“Let me heal you,” she said softly.
He awkwardly pulled her to him and kissed her even trying to wash away all the bad feelings. They had gained their freedom but at a terrible price.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabi sat on a chair between the cots that held Abdiel and Cam. She had already healed Abdiel, but Cam was a different story. What the demons had done to him could not be undone. He was forever going to be different.
She had put herself into a trance and scanned his body. Analyzing every molecule of his blood, she had seen how it had mutated. Although he was still an angel, he now had one foot in the demon world.
She still had been unable to bring herself to give him the worst news of all. Unless he drank angel blood on a regular basis, he could succumb to the evil that was now a part of him. Their sweet, innocent Cam was gone.
There was one silver lining to the cloud. Cam’s body now carried an antibody to the demon’s blood. She was certain that if she could isolate it, she could make an antidote to the poison. The demons would no longer have an advantage over them.
Michael came over and just stood there looking at Cam. The chief’s face was both sad and haunted at the same time. Cam slept on, completely oblivious to his uncle’s presence. Occasionally the young angle’s brow would wrinkle up as he got caught up in another nightmare.
“Where is the rest of the gang?” Michael finally asked.
“Barakiel got his first battle injury and he wanted to show it off to the others before Derel healed it.”
A ghost of a smile passed over his face. “They hate me, don’t they?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
He ran his hand through his hair with a resigned sigh. “How bad was … I mean, what did the demons … crap.”
Gabi arched her brow at him. “Are you trying to ask how injured Cam was?”
“Yes, I am.”
“He was bad, Michael, real bad. It took both Derel and me to heal him. They did horrible things to him. What they did to his mind was even worse. Ana tried to scan him and he was so damaged in there that it gave her a migraine. She’s sleeping it off now.”
Michael swallowed hard. “I really, really messed up.”
“Yes, you really, really did.”
Michael looked down at Cam again, and she could have sworn that she saw him tear up a bit. She had known him all of her life, and she had never once seen him this emotional. She felt her anger melt away.
“Look, Michael, you just need to give them time. I know Ana and the boys. While they may be mad at you now, they won’t stay that way long. They don’t have it in them.”
“I guess that’s more than I deserve right now.” He ruffled her hair and left.
She thought about the Lehor family and all that they had lost. She knew that it was only going to get harder for them. Raphael walked over to her. Seeing the devastated look on her face, he opened his arms. She didn’t hesitate. She ran over and embraced her brother. A small part of her was shocked she could count the times on one hand that Raphael had ever shown any affection.
“We are transferring all the injured back to the healing chambers,” he told her when she finally pulled away.
“I thought the council did not want anyone that has been poisoned up in Heaven.”
“I’m overruling them. With the high number of casualties, we need the extra magic that the chamber provides.”
“Listen Raphael about Cam—” she began but he cut her off.
“Do you still trust him?”
“Of course I do.”
“That’s good enough for me.” He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.
“I think I can make an antidote for the poison.” She then told him what she had found in Cam’s blood.
When she was done, he nodded his head thoughtfully. “That just might work. It can’t hurt to try. We need to work quickly, however. Several empaths were infected during the battle and they’re in danger of losing their minds.”
She flashed to the healing chamber and got rooms ready for the males. By the time she got back Cam had woken up and was sitting. He wore sunglasses to shield his eyes from the other angels. He had his iPod cranked up as loud as it could go.
“How’s Mr. Dark Angel doing?” he asked as he pulled out his ear buds.
“He’s going to kick your ass if you keep calling me that,” Abdiel grumbled.
“You’re awake,” she breathed as he leaned over to examine him.
Abdiel pulled her down with a growl. She let out a girlish giggle when he started to nuzzle the side of her neck. She loved it when he did that. Cupping the back of her head with his hand, he moved his lips to her mouth. When he nipped her bottom lip she completely forgot that they were not alone. She started to crawl onto the cot.
“Eww. Get a room,” a disgusted voice said.
Gabi looked up with a gasp and saw the youngest Lehor brother shooting them a mischievous smile. He was completely dressed in goth. His black pants had numerous zippers and loops and he had on a Good Charlotte tee shirt. The most shocking thing was his bright blue hair.
“Hey Barakiel.” Gabi sighed as she got off of Abdiel.
Cam curled his lip at his brother. “What the hell have you done to your hair? You look like frigging Angel Smurf.”
“Yeah, well with those sunglasses on you look like Billy Idol,” Barakiel shot back.
“Come give me a hug, little brother.” Cam opened up his arms. “I thought I would never see you again.”
To Gabi’s shock, the idiot fell for it. Barakiel went over to his brother ready to embrace him. As soon as he got close enough Cam grabbed him and put him in a headlock. Barakiel struggled to get out of it until finally the cot flipped over dumping them both to the ground. The two brothers continued to roughhouse on the ground.
“I swear if you bite me, I’ll bite back,” Barakiel gasped out. Cam had his knees on his chest and he breathed with difficulty.
Cam cuffed him on the side of the head. “Please with all the junk you eat you would probably taste like corn dogs and Doritos. Thanks, but no thanks.”
