Horizon, Soul Guardians Book 3 (12 page)

Four more dogs appeared.

The giant dogs all leaped onto
Cassiel. The canines tore at the archangel’s flesh with incredible
force. The weight of the great beasts forced him down. His eyes
were wide with terror. Fear rose in Kara’s breast as she watched
the dogs rip and tear away at the archangel. With a great pull,
Cassiel lost an arm. Kara’s jaw dropped.

Devon and Al jumped to his aid. They
slashed their black blades at the dogs. But the dogs didn’t stop.
More dogs charged into the room. They didn’t even glance at Kara.
Their eyes were fixed on the others. Kara counted a dozen giant
dogs. They leaped into the air and opened their massive jaws. The
sound of tearing flesh froze her in her place. She had never
witnessed such a terrifying scene. She loved dogs. She never
imagined how scary they could be when they were angry.

Cassiel managed to push off his
attackers. He fled through the door without looking back. He
abandoned his teammates.

The bodies of Devon and Al disappeared
as the dogs ate them. Then they turned their eyes to Kara, and she
felt a shiver roll up her back. Were they coming to eat her
now?

A white and tan dog trotted in. He was
short and bulky, with a large square head. His tongue hung on the
side of his jaw. He walked up to the tub and sniffed.

“
You look like hell. If you
really needed a bath, I could have helped you with that,” said the
dog.

Kara collapsed in relief. “Thor! I’m
so glad to see you.”

The bulldog waddled along the floor
and went to inspect the bottle. “Just in time I see. This is acid.
You were about to become angel stew.”

“
How did you find
me?”

Thor sat on his hind legs and began to
scratch his ear. “Jenny sent me a message. She said you were on a
rotten mission with some traitors. I followed your
stench.”

“
Thanks.”

“
You’re welcome. You’re
lucky you smell so bad, otherwise we might have missed
you.”

Kara didn’t respond. She thought she
smelled great. She glanced over at the great dogs. Some lay
comfortably on the floor while others sat staring at her. They
seemed to be listening in.

“
Are they Scouts, like
you?”

Thor jumped up and stretched proudly.
“Yes. My comrades, the king shepherds.”

Kara examined the dogs. They were all
very large with long fluffy brown and black fur. The markings on
their faces were distinctly those of a shepherd. “Thank you for
saving my life.”

“
You’re welcome,” chorused
the dogs. They seemed to smile at her. The largest of the group
trotted over and dropped a key in her lap.

“
Found this on one of the
traitors. I almost swallowed it,” said the large dog.

Kara thanked him and began to unlock
her restraints.

Thor lifted his head and smelled the
air. “Demons. We should get going.”

Kara jumped out of the tub. She
watched the shepherds file out together. She rubbed her wrists.
“You don’t have to ask me twice. This place gives me the creeps.
Let’s go.”

Chapter 9

Castello di Zena

N
ews of Cassiel’s treachery had spread throughout the Legion.
As soon as Kara had made her way back to Horizon and reported what
had happened, the Legion was in an uproar. It was bad enough that
Zadkiel had been found to be a traitor, but now that Cassiel had
been revealed as a traitor and murderer as well, the Legion’s
spirit was broken.

Kara sat at the round table in CDD.
She drummed her fingers and watched the gloomy faces of her
comrades. If Jenny could cry, Kara was sure she’d be in tears.
Jenny had admired the archangel. She had looked up to him, and
bragged about him constantly. Kara could see his betrayal had
affected her deeply. Perhaps Jenny had cared more about him than
she let on.

Peter wasn’t in a much better shape.
He sat with his back to the group. He refused to speak to anyone
and mumbled continually to himself. His glasses rested on the
table. With his head down, he stared at his feet, lost in his
thoughts. Kara felt an immense sadness for him. She wanted to go
over and wrap her arms around him. But something inside told her to
leave him be. Jenny and Peter had known Cassiel longer than she
had. They needed time to mourn without the new girl
interfering.

