Hell's Army

Chapter Fifteen- Old Faces

"And he actually exploded?" Felix asked, almost spitting out his mouthful of salad.

Holly nodded. "All over Ingleseid."

"That's awesome."

"Don't think Ingleseid thought so," Holly said.

A waiter all but bounded up them, her blonde ponytail bobbing up and down enthusiastically. The restaurant Felix had chosen was small and tucked away and filled to the brim with university students going above and beyond their duty to look as different as possible. Slow indie bands murmured incomprehensible lyrics over the speakers, and dramatic black and white pictures of a woman covering her eyes with her hands lined the walls. When Holly assured the waitress there was nothing else she could do for them, she bounded off to find some other stupidly dressed teenager in need of service.

"What was he doing in a vampire nest, anyway?"

"Oh," Holly said. "There were some...orphans that needed rescuing. So, how's the case going?" She changed the subject quickly.

"Another one turned up this morning. Taken from an outdoor yoga class."

"How the hell is he doing this?" she murmured.

He shrugged. "Beats me. Have you two made anymore leeway?"

"Ingleseid suspects this kid at the school has something to do with it," she said. "But so far, that's been a dead end. I should probably be getting back to him. I kind of left him in the middle of nowhere, and he doesn't have a key."

"Can we do this again sometime?" Felix blurted out as she stood up. She looked at him and his eyes widened as if she'd pointed a gun in his face. "I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to, but- It was nice, I mean. Really nice." His voice died away, and he stared at his shoes.

Holly laughed before she could stop herself. "Again sounds good. See you later, Felix."

He said goodbye, and she drove back to her flat. Ingleseid was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn't answering his phone. She frowned. Maybe he'd gone back to his. He'd been wasted last night, the thing with the janitor had really shaken him. She navigated Setan City's usual uncontrollable traffic and hurried up the stairs of his apartment block, knocked on his door.

It swung open and someone who was very much not Ingleseid gave a wide, lipstick-filled grin. She was wearing a baggy tee-shirt and not much else, mascara smeared across her eyes to the point where her face looked more skull than human.

"Oh, you must be Holly," she beamed.

"And who the hell are you?"

"Chloe. Don't worry, he said I could hang here."

Of all the things Holly had been worrying about at this point, that was not one of them. Chloe grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. "Come in!"

Holly thought about pointing out when you said 'come in' to people, you had to actually give them a chance to refuse, but decided against it.

"I like your hair," Chloe said.

"Could you excuse me for just a moment?" Without waiting for an answer, Holly hurried into the kitchen. She whipped out her phone and dialled Ingleseid, waited for the call to go to voicemail. "There is a half naked teenager in your apartment," she hissed. "Why is there a half naked teenager in your apartment? You better have a friggin' good reason as to why there is a half naked teenager in your apartment. Call me. Now." She hung up.

"Excuse me?" a soft voice behind her said.

She whipped round, and a boy with dark hair and eyes as black as night stared at her, smiling slightly. She could feel the power radiating off him, the darkness seeping into his skin.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "It's you."

"Hello, Holly," Samael said.