“What are you?!” Azazel yelled.
“His servant!” Kathrine shouted.
Azazel wrenched his wrist free from Kathrine and pulled the sword from Paul’s grip. The blade cut deeply into Paul’s hand but he barely noticed. He was mesmerized by the beautiful half-angel that stood before him. Even her body had a golden glow around it. Almost like an image of an Angel was transposed over her. A real Angel, not the demon his father had become. Azazel took this chance to run. He ran out of the warehouse without looking back.
Kathrine’s wings faded and her eyes turned back to normal then she fell to the floor. Paul knelt beside her unmoving body. He tore a strip of cloth off his shirt to cover the gushing wound on his hand then kindly brushed the hair out of her eyes.
Behind them Kelly was finally able to break the chain on Hailey’s cuffs with Hailey’s help then she turned to her grandson.
“I’m weak, I need help,” John begged.
Hailey stared up in horror as Kelly’s kind beautiful face turned to that of an angry tiger. At least that was how Hailey pictured it. She had no fur but Hailey could clearly see the anger and how little John’s life meant to her now. With a clean swipe of her claws Johns head was separated from his body.
“Remind me not to piss you off,” Hailey quipped as she raised her hand for Kelly to help her up.
Kelly’s face returned to normal, her fangs and claws retracted. She grabbed Hailey’s hand then just stared at Hailey. Hailey felt it too. She had felt something before when she was near Kelly, which is why she couldn’t talk to her. Before she had brushed it off as confusion and her desire to be with a woman, but this was much stronger. Touching Kelly’s skin she knew for certain now. Kelly was her one.
Kathrine woke across the room and stared up at Paul.
“Did he get away?” Kathrine asked wearily.
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. He won’t mess with you again,” Paul snickered.
Kathrine smiled at first then she remembered Paul in the alley with the little girl. She scowled at him and jumped to her feet.
“What did you do with that little girl?!” Kathrine demanded.
“What little girl?” Paul was confused. They had just beaten a fallen Angel, what did a little girl have to do with anything?
“The alley, you killed that man and stole the little girl,” Kathrine growled.
“Oh that!” Paul didn’t look upset. He almost looked relieved.
“What did you do with her?!” Kathrine demanded again.
“I returned her to the family she was stolen from,” Paul smirked. “As for the man, if you can call him that, he would have hurt other little girls. I couldn’t let him walk away.” The anger in Paul’s voice was unmistakable. He loathed that man.
“You could have turned him in to the police,” Kathrine reasoned.
“I had no proof and he was as much a demon as my father is. We kill demons, remember?” Paul admonished.
“You can smell evil too?” Kathrine asked.
“No, I’m pretty sure that’s just you and your dad. I don’t need to smell them to know they are evil. I’m not quite as gifted as you but I make due.” Paul’s face was a mass of confusion for Kathrine, she had never seen anyone more expressive and passionate. She had the urge to kiss him again. She really wanted to kiss him. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Hailey and Kelly approaching. Paul turned to them and addressed Hailey.
“Castriana. Thank you for helping my Kathrine.” He then turned to Kathrine. “Thank you for helping Cass. She was a little confused.”
“I really hate that name, Paul,” Hailey scolded.
“Fine, I’ll get used to Hailey eventually,” Paul laughed.
“You don’t mind that Hailey and I…” Kathrine started. She noticed Hailey and Kelly were holding hands. Kathrine wasn’t dense, she knew why. She just hoped that Kelly wasn’t angry but she wanted Paul to be angry.
“Why? I’ve done my homework. I know what I’m getting into. If it had been a guy then maybe,” Paul laughed. “I’ve been watching you since the day you bumped into me on the street outside Ceralin’s loft.”
Kathrine felt a twinge of anger. She wanted Paul to be jealous. Why was he not jealous? She did understand though. She didn’t want any other man than Paul and what she had with Hailey was nothing like what she felt for Paul.
“When did you bump into me?” Kathrine asked.
“You were about ten and going to spend the night at your aunt’s house. I had been watching Ceralin, trying to figure out how to talk to her about what I was doing. She had never gotten my letter or just didn’t believe it so I was working up the nerve to talk to her.” Paul paused and looked at Kathrine with longing in his eyes. “I knew that day. When I saw you again at Samael’s I didn’t recognize you at first. Of course, the minute I touched you I knew it was you. I had lost you when your mom died. Sarah is very good at hiding people.”
“So, you watched me when I was ten until my mom died?” Kathrine was confused. Paul acted like he didn’t care that he had practically stalked her as a child.
“Yes, I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you until you grew up. I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.” Paul smiled and Kathrine’s legs melted. Why did he have to be so perfect? “So yes, I know all about you. I know what I’m getting myself into. If you want to be with a woman once in a while, who am I to say no?”
Kathrine was dumbfounded. Her anger at him not being jealous washed away. He was ok with her being the way she was. He really loved her.
