by Karen Swart
Suddenly tired, I plopped down into a chair. Closing my eyes, I tried to run the day’s events through my mind. Maybe somewhere in the events is the clue to the future? A kettle whistled, signaling the return of Vulcan. I opened my eyes and found Nanini still moving up and down. Her eyes ablaze, she was still trying to find a way out of this. Can’t blame her. Suddenly I wasn’t sure of anything anymore myself. Sure as hell didn’t see Kali as a traitor, nor did I see the possibility of a hellhound guarding the relics. But most of all, I never saw Nanini coming. Shitty day indeed.
“Alright, who wants to go first?” Vulcan asked, sitting down at the nearest table, yet far away from both of us. I looked at Nanini, giving her the opportunity to have her say, being a gentlemen and all. She gave me one look and took off, not even putting a full stop into one sentence.
“You tricked me! How could you do that to me? I should never have listened to you. Because of you I am stuck with this jerk.” She blasted Vulcan, her small finger making sure he knew who the trickster was.
“No, I did not,” he replied, all casual.
She had a point. From all the females willing to have taken an Apprendo that night, he did match me to her. Even when she complained, he still wanted her to train me. “Did you know?”
He looked at me and a small smile formed on his always serious face. “I will not lie about that. Yes, I knew that Nanini was your charm, and that is why I paired you together. It was the same for Kasadya and Chax, and many more pairings. It would seem that I have a gift to spot the mates of hellhounds and try and save them from their demise.”
“You knew! Why the hell didn’t you tell me? I could have made a break for it then!” She was still not calming down.
“Yes, I know. It’s the very reason I don’t tell young fallen when I have felt such a connection. And before you give me the speech that you are not young, you must know that you have a very explosive nature my dear, which qualifies you into that category.”
About that, the male was right. She was a walking, breathing time bomb.
“Well, too bad for you, it’s not going to happen. Over my dead freaking body!”
“I see, and how exactly are you going to pull that off, Nanini?”
She stopped and glared at him. “I’ll kill him.”
I should not have felt that awkward pinch in my chest at her words, but I did. It cut deep into my soul, sending even my hellhound into a dark corner of despair.
Vulcan’s calm face dropped away instantly. Getting up, he slowly approached her. “I forbid you. If you even try, I will personally hunt you down. We need all the fallen we can gather, even more so hellhounds. Because of Kasadya and all of you, we face the greatest battle against evil we might ever see. So you will suck it up, little girl, and you will learn to live with this. Do I make myself clear?”
I could see her small throat swallow the lump stuck in it. She nodded, and the glitter of a tears appeared in her eyes. My instinct took over instantly. Shifting, I landed between them and pushed Vulcan away from her.
“She understands. But you will never threaten her again. Do I make myself clear.” The words were laced with violence and promise.
Vulcan however, simply nodded and returned to his cup of tea. “I suggest you both return to Chax’s home. In the morning, we will be unleashing Kasadya Born. Go home and prey that Chax reaches her and is able to save her in time.”
His words send a cold spiral down my body. Behind me, I could hear Nanini suck in a breath. Shit. He better save her or he would have to answer to me. But now at this moment, I had my own mate to think of. I turned around and found her holding her face in her hands and shaking. “Let’s go home, Nanini,” I softly whispered and gently laid my hand on her arm, shifting her with utmost care.
Chapter 6
Nanini
“Would you like some warm milk or something?” Lada asked again.
“No, I am fine. It’s just… I don’t know. I feel all this anger towards him, and yet when he brought me home, I felt… something else.” My mind was still running over the details.
Gently, he shifted me to my room. “Everything is going to be alright, Nanini. I will not try and force this upon you, and we will let this grow the way fate decides to take it,” he whispered as he stepped away from me. “And do not fear for Kasadya. You know she won’t be beaten, even by her hellhound. Chax will bring her home.”
