Fallen Into Hell: Fallen: Book 2, Layna Snow [the mitten read aloud .TXT] 📗

13

Axel walked into the room, his eyes automatically assessing everything around him.

It was a habit that he had since he was one of Heaven’s Warriors. He knew that at any time death could come. You had to always be prepared.

When he was an Angel, he thought nothing of it, but now he let his emotions influence his perception. They were affected by minute bodily observations.

That was why he let his instincts free as he studied the people who sat along the table.

There were seven of them—at least there should be seven, but one was missing. Not all of them were Fallen, not all of them were warriors, but they were important people to his group.

They were the Hunters: people who were pulled together in order to get rid of those who take advantage of Humanity. They were men and women whom he had trusted for years.

As much as he could trust anyone.

“Good, most of you are here. I was starting to wonder if I’d get you all together. Before I hear about how your current missions are going, I’d like to update you on a few things.” He said, coming to stand at the head of the table.

Axel didn’t like to sit in the presence of danger, and these people could be dangerous. They could move quickly, kill effortlessly. It was a dance to some, a game to others. For him, it was a way of life. He needed to know everything to be able to make decisions. It was the reason he kept the door in sight, in case an enemy were to enter. Or his missing Hunter.

The building looked like an old manor house. Its secrets hidden, somewhere off the grid where no one ever looked. Its underground levels were unknown, much like the Hunters themselves. It was essential to keep them safe.

Jai sat back, her black boots resting on the slick table edge. Her expression was smug, confident, but he knew better.

He knew that she didn’t miss a single thing. She was a Clouded Leopard-Shifter, a distrustful and secretive creature naturally, before adding in the horrible events in her past. She didn’t fool him with a stifled yawn, he knew her too well to believe she would be bored, or that she would show it if she were. Her Chinese heritage gave her a more catlike appearance, but that was all she seemed to accept of it. She denied her heritage and her people long ago.

“I will go over what we already know, for the few of you who were on other cases while we had the last few meetings. The Alliance has recently tried to acquire another Fallen. They seemed to have found a way to get the Humans to work with them. A man named Timothy Phillips was contacted by the Alliance. He was a doctor and a researcher who had very few morals. We assume that there is a screening process for new members. The biggest requirement was that he was to bring them a Fallen.”

Most of the people around the table knew this information, but the ones that didn’t seemed appropriately annoyed. Julian cursed, running his hand through his thick golden hair, his deceptively laidback look now turning to anger.

Connor let out a breath, his sharp navy eyes focusing and measuring. Axel had guessed he would be the one who had questions. “Would this not be a good thing? If we know how they contact people, then we can get one of our men in there.”

Axel shook his head. “No, from the information we found in the email correspondences, we believe that they are using this as a cover to get Angels. We do not think that they would allow these individuals access to any Alliance information. We found others who were contacted. They disappeared. They aren’t in the Alliance’s systems.”

“Well, what’s the big deal, then? So they kill off some Humans who act immorally of their own free will. We can’t get them for that. Sure, it sucks for the Angels, but really, these are pretty small fish.” Julian said, shrugging. The Lion-Shifter might look like a lazy rich boy, but he was still a predator.

The Alliance for Humanity appeared like a small humanitarian mission on the surface. Deeper, they were a group of Humans who sought out the death of all the Hidden, Fallen, and Demon.

It wasn’t as quaint as it seemed. Those that worked for them actually existed in a huge operation that seemed to have multiple shell corporations. They also were associated with businesses that funneled resources. They used legitimate and illegal means to do their dirty-work.

Axel looked to Eden, the computer expert, to explain the magnitude of the problem.

The girl nodded, although her eyes avoided contact. She was always shy, which seem to contradict her species.

A Succubus needed sex regularly and Axel could never imagine her flirting with men. She spent all her time with her computers, which is why she was so good at them. “Well… umm.. we have dug deep and found out that,.. uh,.. The Alliance doesn’t just run the slave ring, like we had thought. It…um..  also ran the blood-slave enterprise, and was the reason for the assassination attempt on Senator Mentis. And it… well.. it, had connections to, er… that virus that attacked Incubi and Succubae. The Alliance is also the backer of, well… the guy who stole that Witch last month. And some other things…I think.” She finished, before looking through her notes.

Immediately, Julian stood, his hands banging on the table. “What?! That Witch was my case and you didn’t tell me that you knew who took her? I was supposed to protect her and I never knew that I was protecting her from the Alliance! I’m still on that case! Didn’t I deserve that information?”

“Sit down.” Axel ordered