Archangels Creed Box Set 1-3

by Azure Boone

  His orgasm hit and it drew them back with a supersonic force. The way Karly devoured him, the sounds she made, he knew she was feeling it with him. It would be the first time in all his existence that he worried about dying. Suddenly, being part human was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had to wonder how much of this Uriel had anticipated.

  "Holy shit, what the hell is he doing?" Devyn gasped, lifting her head off Troy's chest.

  "I have no idea." Troy's tone said he'd been trying to figure that out.

  Devyn kept her voice low. "That has to be the fourth time he's shaken the entire house."

  Troy stroked her face with his thumb and smiled softly. "You're so beautiful."

  "What do you think they're doing that's so fantastic?" she wondered, ignoring his compliment.

  Troy pulled her on top of him. "You really don't know?" He smiled when the twitch in his cock registered on Devyn's face.

  Troy suddenly jolted from the harsh mental knock in his head from Kassern. "Did she confess?"

  "What?"

  "I didn't say anything." Devyn kissed along his chest.

  "Confess," Kassern growled. "Did she do it?"

  "No, not yet." He moved Devyn off of him, not liking what he heard in his tone. "What's going on?"

  "A hive is going on, that's what. Right now. Outside. Closing in fast."

  "Oh shit," Troy gasped, hurrying to the window, ignoring Devyn's burst of questions. "What do we do?"

  "We gather. Now."

  Troy spun to Devyn. "Get dressed. Trouble."

  "Shit," Devyn gasped, hurrying to comply. "What's going on?"

  "Kassern asked if you confessed, there's a swarm outside." He held his hand out and she hurried and took it.

  They met Kassern and Karly in the kitchen where Kassern stood near the window, geared up in ruby splendor. Troy would never get used to seeing those wings or ruby swords chinking lightly against one another as though preparing for a feast.

  "I'm locked," Kassern said, without turning. "They've somehow secluded us, I have no communication abilities beyond the triumvirate. They're using Devyn's confession as a doorway, so, it would be really nice if she went ahead and took care of that, because until she does, it's just us against that entire army of devils." Kassern glanced at Troy. "Gear up brother."

  Gear up? "With what?"

  ****

  Karly felt the power when it left Kassern's outstretched hand and entered Troy. The entire room—minus Kassern—gasped in shock at the transformation. Troy towered in a shimmering white hooded cloak of incredibly fine chain-mail emblazoned with a ruby cross that matched the one on Kassern's chest. He looked like a Medieval holy warrior/knight character. Even his boots were that white chain-mail, with what looked like shimmering ruby laces.

  The most impressive thing about him, in Karly's opinion, had to be the weapons that decorated nearly every body part, like warrior jewelry. Various blades, from small throwing knives strapped to his left forearm, up to the massive broadsword in its scabbard at his left hip. A ruby-studded belt supported a pair of…handguns? Wow. Troy turned slightly and Karly gasped at the cross-bow that hung on his back. The damn thing appeared carved right out of a hunk of ruby. Troy’s face came into view from behind the hood, shocking her further. His skin glowed white and his eyes shimmered crimson.

  Holy fucking wow.

  Karly waited for wings to sprout from his back, but none came.

  Troy held out both hands, then looked down at himself, turning this way and that. He drew one of the throwing knives, flipped it into the air then caught and sheathed it, all in one practiced move. Only his gasp of awe betrayed his real lack of experience with the weapon.

  "Choose your weapon wisely," Kassern muttered.

  "How?"

  Kassern turned to him. "Knowing your enemy is the first weapon of defense." He returned to studying the span of land outside, seeming to watch the forest just beyond. "But unfortunately, these things are too newly created for me to pass that information along. Which means I'll have to go find that out."

  "Alone?" Karly's voice cracked with terror and Kassern's ruby gaze was suddenly inches from her own, his fingers stroking her cheek.