I didn’t answer. I was still pissed off at him and Vulcan, and in shock to know my best friend was facing her death in the morning. Would she be okay, or- no, Max was right. She won’t let her hellhound destroy her. If there is one person that can kick an ass, it’s Kasadya.
“Sleep well, Nanini,” were his last words before he shifted out.
Finally alone, I did what any freaking girl would do. I planted my butt on the ground and cried. Yes, even warrior females have the right to break down once in a while, and this was my once and a while. I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t want to be responsible for another’s life. I wanted to just be me, and do my thing. And now? Now I am the one who must keep a hellhound in place and make sure the human hosting the creature stays alive. Holy crap! I can’t do this!
It was at that very moment that Lada opened the door and decided that a choking hug was the solution. I stood at the window, watching the first rays of the sun peeking out behind the horizon. With a silent prayer, I prayed that Kasadya kicks butt and comes home. I need her bad ass attitude to get my own back. This night just totally drained me.
“I forbid it.” Vulcan’s words echoed in my mind.
I suddenly felt very guilty for saying that I would kill Max. This wasn’t his fault. Destiny is a freaking big bully, if you ask me. Okay, so I have the guilt trip thing going.
“Nanini, you have to talk about this, girl. You have been standing there for a while having a mental battle with yourself and it’s not going to be of any help. Just plant your butt down here and let’s talk.” Lada patted the bed.
I did as she said and planted my butt on the bed. My feet, however, were still jumping on the floor. I could blame my adrenaline, but I knew that this was my nerves.
“Okay, so you and Max, hey?” Lada tried to start this very awkward discussion.
“Un-freaking- believable, hey?” I chewed on my bottom lip, unable to look her in the eyes. But still, I could feel the blush creeping up from my neck towards my face. Lada’s giggle didn’t help at all.
“Nanini, it’s okay, you know. It’s actually what we here on earth and Exsilium call normal. Did you really think that you would be doing Mission Impossible without Tom Cruise?” Lada had an epically bad way of explaining something, epically.
“You had to use Tom Cruise? Why not Batman and Robin? Why not Scooby and Shaggy? You had to use Tom Cruise?” Yep, the girl knew how to turn my pissed off button on.
She burst out laughing, creating a smile on my face. “Okay, okay. Not Tom Cruise then. But you knew it was coming. You would not have been able to stay single so long. We are fallen, and unfortunately, urgently need more fallen for the cause. It was going to happen. At least you got a pretty cool guy.”
“Cool guy?” My eyes was going to pop out of my skull before the sun fully came up.
“Now, you know he is pretty cool. A gentlemen even. Don’t even try that Godzilla crap on me; you know I am right. Just look how he treated Kas when they were, well… sort of together. He is stubborn, make no mistake, but he is not some hot jock that will be breaking your heart around every corner.”
She had a point, which I will never admit. He was, per say, not a huge jerk, but he had this really annoying way of trying to control situations. Sometimes I didn’t know who was worse, Chax or Max. They are way too bossy. He wasn’t a real jerk like Marcus or the other guys, but still, he was a jerk in other aspects.
“You’re doing it again,” Lada complained
“Doing what?”
“Over-thinking it. You know it’s true. Why don’t you just try, Nanini?
Don’t try and bite his head off. Just try and be friends with him.”
“Friends? What the hell did you drink tonight? I want some too.” I jumped up, making a joke of it. Friends. Hell no.
Vulcan chose that moment to inform us via Corra that Kasadya was about to go born. Both of us jumped up and walked to the window, naturally taking each other’s hand.
“Come on, Kas, you can do this,” Lada breathed.
“You kick that hellhound’s ass and get the hell back here. We need you; I need you,” I silently sent out to her.
Outside I could see Max standing at a tree, looking at the landscape, his face worried. An awful and quite creepy roar echoed in the distance, sending birds into the sky and animals scattering out of the woods. Oh crap, Kasadya’s born is out. Max’s head jumped into the direction of the roar, and I could actually feel his distress. He was worried for Kasadya. We were both worried for Kasadya.
