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A blaring alarm woke Elijah from his sleep. He flinched and opened his eyes, and when he saw the empty, white walls where he spent the past thirteen years of his life, a cold shiver of dread flooded through him.

Red light pulsed through the darkness in beat with the alarm, and the yelling guards echoed over the noise. As the thick, silver door to his room opened, Elijah sat up.

He looked to his left, and when Haru sat up in his bed across the room, he set his dark brown eyes on the demon. "Eli?" he asked worriedly.

Elijah wanted to go to him, to find comfort in the deafening noise.

But then it stopped.

His room was gone, Haru was gone, and he wasn't in bed anymore. Now, he found himself standing in a long, dark hallway. It smelled of rotten blood and chemicals; claw marks were all over the black walls, and moonlight crept in through the small, barred windows.

A voice.

A whisper.

It called his name, ricocheting off the bricks and pounding against Elijah's ears. He tensed up, his heart thumping in his chest. He knew this was a dream; it wasn't the first he had of this place...but it was the first where he stood in this hall, a hall he'd only seen once in all the time he spent in Lyca Corp.'s lab.

He stared at the doors at the end of the hall, and when a dark shadow moved past the windows on the other side, Elijah extended his claws and scowled. Someone was here with him, and he planned to find out who.

Or what.

The demon prowled towards the doors, and when he reached them, he slowly pushed one open.

A whisper came from behind. Elijah turned around and set his eyes on an open doorway. Red light flashed from inside, and as he moved closer, his body tensed up more. His instincts stirred and told him to turn back, but there was something inside him urging him to keep going. A part deep inside pleaded that he went in...so he did.

Elijah went through the doorway and followed the corridor to its end. He emerged inside a hall—another place he'd never seen—and as he stared at the rows upon rows of liquid-filled, seven-foot-tall cylinders, trepidation gripped him tightly.

What the hell was this place?

A low growl travelled around the room.

Elijah searched for its source, gradually moving closer to the first cylinder. Another growl rumbled towards him, and a shadow shifted past the space between two objects up ahead.

Something was in there with him. He tried focusing his ethos to search for an aura, but there was nothing.

Footsteps.

He spun around, but then the sound came from his left. When he turned that way, though, they came from his right. He followed the sound, turning with it as it circled him.

But then he saw it. A pair of red eyes gleamed through the green liquid, and as the distorted beast grinned, baring a mouth full of sharp teeth, Elijah felt a cold hand grip his arm. He spun around to fight, but a man with no face snatched his throat—

Elijah opened his eyes again and shot up with a confused yell; his heart was racing, and his body was trembling. But he quickly realized that he was in the hotel room, and Zoe's voice echoed to his right.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He glanced over there and saw her and Jake gawping at him from her bed.

"Dude?" Jake questioned.

The demon snarled irritably and turned his back to them, sitting on the edge of the bed. For a moment, he'd forgotten those two idiots were with him.

"Is that a yes?" Zoe mumbled.

Elijah sighed and dragged his hands over his face. "I'm fine," he grumbled and looked at his leg. The wound had healed, leaving not even a trace of a scar. To his relief, his body had recovered, and he could feel his ethos again.

"I can get you some water or tea or something if you'd like," the girl offered.

"Or some booze," Jake added. "I could go for a drink right now."

"I don't think we should," she said sternly.

"How long was I asleep?" Elijah asked, looking around for a clock.

"About...three hours," Zoe said, glancing at her laptop.

It didn't feel like three hours. But now that he had recovered, it was time to get to work. He looked for his trousers, but they weren't on the floor with his shoes and socks. "Where are my trousers?"

"Oh, I tried to get the blood out of them while you were sleeping."

He looked over at the clothes rack she pointed to, and when he saw that they were still wet, he scowled irritably. "Why the hell would you do that?" he snapped.

She frowned at him. "Because there was blood on them. I can dry them with a hairdryer if the room came with one."

