The Blood Bracelets #4 - Hell Raised

Chapter Thirteen

Ace was not expecting Kael to collapse.

He fumbled to catch Kael, the sudden weight dragging Ace to one knee as he allowed Kael to slump into his arms. On the other side of the street an older couple paused to stare at him, so Ace waved a dismissive hand, laughed, and said, 'Too much to drink!'

The couple moved on. Ace muttered a string of curse words under his breath and dragged Kael into the darkened alcove of a closed shop. He sat Kael in the corner, head resting back against the door, and crouched in front of him.

The blood bracelet was still alight, pulsing like a steady heartbeat. 'Is this your doing?' he whispered to the bracelet.

To Kael, he prodded him in the cheek and said, 'Wake up, Kay. The humans are gonna get suspicious.'

When that didn't solve anything, Ace reached for his pocket expecting to find a mobile phone only to remember that he – and Kael – had lost their phones quite some time ago. He didn't know when or how, nor could he remember the last time he used it, but at some point during the constant chaos that their lives now experienced the phones had disappeared.

Ace's options were to carry Kael back to Zed's or leave Kael here and return to Zed's for help on his own, which was the more appealing option of the two. But they were still being hunted by Angels and demons and who knew what else, so he couldn't risk leaving Kael undefended.

Or could he?

Ace shook the thought out of his head, frowning. He'd wait. Five minutes he would wait, and then if Kael didn't wake he would reconsider his options.

Standing up, Ace looked over his shoulder to check if they were attracting any more attention but found the street empty. He should have been grateful, but instead the quiet only made him suspicious. Even looking further up the street Ace couldn't see any cars approaching, nor people crossing at the intersection; they may have been on the outskirts of the city centre but rarely was it empty enough to warrant such silence.

A shudder rippled up Ace's spine, bringing with it a sense of caution.

'That's not a good sign,' he murmured to himself, gaze lifting to check the windows of the surrounding buildings.

He spotted someone leaning out an open window, cigarette perched between their fingers and their silhouette outlined by the light behind them. It wouldn't have attracted Ace's attention, accept the longer he looked he began to realise that the person wasn't moving – nor was the smoke wafting from his lips.

The person was frozen, and since Ace hadn't cast a time compression it could only mean one thing.

'All right,' Ace called into the night, knowing now that only one person was listening. 'You can come on out, Tempus.'

The air seemed to shift, like a fluctuation in pressure Ace recognised as time being distorted, and then Tempus appeared in front of him. The demon stepped into existence like someone appearing from a curtain, his cloaked arm brushing aside time and space so he could come through.

Face shrouded like usual, Tempus was dressed in rags and robes of muted greys that seemed to swell and drift on a breeze Ace couldn't feel. He floated above the ground by a few inches, gleaming eyes peering through the darkness beneath his hood. Not for the first time, Ace wondered if he even had a face.

'Since I'm not desperate enough to summon you right now,' Ace said in greeting, 'can you tell me why you're here?'

'Your soul always reeks of desperation, Ace,' Tempus replied, voice hoarse but edged with amusement. 'Did you forget? We made a deal, and I am here to collect.'