Lesedi noticed Kassie looked quite dizzy and the boy still had his face buried in the angel's shoulder eyes clenched tight. The two of them apparently needed to acclimate to angelic modes of travel. Nausea struck him before he could be grateful he had not been affected.
"Think I'm going to vomit," Kassie whispered, pressing her fingers tight across her mouth while she took slow careful breaths.
The angel froze, as he looked straight ahead. "Oh bloody hell." His wings turned instantaneously bright neon orange that left flashes of light on the backs of the observer's eyelids.
Lesedi followed Lyght's dismayed gaze. Not twenty feet away, a dozen or so people sat at a long table strewn with a jumble of books, papers and water bottles. A man with a sea blue shirt shook his lowered head with a hand on his brow while another man in red laughed boisterously. Perplexity filled the remaining faces, except for a large bald man's. He was clearly amused.
All at once, it occurred to Lesedi how their little group must appear to the strangers. A bizarre angel carting a flying circus while being mauled by a cat and cursed by a shrew.
A flicker of movement caught his attention and Lesedi suddenly took note of the bank of monitors beyond the table, six wide and three high, displayed what looked like footage from the CCTV cameras some American cities were installing to deter crime. Next to the monitors, a long media cabinet held a confusing array of electronic equipment and a half dozen desktop computers.
Miya turned a slow circle, taking in their surroundings as well. A massive weapons rack occupied one wall and contained everything from slings and arrows to hi-tech firearms.
"Looks like you have your hands full, Brother." The big man with the bald head and silvery looking eyes wore a good-natured grin.
Lyght scowled, then his brow smoothed abruptly as he stepped out of the little cluster of awkwardness. "Sorry for dropping in unannounced. Some rather annoying guests arrived at Miya's house unexpectedly and leaving was the best option."
He held a hand back toward Kassie and she stepped forward with Tyler close by. The boy peered around, pale and wide-eyed. Kassie hesitated a moment, then slid her fingers into Lyght's grasp. The Archangel breathed deep and closed his eyes for a brief instant as if in thanksgiving.
Lesedi moved close to Miya with the sudden urge to guard her.
Lyght looked at Kassie for a moment then lifted her hand and touched his lips to her knuckles in what looked like reassurance before drawing her closer to the table. "This is Kassie, and Tyler. Lesedi. And the harpy is Miya."
Miya's body tensed, putting Lesedi more on guard as a door beyond the table opened to crash against the wall. "Kassie!" A diminutive woman shrieked from the opening and launched herself across the table to drag Kassie into her arms. "Thank God you're safe! I was so worried."
Kassie sobbed and clutched the other woman to her, offering up prayers of thanks in between joyous laughter. Family?
While the two women dissolved into tears, the big guy with the shaven head and goatee came around the table and approached Lyght's little group. The air of danger that accompanied the man put Lesedi on immediate alert and he shifted a little, detecting a direct threat.
The man moved like a predatory beast circling a wounded animal, moving in for the kill. Despite the tangible threat, he wore a wide grin as he halted before their diamond… savior? Captor? Employer? Something else entirely?
"Thank you, Brother." The threatening aura faded a bit as the guy drew Lyght near for a quick almost-embrace. "My mate and I are grateful to you for bringing Kassie to her safely."
Lesedi felt like a voyeur, intruding on the private moment between the two men. He shuffled his feet a bit and turned a little, and in the process his gaze dropped down to Miya. His stomach jerked a little. Her intent stare upon him pried at his nature as if seeking out all his secrets.
Something, maybe instinct, pulled Lesedi into the dark liquid depths of her gaze and his surroundings fell away to nothingness in comparison to his need for her. He recognized Miya's initial reaction to avert her eyes but she resisted; perhaps she was held by his own hungry gaze, transfixed and utterly incapable of resistance, a mirror of her effect on him. He liked seeing her become helpless by his proximity. He wanted her helpless. Beneath him.
