Orias still seemed skeptical. “I would think serving your king would be reward enough.”
“Perhaps to a soldier, but as a freelancer these days, I have expenses. I was trying to determine if it was worth mine and Mal and Dante’s time to actively search for the angel.”
Orias seemed intrigued by the idea, and he removed the crystal from under his chainmail, bringing it to his mouth. “Zephael?”
The king answered immediately. “Yes?”
“Brax is here for strictly mercenary reasons. In a roundabout way, he’s offering to track down the angel in an active fashion in return for a reward. What reward should I offer him? How about the continued privilege of breathing?” Orias glared at him as he spoke the words.
Brax kept his expression neutral, not revealing any reaction to Orias’s words.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” said Zephael with a chuckle. He liked to present a façade of being playful and laidback, but he was really a powder keg. “Tell him we have a suitable reward that will more than satisfy him if he and his sidekicks find the angel.”
“Will do, sir.” Orias dropped the crystal back under his shirt and looked at Brax. “Are you satisfied?”
Brax pretended he was, nodding as he grinned. “I suppose we just found something to fill the time for a while.” He struggled to sound like he was full of easy confidence. “How hard can it be to find a lone angel?”
“Indeed. We have some of our best scrying for her location now.”
Brax absorbed that information and swallowed the lump in his throat as he nodded. “I guess I’d best get back to it if this little reunion is over?”
“It is for now.” As he spoke, Orias reached between his wings, which were fully visible on Infernum, extracting his sword. He didn’t wave it around in a showy fashion. He just held it for a moment before returning it to the scabbard. “Reward awaits your success, but failure won’t be tolerated.”
Brax got the message, and he nodded once. “When have you ever known us to fail?”
“Only once, when you turned your back on your kind and chose to seek refuge with the apes.” His voice dripped with disdain.
Brax didn’t bother to reply. He just visualized the spot where the portal would open and found himself standing there a second later. After that, all he had to do was step through, and he was soon whisked back to Earth.
When he stepped out of the portal, it quickly disappeared, and his eyes adjusted from the bright light to the more moderate illumination around him as he processed it was after sunset on Earth. There was a disparity in time passing, with it moving more slowly on Infernum than it did on Earth. He had been in his home dimension less than an hour, but several hours had passed here.
He moved forward, taking a camp chair beside the fire as Mal handed him a plate of beans. It had been kept warm by the remnants of the smoldering fire, but they were hard and rubbery. Food was food though, and he shoveled them in as he looked around. “Where’s Abby?”
“She’s already gone to sleep,” said Dante, and he sounded relieved about that.
Brax was as well, for it meant they could speak more openly. “That’s good.”
“What did you find out?” asked Mal with a hint of impatience.
“Marael is still leading the old squad.”
As impatient as Mal was, he still managed a small smile. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
“That’s the squad you were both part of?” asked Dante, who had never formally served in the demon armies. He had been just twenty-one when he decided he liked Earth better and stayed around. That was practically a baby by their lifespans.
Mal nodded. “It was.”
“I also learned Orias is still sore about us walking away.” Brax chewed a particularly stubborn bite of beans as he said that.
Mal snorted. “We were two of his best. What else did you learn specifically about Abby?”
“Not much. I think Zephael wants to use her as some kind of weapon, or at least get intel out of her about the angels. The angels are the ones who want her dead, and Zephael wants her recovered for interrogation.”
Mal winced, obviously familiar with interrogation.
Dante seemed a little more clueless. “What does that mean? He’s going to ask her questions and let her go?”
Brax snorted. “Not bloody likely. He has all sorts of creative ways to get one to talk, and if she has nothing to tell him, he’ll still torture her anyway. He’ll be thorough to make sure she doesn’t know anything, and then he’ll either leave her to die slowly from her injuries, or he’ll do something worse, like decide to keep a pet angel around. She can’t fall into his hands.”
Dante looked upset, bordering on nauseated, and he nodded. “We won’t let that happen.”
“Maybe we should just turn her over to them and be done with it,” said Mal unexpectedly.
Brax frowned at him. “Really, Mal?”
After a moment, his friend had the grace to blush and look away. “No, I suppose not. I don’t like any of this though. I don’t want to get drawn back into the fighting, and I don’t want to go against our own to save an angel.”
“She’s not just any angel,” said Dante. “Abby is our angel.”
Mal rolled his eyes. “Kid, she’s not our anything, except our problem, because we made her that. I’m just saying, we could unmake that problem as easily as we started it.”
“You can do what you want, but I’m not leaving her alone and undefended, especially with a bunch of crazy featherheads on both sides after her.” Dante’s resolve was clear.
Brax nodded his agreement. “I’m with the kid on this one, Mal.”
After a long moment, Mal sighed heavily. “Yeah, I guess I’m in. I just don’t want to get too attached. Neither of you should either.”
“We also either have an advantage or another problem,” said Brax after he scraped off the remainder of his beans into the fire and set the plate down for the moment. “I ended up leading Orias to believe we’ll be searching actively for the angel.”
