Watcher Redeemed

by JL Madore

  Kyrian cursed. “All the more reason to call it off. If you move forward with this mass hunt, Zander will have no choice but to cull your party and put them down.”

  She stared up at him, her eyes as big as two full moons. Man, when she looked at him like that, her pain reached right into his chest and squeezed his heart. “How could he know? You?”

  Kyrian shook his head. “No, not me. It’s what we do, love. Why do you think we’re called Watchers? Point is, he knows, and he’s given me a head start to talk you out of it.”

  “And do what instead? If you insist on telling me how to serve my people, tell me how you plan to feed them? We’re almost out of food and what we do have isn’t fresh enough to support health and vitality. My people are starving, Kyrian. It’s as unbearable to witness as it is to suffer.”

  He reached to touch her but caught himself and clasped his hands at his back. Images of her wasting away still gave him the quakes at night. “I swear, we’ll find another way.”

  She laughed and threw up her hands. “Are humans suddenly going to offer up their organs without complaint?”

  “We’ll petition the choir to adjust the accords. I’ll help train your hunters to find what you need and stay within the laws. I don’t know the answer, Cassi, but you have to follow a different path than your father. Swear it.”

  “Swear it? Who are you to ask anything of me?” She picked up a piece of lumber from a pile of construction supplies and cracked him one in the arm. “You take my virginity, transform my blood needs, make me fall for your charms, and then threaten to kill me and everyone I care about. I don’t know what this burning is between us, but I hate it.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s the truth. I’m lost, burning . . . I ache all the time, and you don’t care. You spirit yourself off, back to your family, and leave me to toe the line like a good demon. Well, fuck you, Kyrian of Thebes.”

  That sentence was punctuated with another heartfelt whack to the arm. Kyrian wasn’t sure if he was more amused by the lumber abuse, or the fact that Cassi had just f-bombed him.

  “Nice follow-through, slugger,” Seth said, laughing behind him. “Hey Greek, how’s things?”

  Kyrian seized the piece of lumber and stepped to block Cassi from his brothers. “What are you doing here, boys?”

  Phoenix raised his hands and filled him in.

  “Now? Why does Austin need to speak to her?”

  Seth shrugged, tilting his head to the side to get a better view of Cassi. “Didn’t say, but she seemed set on it, even for her.”

  “Kyrian, what’s going on?” Cassi asked.

  Before he had a chance to answer, the hair on his arms stood on end. The sudden charge in the atmosphere made his neck itch. “We’ve got company, my brothers.”

  The reach to the small of his back was instinctual. Kyrian cursed when he remembered he’d surrendered his weapons to Dougal upon his arrival. The echoing barks of male voices had him leaning to see what was happening in the courtyard. “Fuck me, it’s an invasion.”

  “Cassiane!” Devious shouted. “Surrender yourself, and no harm shall fall upon any of our kind.”

  Demons poured through the open Bolthole, like stagnant water gushing through a busted sewer pipe. “Seth, give me one of your guns and take Cassi. Phoenix, you’re with me. That fucker dies for shooting Austin, we clear?”

  Phoenix nodded.

  Seth unsheathed a Glock from under his slicker and handed it over. “I’ll deliver her and be right back.”

  Kyrian nodded. “And bring your friends.”

  Cassiane didn’t know what was happening. With Kyrian and his warrior brothers blocking her way, she couldn’t see into the courtyard, but she’d heard Devious’ threat. Before she had time to argue, one of the two hulking Nephilim who’d arrived grabbed her by the arm and they’d dematerialized.

  With her feet firmly planted in some kind of sandy sawdust, she turned on the warrior. “Take me back. If Devious is threatening my people, I need to be there.”

  The warrior turned a bright blue glare on her as he retrieved his phone from his long, red jacket. “I listen to Kyrian, not you, Shedim. If I had my way, you’d all kill each other, and we could just come in and burn the bodies, but here you are.”

  “And why is that?” She looked around the large oval structure and inhaled the pungency of horse. Was she to pay for her transgressions? No. Kyrian wouldn’t have offered her up so easily to slaughter. Would he?

