The Blood Bracelets #4 - Hell Raised

Chapter Three

Cashing in on some of her steals always made Eljae feel a hell of a lot better, even if physically her body still ached like a fresh bruise. She hadn't been living her usual life of thievery ever since she fell headlong into the mess that was Taryn Nyte's life, but that didn't mean she had no money to draw on; a lot of her stolen goods were kept in a magically protected safe, ready to be cashed in whenever she was running low on funds. So this morning, after sleeping a few hours, she had paid a visit to her vault and refilled her pockets with enough cash to pay their accommodation, and get them all by for another week.

Eljae was on her way back to the motel now, dressed in a plain black sweater with the hood raised to hide her vibrant hair, ripped denim jeans and a pair of black ankle boots. She had sourced some clothes for everyone else too, after Ace had pointed out that he had nothing to wear after showering.

And whilst Ace had smelled clean, his clothes certainly hadn't. Suspecting it was the same for Kael – and although she had no problems watching two men strut around in only a towel – she packed a bag with clothes for everyone.

Honestly, what would they all do without her?

Thinking of Ace, Eljae ducked her face into the edge of her hood as she grinned to herself. It was a stupid grin, one she couldn't stop from appearing each time she thought of Ace. This morning she had woken up to his arms around her, and even unconscious he had been careful not to aggravate her injury. She had turned over to see him asleep with his mouth wide open, his blonde hair is disarray over his eyes, and the imprint of pillow creases on his cheek. It had made her grin then too.

It was strange, Eljae had realised in that moment, because despite how bleak their current predicament appeared and how miserable the last few days had been Eljae didn't feel terribly depressed about it all. Waking up beside Ace, and feeling restful despite her injury, Eljae hadn't had a care in the world.

Only a block from the unassuming motel, Eljae caught a familiar scent in the air. There was a brief moment where she didn't recognise it, if only because it was just recently that she had become familiar with it, but as recognition struck her like a shock of electricity, she turned in the direction of the scent, her eyes wide.

Behind her, Freya the half-breed feraii stood at the corner of the block. Realising she had gotten Eljae's attention, Freya flashed Eljae a grin, tipped her head in silent demand to follow, and then disappeared around the corner.

Eljae scoffed and followed Freya, finding her in a narrow service alley where roller doors lined either side and dumpsters took up the space between. Freya was sitting on one of those dumpsters, poised on the edge of the closed lid with her steel-tipped tail idly swaying behind her.

Unlike Eljae, Freya had inherited more obvious demon traits despite also being half-human. Her pupils narrowed to cat-like slits against the daylight, and the colour of her eyes were a yellow-green. Where Eljae could retract her claws so her hands looked entirely human, Freya's claws were constantly unsheathed and her ears were pointed. She also had a tail, and although Eljae knew it was rather impractical when blending in with humans she found she was a little envious of it. Her complexion was also the opposite to Eljae's in every way, with deep, golden-brown skin and hair a few shades darker, but not only was Freya the first half-breed Eljae had ever met she was also the first feraii demon she had ever met, and for that reason alone Eljae found their differences inconsequential.

'Took you long enough. I've been following you for ages,' Freya remarked, unimpressed.

Eljae ignored the jibe and said, 'I take it you're all okay?'

'Yeah,' Freya replied, her expression sobering. 'We're actually staying at Tiberius' mansion, as morbid as that seems, but we want to free the other half-breeds from the stone curse so we're staying at the property to make sure no one else takes them.'