Summon Dorn (Archangels Creed) (18 page)

Attackers surrounded Devyn until she became nearly invisible. Suddenly, Troy was there, slashing with a knife, a flurry of swift hand to hand combat until figures fell and Devyn was in the clear once more. The pair battled on, side by side until Lucian wondered how many of them they fought.

M
ovement nearby caught Lucian's attention and he watched as a fur-covered creature a bit larger than an adult chimpanzee crept through the rift in the wall. It spied the red bubble and seemed to peer straight through it into Lucian's horror filled stare. The thing turned its strange-pupiled gaze to Jessie then and grinned, displaying a mouth full of deadly-looking teeth, even without clear detail. Like it didn't have a concern in the world, it sauntered boldly toward them, head cocked at an angle as it studied the shimmering liquid shield. Jessie shrank closer to Lucian, trembling and Lucian tried to recall everything he'd ever read about large predators, because the thing left no doubt that it was predator, they were prey.

"
Try not to show fear, Jessie. Look at it directly but don't meet its eyes, he can't get us." At least he hoped.

The thing circled them, first a few feet away, then drawing close enough to touch. It lifted its oddly elongated snout to sniff the air close to shield
, its jaws seeming to unhinge as it opened its snout and choked out strange barks before it licked the air with a giraffe of a tongue.

Lucian kept himself and Jessie still, following it with their heads but not moving otherwise.

The thing paused in its second circuit, directly in front of them. Grinning. It was grinning Lucian was sure, at Jessie, and at this range, he could confirm those teeth were definitely deadly. It lifted its heavy head back and gave voice to a creepy trilling sound that evolved into a deep growl.

A reply came from somewhere out of sight to the thing
's rear, back through the ruined wall.

Ice shot through Lucian
's veins. What if the shield wasn't enough to hold off more than one at a time? How could he protect Jessie from such things?

Two more loped through the opening in the wall to halt beside the first. The newcomers were smaller and lighter in color than the first, and when the thing chattered at them, they split up and started ransacking the room.

Lucian tried to keep an eye on all three, but they moved much too quickly, the two lighter ones shredding mattresses and pillows, dumping bags and ripping clothing apart. The first one continued inspecting the shield.

Beyond, the battle continued to rage with flashes of intense red light and moving shadows.
The creature paused its circling of the shield and stepped even closer. Cocking its head to the other side, eyes riveted to Jessie, the thing brought one hand forward, five talon-tipped fingers spread wide. It paused just short of touching the shield and waited what felt like an eternity.

Finally it allowed the tip of its index finger to fall forward so that the talon first touched, then penetrated the liquid of the shield
's outer wall, opening the way for the thing's whole index finger.

At first nothing happened and the thing grinned again, once more showing an unbelievable array of
jagged spikes for teeth. Lucian held Jessie's head to his chest not wanting her to watch its clear eyes roam up and down her body. It dropped one hand to its groin and stroked a half-erect penis large enough to belong to a horse.

The obviously sexual threat made Lucian
's gut seize up and turn to liquid.
Don't show weakness or fear!
He leaned slightly forward and drew his lips back in a snarl. "Get out of here!" Lucian shouted, his heart blasting inside his chest.

The creature
's mouth flew open with two barking screams at Lucian. A faint sizzling noise began where the thing's finger went into the shield. A pale blue light rose around the point of contact, then quickly spread as the sizzling became louder and heavier.

The creature tried to pull its finger back and whined when it couldn
't. It put its other hand flat against the shield and pulled harder, but that hand sank into the liquid as well and became stuck fast. Unable to free itself, the thing screamed and its compatriots came to investigate. One of them grabbed it around the middle and pulled while the third stood back and chattered nervously, shaking its head.

The creature
's right hand suddenly came free with an agonized scream and a gush of blood. Its index finger remained embedded in the side of the shield. Screams and a great splash of blood erupted as the thing drew his other arm away, leaving the hand behind in the shield, burned clean off. Jessie gasped as they watched in horrified silence while the creature danced around, flinging blood in broad arcs. The other two watched with obvious glee, chattering and laughing as they pointed. After a moment, two more joined them, also enjoying the spectacle of their injured companion.

Were those
the creatures, the abominations, the angels said the devil was creating? That was the only thing that really made any sense, unless Big Foot really did exist and these were his mutated offspring. Lucian could only be certain he'd never seen anything like those things before.

A bolt of scarlet lightening in the hole where the wall had been drew their attention away from the drama of lost appendages. Kassern limped toward the hol
e through settling dust and smoke with Troy's arm slung over his shoulder.

Troy sagged against Kassern
's side, barely upright, head sagging forward, while Kassern's massive ruby wings rose above him. Directly behind them, close enough to touch, Karly and Devyn faced the rear and moved in a crouch, weapons held ready.

Kassern and Troy were obviously wounded, perhaps severely, since they had Devyn and Karly guarding the rear.

Lucian shouted at Kassern, hoping the angel could hear through his own shield.

All five
creatures went silent and ghosted into cover.  Kassern and the others were walking right into an ambush. What the hell could he do, trapped in a bubble?

Jessie
dug through her ridiculously large handbag, rattling mysterious contents. Finally she presented a bright pink rhinestone-covered smartphone in one hand, pepper spray in the other.

Lucian failed to see the plan
but he didn't have any better ideas. Did she hope to call for help? 911? She looked up at him, checking the pepper spray canister. "I don't want to be empty-handed if that shield somehow falls."

