Undiscovered Angel

by Sharon Saracino

  Rapier’s eyes widened in shock as he dropped heavily to his knees with Callista still cradled in his arms. She opened her eyes and looked at him and an expression that was almost peace came to the madman’s face.

  “If only you could have loved me…” he gasped, laying her on the ground as gently as he could before his strength left him and he fell to his side. “If only…”

  To everyone’s astonishment, Callista reached out and grasped his hand. “Perhaps I could have loved the man, Jacques, if only you could have stopped. Perhaps I could have loved the man, but I could have never loved the beast that possessed you.”

  Rapier smiled serenely. “In that case, ma couer, perhaps I am saved, after all.”

  “Doubtful,” Luca muttered coldly as he shoved the Fallen’s body away and bent to lift Callista into his arms.

  ****

  Kat was still on her knees, and dropped her face into her hands, sobbing brokenly. Kassian tried to get a grip on her slime covered arms and pull her to her feet. Finally, he simply scooped her up bodily and held her against him, stinking animorti guts and all. He thought he might actually love her more in that moment than he ever would have believed it was possible to love anyone. Rapier was dead, Calli was alive, and Kat was safe in his arms, right where she belonged. None of it thanks to him and surprisingly, he was okay with that. He’d spent what felt like a lifetime convinced that the only thing that could bring him peace was being the instrument of Rapier’s demise. In the end, he hadn’t been able to control Kat any more than he’d been able to control Calli, but he finally understood that while he might love them both, he couldn’t make their decisions for them, nor was he responsible for the consequences of the decisions they made. The only thing he could hope for was that he would always be able to protect them from whatever those consequences might be; or at least hope that they were strong enough to protect themselves. And while Rapier’s death finally gave him release, it was the woman in his arms who’d finally given him peace.

  ****

  Kat couldn’t understand the overwhelming emotions rolling off of Kassian. They seemed to be directed at her, but that wasn’t possible. Not after what she’d done. She took a deep breath and tried to speak, but no words came out. It would be so much easier to communicate without the words, but that was a coward’s way out. She’d made him give her the words once, knowing how difficult it was for him. She owed him no less. She peeked between her fingers and her heart broke into a million pieces when she saw the tears tracking down his cheeks; tears she mistook for grief.

  “Kassian,” she whispered in a small choked voice. “I’m so sorry…I tried…I …”

  Kassian pulled one tiny hand away from her face and looked for one area free of slime to kiss. He failed. Instead, he put his lips as close to her ear as he could without getting a faceful of animorti.

  “I love you, Katrina Shephard,” he whispered. “But if you ever scare me like that again I will smack your ass until you beg for mercy.” He glanced up as Luca stepped into the basement with Callista in his arms.

  “But, I…Callista…” Hearing her name, Callista opened one eye and quirked a brow at Luca’s worried gaze.

  “Took you long enough,” she sniffed.

  “Cheer up, Kat,” Luca chuckled. “She’s fine.”

  Epilogue

  Callista’s convalescence was trying, for everyone around her. Kat had been astounded to discover that Dimitri was a bona fide doctor and thanks to his medical skills, Calli’s recovery was relatively swift. Still, it involved a good deal of complaining and demanding. Luca was the only one immune to her whining, and she did seem to do a lot less of it when he was around. For the first few days, she actually seemed to be mourning for Rapier. Kat took Kassian aside and worriedly suggested Stockholm syndrome, but Callista finally explained that though she could never have loved Jacques the way he wanted, over the years she had come to understand and develop a certain fondness for the man he could have been if only he’d been able to overcome his demons. He’d loved her in his way. It saddened her that he hadn’t been strong enough to keep the depravity at bay, but she took comfort in the fact that perhaps death had finally ended his struggle. She acknowledged the horrible things he’d done, but maintained her conviction that they had been beyond his control. Not one of them agreed with her assessment, but whatever her faults, Callista clearly had a tender heart.

