Angel Seduced

by Jaime Rush

  Kasabian ducked back into the hedges near the front of the property by the gate. No, he was waiting. He’d probably seen Treylon leave and was waiting for him to return. Silva wasn’t ready to reveal his presence yet, but he couldn’t let Kasabian ambush the man who was like a father to him. Could not let him destroy the program that would release all Caidos from their torment.

  He returned to the house and summoned Gren. The tall, lean Caido met him in the foyer, a coy smile on his face. “You have need of me, my master?” He was twenty, pretty, and a new recruit in the program. “You look tense. Need some tension release?” He ran his tongue over his full lower lip. “A suck, a f—”

  “A detainment,” Silva interrupted. “A discreet one. We have an intruder lying in wait near the front gate. You’ll have the element of surprise, but be careful. He’s like me.”

  “You don’t want him killed?”

  “No. I want him incapacitated and put in the white room.”

  Gren’s mouth curved into a smile. “Your will is my command.”

  That had been nice at first. Now Silva wanted more of a challenge. He wanted the one man he could not have. Kasabian.

  Gren pulled on his invisible cloak, and they made their way along the hedge line.

  Kasabian heard the footsteps coming up behind him. He spun but saw nothing. No, not true. The air wavered. The cloak dropped, and a male Caido in full wing dove at him. Kasabian shifted, but the Caido got him in the side and sent them both to the ground. Kasabian used his Light to knock the other Caido on his ass. In seconds, the Caido was on him again, slapping his hand on his forehead. Kasabian felt the stun Light flash against his skin and pulse into his brain. He twisted before it penetrated, wrenching the guy’s wrist and making him scream in pain. But that didn’t stop him from smacking his head against Kasabian’s temple, knocking him senseless for a moment. The Caido shoved him backward, flat on the ground, then straddled him. His thighs tightened on Kasabian’s sides to pin him.

  Kasabian bucked him off, sending him rolling over his head. As soon as Kasabian got to his feet, he was tackled and pinned between the guy and a banyan tree. He shoved his knee into the guy’s solar plexus, right below the starburst.

  “They’re using you,” Kasabian said as he landed another blow. “I don’t want to hurt you. Let me help you get away from this insanity.”

  The Caido laughed as he shot a beam of Light at Kasabian. “I’m here of my own volition. I don’t want to be rescued.”

  Kasabian felt the searing heat slice his neck even as he ducked to the side. “What do you get out of torturing children?” He threw the Caido, where he landed in a clump of bushes.

  “I get to be part of something that matters. I matter.”

  The guy came at him again, his patrician features distorted in rage. The Shadow grew inside him, fueled by the fight. Hungry for it. Kasabian met the Caido halfway, tossing him over his head with a strength that surpassed even his angel essence. He saw black, just for a second, as he grabbed the guy before he could stagger to his feet. The Caido tried to kick free, but Kasabian deflected the blows as he threw him at a massive oak tree. The impact left a perfect impression of his body on the trunk. The guy crumpled to the ground, blood smearing the crushed lines of bark. He panted, his breath sawing in and out as he tried to get to his feet.

  The desire to kill the son of a bitch roared through Kasabian like a flash fire. He wrapped his hand around the guy’s throat. “How many kids are in there?”

  The guy spit blood on his shoe. Then he thrust his hand out to shoot Light at Kasabian, who snagged the man’s arm and wrenched until he heard the bone snap. The guy started to scream in pain, and Kasabian slapped his hand over his mouth to shut him up.

  More, more, more. He wanted to crack, crush, pulverize every bone in his body. The bloodlust roared through Kasabian. The Shadow’s bloodlust.

  Even with his mouth broken and bleeding, the guy sneered with contempt. “I’m going to kill you,” he said, holding out his good arm to use his Light weapon.

  Kasabian grabbed that hand, crushing his bones. “Tell me how many or your neck is next.”

  Searing pain stabbed Kasabian all across his back. Little black bird-like creatures tore at his wings the way a disturbed nest of fire ants attacks an intruder. He swatted at them, and they tore at his fingers. They reminded him of Mad magazine’s bird spies, with sharp-as-hell beaks and a desire to destroy. He staggered around to come face-to-face with another Caido.

