Wanted Angel - Sadie Moss Page 0,37

can be safe in shadow.

There seem to be slums here, just like in cities on Earth, and after sprinting flat out for so long that it feels like my legs might give out, we reach an area of buildings that are barely standing upright that seem to be unoccupied. Probably because nobody wants to be inside them when they inevitably fall down.

But it’ll do for us, for now.

It’ll keep us hidden.

Finally, we slow our pace, all of us gasping for breath.

We get inside one of the buildings that looks like it’s still in fairly good condition, finding there’s still some furniture inside. Or, well, sort of furniture. There’s a kitchen area with a large table that looks like it’s made out of a slab of rock, and a hallway with several doors leading off of it.

I can’t hear the sound of the corrupted chasing us anymore. In fact, it’s pretty quiet—almost silent. I can hear the hum of the bustling city in the distance, but nothing too close.

Sawyer slips an arm around my waist, pulling me close to his body as Ryland takes stock of our situation. “We should be safe here. Without the mark on Trin, the demons will have no way to track us. We can rest and recoup.”

“Should we go back to Earth?” I ask. “Use Isaac’s portal again?”

“We could. We accomplished what we set out to do,” Beckett says thoughtfully. “But I think it’s worth the risk to stay another day and try to track down that mark Flynn drew for us.”

My chest tightens at the mention of Flynn. Is he still alive? He never even got his promised payment. I privately vow that no matter what happens, if we live through this, I’ll make sure he gets his money. I can see why he wants to get out of Hell—I would too.

“Agreed.” Ryland nods. “We can stay here overnight. But we’ll need food.”

“I’m afraid whipping up a culinary feast here is beyond even my abilities,” Remi says, half joking, half genuinely apologetic.

Knight signs something, and Ryland nods. The tall, silent man slips away out the front door. My heart lurches in my chest.

“Where’s he going?” I don’t want Knight to get hurt. I’d never forgive myself. He can’t be going out there to fight the corrupted on his own, can he?

“He’s going to get us something to eat, love,” Sawyer replies.

Oh, right. As part of his sin, Knight has an uncanny ability to avoid being seen. It’s what makes him such a good thief. So I guess it makes sense that he’d be the best one to go find us some food, although it doesn’t make me worry any less.

Nix walks down a hallway, poking his head into a few rooms. “Eh. It’s not much, but it’ll work. Doesn’t look like any critters made a home in here before we arrived. There are beds to sleep on, even. Well, more like slabs of rock with blankets over them, but they’ll have to do.”

Luckily it’s warm here, so we won’t have to worry about freezing overnight while we sleep.

Knight returns shortly with some food—it’s pretty basic, but it works—and perhaps more importantly, some water for all of us. We eat in silence. All of us are tired and, at least in my case, reeling.

I don’t want to say anything because I’ll probably sound horribly naïve, yet again, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve been a bit lied to my whole life. I understand that there are some of my brethren who are… well, rather uptight in their determination to stick to the rules above all. Sometimes that strict adherence to rules feels like it comes at the cost of doing what is genuinely the right thing.

But that’s completely different from what I just learned.

Demons aren’t what I thought they were. Or at least, not all of them are.

I didn’t think that any demon could possibly be capable of anything except wanting to inflict pain and suffering on others. Sure, maybe the one who helped us wasn’t the best of creatures, by overall standards, but he still helped us. He made sure that the mark was taken off me and gave us a necessary clue to find out who put this bounty on me.

And that means a lot.

He had to have known what he was risking, that he was possibly giving up his life—that other demons wouldn’t be pleased at what he’d done. But he did it anyway.

And what about Anderson, telling me that he