I Fell In Love With The Devil

Chapter 22

I climbed out of the little pond, soaking wet and shivering from the freezing water, adrenaline and lactic acid. Levi dropped into the water beside me after making it the majority of the way down the artificial waterfall. He dumped the automatic in the water and cleaned it with his shirt; I gave him mine as well. He left them under the bubbling water at the bottom of the waterfall and climbed out. I was now barefoot and holding my heels – they hadn't been appropriate climbing attire. He helped me out and we weaved through the perfectly shaped bushes around the bottom until we reached the back corner of the building. 'Close your eyes,' Levi whispered, looking back at me, his face a sickly shade of green-ish white. I did as he instructed and held his hand as he led me past what I could only assume was Harvey Dosmol's body after it fell twenty-three stories. I gripped Levi's hand as he pressed me against a building and guided me on.

We had reached an alley by the time he let me open my eyes. 'Don't look behind you, just keep walking.' I nodded at his pale face and weaved my way through the junk littering the alley. Vehicles screeched to a halt with sirens blaring, people started yelling orders and the sound of running boots filled the night air. Levi dialled a number and followed along, barely hearing anything other than my thundering heartbeat. The adrenaline was leaving my system and my limbs were weak from what could only be described as a state of shock. I ran a hand down my dress, holes littered the fabric but I couldn't understand how the bullets had not entered my skin. 'Bulletproof,' Levi answered my unspoken question. 'Instead of wearing those heavy, bulky vests, your dad designed these to give us a wider range of motion.' We paused at the end of the alley. The street was teeming with people who were flocking to the bottom of the building to see what was going on. Had Theodore and the rest of them gotten away? Most likely, they could slip through the police's fingers just as easily as us. I sat on an overturned crate and Levi plopped down beside me. In the impenetrable shadows, we couldn't be seen by the public. 'Do you always feel this way? After that,' I said timidly.

'Yes. Every time. It does get easier but the faces of the people you kill, they remain.'

'How do you deal with it? All the faces I mean.' I fiddled with the hem of my coat; Iron Grip's was floating in my head, along with the other shadowy figures I had tried to avoid looking at.

'Imagine there is a safe in your head that only you can unlock. Put them in there and when you feel like you should see them again open it up. Only you have the key, no one can force you to open it either.' He reached into my lap and held my hand as I pushed those faces into the safe Levi told me to imagine. I cupped his face with my clean hands and pressed a kiss to his mouth. 'Thank you.' I kissed him again, slowly, savouring the feel of his lips on mine and washing away any lingering pain. When we pulled apart, Levi rested his head on my upper arm and leaned into me while I rested my head on the cement wall behind me. We sat like that in the darkness watching everyone walk past. It was easy to believe that if I took a deep, proper look at myself that was what I might see. Me, hidden, surrounded by darkness while everyone walks past and doesn't bother to step beyond the light and see what haunts my soul or the blood that coats my hands. Levi tapped my thigh and zeroed me in on reality. 'Our ride's here,' he pointed at a matte black Audi that had just pulled up.

'Nice wheels, does it belong to a Matte Matthew by any chance?' I inquired playfully.

'Maybe, maybe.' I helped him to his feet and we walked out of the alley hand-in-hand, our clothes were mostly dry but there were still cuts covering us from all the glass that had been lying around. I hopped into the backseat and Levi got into the passenger seat. 'What mischief have you caused, darlin',' Matthew drawled from his spot behind the wheel.

'Oh, just the usual kinda stuff,' I winked. He chuckled but I could tell he was seeing to see if I was actually alright or if the playfulness was just to hide it. 'I'm okay.'