  While she healed, she spent her days voraciously reading popular magazines and glued to the television, working hard to acclimate herself to this new century to which she’d had little exposure during her captivity, and trying to stifle her shock at how much everything had changed. Once she was feeling a little more human, or at least the Earthbound equivalent, she was able to fill in some of the gaps for the rest of them. After a hundred or so years of captivity, Jacques took it for granted that she wasn’t going anywhere and was less guarded around her, less concerned with what she might overhear. When Kat learned that Sid was in fact, Miranda’s Familiar, and he’d reported back to her on a regular basis, she became physically ill. Having spent the lion’s share of the last five years in Sid’s company, Kat was appalled to realize exactly how familiar the Familiar must have been with every private aspect of her life. Kassian ungallantly reminded her that he’d never liked cats, and gleefully offered to fade to Kat’s house and wring the animal’s neck, but not surprisingly, Sid was nowhere to be found. The numbers in Kat’s locket turned out to be map coordinates that indicated the spot where Nicola and Lilly had hidden the ring Miranda had been so desperate to find. When Kassian and Luca returned from retrieving it, the looks on their faces sent Callista into gales of laughter that brought tears to her eyes even as she grimaced and pressed her palms against the sudden pain the unexpected mirth exacerbated in her healing chest.

  “You knew,” Kassian accused, wearing an expression that made it clear he found no humor in the situation whatsoever.

  “Of course, I knew,” Callista swiped at the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, “but, it was worth keeping it to myself just to see the looks on your faces.” At that, she launched into another fit of laughter, clutching at her chest until Luca wordlessly handed her a throw pillow from the sofa to use as a splint.

  “Can someone let me in on the joke?” Kat looked from one to the other.

  “You’re an Archangel,” Kassian mumbled in a voice that sounded almost pitiful.

  “Say what?” Kat asked, sure she must have misheard. “I’m Earthbound; well half of me, anyway. How could I possibly be an Archangel?”

  “This is the Ring of Aandalena,” he said, holding up a thick gold band engraved with sigils and embedded with colorful gemstones.

  “Your family apparently descended from Aandalena,” Luca clarified. “That means you are part Archangel. On your mother’s side.”

  “Which means you outrank both of them,” Calli cackled delightedly.

  “Shut up, Calli,” Kassian and Luca said in unison, which only sent her into further fits of giggles. Kat was quickly learning that despite her sweet nature and generous heart, Callista McAllister could be quite the nudge.

  “Aandalena may have been an Archangel, but she married a human, as has nearly every successive generation of her line since then.” Kassian raked his fingers through his dark hair, which Kat had convinced him to wear loose more often than not. “Kat can’t have inherited more than a few drops of Archangel blood after all these centuries, if there’s even any left.”

  “Apparently a few drops are all it takes…the ring is spelled to recognize its own and feed their power,” Luca pronounced, pinching the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger. “Honestly, Mac, doesn’t it sound like something Michael would create? He was devastated when his daughter chose a human mate, but he loved her too much to deny her. He had no choice but to revoke her immortality, but he designed the ring to ensure that her descendants, his descendants, would never be powerless as the Archangel blood became more and more diluted. Thr
ough the centuries, witches married into the line, adding even more power, and someone, sometime must have gotten greedy and become corrupted by the power, much as I suspect Miranda would have had she gotten her hands on it. Not to mention the chaos that would have ensued if Miranda was under Jacques’s influence when she obtained it. Lilly, knowing Miranda as she did, must have feared just such corruption and decided to take the ring out of circulation for good.”

  “But what does it do?” Kat asked fearfully. “My mother was afraid of it, Miranda was willing to kill for it, and Jacques lusted for it. It doesn’t sound like anything I want to be responsible for.”

  “Tradition says that it gives the wearer control over demons,” Callista interjected softly. “Jacques hoped it might cure him.”

  “Michael is the only one that would still know for sure what power the ring truly has,” Luca replied.

  “I don’t want it.”

  “Cara…” Luca came and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “I know this is a shock, but think this through…”

  “No,” she nearly shouted, twisting from his embrace. “I don’t want it! I’ve spent a lifetime trying to figure out where I belong and I finally have. I finally know who I am and what I want. And I don’t want that…that thing!” She spun to face Kassian. Maybe this ring had some power that could help them in their fight against the Fallen. Maybe she was being selfish? “Do you want me to keep it?”

  Kassian crooked a finger at her and she walked slowly across the room to stand in front of where he sat on the sofa. He reached out and tugged her hand until she fell into his lap. He cupped her face in his hands and gazed into her tear bright eyes.

  “It’s your decision and I won’t try to influence you one way or the other, baby. I think we should find out what power the ring has and what you might be giving up before you decide. Heck, maybe the ring entitles you to wings,” he smiled. She didn’t. “Kat, I want whatever makes you happy. What do you want?”

  “I don’t care about the power,” she whispered, shaking her head slowly. “I’ve spent a lifetime struggling with powers I didn’t understand.” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. “And while I’ll admit, they’ve occasionally come in handy and I guess I can live with the ones I already have, it’s more than enough. I want the ring gone. I want you.” She reached for Luca’s hand. “I want my family. I don’t want to be an Archangel.”

