The Lost Angel [BxB]

gabriel

Terror made me cruel.

'Wuthering Heights'
[Emily Brontë]

♡ ♡ ♡

17: GABRIEL

At three AM, on a stormy night, Lalo felt restless. He crept out of bed, leaving Rory sleeping peacefully beneath the white sheets, and as he made himself a honey and lemon ginger tea, he watched bullets of rain rip through the rose petals from the window. The Hernandez family gravesite was clothed in shadows as rain dribbled from the cold stone where their names were engraved. It wasn't a full moon, and yet, Lalo couldn't help but feel as though tonight, the house would awake from its slumber, and drag him into the darkness.

When he heard the creaking of hinges in the foyer, he didn't hesitate. He pulled a steel bread knife out of the top drawer, and quietly made his way towards the front door.

Lurking beneath the angel Gabriel's shadow, a dark hooded figure was holding a blade between gloved fingers. Through the eery stillness of the rainy night, Lalo could just about make out a pair of big brown eyes, shaggy black hair, and scarred cocoa skin.

"You took your time." Lalo murmured, stepping out of the shadows. He was wearing Rory's oversized shirt, and a pair of checked pyjama shorts. The knife in his hand glittered in the moonlight that filtered through the crack in the open door. He stuffed it into is back pocket before it was seen.

Julien smirked, "Were you waiting for me, Maxi?"

Lalo gulped down his nerves. Once a colleague, maybe even a friend, now a hunter. And he was the prey. "How did you find me?"

Julien began to laugh coldly. Lalo was terrified that Rory would hear him and come investigating. That would earn him a stab that pierced his heart. Lalo had to do whatever he could to prevent that. "You think you're clever, don't you?" Julien stepped towards him threateningly, "That guy who made you a fake passport? He's my boy, we were in third grade together, man." He snickered, "Eladio Vicario? Are you serious? You used your real middle name?"

Lalo refused to take a step back. He couldn't show an ounce of weakness, "He told you where I was?"

"Nah." He chuckled, "I knew your new name, so I did some digging and found out about your move to Madrid. You figured that because you're Latino you'd move to a Spanish speaking country? Like always, you took the easy route out, huh?"

"Cut the shit, Julien." He spat. "Congratulations, you found me. What next?"

Julien shook his head, "Nah, let me finish. I earned this, dude." He laughed, "From Madrid, I traced you to a gardening agency. Gardening — really? I mean I knew there wasn't exactly a retirement plan for criminals, but I was not expecting that." He said with raised brows, "Anyway, I was able to find out about this job — the one that nobody wanted. Nobody but you, of course. Pretty clever; move out to the middle of nowhere, where you have absolutely zero contact with the outside world. No one could possibly find you here, right?"

"Did Cesar send you?"

"Cesar?" He burst out laughing, and a jolt of dread ran up of Lalo's spine. He was praying that Rory wouldn't wake up. "Cesar's dead."

Lalo froze, his eyes widening in shock, "What?"

"He got shot in the face by an officer after 'resisting arrest'. Haven't you heard about what the cops do to us black folks in America?" He asked dryly.

"Who's running things now?"

"Morales." He replied. "Unfortunately for you, he's not a fag like Cesar. You can't just sleep your way to the top."

"I wasn't Cesar's fucking toy, okay?" Lalo shot back, "I got into the business when I was fifteen — when things were still being run by Ortega's crew. I didn't sleep my way to the top, I was already there when you showed up! You're just pissed that I outranked you!

"Oh, please. You were nothing more than a delivery driver. A paperboy could've done your job."

"You couldn't." He said coldly. "Cesar wouldn't let you. You were just muscle, useful for protecting the gang, but not much else."

"You don't know what you're talking—"

"I killed Guryon. All you've ever done is murder a sixteen year old kid when he came back from a drop-off two hundred dollars short."

"You think you're tough, Maxi?" Julien leant back against the statue of Gabriel, his arms crossed over his chest, "You're a coward. You ran."

"The DEA was closing in, and I didn't trust you not to open that big fucking mouth of yours!" He whispered heatedly, "I did what I had to do."

"And now I'm doing what I have to do." He sighed nonchalantly, "Morales wants you back. He wants to kill you himself for betraying the family."

"And why the fuck would I go with you?"

"Because if you don't, I'll kill that British boyfriend of yours." he smiled sweetly.

Lalo's blood ran icy cold, his heart beating in his throat. He felt sick. "Don't fucking touch him." He ordered, voice hard and authoritative. He felt like he was back in New Mexico, forced into a position where he had no choice but to be ruthless. Flower planting, lemonade drinking, bicycle riding Lalo had fallen into the shadows. Cold, hard, bloody, bruised knuckled Maxi was slowly returning from his year and a half absence. And he wasn't going to let Julien lay a finger on Rory.

"You gonna stop me?" Julien asked in amusement, his cold fingertip grazing the thin scar on Lalo's cheek. His touch burnt. "I remember this." He reminisced. "You were an hour late to a pickup, and Cesar told me to deal with you. God, you lost so much blood, I thought you were gonna die." He cackled. "If only."

Lalo's teeth were gritted, his breath hitched in his throat. He had almost forgotten about the knife in his back pocket, and the one gripped in Julien's hand. His only consolation was that Julien was so accustomed to guns, he probably didn't even know how to use a blade. But then again, neither did Lalo. "I'm not going back to New Mexico." He mumbled.

Julien sighed, "Fine. Which room does the fag sleep in?"

"You're not going anywhere near him." Lalo grabbed Julien's wrist, but his instincts were too slow — he had been out of the game for too long. Julien yanked his hand away, pulled Lalo's body close to his, and pressed the edge of the knife up to his neck.

"You wanna play games, Maxi?" He snapped, pushing the blade into his throat, piercing the skin as a drop of blood dribbled onto the collar of his shirt.

Lalo heard a loud smack, then watched as Julien's eyes fluttered shut, and his body fell to the floor, like a doll who's strings had been cut. Lalo was breathing heavily, wiping the blood from the small cut on his throat, as he stared down at Julien's still, lifeless body.

He looked up to find Rory, wide eyed and scared, holding a blood soaked hammer.