by Azure Boone
Kassern leapt on the being in a blink and wrapped it tight in his wings and shot into the air with him.
“Kient tech hon.” Kassern's muttered words made the strange creature roar and thrash in desperation. Kassern held on grimly, keeping his enemy locked in his wings as liquid ruby filled all the veins in the struggling body.
Kassern solidified the liquid with a thought and released him. He fell to the ground, shattering on impact.
Darkness swam in Kassern’s vision. He fought through it, seeking out more threats. Seeing none, his darkening gaze met Karly’s frantic one. She fought Devyn’s embrace to get to him, hand reaching as he plummeted to the Earth.
His last thought, his last sensation, was the warmth that encased him when their eyes connected. And how extremely good it felt. How right…
After Kassern passed out, Troy examined him. Having no experience or references, the best they could manage was to conclude he had lost consciousness, and hope he would come around soon. Devyn helped Troy wrestle him into the front seat of the little hybrid. Because of the bastard's size, he couldn't fit through the gap into the back seat, and the front seat had to be adjusted all the way back and almost prone. No one could sit behind him, leaving her and Karly crowded into one-third of the back seat, with Kassern's head and massive shoulders taking up the remaining two-thirds.
They'd traveled for hours, always on back roads. Seemed like they should have crossed the state line into Georgia, but as far as she could tell, they were still in Florida. It'd be great if Kassern would just wake up and decide what the hell they were doing and where. Maybe then Troy could quit driving them in circles. This must be how passengers felt on a jet in a holding pattern waiting to land.
Troy let the car roll to a stop at a four-way intersection. When he paused as if undecided, Devyn glanced around. The sign to the left said Munroeville 7 miles, while the other two choices were more than twice as far.
"You said we needed gas, surely there's a station in Munroeville, right? And it's the closest." She bit her tongue on any more, but honestly, what in the world was the great hesitation for?
"I know, but I have to take us where Kassern says. It's too dangerous, and I'm barely getting directions out of him." Troy referred to the something-like-telepathy between him and Kassern that seemed to have switched on when the archangel lost consciousness. Apparently, the link's strength wavered at times. Even at its best, the link only passed along immediate instructions, and sometimes those were so vague Troy just had to hope he interpreted them right. But Devyn was pretty sure that's what had them going in circles.
Devyn sighed, seriously considering hanging her ass out the window to pee, since Troy had already vetoed stopping so she could squat in the grass beside the road. Well, not really vetoed, but he'd asked if she could manage just a little longer until they made it somewhere safer to stop. Uptight damn preacher. Cute, but uptight.
Troy finally spun the wheel left and hit the gas. Devyn would have sighed with relief, but her bladder was too full to take a deep breath without leaking.
Karly was too tied up stroking Kassern's hair to even notice whether they stopped or started or stood on their heads. That had to be one of the oddest things she'd ever seen. No sign of the junkie whore she'd always known. That bitch had given way to a young woman love-struck on a man who'd changed her life. They'd have to wait and see if that turned out a miracle or a tragedy.
"We'll have a few minutes for gas and to grab something to eat," Troy announced as the scattered homes along the road gave way to small subdivisions and trailer parks. "I think we can take about an hour, rest a few minutes, before we head north." He glanced up to smile at Devyn in the rearview.
She smiled back. Then it hit her he'd said north. "North, where?" Nowhere cold, she hoped. She seriously didn't like cold, dark and wet, though she'd never really experienced it, as a lifelong Floridian.
Troy shook his head. "I don't know yet. Just north."
The subdivisions and trailer parks faded away, leaving actual residential cross streets. An occasional corner held a little market or small store, but nothing with gas pumps or fast food. Devyn looked around in near-panic. "I still don't see a gas station. Can we just stop at a convenience store? I really need the bathroom."
Something in her voice must have made him aware of her desperation. "Oh, I'm sorry, when you mentioned it earlier I didn't realize it was urgent. I'll stop at the first place that might have a public restroom."
