A Fallen Hunter

Chapter 3

Lillian strapped her sword to her back as she prepared for the hunt. It was finally time to send thirty-one Fallen to hell before dawn. Too bad she never got the chance to tell Jack about it. He had rescheduled his date for tonight so it looked like she was on her own for this one.

She pulled on her boots and pulled her hair back into a ponytail as usual. She could already sense him watching her as she prepared for the bet. If he thought stalking her is going to scare her off, he had another thing coming. Lillian only took a moment more to grab her cell phone before heading out to hunt.

Cyrus watched his precious Princess leave her flat and stalk down the streets. For someone so pretty, she frowned and scowled a lot, though he couldn't understand why she wore such unflattering expressions. He watched her walk down the streets her eyes darting around for any signs of Fallen Angels. He wouldn't get involved...at least for now.

Lillian was barely on the streets for more then ten minutes and she found a Fallen walking around like he owned the street. She smirked and walked up to him slowly. The Fallen appeared to not notice her until he spun around and leapt at her angrily.

"Thought you could sneak up on me, hunter?" The fallen growled as he tackled her to the sidewalk. She kicked him off her and flipped to her feet before pulling her daggers.

"No I just thought you were too stupid to notice I was a hunter." She said mockingly, smirking at him. She charged at him and flipped over his head at the last second before stabbing her dagger into his back.

The Fallen screamed as she pulled her dagger from his back. She watched him burst into flames with a smirk on her face. 'One down.' She thought quietly. There was still no sign of Cyrus, though she could sense him, he still had yet to show himself to her tonight. Lillian wasn't sure if his lack of appearance was a good thing or a bad thing.

Deciding not to dwell on the thought any further, she took off along the street again allowing her senses to find other Fallen.

Hours passed as Cyrus watched her slay Fallen Angel after Fallen Angel. She appeared almost unstoppable in her quest, however the closer she got to thirty the cockier she became. He smirked at the idea of what he had planned. He was just waiting for his opportunity to strike. She had thirty minutes till dawn and only two more Fallen Angels to take down.

"It's about time for you to figure out where I played my part Princess, I'd get ready if I were you." He muttered silently to himself laughing slightly.

Lillian smirked as she took down the twenty-ninth Fallen that night. Just one more and she'd have her chance to send Cyrus where he belonged. She closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to try and sense for more Fallen. To her surprise there were none close enough to sense.

"Is there a problem, Princess." Lillian slowly turned around at the sound of Cyrus' voice. She found him standing behind her smirking widely.

"Not at all. I have one more Fallen to defeat and I can send you to hell." She said smugly.

"That will be hard Princess, since you only have less then half an hour left and there wont be a single Fallen within a hundred miles." Cyrus said, his smirk growing wider.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"Oh Princess you didn't think I didn't have a part in this game did you?" He asked teasingly, "I went around last night and today and warned all but twenty-nine Fallen Angels that a hunter would be on a merciless hunt tonight. Just enough for you to think you could win but I knew you'd fall short."

Lillian's eyes widened before she took off down the streets at a sprint.

"Twenty minutes Princess, Twenty minutes before I win!" She heard Cyrus call after her.

Lillian blocked him out and kept running. There had to be one more Fallen there had to be. She couldn't loose this bet, hunting was all she knew how could she allow him to win! She looked up at the brightening sky, watching as the stars slowly went out one by one. She was running out of time.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket she speed dialed Jack's number and pressed the phone to her ear. It rang several times, the only sound was her panting as she ran down the street. It rang a couple times before it went to voice mail. Cursing she hung up the phone and kept running.

"Ten minutes Princess" She could hear Cyrus' voice but didn't bother to look for him as she tried calling for Jack again.

The call once again was sent to voice mail making Lillian start to panic. She hung up the phone and forced herself to focus. She tried to reach out her senses as far as they could go in search of a Fallen presence. There was no presence of a Fallen besides Cyrus' which seemed to blaze on her radar like a taunting beacon. As she slowed to a stop, panting for breath, the sun slowly peeked over the buildings and bathed the streets in early sunlight.

'No. No! NO!' Lillian screamed in her head. She couldn't have lost, it wasn't possible. She stared at the sun bathed street in confusion, unable to believe that she'd really lost the bet.

"You lost Princess." Cyrus said from behind her.

Lillian shut her eyes in defeat and dialed Jack's number one last time. This time he picked up.

"What is it Lil, I'm in the middle of a date?" Jack's annoyed voice came from the other end. It took all of Lillian's will power not to break down into sobs.

"Jack, I...I've messed up big." She said softly.

"What do you mean, Lil? And can this wait till later today?"

"I just messed up, that's all you need to know, besides I don't think there's a way to help me. I just wanted to call and say goodbye."

"Lil, you're starting to worry me, whats going on?"

Lillian closed her eyes forcing herself to take a deep breath.

"Goodbye Jack." She said softly, hanging up the phone before he could protest.

"Are you ready to go Princess?" Cyrus asked as she turned to him. She simply nodded and before she could protest he pulled her close to him, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly.

"Hold on Princess." He said, smirking as he spread his wings and lifted up into the sky with one strong wing beat. Lillian squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could afraid she might fall if she didn't.

Cyrus smirked at the squeak of surprise as he took off and chuckled as she wrapped her arms around him. This bet was even better then he thought it would be, he couldn't wait to hear the Archangels reactions when they discovered one of their precious hunters had been taken by a Fallen. For now though he'd just enjoy the fact that his Princess was finally all his.