He wasn't going to sit around waiting for that. If Jake were the same size, he'd take his, but the guy was at least half a foot short than him. So, he got up and snatched the damp trousers. Then, he pulled them on and grimaced. He hated the feeling of tight, damp fabric against his skin.

"Uh...are you going somewhere?" Jake asked.

"Did I do something wrong?" Zoe called. "I was just trying to help."

Ignoring her, the demon got his socks on and then his shoes. He grabbed his coat, made sure his knife was in his pocket—it was the only weapon he had left other than his claws and strength—and then tucked his ammo tin under the blanket.

Elijah walked towards the door and put his jacket on. "Stay here."

Zoe frowned again. "Where are you going?"

"To get back as much of what I lost as I can," he grumbled, pulling the door open.

"We can go with—"

"No," he snarled, and then he pulled the door shut behind him. The last thing he needed was those two slowing him down even more than they already had.

Money and information weren't the only things he needed. Despite the fact that his body had recovered, he needed to make up for the energy that healing took from him. He could sit around and wait for the energy to regenerate on its own, but that would take several more hours. Why wait when he could get it back in almost an instant?

He stepped into the elevator and took it down to the ground floor. Then, once he was out on the dark, bustling street, he made his way to the bounty board he earlier saw by a stall selling dried herbs.

"Herbs, sir?" the old woman asked.

The demon shook his head and flicked through the stacks of paper pinned to the board. Most of them were stupid: valefar demon wanted for stealing repetitively from the same three gold stalls, wolf walker wanted for setting fire to a muto leo's home, elf wanted under suspicion of murder, and rogue vampire wanted for feasting on over twenty people. The elf bounty did pay two coronam, but there had to be something worth his time.

Elijah kept looking, but then the old woman moved closer.

"Here, here," she said, lifting several old bounties to reveal a piece of paper that looked like it had been there for months. "You want big money? You look for Lamar."

He pulled the paper from the board. Lamar Richard, a morbius, was wanted for orchestrating several gang attacks and causing the deaths of over a hundred Caeleste. Twenty coronam wasn't nearly enough to deal with a morbius alone, but with possible backup? He snarled irritably and folded the paper up. Then, he put it in his inside pocket and looked at the herb seller.

"Where can I find Lamar?"

As she returned to her seat behind her stall, the woman glanced around. "You go to Killian's on Corvell Street," she answered, pointing up the street to his left.

He nodded and then turned around and headed in the direction she told him. As he walked, he took the paper out of his pocket and looked at the photo. Lamar was a bulky, bald, tattooed man with a gnarly scar on the right side of his face. He wouldn't be hard to miss.

Elijah followed the street to its end, meeting the wall of the massive underground cavern. He turned left, and when he saw the sign for Corvell Street, he stuck to the shadows and focused on his sensory ethos. The street was deserted apart from a homeless seer sleeping under a bench, but Elijah could sense the auras of several lycans a few meters up ahead—and that so happened to be where Killian's Bar and Grill was.

The building was covered in flashing signs, and every aura he could feel was coming from inside. He tucked the paper away and headed towards Killian's. Loud, thumping music pounded against the doors and windows, and even from outside, the place reeked of alcohol, blood, and wet fur.

With a disgruntled huff, the demon pushed the door open and walked inside. He was immediately struck by the bellowing music; he could barely hear the yelling voices of several brawling men over it. Shattered glass and spilt beer covered the floor, and everyone who wasn't fighting crowded around a stage where three naked elves were pole dancing.

Elijah made his way to a wall and leaned against it. Then, he scanned the area for Lamar, but there was no sign of him. So, he went to the bar and caught the barmaid's attention.

"What can I get ya?" she asked with a smile, resting her arms on the bar.

"I'm looking for Lamar," he said.

Concern flickered across her face, and she was clearly trying her best to hide it. "I don't know anyone by that name, sorry."

The demon scowled impatiently. "I can hear your heartbeat; don't lie again, or I'll have to assume that you're one of his."

