The Demon's Gift

Untitled Part 14

The entire ride to headquarters I was thinking that yeah, this was probably a terrible idea, maybe one of the worst I had ever had. And that's saying something. But I continued giving directions, knowing my fate, knowing I was doomed beyond all reason no matter what. A montra of fucks repeated in my mind as we pulled up to the deserted building, once a reasonable hotel that had been abandoned mid renovations. The sign above was mostly faded, but if you squinted hard enough, you could make out The Gateway Inn. Such a creative name.

I suppose it had been nice, once. Before the neighborhood turned to shit, before it was beat down, before they ran out of money to fix it the rest of the way. No one wanted to stay in a neighborhood with drug deals happening out front and ignored screams coming from alleyways. All of these features made it perfect for us.

And, Jesus fuck, I'm thinking, even though I shouldn't think his name in vein, much less say it, when I've already got so many strikes against me. We were getting out of the car, and I was already kicking myself in the shin, almost physically, my left heel ready to launch itself into my right shin. But then I see Lily looking up at the place in wonder, mouth open, breathing in the home she's heard about but been kept away from this whole time. Lizzy looks a little scared, which was reasonable, so I choose to go up to her rather than Lily and wrap my arm around her, turning back to Lily to motion my head towards the building."Come on."

I should have called first. Should have warned Colton, even if he had told me not to do it. But, no, because he wouldn't have let me, and this needed to happen. Night shifts were a hassle, we couldn't lose soldiers, especially our best ones. And Lizzy--fuck, she needed to be safe, and the only way I could ensure that was to bring her here. If they found out they could use her to get to me, she'd be a target in an instant.

We entered. Stopped in the doorway. Closed the door behind us. Took off our coats. No one was in the entrance way, and I didn't exactly know where to go from there. It seemed like someone should come out and catch me red handed.

And someone did. Colton came from the stairs at the noise, from... my room? And, yeah, I did have a few missed calls from him, probably because I hadn't asked for a ride. No one was expected home right then, either, because I didn't have a ride, so the sound of people entering would be alarming to him.

Alarming it was.

He stopped. Stared. Glared.

"Auden," he said, almost snapping. I could tell he was trying not to scream right there. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

I sighed, defeated, and nodded, muttering a, "Sure," as I made my way into the room and up the stairs to meet him. He glared at me the entire way, then forcefully escorted my to my room, opening the door to let me in first and then slamming it behind him. I didn't get a chance to look back to the girls.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" he asked instantly, turning to me. I let out the breath I was holding. "Please, enlighten me. I'm ecstatic to hear what you have to say about this."

"My sister can not simply be out in the world," I stated first, knowing he wasn't all that mad that I brought Elizabeth here. I mean, sure, if I had only brought her, he'd be mildly pissed that I didn't at least get permission, but he'd understand. It's Nualily he's ticked about. "If they know we're attached, they'd hunt her. Kidnap her. They'd... they'd kill her like they did Nat, you know that they would."

"Go on," he said after I paused briefly. I took in air. Held it a second. Pushed it out.

"Nualily isn't dangerous, you know that just as well as I do. And it's safer to have her here, where we can all protect her, and where we can keep her under our watch. She's discovering new things with her powers, and-"