The Order (Nightwalkers Book 8)
Page 14
Kass smacked my chest, though there was no strength behind the blow. More like a half-hearted swat. The lady might protest, but she enjoyed my sarcasm and my teasing; she wouldn’t have it any other way. “Keep talking like that,” she threatened, “and I might just change my mind.”
“How cruel,” I whispered, tracing a finger up and down her stomach, feeling her shiver under my touch. “You’re not that mean, are you?”
She smiled. We both knew how mean she could be.
I knelt before her, my face just above her chest. My hands gripped her sides, and I grinned, saying, “Now, let’s get these clothes off.” I toyed with the waistline of her leather pants, of which she looked really good in. Her toned legs, her round butt—those pants were made for her body. Really, I hated to take them off, but I knew her body would be even more miraculous underneath.
Kissing her collarbone, I felt her hands run through my hair. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to see her, and I had to see her now. With a yank, I tugged her pants down, feeling myself grow more excited when I saw her lacy underwear. It matched the tiny article of clothing covering her chest.
As she shivered and muttered something about how it was cold, I grasped her hips and stared up at her. I said softly, “God, I love you.”
She smiled, whispering, “My name is Kass.” Not God.
I kissed her belly button, enjoying the way she shivered again. She might not have been God, but she was my savior, my salvation. She was my light, the torch in my darkness. She was everything I believed in and more.
Soon we were both naked under the covers. For a while, we just kissed. Hungry, desperate. I craved the feeling of her skin on mine, and I held her close, touching every inch of her, getting to know her in a way no one had ever done before. She started to do the same to me, but I stopped her. This wasn’t about me. This, everything I did and would do, was all for her.
After a while, I crawled on top of her, meeting her green eyes, smiling at the smeared makeup. Her skin was flushed, her mouth opened slightly, her hands above her head, wrists crossed, on top of the pillow.
God, she was beautiful. Looking at her almost hurt.
I positioned us to what felt right, and then…then we were one. It was both what I thought it would feel like and nothing at all like it. It was bliss, heaven, a warmth that spread throughout my whole body. With her arms around me, her legs around my thighs, I never wanted to leave this bed.
I would have to. But not now. Not for a few hours.
We stayed with each other for hours, missing whatever meal Crixis cooked. I wasn’t sated, and truthfully I never would be, because I knew what had to happen. I knew what I had to do.
As dusk fell and Kass dozed off, I moved the brown, curly hair from her face, touching her softly so I would not wake her. I wore her out pretty well. The only reason I was not fast asleep was because of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. That, and the old soul inside me wasn’t tired. I probably could’ve kept going.
Kass. My Kass. After this, would someone else fall for her? Would she love again? A selfish part of me didn’t want anyone else to have her. She was mine, my one and only. It was always Kass for me, and just thinking of someone else touching her, loving her, laughing and smiling with her—it was almost too much to bear.
That was wrong of me. I couldn’t expect her to go on for the rest of her life alone. I didn’t want her to feel such sorrow. Kass deserved to love again, deserved to be loved again. Whoever that man was, I prayed he would take care of her, of them both. Kass was strong enough to go it alone, but she shouldn’t have to. She should have someone there to protect her, someone to love her.
God. Why couldn’t that someone be me?
Why was this the end of our story? Hadn’t we been through enough?
I felt my eyes tearing up, the sorrow almost too much. I felt the sadness deep within me, in my heart and my soul. It was pain, pure agony, the realization this would be our last time together.
We needed more time. I needed more time. After it was done, after I was gone, I didn’t even know whether I’d be able to see her, to look down at her and watch over her. Kass’s mother hadn’t shown me that far ahead.
In the early hours of the dawn, I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, whispered, “Goodbye, Kass.” I love you. I’ll always be with you, even when you can’t see me. I wanted to say more, to wake her up, hug her, kiss her lips one final time, but if I did, she’d stop me. And this—what I had to do—couldn’t be stopped.
I silently crept from the bed, exiting the room without a single noise. After closing the door behind me, I went into the bathroom and got dressed. The world outside was still dark, but the beginnings of the sunrise graced the sky. I had to move, and I had to go now.
This was it. The last day of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Four - Crixis
When Liz came back, the pork was ready. Of course, no one felt like eating, which made me frown all night because I slaved over that stove for no reason. The look on her face told me all I needed to know: she was with Michael’s child, and she wasn’t happy about it. She did not eat a single bite, but she did get sick a few more times, either due to the baby in her belly or the stress of knowing where it came from. She asked about Gabriel and Kass, where they were, I simply shrugged. If she wanted to go upstairs and hear them rocking the bed, that was her prerogative.
I, on the other hand, was doomed to listen to them all night, thanks to my good hearing. At first, I thought, good for them. Finally. About time. Then, I thought, again? The boy must have stamina. Eventually, my mind wondered if Kass would even be able to walk today. Walking was crucial in the plan.
But, whatever. I let the kiddos be and let them have their romp.