But the field agents weren’t the only
ones affected. The entire division moped around. It was like being
at a funeral. The depression threatened to spread like a virus.
Missions weren’t being assigned, and Kara felt the division had
lost its spark. CDD was leaderless.

A sudden commotion got Kara’s
attention. She stood up, excited. Gabriel strode towards her.
Cassiel had been large, but Kara had forgotten how much more
massive Gabriel was than the other archangels. His tight black
shirt wrapped around his chest and revealed his powerful body. His
muscles rippled as he walked. With his black cargo pants and large
black boots, he was dressed as a field agent just like
them.

Kara could see a head of blonde hair
behind Gabriel’s shoulder. She leaned to the left to get a better
view of who was following the archangel. A flutter passed through
her. She pressed her lips together tightly, afraid to let a giant
smile escape. David sauntered towards them, with a cheeky smile on
his face. Kara could see that he was happy, just by the way he
walked, with his head held high. He had wanted to join the CDD for
years, and Kara had always felt a little uncomfortable that she had
been allowed in, and not David. Gabriel had said that David’s
reputation for being difficult and disobedient had affected his
chances. But now, here he was, proud as a peacock.

No one moved as the tread of Gabriel
and David’s boots echoed through the chamber. Gabriel turned and
eyed the room silently. He met Kara’s eyes and nodded. Kara did the
same. She watched as David settled beside him. He noticed her
looking, and gave her a wink. Kara bit her lip, so as not to laugh,
but a soft snort escaped her anyway. Embarrassed, she looked
around, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her. The
divisions’ attention was on Gabriel.

The archangel surveyed the room once
more before he spoke. “Guardians. The Legion can’t afford to have
you looking like sad little puppies. Yes, Cassiel is gone. Yes, it
was a shock to us all … but that doesn’t mean this division is
finished. CDD is still operational. The threat is still out there.
Mortals are dying, guardians! Snap out of it right now!” Gabriel’s
voice boomed throughout the chamber like thunder. Kara’s skin
prickled.

“
Your orders are to find
the demon lord’s command center. We know he’s there—his demons need
direct contact with him. We need to locate that post. I want you to
report back right away, once you have a positive ID on the
location. Don’t let them see you. We need the element of surprise
on our side, when we are ready to strike.”

Kara wondered how they were to strike
Asmodeus. It was one thing to find his location, but how were they
planning to defeat him? He had two fallen archangels on his team
and a huge multitude of demons. He had already proved to be more
powerful than expected. The Legion must have some idea as to how
they were going to put an end to him.

Gabriel’s face was tight and
determined. “You are the best there is, so prove it. Now is not the
time to feel sorry for yourselves. You are warriors! We are at war
and the Legion needs you.”

Kara looked around. Gabriel’s little
pep talk seemed to have done the trick. Kara saw new life spark in
Jenny’s and Peter’s eyes, and she felt the excitement flow into her
own body too.

“
Back to your duties,
everyone,” announced Gabriel. “I want possible locations in five
minutes. Field agents, get ready to jump soon.”

Immediately, the room was alive with
the sound of angels running to the desks and calling out names of
cities to scan. Holographic screens sprouted back to life with
colorful maps of cities around the globe. Kara smiled. It was nice
to see CDD operational again.

“
What’s up, cutie?” Kara
turned to meet a smiling David. “Do you want to see my … badge?”
David flipped open his CDD identification, as though he were a
detective flashing his badge. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
He had never looked so pleased.

Kara laughed softly. “I see you’ve
finally made it to the big leagues. I thought you were a lost
cause. What made the Legion change its mind?”

“
Ultimately, it was the
High Council’s decision, but Gabriel persuaded them—told them they
needed an angel with spectacular fighting skills—not to mention my
good looks.”