Lyght chuckled and slapped the guy's shoulder, the sound returning Lesedi's attention to those around him. The bald guy grinned, silvery eyes sparkling. Was this one an angel too? It seemed likely. Obviously he held a far higher opinion of Lyght than his sweet Miya did. Although, judging by her countenance now, her estimation of the angel currently approached genuine awe.
Kassie turned a little with the smaller woman in her arms, toward the guy who'd approached Lyght. "Toren, thank you for taking care of my girl. But I wish you'd told me everything. I wouldn't have worried so much."
The man stepped in and drew both Kassie and his wife into his arms. "It's good to see you safe, Kassie."
Miya watched the petite woman in Kassie's embrace closely, as if reminded of someone. "Sam?" Miya angled her head at the woman. "Is that you?" Her tone announced clear doubt and determination to prove her eyesight faulty.
The woman raised her head and turned. "Miya? Oh my God! Miya!" She smiled through her tears of joy and relief. "Wow, I can't believe it, this is perfect. You're going to love it here."
The guy with all the red on cleared his throat, suddenly near enough to touch, startling Lesedi. How had the man—angel?—come so close without him seeing? Normally Lesedi sensed nearby movement right away, a kind of sixth sense, and being caught unaware that way proved to be disconcerting.
He met the man's stare—were his eyes really red?—as directly as possible. He moved around Lesedi and Miya, looking them over like a jungle king considering whether a prey animal was worthy to kill and eat, or useful only to hike his leg and urinate on. Something awful about the man suggested being pissed on was the preferable choice. A ruthless and incomprehensible power emanated from him and encompassed Lesedi until a dire urge to pray took hold of him. Pray they be spared and passed over.
Lesedi followed the man's movement, turning to continue facing him. His deepening scowl seemed to suggest his preliminary decision involved hiking his leg. The red man came closer, towering over them, and Miya clutched Lesedi's hand in what felt like a plea for protection. Lesedi knew unequivocally that any request for assistance from proud Miya came from her subconscious mind. Regardless, he closed his hand around Miya's and put himself between her and the threat. As strong and independent though she was, her body automatically accepted the shelter and protection he offered, evident only in a subtle shift of her position.
The red man paused, broke into a smile and turned away. "Lyght, you haven't bonded with your humans yet?"
The guy's tone rubbed Lesedi the wrong way but rather than voice his annoyance he merely squeezed Miya's fingers gently in suspicion she might feel the same way. The subject of bonding of any sort was liable to be a sore point with her, given her earlier anger. Although the fantastic nature of the situation seemed to have taken a little salt out of that wound.
At least she had not yet resorted to haranguing Lyght again. Angel or not, Lesedi suspected Miya would relish scolding the red man about the lack of manners he displayed by publicly delving into their sex lives.
Lesedi supposed he knew Lyght after a fashion, but he didn't know these people, or how easily offended they might be. Judging by the vast array of weapons on display, going with the flow would probably be the smart choice.
Lyght glanced at Miya and Lesedi, then turned back. "They haven't quite had a chance to become accustomed to the idea yet, Kassern. In fact, I haven't had time to fill everyone in on the whole picture." He grinned. "Lesedi and I were busy getting scolded for making plans without consulting the ladies, even though Lesedi was blameless in that. I was still explaining things when some of those beasties came along."
Lesedi was grateful Lyght did not incriminate him or pretend he had taken part in any of the i
gnorant tactics he attempted to use with the ladies. Nor did he try to make himself look innocent or heroic. A good sign.
Lyght finished detailing how much of the grand plan he'd managed to reveal to them before being rushed off from Miya's. The red guy scowled and sat in a big chair behind the table and a tiny blonde woman glided to his side. He immediately drew her into his lap with the kind of smile that said she was his entire world.
Lesedi could not prevent the foreign flash of envy that washed through him at the little display. What would it feel like to look at a woman like that? And have her return it? Well, not just a woman. The woman, the one he wholeheartedly believed had been put somewhere on earth to be his perfect match. Unbidden, an image of Miya inserted itself in his mind and Lesedi looked at her with that exact expression. Right. A woman like Miya would not truly fall for an African as black as the ace of spades, let alone a man with a dubious past. Her current attraction was nothing more than curiosity about the unknown.
