The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (12 page)

Reassured by her words, Roman’s hug tightened.

“Do all hunters come back?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of any of them
returning except for you. Now with Sophie, I have to wonder.”

Lila thought of how she died - how she always seemed
to die - and was filled with dread. Pulling him closer, she asked, “Can you
stay with me tonight?”

With a scowl on his handsome face, Roman squirmed
away. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why not? We’re getting along, right?”

“But you don’t know me. To you, we only met ten
hours ago.”

“So what? You don’t really know me either. You
just know who I used to be.”

Roman cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sure it makes you
feel better to believe that, but it’s not true. I know everything about you. I
know you sleep on whichever side faces the door. I know you don’t think you
pout when you’re not getting your way, but you do. Just like you’re pouting
right now. I know about REO Speedwagon and Journey and licorice and Dr. Pepper.
Always diet, never regular because the aftertaste makes you gag. And I know
every inch of your body.” Roman paused, eyeing Lila. “I know you, but to you,
I’m a stranger.”

“Okay, whatever,” Lila said with the pout still on
her face. “All I wanted was to have you close by because I’m feeling insecure
right now after hearing how easily and often I die. Whatever. Sleep in here and
I’ll go back to my room with Sophie. If I die though, I hope you feel bad about
telling me no.”

“Wait,” Roman said quickly. “Are you asking to
sleep in the same room or the same bed?”

“The same room, perv. I just met you after all,”
Lila grumbled, hating him for rejecting her, yet hating herself even more for
caring about him rejecting her.

“Oh, then yeah, we should share a room. Sophie
isn’t even close to being useful in an attack situation.”

Lila snorted. “Whatever. I really don’t care
either way now.”

“Please don’t be mad. I just want to do things
right this time.”

Lila wanted to stay angry. Angry felt right and it
felt good. Yet there was something broken about Roman and Lila knew she was the
one who broke him. Relenting, she smiled slightly.

“Okay, well, I’ll let it go because of how I died
on you.”

Roman nodded, eyeing her warily. “Do you plan on
telling Sophie about her past?”

“No,” Lila said immediately.

“But you seemed to think knowing was better.”

“Yes, but that’s me. Sophie’s fragile. She just
found out she’s a hunter. Telling her she’s a hunter who sucked enough to die
won’t improve her confidence.”

“She’s not as weak as you think, Lila.”

“Just the same, we should keep her focused on the
mission and learning to hunt and not on the past. I know this sounds
hypocritical of me since I’m all about the past, but that’s because you and I share
a specific past. Telling Sophie anything more than she once worked with us
won’t help her.”

“Won’t she be angry when she finds out we’ve lied
to her though?”

Lila sighed, running her hands through her hair.
“Does she have anyone special? You know, like I have with you? Is there any
hurry for her to know about her past?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then let her be angry later. For now, just let
her be. Okay?”

“I’d like to say you know her better than I do,
but that wouldn’t be true. I’m not going to be the one to tell her the truth
though.”

Smiling, Lila clapped her hands. “Good. I’ll go
get Sophie and our stuff and we’ll stay in your room. It’s colder in here and I
like it cold. Oh, but you probably already knew that, right?”

“This room is also closer to the exit.”

Nodding, Lila moved to the door. Before she could
turn the handle, Roman was at her side. Taking her face in his hands, he leaned
down and kissed her softly, tentatively. Lila knew he feared rejection even
after all of the kind words and tender moments of the last few minutes. She
feared it too, yet Lila wasn’t one to give into her fears.

She pulled him closer and kissed him deeper
whether he was ready or willing. Turned out, Roman was both.

The moment Roman’s lips spread over hers, Lila immediately
accepted how she belonged in his arms. While she didn’t remember him, there was
something perfect about his kisses. The way his tongue tasted her and his hands
pulled her closer. The way he melted against her.

When a knock on the door startled them apart, Lila
pulled her gun out. Staring at her with such raw need, Roman pressed her hand
downward.

“It’s Sophie,” he said.

“You can see through doors too?”

Grinning, Roman reached for the doorknob. “No, I
can sense her. It’s our proximity to the gateway. It left a residue on us that
I can sense. It’s how I tracked you. It’s also why the dogs don’t like us.”

Roman opened the door for Sophie who rushed
inside.

“I got a creepy feeling sitting alone in the room.
What was taking so long?”

“We were talking,” Lila said.

Sophie studied Roman whose shirt remained half buttoned.
“Is that all? Why is he barely dressed?”

“He’s just less dressed than before, not barely
dressed. Stop being weird and help me get our stuff from the other room. We’re
bunking in here for safety reasons.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Will my answer change your level of worry? If
not, I’m ignoring you and going to get our stuff.”

Sophie shrugged and followed Lila to their room.
Grabbing their bags, the women hurried back to Roman’s room. Lila could tell by
the look on his face how he hated them being out of his sight for even those
few minutes. She wished to reassure him, but there was nothing she could say that
would erase the memory of her two deaths.

Once the women joined Roman, Sophie sat in a chair
and sighed.

“Now what?”

“We order pizza, watch television, and go to
sleep.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“We head for Arkansas and try to pick up Joaquin’s
scent.”

Nodding, Sophie kept staring at Roman who was
watching them both.

“What?” Lila asked.

“Nothing,” Sophie said with a shrug. “Can I have
mushrooms on my pizza?”

“I’m not your mom, Sophie. You can eat whatever
you want.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have any cash. Can I use my
credit card?”

