Guardian of the Hellmouth (26 page)

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Authors: A.C. Greenlee

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pushed her into a seating position. “You were right.” He said and

 

she blinked at him, watching as he turned over her abused arms

 

and frowned at her wounds. They weren’t very deep, and while

 

they stung like hell they were the type of shallow cuts that would

 

bleed a lot but not leave scars behind.

 

“About what?” She asked and his eyes caught hers.

 

“You’re not who I expected you to be.” Ophanuel placed a hand

 

over her cuts and she watched in astonishment as her wounds

 

closed as if they’d never been there at all. “There are very few

 

people left in this world like you, Kailani.” He said and it was her

 

turn to frown. Ophanuel climbed to his feet and moved into the

 

bedroom, tsking at its torn apart state. “I’ll have Sergei replace

 

your bed. The demons shouldn’t have been able to infiltrate the
castle.” He paused to throw a meaningful look in her direction,

 

“They must have followed you in.” Kailani stopped to think

 

about that for a moment before shaking her head to clear it.

 

“Don’t change the subject. What do you mean by that?” She

 

jumped to her feet and followed him, watching him turn from

 

surveying the room to stare down at her. Part of him seemed

 

amused, the rest of him slightly agitated that not one, but
two

 

demons had found their way into his home.

 

“What I mean is, you’re completely unbiased. The world has

 

been conditioned to feel one way about things they don’t

 

understand. They fear the unknown and embrace the familiar.

 

Those children could have easily killed you just now, and yet you

 

went out of your way to save them.” Ophanuel took a step

 

towards her and she felt herself tense as her mind bid her to

 

retreat into the other room. She watched unknown emotions play

 

on his face as he lifted a hand and brushed her hair behind her

 

shoulder. Every sense she possessed told her to run, she felt like a

 

field mouse who’d been cornered by a king cobra. “You’re
perfect.” He breathed, a smirk tugging at the corners of his

 

mouth. He could probably sense how uncomfortable he was, but

 

he didn’t make any moves to reveal such a fact to her. Kailani

 

chuckled nervously and pulled herself away from him, no longer

 

able to bare the heat of his golden gaze.

 

“I’m far from perfect. I’m human, nothing more.” She made her

 

way to the other side of the room, her hands compulsively

 

tugging at the remains of the comforter that once covered the bed.

 

Ophanuel smirked as he pursued her.

 

“But you’re not human, Kailani. You’re a Hellmouth.” He folded

 

his arms over his chest as he came to stand before the window,

 

moonlight filtering through the glass dancing on his silvery

 

wings. They almost looked as if they were glowing.

 

“Well, I guess I’m not. If you want to get technical.” She

 

straightened herself and frowned at how close he’d gotten. She

 

was cornered, trapped between the wall and a homicidal

 

Archangel. Her only way out was across the bed and there was no
way in hell she was going there. He didn’t need any strange ideas

 

floating around in his head. “But I still make stupid mistakes. I

 

complain about things and sometimes I even lie. I’m human in

 

everything but name.” She told him, her eyes meeting his. “Up

 

until a week or so ago I lived as a human. It’s all I know.”

 

“And you want to go back to that.” He said and she nodded.

 

“More than anything.” Kailani admitted, flinching when he

 

reached for her again. His hand stilled in midair before falling to

 

his side. “Hey…they will be okay, right?”

 

“You mean the children?” He asked, his voice dropping an

 

octave as an annoyed look came over his face. If she hadn’t

 

known any better she would have sworn he’d rolled his eyes.

 

“Yes. Whatever you did to them didn’t look very painless.” She

 

said and he chuckled.

 

“I didn’t purposely hurt them if that’s what you’re getting at. I

 

simply purified them, killing the demons that possessed their
bodies. Think of it as, shining a flashlight in a very dark place.

 

Like the light, I chased away all the shadows.”

 

“Couldn’t you do that with me?” She asked suddenly and he

 

frowned. “If all you need to do is purify me, why go through all

 

this merger crap?”

 

“Because you are not possessed. You are a Hellmouth. Instead of

 

being filled with shadows like those children were; you are the

 

shadows. To attempt to purify you in that way would only mean

 

killing you, Kailani.” He told her and she felt the little hope that

 

had bubbled up inside of her die. Why weren’t things ever

 

simple? “You don’t have to worry. When the time comes, I’ll be

 

gentle with you. You’ll experience no pain.” He reassured her

 

and she did her best to keep her face and thoughts blank. Pain

 

was the least of her worries. It was
him
she was concerned about.

 

To say she was having second thoughts about the entire thing was

 

a serious understatement. She knew why Leviathan always told

 

her she shouldn’t be so quick to be rid of him. Now that he was

 

finally gone, she couldn’t wait to have him back. He was the one
stable thing in a world that was falling apart, and the more she

 

envisioned a future with Ophanuel, the more her world seemed to
crumble around her.
Chapter Eighteen
Leviathan cursed as he pushed an iron beam off his chest.

 

The flesh on the palms of his hands protested, sizzling as it came

 

into contact with the poisonous substance. He groaned as pain

 

shot through every inch of him, the feel of his muscles and joints

 

stretching and popping as they attempted to repair themselves

 

only adding to his agitation. He had to apologize to Kailani;

 

wearing a seatbelt during a plane crash did absolutely fucking

 

nothing. Rolling to his feet he pulled himself from the wreckage,

 

black smoke stinging his eyes as jet fuel continued to burn the

 

charred remains of the humans who died in the crash. Part of him

 

felt sorry for them, the rest of him was only concerned with the

 

blood that poured continuously from the gash over his left eye.