  At his touch, her body warmed and filled with a liquid courage. No drug on earth had ever felt that good and dammit, she was addicted. Pulling his face to hers, she kissed him.

  He drew her hands away, winded as though he'd just run a mile. "I don't think that helps me get into battle mode," he whispered with a smile.

  "Sorry," Karly whispered, barely audible. She stroked his lower lip with her thumb. God he was too beautiful. Too good. Too everything.

  "Be right back."

  Karly gasped on the ache in her heart as headed to the door.

  He passed a stern warning gaze around to each of them. "Stay put. Troy, if I'm not back in thirty minutes, you will do what I instructed."

  Karly looked at Troy, wondering what that meant. By the worried expression on his face, it wasn't anything she'd agree with.

  ****

  Kassern flashed to the forest edge into the highest part of a tree and listened. In moments he located the swarm. Damn. They were nearly numberless. He closed his eyes and carefully made a mental connection with one. Kassern's upper lip rose in disgust at being inside the abomination, the demented ooze of its mind surrounding him. But he had to learn.

  The first thing that Kassern discovered was its intelligence, equal to a genius level human. Carefully, he dug through its mind, looking for its origins and any other need to know info. Kassern selected a file involving a human who had been in close contact with it.

  Very slowly, Kassern stepped into the memory and watched a replay of the human's last night with the thing. Entering at the end, he observed the creature killing him, tearing him apart, bit by bit, after toying with the nerves and muscles in his neck and preventing the human from making anything but a gurgling noise.

  Kassern quickly learned all he could of the human. The man, Jason, detested his job at the lab, the tediousness of feeding animals, cleaning cages, and entering every boring detail into the logs. He didn't believe in the organization that created the creature. He worked for another authority. One interested, not in the creature's well-being, but in ensuring it learned evil. The human figured a job was a job. While everyone else treated the abomination like a child, Jason, taught it about cruelty.

  Kassern was drawn back to where he'd entered the memory and watched the creature make a surgically precise incision along the sole of Jason's foot, using one of its scalpel sharp claws. The human tried to scream to no avail.

  Kassern searched further back in the man’s memory and found how he ended up at the mercy of this creature.

  Two hours before midnight, Jason had only one more task to finish. He always saved it for last because as much as he hated the rest of his job, it was both the worst and best part of it. The worst because he abhorred the creature he was forced to interact with.

  He had no idea what the creature in the observation room was, but he did know God had not created it. The scientist and the rest of the staff called it Annie. It was officially called The Augusta Project, though Jason didn't know or care what that stood for. He called it project pay-the-bills when he didn't call it an abomination. The thing simply should not be alive, and he cringed every time he looked upon it. At times, all he could think of was bringing his .30-.30 rifle to work and putting the thing down. It had no place on this earth, and even though he was not a particularly religious man, he felt that God himself should strike the creature down for the sacrilege it was.

  Once again, Kassern was pulled back to the entrance of the memory. The creature took off another of Jason's toes, sniffed it, then tossed it over his shoulder. The human's belly heaved, but he had already puked it thoroughly empty.

  Kassern took note of the creature's appearance, looking for some physical weakness or deficiency. The thing stood at about
five foot tall, faintly similar to a chimp or some other species of primate in body shape, but its arms were more proportionally fit to the rest of the body. Short, dark brown fur covered its body, thinner on its unique face. The face resembled that of a monkey of some sort, but the muzzle was a bit longer and heavier than those of the higher primates, vaguely reminiscent of a short-nosed bear. Pointed ears perched upright near the top of the head, with little tufts of hair at the tips. The skull was larger and rounder than that of primates, or other animals, more closely resembling a human skull.

  It walked upright on its hind limbs, the arms and legs immensely strong and heavily muscled, stronger than even the huge silverback male mountain gorillas. Kassern studied closer and found it had little sensitivity to pain. It bore ten digits on its hands and feet, all of which were tipped with retractable claws that it used with near surgical dexterity.

