7even Circles: Moon Is Calling (7even Circles Series Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter 12

Cass sat on the stoop and hit the end button. She’d tried to call the diner and Leeza’s cell phone, but got no answer. Something was wrong, she felt it in her soul. She stood up and handed Ari his phone.

“I need to go to the diner.”

“Absolutely not, you’re just starting to train. The diner is not important.” Michael crossed his arms over his chest.

She wanted to punch that perfect face of his. “You’re not in charge of me, buddy. My friends aren’t answering their phones and I have this terrible feeling that something’s wrong. The demon could have them.”

Michael waved his hand around. “Even more reason to not leave. You’re not ready to face the demon.”

“You could help me.”

“Not until you are ready.”

She pleaded. “Father Raphael, I can’t let my friends get hurt.”

The priest nodded his head. “I’ll get my car.” Michael glared at them.

Ari stepped up. “Let me take you on my bike. I can get us there faster.”

She nodded, put the bow and arrows in the carrier, and slung it over her shoulder. “Thanks, Ari.” She followed him back through the church and out the front entrance. His bike was parked haphazardly in a handicapped space. She stopped to give him a look.

He got on the bike and shrugged. “My legs were hurting, so I parked closer.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your legs, Ari.”

“Are we going or not?”

She sighed and moved to swing her leg over the back of the bike. He handed her a helmet and she had just enough time to put it on before he took off. She threw her arms around his waist and held on for dear life. “You could have waited long enough for me to buckle the helmet!”

“Got to move faster, baby!”

She leaned her forehead against his back, feeling just a little bit scared. She didn’t even like to ride in a car if someone was speeding. She preferred to walk places, which was why she picked the building she lived in. She could walk where she needed to go, or at least to the bus stops. She felt his hand on hers.

“I’ve got you, sweetness. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She snuggled further against him, soaking in his warmth. She’d fantasized about riding on the back of his bike so many times. She looked up and watched as they whizzed past cars and pedestrians. The sun was setting, and the scenery was beautiful. Maybe she could get him to drive her through the countryside some time.

She felt the wind against her face and closed her eyes. His hand touched hers again and something strange happened. She had a flash of a memory, but it wasn’t hers. It belonged to Ari.

He stepped into the diner, shaking the rain from his hair and coat. He glanced around the room until he spotted her, bending over, cleaning off a table. His body hardened at the sight of her. The short skirt of her waitress uniform rose up, exposing her strong, sleek legs.

He moved forward slowly, stalking her. Her ass was a work of art. Nice and round and firm. All kinds of delicious and wicked things popped to his mind about what he would love to do to that ass. He licked his suddenly dry lips.

He decided to sit at the bar tonight. He swiveled in the seat so that he could watch as she took the dishes to the kitchen. She laughed at something her friend Leeza said to her. She turned halfway toward him, and he could see her beautiful face light up with her smile. She glanced his way and their eyes met. He felt an electric shock to his system. It happened every time. His heart beat faster, and every cell in his body was on full alert.

God, she was beautiful. She always looked beautiful, no matter what. If only she noticed him, really noticed him. Maybe if she got to know him better… No, she would run for the hills if she knew what he really was like.

She blinked as the memory faded and she became aware of her surroundings again. She was on the bike, holding onto Ari. What the hell was that? How did she get his memory?

“We’re here.”

She frowned when she noticed that Ari had pulled the bike into the back alley behind the diner. She felt sick inside when she looked over at the dumpster. She would never look at it the same, and she didn’t plan to take the trash out by herself for a long long time.

A blue truck caught her attention. “That’s Jerry’s truck, but I don’t see Leeza’s car.”

They parked the bike and Ari got off first. He helped her stand and removed the helmet she wore. She patted her hair. “Do I have helmet hair?”

He swept her hair back from her face lingering. “Not really. You always look beautiful, no matter what.”

She shivered with a weird sense of déjà vu.
She always looked beautiful, no matter what.

“Is something wrong?”

“Let’s go in and find out.” She moved past him. There was no way she was going to let him know she’d seen his memory. It was more than seeing it, really—she’d actually lived his memory. She felt what he’d felt at that moment. How was that possible?