  Kassian leaned his forehead against hers. “You can’t change what you are, Kat, but you’ll always be who you are; and who you are is who I want, always.”

  “Give the ring back to this Michael character,” she said firmly. “He created it, let it be his problem.”

  “Can I please be there when she tells him that?” Luca laughed.

  Gossip among the Fallen was that Michael now spent his time on earth holed up in the Castel Sant’Angelo, admiring his statue on the parapet, and the more accurate likeness by Raphael in the courtyard, watching satellite TV, and finding endless amusement in the Discovery Channel’s attempts to discredit the Divine. The Defensori, for whom Michael served as Commander in Chief, knew better. Michael wielded as much power as he ever had, if not more, and his temper was legendary. He wouldn’t be happy to have his lone descendant refuse his gift.

  ****

  Kassian planted a kiss on Kat’s nose and looked around the room at four of the five people who meant the most to him. The fifth was in Rome, and that’s where they’d need to go to return the ring to Michael, anyway. He’d almost missed this. He’d almost let anger and regret make him oblivious to the good things life still had to offer. He hadn’t been home in over fifty years and suddenly he was anxious to see his mother. She’d cried for over an hour when she learned Calli was alive and he had no doubt that she was going to love Kat. He stood so quickly that he nearly dumped Kat on the floor, and then he pulled her into his arms and dropped his mouth to hers. The kiss held the promise of what he had planned when they were finally alone. And in case she hadn’t picked up on that, he sent a few suggestive scenes into her mind along with it. When he finally lifted his head, Kat looked dazed, Luca was rolling his eyes, Alec was grinning lasciviously, and Callista, unused to the sexual freedom of this new century, was blushing furiously.

  “Okay, it’s settled.” Kassian stepped back and clapped his hands together. “Get packed. Alec, call Mom and make sure the villa’s ready. We’re going to Italy.”

  “Tonight,” Kat replied with a frown.

  “What?”

  “You said we were going tonight. We have other plans this afternoon,” Kat reminded him. “And don’t try telling me you forgot; it won’t work this time.”

  “Well, no…” Kassian looked uncomfortable as hell. “No, I didn’t forget, honey. But wouldn’t you rather go to Italy?”

  “We are going to Italy…tonight,” Kat’s brows were drawn together in the most threatening expression. “You promised Elle she could go with us on the corporate jet. Trust me, after dangling that carrot in front of her, you do not want to tell her we’re leaving this afternoon before she’s finished at the conference and abandoning her to fly coach. They only allow one checked bag now, you know. Elle isn’t a one bag kind of girl; not even for a simple weekend at my house.”

  “Besides, if we leave now, we’ll land at Fiumicino in the middle of the night,” Luca argued. “You’ll be dragging your mother out of bed and she isn’t as young as she used to be. Besides, I doubt she’ll get much sleep once she gets you all together under one roof again. Not to mention the wedding preparations, so you really should let her get some rest before we descend on her like a plague of locusts.”

  “Whose side are you on, anyway?” Kassian narrowed his eyes at Luca.

  Luca shrugged. “Me? I’m Switzerland, my brother.”

  “Luca’s right, Kass,” Callista whispered quietly. “I’m as anxious to see Mother as you are, but as soon as she gets over her initial relief and excitement, I’m in for the lecture to end all lectures. I, uh, don’t mind waiting a few more hours.”

  “Then it’s settled!” Kat crowed triumphantly. “Besides, McAllister, everyone is tired of pizza and wings. I know I am.”

  “Heaven help me,” he groaned, adding an eye roll for good measure.

  “Don’t waste your time calling for help. Heaven has more important things to worry about than your unreasonable little phobias…now move, McAllister,” she demanded.

  “Oh, fine!” he huffed, then strode to the door and yanked it open. Kat did smile then.

  “Cara…where are you going, anyway?” Luca finally called when she was nearly out the door.

  Kat looked at him over her shoulder and waggled her brows like the villain in a silent movie.

  “Grocery shopping.”

  A word about the author...

  Sharon Saracino resides in the anthracite coal country of Pennsylvania with her long-suffering husband, funny and talented son, and two insane dogs. When she is not reading, writing, or enjoying photography and genealogy, she brews limoncello, dreams of living in Italy, and works as a Certified Registered Rehabilitation Nurse.

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