Gabi started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. Just seeing Cam act like his same old self made her feel so good. Pretty soon Abdiel joined her. The two Lehor brothers looked over at them no doubt wondering if they had finally gone looney.
“I’m supposed to bring you both to the healing chambers,” Gabi said, sobering.
“I’ll pass, thank you.” Cam’s voice was full of panic. “I was thinking that maybe I should just wait for you guys at the house.”
“Ana figured that’s what you would say. That’s why she sent me to get you,” his brother said with an evil smile. Barakiel then flashed the two of them to Heaven before he had time to argue.
“Great,” Gabi muttered when she saw that Cam’s sunglasses had fallen off when he was wrestling. She snatched them up before she flashed herself and Abdiel to the healing Chambers.
As soon as they got there, she saw that Cam was rubbing his eyes and hissing with pain just as she had suspected. The pure white light of Heaven was too much for him now. She quickly shoved on his sunglasses.
“What the hell, Gabi?” he snapped out.
“I know this is all scary, Cam,” she soothed. “But, believe it or not, there is some good that can come from this.”
“What could possibly be freaking good about this?”
“I think I can use you to make an antidote for this poison. You will be able to help countless empaths from being destroyed.”
“No, thank you, I’m no lab rat,” Cam growled.
“Just think about it; you could save you own kind.”
“What, half-breed demon slash angels? I need to check around, but I’m pretty sure that I’m the only one who fits that bill.”
“I’m getting an assignment,” Barakiel said quietly. “They need a new empath in Flint and I’m it. The last empath is in the insane ward with mom and dad because of this crap. Do you want that to happen to me?
”
Cam gave him an aggravated look. “Don’t…”
“All the empaths are in danger.”
“…lay…”
“More and more of them are turning out of desperation.”
“…this guilt trip…”
“We all need your help, me included.”
“…on me.”
“Please Cam.” Barakiel gave him the puppy dog eyes. “Do it for me.”
“That’s not fair, and you know it,” Cam sighed before he turned to Gabi. “What would I have to do?”
“I would just need to take some blood,” she told him.
Cam blanched. “You mean you would have to stick me with a needle?”
Angels were notoriously wimpy when it came to needles. They tended to get spoiled by the fact that healers could mend them simply by laying hands on them.
“I don’t even want to hear it.” Barakiel rolled his eyes. “We all got stuck this morning just so we could donate blood for your sorry ass.”
Cam looked thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Gabi told us that you would need blood.” Barakiel was talking to him like he was a child. “Since we didn’t think it would be a good idea for you to go around vamping out on everybody, we donated ours.”
“I must be losing it,” Abdiel muttered in her ear. “All this is actually starting to sound normal to me.”
“Can you still eat normal food?” Barakiel asked Cam.
“I dunno,” Cam mumbled as he fiddled with his hair.
“I know where Ana has all the junk food hidden in her house. Let’s go nosh.” Barakiel grabbed Cam and started to drag him out of the room. “I’ll bring him right back. I promise, Gabi.”
As soon as they were alone, Abdiel turned around and captured her in his arms. “I thought they’d never leave,” he murmured against her lips.
“I’m angry at you,” she protested weakly. Her body was already arching in so that she could touch every inch of him.
The kiss he gave her was so soft and tender that it made her want to weep. He trailed his fingers down the side of her throat until he reached the front zipper of her jacket. She went to take of his shirt but remembered that it was torn up the back and he was still covered in blood.
“Wait right here,” she whispered.
She went into the adjoining bathroom and filled the large tub with of hot water. She stripped down and stepped in.
“Abdiel,” she called out seductively. “I’m waiting.”
When he walked in and saw her waiting there his face darkened with desire. She gave a sexy little giggle as she watched him struggle to get his clothes off. When he was undressed, she crooked her finger at him. He reached out for her, but she shook her hands and pushed his hands away.
“You’re still hurt,” she breathed huskily in his ear. “Lucky for you. You have your own personal healer.”
With gentle, loving hands, she carefully washed the blood from his back. Even though his wounds had started to heal there were still several red welts. She kissed each of them one by one, laving him gently with her tongue. She smiled to herself when she heard him moan. She moved around and straddled him so they were face to face. She grabbed his hands and slowly brought them to her lips. She took each of his fingers in her mouth and suckled them.
“If you ever go off and leave me again, and I will destroy you,” she told him.
He opened his mouth to answer but let out a hiss instead. Her hand had trailed down and she was gently caressing him. When she looked at his face, she was amazed. His dark eyes were hooded with desire and his normally hardened warrior’s face was soft and tender. The fact that she had that power of him was heady.
She shifted her weight so that she could take him in. As his thickness filled her, she threw her head back and gave a sigh of happiness. She found a slow, easy rhythm as she rode him, not wanting it to be over too soon. She wanted it to last forever because now that she had him back, that was exactly what they had. Forever.
Much too soon she felt the pleasure building up in her, getting ready to crest. He must have sensed it too because he gripped her hips tight with his hands and took over control. With hard, quick thrusts, he brought her over in wave after wave of heaven. After a few more moments, he joined her.
