The Nightwalkers Saga: Books 1 - 7

by Candace Wondrak

  They were not the same.

  That did not stop me from wanting to make her mine, though. In fact, for reasons unknown to me, it made me want her more.

  She was changing on the other side of the room. My back was to her, but my unmatched vision could see her reflection perfectly in the windowpane. Her strong, defined shoulders, the small curve of her back. I exhaled soundlessly as I watched her take off her jeans. I couldn’t help but focus on her backside as she slipped out of her underwear.

  I always did love that butt.

  And those legs…those powerful, lean legs. I never got a chance to wrap those legs around me. I was too scared to tell her the truth, and by the time I was ready, she was stolen from my side by a creature I should’ve stopped. By a Daywalker I should’ve purified.

  Once she had a new pair of jeans on, I moved to the door noiselessly, leaving her to put on her combat boots alone, though I was only going to the room across the hall. When I stepped foot in my bedroom for the first time, it felt strange. Like I lived another life here. In reality, that much was true.

  I wasn’t fully self-aware of what I was, then.

  I went to the dresser and opened the top drawer, full of boxers covered in colorful characters and the names of television shows the old me adored. What stupid things to obsess over.

  Digging through the pile of boxers, I found the object I was searching for, carefully pulling it out and rubbing the oblong box. I sat on the bed, sighing to myself in the dark room. The window curtains were open, letting a small amount of moonlight in the room. I could see perfectly in the darkness, since it was my home, but I knew Kass couldn’t.

  I heard her say “Where’d you go?” in the other room.

  “In here,” I stated, waiting.

  Soon she was standing in the doorway, looking as good as ever. “What are you doing?” she asked, smiling slightly.

  I wished I could smile back at her, tell her that everything was all right, but it wasn’t. I wasn’t all right. I was the Devil, after all.

  I merely patted the bed beside me, wordlessly beckoning her to come closer.

  Kass was next to me, showing no signs of hesitation. She had no idea just who she sat next to. “What is it?” she questioned, finally seeing the box in my hands, on my lap. The small smile that graced her face faded, as if she knew what I held, what it meant.

  “I never had the chance to…” My voice trailed off, and I traced the edges of the box. “…to give this to you.”

  “Gabriel,” her voice was soft, quiet, like velvet on my ears.

  “Please,” I whisper, “humor me.” I handed her the box.

  Kass, after a minute of staring down at the grey box, eventually opened it. “Oh” was all she managed to say.

  That was not what I hoped she would say.

  She carefully picked the necklace up, gently touching the diamond-studded wing. Something crossed her face that I couldn’t describe, and she whispered, “It’s beautiful.”

  Setting the box aside, I spoke calmly, “I know you have one in your world, but I

  thought—”

  Kass shook her head once, bringing her soulful gaze to me as she quickly said, “Actually…I don’t. I have something different.” Her genuine smile resurfaced. “I guess not everything is the same between our two worlds.”

  “That much,” I said, “is clear.”

  “Put it on me.” Her serious expression disappeared instantly, and she gave me the necklace, turning her top half and lifting her hair. “Well?” Kass inquired when I made no moves to do so. “What are you waiting for, the end of the world?” She smirked at herself.

  I said nothing as I unhooked the clasp and brought it around her neck. For such a strong girl, with all her strength and prowess, her neck was awfully tiny. When the clasp was re-hooked, my one hand went to touch the angel’s wing as my other traced her spine. Her posture stiffened with my touch, and she was slow to let down her hair.

  Kass turned her head toward me, trying to make a joke, to say anything to lighten the current mood of the room. But when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

  The fingers rubbing along the wing moved to her bare skin, drawing down, between her breasts and lightly touching her abdomen. I wanted to never stop touching her. I thought my Kass was perfect, but she was even more so, if it was possible.

  “Gabriel,” she finally whispered, “what are you…” Her voice disappeared when I cupped the side of her face.

  I had to have her. Being with her, remembering the days before the awakening—how could I not?

