Summon Dorn (Archangels Creed) (28 page)

"
Father, please," Kassern whispered, hovering over Karly's body with his.

Dorn suddenly appeared with Sally in his arms.

"Dorn, help me." Desperation strained Kassern's words as he remained hovered over Karly's red encased body.

Dorn hurried to his side and knelt.
"What is this?"

"
I don't know, I've never seen it before." Jessie heard the panic in his hushed words.

"
I'll call a
potentia sanatore.
"

"
Please," Kassern whispered.

Dorn flicked his wrist and spoke one foreign syllable into a small triangular device before it disappeared back into…his hand?

Kassern moved to the other side of Karly, and Jessie froze. A gaping black hole smoked in Karly’s leg where that thing had bit her. "Oh God," she whispered.

Kassern lifted Karly
's head and supported her upper body in his lap, kissing her forehead while strange words swiftly poured out of him in a raspy whisper. "I've never seen this," he repeated, locking frantic ruby eyes on Dorn.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Sally felt a wave of evil closing in around them. "We have to go, they're coming!" She wrung her hands.

Dorn turned to her.
"Your eye." He hurried over and took her face in his hands, staring.

Sally gripped his hands.
"They're coming, I can feel them, we have to go, there's too many!"

"
Kassern, can you move your triumvirate?"

"
Yes. Troy, Devyn, come close to me and hold on to Karly."

They hurried to Kassern and Dorn turned with his hand out.
"Lucian and Jessie."

Sally noticed the clothes on Troy, Karly, and Devyn suddenly changed back into what they wore, the process reminding her of
a hologram. The second they all touched, Dorn breathed a syllable and things blurred. During the timeless transport, Sally felt the dark chokehold that had been closing in to their hide out slowly loosen.

It seemed like forever before they reappeared someplace. Sally looked around and figured out right away it was a luxurious hotel room. A look out the window said they were many stories up.

Kassern laid Karly in one of the beds and a bright white light glowed next to him until the luminous form of a being appeared. "We don't know what it is," Kassern said to the form. "I've never seen anything like this."

The tall glowing man wore a white robe with matching long hair and held a hand over the wound while Kassern studied his face for clues. Many seconds later, he turned his head to the ruby angel and spoke in another language. 

"What?" Kassern frowned, incredulous. "How can you not know?"

He shook his head twice and spoke again, touching a vial to her wound. He placed the vial back in his robe and turned to Kassern. More strange words passed between the two and they bowed deeply.
The being disappeared like something erased him from a piece of paper.

Karly bolted upright in the bed as though snatched from another reality where she
'd been in the midst of screaming her head off. Kassern grabbed her up in his arms and spoke fervently into her ear until she calmed into soundless gasps.

She finally became coherent and looked at him.
"I got you," he whispered. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed as Kassern pulled her into his lap and rocked her with soothing sounds.

Finally Troy asked what Sally was dying to know.
"What did the man say?"

Kassern looked only at the floor between them.
"He's taking it to Aesculapius' Grotto to test it. I can't believe this! How is it that
I
don't know what this is?"

"
It's a new evil," Dorn said quietly.

Kassern gasped, his ruby eyes flashing to him.
"New
evil?
" Like that alone was too hard to believe. "How is there
anything
that we don't know brother?"

"
We will find out. She'll be fine."

"
Hey, I'm fine, I'm fine." Karly dried up her crying and turned his face to hers.

Kassern looked at her leg, touching it carefully around the still black skin. At least the hole was gone.
"How did you get it? Do you remember?" His voice was delicate.

"
The bastard bit me, the monkey thing."

He pulled her lips to his and kissed her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"
Well you can't be everywhere Kassern. But I did manage to crush his head."

"
Like an egg," Jessie said.

Everybody looked at her and she nodded.
Sally's heart constricted at seeing her sister's face bloodied and her dark eyes wide and haunted looking.

"
Just like an egg." Jessie's repeat was whispered with a shaky voice.

"
Glad I didn't need to take the blue pill," Lucian bit, glaring at the two angels.

Sally noticed his words distressed both angels, like they were just as pissed about that. Dorn scowled.
"Nothing is what it should be."

"
There was a man this time." All eyes turned to Devyn. "I don't know who he was." 

"My brother." Lucian ran his hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. "But don't worry, I killed him."

Sally heard a lot of things in his voice. Hate, shock, regret.
"Where was he?" Dorn asked. "His body, I mean?"

"
It disappeared." Lucian's expression seemed to wonder whether or not that happened every day with these guys.

Dorn and Kassern exchanged glances before Dorn turned to Sally and took her face in his hands.
"When did this start?"

Sally wilted under his direct gaze and attention, hardly able to think.
"W-when I was sleeping." She nodded a little. "Felt him in my dreams." She covered her eye with a hand, the pain of his pull still fresh in her mind. "At first it was something I wanted or had to have, then it turned painful, like I would die if I didn't go."