She opened the door to the diner using her key. “Jerry?”

Jerry wasn’t in the kitchen. She got that weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was really, really wrong. She ran out into the dining area and noticed a large body on the floor. The closer she got the more familiar the body became.

“Jerry!” She threw herself on the floor and turned him over. He had a bruise on his cheek, but he was breathing.
Thank God for that.
“Jerry, can you hear me?”

He mumbled as he stirred to consciousness. “Cass?”

“It’s me. Are you okay? What happened?”

He tried to sit up but moaned, holding his head in his hands. She eased him back down onto the floor. “A guy came up behind me when I opened the diner’s back door. He pushed his way in and we fought. I cut him with my switchblade, and his blood burned my hand. I dropped the blade over by the bar. Where’s Leeza?”

Oh God...Leeza. “Ari, do you see Leeza anywhere?”

Ari ran through the diner, checking the bathrooms, the kitchen, under tables, then went back out to the alley. He came back to them. “She’s not here.”

A knock on the diner door made her jump. She glanced at the door and was relieved to see Father Raphael and Michael. Ari went to open it for them, and they immediately came to kneel by her and Jerry.

She looked at Michael. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Michael frowned at seeing Jerry’s condition. He glanced up at her. “I should have listened to you earlier. I’m sorry.”

Father Raphael placed his hand on Jerry’s cheek and it seemed to ease his discomfort. Then he made the sign of the cross.

Jerry snorted. “Father, I’m not dead yet. You don’t have to give me last rites.”

Father Raphael smiled at him. “You’ll be fine, but we should have the paramedics check you over.”

Cass stood up and walked over to the bar, where the switchblade had skidded across the floor. The blood was still on the blade and it was smoking a little. “Ari, call 911 to get the paramedics here for Jerry. Father Raphael, could you come over here for a second.”

She waited until he was right next to her then whispered to him. “Something strange happened while I was on the bike with Ari. I touched his hand and—somehow saw one of his memories.”

He smiled. “You have the touch. That’s wonderful.”

“I thought the touch would let me heal people.”

“It’s different with each person. Most do have healing abilities, but the very rare and few can gain knowledge and even memories from other people.”

“If I touched the demon’s blood, would I be able to locate him?”

Father Raphael ran a hand over his head. “Possibly, but you would have to have time to develop that skill to be able to get it to focus on something specific.”

“I don’t have time, Father. He’s got my friend Leeza. Look at the burned places on the floor, this demon is bleeding out all over the place and he’s desperate. I have to try.”

Father Raphael nodded his agreement. “Best do it before the paramedics and police come.”

She could hear the sirens in the background; they would be there soon. She knelt on the floor and reached for the knife.

“What are you doing? That will burn you!” Ari rushed over and tried to pull her away.

“I think I can touch it and find where the demon went with Leeza.”

“Since when?”

“Just—let me try before the police get here.”

He moved out of her way and she reached for the knife.
Please God, help me make this work.
I have to find Leeza.
She focused as she slowly lifted the knife by the handle with one hand. Nothing came to her by touching that part. She was going to have to touch the blood. She took a deep breath and touched one finger of her other hand to the blood.

At first she winced at the burning sensation.

“Let it go, Cass,” Ari pleaded.

“No, I can do this!” She focused her eyes on the blood and placed her finger back on the blade. She resisted pulling away from the burn this time, instead trying to take the pain inward, focus on what she was looking for. Her surroundings in the diner faded as she was suddenly somewhere else, into someone else.

Fucking bitch wouldn’t stop crying. He couldn’t stand these weak humans. Once he sacrificed the girl and drained her, he would be able to free himself from the damn holding bracelet and return home. Once he fully healed, he would come back to the Earthly plane with his friends and take the Child of Light. There would be payback. But first, he needed to shut this bitch up. He slammed the cabinet door hard, making it creak as it opened again. Then he turned around and glared at the girl tied up on the futon.

“Oh fuck! I know where he’s at.” She dropped the knife.