  Approaching from the far end, Zandros of Kish walked with the human woman from the video she’d seen, and a brown animal at her side.

  “You so much as breathe on Austin and you die, feel me, bitch? And if Zander doesn’t finish you off, there are five more of us waiting in line.”

  The venom in the warrior’s threat stung. Who was this human, that these men would kill and die for her? “I have no interest in harming her. I was misled and owe the woman a sincere apology.”

  “You owe her a fuck more than that.”

  “Seth?” Austin said, as they joined them. “Where’s Kyrian? I thought he’d be with Cassi.”

  The massive warrior finished with his phone and slid it back into his pocket. “He’ll be along in two shakes, cowgirl. Just had a bit of Nephilim business to sort out first. Don’t worry.”

  He kissed her cheek and unsheathed a gun. “Gotta run. Be back before the dinner bell rings.”

  And with that, he was gone.

  Zander glanced at a message on his phone and frowned. When his gaze met hers, his disposition didn’t improve. “You are here against my better judgement, Shedim. My wife is too compassionate for her own good. If you so much as step on Austin’s toe—”

  Cassi raised a hand. “Be at ease, Watcher. I assure you, as I have Kyrian and that large warrior who brought me, I regret the action taken against your wife. She is in no danger from me now that I know the truth of things.”

  “See, Zander, nothing to worry about. Now, you go join in whatever battle has been unleashed, and leave the girls to talk.”

  Zander laughed. “I will do no such thing.”

  Austin stared up at her mate and pressed a gentle hand to his cheek. “If Kyrian didn’t come, there is serious trouble. I heard the text come through and Seth draw his gun before he left. Go save the world, angelman. Cassi and I will chat and get to know each other while you’re gone.”

  Cassi shook her head. “I’m sorry, Austin. As much as the idea of speaking with you intrigues me, I must go back. Will you take me Watcher?”

  “No.” Zander frowned and started typing on his phone. “When Xxan arrives, I’ll leave him to guard you both.”

  “Am I your prisoner? If not, I demand you return me to my castle.”

  Zander stiffened at her words. The energy the male gave off tingled under her skin and made her stomach churn. “You are here because Kyrian wanted you here. His beast needs you safe to focus. You’d only put him in danger there.”

  “But those are my people fighting. I won’t have him fighting in my place.”

  Austin chuckled and laid her palm against her husband’s chest. The charge in the air dissipated, as if being drained away by some magical force. “You’ll have to get used to that, Cassi. Nephilim are insanely protective and kill, without remorse, anyone who threatens the people they love.”

  She was about to argue when Austin nodded to Zander. “We’ll be fine, love. Off you go. Bring everyone home whole.”

  The idea of leaving Austin in the company of that Shedim bitch practically liquified Zander’s bowels. He’d given Xxan orders to slaughter first and explain why later. If the Seraph had an ounce of self-preservation, he’d take that shit seriously. If Cassiane even frowned at his beloved, he wanted her put in the ground. That would be the end of him and Kyrian, no doubt, but it wasn’t like the guy had fully accepted her and transitioned anyway. The Greek always was the smart one of their little band of hotheads.

  Zander followed the energy signature
s of his brothers-in-arms. Since his transition, he’d been able to sense his brothers anywhere in the three realms. He couldn’t help but think, if he’d had that ability before, maybe Tanek might still be alive, but there you have it. Survivor’s guilt sucked ass.

  Zander took form in the middle of a Shedim on Shedim cluster-fuck and withdrew his dagger. “Howdy, fellas. Mind telling me what’s going on?”

  Seth pointed to a till-death-do-us-part between Kyrian and the Hulk they’d all grown to know and despise. A scarlet veil fell over Zander’s vision as he locked in on the bastard who’d shot Austin . . . who’d kidnapped the Cherub from his club. Control was a losing battle. His eyes stung with Hellfire’s burn.

  “Heads up, my brothers,” Seth said, in the distance. “Jackson has arrived, and he’s lit to blow.”