  Our lips just started to brush against each other when she quickly turned her head, saying, “Gabriel, I can’t.” Pulling away from me, Kass stood and started toward the open door. “I just…can’t.”

  I couldn’t let her get away.

  I was at her side in the blink of an eye, closing the door in front of her before she could get out. Kass tried the knob, but my arm was locked above her. She was strong, yes, but my strength was infinite.

  “Gabriel, let go of the door,” Kass whispered.

  “No.”

  “No?” she echoed, turning to face me. “What do you mean, no?” Kass slapped my chest, doing more damage to her wrist than to me. “Stop being a jerk and let me storm out.”

  The hand holding the door closed clenched, and I hung my head low. “You have no idea.” My tone came out as dejected as ever. I sunk to my knees, still holding the door, but now a few inches below her eye-level. “You have no idea what it was like, losing you.” My free hand gently touched her hip as I muttered bitterly, “To have everything you’ve ever known taken. Watching you…” I closed my eyes, burying my face in the crook of her neck, stunning her with the action. “It was like watching a part of me die. I lost everything when I lost you.”

  Kass sluggishly hugged me back, despite my antics. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” She swallowed. “But you can’t just go around trying to, uh, kiss me. That’s going to make going back to my world a little complicated for me, you know? My Gabriel never…wait, no, that’s a lie. He did kiss me, once. But I was unconscious.”

  I knew if I let her continue, she’d babble until tomorrow, so I did what I so desperately wanted to do.

  I kissed her.

  And it was marvelous.

  Chapter Nineteen – Kass

  Whatever else I was about to say was silenced. Why? The blonde man was kissing me. He was on his knees, kissing me. I was taken by surprise, so all I did was back myself into the door. Gabriel didn’t let my shock interrupt the kiss. His hands remained on my waist, holding me against him with a grip I knew from experience was not one I could escape easily.

  Although…a part of me didn’t want to escape him, to run away from this particular kiss.

  His lips were softer than I expected.

  It was beyond weird kissing Gabriel…but this wasn’t my Gabriel. He was older, sadder, and more mature…how could I deny that? How could I not want to kiss him at least a little bit?

  Okay, a lot.

  Regardless of my attraction to him, of how good it felt to kiss him, I knew it was going to make going back home to my Gabriel unbelievably awkward. The moment I saw him, I’d think of this kiss, and Gabriel would read my mind and see it. I’d never live it down.

  Fearing the long-term results of this kiss, I turned my head, breaking our lip lock. It was obvious he was as worked up as I was. His breathing was hard, hot on my cheek. He made no moves to let me go, either.

  “Okay,” I found my voice. Meeting his close gaze, I shook off the lingering feeling that I wanted to kiss him more. “You got that one.” I lightly slapped his cheek. “That’s all you get.” Coughing awkwardly, I added, “Let’s get back to the church.”

  Gabriel, after what felt like hours of staring into my eyes, or at my lips, finally decided to let me go and stand on his own two feet, once more towering over me at his near giant-like height.

  As I turned to open the door and leave t
he room, I pretended not to notice the tiny hints of a smile that appeared on his lips.

  The idiot.

  There was a bit of my Gabriel in him, apparently.

  We had no conversations as we headed back to the church. He hid his smugness behind a dour, serious expression, and I hid my guilt over enjoying the kiss with a slight frown. Was I a terrible person for liking it? That question rang through my head over and over. It was something I’d have to sleep on, I thought.

  It’d take a while to even get used to the fact that I kissed Gabriel while conscious.

  Soon I saw the familiar church doors. I stormed through the doors, immediately laying eyes on John, who busily approached me. I opened my mouth to say something, but the Daywalker beat me to it.

  “We found a way,” John quickly said, Raphael appearing behind him, glancing nervously at Gabriel.

  Why were they both watching for Gabriel’s reaction and not mine?

  “That’s…great.” I paused to look at Gabriel. He didn’t seem too happy with the news. Too bad for him. This wasn’t my world. I had to get back to my own, sometimes annoying and always inappropriate Gabriel. This one I couldn’t handle. “Isn’t it?” I asked Gabriel, waiting for him to answer.