“I thought I’d never feel like this again,” he spoke against her throat right before he started to kiss it.
Already she was on fire for him again and when she felt his erection against her leg, she knew that he was ready for another round too. He tenderly dried her off with a towel then led her back into the bedroom.
He kissed her, his body feeling like it was on fire. He wanted to touch every inch of her to consume her. What had happened down in Hell had torn him apart. Not only was he traumatized, but it had nearly destroyed him that Cam had been victimized too. The terrible emptiness he felt could only be filled by her, by her love.
He picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Pressing her back against the wall, he entered her in a hard stroke. She urged him on by digging her nails into his back. As he took her, he buried his nose in the hollow of her throat, reveling in her sweet rose scent. He licked a bead of sweat off her neck tasting the salty goodness as he caressed her satin skin.
He knew he wasn’t being gentle with her, but she was not exactly being gentle with him either. She seemed to need this wild sex as much as he did. When he looked at her face, he saw that her cheeks were flushed with desire and her green eyes were seductive, beckoning for more. She made soft mewling sounds that coordinated perfectly with his thrusts.
When she came, she threw back her head and cried out. He covered her mouth with a kiss so that her sounds were muffled. As soon as her body started to tighten and spasm around him, he joined her. He still held her in his arms when they were finished while they both caught their breath.
“I need to get going,” she sighed regretfully. “They should have the lab set up by now, and I have work to do.”
He nodded and let her slip to the ground. Giving her a quick peck on the tip of her nose, he turned to get dressed. She had been thoughtful enough to have a change of fresh clothes waiting for him. It felt good to get rid of his old clothes. They reeked of Hell.
They made their way to the laboratory that was situated in the center of all the healing chambers. Gabi pushed open the glass doors and they entered a cold and clinical room.
Watching the numerous angels that bustling around the room in white lab coats, he felt his jaw go slack with shock. It seemed so human, not at all like the mystical healing techniques he was used to seeing. Hell, there were even microscopes and test tubes lining the walls.
Seeing his confusion, Gabi smiled and explained. “This is not the first time demons have introduced poison into the war. In fact, almost every human disease has been invented by demons. We built this facility several hundred years ago in order to keep up.”
“I’m sorry. I thought that humans were the only ones that practiced this type of healing,” he admitted.
“Please.” She gave a small chuckle. “We were the ones who taught the humans their modern medicine. They just don’t know it.”
Barakiel came through the lab doors. Cam followed dragging his feet. Even though his sunglasses covered his eyes, Abdiel knew his gaze was sweeping the lab, looking to see if anyone was gawking. However, everyone seemed oblivious to their presence.
A male angel rushed over to Gabi’s side. Small in stature, his head, that was topped with a mass of tangled brown hair, barely reached her shoulder. His lab coat was wrinkled as were the rest of his clothes. Appearances aside, he carried an aura of authority around him. He was clearly the one that ran the entire lab.
“If Camael is ready, we have everything set up and ready to go,” he said. “If everything goes as expected, we could have the antidote ready in as little as a hour.”
“That quick?” Abdiel asked.
“Yes,” Gabi nodded. “We are considerably more a
dvanced than humans. Something that could take them months to accomplish, we can do in hours.”
A tall, brunette female walked over and handed Cam a travel coffee mug. “Come with me, and we’ll get your blood.”
“What’s this?” Cam eyed the mug suspicious.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the female’s voice was no-nonsense. “We will have to take a considerable amount of blood, and your body is going to need to replace its fluids.”
“I can’t drink this, Gabi,” Cam argued. “Not in front of all these angels.”
“Why not?” Barakiel growled. “You vamped out on Derel right in the middle of a battle field of hundreds of angels. Why let a few lab dorks freak you out?”
“Thank you for the compliment.” The female shot Barakiel a filthy look. “We’ll go to the table over in the corner so nobody will see you. Besides, for all they know all that’s in that cup is Starbucks.”
When Cam still looked doubtful, she added, “I’ll give you juice and a cookie after.”
Barakiel grabbed Cam by the elbow and led him over to the examination table. Abdiel watched amazed at how the youngest bother handled Cam. With a few well placed jokes and an easy going matter, he made it seem like there was nothing abnormal going on. It was obvious that the youngest Lehor was also the peacemaker of the family. He suspected that why Ana had sent Barakiel in the first place. Cam finally drifted off to sleep, his body exhausted after all the abuse it had been put through. Barakiel gripped his hand and finally let his true emotions show. Abdiel went over and pulled up a chair next to him.
“He’s never going to be the same again, is he?” Barakiel ducked his head trying to hide his tears from the archangel.
“No.” Abdiel felt a lump well up in his throat. “I’m sorry, but Gabi said the change is permanent. I should have tried to stop the succubus from making him drink the blood, but he was starting to become comatose. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Barakiel’s eyes snapped up and bore into his. “Don’t have any regrets. You brought our brother back to us, and he’s not like Mom and Dad. That’s what’s important. All this other crap, we can deal with. We’re family, and we stick together through good times and bad times.”
Angel Warriors Page 27