  No, not just any Caido. Daniel. Daniel, with a mix of emotions crossing his face. Regret. Anger. “I didn’t want you to know I was here,” he said, coming closer. “But I couldn’t let you kill Gren. And now I can’t let you leave.”

  Then Kasabian saw it, the similarities between the boy Silva and the man who’d become his friend. It hit him as hard as any physical blow. “And I can’t let you continue to do what you’re doing.” Kasabian pushed past the shock and used his Light like a saber to fry the birds.

  “It’s only for another day or two, Kasabian. Then we will be free of the pain we live in. A few lives impacted, yes, but kids whose fates are to be used, abused, destined to end up overdosed on some street corner, or sliced and diced in a motel room. Can you put away your self-righteousness for just a minute and think about what it means for all of us?”

  Kasabian swung at Silva. “Their fates are not sealed because of their circumstances. They’re not worthless.”

  Silva met his blow, engaging in a Light sword fight. “No, they’re very valuable. I was one of those kids. Your father gave me a purpose and treated me better than anyone else had. Yes, even with the pain. I know it’s hard for you to imagine, because you never had to dig through garbage cans for dinner. You never had to suck some guy off so your mama could pay the rent. This was better than anything I’d lived until then.”

  Kasabian sorted through Silva’s words as he fought, disgust turning his stomach. “It doesn’t justify using kids like that. I don’t care if he gets permission from their drugged-out parents; it’s still kidnapping.”

  “If we had some time together, I’m sure I could persuade you to see that what we’re doing is justified. Sometimes what you think is wrong is perfectly right.” He threw out his hand, and something that looked like a black snake coiled from his palm.

  Kasabian slashed as it careened toward him, but it dove right through and wrapped around him like a python. Even with his angel strength, he couldn’t budge it. A glimmer of panic ignited in him. He gripped the odd energy of the thing, sending deadly Light into it. Nothing. “What the hell kind of power do you have?”

  The snake wrenched him off balance, sending him crashing to the ground.

  Silva approached, a cruel smile in place as he watched Kasabian fight to free himself. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

  Black rage saturated Kasabian’s mind. He felt the same sensation, heat passing through his eyes, as when Hayden told him his eyes had darkened. The Shadow. It moved closer to the surface and whispered seductively: Use me.

  The shock of hearing it, the feeling that it was a separate, sentient entity, completely threw him.

  Gren was staggering to his feet. “Kill the son of a bitch.” His arms hung useless, but they were no doubt already healing. His crumpled wings were straightening.

  “No. He goes to the white room.”

  “Why the hell would you do anything but kill him?” Gren asked.

  “Shut up.” Silva tilted his head as he considered Kasabian. “Get the room ready. And tell no one.”

  Gren’s sneer appeared again. “This is the one, isn’t he? The one you—”

  “Go,” Silva ground out, and the Caido stiffly walked toward the house.

  Room. Prisoner. Words that shot panic into Kasabian. He would never be held against his will again. The Shadow thrummed through him. He feared that if he let it come, it would take over.

  The snake squeezed tighter, making Kasabian’s voice breathless when he s
aid, “Why did you pose as my friend?”

  “Your father asked me to check on you, make sure you were still blissfully ignorant of your days with him. Your memories have recently returned. How?”

  Kasabian would never bring Kye into this. “I dropped some acid last night. It uprooted everything in my brain.”

  Acid was a no-no for any Crescent. Kasabian had never touched a drug in his life.

  “I don’t believe you. We’ve been friends for a long time, and not once have you ever said a thing that would lead me to believe you’d do drugs.”

  Why his deception should piss Kasabian off, with much more pressing matters at hand, he didn’t know. “So you do my father’s bidding.”

  “I follow his orders because he has given me a life. He has been like a father to me. Because I see the value of loyalty in a world where the people who should care will toss you away or sell you for a few dollars.”