  Kassern regarded the fear in the human's face. It was the creature's eyes that held him in utter terror. Kassern could see why. The irises were nearly colorless, leaving only the vertically slit pupils to impress those who met its gaze. Jason thought the creature’s gaze saw clearly to the core of the soul and avoided its eyes at all costs, and in that moment, he was transfixed.

  Kassern watched as the thing paused in what it did to Jason's foot, and brought its face close to the man, staring deeply into his eyes. Jason tried to close them, but the creature used a claw to delicately pry one eyelid up. Then it waggled that claw threateningly, and drew it gently across the other eyelid, without breaking skin. Kassern realized it was warning Jason to watch, or it would take his eyelids.

  Kassern needed to finish and get the hell out. He returned to the memory and watched the human utter the command that should send the thing to the security cell in the corner of its room.

  The creature had a better living area than many people the attendant knew. A cozy nest box in one corner of its room held several blankets and a nice soft mattress. A toy box that rivaled a rich human child’s. A TV and video game system, a comfortable chair and rugs and pillows, art on the walls.

  All it needed was a kitchenette, and the damned thing would have a better apartment than Jason. As it was, it ate better than he did.

  Kassern fast forwarded to the offending moment.

  Jason entered the little room and took the thing’s favorite toy - its teddy bear. The very concept was laughable to him. But it treasured the stuffed animal, and would rail in fury when he took it.

  This was what paid his bills. And honestly, he relished this part. Absolutely loved to watch the creature screeching in frustration, tearing at its fur, shredding the blankets and other toys, clawing at the walls, until it collapsed with great heaving sobs onto the floor. Finally, when it was exhausted, he would open the door just enough to toss the teddy bear back inside. It would look up at him then, through the observation window, with those odd colorless eyes, and its pupils would narrow to the tiniest of slits, as it pulled the toy close under its chin. Jason finished his job by laughing at it, turning out the lights and leaving.

  Except that night.

  After taking the teddy bear, Jason watched through the observation window while the creature looked around and went to the table where it had left the toy. It searched the floor, then glanced up at him as understanding dawned. Jason grinned at it, and waited for it to launch into its tantrum.

  To his surprise, it simply looked to the door. Jason's grin faded as the door to the special room began to shudder, gently at first, then violently. When the door flew open, his expression changed to one of abject terror.

  Fascinating, Kassern mused. It had some telekinetic ability.

  There was no running, only becoming the monster's test subject with the beast making an odd laughing growling sound deep in its chest.

  The attendee had no clue he’d just completed his job, nor that his secret employer had planned for him to serve as the test subject of his own success.

  Kassern watched emotionless as the creature made another incision, this one on the calf of Jason's leg after slowly destroying the foot. It removed muscles and tendons, looked at them curiously before tossing them haphazardly away. Kassern grimaced as it casually dropped its mouth to the incision and licked.

  The first taste of human blood.

  The addictive craving set up immediately as it lapped noisily at the wound.

  Kassern froze, realizing another disturbing fact about the creature. Its ability to adapt. During the time Kassern had spent learning all he could, the creature had been learning Kassern's coordinates. He could feel it, poking around in his mind, curious, dissecting, looking for weaknesses. Shit.

  Before Kassern could kill it, he realized the damn things were networked together, like one unit with many parts. Killing one wouldn't do a damn thing at this point. Whatever the one knew, all of them knew. As Kassern exited the creature's odd spirit, he became aware that an entire pack of them surrounded him. All watching him with that hungry grin from Jason's memory.

  Troy waited, eying the open field for signs of Kassern. Twelve minutes. Come on, come on. "He's coming," Troy whispered, feeling him close.

  The girl's screamed at Kassern's explosive materialization in red fire. "There must be five thousand of them," he began, wasting no time. "They're strong, smart, fearless, cruel, and have a perversion for torturing humans and eating their parts."

  "Oh my God," Devyn whimpered.