Max and Liz took the other bedroom, while I volunteered—or, more correctly, was forced to volunteer—to take the couch in the living room and keep an eye out. If anyone should come after us, I’d hear them from a mile away. We’d been there for hours so far, though, and I doubted that, since they hadn’t shown their faces so far, they’d make any appearances here. They had things to do, probably, like ready themselves for the apocalypse. Although how they thought they’d bring about the end of the world without Gabriel’s help was beyond me. Yes, there were other Demons who could control Hellfire, but you just couldn’t beat the Devil.
I didn’t need much sleep. After living such a long life, I’d grown accustomed to hardly getting any. Nightlife was a separate thing from the daylife. Darker, more sensual, the secrets and the lies—I liked it more than I should’ve.
Now, though…now I felt like I was never going to be the same. How ridiculous and stupid. I wasn’t the monkey’s uncle of the group. I wasn’t the reformed villain. I still very much wanted to murder and maim. As if this pathetic group could force me to become a better person. The mere notion made me both violently ill—like Liz—and intensely aggravated—like Gabriel before he came back to himself.
My eyes closed and I felt a sudden pull, so I sat and saw Gabriel stood by the front door. Huh. The Devil-boy could move without alerting me. That was impressive. He unlocked the latch and deadbolt and headed out; his command was for me to follow him.
In spite of my dislike for the boy and the soul residing within him, I had to obey his wordless command. I had a similar power; but then again, I had so many I lost count. Thanks to Vexillion’s chameleon-like ingestion.
I met him outside, closing the front door behind us. We moved to the sidewalk, and he glanced upwards, at the windows, making sure none were open. Gabriel, for all his recent amorous activities, looked quite downtrodden and regretful. I knew it was not because their love-making was unsatisfactory; they wouldn’t have kept at it like bunnies if it was the case. No, this was something else.
“Why am I here?” I asked, taking a tone I probably should not have taken with the Devil-boy. If he could end an Original, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he could end me, too. And that…that was certainly eye-opening.
His will was inescapable. I could not argue. “Fine,” I said, though I let my unhappiness show. I recalled the vision the Angel mother showed me, and I wondered if this was always how it had to happen. If this was fate, and there was no changing it. “Where will you be during all of this manly protectiveness?” I asked, even though I had a nagging suspicion I already knew.
Why else would the boy be up before dawn’s light? Why else would he care about anyone listening in to this conversation? He didn’t plan on being there, because he marched to his death this morn.
“It’s none of your concern where I’ll be,” Gabriel answered, gazing off into the distance. “But I won’t be there to do it myself, and I need to know, before I go, someone will be there for her.” His command took another tone. “Someone who would never take advantage of her.” Even though he did not say it, I knew what he meant.
He meant he didn’t want me going after her once he was gone, sexually.
Which, while I might feel drawn to her because of her angelic nature, I did not want to bed that child. She wasn’t the kind of woman I’d go after because she wasn’t a woman at all. That was a command I was okay with following. Which wasn’t to say I was okay with following any command, but…
I didn’t have a choice.
I met Gabriel’s dark blue eyes and said, “You’re leaving.”
Gabriel exhaled. “I do what has to be done.” He sized me up. “As will you.” And then, without another word, he headed down the street, turning at the end of the block, out of sight. His gait was stiff, apprehensive. He didn’t want to do what he went to do; he only did it because there was no other option. It was something I could understand.
I did not look forward to the moment Kass woke up, found him missing, and ran downstairs, demanding to know what happened. Sighing, I went back inside.
Seemed like I was meant to play the reformed villain after all.
Fantastic.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Gabriel
I stood staring at the Council’s building, the sunrise behind me, illuminating the mostly-empty London streets. Closing my eyes for only a moment, I braced myself for what was to come. My feet drew me up the steps, my hand reaching for the door. Locked, of course, but with a harsh yank from me, it didn’t stay that way. Its latch broke, allowing me entry past the stainless-steel doors with thick, bulletproof glass.
Security surrounded me the moment I stepped inside, standing on an intricate pattern of marble and granite tile. The Council’s emblem, though I could see small red crosses inside it. The Order hid in plain sight the entire time, and no one was the wiser.
The whole building felt cold; too much stonework. Too much grey. I hated the feeling it gave me. Cramped, foreign. I shot a frown at the guards, at their black uniforms, the red cross patch on their sleeves. Men and women, following orders from the wrong people.
“Freeze!” one of the men yelled, the butt of his rifle tight against his shoulder. He was ready to fire at any small move I’d make. Their bullets couldn’t harm me, though. Maybe before, when I didn’t know who I was. But now? Not a chance.
“Go ahead, shoot me,” I said. “Or try to. I don’t think your Order would like that, though.” When the security guards did nothing but stare at me, I added, “Don’t you know who I am?” I felt intense hatred for the group before me, and I wanted to end them here like I did the group in the house, but I couldn’t.
I had to be better than that.
Holding a hand before me, I focused intently. A small wisp of fire flickered to life. They would think it was Hellfire. It was blue and red, nothing like a fire from a match or a bonfire. It flicked back and forth, undulating over my palm, wanting to be free, to wreak havoc and destroy. “Now do you know who I am?”
I realized I could’ve simply compelled them, but I didn’t want to use any of my dark side’s powers if I didn’t have to. In fact, the flame hovering above my palm wasn’t Hellfire. It was the opposite. The fires of Heaven.
