Redemption Ch. 08

"Shit. Couldn't we just have grabbed Boy and left?" Zak huffed next to Lucien.

"No," Lucien snapped. At least he'd given those gladiators a chance at freedom. The vision of Boy's clone was etched in his mind and heart.

The second they made it out of the maze of the kennels and into their own sector, he slammed her against a wall and took her mouth with a hunger that surprised even himself.

"I'm getting Annie out of there," Zak said.

"I'll help you," Remi blurted.

Lucien ate at Boy's mouth. She was still naked and trembling, the stench of bug guts all over the both of them, before he remembered he'd puked only moments before.

Reluctantly, he pulled away, but held her face close to his. She was alive. She was unharmed. "What the fuck happened?"

Boy splayed her webbed fingers on his chest, her breath hammering in and out of her sweet pink mouth.

"I don't know. I fell asleep. When I woke up, they were..." Her hands went up to a thin silver ring around her throat. "Fuck. Get this off me," she cried out.

Lucien moved her hands away and looked at the ring, turning it round and round, searching for a way to open it.

"Get it off," she repeated in rising hysteria.

"Calm down. It's okay. No one's going to hurt you."

Boy tugged at the ring, blocking Lucien's search for a way to open it.

"Stop," he finally said gripping her hands and tugging them behind her back.

Boy stared up at him with wide lavender eyes.

Lucien could feel the soft pressure of her small breasts...as well as the undeniable imprint of her cock pressed against his.

He felt the need to recoil and press closer warring within him. The nightmare of his past made him break out in a cold sweat, the memory of watching Boy's clone die had a lump forming in his throat. His clone must have never known kindness or love...except for the brief moment of tenderness Lucien showed him seconds before taking his last breath.

"Was that one of your former masters?"

Boy nodded. "My creator."

Lucien scowled, rage making his skin twitch. "How many more like you are there?" Fuck. He'd save them all if he had to—to hell with the mission.

"Before they decided to dispose of me, they removed three of my fingers. I always overheard them claim they only had enough credits to make one more." Boy gulped. "I didn't win many fights."

Lucien closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Boy's forehead.

"I don't give a shit what they say. You're sleeping with us in our dorm."

Just then, Zak and Remi walked out of the kennels. Zak carried a still unconscious Anniel in his arms.

"Ashriel's gonna have a coronary when he sees her like this," Remi huffed, running a hand through her dark fur.

"The good news is, none of those aliens followed his back here. There was a deadbolt on their side of the doors so we just locked it," Zak added.

Lucien looked at the double doors and saw the vampire girl that had been guarding it slumped on the floor.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

Remi smirked and bared his neck to show two healing pink spots. "She gorged on my dragons' blood. When she wakes up from her little nap she's in for a big surprise."

Lucien was sure he didn't want to know what the surprise was. "Let's get out of here. In a few hours we'll be close enough to the Edenian solar system to sort out our living arrangements and finish becoming Edenian citizens again."

*******

They huddled around her. Lucien made her walk behind him, using his massive white wings to keep her from the view of prying eyes.

Boy tugged at the collar at her throat. Her old master had used it to shock her into obedience. Feeling it around her neck again made her fearful. Any minute the searing pain would come and she'd be taken away from Lucien and the Alpha Angels.

Remi placed a hand on her shoulder, peering at her face with a gentle smile. "Hey...it's going to be all right. We won't let anything happen to you, oaky?"

Boy just nibbled her lip. Voices up ahead drew her attention.

A trio of Chidadents approached. They stared at Lucien before widening their eyes when they realized Zak carried an unconscious black wolf in his arms.

Lucien kept Boy's nudity hidden with his wings, but he stopped as they drew near.

The Chid males looked at him questioningly as they came closer.

It was subtle, but Boy realized their gazes became glassy when they paused before him.

"You," Lucien said softly, pointing at the shortest of the males, "let me have your clothes."

The orange-skinned male with the mop of deep red-orange hair complied immediately.

Boy stared in stunned amazement as the male removed his tunic and pants and handed them over to Lucien.

"Thank you," Lucien said taking the items. The males just stared at him, blinking stupidly. "You need to go back to your dorms now and go to sleep. You won't remember any of this tomorrow."

They nodded and walked away.

Lucien turned and handed Boy the clothes. "Here. Put these on."

"How did you do that?" Boy asked bewildered.