Suddenly, his head snapped up and he looked right at me. Something epically weird was happening. His worried face slowly changed and a small smile remained.
“Good girl, Nanini, you are doing it.” Lada patted my back
“Doing what?” My eyes couldn’t leave his.
“You are feeding him counter emotions, calming him.”
He nodded at me and then walked back into the house.
Holy shit.
Chapter 7
Max
I stalked through the huge mansion again, nodding to Ben when I passed. I should have been sleeping and preparing myself for battle; instead my mind raced on with thousands of questions and no answers. I hadn’t seen Nanini, but Lada had come down from her room a few hours ago. I hoped she was sleeping; her body needed the time to heal after that crash. Still can’t believe that she would be so desperate to get away from me that she would collide straight into the earth. I stopped again. Looking out of the window, I searched for any sign of a fallen. The fact that neither Vulcan nor anyone else had informed us if Kasadya had survived was making us all anxious. Although I knew that the chance for me and Kasadya together was forever lost, as a friend, I would always care about her.
“How long is it going to take? I mean, they did invent something called Corra for heaven’s sake!”
I froze. My heart started pumping from either shock or excitement. Which one, I didn’t know.
“I am going to go freaking bald if they keep this up. Would it kill them just to give us some news?”
I was reading Nanini’s thoughts. Unbelievable. Afraid that I would lose the connection, I didn’t move an inch.
“Hell, I freaking need to get some grub, but I just know I would run into him. Maybe I could sneak into the kitchen, just grab something, and then shift right back. Yeah, that might just work.”
I shifted to the kitchen in a split second, and right in front of me, Nanini shifted in, walking straight into me. “Ah, come on! You have got to be kidding me! What are the odds of running into you?” She pushed away from me and swung open the fridge door, almost ripping it from its hinges.
“How are you feeling?” I causally asked while walking over to the table and sitting down.
“Annoyed. Irritated. Suicidal.” She turned around and popped a few grapes into her mouth. Her eyes were piercing me with invisible daggers. I smiled inside. She was a vixen alright, but any vixen could be coaxed into giving in.
“I see. Have you gotten any sleep in?” She ignored me and returned to the fridge, searching for more food. Closing it again, she placed some ham and cheese on the counter. She almost crushed the bread when she grabbed it, continuing on as if I didn’t exist.
“I am still waiting for an answer.” Silence.
I leaned back, studying her small little frame.
Although half my size, she was built slender yet had all the right curves where they need to be. Her blond hair hung loose, almost reaching her… very nice behind. She turned around and aimed a knife at me. “You better not be ogling me. I swear I will plant this right in an eye.” She sneered.
“Shall we meet in the middle then? You can answer my question, and I will not look at your small frame.” I had a hard time keeping my delight in check. I never said the coaxing should be subtle. Oh no, this vixen needed fire to give in. Well, I have a lot of that to give.
“I didn’t sleep, okay? I swear, it’s like living with my Mom and Dad all over again! You do know that I already have a father. I sure as hell don’t need another one. Although, between Chax, Vulcan, and all of the bloody fallen males around me, I sure as hell have enough fathers to spare.”
She turned around and continued making her sandwich. See, that wasn’t so hard, little vixen.
“So, if I am concerned of your well-being, that makes me a father?” I knew it was just a matter of time before she would explode and shift out again.
“Oh please, don’t even go there.” She waved me off and stuck the cheese and ham back into the fridge. Grabbing her sandwich, she took a huge bite from it. Closing her eyes, she savored it. Slowly chewing the piece as if there wasn’t going to be another when she was done.
“You should have eaten something when we got back, but instead you locked yourself in a room. It would seem that you do need someone to help guide you.” Her eyes flashed open and she almost chocked on her piece of sandwich.
“Keep pushing the button, Godzilla. Keep pushing it. I am forbidden to kill you, but Vulcan said nothing about torture, mutilation, starvation and any other thing I can cook up.”