 

Wiping his face with the back of his fist he searched his

 

surroundings for any sign of life, finally spotting the tip of a

 

white wing that was lodged between the remains of an engine and

 

the cockpit. Trudging through bits of flaming metal he moved to
push another beam off the angel, frowning when the bastard

 

opened his eyes and sat up.

 

“That’s a shame. You looked better dead.” He said and Pierre cut

 

a glare up at him before climbing to his feet and shaking soot

 

from his wings.

 

“I don’t want to hear it from you.” He bit out, silently testing his

 

limbs for any sign of a break. Other than the knot that throbbed

 

on the back of his skull he’d escaped the worst of the damage.

 

“How could you bring a hybrid on the plane? This is probably

 

part of some stupid plan you concocted to murder me, right?”

 

“Shut up. If I wanted you dead I would have killed you already,

 

why would I waste my time fabricating a plane crash? And I

 

didn’t know he was a hybrid, apparently demons can’t sense

 

Grigori asshole.”

 

“You’re so good at lying even I can’t tell if that’s the truth or

 

not.” Pierre sneered, turning to glare over at James who was

 

steadily getting…bigger. His muscles bulged and his body
distorted as his limbs grew longer to accommodate his larger

 

stature. A yellow film covered his eyes as they shifted to sit

 

higher on his face, his mouth and lower jaw elongating to give

 

him a wolfish appearance. The monstrous creature dropped onto

 

all fours and began pawing at the dirt, a strangled cry lodging

 

itself in his throat. “I almost feel bad for it. Almost.”

 

“You would. Don’t get too attached as we’re going to have to kill

 

it.” Leviathan looked around himself for a makeshift weapon,

 

finally sighing and deciding his own hands were just as good as

 

anything else. Pierre reached for his sword, only to discover it

 

missing.

 

“I don’t have my sword.”

 

“Where did you leave it?” Leviathan asked drolly and the angel

 

cut him a glare.

 

“I don’t know.”
“Figures, you’re entirely too fucking stupid for your own good.

 

How do you loose an entire sword?”

 

“Will you get off of my back demon?! Who are you to scold

 

me?”

 

“Children please. Will you stop your bickering so that I may

 

disembowel you already?” Their heads snapped around to look at

 

James who was back on his feet, still grotesque and horrifying to

 

look at but a little less pitiful. He stood nearly seven feet tall and

 

was covered in thick patches of hair that stood on end as he

 

arched his back and flexed his muscles.

 

“What the fuck…is that?” Leviathan asked as Pierre snatched up

 

a twisted piece of metal from the ground beside him.

 

“That is a hybrid. Half Grigori, half Werewolf.”

 

“Disgusting.” Leviathan curled his lip, steeling himself as James

 

sat back on his haunches and roared, his voice reverberating off

 

the steaming wreckage around them.
“That’s not very nice mate, I’m still the same man I once

 

was…on the inside.” He slurred in that thick English accent of

 

his, his head lowering as he bared his teeth at them.

 

“This shouldn’t take long. You know what to do.” Leviathan

 

said, ignoring James completely. Pierre gave a nod of

 

understanding.

 

“Very well then. I shall make the first move.” Pierre readied his

 

makeshift sword, his body tensing briefly as he readied himself

 

for battle, but before he could move an inch James threw his head

 

back and released a deafening howl. Leviathan frowned as the

 

hybrid pawed his way towards the on all fours. Surely he was

 

joking? He couldn’t mean to take them both on at once could he?

 

The scrawny angel may not have been much to fear physically

 

but paired with Leviathan he was damn near a juggernaut.

 

“You’ve got it all wrong mate. I’m the juggernaut in this

 

equation.” James pulled his lips back in a fearsome grin as his

 

body shuddered. One second he was slowly making his way
towards them and the next he’d disappeared entirely. Leviathan

 

cursed as he braced himself for impact, his eyes widening when

 

James appeared in front of Pierre, a growl erupting from his chest

 

as he brought a heavy paw down across the angel’s chest. The

 

man barely had time to avoid being dissected as he dashed to the

 

side, his arm flinging out to throw his ‘sword’ towards the beasts

 

head. But James was entirely too fast, disappearing again and

 

leaving the metal to sail towards the unsuspecting Leviathan. The

 

demon sidestepped it, his frown turning into a full on glare. Just

 

what in the hell was that thing? Were’s as a rule couldn’t read

 

minds, except for the minds of their pack mates. Telepathy was

 

too risky in a species that had more territory wars than it

 

produced offspring. And the Grigori, who could say for sure what

 

they could and couldn’t do? He’d been out of Hell only once in

 

the thousand or so years and it wasn’t as if he’d made it a priority

 

to sit down and have tea with filling angels while he was out and

 

about. Regardless of either species traits it was obvious that

 

James the hybrid
was much stronger than either could be on their

 

own. Demons weren’t exactly respected in the supernatural
community but they were feared. Even the oldest, most powerful

 

breeds used extreme caution when dealing with his kind; by all

 

rights James should have been cowering at his feet by now,

 

begging to be spared. “A lot has changed I’m afraid.” James

 

appeared before him just as Leviathan had expected and he

 

snapped into action, grabbing the creature by the muzzle and

 

twisting until a sickening crack and a yelp filled his ears. Before

 

he could smirk in satisfaction at the blood that seeped from

 

between his tightly clenched fingers, James brought up his arms,

 

forcing him to break his hold before plunging his claws straight

 

into Leviathan’s exposed stomach. He grunted in pain as his body

 

instinctively jerked away. James held him fast, digging those

 

razor sharp claws of his into his organs. Blood spilled from

 

Leviathan’s lips as he watched the hybrids muzzle repair itself

 

before his eyes. The creature opened its maw fully prepared to

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