  “Yes,” he muttered, although he didn’t seem too thrilled about it.

  I went to Raphael, slapping him on the back. “I knew you’d come through. What’d you find?”

  John was the one who replied, which was odd, but I didn’t care about who told me. I only cared about what they told me. “If we find the staff and destroy it, it’ll reverse the spell.”

  My hope for getting home dwindled somewhat when I realized something. “How are we supposed to find the staff? Are we going on a scouting expedition, through the whole world?”

  “We need a Witch’s help,” John added.

  “A Witch,” I repeated, placing my hands on my hips. Where were we going to find a Witch? Preferably close by, and one that would help us? I wasn’t too sure, but I was reasonably certain that most people in this town were dead, along with most people in the rest of the world. Where did that leave Witches?

  I glanced to Raphael. “Do you have a Witch in mind?”

  He could barely nod.

  “Great. Who?”

  Raphael was silent, very unlike him.

  “She goes by the Prophet now,” John was the one who found his voice first. “But I think you know her by her other name.” His dark eyes were full of emotion as he finished, “Alyssa.”

  The name didn’t surprise me. Not really. “Let’s go find your sister, then.” I spun and headed toward the door, but Gabriel made no moves to get out of my way. In fact, he remained in my way on purpose, sidestepping each time I did.

  “It’s not as simple as it sounds,” Gabriel spoke, sounding grave. “The Witch has some bad history with Raphael. I doubt she’d let us through the barrier to Haven.”

  “Hold on. Haven? Is there some city where survivors are? And bad history with Raphael?” I looked to the man I was so accustomed to seeing in his priest’s uniform. “How did that happen?”

  Raphael rubbed his arm. “We may have…gotten together a few years after you…died. It was destined to go nowhere. We did not part on what you would call good terms.”

  I honestly could not believe what he was telling me. Raphael and Alyssa, in a relationship? That was…mind-blowing, and not in a good way. I couldn’t picture them together, I couldn’t picture them holding hands and going on dates, though, after the end of the world, I supposed dates wouldn’t be exactly what they were before.

  “Well, I’m sure if we explain the situation to her, she’ll help us.” As I said it, even I wasn’t sure if it was true. We’d find out eventually. “How far is it? I don’t suppose there’s a car, fueled and ready to go, that we can take?”

  “No. We’ll have to go by foot. It’ll take some time.” John gripped his bow, meeting brooding gazes with Gabriel. “We run the risk of the King sending some of his minions, though.”

  I saw how Gabriel’s veins popped in his forehead and neck. He wasn’t happy. He uttered, “We won’t have to worry about the King.”

  Brows creasing, I took a step back. “Wait. The King? Who’s the King?”

  Everyone gave me look that said I was insane.

  Was I supposed to know who that was?

  Chapter Twenty – The King

  My legs were crossed as I sat on a cushioned chair, a long table before me. One of the Human blood bags laid on the table, his wrist cut and his blood oozing into a coffee mug. He wore nothing but rags and drained himself with a smile. Such was the miracle of compulsion. It was something I was remarkably good at.

  The past few days had gone by in a blur. I knew I felt something different, something magnetic, something I hadn’t felt since that day. Since…

  As I took a long sip from the mug, my lover walked in the room, wearing a thin, golden mask across her cheekbones and nose. There was pep in her step, and she smiled, before me in an instant, kissing me and licking the remnants of the bloody sip from my lips.

  She frowned. “Him again?” Her mood fell as she glanced to the man on the table. “I’m so bored with him.” In a Vampiric flash, she knelt above the human, baring her sharp teeth. Front teeth nearly an inch long, dripping venom. “May I?” she asked, quite innocently.

  I smirked, which was all she needed.

  She drove her fist through the man’s chest, tearing through his ribcage like it was tissue paper. In a second, she tore out his still-beating heart, holding it in her flat palm, blood dripping easily from the gory organ. Biting into it, she smiled as red fell from her chin to her chest. She let out a laugh as I flashed beside her, dropping the mug on the floor and breaking it into dozens of pieces.