  Silva and Treylon believed Kasabian had betrayed them. “And you think I should have allowed kids to die out of loyalty? You of all people should have fought for those kids. Instead, you aligned with my father!”

  Silva shook his head, a soft laugh on his breath. “We always differed on our ideals, even as we are alike in other ways.”

  “Are you kidding me? We are nothing alike.”

  Silva threw out another net of those damned birds. They tore into Kasabian’s wings and back, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. His arms were pinned, body immobile. He bit back screams of pain because he wasn’t going to give Silva the pleasure of hearing them. But Silva was getting pleasure all the same, given the smile on his face. In fact, he knelt close to Kasabian and watched. “What would you do to convince me to stop the pain? Beg? Suck me off? Maybe you’ll understand me better if you’re desperate to escape your circumstances.”

  “Fuck you,” was all Kasabian could manage.

  Hell, Silva’s smile grew even bigger. When the birds were done, he released the snake with a snap. The snake and birds evaporated.

  Kasabian arched in pain, the sensation of a thousand razor cuts on his back. Something wasn’t right. He felt a gaping hole in his soul. “What did you do to me?”

  “I Stripped away your angel essence.” Silva flexed his hands. “I haven’t used the ability much, though it did come in handy not long ago. You are a mere Mundane. Well, mostly.” His blue eyes twinkled with some kind of secret glee.

  That’s what the hole was, the lack of his essence. No wings, no Light, and no ability to Leap. All he could do was sink his fingers into the grass as he tried to hold back the pain.

  “We’ll get reacquainted once you’re settled in.” The weird gleam in his eyes disappeared, and he glanced around. “I don’t want your father to find you here. He is not going to take a chance of anything jeopardizing our plan. We’ve had trouble recently, so he’s even more on guard.”

  Shouting made him turn toward the house, where Gren was waving him over. “Demis is checking in for a status report, and Treylon isn’t here.”

  Demis? Kasabian searched his pain-gutted brain for the name but nothing came to him. Hell, he could barely move.

  Silva stood. “Now he’ll have to talk to me.” He nodded toward Kasabian. “Take him to the room. He has no power, so you should be able to handle him now.”

  Silva stalked off, and Gren turned his bitter smile on Kasabian. “Aw, been Stripped, eh? That’s too bad.” He kicked Kasabian in the side. “Another bruise or two won’t be noticeable.” His boot came at him again, and Kasabian felt his ribs crack. A sharp pain rocketed through his side. He tried to summon his healing power. Nothing happened.

  He managed to reach out as Gren readied for another kick and grabbed his ankle, jerking him off balance. Gren fell, arms wheeling, landing hard on his back. Sure, it would piss him off even more than the asshole already seemed to be, but Kasabian had nothing to lose at this point.

  Gren scrambled to his feet, his face red with fury. The last thing Kasabian saw was a fist coming at him.

  Chapter 6

  Sarai gave Kye an agonized look from across the table at their favorite Italian restaurant. “So tell me, is it lust or love at first sight, o wise one? I need to know if I’m going off the deep end again with this guy or if it might, maybe, possibly be the real thing.”

  Kye didn’t want to tell Sarai that she’d lost her Zensu abilities, so she bluffed. “You know I don’t believe in love at first sight.”

  “Not love, per se, but the way your soul is drawn to another soul. That wow factor that’s deeper than infatuation or lust. You’ve never experienced it yourself, but I know you’ve felt it in others.”

  Kye had felt it. Was feeling it. Being apart from Kasabian wasn’t helping one damned bit.

  “Come on, Kye, tell me if it’s real. Don’t let me make a big mistake.”

  Sarai could sense trouble for others, but not for herself. Sadly, this was true of many Deuces. Their personal stake in the matter muddled their clarity or, like Kye, their ability altogether.

  Shoot. Kye didn’t want to be pressed, but she’d been giving Sarai advice on her roller-coaster love life for years. “All right.” She held out her hands, and Sarai clasped them over the table. Kye closed her eyes and picked up…nothing. Just like she’d picked up nothing with the clients she’d met with earlier that morning.