  Zander mowed through the demons in his path as he zoned in on his target. He grabbed the hilt of a sword sticking up from the corpse of a fallen soldier and broke into a run. Distracted as the asshole was, he didn’t even see the blade swinging at his fucking neck.

  “Greek, drop!”

  Zander vaguely noted the distance he scored with the head of his enemy. Arcing into the night sky, the thing end-over-ended across the courtyard. Black ichor pissed down upon all within its trajectory before it fell with a hollow clunk on the cobbled stone.

  A primal cry tore from his throat as he stretched his wings to the heavens. “Who here stands with Devious? Who shall join the bastard in Hell’s void?”

  The fighting fell silent as the masses opened and Stryker’s half-breed daughter Emma crouched, dripping in blood. She swiped a wrist across her cheek and snarled. “You monster. You have no business here. This is a species conflict and you’re out of line. I’ll have your fucking head for this, Zander.”

  “Zandros avenges his mate,” Kyrian said, brushing himself off. “Devious shot her—an innocent, in full view of humans. Zander notified the Dark Prince that justice would be served. To that end, Emma, you owe us blood for your part in Austin’s exposure, kidnapping, and torture back in August.”

  The terror in her piss-yellow eyes was fuel to Zander’s vengeance bonfire. “I did nothing that gives you the right to kill me. You do and my mother will rain Hell’s fury on all of you.”

  “She has a point, Adolphos, but you could torture her a little and still be good.”

  Zander dropped his head and locked his gaze, the sweet-fire burn of retribution pumping through his veins.

  Cassi found it much easier to like Austin than she thought she would, considering her feelings about humans. True, she’d never met a human before, but she’d been brought up to regard them as cattle or sheep. Austin wasn’t livestock. She was a strong, intelligent woman, who had been terribly wronged by her, her father, and her father’s illegitimate daughter.

  “Why do this for me?” Cassi asked, stunned by the plan Austin had put in place to help her and her people.

  Austin shrugged, her smile genuine and at ease. “Because I want Kyrian to be happy. He won’t find any peace until his two worlds reconcile.”

  The two of them walked side by side, going over the details of Austin’s plan. It seemed impossible that she might have found a way to eliminate the starvation of Shedim and species like them. To think, she’d almost had her killed.

  Cassi shivered and changed the subject. “You cannot see your own world, yet you can see mine? Why is that?”

  Austin laughed. “No one has any idea.”

  Her dog trotted along at her side, physically guiding her movement inside the perimeter of the large horse training ring.

  “At first, I saw Nephilim silhouettes when Zander and his brothers spoke. Members of the Darkworld triggered nausea in me, and I saw violent clawing, white swipes in the air as they spoke. After Zander brought me back from death and Lady Divinity blessed our union, I saw the auras, silhouettes, and features of people—depending where they fall within the Otherworld hierarchy.”

  “Astounding.” The woman had lived most of her life sightless, yet functioned and excelled as well as anyone around her. “And did your mother aid you?”

  Austin’s face showed no sign of her emotions shifting, but Cassi smelled the bitter tang of sadness in the air. “My mother drowned in a terrible flood when I was a child. My father raised me on his own.”

  Cassi rubbed her hands together, suddenly chilled. The Human Realm had seasons and was currently experiencing a cold one. “I lost my mother as well. She grew ill from one of the nutritional ailments my people suffer from. She passed unto the void when I was very young.”

  They rounded the oval end of the arena and continued their walk back the other way. “You see, we’re not so different. Human, Darkworlder, Nephilim . . . we’re all just people doing our best to survive hostile worlds.”

  Cassi’s blush warmed her cheeks and she wondered if Austin could see it. “I admit, when Kyrian spoke of you, I grew jealous of his affection. I see now, though, why he and the others hold you in such high regard. You are lovely, Austin. I am truly, wretchedly, sorry for my transgressions against you.”

  “And Kyrian,” she said, looking suddenly serious. “I wasn’t the only one you hurt. He almost died from the gunshot wound he received shielding me. It was only by the grace of the heavens that they were able to save him. Raphael came down to work on him personally.”

  Shock and regret hit Cassi harder than she would have thought possible. The space grew foggy and she blinked to clear her head. “He never mentioned that.”

