Adrial nodded. “You heard me correctly, a resurgence. A movement of Demons wants to move back into our territory and try to reclaim it for their own. We can’t allow this to happen. They’re going to try to come in secretly, but we’ve got their number. You are going to help Christian and Jay ensure this doesn’t happen.”
“How?” Miles asked.
“You’ll be given your instructions, and you follow them,” Christian chimed in. “Do as you’re told, and you’ll be in. Not, and you’ll be done.”
“Done?” Lizzie asked, glancing at Miles and then Adrial.
“Done,” Adrial said with a note of finality.
Miles took his meaning and nodded. “Good thing I’m in this to win it.” He smiled cheekily, and Christian and Jay returned his smile. Adrial nodded and turned to walk away.
“You’ll receive your instructions in the next day or two, for now, keep close to Neutral Ground until it’s time.”
He spread his wings and took off without another word.
“You heard the man,” Christian said. “We’ll be in touch once it’s time to hunt us some Demons.”
“So we just hunt them and kill them?” Miles asked as they made their way back to the pier.
Jay shook his head. “Not necessarily. We’ll know once we receive our instructions.”
Miles nodded and fell back slightly as Christian and Jay released their wings and took off without another word. He looked around to see Lizzie straggling behind with a contemplative look on her face.
“Aren’t you going to follow suit? They might suspect you if you don’t,” she said with a smirk.
Miles frowned. “You didn’t tell them about our conversation at your pub.”
“I told you I didn’t know what they were up to,” Lizzie said as she started to climb the stairs that led up from the beach.
“Yet here you are,” Miles pointed out.
“Here I am,” she said, still with that annoying cute smirk. Miles gave himself a mental shake; he couldn’t believe he associated her with cute. He couldn’t put her on that level in his mind.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“You were looking at me strangely then,” she said.
Miles frowned and shrugged. “I’m just surprised your boyfriend didn’t offer to fly you back home.”
Lizzie burst out laughing and shook her head. “Adrial is anything but my boyfriend, you weirdo.” She wiped her eyes. “You’re ridiculous really; first, I’m the mastermind behind this whole thing, and now, I’m dating the douche bag Archangel? Would you like to tell me more about myself that I don’t know?”
Miles’ frown deepened, he didn’t enjoy being laughed at, and he hated being wrong. He still wasn’t sure he was. This could all be a setup. He had to be careful. He couldn’t let anything slip; for all he knew, the Angels already knew about the conversation he’d had with Lizzie last night and this was just a ploy to find out how much he already knew.
“So if you’re not a part of this, why get involved now?” Miles asked as they walked to the street to hail a cab.
Lizzie put two fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle. “Because you’ve got me curious, and it’s my city, I can do what I like.”
A regular human cab pulled up, and she turned to him. “You’re welcome to hitch a ride with me if you want, no point in us splitting up now.”
He nodded, and they both climbed into the taxi.
Lizzie instructed the driver where to go and sat back, and they didn’t say another word to each other. The driver didn’t seem to notice the silence that hung between them; in fact, he didn’t seem to be altogether there at all. Miles leaned forward and asked, “Are you okay?”
The driver didn’t say anything, he just kept driving, and Lizzie glanced at Miles and then the driver.
“Excuse me, Harry,” Miles said, reading the name on the license on the front, “are you okay?”
“Yes, sir,” Harry said without emotion. “Everything is perfect, sir.”
Miles sat back and glanced at Lizzie. It wasn’t usual for taxi drivers to behave like this at all. Lizzie leaned forward and asked, “You having a good day, Harry?”
“The best,” he answered.
A vehicle suddenly cut him off, and Lizzie waited for the onslaught of abuse, and when it didn’t come, she said, “Well, that guy was a dick.”
“We don’t speak like that,” Harry said. “We don’t take the Lord’s name in vain. We are good people.”
“Who is we?” Lizzie asked.
“We are everywhere,” Harry said, glancing at her before looking back at the road. Lizzie sat back and looked at Miles with wide eyes. This taxi driver was creeping her out, and even Miles felt somewhat unsettled by his choice of words. Was this a test? Part of their initiation? Miles gave her a short shake of his head, and she nodded.
Once the taxi pulled up outside Neutral Ground, Lizzie couldn’t seem to get out of it quickly enough, with Miles climbing out soon afterwards. She paid Harry and tipped him before watching him drive off.
“That was weird,” Lizzie said, turning to look at him, “and he’s not the first human who has spoken to me like that.”
“You looked surprised,” Miles commented, putting his hands in his pockets. “Genuinely surprised.”
“I told you, I’m not involved in this shit,” she said, looking at him irritably. “But you’ve got me thinking about it now, and now I want to help.”
“Well, it’s got nothing to do with you, and Fallen Angels should not be meddling with the affairs of other supernaturals.”
“Neither should Balancers,” she pointed out, “and yet here you are disguised as an Angel.”
Miles shook his head. “I’m searching for another Balancer; my disguise is for my own protection. You’re meddling in something that has nothing to do with you.”
“My regular customers are gone, my city is turning into a shit show, and I’m being accused of being a part of something that’s turning out to be really creepy. I think it’s got something to do with me,” she argued. “And whether or not you want me to meddle in it, that’s irrelevant. I’ve meddled, and I intend to continue to meddle, so either you let me help you or you sit by and I get in the way.” She turned then and walked away from him.
Dammit to hell, she was stubborn and frustrating, a good enough reason for Miles to get done and be done with her. She was a hazard and an irritating one at that. He couldn’t wait to see the back end of the city, and the back end of this stupid Fallen Angel. He couldn’t believe he had considered she was cute for a moment; she was nothing more than an annoying supernatural brat. He followed her back into the bar, saying, “Fine, you want to help then help, but you follow my lead.”
She smirked at him. “Fine.” She pulled a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and poured them each a drink. “So what does your lead want us to do?”
Miles rolled his eyes as he took his drink from her. “Exactly as we were asked to do, we wait.”