"
I know." At Dorn’s soothing tone, Sally realized she worried she'd done wrong. He looked at Kassern. "The filthy bastard has somehow bound himself to her and can find her when she sleeps."

"
You need to consummate." Kassern's words led to a momentary silence. "That will wipe him out of her entirely."

Sally
's womb clenched at the word consummate with Dorn followed by nausea at the idea of the demon having any sort of hold over her.

"
You're so right," Dorn said, as though amazed he hadn't thought of it. He pulled Sally into another room and shut the door then looked at her.

Sally
's heart thudded in her throat and she swallowed, waiting. Ready.

"
God," he breathed. "You're ready."

Like that was hard to imagine?
"Very."

His beautiful brows narrowed.
"I know your body is ready but…what about your…"

"
My heart?"

"
Yes," he whispered, so very concerned for her.

She went to him. A foot away, he stared down into her face and carefully stroked her cheek. She couldn
't stop her smile.  "I love how you care about me."

"
I do." His sincerity made her breathless.

"
I know."

"
I realize that I'm not like…I mean I'm nothing like most men. Any man, actually."

Sally tip toed and put her arms around his neck.
"Hold me."

Dorn lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She smiled. "See?"

He stared into her face.
"See what?"

"
You knew I wanted you to pick me up."

"
Yes." He stared at her mouth. "I know what you want. Like right now."

"
What do I want?"

He leaned in slowly and brushed his lips over hers.
"This."

She opened for him and he deepened the kiss, his tongue gliding perfectly over hers.

"And this." He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her hair just enough to feel really good. He moved to her neck and sucked then scraped his teeth along her skin. "This."

"
Yes."

He stopped and looked in her eyes.
"But do you love me?"

She stroked his full lower lip with her thumb before leaning to kiss it.

Dorn huffed in frustration and shut his eyes. "What in the Seven Universes could he
possibly
want?"

Sally raised her brows as Dorn let her slide down his body. Encountering his extreme hard on, she gave
an
oh!

"
We have company. Let's go see what's going on." He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. "We'll continue this after."

Sally slid her fingers into his thick hair.
"Promise?"

With one large hand on her butt he pressed her into his arousal, growling as his tongue danced across hers once more.

She gasped for air when he pulled up. "I like the way you promise." She smiled as he nibbled her lips one last time, clearly not wanting to stop.

God, neither did
she.

****

Jessie eyed the newest angel. He was an arch angel, just like Kassern and Dorn. They called him Toren. And wow. His wings were on display and they looked like chrome. His eyes and nails matched. His hair too, with deeper flashes of blacks and grays mixed in for a stunning effect. His skin was light, maybe with a hint of gray. Or was it just all the silvery chrome that made it appear that way?

"
There's a large scale re-animation underway." Toren kept his voice soft and low, as if to prevent the humans from being alarmed.

"
A
what!"
Dorn's words cracked like a whip and he seemed ready to break something if he got another piece of impossibly bad news.

The chrome-looking angel stood at ease with his hands clasped behind him.
"An earthquake a couple of hours ago left nearly two thousand people knocking on death's door. Demons are on stand-by for the legal inhabitation and possession."

"
Legal?" Kassern stood now, his wings erupting behind him.

"
It's part of this unholy catastrophe that has inspired your entire mission. The dying person can be guaranteed survival if they give the demon permission to use them as a vessel. Of course, they don't tell the fine print, how the person will literally fuse to the demon via their genetics masquerade."

"
Now is not a good time." Dorn forcibly relaxed his hands, curled into involuntary fists with Toren's explanation.

Toren sighed.
"I'm aware this conflicts with your current operation, but it's you we especially need due to the tactical nature. And we need you like fifteen minutes ago, if I'm to be precise in the way that you usually prefer."

Jessie was sure she heard a note of sarcasm.

Toren's giant wings shuddered. "Our intelligence has gathered that their little trick works, and they are waiting for a large-scale opportunity such as this to start an all-out war among mankind. We obviously cannot let that happen despite our current game plan."

Kassern stood, gearing up.
"We go, we defeat them, we come back."

Dorn turned to Sally and she nodded.
"It's okay, we're fine."

He looked at Lucian.
"You and Troy are in charge of their safekeeping."

"
I can help." Troy glanced at Lucian before continuing. "If Lucian is staying I mean."

"
No way, you're not angel enough for that." Devyn met his stare, all challenge.

"
No, he is, actually." Kassern sighed the soft words, hands on his hips. "He was holy when I found him, he's more than capable now. Trust me. And the more help we have the faster we can return."

"
Just hurry and leave so you can get back." Lucian raked a hand through his ebony hair and Jessie couldn't help but recall the last time she'd seen it that way. Made her want to drag him in a room.

Kassern eyed Lucian.
"Stay put. You need help, you
think
it and we're here."

"
Of course!" Lucian's equivalent to
no shit.

Dorn went to Sally and held her shoulders before turning to Lucian.
"She doesn't sleep. Not for a second. Not until I'm here to watch over her."

Lucian gave a
mock salute to go with his sudden high levels of distress. "Not a wink."