Wings Of Fire As Humans ~ 3 ~ {GLORYBRINGER}

[17] See You Later

~Glory~

"I'll call you back," I said to Deathbringer before quickly hanging up. The two men towered before me, smug grins on both their faces. My gaze dropped to the guns at their sides, duly noting not to seem threatening.

"Move out of the way, lady," the scruffier one said, his breath hot and smelling of marijuana. I felt my phone vibrate in my hand as Deathbringer urgently called me back, but I ignored it. "We need to search your house."

"Unless you have a search warrant, then get out," I snapped, reaching for the door handle. The smaller man pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and threw it at my face. It bounced off my head and skittered across the floor. I leaned down and picked it up, holding Lilly tightly as I did so. I unrolled the ball of paper, and sure enough, it was a search warrant.

"Can you at least tell me what you're searching for?" I asked, backing away.

"Again, we're here to take your kids," the smaller one said. "For... questioning." I hugged Lilly closer to my chest as her crying died down.

"Questioning?" I demanded. "What for? Was there a complaint?" My mind whirled with possibilities, but all the paths of theories led to one source. The Sundowns. "I'm sorry, but regardless of the information you have about me and my family, I can't let you come in and just... take them."

"Well, I'm afraid to tell you, that's just how things work," the scruffier one huffed before pushing past me into my house. "We're coming back to take that baby once we find the others." Ember and Nightfall were both already ducked behind the couch, peeking up and hearing into the conversation. Once the two men walked past them, I quickly ushered them over.

"What is it now?" Nightfall demanded.

"Just go," I instructed in a rushed whisper. I passed Lilly into Ember's arms, pushing them out of the opened door.

"Where?" Ember cried in a panicked hurry.

"Uh, to the park down the street," I said, wondering whether or not it'd be a better idea to just put them in the Safe Room. No, it'd make too much noise. "Don't let anyone see you. Um, and text Jade not to come home. And remember to pick up Clover and Python. OK, go!" The second they ran out, I quickly turned into my original position by the door as the two men circled back to face me.

"Where are they?" Scruffy demanded, reaching for his gun by his side. You'd think I'd be afraid of guns by this time. "Where did you put 'em?"

"Oh, they're at school," I said calmly, crossing my arms as I innocently batted my eyelashes.

"Hey, where's the baby?" Tiny asked, squinting at my now empty arms. I sent him a weird look, tiling my head curiously.

"What baby?" I asked, enjoying how much gaslighting them entertained me. The two men glanced at each other before Scruffy took a menacing step toward me that only amused me more.

"The baby you was holdin'," he said, breathing more heavily.

"I was never holding a baby?" I said, giving him an even more weird look. "Um, are you OK? Are you sure you're not schizophrenic?" This seemed to startle Scruffy as he took a surprised step back.

"What's schizophrenic?" Tiny asked dumbly.

"Listen here, girlie," Scruffy said, stepping up closer so I had to quite literally look up to talk to him. "I'm not here fo' no games. Hand over the kids and perhaps I'll let you leave with your life."

"I just told you, they're at–" I was cut short when Scruffy brandished a knife and sliced it across my throat, not deep enough to cause serious damage, but deep enough to leave a thin streak of blood dripping from my neck. I yelped, staggering backward.