Guardian of the Hellmouth (14 page)

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Authors: A.C. Greenlee

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death. Either way its up to her.” He said and Leviathan snarled

 

something in Gaelic.

 

“What does he mean I have a choice?” Kai asked, moving to sit

 

in Leviathan’s lap who wrapped his arms around her waist

 

possessively. She gave a defeated sigh and Naomi chuckled.
“What I mean,” Pierre said, his eyes glowing as he glared across

 

the fire at her, “Woman. Is you can choose to merge with an

 

angel and allow his light to purify the darkness inside your soul

 

or you can die by the hands of the demons you’re consorting

 

with.” Leviathan gave another snarl, dumping Kailani out of his

 

lap and onto the ground as he leapt across the fire and caught the

 

angel by the throat. Naomi shouted but knew better than to get in

 

the middle of them as they traded blows.

 

“Leviathan stop it!” Kailani scrambled to regain her feet, running

 

to grab Leviathan by the arm and pull him away from where he

 

was punching Pierre in the nose. He spun on her with a roar, his

 

hand going instantly about her throat, but instead of the gentle

 

caress he’d given her the night before he lifted her off of her feet

 

with enough force to completely wind her. She struggled,

 

clawing at his hand as tears filled her eyes.

 

“Demon! Look at what you are doing!” She heard Naomi scream

 

as dark spots began to dance before her. She watched recognition

 

return to him as he slowly lowered her to her feet and released
her. Kailani’s hands went to her throat as she coughed in an

 

attempt to regain her breath.

 

“Kailani—” He reached for her and she held up a hand to stop

 

him.

 

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine.” She said quietly and he didn’t believe

 

her for a second but was in no position to question her. But still,

 

his eyes were so pained; it was if she’d stabbed him. “I don’t

 

know any angels.” She turned to Pierre to say, missing the way

 

Leviathan’s jaw clenched.

 

“I know of one who may be willing to help you but there is no

 

way to be certain.” Pierre said, wiping the blood from his broken

 

nose on the back of his hand. Naomi moved to assist him, which

 

he gladly welcomed. “His name is Ophanuel, he is an archangel.

 

Travel to Munich, the last I heard of him he was somewhere

 

around there.” He said and Kailani nodded, not liking the fact

 

that she had to spend more money to fly to Germany.
“Must you be so cheap?” She heard Leviathan say but ignored

 

him. Pierre cut them both a hard glare.

 

“I want you both out of my camp first light, do you understand

 

me?” He asked and Leviathan took a menacing step towards him,

 

an oath forming on his lips, which was only drowned out by the

 

sound of Kai’s acquiescence.

 

“We understand. We won’t cause anymore trouble.” She watched

 

him turn and with the help of Naomi retire to a tent on the other

 

side of the camp. Kai heaved a sigh, expelling the last of her

 

adrenaline. Never in her life had she been so tense.

 

“Had you let me kill him there wouldn’t be a need for tension.”

 

Leviathan said and again she ignored him, turning to go back to

 

their tent. He followed her, watching the disgruntled woman sit

 

and turn her back on him completely. Leviathan slipped in beside

 

her, propping his head up on his hand as he stared up at her.

 

“Don’t be angry.” He said, more of a demand than a request.

 

Kailani turned to glare down at him.
“I’m not.”

 

“Liar.” He growled low in his throat and she did her best to

 

ignore the wicked things his voice did to her body. Leviathan sat

 

up behind her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling

 

her back against his chest. “Forgive me.” He whispered against

 

her ear.

 

“There is nothing to forgive. I should have known better.” She

 

breathed. “I just… I just didn’t want to see you get hurt. After

 

you were attacked by those demons I thought I’d lost you, I

 

didn’t want to see you like that again.” She listened to him snort.

 

“If you think for one second that scrawny little angel could take

 

me—”

 

“Not take you,” She turned her head to stare into his eyes, her

 

face deadly serious, “Hurt you, Leviathan. I don’t doubt your

 

skills I just don’t want to see you injured.” She said and he

 

frowned. There she was again, caring about his well-being. Not

 

only did it make him uncomfortable, it made him feel things he
didn’t want to feel. He let out a long suffering sigh, pulling her

 

into a laying position and wrapping his arms around her, to which

 

she growled. “I don’t wanna cuddle.” She said gruffly.

 

“This isn’t about what you want.” He replied with a growl, fitting

 

her against his stomach as he held her tightly. “Lay with me.” He

 

growled again and she ceased struggling.

 

“Fine. But only because you’re warm and you smell good.” She

 

listened to him chuckle, the warm sound vibrating against her

 

back.

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night princess.”

 

The next morning went by in a blur. Before either of them

 

realized what was going on they were making the trek back to

 

their nearly wrecked jeep. Alone. Leviathan kept silent, doing his

 

best to ignore the little glares Kailani kept shooting him. Finally,

 

unable to take it anymore he spoke.
“What in the name of seven lords are you looking at?” He asked

 

and she rolled her eyes.

 

“Nothing.” She said quietly and he waited for her to continue,

 

“Except you didn’t have to set the damn tent on fire before we

 

left. You did that just to piss off Pierre.” Leviathan chuckled

 

darkly.

 

“Oh? How did you guess?” He continued to laugh as she picked

 

up a rock and threw it at his head, narrowly missing him.

 

“You dickhead! And after all they did to help us too!”

 

“Oh for the love of— The most they gave us was information that

 

we probably could have found on…Wikipedia or something.” He

 

said and she paused to balk at him. “What?”

