Kassern (Archangels Creed) (12 page)

Troy looked up to catch her watching and grinned when she flustered like a teenager.
"
Kind of waiting for you to look away so I could have a turn staring at you.
"

She chewed her lower lip as desire burned through her. So damn odd and new for her. And scary. She tossed her thumb behind her, unable to meet his gaze.
"
I should go check on Karly.
"
Not waiting for an answer, she walked off.

Chapter Eleven

As soon as she entered the bedroom, Devyn knew something wasn't right. Silence lay over the room, instead of the sounds of Karly's deep, measured breathing.
Shit!
The bed sat empty, Karly's clothes no longer over the footboard, and the window still a couple of inches up. The bitch had snuck out!

The sheets where Karly had lain were cool and dry, so she'd been gone a while. Probably to find another fix, or another man to fuck, or both.

Shit. A hollow feeling struck the pit of Devyn's stomach. Hands shaking, she checked the pocket of her jeans. Empty!

Fuck!
She should have hidden the damned money! But too tired and not knowing how long she'd be there, she hadn't taken the chance. Idiot. She should have sealed the money inside a condom and carried it the way women had carried secrets since time began. S
he stood there
feeling numb and stupid
with
tears
threatening
.

The phone rang somewhere else in the house, and Troy's voice rumbled, then his footsteps
sounded
down the hall.

He tapped at the doorframe and stuck his head in. "Um, do you know anyone called Devyn?" He winked. "There's some guy, Jake, on the phone for them."

Devyn's heart jumped into her throat. Her immediate instinct screamed
NO!
but
her gaze landed on the empty bed. Karly. Her heart plummeted to her feet. She reached for the phone.

"Jake."

"Hey there,
chica
." Jake's voice, roughened by years of smoking anything and everything, did nothing to disguise his deep southern accent. The combination with gangster slang gave a chilling result. "We
got'sa
talk, you an' me. Your girl, Karly, she say hey."

Devyn's blood froze in her veins, and she shivered involuntarily. "What do you want, Jake?"

"
Aaw
, Baby Girl, I wants you." He laughed, dry sticks rubbing together. "
Gots
me a homeboy wanting him a taste of that sweet
thang
." Dropped consonants and endings gave the words an almost musical lilt. Scuffling noises
sounded
in the background, then a muffled scream. "Dammit, Zip, I said hold her." A loud curse in a different voice, followed by the solid
thhnnk
of a fist hitting flesh. "Hear
dat
, Baby Girl? You
gots
twenty-four hours. Then I give poor
li'l
old
Karly
to my boys for a send-off par-
tay
, and I come and takes you away from that
fuckin
' preacher." The line went dead.

Devyn met Troy's gaze just before her knees started to buckle. Some warning must have showed on her face, because he lunged and caught her before she could hit the floor.

****

"
Oh God.
"
Troy caught Devyn before she hit the floor and eased her limp body down and grabbed the phone.
"
Hello? Hello? Who is this?
"

"
They have Karly.
"
The deep voice rumbled behind him.

Troy spun with a startled yell
then collapsed in relief
.
Kassern
,
leaned against a wall a few feet away,
appearing
utterly bored, thumbs hooked in his red jeans, coat opened with
the creepy
cross glowing on his torso.

Troy tore his eyes from the impossible sight.
"
What do you mean? Who?
"

"
Her ex-boyfriend.
"

"
Oh shit,
"
Troy whispered,
then
looked at him.
"
What does he want?
"

Kassern angled his hard gaze at Troy.
"
He wants Devyn, or Karly will suffer.
"

"
Devyn? Why?
"

Kassern pushed off the wall and dropped on his haunches next to Troy and took Devyn
'
s hand.

Devyn came to with a
"
No, no, no,
"
moan.

Troy helped sit her up, looking at Kassern.
"
What does he want her for?
"
Fear and anger deepened his voice.

"
To s
ell her to a wicked man involved in
international
human trafficking.
"

Devyn stifled a cry with a hand over her mouth.