The woman on the right radioed something to her superior, and she waited for orders. I let the Heavenfire fade from view as I waited with them, pointedly looking bored and ignoring the weapons that were still trained on me. A part of me wanted them to shoot, for then it’d be defense, what I could do to them—no. No, I wasn’t going to kill just to kill.
“Knight Commander wants to see you,” the woman spoke. At her words, the others relaxed. I followed them, or, more correctly, I followed the leader of the squad while her squad followed me, to the rightmost elevator. It was the only thing in the entire space that was not made out of stone.
My reflection in the stainless-steel doors disappeared as they slid open after she used her keycard on the panel built into the wall. As we filed inside, I noticed the daylight popping in through the front glass, and the heavyset woman who made her way to the front counter, yawning and gripping a steaming cup. The receptionist just missed the commotion. Her eyes flicked to the elevator we were in right as it closed.
The elevator did not go up to the building’s second or third floors. It went down. Down, down, down. I stood in silence the whole time, hands at my sides. We were going somewhere only Order members were allowed: their vault, where they planned on hiding out as the world above burned.
After what must’ve been a five-minute ride down, the doors opened into a great, white room, where a group of three people stood, wearing robes that had a giant red cross on their chest. A woman, and two men. All three of them older than sixty. And all, clearly, completely crazy.
“Gabriel,” the woman spoke, giving me a wrinkled smile as my guards and I stepped out of the elevator. The room we stood in was a sitting room of sorts, like an updated church, with an altar deeper in and hundreds of pews. I couldn’t imagine what the rest of the vault looked like. Must’ve taken ages to dig out and build. “We were worried you wouldn’t make it after Michael’s mistake.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I made sure to reply snippy, like I couldn’t be bothered with replying. Like I was better than dealing with the humans before me.
“Yes, you are,” the Knight Commander—a Councilwoman, the Councilwoman, though I forgot her name—spoke as she looked me up and down. “And without the others. Where are they?”
I sensed the weight of her question. “They don’t know I’m here.”
“It won’t matter if they do or not. Not after the team is done with them.” She tilted her head, her hair almost fully grey, her eyes a beady brown. “Does it bother you, knowing you won’t be there to save them?”
Crixis was there; he’d take care of them.
I said, “No. Because they’d die in the Hellfire anyway.”
“Ah, so you’ve come to aid us in cleansing the world?” Her spirits brightened, having not seen through my lie. “Very good. I was worried we would have to use leverage against you. Your purifier friends, for example.”
I grew tired of this. My infernal presence gripped the entire room; the guards, the Knight Commander, the other Order members behind her, and anyone else who stepped into the room. They could not run, they could not fight. An eerie sense of calm washed over them, forced by my hand.
So much for not compelling them, but she didn’t give me a choice. She was only wasting time.
“Do you have prisoners here?” I asked, stepping closer to her.
“Yes,” she answered. “We have the Purifiers contained. And Amelia Bennet.”
“And why would you need them?”
“They were chosen to help humanity multiply after the Hellfire stops, and we brought Amelia here to lure Elizabeth.”
Right. Procreation. Sick freaks.
My eyes glanced to the altar. “Release them. Send them up and gather everyone. Every member of the Orde
r should bear witness to—” I paused. “—my power.” Yes, that was a very Crixis-like thing to say. Had to be something the Devil would say, right?
There were no arguments. They couldn’t argue with me or my compulsion. Some of the guards filed away to release the prisoners, and the Knight Commander made an announcement on the loudspeakers, calling everyone to the chapel. And be sure to wear your robes, she added as I made my way to the altar.
Pure, white. I ran my hands along it, noticing for the first time my markings were back. The thin, intricate swirls of tattoos that graced my entire body. They pulsated and grew, an angelic creed I never heard but subconsciously knew.
Teenagers started filling up the single elevator, corralled and confused. Only twenty could squeeze at once, and it took a few trips to get them all up, including Liz’s sister. As their numbers dwindled, Order members began to arrive, sitting in the pews before me. The very instant they entered the oblong room, my will encased them. Their mumbling ceased and their fidgeting stopped.
I had them.
Standing, leaning on the ivory altar, I realized there were no crosses in the room. No statues of Jesus. For being such fans of Christianity, the Order was a little odd. But maybe that was because they planned on worshipping me—or whatever being could grant their apocalyptic wish.
After a while, when the majority of the pews were packed full of people wearing white robes with red crosses, when the Purifiers and Amelia were safely out, I spoke, “You come here, needing me, because the world is full of sinners. You say the only way to cleanse the world is to begin anew. You have all committed terrible deeds in the name of God.” My eyes surveyed the room.
Every pair of eyes was rapt; they could not get up, could not look away from me even if they wanted to.
“I disagree.” I glanced my skin, at the tattoo, the creed, words written so small, in such an ancient and flowing language they look like lines. “As does God. Humanity has freewill. They are meant to make mistakes, they are born to sin. We welcome them with open arms if they repent. To rid the world of sin would be to rid the world of freewill, and that is something I will not do.”