The Blood Bracelets #4 - Hell Raised

Chapter Five

Kael pulled Ace away from the edge of the alley by the back of his shirt, the collar turning Ace's protest into a choked noise as it dug into his throat. Ace stumbled back, shooting Kael an irritable look as he released him but Kael ignored it as he, instead, peered out from the alley to check if the bounty hunters were still following them.

'Well?' Ace asked, scrunching his nose at the smell of the alley.

The tension left Kael's body; Ace saw the line of his shoulders loosen, and then Kael ran a hand tiredly through his hair. 'It's clear, but we need to get back to the motel. If there is a bounty on our heads that means Scavengers will be searching for us.'

They slipped out of the alley and fell into step behind a group of rowdy bar-goers who had been passing by. One of the girls noticed, glancing back habitually with a flick of her blonde hair but instead of rousing any suspicion she instead offered Ace a quick wink.

Ace grinned in response, and as the girl returned to her friend's conversation he noticed Kael looking at him.

'I thought redheads were more your type these days,' Kael remarked, giving Ace a pointed look.

A few months ago Ace might have gone on the defensive, but instead his grin only widened as Eljae's face flashed in front of his eyes. 'Just one,' he replied.

Kael's eyes widened with a shock, and then he scoffed. 'Never thought I'd see the day.'

They crossed the street just as the group they had been following arrived at their next bar, and not a moment later a tram pulled up for them to jump on.

The Hornet's Nest hadn't been on the other side of the city from the motel, and whilst a taxi might have been faster Ace knew as well as Kael that not all taxi drivers were human. They made for the perfect sources of information, and often would sell information if it was valuable enough, so some taxi driver's were employed by the Immortals and some were disguised demons working for the bounty hunter network. Ace and Kael couldn't risk getting into a taxi with one of those drivers, especially now that a bounty was out on them.

This late at the night though, the tram was mostly empty. Ace and Kael slotted themselves into a booth at the back of the tram, and the nearest commuters to them were a couple asleep on each other's shoulders, a homeless man who had a dark cloud of demonic energy clinging to him, and a group of young kids making a ruckus near the tram's doors in the first carriage.

Ace turned toward the window, looking past his own reflection to the city streets slowly passing by. 'What was Zed doing at The Hornet's Nest?'

'Looking for Cecile – Lust,' Kael said, correcting himself. 'He also guessed we'd go there and wanted to warn us about the bounty.'

'Aw,' Ace murmured. 'I always knew that old dog cared.'

'Don't ever say that in front of him,' Kael replied.

Ace tilted his head to press his temple to the window, the chill from the glass sending a shiver down his back. 'That's if we ever go back to his place. I'm pretty sure we're either gonna end up dead, or on the run for the rest of our lives.'

Kael didn't say anything in return, and Ace let out a yawn before closing his eyes. The noise of the tram as it rattled along the city tracks, of the rowdy kids up front, all faded into silence. Ace could feel himself drifting into slumber, and vaguely he tried to recall the last time he had had a full night's sleep.

But just before sleep claimed him, a thought crept into his mind: it was quiet. He could have been back in his motel room with Eljae for how quiet and still the tram had become around him, and although Ace should have been grateful it was suspicion which filled his chest instead.