Kassern (Archangels Creed) (19 page)

Devyn shook her head. "I'm good."

H
e leaned and tasted her lips.
"You certainly are."
Grinning
at his own corny joke, he rose and went back to the bathroom. Seconds later he returned, pulling up his jeans, shirt hung over his shoulder. At the connecting door, he tapped and dragged his shirt over his head while he waited for an answer.

Devyn
watched, her
mouth
watering
to taste his skin again.
He frowned and
knocked more firmly
. Not
wait
ing
for an answer
, he
push
ed
the door open.

After a moment, he
signaled
for her
to come
. Was something wrong with Karly? Heart pounding, she jerked the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her instead of taking the time to get dressed. Careful not to stumble, she darted into the next room.

Somehow, Kassern managed to appear even larger lying in the bed than he did while standing, despite the gauntness of his face and chest. His normal pallor had deepened, leaving spots of high color on each cheekbone and dark smudges below his eyes while his stern mouth looked unnaturally red.

Perhaps even more surprising, Karly lay atop him with her head resting on the powerfully muscled chest, silky hair spilling across his shoulder. One heavy arm lay about delicate shoulders, apparently holding her in place. Most of her injuries had faded, leaving nearly healed bruises and fresh pink scars.

How the hell? Or maybe
what
the hell?

Kassern opened one eyelid just a crack and scowled. "About damn time." His voice sounded painfully hoarse. He stroked the back of Karly's head for a quiet moment,
then
gently shook her awake. "You need to eat."

Chapter Seventeen

Karly sat up disoriented. Until her eyes landed on her red giant. She could hardly believe he was real. She'd remembered a commotion had distracted the bastards helping Jake kill her, remembered being roused from the pain and drug-induced stupor she'd lain in. Through narrow slits of her battered eyes, she'd
seen him, had even
been afraid he was there to add to her torment
. But then
the giant had grabbed Jake's right hand, still swollen where she'd managed to drive a fork deep into the side of his palm
and t
he next thing she knew
, blood began to fly and the sound of
a knife repeatedly tearing flesh
had
consumed her
.

She remembered how w
ords accompanied each blow. "…Hit your mother… Took the last dollar a mother had to feed her child…Stole from the woman who protected you…Introduced children to drugs and violence…"
Karly'd
thought s
he must
've died
, because it sounded as if Jake and his boys were being accused of their crimes, judged guilty, and punished, all at the same time. Like the giant was some kind of avenging angel or something.

She'd passed out and when she finally managed to open her eyes again,
the bloody giant
freed her from her restraints with a touch, lifted her gently, and carried her safely out of hell.

With a moan, Karly shifted to sit on the bed at his side, while looking around. Troy offered her the pizza box. As hungry as she was, she wanted to cram the food and get back to snuggling next to this man who'd
calm
ed
her with strange words when she found herself trapped in the nightmare of Jake.
This man
who smelled of things not of this world and made her feel eternally safe.

****

Kassern woke with two things on his mind. Figure out when and where to move the triumvirate. And Karly. But only one of those thoughts troubled him. And it had little to do with the triumvirate. Without looking, he felt her, once again nestled all soft and warm into the length of his body.

He’d been in and out of sleep for a while. She’d eaten again, showered,
then
reclaimed her spot exactly next to him, molding his body to hers with a complex operation of wriggles and squirms, alternated with delicious temptations begging for a hand to rest on them.

Convincing himself he actually needed to get up, and leave the guilty pleasure of having her snuggled up to
him
took longer than it should have. Sighing with regret he shouldn't, couldn't, feel, Kassern carefully removed her limbs from his body. More like tentacles with suction cups.

He froze when Karly stirred. Her leg locked around his and her arms re-attached to him. A disturbing noise purred up her throat as her fingers stroked over his bare chest and sent mini-shockwaves racing over his skin.

Angelic speed launched him from the bed, heart pounding.

Karly stared up at him, fully waken from the jolt. Kassern noted her clear blue eyes held that new hope and pure joy one experiences after being touched by an angel. But then her gaze lowered to his chest and the color that filled her cheeks had little to do with angelic touches.

Before Kassern could finish thinking he needed covering, a red T-shirt materialized on his body. 

“How do you feel?” he asked.

She nodded, chewing her lower lip. “I feel…amazing actually.”

Kassern couldn’t resist the wave of relief that washed over him. After she'd been so brutalized by those animals, she deserved to feel good. The memory of what they’d done and how that made him feel plagued him.

That was nothing compared to the memory of how he healed her, though. Why did he
have
to go to such an extreme? She’d needed physical comfort, that’s why. She was near dead, that’s why. She was utterly broken in every way imaginable – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually –
that’s why.

So why did he have the overwhelming urge to punch a hole through the cement walls?

Maybe because normally he would’ve healed her with just one finger, not his
entire
body.

That bastard,
Uriel
kind of neglected to mention this extremely distracting part of the triumvirate exchange. How was he supposed to accomplish the mission while managing his new
humanity?
Felt like he’d picked up a terribly nasty disease and the urge to get clean of it crawled over his skin.

“Thank you,” Karly whispered.

Her words were barely audible but Kassern felt every syllable through his bones. Maybe his angelic hearing was returning to normal. Thank Father.

A knock on the outside door extinguished that hope. Not only had Kassern not heard anybody approaching, but he couldn’t even sense who or what waited at the door. He quickly dressed for company; floor length cloak created from a mesh of small cut rubies set in titanium chain mail cloth, matching jeans with nearly microscopic rubies, sword-feathers ready. 