  “I think it’s infatuation,” Kye said, and just to be safe, added, “But don’t discount that it’s not the real thing. Let it develop slowly and see where it goes.”

  When she opened her eyes, Sarai was scowling at her. “You are so full of shit.”

  “What?”

  “I have nada interest in any guy right now. I was testing you, because I suspect that you have not taken my advice about Kasabian and gotten yourself into a snarl.”

  “Bitch.” Kye flopped back into her chair, giving her the same kind of scowl. “I didn’t not take your advice.”

  “You should have seen your eyes get all misty when I talked about the wow.”

  Kye picked up her fork and forced herself to draw lines in her spaghetti sauce instead of throwing it at Sarai. “It’s not quite that simple.”

  “Please tell me you haven’t fulfilled the sex forecast I got. Tell me you haven’t gone there.” Something good and hot and sexy, Sarai had said it would be. Then something bad.

  “I am not having sex with Kasabian.” But Kye wanted to. Every cell in her body wanted to.

  “You sound like President Clinton, and we know what happened there.”

  Kye rolled her eyes, but she was trying really hard not to think about Kasabian’s mouth on hers, his hands…

  Sarai obviously took her silence as confirmation. “Kye, that’s how the bad part starts!”

  “You’ll be happy to know that we are not romantically involved. In fact, we’ve agreed that it would be a bad idea.”

  “But? I sense a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

  “We’re bonded.”

  “Whaaaa?”

  It felt good to share this with someone. “He and I did magick to help him retrieve lost memories, very important ones. We ended up being bonded, and, yes, I’ve lost my abilities. For now. I’m so angry I could tear his hair out.”

  The image that popped into her mind, though, had nothing to do with fury and everything to do with her hands gripping his hair as he thrust into her. Kye blinked the image away.

  “Wouldn’t it be best to stay away from him?” Sarai asked.

  “Oh, believe me, I am staying completely away from that man.” The memory of his big bed popped into her mind.

  Sarai was shaking her head, a grim expression on her face. “You won’t. You’re going to get sucked in so deep, you won’t know where you end and he begins.” She reached out and grabbed Kye’s hand. “And you’re going to get ripped to shreds.”

  “Uh…literally?”

  “No, your soul. Your heart.” Sarai sank into her thoughts. “What I get are words, ideas about what’s to come. And the feeli
ngs to go with them. All I know is that if you stay with him, you’re going to suffer terribly. I’ll keep working on getting more.”

  “And I’m going to work on breaking our bond. It’s the last thing I need.”

  Sarai was studying her with narrowed eyes. “But there’s a part of you that likes it.”

  “No way. It’s unnerving. Annoying. Disturbing.” Did it count as a lie if she was telling it to herself, too?

  Twenty minutes later, when Kye was back in her office going through her patient files, she got the first hint of the pain to come. Real pain, along with a spear of panic. Kasabian. She got to her feet and grabbed her phone from the credenza. But she didn’t have his number. If he were involved in some kind of altercation, he couldn’t answer anyway.

  Suddenly the breath left her lungs, and she stumbled to her knees. Gasping, she dialed the number all Crescents had on hand—the number for the Guard. She could barely ask for Hayden.

  “I’m sorry, he’s not here right now. May I leave him a message?”

  “No. Emergency.”

  “We can send someone else—”

  “Need Hayden,” she managed to utter. “Please, get me in touch with him.”

  “Give me your name and number, ma’am, and I’ll do my best.”

  She’d no sooner given the information when excruciating pain dropped her completely to the floor. Her legs were jelly, her back on fire. What the hell was happening to Kasabian? She wasn’t sure where his fear stopped and hers began.

  Her phone rang a minute later, and she could barely grasp it. She didn’t recognize the number, assumed it was Hayden, and answered with a gasp.

  “Kye? What’s going on?”

  “Kasabian…in trouble. Pain.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Bad.”

  “I’ll Leap to him and try to take him to his place. Can you meet us there?”

  She clutched the chair to help her to her feet. “I’m on my way.”