“How the fuck did that happen?” Mal looked aghast. “Why would you ever lead him to think that?”
“I had to think of a reason why I was on Infernum and asking about the angel. It seemed like the most plausible explanation to be motivated by greed.”
“How’d they even know you were there?” asked Dante.
Brax hesitated and then shrugged. “I guess Zephael has changed things. He’s been king for what, a century?”
“More or less,” said Mal with a shrug.
“I guess he pays more attention to who comes and goes than the last one. Seems to matter to him.”
“I’m glad we got out while we could,” said Mal.
Brax recalled how he’d felt like they were trying to intimidate him when he’d been surrounded by Orias and the other five demon warriors, and he nodded his agreement. He suspected things had changed in more ways than one, and a demon couldn’t just choose to walk away these days and stay on Earth without paying some sort of price for it. They were lucky they had made the decision before Zephael rose to power.
“We have no real information, no plan, and no idea what we’re doing.” Mal ticked off the points with his fingers.
“Pretty much,” said Brax with a crooked grin.
“Typical,” said Mal, though he didn’t seem too put out. “I’m going to bed.”
“Me too.” Dante poured out the rest of whatever he was drinking and stood up, lifting Mal’s plate as he did so and walking over to store it in a bag. There must not be a freshwater source easily obtainable, so they’d have to wash them the next time they rented a hotel.
Brax sat by the fire for a few more moments, mulling over the situation, but he was no closer to finding a solution. With a sigh, exhaustion catching up with him, he stood up and turned to his tent, entering moments later.
He stumbled to a halt when he saw he wasn’t the sole occupant. Abby had placed her bedroll in his tent tonight,
and more disconcerting, she was sitting up on it, her eyes wide open and gleaming in the darkness. He could see just a hint of white aura around her irises, another telltale sign she wasn’t human. Even a human could have picked up on that if they were observant enough. He crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing in here?”
“I wanted to talk to you, so it seemed like the best way to ensure I could do that. What did you find out?”
After a moment’s reflection, he shared an edited version of events, leaving out the information that he, Mal, and Dante were supposedly tracking her. He doubted she would take that well, and since it wasn’t true, he didn’t feel the need to enlighten her.
She seemed further upset as he stopped speaking, and she twisted her fingers in her lap as she looked down at them. “Why would anyone want me dead? The angels are supposed to be my people, so why are they targeting me? What is it that this Zephael thinks I know?”
“I don’t know the answer to either question, Abby. You probably won’t know until you get your memory back, or until we find someone who does know and get some answers from them. In the meantime, all we can do is keep you safe.”
She burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. There was an air of dejection about her that was so overwhelming he couldn’t stand it. Brax moved forward and knelt beside her, taking her into his arms.
It was supposed to be an embrace of comfort, and that’s how it started out, but as her sobs slowly eased, and her tears ceased, her breathing changed. She exhaled raggedly against his throat, making him shiver at the sensation, and he wrapped his arms around her tighter without thought. He wanted to hold her forever, and he realized it was far too late to avoid getting overly attached.
At first, he thought he imagined it when her lips pressed against his throat, but the second time she did it, it was clearly with deliberate intent, and he moaned at the sensation. He clenched his hands inadvertently around her arms, making her whimper in protest, and he softened his hold immediately, but he didn’t let go. He wasn’t even certain he could do so, particularly when her mouth moved higher, following the arch of his throat until she reached his chin.
It was a strange sensation to feel her kiss the dimple in his chin, and he bent his head quickly, aligning their mouths. This was probably a terrible idea, but it was a mistake he knew he was going to make even as he took possession of her mouth, curving his lips to hers. She let out a breathless little cry, and he swallowed the sound as he kissed her with a level of need he hadn’t experienced before.
Of course, there had been liaisons throughout his life, but never anyone who meant much of anything to him besides his family, whom he’d lost from fighting. A kiss had never felt like this before, like the seconds before the Big Bang, when the universe had reached the maximum point and had no choice but to explode.
She moved closer, her arms wrapping around him, fingernails clutching his shoulders. There was an air of desperation about her as he laid her back on her bedroll, mouth not leaving hers. He couldn’t stand even a small separation, and he continued to ravage her mouth, his tongue sweeping inside to explore every inch and memorize the taste of her.
She was thrashing as she kissed him, clearly needing something perhaps she couldn’t verbalize. Maybe she didn’t know how, or she was too shy, but he understood what her instincts were craving. Without hesitation, he slipped his hand inside her pants and started stroking her slit through the fabric of her underwear.
She moaned and pressed against him, making adorable animalistic sounds in her need and passion as he continued to touch her. He was on the verge of coming just from touching her, and when she found her own release moments later, it took every ounce of willpower he had to hold back.
As she started to calm down, her breathing returning to a more even keel, he realized he hadn’t exerted every ounce of self-control. If he had, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand her attempts when she started to reach for his zipper. He eased away from her, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Go to sleep, Abby. You need your rest.”
She looked briefly hurt and confused. “Don’t you…?”