He cocked his head and listened.

All he got was the beat of Karly’s pulse drumming in his head. Damn, these fluctuations in his powers were dangerous. How long were they supposed to last?  And why didn’t he know
that answer? More importantly, why had
Uriel
not warned him of the possibility? That was some thorough research
Uriel
had performed, if he'd revealed all his results
..

Kassern glanced at Karly, huddled in the middle of the bed, covers clutched under her chin. Terror pumped off her like sonic waves. He brought one finger to his lips, signaling her to silence. Her wide clear eyes remained riveted on the door as she gave a rapid nod.

Troy and Devyn crept in from the adjoining room. They knew something. And he didn’t? Troy pointed to the door and shook his head, hurrying Devyn toward him. “Something’s wrong.” His voice was barely perceptible next to Karly’s blaring heart still beating through his head and body.

It was good Troy had gained some of his powers but Kassern sure as hell didn’t appreciate his end. Like they’d entered through the triumvirate gate and exited out a hellish celestial blender, being parts all wrong.

Karly's  magnetic
pull on him demanded his feet back toward the bed, and her.

Another hard knock and Karly flew off the bed and ran behind him, clutching at his cloak like a toddler clutching its mother's skirt. His right hand reached for her, needing to calm her. At his touch, her heart rate slowed. But a touch wasn’t enough for Kassern. He pressed her close and yet needed her closer. 

Kassern felt Devyn’s curious gaze lock on him. She hurried to Karly, prying her off. Hopefully Devyn sensed his predicament, pulled between the need to stay at Karly's side, and the need to investigate and protect them all. At Karly's wordless protest, Kassern was nearly floored by the urge to inflict pain on whatever or
whomever
made her uncomfortable. Fuck, this was bad.

Troy stood before Devyn, his concerned gaze ranging from Kassern to the door. 

The outside door imploded inward with a spray of bullets.

With the flick of a finger, Kassern threw up a ruby wall to shield them, and Troy spun toward Devyn and Karly. Flames crawled along Kassern's wings as he stepped through his shield to meet his prey.

A heavy jolt hit square in his chest and slammed him through the hotel wall leaving him stunned. On his feet instantly, he gripped his weapon of choice for close range – a custom automatic handgun in his right hand, and his staff in the left, while his ruby gaze zeroed in on the one who’d blasted him.

What the hell was he? Kassern slowly circled toward Troy where he hovered over Devyn and Karly. Careful, he looked over the normal-seeming human with the colorless eyes. Maybe not human. 

Or maybe human under serious influence. But of what? Kassern didn’t like not knowing that answer.

“Move! She’s mine. I’m going to kill that bitch.” The familiar voice approached the door, and Kassern’s blood boiled. Jake. How the hell
was that
scum still alive?

Kassern blasted his gun into the little group at the door while somersaulting himself above the expected return fire.

Before landing, Kassern used his staff to slam for the strange one, but he disappeared. Kassern spun the staff behind him, satisfied with the nice crunch when it connected with flesh.

Fingers bit into Kassern’s neck and he jerked to find Jake's eyes glaring into his with otherworldly fury.

Flashes of Karly in that bed hit Kassern. Using his wings, he deflected the bullets of raw power being torpedoed from the odd one behind him.

He latched his own hand on the jugular of the bastard before him. Pain erupted in Kassern’s neck when Jake’s fingers shot out bladed fingernails.

Kassern hissed, exhaling a mist of burning lava onto Jakes face. The pain in his neck persisted as Jake thrashed in agony.

Jake slammed his clawed hand into Kassern’s abdomen and let out a demonic roar when his bones shattered against ruby armor.

The other being released a sonic boom of power that rocketed Kassern and Jake outside. Karly screamed, raising an oddly powerful bloodlust in Kassern. He formed treble hooks from the fingernails latched to Jakes throat. One yank and Kassern dropped the lifeless body.

Tossing the bloody chunk of jugular, Kassern spun toward Karly’s screams. A bright light covered the three of them. Troy and Devyn’s combined powers. Thank Father.

Kassern leapt on the being in a blink and wrapped it tight in his wings and shot into the air with him.

“
Kient
tech hon
.” Kassern's muttered words made the strange creature roar and thrash in desperation. Kassern held on grimly, keeping his enemy locked in his wings as liquid ruby filled all the veins in the struggling body.

Kassern solidified the liquid with a thought and released him. He fell to the ground, shattering on impact.

Darkness swam in Kassern’s vision. He fought through it, seeking out more threats. Seeing none, his darkening gaze met Karly’s frantic one. She fought Devyn’s embrace to get to him, hand reaching as he plummeted to the Earth.

His last thought, his last sensation, was the warmth that encased him when their eyes connected. And how extremely good it felt. How right…

Chapter Eighteen

After Kassern passed out, Troy examined him. Having no experience or references, the best they could manage was to conclude he had lost consciousness, and hope he would come around soon. Devyn helped Troy wrestle him into the front seat of the little hybrid. Because of the bastard's size, he couldn't fit through the gap into the back seat, and the front seat had to be adjusted all the way back and almost prone. No one could sit behind him, leaving her and Karly crowded into one-third of the back seat, with Kassern's head and massive shoulders taking up the remaining two-thirds.

They'd traveled for hours, always on back roads. Seemed like they should have crossed the state line into Georgia, but as far as she could tell, they were still in Florida. It'd be great if Kassern would just wake up and decide what the hell they were doing and where. Maybe then Troy could quit driving them in circles. This must be how passengers felt on a jet in a holding pattern waiting to land.