14.

I took two stairs at a time, fastly running down the two sets of stairs like a crazed lunatic while Raph followed from close behind, probably curious to know what I was up to since I didn't even tell him a word ever since he'd told me that they had found Daya.

I had to. I had to let everyone know. Even if that meant that I had to see *their *fucking faces again.

*Here we go.*

"We're doing this. We're bringing those motherfuckers down," I blurted out in a single breath just as I've reached the entrance of our living room, all their heads abruptly turning to weirdly stare at me.

I definitely knew that I was looking like shit at the moment, yet I didn't care.

What really ticked me off though was that stupid look of hope glinting inside Lucifer's eyes.

And without wasting another breath I made my way straight to him.

"Just remember that I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Raph and Daya. You don't deserve this," I quietly told him as I blankly stared up at him, noticing how his silvery gaze roamed all over my face, no doubt noticing the evident traces of my recent crying activity.

Yet without another word I walked to the center of our living room, placing my hands over my hips as I shifted my gaze to Raph who was now standing by the entrance, arms crossed over his black shirt.

"So what's the plan? How are we going to take them down?"

Yet to my surprise, instead of receiving my answer from the one I was looking at, it came from another side as Lucifer had stepped closer from his spot by the bar, looking me in the eye as he calmly said,

"There's only one way,"

"We charge your celestial batteries,"

I stupidly stared back at him in utter bewilderment.

"What?"

*Yeah, like that went well the last time...*



**



Squeezing a ton of ketchup over my slice of pizza I licked my fingers in delight then turned it into a thick roll, taking a large bite out of it.

It was already the fucking middle of the night yet there we were, having our late night snacks.

"So, where are those bastards right now?" I asked while chewing onto that bite, gazing at Raph who was casually sitting over the kitchen countertop, keeping us company as we ate.

Leila was also standing right next to me, munching on a slice of pizza since she had somehow managed to burn her dinner.

"Not far, actually. They're having fun at some frat house in San Diego,"

My brows rose at the hearing of that, my lips immediately breaking into a mischievous smile as I turned to look at Leila.

"Ooh...So this calls for a change of wardrobe," I gave her a wink, quickly receiving a giggle from her.

She was obviously loving the idea since it had been so long since we'd lastly done such thing together.

Honestly, I was kinda missing our fun shopping sprees too. Not to mention that I kinda needed it after everything happening lately.

"Why?" I heard Raph curiously ask, turning my attention to look at him as I simply replied,

"We'll have to do some infiltrating and recon first, won't we?"

His brows furrowed as he stared at me, seemingly failing to understand my point. Yet I paid no heed as soon as I've noticed the large blob of ketchup staining my pj's.

"Ugh! Damn it!"



**



Throwing my leather jacket on, I didn't even bother to check myself into the mirror and quickly exited my room instead, fastly climbing down the stairs as I knew that Ricky and Leila were probably already waiting for me in the driveway.

And as soon as I got out of the house I noticed them both standing by Rick's favorite car, a big-ass black Escalade.

"Hey,"

"Hey," They both responded in unison before we all got inside the car, I myself choosing to go in the backseat while they took the front.

I made myself comfortable while Ricky turned on the engine. Yet I couldn't help but notice how Leila kept smiling at me like a loony, constantly turning to look at me like a restless kid.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy that we're doing this," She truthfully said, earning a smile from me.

"Me too,"

"I miss Kieran. Where is he by the way?" She casually said after a while as she peered through the window on her side.

"He's fine. I met him yesterday morning for a transaction. He said he needs a vacay for him and Sophia, so I guess it's just going to be only me and Lucifer for a while, dealing with the business," Rick answered just as he shifted gears, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I mean, it's not like we would need any bodyguards anyway," He added in a rather smug tone, my gaze momentarily raising to give him a look through the rearview mirror.

*Looks like someone's getting a little cocky by the whole immortal deal.*

I lightly shook my head, enjoying the rest of our ride in a comfortable silence, however not failing to notice the way he kept reaching to hold her hand from time to time, even giving it small kisess as we stopped at red lights.

I couldn't help but smile.

He really loved her. And I couldn't be more happy for them.

*Who knows? Maybe I'll even get to be an auntie soon enough.*

I fondly smiled at the thought, picturing how adorable their baby would look like.