She looked around as he braked for a red light. "A gas station!" She pointed, squirming in the seat.
Troy punched the gas across the two lanes of oncoming traffic, and the bump at the parking lot entrance nearly broke Devyn's control over her bladder.
Seemed like forever and a day by the time he pulled up to an available pump. When Troy didn’t open his door immediately, Devyn rose up and reached over him for the latch, the pain in her bladder do or die. Troy tried to help but ended up eating steering wheel when she gave the seat a monumental shove to gain that damn exit crack.
One hand on the pavement outside the door, Devyn wriggled, crawled and grunted her way out of the back seat. "Fuuuuck!” Scarcely paying attention to her surroundings, she trotted across the parking lot and slammed through the entrance door. The scent of fresh coffee and fried food assailed her nostrils simultaneously and sent her stomach into a spastic, growling frenzy.
The universal Ladies Room sign hung over a rickety looking door at the back of the store. Devyn took the most direct route and tried the door with a desperate hand, sighing when it swung open with a nails-on-chalkboard screech.
She crouched over the filthy toilet just in time. Her bladder still cramped painfully when she finished, like she'd stretched the damn thing permanently out of shape. She worked her jeans back up and washed her hands without benefit of soap. Fuck it. She'd made it without pissing her pants.
Exiting the piss box, a quick glance identified the food counter at the far end of the store and Devyn took off toward it, squinting to see the menu sign. Deluxe cheeseburgers, large orders of crinkle fries and large chocolate shakes for each of them. Hell yes. While she waited for the order, Devyn snagged a plastic hand basket and began scooping snack foods into it. By the time the pimply faced teenager set her bag on the counter and gave her the bill, Devyn had the basket nearly full of chips, sausages, crackers, chocolate, and then some.
The teenager grinned as he watched her struggle to gather up the fast-food bags and hang onto the basket. She ignored him and stacked the bags precariously on top of the basket and stalked toward the cash registers.
The thin woman with what looked like meth-mouth started to ring everything up. "Just put it with the gas on pump three." Hopefully Troy wouldn't mind. "Oh, and add on a case of that water stacked outside, and one of the sweet tea." Devyn looked around. "And one of those Styrofoam coolers and a bag of ice."
The woman nodded and added the items on. "That'll be seventy-eight forty-nine."
What? "Damn! That's too much, I'll have to put some of it back." They really needed the water. "Take the tea, ice and cooler off."
"Sixty-five thirty-seven."
Cheeks burning with shame, Devyn started to sort through the snack foods in the bag.
The bell over the door rattled. Shit, she needed to hurry.
"What are you doing?" Troy's voice wrapped around her like a warm cloak. He slid one hand along her forearm to her hand and laced his fingers through hers before bringing her hand to his mouth. He kissed her knuckles, then rubbed them gently against his lips, his warm breath raising gooseflesh along her arm.
"I got too much stuff. I'm deciding what to put back." Embarrassment burned her cheeks.
"How much was it all to start with?"
The woman gave him the first total, and he took a hundred dollar bill from his wallet. "Just leave it at that. We'll take it all." He started to gather bags while he waited for his change.
"We don't
really need all that, Troy." She couldn’t believe he’d just handed over a hundred bucks for junk food like it was nothing.
"Maybe not, but it'll come in handy. None of it will go bad if we don't use it right away, and we don't know how long this is going to take." He held his hand out for his change.
That much was true, but it was still a LOT of money. Devyn caught up the bags with the burgers and fries in one hand, the cup carrier with the shakes in the other, and waited for him.
He held the door for her, and she went through, waiting for him to walk beside her. Just as they reached the car, a skinny brunette rounded a gas pump. The pretty girl’s eyes widened when she saw Troy and she altered her path to intercept them.
"Oh, hi, Troy!"
Troy stopped as she came close, sidling into his personal space. “Hey.”
A slim hand with blood red nails and lots of cheap jewelry touched his arm, lingering. "Thank you just so much for helping with my gas cap! Thing always gives me trouble, I can never manage it alone."