Lucien looked around before frowning down at her. "I'm very persuasive. Put these on, Hurry."

Boy took a step back, a sliver of fear running up her spine. Lucien could control others with his mind?

"No," she snapped, glaring at him, daring him to do the same to her.

Lucien's eyes widened and even Remi's brow arched. Zak just huffed out an exasperated breath.

"You'd rather parade yourself around naked?" Lucien gritted out through clenched teeth.

Boy stared defiantly up at him. "Why don't you make me do it like you did that Chid?"

Lucien's blue eyes went more silvery than usual. He clenched his jaw as he stepped up almost nose to nose with Boy. His ice-blue eyes blazed with fury. Strangely, it turned Boy on big time. "What is your problem?"

Boy curled his lips back with a snarl. "I'm an animal. Animals don't get clothes."

Lucien slammed the bundle of clothes against Remi's chest, never breaking his icy stare from Boy's face. "You know what you are?" he asked softly...to calmly.

Boy gasped when he gripped her arm tight and dragged her over to a bench by the corridor wall. He sat and yanked her face-down over his lap. Before Boy could utter a protest, Lucien's open palm came down repeatedly over her bare ass. Her hearts were in her throat in shock as the man spanked her hard and ruthlessly.

"A spoiled fucking brat," Lucien seethed.

When he stood yanking her back up, her vision swam. To her horror, it was because her eyes were full of tears.

He yanked her back to Remi and Zak. Taking the clothing from Remi's hands, he pushed them against her chest. "Now...put the clothes on."

Her ass was aflame as well as her cheeks. Lucien's eyes were stern, cold even. Gone was the man who'd nearly devoured her against the wall back by the kennels.

"We need to move before we're seen," Zak gritted out.

Lucien's eyes narrowed.

Boy dropped the clothes and pulled on the pants first. After she'd yanked on the tunic she pouted up at him.

Lucien's gaze raked up her form before settling on her face with just a hint of amusement. "Like I said...I'm very persuasive."

He turned on his heel and began walking forward.

Boy reluctantly followed, mimicking a gesture he'd seen Natanael and Remi do behind Seth's back. Remi began to chuckle.

"I know you're giving me the finger," Lucien deadpanned.

*******

It seemed like forever, but finally Lucien's boots touched Earth.

A shudder of terror assailed him, so strong that Devon gripped his arm and Lucien allowed it.

They'd gotten rid of their pseudo wings the moment they cleared customs in the spaceport. The reapers kept close to Devon, doing their best to keep him hidden with their wings. Boy Rayne stood with her back to Lucien, just behind Ashriel and Abdiel. Eriel and Amadashiel flanked either side of them and Natanael brought up the rear along with the rest of the entourage.

"They can't touch you," Devon murmured near his ear.

No. Lucien, in his despair, thinking Boy had died, had taken his divine swords...had accepted the path of light. He was now officially an archangel...with double swords no less.

Funny thing, he still felt as decrepit and shady as ever.

His eyes landed on Boy Rayne's thick white braid. Redemption had come to him in the shape of a beautiful little hermaphrodite.

He'd kissed her all night long. The only thing that had kept him from fucking her had been the fact that they were in a large dorm sleeping with fifty other people.

He'd barely slept. Every time he dosed off, he kept seeing that damned clone bleeding out onto the floor, half a cheek missing and chunks of flesh ripped open with his guts sliding out.

His arms ached to pull Boy Rayne against him again, but they were out in the open, surrounded by the others.

An earth transport waited for them, ready to take them to their destination.

Talking quietly amongst themselves, they boarded the big bulky transport. It had wheels, much to Lucien's amusement. He wouldn't be surprised if it ran on fuel too.

The first glimpse of Earth was of a night sky since they landed on the dark side. The city was aglow and sparkled beautifully.

Lucien snorted. It was all a mirage.

They traveled a wide twenty-lane road, and through the glass roof of their transport, he could see other transports zipping to and fro overhead. Already the class distinction could be seen.

The wide road soon became cluttered with traffic as it flowed closer to the soaring steel and glass buildings of the city.

In the back, he could hear Amadashiel gush over the beauty of a neon lit bridge that arched over the seething ocean toward the new, floating city of New York.

Arches of glowing blue ringed the bridge. Far below, Lucien could make out the white caps in the turbulent Atlantic. Other transports flanked them to either side, the automatic piloting systems keeping each transport at safe distances.