“Really, you would go through all that trouble just to spend some time with me?” The knife ended up in the wall behind me, missing my face by inches.
“You-“
“Morning, Nanini,” the Archangel Michael cut her off. She didn’t return the greeting. Instead she gave him the look of death, which implied the many ways she could insure that death would be painful.
I jumped up and approached him before she could make her advance. “And, what news do you have?” I stepped between them, blocking her deadly eyes from him. It’s one thing to pick a fight with a hellhound; it’s another thing to pick a fight with the Archangel of War.
He smiled and went over to the peculator, pouring some coffee into a cup. “She was magnificent, and gave us a great fight. But Chax came through and controlled her born. She is safe and soon she will be ready for battle. I have never seen such strong hellhound before. She will be even more magnificent when she receives her divinity.”
Vulcan and the other Archangels shifted in during his briefing. A little of the weight I was carrying lifted from me, but there was still a mountain left. I turned and looked at Nanini. She was still angry but I could see the news did her good as well. Her sandwich was finished so I decided to make her another one. I walked to the fridge and retrieved the ingredients. Something special, she might like.
“Yes, she was a handful. So, have you told them about the next stage of the plan?” Uriel sat down and grabbed a cookie from the jar.
“No, I am waiting for the others,” Michael replied, getting a cookie for himself.
I grabbed the bread and started to spread the butter when Lotan and Lada walked in. “I am so relieved. They had us worried to death,” she complained and grabbed a cup to get some coffee. As I sliced the ham, I noticed that Nanini hadn’t moved away from me. With more fallen entering the kitchen, she was moving closer to me. The smile I was hiding all this time couldn’t remain hidden. The others explained in detail what happened to Kasadya and Chax, and by the time I was done with the sandwich, Nanini was standing right next to me. I turned to her and handed her the sandwich. Moving from one foot to the other, she accepted it, taking a bite. Closing her eyes, she savored it again. How utterly beautiful she looked when she did that. I never noticed it before, but now, it’s just beautiful.
Someone cleared their throat and I lifted my head to look at them, finding that we had become the center of attention. “So, what is next? With Kali out there working with the demon who is now armed with relics
to take down the wall, we need a plan to take action and stop them,” I fired at them before anyone could tell Nanini what they had just witnessed. She would be back to her explosive self, and I didn’t want that at the moment. Just having her next to me took even more weight off me.
“We will search the globe and find them,” Raphael announced.
“That’s your plan?” Lotan asked, shaking his head.
“Do you have a better one?” Raphael fired back. An argument erupted between them and with each word, Nanini would move even closer. She was now completely pressed against me. Could it be that she doesn’t take aggressive arguments like these well? It was as if she was seeking protection without even knowing it. I stood my ground, although I wanted to wrap her in my arms and reassure her of safety. Seeing her like this brought out a new side of me. A very pissed off side.
“Enough,” I ended it.
All eyes turned to me. “Lotan, we have no other option; we have to find them. And they don’t have tracking devices strapped to their backs. We can’t rely on this team alone, though. Michael, we are going to need everyone. We’ll need our human force, each and every fallen, and the angelic host. With Kasadya’s latest incident, that might not be so easy,” I ended, looking straight at the Archangel. I had been through enough to stand my ground and take charge when clearly it was needed. I also didn’t like the way Nanini was reacting to it.
“Yes, that might be a problem,” Vulcan said, his hand rubbing through his hair.
“It won’t be when I am finished with them.” Michael announced and drank the last of his coffee.
“Agreed, you take north sides fallen and I will take south.” Raphael jumped up.
“I’ll do west,” Vulcan replied.
“And I’ll take what is left,” Uriel said after chewing her cookie.
“Then let’s get to it. No matter what, we will have our force.” Michael turned to the door and walked out.
“I’ll go and asked Amon and the humans at the compound to assist. We have a lot of contacts all around the world,” I called after them. I looked down at Nanini, still pressed against me.