Lucian
cringed as he realized just how useless and helpless he was to protect her.

Kassern slowed as they neared the hole
in the wall and Karly and Devyn split up. Moving quickly, they each made a complete circuit of Kassern and Troy. Despite their speed, the women appeared to make a very thorough observation.

Karly and Devyn reunited at the rear and positioned themselves to guard both their flanks and their ass
. Kassern shifted his grip on Troy and a massive machine gun materialized in his right hand.

Troy
's head hung low and his right leg dragged useless between him and Kassern. His left leg functioned only marginally better. Blood drenched the lower right side of his robe, glistening eerily as light caught the incredibly fine white chainmail the robe was constructed from. Even seriously wounded, he carried his massive crossbow in his left hand, testament to the amazing strength he'd inherited in the union. That weapon, carved from a solid hunk of ruby had to weigh at least fifty pounds.

Lucian
's heart pounded with apprehension. Now that he knew for sure the whole thing was real, he had no illusions that mankind's best chance lay with the people about to walk into an ambush.

Kassern finally stepped across the few inches of wall remaining at floor level and practically lifted Troy across at the same time. In the same instant, Devyn took over the rear guard and Karly leapt in front of Kassern, ready to fire on any threat
. Jessie raised her phone, screen facing out and strobing red and blue light. One of the creatures broke cover to leap for Devyn's gun. She pulled the trigger while it was still in midair, cutting it down.

Kassern freed Jessie and Lucian with a glance
and the shield dropped.

"
There's four more!" Lucian's shout cut into the air the instant the shield came down.

In a flurry of action, Kassern
flung the gun in an outward arc before him and bullets sprayed, dropping the hidden creatures. He turned and threw that red liquid shield up over the opening where the wall had been.

A quick check of the room apparently satisfied him with their safety for the moment, and Kassern turned to lift Troy to the nearest bed.

Jessie stepped forward, pushing up her sleeves. "Can I help? I'm a nurse."

Kassern paused and glanced at her.
"Unfortunately, these wounds aren't of the human type." He glanced back and surveyed the women, his head stilling at Karly.  "Perhaps you can help Karly out of those clothes."

Lucian heard the annoyance in his tone.

So did Karly, who looked down at her outfit. "What?"

Lucian couldn't contain his smile when Jessie ignored the angel's orders and crowded in to examine everyone's injuries.

"You at least have a first-aid kit?" Jessie's professional tone rang through the disagreement. Devyn nodded and indicated a red plastic box, like a small toolbox, that sat on its side, ignored, on the dresser. Jessie retrieved it and started cataloging the contents, allowing the argument to continue around her.

"
What?" Kassern easily lifted Troy and placed him on the bed then opened his robe from the front. He laid his hand over an ugly gaping hole and red light glowed. He glanced at Karly again. "Did you have to dress like a woman on the cover of one of those fantasy stroke magazines?"

She gasped and looked down.
"This is
decent.
" She lifted her skirt. "It's
skorts
see?"

Jessie knelt in front of Devyn, apparently having decided she needed medical attention first. "Let me see."

Devyn automatically followed orders as Jessie first inspected, then cleaned and bandaged cuts and scrapes.

"
Well it doesn't
look
like you have anything under that short skirt and you're basically wearing a
bra
for a top." The angel's tone bit like a whip. He turned a laser sharp gaze to Jessie. "And I thought I told you these injuries weren't of the regular sort."

Jessie paused in what she was doing to look up and answer. "Yes, and I can easily tell the normal bumps and bruises from wounds inflicted by demons. The normal ones aren't black around the edges. A few of these normal cuts are pretty deep and need attention."

Kassern rolled his eyes. "Whatever makes you happy. Just say out of my way."

Jessie nodded and went back to work. "Likewise."

Lucian felt a flash of pride for her. His Jessie was smart and strong and wouldn't let even a nasty-tempered archangel come between her and what she considered her duty.

Ignoring the discussion,
Devyn held Troy's hand. "Is he going to be okay?"

"
You should have worried about that before you decided to
argue
over petty bullshit right in the middle of a fucking battle! We could have all been killed!"

His voice boomed and Devyn stared at him, eyes flashing before lowering in guilt.
"It wasn't petty, he was treating me like…"

Kassern sighed and stood, turning away from her.

Troy sat up, looking good as new and Devyn flew into his arms and kissed him.

Kassern growled
, then groaned, like he was suddenly released from an immense pressure. "We have to move and I don't think I can do it. That means you two need to go in the damn bathroom and give me back my strength!"

The order was yelled and Kassern sat down on the bed, a long growl purring out of him. The second Karly sat next to him, he put his arm around her and slowly leaned his head on her shoulder, like he was exhausted.

Kassern asked Lucian to gather up their belongings and in a few scant moments they were all piling into a brand new massive SUV. Lucian drove, following Kassern's directions while Troy slept and Jessie finished cleaning and dressing the last of Devyn's wounds.

Chapter Eighteen

The chamber echoed with the sounds of another woman in mortal agony. That was the fifth girl. Every few hours Kharef came and took someone out of the chamber. When he brought them back, they were so satiated they didn
't care what happened to them next.

Each time he was in the chamber, he stopped by Sally
's bed to remind her of his intentions. While he spoke with her, his massive erection twitched and leaked fluid, and despite her fear, the female in her was flattered. The helpless degradation moved through her body, arousing her despite her attempt to be repulsed.