After a while, they finally made it off the bridge and onto the streets of New York. It was almost as bright as daylight and full of bustling activity.

"It's still early," Ashriel observed.

"We're supposed to get settled in before curfew starts," Seth said.

Lucien pressed his lips into a hard line. Supposedly, after midnight, paranormal activity escalated and it was deemed detrimental to citizens' security to remain out and about, especially in the outskirts of the city where the working class lived—the poor class. You stayed out of your dwelling at your own risk. Most of the buildings had an automatic shut down system in place to keep the things that went bump in the night out. Most times that system worked. Other times, those things were already festering inside the building, waiting to feed.

"When do we get our equipment?" Natanael asked.

Lucien could hear the excitement in his voice. The reaper was literally bouncing in his seat, eager to start demon hunting.

"You're not allowed to carry weapons," Remi drawled.

"Technicality," Natanael snorted.

After a moment of silence, Seth said, "Seriously. You can't have any of the weapons. It's against galactic law for any reaper to carry anything more than their divine swords."

"And even that has to remain concealed unless you're up against an evil entity." Rowie added.

"Whatever," Natanael scoffed.

The fancy glass and steel, brightly-lit skyscrapers gave way to brick and mortar, and that gave way to dimly lit concrete blocks. The streets they traveled now were quite dark with very few beings walking around.

"Wow. The rats have gotten bigger than I remembered," Remi mused aloud as they drove past a gigantic rat-faced man.

"That's a Rhodentron, idiot" Seth snorted.

Boy Rayne looked around. Lucien could tell she felt apprehensive. He yearned to touch her hand and reassure her, but was afraid. The whole conversation with the Merulian couple the night before replayed in his head. He'd gotten himself dosed to prevent accidentally impregnating anyone when they chipped the back of his skull, but...he'd taken Boy a number of times before that on Alpha 7 and once on the trip to Crimbregeere. Maybe nothing had happened. No one had told them anything. If Boy was carrying, that fucking Dreetle would have mentioned it. Wouldn't he?

Lucien closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He saw himself as a child again. The only clothing he'd been allowed to wear were dirty old rags. His nanny would make him robes and care for him. She never spoke to him, but he'd loved her. Malvoro sometimes mistreated her so Lucien made sure not to show her too much affection, though it made no difference. When he started growing into manhood, Malvoro had dragged him into his bedroom one evening where he'd tied his nanny up, naked and spread-eagled. The woman had been whipped and she cried silently. Malvoro had wanted him to fuck her, to prove his manhood. Lucien, of course had refused, even though his stepfather had flayed his flesh off his back and threatened to cut off his useless cock and balls. Lucien refused all through the torture.

Malvoro still raped the poor bound woman and finished off his grand production by bending Lucien over the end of the bed and ripping his virgin asshole to shreds.

Lucien jerked awake with a gasp.

The transport was just stopping in front of a strangely shaped building. It looked as if it had been put together by a child using concrete Legos; just a bunch of cubes piled on top of each other forming a circle three stories high

"You okay?" Zak asked him.

Lucien nodded.

The door to the transport slid open and a small stout dwarf waited on the curb for them. The small man had beady eyes under thick shaggy brows, a bulbous nose with a hairy wart on the end, fat, frowning lips, big ears, a bush of grey-streaked brown hair and an enormous belly hanging over his stubby legs.

The section of the city they were in catered to exotic species, so Devon was relatively safe going out without fear of being mauled by angel-struck people...or dwarves.

"Well, come-on," the dwarf groused. "Let's get a move on before the haunting hour."

"But it's still early yet," Angel said with a frown.

The dwarf scowled. "I want to get you all settled in so I can go back in my own home and eat my dinner in peace before all that howling starts."

"Howling?" Lucien asked.

"Aye," the dwarf snorted. "Howling, screaming, screeching, moaning, banging on the windows and doors..."

Lucien gaped at the short man, but he just turned and led them past a pair of metal doors.

They stepped over the metal tracks where the doors obviously slid together. Two red lights blinked to either side of the doors on the inside. The corridor was arched and Lucien felt the cold wet breeze blow through his hair.

They emerged into an inner wide, circular, courtyard. Over their heads, millions of stars winked in a clear sky and yet, Lucien could smell rain in the air as well as feel the stirrings of an electrical storm.