Chapter 13

“Are you sure, Cass?” Ari asked as they pulled up and parked outside her apartment building. It was dark and there was a few homeless people living in boxes close by; otherwise it was clear of people

“Yeah, I am.” She took the helmet off and swung her leg off of the back of the bike.

“He’s definitely here. I can smell his blood,” Michael commented as he slowly drifted down from the sky.

Cass shook her head, amazed at how Michael blended. When he was in the sky his body looked like that of a large bird of prey. Then as he landed, he morphed into a man. But she had to focus on her friend now, not on the Arkangel.

Father Raphael stayed with Jerry so that she, Ari, and Michael could come save Leeza. She prayed that they weren’t too late.

Michael stepped forward. “Stay here and I will go and kill the demon.”

She glared at him. “I’m not going to just stay here. That’s my apartment and my best friend up there.”

“What do you think you could possibly do?” Michael asked.

“I could distract him. I’ll go up alone; he wants me anyway. I’ll convince him that I can help take the bracelet thingy off him and lead him down the fire escape. You fly up the back side of the building and come through the bathroom window, get Leeza and take her out of there before he catches on.”

“Then what?”

“I’ll—I’ll take the demon out.”

Michael snorted. “You’re going to kill the demon by yourself?”

“She won’t be by herself.”

“Yeah, I won’t be by myself.” She was getting pretty fed up with Michael’s holier-than-thou attitude. “Why did you come to the Earthly plane if you weren’t going to help protect the humans? Isn’t that your mission?”

Michael’s face turned a bright shade of red. He glared at her. “My mission is to help lead the angel army against the demons.”

“Why?”

He blinked, clearly confused. “That is the Lord’s will, and it is a great honor to serve him.”

“Why is it God’s will?”

“To protect his children.”

“His children—the humans?”

Michael didn’t bother answering her, and she didn’t have time to try to convince him to help. She turned to Ari.

“Can you go through the building to the front door of my apartment and wait until I get the demon to leave with me?”

Ari didn’t look happy. “That will leave you alone to deal with the demon if bird-boy decides he doesn’t want to help you.”

“I can’t leave her there, Ari. Either you both help me or you both can fucking leave!” She had her hands on her hips. She would’ve been better off coming there alone.

Michael sighed. “Fine. I’ll go around to the other side of the building. I’ll take your friend to safety and return to help with the demon.” He stormed off.

She turned to Ari. “You need to find a place to hide so that the demon doesn’t see you right away. If I can get him to the bottom of the stairs, as far away from the apartment as possible, it will give Michael enough time to get Leeza away from here.”

“I hate to say it, but you’ll need to leave your bow and arrows. If the demon sees you with weapons he’ll kill both of you without blinking an eye. He needs to think you’re just as defenseless as the first time he saw you.”

She knew he was right, and reached for the quiver and carry-case, handing to him. “Don’t lose those.”

Ari slung it over the handlebars of his bike. “One more thing.”

She turned back to look at him. “What?”

He walked up to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her. Flashes of them naked and intertwined on a bed ran through his mind. She picked up on it and responded by kissing him back. Her own images of them together played through her mind. She wasn’t sure if it was just her own libido bringing up those pictures, or if she was seeing the future. When he released her she was out of breath.

“What was that for?”

“I was dying to taste you again.”

She had no words for that. Cass turned and headed to the fire escape. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she climbed the steps. When she got to the top and peeked inside the widow, she could see the demon pacing back and forth, mumbling something. She couldn’t see Leeza except for the top of her head. She took a deep breath and climbed through the window.

*****

The demon looked her way and snarled at her. “You bitch!”

She’d expected him to come at her, but she stumbled backward when he struck her against the side of her face. She heard Leeza cry out and glanced over to see her friend tied up and crying, but still alive. She wouldn’t be for long if Cass couldn’t get the demon to come with her, though.

“I found out my friend was missing and came home to get a change of clothes before I went looking for her.”

“Where have you been? I came here to your apartment, but you never returned. So I had to go to the diner. I killed the male and took the female, knowing you would want her back. Look what you did to me!” He pointed to his bleeding wounds.