The red man laughed a little, drawing Lesedi back to the matter at hand. "Karly tells me introductions should be the first order of business. Then we can move on to more serious matters and fill Lyght's Quad in on the dirty details of our mission and their part in it. That work for everyone?" He scanned the occupants of the room, most of whom either nodded or lifted a hand in agreement.
The next ten minutes were a flurry of introductions and trying to figure out the complex relationships and associations. And to think someone said there would be eight more groups of four by the time it was finished!
Lesedi forced himself to concentrate as the guy called Troy spoke, going over the details of the mission. It seemed utterly delusional to consider demons and other evil beings stalking the earth in search of human souls to harvest. That was the stuff of Biblical fairy tales and fiction, not reality. Yet Troy, and all the others, behaved as though it were incontrovertible truth.
When Troy reached the end of his explanation, Sam rose, the wife of that bald guy, Toren? Mercury warrior if he remembered correctly. "Troy covered it all, but I think everyone would be more convinced to see some of the creatures and the attacks they've launched." She looked at the red angel—Kassern? "Show them the footage that one scout angel gave us. Of the girl in the bed."
Kassern raised a hand and just like that, the bank of monitors on the wall transformed to a single screen. The seats Lesedi and the others had been given came alive under them with a hum and turned automatically to face the screen.
A beast like the one who had come to Miya's house slunk along the side of another home, rising to peer in windows, then lowering itself to sneak further. Finally it leapt through one, ignoring the shattering glass.
The camera followed it inside and a small dark room filled the screen with a new creature accompanying the first. The second being's slim figure approached the hospital bed across the room. Its face suddenly filled the screen and Miya's gasp of horror seemed unnaturally loud in the momentary silence.
A round, disc-like mouth with row upon row of serrated teeth, all moving side to side like saw blades, contorted into what might have been intended as a smile. Red slitted eyes oozed with blood and a festering wound occupied the space the nose should have filled. Pale skin covered with blackened and crisped strips of flesh stretched over the naked bony chest. Holy Mother of God, what was that thing?
"It's a demon," someone said as if in reply to a question asked aloud.
The demon continued to move toward the hospital bed and the camera turned again to show the bed's lone occupant. An emaciated woman lay there, hollow eyes dark and glistening with fever. Her breath rattled in a constant groan of agony.
"Are you ready, Alicia?" the demon asked. "I will end your pain and you will live forever, healthy, and watch you children grow up. The cancer will be gone, as if it never happened. A miracle."
The camera shifted again to show the beast from another perspective. A glowing being stood before the dying woman, graceful wings folded behind it and a beatific smile spread across its normal looking mouth.
"I'm ready. Take me." The weak voice was barely discernible but Lesedi had no doubt the demon heard the words loud and clear.
The demon shifted to its real form and leaped at her. She screamed as it landed on her chest. Too late. Lesedi watched in horror as the thing melted into her writhing body that convulsed in agony. Then she stood, appearing in perfect health.
As the screen faded to dark, tears rolled down Miya's cheeks unnoticed. "Oh dear God," she whispered, her voice strained. "What will happen to that poor woman now?"
One of the women, Devyn, he thought, dried her own tears. "Oh she'll live forever alright." Her hard voice shook. "A prisoner in her own mind, watching every atrocity the demon commits in her name." Emotion overtook her again and more tears flowed unchecked. How much of that type of horror had this woman seen? And yet her heart remained unhardened. "It will unleash some of the vilest and sacrilegious shit on her children, her family. And they'll believe she's doing it. And she'll be powerless to do anything but watch."
"But that thing tricked her, that's not fair." Miya's anger came through. "Surely she can't be penalized for wanting some relief from that kind of suffering. The demon took advantage of her pain."
"All human actions are judged in righteousness," the blue angel said. "If she is truly innocent, God will know, and justice shall come to pass once this fallen world has been entirely restored."