The fakey Southern Belle accent made Devyn's blood boil. She looked a little closer. The woman wore a nearly transparent top over a lacy bra that revealed dark nipples. Her super low rise Daisy Duke shorts were open at the front to show matching lace thong underwear. The strings of the thong ran up high over bony hips, higher than the so-called waist of the shorts, and the lace at the front clearly displayed a strip of dark pubic hair.
The makeup and hair looked well-done, and the teeth revealed by the broad smile were perfect. The jewelry wasn't all that cheap, either, and what Devyn had first thought were plastic rhinestones adorning the perfect nails looked like Austrian crystals instead. A high priced whore.
The bitch came even closer, moving that hand to brush across Troy's chest. He stepped back, but she followed. "I just bet a big strong man like yourself is always rescuing damsels in distress." Her fingers, the crystals on the nails reflecting shafts of light, trailed across his chest slowly, and when she reached his nipple, she deliberately flicked it. "I just love a true gentleman!"
Devyn was torn between choking on the woman's audacity and choking the woman. But she didn't want to appear threatened by her either. Troy didn't seem threatened, for sure, he sort of just stood there like a victim, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Fury boiled her blood at the idea he'd care about that instead of this bitch insulting her. He closed his eyes for a second when she stepped even closer, body nearly touching his.
Devyn eyed a man in a car next to them, watching the whole show. She suddenly felt like a third leg or a second-hand slut with Troy standing there so fucking torn and clueless.
Enough was enough. "Look, Sis, he's taken. So get your fucking skank-ass away, before I move you." Giving a warning before snatching the bitch and dragging her away by her hair was real progress for Devyn.
The whore looked at Devyn with narrowed eyes and made a show of moving closer to Troy. "Baby, he don't act like he's taken!" A woman returning to her car at the pump behind them snatched up her toddler and hurried past, eyeing them warily.
Troy stepped back. Finally. "I, um, think you misunderstood."
She tried to push closer, but he shifted, using his bags as a shield.
"Baby, I don't mind sharing." Her gaze flicked over Devyn, sharp and assessing. "I'll even do her for you." She licked her lip. "Just imagine –"
Devyn grabbed the whore's nice hair and jerked hard. The bitch came away from Troy, stumbling on her high heels, and dug her nails into Devyn's arm to try to free herself.
Devyn pulled harder, bending her sideways and twisting her neck. With the other hand, she took hold of the fingers trying to send sharp nails into her flesh.
The whore snarled, showing those perfect teeth. "Skank, I'm going to kill you!" She suddenly went still, and something changed. Her eyes went odd-looking, blank, color-less. The nails dug into Devyn's arm deeper as her head enlarged and her forehead lengthened and her jaws grew heavier. Devyn jerked her arm back as the thing snapped with serrated teeth and the huge fangs barely missed her skin.
What the FUCK!
A woman shrieked just before a car alarm blared.
Before Devyn could act Troy dropped his bags and flung out his hand. A thin red cord glittered from his palm, snaking endlessly around the whore/creature. It cut into the flesh of the neck and continued downward, wrapping around shoulders, torso, binding arms to sides, even tying the legs together.
On impulse, Devyn let her fist fly with a punch like the one she'd used to knock Randy Jenkins out in the ninth grade when he tried to grope her boob. Instead of her knuckles connecting with the thing's nose, thin blood-colored blades sprang forth and embedded in its eye, throat and chest. With a flash of light and foul-smelling smoke, it dis-a-fucking-ppeared!
Troy snatched up the bags and pushed Devyn toward the car. "Let's go. Now."
Five miles of silence later, a jealous fury began to consume Devyn's gut. Why did Troy behave so complacently with that woman’s advances? She was some kind of demon, but he didn’t know that at first.
Devyn gritted her teeth recalling Karly's naked body pressed into Troy's that day in the bathroom. What was his fucking problem that he just couldn't deny a woman's advances? Couldn't put his foot down and say back the fuck up? He didn't want to maybe?