  "Troy." Kassern hurried to him and put his hand on his shoulder, passing all the information in real time into his head. Ten seconds later, Troy shuddered with the details, drawing several weapons and looking out the window. "They're coming."

  Kassern nodded. "They found me snooping."

  "How do we kill them?" Troy hadn't gotten that information from Kassern and sincerely wanted it now.

  "They're moving slow," Karly whispered. "That's a good thing, right?"

  "I wish," Kassern muttered. "They're in no hurry because they savor the hunt. They want their prey to know they're coming, and to be very afraid. Unfortunately, I didn't get a clear idea of how to kill them. Seems they're networked together somehow, and I'm not sure to what extent."

  "Well, let's go find out, I don't want them getting any closer than that right there." They were halfway across the open land and so numerous, they looked like a black wave slowly rolling toward them. The land sloped, making them visible as they came down out of the forest. Troy couldn't see an end to them.

  He jerked to Devyn. "Baby? You and Karly need to have a heart to heart about a certain confession that will get us the hell out of here."

  Devyn nodded rapidly, but the look on her face screamed I have no clue what I'm supposed to confess!

  "Giddy up, brother, this could be a long fight," Kassern muttered. "Ladies, do not leave this cabin. It's the only thing I can shield at this point."

  "Then why don't you stay in it?" Karly demanded.

  "Because I don't know enough about the damn things and I'm not going to wait in here to find out."

  "What will happen if…" Karly couldn't finish.

  "They can't kill me. But they could get to either of you if we're not driving them back."

  "Wouldn't it be better to just kill them?" Devyn asked.

  Kassern tossed her a grin. "That is definitely plan A."

  ****

  Devyn watched in horror as two lone men walked out of that rickety cabin to face the numberless mass of nightmares.

  Confess. Confess! She spun to Karly. "You have to help me, I-I-I don't know what to confess, I've tried to think of everything, I've confessed everything I can think of since I was two years old!"

  Karly hurried over and embraced her, trying to soothe wordlessly.

  "This is so stupid! How hard can this be?" Devyn sobbed into her friend's shoulder.

  "Oh, God!" Karly pushed Devyn aside and hurried to the window. Devyn followed, her blood freezing in terror.

  Kassern and Troy ran towar
d the mass and Devyn's terror turned to awe. Troy used the crossbow, the red bolts of energy leaving gaping holes in the target and returning to his hand for rapid load and fire. Extremely rapid. She held her breath when he reached the pack and the crossbow transformed into a long staff with curved ruby scythes on both ends.

  Devyn noticed Kassern then. The angel was a slow-walking tank of kick-ass, wings firing bloody bolts of power as he too swung his staff.

  The creatures dropped like puppets with their strings cut, but dread filled Devyn when the things became more and more aggressive, moving in faster. Eerie howls and screams carried in the air, audible in the cabin, and sending chills of dread down Devyn's spine. "Oh God, oh God, I can't see them."

  Body parts covered the ground in the wake of Troy and Kassern's slow moving massacre. "What…what's that?" Karly whispered.

  "What?" Devyn stared out.

  Karly pointed. "Am I seeing things, or are those body pieces moving?"

  Devyn's heart skipped a beat as she watched. "Oh hell. Yes. They are."

  "What the fuck are they doing?"

  "They're…oh my God, they're coming this way."

  "Devyn, dammit," Karly begged, holding her by her shoulders. "What are you hiding girl? Just spill it, nobody cares anymore, please, just confess it."

  Horror immobilized her. "Fuck Karly!" she gasped. "I don't know! Don't you think I'd confess if I fucking did?"

  A thud on the roof startled them, followed by a skittering noise, like claws on metal, accompanied by thumps.

  Karly and Devyn huddled together. "Oh shit," Karly whispered. "What the fuck is that?"

  Glass shattered, somewhere above and they screamed.

  "Oh shit, oh shit," Karly cried. "What the fuck do we do?"

  "I thought Kassern said he had this place shielded," Devyn scanned the ceiling for where the threat might be.