by KD Jones
Fallen Venus
7even Circles Book 3
KD Jones
Copyright 2017 KD Jones
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3:
Chapter 4:
Chapter 5:
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9:
Chapter 10:
Chapter 11:
Chapter 12:
Chapter 13:
Chapter 14:
Chapter 15:
Chapter 16:
Chapter 17:
Chapter 18:
Chapter 19:
Chapter 20:
Chapter 21:
Chapter 22:
Chapter 23:
Chapter 24:
Chapter 25:
About the Author
Chapter 1
Cass was cleaning the table after her customers had left when a man’s voice on the news caught her attention. She glanced up at the report on the television about a contractor buying up abandoned buildings and renovating them.
“We’re making something beautiful out of the ugly. Our first apartment complex will be ready for occupancy in another month,” an older man with silver hair said.
The reporter made some comment about progress bringing back Detroit’s population.
“Hey Cass! We need some more coffee!” Leeza yelled out.
She turned away from the TV and went to grab a pitcher to add more water to the coffeepot. Tingles erupted on the back of her neck like someone was watching her. Turning around, she came face to face with the man she had just seen on TV, not to mention countless billboards.
“Hi, is there something I can help you with?”
He gave her a strange smile. “I hope so. Are you Cassandra Knight?”
“Yes, who are you?”
“I am Abraham Knightingale, though I also sometimes use the last name Knight. I have been looking for you for a very long time. I’m your grandfather.”
She dropped the pitcher she was holding and then startled at the loud crash of it hitting the floor. Leeza was at her side immediately.
“Are you okay, Cass?” Leeza asked as she bent down to help pick up the pitcher and used the towel on the counter to clean up the water. Thank God she hadn’t been holding hot coffee.
“I...I’m…”
The man who called himself her grandfather spoke up. “It’s entirely my fault. I took her by surprise.”
Cass needed to say something...anything, but her voice wouldn’t work at that moment. All she could do was stare at the man.
“Maybe she needs to sit down until she’s feeling better,” Ari offered, coming out of nowhere and taking her hand.
“I need to clean…”
“I’ve got it, go sit down.” Leeza shooed her away gently.
Ari led her to the far corner booth and had her sit down. When she looked up, she saw him whisper something to the man. The way they interacted made her realize that they were familiar with one another. But how did Ari know her grandfather?
Ari sat down next to her while the older man sat across from her. She looked at him and tried to find some kind of resemblance. Though his hair was completely silver now, maybe it had once been blond like hers.
“Who are you?” she asked.
The man smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his dark eyes. “My daughter, Laura Knight, is...was your mother. You were taken from us many years ago, when you were just a child. I’ve been searching for you every since.”
“Where’s my mother?”
He tried to appear sympathetic, but his expression came off as almost robotic. “I’m sorry to say she died not long after you were taken from us. Her heart couldn’t take losing you.”
She knew it to be true, but still…
Ari reached underneath the table to take her hand in his and squeeze. She wanted to soak in the comfort he offered, but she was still angry with him for lying to her about being engaged to someone else. For years, he had flirted with her, and finally a few months ago their relationship had begun to get more intimate. Then she met his fiancée. She jerked her hand free, ignoring the look of hurt on his face. Fine, he should hurt.
“So you’re a full demon?”
“No, both your grandmother and I are demi-demons. Your mother was a demi-demon, as well.”
“You said my mother’s dead, but what about my grandmother?”
“She is still living and would very much like to meet you.”
Cass wasn’t sure she could trust this guy. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
Abraham looked at Ari before speaking. “Don’t let anyone tell you that we’re all evil. We are just like anyone else. We love, hate; we can do good or bad. We can choose how we live our lives.”
She knew she should ask some serious questions here, but the problem was, she couldn’t think straight. Finally, after an awkward pause, she pulled herself together, at least a little.
“How did you find me?”
“I have Ari to thank. I had almost given up the search for you when I came across young Ari. He told me that he had found you.”
She looked at Ari, who was now staring at the other side of the diner. “You didn’t tell me that you knew my grandfather.”
“I didn’t realize at first that you were related to Abraham Knightingale. There were a lot of Knights in the Earthly plane, and I didn’t know that your mother had shortened her last name for some reason.”
Something just didn’t ring true. The names were too similar and the fact that the Knightingales lost a child had to be well known within the demon circles. Ari was extremely familiar with the demon circles. She would have to question him further about this later. Right now, she had more questions for her so-called grandfather.
“Why now? Why come to me now?”