 

“How the fuck do you even know what that is?!” She swung her

 

fist towards him but he just laughed, ducking her swing and

 

catching her about the waist, lifting her over his shoulder. Kailani
let out a squeal of indignation as she hung there like a sack of

 

potatoes. “You are such an ass!”

 

“And you have a great one.” He gave an opened palmed smack to

 

the body part in question, gaining another shriek from Kai.

 

“Put me down!” She kicked and he ignored her, his brows

 

creasing as he came upon the spot they’d left the jeep in. There

 

were tire tracks headed in both directions but no sign of the car.

 

“We have a problem.” He said, allowing her to slide down his

 

body until she was standing on her feet. She stared around the

 

open space, her frown matching his own.

 

“Where’s the jeep Leviathan?” She asked and he cocked a brow

 

down at her.

 

“And I know this…how?” He asked and she let out a frustrated

 

growl.
“Are you telling me we’ve been carjacked?!” Her hands dropped

 

against her sides as she began to panic. Leviathan stayed calm as

 

always.

 

“Looks like it.” He watched her storm over to a rock, and like the

 

trashcan before, kick it as if it had just insulted her. Only this

 

time she yelped and hopped around on one foot, spitting curses

 

that would have made a sailor blush. With a sigh he went to her,

 

pointing towards the rock she’d just assaulted. “Sit.” He barked

 

and she complied, watching him kneel in front of her and take

 

hold of her injured foot. Leviathan carefully pulled off her shoe

 

and sock, rubbing the sore appendage to check it for fractures.

 

She flinched and his eyes flicked up to hers. “You shouldn’t get

 

angry so quickly.” He scolded her gruffly and she shook her

 

head.

 

“You don’t understand. Everything we had was in that car and

 

now it’s gone. My bag and my clothing, my passport, even my

 

wallet containing my credit cards and ID. I’m stranded in

 

Australia with no money and no identification. And it’s not like I
can just walk into a bank and make them give me the money we

 

need.” She said, shaking her head in defeat as tears brimmed her

 

eyes, “How are we going to get to Munich? We’ll never make it

 

to Ophanuel.” She watched his jaw clench.

 

“You also shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of me.” He replaced

 

her sock and shoe, ignoring her frown.

 

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. Everything just seems

 

so…hopeless.” Leviathan stood, taking her hand and pulling her

 

to her feet.

 

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll get what we need, you don’t have to

 

worry. I’ll take care of it.” He said, wiping the tears that slipped

 

down her face before turning to head west. She balked.

 

“We can’t walk all the way back to Perth, it’s an hour drive from

 

here. We’d never make it there alive.” He resisted the urge to roll

 

his eyes at her.
“Must you be so melodramatic? We’re not walking to Perth but

 

to the highway. Once there everything will fall into place.” He

 

grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her alongside him. Together

 

they made their way back to the road, which was surprisingly

 

busy being so early in the morning. Vehicles of all sorts zoomed

 

back and forward, whipping up dust around them as they stood

 

dangerously close to traffic.

 

“What now?” Kai asked over the sound of the cars.

 

“You’re going to stand here. And attempt to look cute.” He said

 

with a smirk and she glared up at him.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Stop scowling, you’ll never get anyone to stop.” He folded his

 

arms over his chest and moved a good distance away from her,

 

just out of sight of the road.

 

“I’m supposed to hitchhike?!” She yelled in his direction and he

 

ignored her. What was she? A prostitute he could just stand on a
corner? Through her indignation she watched several cards

 

hesitate as they neared her, as if they wanted to stop but thought

 

better of it. Instantly she put on a smile and tried her best not to

 

look like a deranged serial killer. Like clockwork a balding man

 

in a silver Chrysler pulled to a screeching halt in front of her. It

 

was obviously an American made car as the driver’s seat was on

 

the left side, meaning he was probably a tourist instead of a local.

 

“Do you need any help miss?” He asked, his accent definitely

 

American. That was great! Maybe he could help her out, or at

 

least get her back onto US soil. Before she could open her mouth

 

to ask for help Leviathan appeared next to her, grinning cruelly as

 

he reached through the window and punched the man hard

 

enough to shatter his jaw.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?!” She screamed as he opened the

 

car door, unbuckled his seat belt and pulled him out onto the side

 

of the road.
“Getting us what we need. Now get in.” He ordered and she

 

balked at him, backing away when he reached for her.

 

“Do you have any idea how illegal carjacking is?” He just gave

 

her a droll look.

 

“About as illegal as sneaking a demon onto an intercontinental

 

flight under guise of an invisibility spell?” He watched her

 

seethe.

 

“Bastard.” She accused and he grabbed her by the bicep, forcing

 

her into the car via the driver’s side. He pushed her out of the

 

way, climbing in behind her and slamming his door. The car

 

growled as he stomped the gas pedal and sped off down the

 

highway. “We are so going to jail.”

 

“That’s only if we get caught.” He smirked and she frowned at

 

him.

 

“What is with your sudden illegal streak? First arson, you burn

 

down Naomi’s tent, and now carjacking?”
“Simple. I’m a demon, with no regard for mortal law. If I want it

 

I’ll take it. I’m only giving you a taste of who you’re dealing with

 

Kailani.” He said, a wicked gleam in his blue eyes. She felt a

 

shiver go down her spine.

 

“So this is all for my benefit?”

 

“You could say that.” His words were simple but she suspected

 

he had an ulterior motive for all of this, not just to make himself

 

look like an immoral jackass. Was he trying to force her away?

 

To show her how horrible he could be just so she wouldn’t

 

attempt to get any closer to him? She thought about the man

 

they’d just robbed, would other innocent people suffer just so he

 

could prove a point? Kailani turned to stare over her shoulder,

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