Lila rolled her eyes and went to the phone.
Looking up the number for a local pizza shop, she dialed and ordered the food.

“Where do we get money anyway?” Sophie asked
Roman. “We don’t have real jobs, right? I know Lila stole her money from drug
dealers. Is that what I’m supposed to do? Steal?”

Lila hung up the phone then leaned back on the
bed, allowing Roman answer.

“The Lord provides signs about what cars to take
and who to steal from. It sounds strange, but He gives you what you need by
taking it from either those people who don’t need or deserve it. You have to
watch for the signs though. Some hunters are good at spotting them, some
aren’t. I don’t know which kind you are.”

“And why don’t I remember anything about being a
hunter or about you and Lila?”

Roman glanced at Lila who smiled awkwardly, again
forcing him to be the one to answer. Turning his attention back to Sophie, he
twisted his lips and thought up a lie.

“The best I can figure is that you and your pack
got too close to the gateway and something changed you, moved you somehow.
You’re different than other hunters now. I don’t know if you’ll ever remember or
if these changes will help or hurt you? I do know you seem exactly how I remember.”

“Exactly?”

“Down to every freckle,” Roman said with a gentle
smile.

Sophie grinned, apparently relieved by his words.
Whatever she felt, Sophie stopped talking and turned on the television. When
the pizza arrived, no one spoke, eating in a weird self-induced silence, much
like during the drive from Sawyer’s. Lila knew Roman wanted to talk to her, but
the need to keep the truth from Sophie limited their conversational topics. Instead,
they stole glances until bedtime.

Sharing a bed with a restless Sophie, Lila lay in
the dark room and wished she might sleep. The last few days left her with little
time to rest. She could now relax with the knowledge of a big dog having her
back. Yet, she stayed awake, listening to Sophie mutter about dead cats and monsters.

Around midnight, Sophie twisted in bed and smacked
Lila in the face. Giving into her desire, no matter how weak it made her feel,
Lila moved from her bed to Roman’s. Finding him awake, Lila slipped under the
covers as Sophie’s mutterings echoed in the room.

“She’ll beat the crap out of me by morning.”

“It’s been a difficult few days, I’m sure.”

Lila smiled at him. “You baby her like you baby
me.”

“Never,” Roman said, smiling as he swept hair from
her face. “You should sleep though. If we plan to catch up with the Reaper, we
need to get on the road early tomorrow.”

Lila nodded, but she didn’t close her eyes. She
watched him watching her.

“I was coming over here even if Sophie didn’t
punch me. I don’t like this weakness I feel, but I need to be close to you.”

Roman pressed her hand against his chest. “No
matter what happens, I want you to know how much I love you.”

“I feel strange saying I love you when I’ve known
you for less than twenty four hours. I do feel something though and it keeps
growing like an addiction. If I can’t technically love you right this moment,
I’ll love you by tomorrow, if that makes sense? How long did it take for you to
know you loved me?”

“About a minute and a half, but I told myself it
was just how beautiful you looked killing those villains. I later realized when
God gives you someone to love, it isn’t even a choice. You just have to embrace
it.”

Lila smiled, snuggling closer. “Then I’m going to
say I love you now because it’s been way more than a few minutes.”

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes, I think I can sleep.”

“Me too.”

Lila closed her eyes, ready to ponder the next
day, but within a few breaths, she was asleep.

Darkness had come over Joaquin as he sat in the
dimly lit room while Heidi tried to sleep nearby. They had found a decent hotel
on the outskirts of the same town they fled hours earlier. Checking in by
himself, Joaquin slipped Heidi in unseen.

The room was chilly - the air conditioning having
run too high for too long. Heidi shivered upon entering and was still doing so
under the covers. Joaquin knew she wasn’t sleeping, knew she was thinking about
those women. He was thinking of them too and what he might be forced to do to
keep Heidi from their fate.

As the hours passed, Joaquin realized it was only
a matter of time before death took Heidi. This was when the darkness seduced
him.

Joaquin glanced at Heidi, only the top of her head
visible under the blankets. He cared for this woman, maybe more than he should,
but he couldn’t ignore the impulse. Joaquin needed her too - needed her to believe
he was good and could be redeemed. When she spoke his name, the sound of it created
an array of new emotions in him. He hated those feelings as much as he hungered
for them. No, he would not do well in life, if Heidi was taken from him.

But she would die. He knew in his heart he would
watch her die. The cartel couldn’t hurt him for he was invincible, but Heidi
was a corpse waiting to happen. She would be gone soon and he would be alone.

The darkness spoke to him, whispering the solution
to his pain. He was given this woman so she wouldn’t suffer the filthy desires
of the cartel men. While he had saved her temporarily, nothing he did would be
enough. Maybe Joaquin wasn’t meant to return her to the US, but to give her a death worthy of such a kind soul?

The gun felt heavy in his hand as he stood from
his perch near the window. Heidi either heard him move or sensed his plan
because she sat up in the bed and watched him.

“I can’t save you,” he said.

“Maybe you aren’t meant to save me? Maybe God has
a different plan for us?”

“God brought you to me, but I am a monster.”

“You’re just lost, Joaquin.”

“Don’t say my name,” he whispered.

Raising the gun, he expected her to flinch, maybe
beg, but she only looked disappointed.

“This isn’t what God wants from you.”

“I can’t give Him what He wants.”

“How do you know? You haven’t even tried.”

“I can’t save you, Heidi. Do you understand what
will happen when they find you? Do you understand your fate?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“You’re lying.”