Chapter Nine
Ihit play on the small monitor in my office.
The footage of the church bombing fills the screen.
I watch as the patients enter side by side, Lilith beaming with delight the way she always did.
Kameron enters a short while after, moments later the hidden pipe bombs begin going off.
The footage from the prior week has been completely erased and no matter how hard I fight to put this puzzle together, something doesn’t add up.
The Garden has high security, ones who were well aware of Kameron.
Yet somehow he still managed to get in. He managed to destroy a staple of the facility. He managed to take her.
I slow down the video, watching a play by play of her kidnapping.
I zoom in as her skull cracks against the pew, the blood leaving her the same way hope has left me.
The hit was a hard one, and she was never checked into a hospital.
“Fuck!” I yell out, pausing the monitor as her body hits the ground.
Kameron Lethki. His name invades my mind like a parasite. He has no fucking clue who my girl is now. How desperate I was to save her from herself after she found out the truth about her “Angel.” He completely destroyed my pretty baby, I have never seen someone look so fucking empty.
My knuckles turn white as I grip the desk. It’s been over a month and there is still no trace of their little fucked up trio. “Joseph!” I bark out, calling in our main doctor. He has been with us since we were just a clinic, and although I’m in charge, he makes an excellent right hand man.
“Yes, boss?” He questions as the door opens. I watch him shuffle past the two security guards at the entrance before making his way over to my desk. His eyes widen as he finds the close up of Lilith on my screen.
“You’ve seen the video of the bombing, correct?” I question, fighting to keep the worry from seeping through my tone.
“I have.”
“Do you think the girl is still alive then?”
He raises an eyebrow at me, knowing damn well I mean Lilith. “I wasn’t there, Elijah. I have no clue-”
“Stop with the bullshit Joe. Tell me.”
I watch as the gulp slithers down his throat.
His eyes refuse to meet mine, and I already know what the answer is going to be.
But I need to hear him say it. I need something to grasp, anything to help me escape this wild goose chase.
“The blunt force trauma mixed with minutes of smoke inhalation are definitely something that needs to be taken seriously. We can confirm that she was not given proper medical treatment, so unless Kameron’s little escape plan involved a high end team of doctors and nurses, I don’t believe the probability of her being alive is high. ”
White noise fills my head, drowning out my thoughts.
Nothing but rage is left inside of me. After years of repairing Lilith’s broken psyche, all I wanted was her love.
So much so, that I had begun to plan our escape.
Apollyon was bound to leave this earth soon, and I could’ve had her, safely in my arms. We could have been free of this wretched place.
I could’ve given her the life she deserved.
For once I could’ve had something that made me happy.
Yet here he has come again. Like a mold growing out of control in a damp room.
He has infected everything. Nothing has been left untouched.
“Elijah?” Joe’s voice calls out to me, somewhere in the fog of my anger.
My eyes snap up to meet him, his gaze full of concern.
The pity in his eyes only fuels the fire building up inside of me.
Had my staff been more careful she would be here.
Lilith Jones would still be under my watchful eye and away from him.
“You’re dismissed.” The words come out harsher than I mean for them to, but for his benefit I need my space.
Everything in my path is mere milliseconds away from becoming the outlet to my anger, and right now that includes him.
My reason for fighting is gone. There is nothing left but to destroy the man who took it from me.