Page 8 of Rescuing Air

The rest of the day fell into a peaceful atmosphere as we worked on our sections of things, allowing Parker time to look through what we’d found and see what he could come up with. The sun faded and stomachs rumbled, making me smile.

“I’ll get dinner started,” I announced, getting up as Brayden grabbed my hand, making me pause.

“Do you want any help, Angel?” he asked.

Leaning down, I kissed him and shook my head. “No, I need a break from dead ends and cooking helps me think. I’ll call you guys when it’s ready.”

I sent up a prayer as I left them alone for the first time since the whole thing went down that they wouldn’t kill each other.

six

Parker

Watching Brayden kiss her so casually was like a knife in my heart. The man whose whole purpose was to feel feelings and influence them was the one who’d fucked up in the worst way possible. I wasn’t surprised when she kicked me out of the house. I wouldn’t want to share space with someone who shattered my heart and saved an ex-girlfriend who was inhabited by Lilith the Mother of Demons, leaving her to fend for herself. I meant every word I’d said to her in the kitchen. I didn’t deserve the easy way out of this, or to still be part of her life at all. I’d once again been the fuckup and acted without thinking, like I always seem to do.

The moment she left the room, the atmosphere changed as Micah locked his gaze on me from his spot on the couch. I’d noticed the knee brace, and I was genuinely glad to see that he wasn’t in a cast, knowing how much that would piss him off even more.

I knew Lailah was the one person none of us couldn’t live without, and over the past seven months that she’d been in our lives she had brought us all closer. We were far from being perfect and we still got into fights because they didn’t trust me not to hurt her, and what had I done? Just what they expected.

“I don’t know what other rules she gave you in order to feel comfortable letting you be here but know that if you step out of line, I will end you,” Micah growled.

I wasn’t surprised in the least that Micah was reacting this way. Lailah was his everything. They all knew it before Micah admitted it to himself. “If I hurt her again, I’ll let you kill me, Micah.”

This response seemed to surprise him but it really shouldn’t. If I fucked up my second chance, I didn’t deserve another. Putting me out of my misery was a more fitting fate.

“The only reason we called you and allowed you back into this home is because we can’t do this without you. It requires all of the Elementi Knights to defeat the Dark Lord and the Evil Trinity, not to mention the added difficulties if Lilith joins in,” Hudson informed me. His tone was cool and detached like it used to be before he met Lailah, closing himself off from me.

“Look, guys, I’m not going to fight whatever hoops you make me jump through to be here, alright? My only request was to be allowed to be part of her life in some way, and if it’s helping hunt down the bastards that have been haunting her dreams, then I’m all over it. I realize that means we’ll also have to come to some agreement for you to accept me being around her as well, so do what you must. I’ll take my hits,” I shared, laying everything out there so they could decide what to do next.

Micah scoffed. “Don’t act like such a martyr. You deserve all that you’re getting and then some for what you’re putting her through. We’re the ones who’ve had to pick up the pieces after you destroyed her and I’m not letting you do any more damage.”

“I get it. I would do the same thing if the roles were any different, but I’m the asshole that hurt her. I won’t deny it.”

“Good, because there’s no other way to look at it,” Brayden muttered. “I just don’t get how you could have let something like this happen. Phoebe was your ex, and she was dating Lailah’s brother. Why would you ever think to put her before our girl? Is it because you still loved her and thought you could rekindle things with Phoebe?”

The question smacked me right in the face, because this is probably what all of them were thinking. Why else would a man who says he’s in love with someone to the point of giving an Oath turn his back on them? Every time I close my eyes, I think over that moment again and again, trying to understand it myself. It was so simple looking at it now that Phoebe, while an innocent, wasn’t in the same danger that Lailah was. In the end, Phoebe was lost to us, having been a conduit for Lilith. There was no way to remove a demon without killing the host.

“I was blinded by the need to protect someone that I felt wasn’t able to defend themselves. I knew Lailah was strong and could hold on until you guys got there, but Phoebe was an innocent, even if she was trying to make a move on me. I’d shut her down more than once already. She shouldn’t have been my priority because Lailah is everything to me. I just didn’t see it until I lost her,” I answered as honestly as I could. “Nothing I do or say can ever right that wrong but I will grovel and pay my penance to keep even a sliver of hope she won’t cut me out of her life for good.”

This answer seemed to appease Brayden and Hudson, but from the look of doubt on Jay and Micah’s faces, I knew they didn’t believe me. That’s fine, I didn’t need them to, if Lailah did. Her opinion was the only one that mattered. If I could mend things with her, then the guys would fall in line with her decision, but I would always have them watching out for the next time I might fuck up.

They dropped the matter for now as I dove back into the work they’d given me. All the banks were offshore and only used account numbers with no names or locations tied to the transactions. I needed to come at it from a different angle and see if they used the same account for something else that wasn’t as secure. Losing myself to my work, peeling back layer after layer of the web they wove to keep things hidden, I finally got the breadcrumb I needed.

“Dinner’s ready,” Lailah called, snapping me out of my computer-code fog.

Turning, I looked at her standing there wearing an apron that Cami got for her and flour smudging her face. The need to brush it off her cheek and kiss those lips was overpowering, but I knew that wasn’t an option, and I might get stabbed for even thinking I could try. So instead, I cleared my throat and asked a simple request. “Would you mind if I kept working? I just caught on to a lead and I don’t want to lose the momentum I have or risk them figuring out someone is digging for the information.”

“Of course, I’ll bring you a plate to eat in here, unless you want me to set it aside for later?” she inquired, removing her apron.

“I’ll come grab some later if that works,” I hedged, not wanting her to feel like I didn’t want to eat her cooking since everyone knew how much I loved it.

She nodded and turned back to the kitchen as the others followed to eat at the table together. I didn’t really think I would be welcome at the table as it was and it would probably make everything super awkward. Brushing that aside, I dove back into the trail I found, leading me on a merry chase through shell company to shell company until I found the end of the line. Frowning, I started digging into the corporation, trying to figure out just what it was that they did or how they made their money. It didn’t seem like a normal business where it had a corporate office or any kind of brick-and-mortar building. Everything was run on the internet, hidden in the background of all the shell companies that were fronts in all different industries.

Could this even be an actual business or is this just another front that’s better constructed? What really threw me was the fact it had been around for fifty years, doing what I didn’t know. Their taxes were legit, even if it did seem to be too clean, too perfect, for it to be true. Every business had a little dirt, using the write-offs to cover something personal, or even using the company card for dinner out. No one followed all the rules unless they really didn’t want someone to be looking into them. This had to be what I was looking for. I was just missing the obvious part of it.

Now that I had a company name, maybe I could ask Jay to look into it using his contacts and see if the Elementi had any information. They were always good at keeping an eye on businesses and people who seemed to be hiding things. It was always in these situations they found a demon trying to go unnoticed in the background. They knew what would draw out attention, riding the line of doing what they needed and keeping off our radar. Looking up from the computer, I found it was dark outside, and the TV was on with the guys relaxing, watching some show while I worked.

I’d been so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn’t even notice they’d come back to relax. Clearly dinner was over and done with and had been for a while. Lailah was curled up, sleeping with her head on Jay’s lap as he massaged her head, doing his best to keep her asleep. If the nightmares were back, constant contact seemed to be the best thing to remind her that they were there even when she was passed out. Her face was utterly relaxed and peaceful, something I hadn’t seen in days, since every time she looked at me, sadness filled her crystal-blue gaze.