Something shifted in Lesedi. "Is this what we are trying to stop?"
Toren, nodded. "That and far worse."
Miya took hold of Lesedi's hand beneath the table. "Tell me what to do. I'm in."
Lesedi regarded her. She looked up into his gaze and it felt like looking at himself in a mirror. The need to help others, to do what was right, burned inside her. The same as it burned within him. He had never been able to name the hunger inside him. But in that second, he knew exactly what it was. The diamond business was fraught with defiling events that left him wanting, and feeling so eternally soiled in his spirit that he could hardly lift his head. That was what had changed in him, where the innocence and freedom of childhood had gone. Smothered by the wages of his own sins.
He looked around the table and found all eyes on him as though they knew he sat at a crossroad of redemption and damnation. Waiting for the verdict. He nodded slightly. "My name is Lesedi." He aimed his gaze at Lyght. "Son of a whore and a king. Use me in whatever way that you can."
The angels looked at one another, flames arcing between them. The fires died back, but the angels' eyes continued to glow with the preternatural light. It was Lyght that turned his glowing gaze on him then stood and placed his hand on Lessedi's head. "You are Lesedi. Son of Deshtorah, a holy woman who sacrificed herself to save a divine lineage. Though she is called a whore among men, she is a queen in our realm." He bowed his head, as if in deference, and Lesedi looked around, shocked to see the remaining angels bowing their heads the same.
Kassern turned a speculative gaze on Lesedi. "You are thought, by the ignorant, to be a man of both lowly and noble birth. The latter is the truth, but the former is a lie that has rooted in your soul and cursed you. And now, we will forge strength from this weakness after the bonding is complete. However, you will always have to be on guard for those who will seek to corrupt you."
Lesedi realized that the angel had just divined his past and spoken prophetically about his future. Just like that. Just like that, he was in the midst of the impossible. The supernatural. The very stain he spent his life running from, even despising. And like his forefather who led his people out of Egypt, Lesedi felt the urge to remove his shoes. For surely the place where he sat, was holy ground.
Chapter Eleven
Lyght finally managed to draw a full breath again when Miya announced her cooperation. Sure he'd still be the laughingstock of the Brotherhood for getting his ass chewed by a woman like that. They might not have said it, but everyone in the room was awed by her courage and durability
. Not many humans handled their first flash without at least a little motion sickness, even after being prepared for it. She hadn't gone the least bit green and she certainly hadn't been rendered speechless. Prickly nature aside, having her in his Quad would be an asset.
While his Brothers and their team members filled his Quad in on exactly the sorts of things they would be fighting, Lyght stayed quiet next to Kassie at the long table. So this would be his and Kassie's home for the duration of the operation? He didn't appreciate the lack of lavish detail he was accustomed to in Third Heaven, but what more could he ask of Earth's environs?
Even though none of his Quad had earned their portion of his angelic nature yet, their demeanors announced they were ready to fight without backing out, no matter the evil they faced. Thank God.
Lyght smiled softly at Tyler and the stray cat. They'd polished off their snack in record time then curled in the big chair they'd been given. While the cat groomed and purred, the boy's eyelids drooped and finally fell shut. The cat froze, stared at Tyler a few seconds, then turned on his abdomen. Purring loudly, it proceeded to push at the boy's belly with first one forepaw then the other, growing gradually louder and more energetic.
Lyght noticed his Brothers and a couple of the others watching with the same mixture of puzzlement and worry as he felt. About the same time, the cat seemed satisfied and dropped to its belly with those forepaws curled elegantly under its body, chin resting against its chest and tail in a neat tuck against one hind leg. Its eyes immediately narrowed to watchful slits and it appeared ready to stay on guard as long as the boy napped.
Hmph. Bloody odd creature. Lyght forced himself to turn away before it could do anything else interesting.
Toren approached with a broad grin and sat in the empty seat on his right. "You believe that?" He nodded at the cat. "I actually think that little thing would totally kick anyone's ass who bothered the kid now."
Summon Lyght (Archangels Creed) Page 9