“I truly thought you were dead. Someone took you, and then a child’s body was found that matched your description. We all thought the worst. It was the hardest on your poor mother. She took her own life when she believed you had died.”
The thought of her mother killing herself because she thought Cass had died was overwhelming. Her heart ached for the woman who had loved and lost her child.
“What do you want from me now?
He seemed surprised that she wasn’t falling at his feet. “Well, I suppose I want a relationship with my only grandchild.”
“So what? We go to grandfather-granddaughter dances? Play checkers on Sundays?” Maybe she was coming across a little angry, but she couldn’t help it.
He smiled gently at her. “How about I offer you a job with my property development firm?”
“Doing what? I’ve never worked as a secretary.”
“You would start out working as an assistant to one of my managers. You could work your way up easily.”
“I don’t know. I already have a job here at the diner, and I’m going to college part time.”
“Ari told me that you’re going to college. You could quit the diner, work at my firm, and I would pay your tuition.”
“I work for what I want. I don’t take handouts.”
“I can resp
ect that work ethic. My firm would be able to help you with your tuition as a work exchange type of thing.”
It sounded like a great deal, but living on the streets had taught her that if something sounded too good to be true, it usually was. “I’m not quitting my job here at the diner.”
Ari spoke up. “Jerry has two other waitresses now, so you could actually reduce your hours here.”
She glared at him. It felt like he was pushing her to have a relationship with this stranger. “I’ll think about it.”
“If you would come to my downtown office, I could show you around. That might help make up your mind.”
Cass sighed, “What time?”
“Nine. Three fifty-six West Street.”
That was one of the swankier newly rebuilt areas. “I’ll be there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”
Ari slid out of the booth to let her out. She walked over to the counter to see what orders needed to be served. Leeza was there waiting for her.
“What was that all about?”
“That guy claims he's my grandfather.”
“What? Where has he been all this time?” Leeza asked heatedly. It made Cass feel good to know she had someone who was always on her side.
“Says they thought I was dead.”
“What about your mother?”
She ached again for the mother she would never know. It was all suddenly too much “I...need to leave.”
“Go, I’ll cover your tables. You’ve had enough to deal with for one night.”
“Thanks Leeza. I’ll talk to you later, promise.” She hugged her friend and glanced once more over at the booth where Ari and her grandfather were talking. They both looked up to wave goodbye to her. This was just too weird. All these years of wondering what happened to her family, and now that she knew, it left her feeling empty inside.
She had made it a few feet down the sidewalk when Michael came running up behind her. “Cassandra! Wait!”
Cass stopped to turn and glare at him. Yeah, she was still pissed at him. Ari had kept things from her and messed with her memories and left out the fact that he was engaged, but Michael had tried to seduce and manipulate her. She couldn’t trust either of them.
“What do you want?”
“Why are you leaving early? Who’s that guy talking to Ari?”
“My long-lost grandfather that Ari knew about all this time, evidently.”
“That demon bastard. How dare he keep another thing from you!”
“Oh, shut up! You’re just as bad as he is.”
“I am not! I’m a warrior for God! I’m nothing like a lowly half-demon.”
“Newsflash, we half-demons prefer the term demi-demons, and we would never want to be considered anything like you.”
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Of course you did. You hate anyone with demon blood running through their veins. That means me.”
“I don’t hate you, Cassandra.”
“You don’t love me either.” She turned to walk away but he reached out to grab her arm, pulling her to a stop again.
“I have never loved anyone but God, so this is all new to me, but I do feel something for you. Is it love? I don’t know.”
He was being honest with her for once about his feelings. She needed to give him credit for trying.
“I appreciate your honesty. It doesn’t change what you and Father Raphael did in manipulating me.”
He dropped his hand and she felt the loss of his contact. Angels, even those who weren’t healers, could use their powers to offer some comfort to others. For a moment while his hand was on her arm, she had felt less tense. Now that he let go, all the stress and confusion was back.
“That demi-demon was using his own influence to get you to follow him. We were desperate. What else were we supposed to do?”
“You could have trusted me to do the right thing and to make my own decisions. Sometimes the end does not justify the means. You hurt me. I don’t trust you and I’m not sure I ever will.”
“Please, just let me prove myself to you.”
She looked into his blue eyes and saw sincere regret for what he had done. “What exactly are you wanting from me?”
“I want to show you that you can trust me. I am also hoping that you would consider...dating me.”
She blinked in surprise. “Date you? There’s no need to renew your seductions. I’m willing to train and learn from you and Father Raphael as long as there’s no manipulation on either of your parts.”
