

She nodded, quickly turning off her phone.

“Boy’s a stalker.” Rebecca snickered.

“Jeremy?” Azrael questioned with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah. My friend.” She tried to smile.

Azrael stared at her for a few moments before returning his attention to his paper.

An hour later, they were all piled into two cars, heading for London. Sebastian and Rebecca rode with Benedict while Lilliah rode with Azrael in his Bentley.

“I own an apartment in London,” Azrael told her when she had asked why they were bound for London.

“How many houses do you own in England?”

“Five, including the mansion.”

Lilliah nodded as they drove through the streets.

“So, Jeremy,” Azrael broached. “Has he always just been your friend?”

Lilliah stared at him, a little dumbfounded. Was he jealous? “Yeah,” she clarified. “Jeremy, Rebecca, and I have been friends for years. Since we were small.”

“Does he text her too?”

“Sometimes,” she lied. Jeremy never texted Rebecca. “He’s asked me out a few times,” she told him honestly, lifting her shoulders in a small shrug as she looked out the window. “I just don’t see him like that. But he is, and will always be, my friend.” She wanted to clear that up right away. “So you don’t need to be jealous.”