“Congratulations,” Paul said looking at Hailey and Kelly. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend the wedding.” Kelly blushed and Hailey rolled her eyes. “Shall we head out Kathrine?”
Kathrine looked at Paul, now was her chance. She put her hands behind his neck and kissed him deeply. She could feel his attraction to her. She slid her hand up the front of his pants to make sure Paul would not forget this kiss then she took a step back.
“You were right, I’m not ready,” Kathrine said sadly.
“What?!” Paul was now the one who was dumbfounded. She had just helped him beat his father. What else did she need to prove that she was ready?
“Give me a few months, maybe a year. I have so much to learn. I stumbled around this like a toddler. I’ll get you killed if you have to keep saving me.” Kathrine admitted.
“You…you saved me,” Paul argued.
“No, God saved us both but only after you kept your father from removing my head. I’m not ready.” Kathrine looked like a lost puppy. She didn’t want to leave but it was the right thing to do. Paul’s world was dangerous, mostly for him, if she kept putting him in danger. She needed to be completely ready before she took this last step.
“Ok, you’re the boss,” Paul smirked. “I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.” Paul turned and started after his father. He wasn’t going to risk fighting him again but he did need to know where he was going. He could still fulfill his promise to God, it would just be a little more difficult now.
“The vampire chick you’ve been banging will get a nice surprise tonight I bet.” Kathrine bit her lip. She desperately hoped he would deny having sex with another woman.
Paul laughed and turned to address her again.
“Let’s just set this straight right here. I was pretty active, sexually, I mean, until the day I met you. I haven’t been able to look at another woman since. The worst part is, now that you are older, I dream about you every night and in the dream I can’t touch you. When you’re ready I’ll be waiting. I just really hope you’re ready soon. I think I’m going crazy without you. You are everything to me, don’t ever forget that,” Paul turned again and left with a grin.
Kathrine’s jaw dropped. Instead of a denial Kathrine got what she’d been hoping for. Paul was just as crazy for her as she was for him. Hailey pushed Kathrine’s mouth closed then stood in front of her.
“Let’s get you home,” Hailey said.
“It’s your home too, or at least it will be soon,” Kelly smiled.
Kathrine cringed. Was Kelly going to be angry, tell Hailey to never see her again? Kelly put her hand on Kathrine’s shoulder.
“Thank you Kathrine,” Kelly said kindly.
“What?” Kathrine wasn’t sure what Kelly was thanking her for.
“For helping Hailey realize who she was. I knew she was my one the minute I stepped into the car but I also knew she wasn’t ready to admit it.” Hailey blushed a little and kicked at nothing on the warehouse floor. “What you did for us…will you be our maid of honor? We can’t exactly have a best man but you would sorta be the best woman.” Kelly simpered.
“Of course!” Kathrine shrieked. Perhaps she was a little too eager but she didn’t have to give up her best friend and she was going to be the maid of honor!
Within a few hours they were all back at the settlement. It felt good for Kathrine to lay down in her own bed. Despite this, she stared at the ceiling unable to get to sleep. Her last encounter with Paul had answered many questions about where they stood but it had also left her wanting. Paul genuinely wanted to be with her, he was ready, why wasn’t she? What she had said about feeling unprepared was true. She didn’t want to get someone hurt because she wasn’t ready. Still, she knew that wasn’t the only reason, she was scared, scared to completely love Paul. Somewhere in the back of her mind she still felt that Paul couldn’t really be in love with her. He deserved someone better. Yet, there was also a small part of her that felt like she should have just said yes.
Unable to sleep Kathrine got up and looked around the house. She had fully intended to start writing her story like Sarah had. She just felt that there wasn’t much to write about until now. She now knew exactly what she wanted to write. She rummaged through a few of Sarah’s dressers that were still there and finally found an empty notebook. With a pen she found lying on the table she started her book.
She titled the first chapter “Paul’s a Dick” then in smaller letters below it. “Yet he was right and I love him for it”. She scratched it out and laughed to herself. She wanted to start at the beginning. The day she tracked her father to that run down church. She wrote the story so that other people could read it. She was embarking on a journey to save humanity. If she died someone might one day tell her story. She wrote the chapter title again. “The Clueless Romantic aka my father.”
My name is Kathrine Albet, Daughter of Mark Albet, the Son of the Archangel Michael and this is my story. My dad once told me that there are events in your life that so completely change you that you end up becoming another person. I didn’t really understand what he meant until God chose me to save humanity. Now I don’t believe that I’m better than anyone else, nor am I more important, that’s not what this is about. You probably think I’m crazy. You might even think I’ve just seen too many sci-fi movies. Many of you don’t even believe in God and that’s your choice. I just ask you to take a good look at what this world has become. Watch the news, see all the violence and war then ask yourself one question. Can you really afford not to believe?
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my wife, Tammy. I couldn’t do this without her. She is my Sarah.
Curse of the Asuune Page 24