She lost her smile and frowned nervously. She glanced to her left and right and then leaned closer to him. "He's out back," she said, nodding at a steel door beside the stage.

Elijah left the bar and crossed the crowded room. When he reached the door, he made sure that no one was watching him and slipped inside. He found himself in a hallway, and the lycan auras were coming from the right. So that was the way he went.

However, when he reached the door, he stood with his back against the wall beside it and listened.

Five voices. Three men, two women. All lycans.

"Shit, man. How much is that?" one of the men asked.

"Enough to keep us good for months. Stupid fucking prick had no idea," a second man laughed.

"I think you're getting too carried away with this, Lamar," a woman said with a sigh.

Lamar was in there. Elijah extended his claws and gripped the door handle—

A door slammed from inside the room.

Another new voice grunted and said, "I found this bitch snooping around the alley, boss."

As something thudded on the floor, a muffled woman's voice followed.

"She got anything on her?" the third male voice asked.

"Nah, boss."

Elijah then frowned when he focused on the two new people in the room. The man was another lycan, but the girl was a demon...and he recognized her scent: vanilla, citrus, and roses.

It was Zoe.

The demon clenched his fists and rolled his eyes. What the fuck was she doing here?! He told her to stay. Why was it so hard for her to listen?

"What do we do with her, boss?" the second woman asked as Zoe tried shouting through whatever they'd gagged her with.

"Kill her."

Elijah abruptly pulled the door open and charged inside, focusing on every single one of his senses. His eyes darted around the room as he grabbed the closest man; stacks of money and jewels, piled up weapons, poker chips, and a dead man in the corner. Zoe was on the floor by a dark-skinned man, who was reaching for his holstered pistol. The two women were about to shift—he could sense the change in their auras—and Lamar jumped to his feet.

But now that his body had healed and his ethos was responding, Elijah was so much faster than any of them. In the blink of an eye, he snapped the neck of the man in his grip, and then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his butterfly knife, and threw it at the man by Zoe.

Two down, three to go.

Lamar pulled a shotgun from under his desk and fired, but Elijah swiftly dodged to the side, picked up a chair, and threw it at Lamar. Then, the two women—who shifted into wolves—jumped at him. Elijah punched the first, sending her tumbling across the floor, and he gripped the throat of the second. She snarled and swiped her claws, but he forced his clawed hand into her neck and tore out her throat.

"Kyla!" one of the men yelled and frantically fired his pistol.

Elijah used the dead wolf's body to absorb the bullets and then threw it at both men. The second wolf recovered, and so did Lamar. Zoe managed to wriggle under one of the tables for cover, so at least he didn't have to worry about her.

The demon ducked when the second wolf pounced, and when she landed in front of him, blocking Lamar's line of sight, Elijah snatched the pistol from the dead man's hand and wedged it in the wolf's jaws as she pinned him down and tried to go for his neck. Her teeth cut into his arm, but he didn't care. He grabbed the side of her face with his free hand, forced her to turn her head, and then aimed his pistol at Lamar. But when he fired, the man ducked.

Elijah snarled and repeatedly slammed his fist into the side of the wolf's face until she let go. Then, he wrapped his arms around her neck before she could lunge and snapped it.

Zoe murmured insistently through her gag, but he didn't have time to look at her. Elijah took cover behind a cabinet, holding the pistol in his bleeding right hand.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Lamar called from under his desk.

Elijah heard him reloading his gun.

Zoe kicked his leg.

He scowled down at her. "What?!" he growled quietly.

The girl writhed around, bound in silver shackles. But she was nodding at something.

Elijah frowned and looked in the direction she was gesturing to, and when he saw the faint, tiny flashing red light on an intercom on the wall, he snarled quietly. Somewhere in the short time he was killing Lamar's men, the guy had called for backup.

He focused. There were at least twenty lycan auras a few minutes away. If he didn't kill Lamar now, the guy would probably disappear, and Elijah wasn't going to give up.

The demon checked the pistol magazine. Four rounds left.