  “Why would he? He’s working to reduce tension between the two of you, not create more.”

  Cassi toed the soft footing and sighed. “That is what I fail to understand. Why does he care? What keeps him coming back to me, when a relationship with me offers both of us nothing but conflict and pain?”

  “He can’t help himself. You are the one for him.”

  Cassi laughed. If only that were true. “In truth, I hardly know him. There have been a few stolen moments over a few days with weeks and months in between.”

  “Believe me, I know how sudden it feels—but for Nephilim and their inner beasts, it happens that way.”

  She studied the woman, more questions coming to mind moment by moment. “Kyrian said he didn’t know what was happening.”

  Austin licked her lips and exhaled. “That was a half-truth. He knew the cause, he just didn’t know how to handle it or what to do about it.”

  Cassi glanced around to ensure that they were still alone. She touched Austin’s arm and they stopped walking. “Will you let me in on the secret? I think I have a right to know why my life has gone to the hounds.”

  “I don’t like to tell other people’s stories, but it wasn’t long ago, I was the one flailing, trying to understand what was happening. You, at least, know about the Otherworld, so you’re already ahead of where I was.”

  Austin spent the next ten minutes explaining to her about Nephilim mating heat. How it affected her, anyway. “So, when the Dark Prince allowed your father’s red-metaled weapons to negate Watcher immortality, his sister, Lady Divinity, balanced the scales by allowing Nephilim the ability to mate, reproduce, and grow stronger by being whole.”

  Cassi liked the idea of being Kyrian’s mate far more than she should. Nephilim were no friends to Shedim. Her people would never accept a union between them and still respect her as their leader. “And I am to be Kyrian’s female, e’ermore?”

  “Surprise.”

  Cassi shook her head. “He knew this, and didn’t tell me?”

  This time, Austin’s expression did show her emotions darken. “When exactly should he have mentioned it? After you had him shot, poisoned, and tortured, but before you dragged him to the block for execution? This is not all on him, Cassi. He should have told you, no argument, but the two of you haven’t been riding the smoothest of trails together.”

  That was the understatement of the century. Cassi crossed her arms and tucked her hands tight against her body. “Perhaps I
might have done things differently had I known the truth.”

  Austin shrugged. “Welcome to the world of alpha males. As Nephilim go, Kyrian is the most cultured and level-headed, but he’s still a man. Add to that, he’s afraid you’ll learn the truth and run screaming.”

  “Why would he think that?”

  “He killed your father, took your virginity, and then took your future of choice from you too. He’s terrified you’ll hate him, and that his brothers will refuse to accept you. He’s torn between those he loves most.”

  Cassi brushed her hair back from her face and laughed. “There is something undeniable between us, absolutely, but if what you say is true, Kyrian hasn’t had any more choice in this than I. It’s biological manipulation, not love.”

  “You’re wrong,” Kyrian said, taking solid form behind them. “But that must wait.” Covered in black demon blood, he rushed to Austin’s side and took her elbow. “Come on, cowgirl, let’s get you ladies someplace safe. Hell’s breaking loose.”

  He glanced over and handed her his Crystalline dagger. “You said you could handle yourself. Was that true?”

  Cassi flipped the dagger, slicing the air and manipulating the lethal blade over and around in a graceful show. “My father was Master of Shedim. All his children were trained to be among the sharpest weapons in his arsenal.”

  “That gives me the quakes but is super-hot.” He turned to the purple-haired Seraph guardian in the tiered seats outside the ring. “Xxan, getcha ethereal ass down here. We’re about to have unwanted guests.”

  “Who?” Austin asked. “Where’s Zander?”

  Kyrian squeezed the human to his side and she ran in pace with his long strides. The two moved as one in a practiced coordination that made Cassi’s insecurities sting.

  “Zander’s alter ego showed up during battle. Jackson took one look at Devious and lopped off the bastard’s head. Shot it across the courtyard like a cannonball. Cassi’s half-sister totally lost her shit. She wants the Shedim throne, love, and she’s coming for you with all her friends.”