Cocoon (The Burning Butterfly Saga, Book 1)

D371L

They stepped out of the Helex express and into a wave of unbearable heat and ash.

Azalea's chest began to tighten; it was becoming incredibly hard to breathe.

She began to cough frantically. Her throat was growing dry and her eyes were watering.

H stood to the right of her.

He took note of her reaction to the new environment and smacked her back a few times.

"You'll adjust to the change soon." He said.

She nodded her head through some more coughs.

For all she had been through she never imagined anything like this. Hell truly was a place...

She glanced towards the two Hellfire's that for the last day and a half had treated her less like a slare and more like human. She was still a little confused by their actions.

She wasn't pushed around or beaten like most criminals might have been. She was almost protected and looked after like you might a younger sister. Azalea couldn't help but question their motives and soon the words were falling from her mouth. Here, where no one was safe and Hellfire's were meant to deliver, kill, and obey, she was looking at them almost as if they were her friends.

"Why did you save me?" The words dropped from her lips. They hollowed to the floor but echoed in her head.

She noted the way S's eyes dilated for a mere second, his jaw tightening, and his fists clenching; H seemed less irritated but taken aback by her words none the less.

"It's our job." H responded flatly; his brows rose slightly.

"Yes, but you could have let the Demon kill me and you didn't." She pondered aloud.

"You don't get it, you may be a slare but you're also property to the Devil. Did you honestly think we'd let someone whose soul belonged to our master be harmed..?" He questioned her.

She hadn't thought of that though. For some reason her chest seemed to grow hot, not from the air but from something else. Could Azalea actually be offended by his words? Did she really think they cared even the slightest for her?

But the Burning Butterflies. She thought. S didn't have to release me and H didn't have to be so... so... so kind. She thought.

Her brow furrowed together. "Then why did you let me outside to see the Burning Butterflies?" She questioned them.

S threw his arm up in silence.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stop asking questions." S bit out. No hint of a slither in his words.

"But-" She tried to spit out.

"ENOUGH!" S hissed.

"You're just a job." He ground out.

His words had stung Azalea. They really shouldn't have, but they did.

S's mouth was a hard thin line. His gaze remained far away. H on the other hand appeared disappointed almost.

Both men were Hellfire's. They had been partners for as long as the Devil himself ruled. They knew each other quite well. But in this moment neither knew what to expect from the other. It was as if both had hoped the other would keep the other in check. It seemed they both had failed.

It was true though. Azalea was just a job, a mission. Like all the rest.

She was meant to be kept out of harm's way due to her binding contract, but their willingness to drop even the slightest guard around her was...