Kara’s eyes lowered, and she focused
on David’s full lips. She felt a sudden pull towards them. Kara met
David’s stare. A flutter of excitement rose in her breast. Kara
found that she couldn’t look away from those brilliant blue eyes.
Unaware of the curious eyes around them, she felt herself leaning
in—

“
Ahem.”

Kara pulled back and turned. Gabriel
examined her with raised eyebrows. “Glad to see you in one piece,
Kara.”

“
Uh … hi, Gabriel,” she
managed to croak. She looked at David. “I was just congratulating
David on his promotion to CDD. I know how much it means to him.”
She could see a huge smile emerge on David’s face.

“
Yes, I’m sure. We are all
very pleased with his advancement. Although not as delighted as
David himself.” Gabriel’s black eyes pierced Kara’s, and she
thought she could see a shadow of a smile appear on his
lips.

“
Sir!” A tall guardian with
tanned skin and short curly hair ran up to the archangel. “We found
two possible locations of the demon lord, sir.” He handed some
papers to Gabriel who studied each of them closely.

After a moment, the archangel looked
up and addressed the field agents. “Listen up. I want two teams
ready to go to these locations—an abandoned church in Spain and an
old castle in Italy. Peter and Jenny—” Gabriel flung out his arm, a
piece of paper dangled from his fingers. “You’re the first team. On
your feet!”

Peter jumped from his chair and took
the paper. He studied it for a moment and then gave it to Jenny to
read. Kara watched her eyes light up after she read it.

“
And the second team,” Kara
heard Gabriel say. “Kara … and David.”

Kara heard whispers amongst the
division. She couldn’t quite catch what they were saying, but she
knew it had something to do with her being teamed up with
David.

“
You are to scout the areas
first, and then report back. No funny business … I don’t want any
fooling around. I want both teams back safely. Got that? You’ve got
an hour.” Gabriel’s eyes focused on David.

David grabbed the last piece of paper
from Gabriel’s hand. Kara leaned over and read:

Castello di
Zena
,

Italy

Italy sounded interesting to her. An
old decrepit castle would be perfect. Kara imagined Asmodeus
sitting on his throne, his demons bowing down before him, with
mortal souls as offerings. It was the perfect location. Fit for a
demon king.

“
You ready?” David cocked
his head and searched her face. “I’m dying to try the
tanks.”

Kara let the overly enthusiastic David
drag her down to the platform where the vega tanks awaited them.
She couldn’t help but laugh as he hauled her away. Peter and Jenny
were already positioned behind the wall of green waters.

“
Good luck! And be
careful.” Kara waved at them both. Peter waved back and Jenny gave
her two thumbs up. They disappeared in a flash of white
light.

David jumped up onto the platform.
“Let’s go. I’m so ready for this.” He rubbed his hands together as
though he was about to start a fire with his bare hands. “Can’t
wait to try one of these babies.”

Kara laughed again and stepped up onto
the dais.

Gabriel’s dark eyes glared at David.
“David, stop acting like a jackass. You think you could try to act
like a guardian for once, and not an idiot,” he called, “I had to
do a lot of convincing to let you in CDD. Don’t make me regret my
decision. Don’t make me out to be a fool, David
McGowan.”

“
I won’t, big daddy.
Promise.” David beamed at him. He skipped into the air like a
little girl with a jump rope. Kara saw Gabriel’s mood
darken.

“
David, don’t be a moron,”
Kara whispered. “Try to be serious, just this once. Can you do
that?”

David stepped up to a vega tank.
“Don’t worry, Gabe. We’ll be back in one piece. I can promise you
that. We’ll be back before you’ve had the chance to miss us—cause I
know you will.”

“
You better,” grunted
Gabriel. “Good luck to you. Be safe.”

“
You ready?” David turned
his head to Kara and arched his brows.

Kara straightened her back and stepped
to David’s left behind a tank.

She nodded. “Ready.”

Together, they walked into the green
waters and vanished.