She didn’t let him know that Jerry wasn’t dead. “I can help you get that bracelet off so that you can heal and return to your circle.”

“How?”

“I know where the guy is who put that on you. He’ll be able to remove it.”

“Why would he help me? Why would you?”

“Ari will help you because I asked it of him, and I just want to save my friend.”

“I don’t leave witnesses—ever.”

“You’ll leave this one if you want to get that bracelet off.”

“I could kill you where you stand.” He came up to only an inch away from her. When he spoke, spit hit her in the face. She wiped it off.

“You could kill me, but then you would be dying a slow death and my friend Ari would come looking for you to finish the job.” She kept eye contact to make sure he saw that she was telling the truth.

“Fine, let me get my stuff from the kitchen. Why don’t you say goodbye to your friend.” That was ominous.

She went over to the futon and knelt down in front of Leeza. She reached up to wipe away her tears.

Leeza was crying hysterically. “You need to run, Cass. This guy is weird and crazy. He keeps saying he’s a demon and bleeding on everything. Oh God, he killed Jerry!”

She whispered low so that the demon wouldn’t hear. “Shhh...it’s going to be okay, honey. Just be strong a little while longer. I have someone coming to save you.” She hugged her friend before whispering one more thing. “Jerry’s alive. I have a friend with him and the paramedics are taking care of him.” She looked one more time at Leeza, who stopped crying and stared at her in shock. Cass stood up and walked over to where the demon was waiting for her.

“Let’s go, Child of Light. We have someplace to be.”

She looked at Leeza once more before going to the window and climbing out onto the ledge of the fire escape. She quickly scanned the area for Ari, but didn’t see him; he was well-hidden. The demon shoved her shoulder.

“Move it!”

“Easy. It won’t do you any good if you make me plummet to my death.” She started down the stairs, anxious to get the demon away from Leeza. Just as she reached the ground, Ari leaped from the darkness and tackled the demon. She took a few steps back. She needed a weapon.

She ran over to the bike and pulled the bag with the bow and arrows off. She took out the bow with shaking hands and grabbed an arrow, then headed back to where Ari and the demon were fighting.

Ari had taken a few hard hits and he was limping. The demon was looking worse and worse. Too bad the bracelet was keeping him from dying completely. It would help if Ari had the right weapon to kill the demon. He is mostly injuring him and pissing him off more.

She got closer and threaded the arrow. Damn, her hands were shaking bad. Maybe she should have taken Michael up on the sword training.

She raised the bow and tried to take aim. She watched and waited for an opening.
Come on Ari, get out of the way.

Ari was limping but he was still dangerous; he managed to cut the demon’s face with a knife he pulled out of his boot. It left an ugly jagged slash from his eye down to his chin.

She had to help take the demon down. She pulled the string back tight, and just as she was about to release, there a loud booming sound, followed by a bright light, and then a strong wind knocked her backwards.

Cass hit the ground hard and felt a sharp pain at the back of her skull where her head had hit first. She was dazed, but managed to sit up just in time to watch in horror as the top part of her apartment building began to collapse in on itself, taking another two floors down with them in the process.

“Leeza!” She coughed as the dust and rubble filled her lungs. Turning her head she got a glimpse of the demon disappearing down the alley. She got to her hands and knees and crawled a few steps toward the almost completely destroyed building. Her home was gone but that didn’t matter. Tears fell as she panicked. Was Leeza in there when it blew up?

The sound of coughing from a few feet away got her attention. She crawled over and caught a glimpse of Ari’s leather jacket peeking out from under part of a beam. She began to pull and drag the debris away.

“Ari?”

He coughed and looked relieved when he saw her. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, but I don't’ know if Leeza was still up there.” Her voice choked with emotion.

“Where’s the demon?”

She helped him get to his feet and looked around. “He got away.”

“I see some of his blood there, he left a trail.” Ari looked at her expectantly.

She sighed. “Here we go again.” She squatted down and placed a finger in the small puddle of smoking blood. Images ran through her head, and she gasped before opening her eyes. She stood and pointed to the alley to their left. “He went that way.”