Troy looked from her to Kassern.
"
What will you do?
"

Kassern remained crouched and met Troy
'
s gaze. At
such
close
range
, Troy could
make out the
pupils
of the angel's eyes,
and
distinguish tiny
flecks of various shades of red, from almost pink, to fire engine, to burgundy, in his irises.
"
In this body, I
'
m limited. We
'
ll need to step up this battle plan, I
'
m afraid.
"

Why did it sound like he was about to hear the rest of a very bad story?
"
How does this have anything to do with your mission?
"

"Karly's kidnapping might not have anything to do with it
, but my guess is
,
they’re using Karly to get to Devyn in more ways than one,
so
it’s in my mission
'
s best interest to
get Karly back,
hopefully safe
ly."
Kassern stood.
"
And when
I said I needed to use your home
,
I
’d
meant your spiritual home.
"

"
My…my what? You mean my body?
"
Hard to keep the screech out of his voice.

"
Not exactly.
"
Kassern
'
s tone hinted at impatience as he walked across the bedroom to the window and stared at the blinds. Or stared through them.

Troy helped Devyn stand.
"
You okay?
"

She nodded, but she clearly wasn
'
t. There was no masking the terror in her eyes. For herself and Karly no doubt.

Troy jumped when Kassern was suddenly next to him again.
"
Well what do you need, exactly?
"
Had he just
popped
across the room
?

Kassern leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms, not meeting Troy
'
s questioning stare.
"
I need your consummation, to be exact.
"

"
Consummation? Of what?
"
Had
t
he
man lost his mind?

He tilted his head in Troy
'
s direction but still didn
'
t meet his
incredulous
stare.
"
Of your union. With Devyn.
"

Troy
choked on a shocked laugh and
raked a hand through his hair
,
more than a wee bit
confused. One look at Devyn said she was just as thrown.
Please don't let him mean…
"
Soooo
you
'
re saying you need us to…
"

"
Make love. I need you two to make love.
"
Kassern finally looked at him.
"
I was trying to let nature take its course but if you want me to do anything about
Karly's situation
, I need you to open the second portal so that I can make the transformation.
"

Troy blinked
rapidly
.
"
Trans-wait, portal?
What?
"

"
Your first kiss opened the first portal and allowed me to be visible
on this realm.
T
he consummation is the portal that
will
allow me to
retain
physical form here
, and affect the physical world
. It's the first step in my
transform
ation
into the being that we need.
"
Kassern
paused and raised his brows.
"
To fight? The demonic army I mentioned earlier that is planning to destroy the world within a year?
"
He twirled
a
finger in the air, as if to stir memories.

Troy fought to use the logical functions of his brain.
"
So…you need us to…make love. So you can transform.
"
Okay, logic was
not
the tool for this
. I
t sound
ed
even more insane filtered through sanity. In fact, it sounded like a crock of shit. He finally dared a glance at Devyn, expecting horror. But at the most, she seemed embarrassed.
Was he the only one that saw this for the absurdity it was?
Troy sighed and looked at the ceiling.
"
Can you give us a moment?
"

Kassern pushed off the wall.
"
Take as long as you like. Just not too long.
"
The door shut softly behind him.

****

Troy watched Devyn walk to the bed and sit.
"
Okay, wow.
"
The words were frail and stunned.

"
Do you believe him?
"
Troy
fought to keep the panic out of his vo
ice
.

Devyn
'
s wide gaze jerked to his.
"
As much as I
'
d like to say I don
'
t, I can
'
t
. T
he man
'
s words just…
"
her shoulders scrunched with incredulity,
"
feel
too damn true, like my mind won
'
t let me not believe them, like he
'
s telling me hot is hot or-or cold is cold.
"
She put her hands over her face.

"
So…you wish…it weren
'
t true?
"
Troy couldn
'
t help
it
,
but
suddenly all he cared about was how she felt about him in that respect. He surely knew how he felt about her, foreign as the concept was, he couldn
'
t deny it. Neither could the arousal straining the zipper of his jeans.
F
rom the first mention of making love to her, his body began reliving that dream in vivid detail.
But this was a whole lot more than just a damn dream, this was real.

Confusion marred her forehead before understanding smoothed it away. She lowered her head.
"
Oh…um…I didn
'
t mean it like that.
"
She picked at the shredded tear on the front of her jeans.

Troy swallowed, needing a clearer answer but almost afraid to have it.
"
Do you…mind…if it is? True, I mean?
"