Page 19 of Roman

The amount of information they’d gotten out of the demon they’d found in Charlotte’s cell tonight had been overwhelming, then finding her there as the demon’s prisoner only confirmed she had been the one everyone was searching for.It had surprised the hell out of him.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her.Knowing she was down in the basement, sleeping in one of the empty cells, made it worse.He kept thinking of excuses to go down there, but he dismissed each one.He had more pressing matters to worry about than the hot blonde waitress he had locked downstairs.

“Are you serious?What do you mean, what about?How about the fact Lucifer has Archdemons helping keep order down in Hell?”Maalik snapped, the other angels falling silent around the table.“Or how about that there might be a way for him to get out of Hell, causing an all-out apocalypse and bringing the end of time?There’s that insignificant little thing… Oh, hang on.The minor detail of you keeping the human girl you were eye fucking at the club locked in your basement like a kidnapping psychopath instead of dropping her off at home.I find that last one the most disturbing, brother.Are you going to throw some lotion at her, too, Buffalo Bill?”

The last comment caused some of the other angels to chuckle.

“Maalik,” Roman warned.I wasn’t eye fucking her.I was kissing her,he thought.The searing kiss they’d shared rushed through his mind.“We can’t let her go until we know exactly how Lucifer will use her.”Not because I want to kiss her all over again.

“I think we should kill her,” Armaros spoke quietly from across the table.

Roman stared at the giant tattooed man.He sat there, his hair hanging damp around his shoulders, the light above the table illuminating his dark features and making his odd violet eyes stand out even more.It wasn’t often Armaros suggested or even agreed with harming innocent people.

Armaros was among the ill-fated angels who fell into Hell, and, like Roman’s brother, he crawled outaltered.When he’d managed to escape, he returned filled with powerful magic and now suffered with visions of the future, which left him immobilized for hours afterward.He had told none of them what had happened to him or how he had gotten his magic.It was still a mystery, even after all these centuries.

“Why kill her?She is an innocent.That’s not how we do things around here,” Roman told him, furious at the idea of anyone hurting her.

When he’d first stood outside that cell and seen the girl hanging from chains, her face beaten to a pulp, blood all over her, he had nearly lost himself in one of his rampages, and the worst thing was he had no idea why.The girl was a stranger to him, even if his body was responding to her like it had known her his whole life.

I’ve got to get my shit together,he thought, running his hand down his face in frustration.

“Don’t think I’ve come to this decision lightly, Roman.Believe me when I say I know she’s an innocent.But if she is somehow the key to letting Lucifer out of Hell, our only option would be to kill her.The death of one to save the many.If we take her out of the equation, then there will be no way for this whole shit storm to start.”Armaros sighed as if he were the most exhausted man on the planet, a sadness lingering in his violet gaze.

It was then Roman noticed how tired he looked.How have I missed this?he thought, concerned.

“I think it’s the only way to solve our problem,” Armaros added.

“I agree with Armaros,” Grigori said, reaching forward to grab a slice of pizza.His dark brown, shoulder-length hair had been tied back into a ponytail.He leaned back in his chair, his long legs extended out, his big black combat boots resting crossed at the ankle on Roman’s priceless marble table.He ate his slice of pepperoni pizza, chewing loudly and making a mess like a three-year-old child.

Roman tried not to let his anger and agitation show.Out of all the angels, Grigori infuriated him the most with his idiotic sense of humor and overall disrespect for everyone.“And why is that?”Roman asked as he rose from his seat, noticing the small smirk Maalik had as he sipped his whiskey.

Maalik was the only one who ever knew when Roman was annoyed, and his brother knew exactly what was about to happen.Roman slowly walked around the table, making his way toward where Grigori was sitting.

“Well, because it makes bloody sense, doesn’t it?”Grigori replied, still chomping on his slice of pizza.“She will be the cause of letting Lucifer, and in turn, the demons, out of Hell.That cannot happen, and it’s our job to stop it.So, if we kill her, problem solved.”He smiled as Roman came to stand next to his chair.

Roman smiled back, then kicked his leg out, knocking the chair out from under him.Everyone at the table burst out laughing as Roman stood over Grigori as he lay flat on his back in shock.

“Keep your goddamn boots off of my table,” Roman said, trying to keep as calm as possible, then he turned, making his way back to his seat while Grigori picked himself up off the floor, mumbling as he sat back down.

“You could have at least said please,” Grigori complained, reaching for another slice of pizza.

“Don’t push me, Grigori.This table is over 4,000 years old, so don’t fuck it up.”He gave Grigori a quick glare.“Anyway, I think we should consider at least questioning the girl before we have a vote on what to do with her.She might know something important that can help us.But right now, we need to focus on interrogating the demon we have locked down in the basement.Once we finish, Armaros can send it back where it belongs, along with the other piece of shit we still have sitting down there as well.”

Roman sat back and gulped down the last bit of whiskey in his glass.“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m exhausted.I’m going to bed.Maalik, Grigori, and Armaros, you three can help me interrogate the demon in the morning.Phoenix, you and Lucian can head down to the club in the morning and meet the driver.He has some deliveries for us, and not just the normal liquor delivery, either.”He rose from the table.

Roman slapped Maalik on the back as he walked out of the room.The other angels called out goodnight to him as he made his way over to the staircase.He hesitated, quickly glancing past the kitchen door to the hallway that led to the basement.He shook his head, forcing himself to continue up the stairs.

Don’t you dare,he told himself, struggling to get the image of Charlotte out of his head, but he didn’t think he was going to have any luck.

* * *

They were everywhere.No matter where Charlotte looked, evil, yellow eyes glowed back at her.The moon hung high in the sky as she stood in the middle of a city.Everything was in ruins, and all the buildings were on fire.The heat from the flames overwhelmed her as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, realizing there was not a single person to be seen.

Charlotte had been running for so long her legs ached and her chest burned as she gasped for breath.No matter how fast or far she’d run, she couldn’t escape the glowing yellow eyes.They were everywhere—down the dark alleys, under abandoned cars, looking at her from the crumbling rooftops of flaming buildings.She could have sworn she’d even seen them looking back at her through the flames that had overtaken the city.

Above her in the night sky, she could hear the beating sound of large wings as something or someone flew above her.It was too dark to tell if it was the giant tattooed man who often helped her escape or if it was some evil creature.She vaguely remembered seeing him in the real world, confused by the fact he was a real person and not a figment of her imagination.

I’ve got to get out of here.She panicked as the evil growls and laughter of the yellow-eyed creatures echoed all around her.Charlotte quickly scanned her surroundings for somewhere that looked like a safe place to hide or even an opening in the flames to make her way out of the burning city.

---