****
Karly occupied herself with Kassern while they rode in silence, all still shaken and shocked over the whore creature from the station. What was going on? Was the world ending? Karly had so many questions and no answers. She needed to find a way to wake Kassern. Devyn and Troy wanted direction but Karly just wanted to be sure he was okay.
With his head against the seatback next to her, his amazing hair spilled to one side and flowed across her knee. Most of the time they'd travelled, she stroked those strands, willing life and energy through them and into her angel. That's how she thought of him. Hers.
Karly hadn't been hungry but she'd taken the food that was offered in the interest of building her strength in case Kassern needed her.
They continued to travel, while waves of tension rolled off Devyn. That girl needed to get a serious handle on her temper. Karly knew it had everything to do with that whore before she turned animal. Devyn didn't realize how obviously jealous she was when it came to Troy. Karly stroked the white pale skin of Kassern's forehead, wanting to kiss it. Guess she couldn't blame her.
****
Troy couldn't wait for Kassern to wake up and give him more information about that thing back at the gas station. All he'd managed telepathically was RUN!
Troy lost no time following that order.
Troy tried to get Kassern to reveal where they were headed, but either the telepathic link was too weak, or the archangel just didn't know, because resounding silence was the only reply. Apparently, they were supposed to just keep driving around until Kassern woke up and filled them in.
On another note, Troy wanted to beat himself for how he behaved back there with that woman. Women like her, or like he’d thought she was, were hard for him to reject. And they all seemed to sense his weakness and used it. He figured women like that probably accounted for more men getting into trouble with wives or girlfriends than any other cause. They knew about, and used, their irresistibility, and other women were equally aware, and on guard against them, ready to smack down any man who paid too much attention. Like Devyn had done. He couldn't help but feel proud that she'd been so insulted. That meant she really liked him.
In the middle of the afternoon, Troy decided to stop. He needed to stretch his legs and back, have a hot meal, and sit on something besides the foam of his car seat. Halfway between the lunch rush and evening commuters, he pulled into a little drive-in diner with only one car pulled into a serving space. The place looked like something left over from the 1960s.
“What are you guys hungry for?” He waited for Devyn and Karly to answer while he scanned the deserted restaurant. “There should be a bathroom inside.” H
e glanced in the rearview mirror and ran into Devyn’s glare. Again. She was so damn pissed. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but everything in him said it was over the same thing that had been driving him nuts with guilt.
“I’ll have the number six with a large coke and a large chocolate shake.” Kassern's groggy request caught them all unprepared.
A moment of stunned silence passed. “You eat?” Troy asked.
He slid a hand over his face. “Apparently, because I’m starving. Another human perk.” His head snapped back and he looked at Karly. Immediately he sighed before groaning lightly. “I think I have a blessed headache to go with that.” Karly’s hand moved to Kassern’s right shoulder. Something was going on with her and him. And Troy wasn’t sure he liked it. No, he was sure he didn’t like the thought of a junkie prostitute getting too close to the archangel. Of course he shouldn't think of it like that, or think of Karly in those terms.
But when he got right down to it, that's what she was. Certainly not the sort of person one would expect to associate with an angel. He ignored the little voice that asked exactly what other type of person should become close with an angel if not someone who needed support toward salvation. Kassern didn’t seem to be bothered with Karly's interest, though, or try and dissuade it.
Just as he thought it, Kassern reached and removed her hand. Karly's disappointment showed in the downward turn of her mouth, but she complied.
Troy glanced in the rearview mirror to see if Devyn noticed it too. All he got was her glaring gray eyes. That situation seemed to be getting worse, and he really needed to talk to her. “How about I walk you to the bathroom?” He met her gaze in the mirror.
“What-the-fuck-ever.”
Troy cringed inwardly, but opened the window and pressed the intercom button to place Kassern’s order. “What about you Karly? You want anything?”
“I’m still full. Maybe a medium coke. Extra ice.”