But then a growl came from behind the desk, and Elijah felt Lamar's aura change.

A massive, tiger-like bipedal beast suddenly tore the cabinet away from the wall with a ferocious roar. Elijah barely managed to dodge its claws and rolled across the floor. He snatched Zoe's wrist and hastily pulled her out of the way of the monster's huge feet before it could stomp down on her. Then, he threw himself at it with as much force as he could, and when it hit the wall, the entire room shook.

Elijah lifted his pistol, but before he could fire, the beast slammed its hand-like paw against his wrist. He lost his grip on the gun and stumbled to the side, and then the monster hit him again with so much force that Elijah fell to the floor.

With another deafening roar, the tiger-like monster jumped, but before it could land on him, Elijah growled in frustration and summoned his demon form. He quickly folded his single feathered black wing in front of him and then crashed it into the beast, sending it flying to the left.

The demon immediately climbed to his feet, and as his wing and horns crumbled away, he grabbed the snarling beast's scruff and then slammed its face against the concrete floor over and over and over until the beast went silent.

Like all lycans did when they were knocked unconscious, Lamar returned to his human form. Elijah grabbed his knife, plunged the blade into the back of Lamar's neck, and then quickly severed his head while Zoe's muffled grunts of disgust made him feel more irritated with each slice of his knife.

But Lamar's cronies were getting closer. He had but minutes to get the hell out of there. He searched the pockets of the man who captured Zoe, and when he found the key, he unlocked the girl's restraints and removed her gag.

"You pulled his head off!" she immediately exclaimed.

In one hand, Elijah grabbed the man's head, and in the other, he snatched Zoe's wrist and hurried out the back door. "Let's get the fuck out of here before his backup gets here," he grumbled as she protested.

"Why are you so aggressive all the time?!"

He snarled and glanced back at her with a scowl on his face. "What were you doing sneaking around back here?!" he growled as he pulled her through an alley around the back of the building.

Zoe yanked her hand from his grip and stopped walking. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"I told you to stay in the room!" Elijah shouted back, turning to face her. "You nearly fucked this whole thing up!"

She frowned at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...but if we're all working together, don't you think we should actually work together?"

He scoffed and snapped, "We're not working together. You and your little cat friend are nothing but liabilities to me!" He grabbed her arm again and pulled her behind several large dumpsters as Lamar's men raced past the alley exit.

Zoe wriggled out of his grip and stepped back. "Stop pulling me around!" she growled quietly. "If we're such a liability, then just leave! I can go home any time I want, and I'd be safer than I am with you!"

Elijah's anger was reaching a boiling point. "You're not going anywhere!" he snarled, grabbing her wrist again. "If Lyca Corp. gets a hold of you—and from what I've seen, they definitely will—they'll torture you and your little friend until you tell them everything you know about me, and then everything I've worked for will be for nothing!"

Her frown turned into a scowl. "Okay, but that doesn't give you the right to yank us around all the time, Elijah. We're already on your side."

He heard the men inside the building freaking out, so they'd obviously discovered their dead boss. It wouldn't take them long to find a scent.

The demon pulled Zoe with him as he hurried towards the end of the alley.

"I can walk on my own!" she insisted.

Elijah ignored her and stepped onto the street. He crossed the road, slipped through a narrow passage between two buildings, and then leaned against a fence. He let go of Zoe and took the bounty paper from his pocket. Once he found the location he had to drop the head off at, he tucked it away again and started leading the way.

But Lamar's people were on the prowl. He was going to have to be careful. Fighting an entire gang of lycans wasn't something he wanted to have to do right now. He just wanted his money so that he could get the information he needed to continue his hunt for Haru.

If the lycans found him, though...he'd have no choice but to deal with them.

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✧ Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! ✧

♛ What was your favourite part? ♛

✟ Do you think Elijah and Zoe will be able to avoid Lamar's men? ✟

✙ What do you think will happen once Elijah hands in the bounty? ✙

❖ Got any questions? ❖

◈ Let me know! ◈