He shook his head. “Not right now.” If he were smart, he’d say never. Once he was inside her, and they had become one, he was certain he could never stand to lose her. Maybe that should’ve frightened him more than it did, and long after she had fallen asleep, he laid on his sleeping bag, his groin aching, and a similar spasm in his chest. It was an empty void he was certain nothing could satisfy except Abby. Was he strong enough to resist that temptation, or did he even want to try?
Chapter Eight
They were in a new city a couple of days later, waiting for Dante to check them in at a small motel, when there was a flash of white light. It happened faster than Abby could track, but she knew she was in danger. Something in her mind recognized the flash even if she didn’t know why it was a risk to her. She reared back instinctively, barely missing the kiss of a sharp blade against her throat. It nicked her collarbone instead, and she stumbled back with a cry that alerted Mal and Brax.
They surged forward, their wings temporarily appearing as they retrieved their swords before they phased them out of visibility again.
Abby stood back, feeling useless as the two men fought with the other two. The ones who’d appeared in the flash of white had a different kind of light emanating from their chests. She could see a small glow with a red tint when she looked at the demons, but the light coming from these two was so bright it almost seared her eyes, though she was certain she had seen it many times before. It reminded her of the two angels she’d seen at the diner that first day of traveling with the demons.
She wondered if they were angels, and it seemed like it since they were trying to kill her. If they had been demons, they would’ve taken her without trying to kill her. They certainly weren’t human. That was easy enough to determine by how quickly they moved, not to mention their unexpected entry with a flash of light, and their bright white auras.
She pressed against the building, watching the fight take place. She managed to tear her gaze away long enough to look around, seeing a couple at the other end of the parking lot watching with their mouths agape. For her part, she’d yet to see a sword fight during her time on Earth, so she imagined it was uncommon to the humans nearby as well.
The woman who was part of the couple screamed, and Abby looked back in time to see Mal driving his blade through the glowing chest of one of the attackers. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the body simply vanished with a spark of white light. Seconds later, Brax dispatched the second one as Dante came running.
“What happened? Are you all right?” Dante was beside her, appearing frantic.
Abby managed to blink and clear away some of her fear. “I think so.” She touched her shoulder, and the wound was deeper than she’d realized. She winced both at the pain and the way her fingers came away wet and slightly sticky with warm blood.
Dante was scowling now, his gaze focused on her wound. “What did they do to her?” He asked that question of Mal.
“The angels appeared out of nowhere. If she hadn’t moved as quickly as she did, he probably would’ve cut her throat.” Mal sounded enraged.
Abby was enraged herself, along with shaken up, and she glared at the place where the two angels had been. “I don’t understand why they’re coming after me. I don’t remember anything.” She was uncertain if she had done something wrong, but that didn’t feel right to her. Abby was reasonably certain she wasn’t the kind of person who would’ve done something to end up on an angels’ hit list, but clearly, she must have.
“We’re going to try to figure that out, but in the meantime, we need to keep you safe.” Brax returned his sword to his scabbard as he spoke, moving closer as he darted a glance at the couple who’d witnessed the whole thing. The woman seemed almost in shock, but the man was on the phone.
“I know you just checked us in, but I think we’d better go elsewhere.”
He jerked his head in the direction of the couple. “I’d imagine he’s calling the human authorities right about now, and if they believe his story of sword fights and two people appearing and disappearing in a flash of light, they could come at any moment.”
“I think they have to investigate either way,” said Dante, still sounding a little shaken himself, though he had missed most of the action.
“Come on, Abby.” Mal put a hand on her uninjured shoulder, directing her toward his bike. She found it awkward to cling to him with her collarbone injured.
“Hang on.” As he spoke, Dante came over and put his hand right on her wound. He ignored her gasp of pain as she tried to wrench away. “Hold still.” There was more than a little bit of impatience in his tone, and he continued to focus on whatever he was doing.
She yelped at the sharp sting of pain that went through her, followed by a wave of heat. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it wasn’t something she’d want to experience again. He lifted his hand just before she insisted he do so, and she looked down in surprise. The fabric of her blouse was still cut and covered with blood, but the skin underneath was completely healed. She frowned at him. “You healed me?”
He shrugged. “It’s something I can do sometimes.”
She was feeling doubtful. “It doesn’t seem like an evil power.”
“We aren’t evil, and not all angels are good.” Dante seemed to think that was the end of the matter as he shrugged and turned away from her, soon mounting his motorcycle.
Abby clung to Mal, finding it much easier now that her shoulder was healed again, and they soon merged onto the main street. Traffic was bad, but they were able to make some progress by darting through with their motorcycles, and they found a new hotel within the hour.
They had two rooms, but they were all in one, waiting for a pizza Dante had ordered, when Mal reached into his pocket and pulled out a communication crystal. This was a different shape and color than the one she’d seen him answer before, and she inferred it had come from one of the angels even before he said, “I managed to snatch this off the winged bastard before dispatching him back to Caelum.”
Sanctimalus Serial: Parts One-Three Page 7