  I pushed her down, laying her on top of the dead human. The heart rolled from her hand, falling to the floor and bouncing twice.

  “I love it when you’re covered in blood,” I whispered, drawing my tongue along her chest, where blood had fallen.

  “I know you do,” she muttered softly, tearing open my shirt. She traced her fingernail down my chest, cutting into me easily. She knew I liked pain, blood and death.

  In all my time, I’d never had sex on top of a dead man, but with a life like mine, there was time enough for anything and everything. Soon we were naked, nipping and biting each other, tearing the corpse below into pieces. Blood coated our bodies by the time we were done, and she laid on top of me, her brown hair matted in maroon.

  I held her with one hand and gripped her mask in the other. She liked the fact that masks hid one’s face. Behind a mask, you could do anything and no one would know it was you. It was an excuse of sorts, only my lover did not need excuses. She was like me, and she reveled in it. Those protected by the Prophet called us the King and Queen. We turned this world into a certain Hell on Earth.

  And was it fun.

  Yet…that strange feeling nagged at me. Somewhere in the Carolinian forests was something…known. The proverbial light in the eternal darkness that this world had. I thought I’d snuffed it out.

  My lover looked up at me, concerned. “What is it?”

  “You don’t feel it?” I asked, meeting her gaze. “You don’t feel that…pull?”

  “This again?” She rolled off of me, off the table, standing. “I thought we talked about this already?”

  Right. She didn’t feel it like I did. Still, I wasn’t assured.

  Sitting, I said, “Send your pet out. Tell it to fetch. Your pet will know what I’m talking about. Tell him to bring whatever it is back.”

  My lover stepped toward me, standing on her tiptoes and planting a gentle kiss on my lips before she questioned, “I thought you didn’t like my pet?”

  “I don’t. But I want this taken care of, and I have a rebellion to watch. Send your pet,” I repeated, fangs disappearing from my mouth. “And tell him to bring whatever it is back alive.”

  She grinned. “All right. Anything for you, my
love.” With one last kiss, she vanished from my sight, leaving me with the macabre scene of our lovemaking.

  Chapter Twenty-One – John

  Kass was busy with Raphael, trying to find out information about the King. The blasted Demon ruled what once was their Carolinian city. He fed the chaos and loved to watch it fester. It was a sure thing that he would send something after them.

  I wasn’t worried about the King right now, though, as I stood outside in the darkness. No, I was fairly certain I had worse problems. I was face to face with a very unhappy Gabriel. Though, it wasn’t truly Gabriel. Not anymore. We never got along before; it was ten times as bad now.

  Especially now that there was another Kass.

  Gabriel’s head was down, his breathing nearly nonexistent. He was angry with me. He was probably going to kill me. For the first time in my life, I was ready. I was done. A part of me wanted to die.

  It was a darker night than usual, and I remained silent, knowing nothing I said or did could stop what was about to happen. Gabriel’s silence made me anxious. Just get it over with. Kill me.

  Please.

  Suddenly I felt a searing pain in my gut, and soon, around my heart. It was like ten thousand needles piercing my arteries at once. My body felt like it was on fire. The pain was unbearable, worse than I had ever experienced in my unnaturally long life. In the blink of an eye, Gabriel had closed the distance between us and tore into me with his hand, up through my stomach to avoid the ribcage, around my lungs, and currently had his hand around my heart.

  A dark red fire burned in his eyes as he slowly looked at me. “You should not have done that.”

  I managed to smile through the pain, coughing up blood. “I never liked following orders.” It hard to speak. Every breath was labored, each word felt like acid on my tongue.

  “And now your soul is forfeit,” Gabriel said lowly. Before he lost Kass, I never thought twice about the guy. I didn’t think he could sound so menacing, so evil. Yet here we were, and I was seconds from finally dying, from leaving this world for once and for all.