*Soooo cute...*

Blowing out a dreamy sigh, I lastly noticed that we were already entering the underground parking area of a mall, patiently waiting until Ricky parked the car and got out, simply following them as we headed to the elevator.

But once inside, we forgot all about Ricky as we held hands and started running around through various stores like two happy kids, rummaging through every pile and every rack of clothing we could find.

“Wow, this is so cute,” She stated as she looked at a grey and burgundy cropped top with a kitten imprinted on it.

“Yeah,” I approved.

“I’m going to try it on,”

“Yeah, okay,” I nodded while looking at another top, not even noticing her leave as I searched for the smallest size they had then took it out, giving it a look.

"Huh. Looks pretty nice,"

I was just about to turn around and head for the changing room as well as I already had a few items in my hand.

Only the moment I noticed there was a black hoodie right in front of me I quickly looked up, letting out a sharp and short scream as my eyes met those midnight blue ones, almost dropping all my stuff on the floor.

*Holy fuck.*

My breath caught within my throat, audibly gulping as I stared up at his darkened face, shadowed by the hood of his completely black sweatshirt.

*Oh fuck.*

I cleared my throat, struggling to compose myself and calm my racing heart as I forced myself to keep gazing into his hypnotic eyes, his maddening scent and body warmth already making my head spin.

"W-what are you doing here?" I tried to sound as cold as possible, even though on the inside I was already melting.

"Protecting you," He simply answered as he continued to stare at me, his midnight gaze roaming all over my features from under that hood, making me feel so damn hot.

*Fuck*.

"Well I-I don't need no damn babysitter!" I half shouted and half stuttered, quickly scrambling to walk away as I couldn’t stand a second longer in his close proximity. He was still affecting me so damn much.

"I have my brother for that!" I yelled at him from over my shoulder while fastly walking away.

“Shit! Shit! Fuck!”

"Oh, thank god!" I breathed in relief as soon as I noticed Leila standing just a few steps away, quickly running to hide myself behind her as I warily peered in his direction.

"Why are you freaking hiding-oh!" She suddenly exclaimed as soon as she followed my line of sight, noticing Azrael casually standing by, hands shoved into the pockets of his olive green cargo pants as he looked straight towards us from under that black hood.

"What the hell is he doing here and by the way, he's totally rocking that outfit," She stated as she took a once-over at his black hoodie, olive green cargo pants and black Adidas runners, to my surprise even earning a small wave from him to which she quickly answered to in the same way.

"I mean how could he look so freaking good in those casual things?"

"I know, right?" I complained in a rather anxious way as I was already munching on my fingernails while holding my items pressed against my chest.

"He said that he's here to fucking babysit me or something," I muttered in annoyance with an eyeroll.

She quickly wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner as she turned to look at me.

"No! Don't...Don't give me that look okay?"

"I swear this dude is gonna fucking kill me one day,"

"I mean, could he look even sexier than that? Ugh! How can he be so fucking hot? Even his dick looks amazing, and it's just a fucking dick!" I truthfully whisper/yelled at her in utter frustration, the image of his unholy sexy and perfect naked body flashing before my eyes, making me want to just slam my fucking face against a wall.

"What?"

"God, and I can't even give myself some relief because then he would fucking feel everything, even my thoughts! Fucking stupid bond! Why can he tap into it so easily? Fuuuck!" I rambled on as I trudged my way towards the trying booth with those nasty images of his hot naked body still attached to the back of my eyelids, even picturing him having his way with me in one of these freaking booths.

*Oh my god. No. No. Fucking snap out of it. He can feel it. Just fucking snap out of it.*

"Can you please just fucking kill me now?"

I heard her let out a chuckle from the other side of the curtain as I was already inside and trying to get out of my tight tank top, letting out a small whine in complaint.

*Why do I still fucking want him so much? Why can’t I just move on?*

I glared at the angrily glowing mark on my wrist, for once wishing that I could just rip it off. And just as I felt those small tears gathering at the corners of my eyes I forcibly pushed them back and dressed myself back into my own clothes, quickly storming out of that freaking booth, only to notice him casually chatting with my Ricky as they stood just a few feet away.

“Oh great. Now they’re freaking buddies?”

I earned another giggle from Leila as she noticed me pouting like an angered kid.

“Can we please just go now?”