He moved a step closer to her and the look in his eyes changed to something else—desire. Michael had not been completely immune to her after all. “I wasn’t faking my feelings. To be honest, I had never experienced anything like this until I came here and met you. I didn’t handle it very well and fell back on my training and education, all of which told me that demons were to be destroyed.”
“Are you saying you were conditioned to think that way?”
“Yes, and I want to overcome some of that conditioning, but I will need your help to do it.”
“I guess if you’re willing to work on it, I’m willing to help.”
He gave her a dazzling smile. Why did he have to be so gorgeous?
“Good. Would you like for me to fly you home?”
She shook her head. “Nope, I’ve got my own transportation, thanks.” There were some perks to being the Child of Light, part demon, part arkangel, and part human. With that she turned and pulled on her energy, speeding off into the distance, running faster and faster. She loved to run; it was one of the only times she felt free.
Chapter 2
Two hours later
Cass looked up from her seat on the floor when the door opened and Leeza came into the apartment. “How was the rest of the shift?”
“Boring. I see you didn’t actually go to bed when you got back.”
Cass held up a bottle of fingernail polish. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d change my nail polish. Want to help me with my toes and I’ll do yours?”
“I was going to study, but this sounds much more exciting.” Leeza tossed her purse on the couch and dropped down on the floor across from Cass.
Cass handed her a bottle of polish remover. “What color do you want?”
“Pink, please.”
She handed Leeza the bottle and noticed the expression on her friend’s face. “What?”
Leeza smiled. “I just am amazed. You’re this tough demon hunter but then you go and wear...Blue Sparkle Glitter nail polish.”
Cass shrugged. “It’s the one girly thing I do. I usually don’t wear dresses or high heels or even get my hair styled at a salon. My weakness is pretty nail polish.”
“I’m glad we have this one thing, other than the diner, in common.”
“We’re both going to school, too.”
“That’s true. It’s just...you train with Michael and Father Raphael and genetically you’re more similar to Ari and have this whole love/hate relationship with him. I feel out of place, like I don’t belong in your life because I’m just an ordinary human.”
Cass reached over and squeezed Leeza’s hand. “You fit in my life because you keep me grounded. I sometimes wish I could walk away from all this responsibility, but you and Jerry remind me that people I care about and other humans would be left to deal with the demons alone if I did that. You’re my other half, in a way, more so than any guy I’ve ever had in my life. You remind me that I’m also human, just as much as I am...other.”
“I just wish I could help you fight instead of being a liability.”
“You help keep me sane. Without you, I might end up in the psych ward permanently.”
There was a small pause as they retreated from their emotional moment. Leeza started applying her nail polish. “So, tell me about this guy who claims he’s your grandfather. He looks really familiar.”
“You’ve seen him on TV, about the property being developed downtown. His n
ame is Abraham Knightingale...or Knight, I guess. He alternates using Knightingale or Knight when he’s on the Earthly plane so that humans don’t notice how slowly he’s aging. My mother evidently used Knight.”
“Ari knew who he was? Why didn’t he say anything?”
“He says he didn’t connect the dots between me going by Knight and the name Knightingale.”
“Sounds like you don’t believe him.”
“I don’t. They way they looked at each other and talked to each other was too...familiar.”
“I guess it’s hard to trust Ari after he kept his engagement a secret.”
It still hurt to hear someone else say it. “Yeah, I just can’t trust him. I also can’t trust Michael or Father Raphael completely.”
“That’s a shame. You and Michael would make a great couple.”
“I don’t see it happening. Michael won’t be able to get past my demon blood, and I’m having a hard time getting over my feelings for…”
“Ari.”
She closed up the polish and blew on her nails. “I just can’t get over him leading me on. I mean, we did stuff...intimate stuff. How could he do that if he had a fiancée?”
“Did you ask him that?”
Cass snorted. “No, but he tried to say it was an arranged thing and that he didn’t have much of a choice in it.”
“Maybe he’s telling the truth. There are some places in the world where marriages are still arranged. It could be a common thing for demons and demi-demons.”
“That might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that he made me believe that he wanted me when the whole time he knew he wasn’t available to be with me. I hate him for that.”
“I don’t blame you. I’m still pretty pissed that he messed with my memories, but to give him credit, he did it to protect me. I’m still going to give him shit for a while because he deserves it. I think that maybe, in his own way, him not telling you about his fiancée was a misguided effort to protect you.”
“That’s fucked up.”
Leeza laughed. “Well...that’s Ari for you. He’s gorgeous but totally fucked up. I’m trying to understand him, but the whole half demon thing is alien to me.”