"It's so dark," Rowie observed as they began to ascend a spiral metal stairwell.

"Glow stones are too expensive to have out here. You each have one in each of the apartments. Just make sure to charge it once the sun comes up."

"What's your name?" Abdiel asked.

"Too complicated for you to pronounce."

"Then what should we call you?" Eriel piped up from the rear of the line.

"Don't" the dwarf grunted. He stopped on the second landing. "The lights to your respective apartments will light up green when you step in front of the door. Just palm it open and don't forget to put the metal beam in place behind the doors once you're inside. The window shutter has already been rolled shut for you. If you choose to open it in the morning, don't forget to shut it in the evenings. The faster the better. If you're stupid enough to let one of those get in, don't expect anyone running in to help you out. You're on your own till sun-up. You winged ones are on the third floor. Now, good evening to you."

With that, he turned on his heel and started back down the stairs, disappearing into the gloomy darkness below.

"Weird little fucker," Natanael snorted.

Ashriel sighed and turned, slipping his arm around Anniel's waist. He'd barely let her go after she shifted back into human. "I think it's best if we settle ourselves in for the night. Tomorrow, we'll probably need to go out in search for supplies for our new living quarters."

The reapers turned and went up the next flight of stairs. Seth and Zak began walking around the second floor corridor, looking up at the lights above the doors. Lucien followed with Boy, Remi, Rowie, Devon and Angel closely behind.

Devon and Angel found their apartments quickly, followed by Remi and Rowie. Farther down, Lucien's apartment light glowed green for him and Boy. He waited for Zak and Seth to locate their new living quarters, that were right next to theirs.

Zak grinned at Lucien just before they each palmed the lock screens next to the doors.

The double doors were made of thick metal, about three inches thick. A sharp clang was heard before the doors groaned open.

Now that they were alone, Lucien slid his hand up Boy's back. They stopped in the entrance to the apartment so that Lucien could close the doors again. Just as the dwarf had lectured, Lucien found a heavy metal beam, which he placed in galvanized brackets behind the door.

There was a wall directly in front of the doors so they had to turn left and walked into an eating area.

Lucien frowned at how dismal everything looked. The floor was nothing more than polished concrete. The eating area had a small counter hugging the corner opposite the entrance. There was a small space for storage, and a counter leading to the wall at the end of the tiny one-roomed apartment. The far wall of the room had an enormous round window, blocked now by a metal shutter. In front of the window was a rectangular bed, half the size of the round one he had in Alpha 7. It was pushed up against the other wall in the room with what looked like more storage space overhead. At the foot of the bed, sectioned off by tiled walls, was a bathing area. At least that's what Lucien supposed it was. There was a hole in the cracked, tiled floor in one end and a smaller grated one in the other with a faucet and waterspout above it. That was it. The wall that had the faucets and waterspout was the wall that was directly in front of the double doors where he and Boy now stood. Lucien was sure the apartment was maybe twelve paces long by eight wide, if an inch more. The walls were bare concrete and the metal beams of the ceiling were exposed.

A lone glowstone sat in the corner of the storage closet, its light already growing dim. The mattress on the bed was bare and there seemed to be stains on it as well.

"Fuck, baby. I'm sorry. This place is a dump."

"It's better than that cage I had yesterday," She murmured rubbing her arms as if recalling the bone-chilling cold.

Lucien looked at her neck. Devon had managed to get the damned metal collar off her.

"Are you tired?"

She looked up at Lucien from beneath silvery lashes. "A little."

He'd gone on about how he'd take her once they were alone. Now Lucien found he couldn't. Not yet. He felt he'd failed her. She'd almost gotten killed, She'd been treated little better than an animal aboard the starfreighter...and now this.

Lucien spotted a bug skulking around the edge of one of the counters. A fucking roach. Great.

The sound of the wind outside picked up and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Well, let's settle down for the night. There's nothing else to do. It's just about curfew hour anyway."

"What exactly happens just after midnight?" Boy asked, eyes widening now.

Lucien ran his finger down the curve of her cheek. He didn't want to scare her but he wouldn't lie either. "All hell breaks loose outside, baby. We'll be up to our ass in demons and devils." Boy's eyes remained wide, absorbing everything he'd said. Lucien cupped her cheek. "I swear. I'll keep you safe."