Exodus - The Khiara Banning Series Book Two

Twenty Four

Cara

We arrive at the motel in New Orleans at around eleven in the morning. Check in is at ten luckily, so we're able to get to our room.

Once we're inside, I run and jump onto the closest bed, face down.

"Ugh I'm so happy right now," I say, although it's muffled by a pillow.

Samael laughs from her place in the doorway. "Well don't get too comfortable. I have to get a hold of my contact – he goes by Jayne. He's setting up a meeting between me and Lucifer. Lucifer knows me already, obviously, but he won't have any problem believing I'm on his side. His ego is inflated that way."

"So what're Vicky and I supposed to do?" I ask.

"You're going to search for the book. Jayne will tell you what to look for," Samael says. She walks further into the room and claims a seat at the lone desk.

Vicky takes the other bed.

Samael takes out her cell phone and dials a number on speaker phone. Jayne answers on the first ring.

"Samael," he says in way of a greeting.

"Hello Jayne," Samael says. "Nice to hear from you again. So that meeting we talked about the other day, is it on?"

"Yes. Your fake names are on the list at the club the book is being held in," Jayne responds. "I'll bring you your fake Id's shortly."

"Alright," Samael says, businesslike. "Thanks so much for doing this."

"Well, I want access to that book too, you know," Jayne says. "I want to be human, too. You did say that once you've used the book for your own purposes that you'd make it available to everyone else who wishes to seek it out."

"I plan on honouring that promise," Samael says. "Once we're done with it, it's up for grabs."

Jayne sighs. "Good, then. I'll see you in half an hour."

And then he hangs up.

"Okay," Samael says. "Let's relax for a bit while we wait for Jayne. Does anyone want to come with me to find the ice machine?"

She stands gracefully and pockets her phone.

Both Vicky and I decline, so she ends up going alone.

Once she's gone, Vicky lets out a long sigh.

"What?" I ask. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing, just that I wish you would have stayed home. You're too young to be on a mission like this."

I laugh. "You're such a mom!"

She makes a face and I realize my mistake.

"It's okay," she says. "I am such a mom. It never leaves you."

"So what do we do now?" I ask, sitting up.

Vicky sighs again. "We wait."

Half an hour later, there's a knock at our door. Samael answers it, and she welcomes Jayne into our room.

Jayne is young in appearance. His body doesn't look to be more than fifteen. His dark skin is complimented by dark hair and eyes. He is very handsome.

"Hello ladies," he says.

"Jayne," Vicky says, as if she already knows him.

"And you are?" he asks pleasantly.

"Vicky."

"And the lovely red-haired lady is?"

"Cara," I say.

"Good, so now I know who is who. Nice to meet you. I'm Lucifer's right-hand man."

Victoria and I both gasp.

"You're Lucifer's man?" Vicky asks.

He shakes his head. "I am, but I'm not. I've made him believe I'm loyal to him and his cause, but in reality I detest him. He Fell for innocent reasons, but in time he grew corrupt. I had to watch it all from his side. At first I was his friend, but I grew to hate him the more evil he became."

"But you were okay with some evil," Vicky says. "Great way to get us to trust you, admitting that."

"I am not proud of who I've been and what I've accepted in the past. I can only make up for it in the present," Jayne says.

I decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Okay Jayne," I say. "Tell us our game plan. How many bad guys are we going to be dealing with?"

He laughs. "Likely you won't be dealing with that many. Maybe three at the most. Lucifer doesn't have heavy security like most would think."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because his ego is just that inflated," Jayne replies.

He reaches into his sweater pocket and produces three fake ID's. "These will get you into the club. Lucifer owns it in case you're wondering."

Samael takes ID's and pockets hers, and then distributes the other two to Vicky and I.

"Great, so now what?" I ask.

Jayce sits down on the edge of my bed. "Now you wait until night-fall. And then you attack."

I'm chewing gum to calm my nerves. It isn't working very well.

Me, Samael, and Vicky are waiting in line to get into Lucifer's club, Club Abaddon. There are only two people ahead of us.

I'm so nervous I could puke.

Now there's nobody in front of us, and we're being ushered in as we flash our ID's.

This club is like something out of my imagination. There are empty bathtubs filled with dancing people and there are stripper poles posted throughout the whole room, some with people on them some without. If this were any other day I'd lose myself to the thumping of the bass and dance the night away.

But right now I need to stay focused. Samael is going to be meeting with Lucifer while Vicky and I search for the book. We only have a small window of time to do this.

Vicky and I head to the back of the room where there are stairs, flashing our passes to the guards, before heading up the stairs.

We find ourselves in a hallway that splits off into two different corridors. "She said it's in one of these rooms, but that she didn't know where," Vicky says. "We'll have to check them all."

I nod. "Sounds about right."

We open the door closest to us, and it's a lovely lounge with people sitting in it, talking quietly.

Not our room.

And it feels like each room is another lounge.

When we get to the forked hallway, Vicky says, "You take the left and I'll take the right."

"Okay. Fight hard," I tell her.

"You too, kid," she says.

My first door is another lounge, as is the second and the third. I'm starting to think we're not going to find it when Vicky bursts into the room I'm in, a coat closet, covered in blood.

"Got it," she says. "And now we have to get the fuck out of here."

She's got a black eye and her mouth is bloody. I wonder what the other guy looks like.

She thrusts the book into my arms and says, "Go now and get to the motel. Samael and I will meet you there."

"I can't just carry it out like that!" I stomp my foot. "I'll be caught."

"You won't be, trust me. Nobody will be paying attention. Right now I'm the one covered in blood."

So, I run. I run down the stairs, past the guard, through the throng of dancing bodies and out into the night air.

I find my car and frantically, I head to the motel.