by KD Jones
She nodded her head and looked back out the window. “So what happened to training me? Why is it I didn’t know anything about this until now? In fact, I don’t remember the first eight years of my life at all.”
“Your mother disappeared right before she was to give birth. The half-demon woman chosen for the breeding was furious that she was being used to breed the Child of Light and escaped the safe house we had set up for her. I was supposed to be guarding her, but I failed. I turned my back on her for just a moment and she managed to knock me out from behind. When I came to, she was gone. I searched, but couldn’t find any trace of her. Angels were called down to help track her. The body was of a pregnant female was found, matching the description of the half-demon. Before we could get there to identify the body, the morgue burned down. There was nothing left but ashes. We believed it was her and thought that you were dead—killed. For my failing, I was sentenced to remain on the Earthly plane for the rest of my days, to die as a human.”
“Laura.” She turned to glare at him.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“My mother’s name was Laura Knight. The demon told me that. So, I have only one more question for you: who the hell is my father?”
Chapter 8
Ari rushed inside and up the stairs when he heard something crash against the wall of the room over the church. He slid to a halt at what he saw. The priest was half hiding behind the door and Cass was holding a vase in her hand, ready to throw it.
“What’s going on?” Ari asked, keeping out of her range.
Cass put her other hand on her hip and glared at the priest. “You were right about everything, Ari. They created me to be their weapon. They expect me to hunt demons for them while they hide out on their cloud above. Yet the only thing I ask for they would deny me!”
Ari looked at the priest. “What did you ask for?”
“I want the name of my father, the studly angel who impregnated an innocent woman and left her here.”
“She wasn’t innocent, she was a demon.” Michael said from behind her. He quickly grabbed the vase from her and tossed it to the side.
Cass glared at Michael now. “Half-demon.”
“Demi-demon actually, but that’s not important right now.” Ari held up his hands in a sign of peace as he slowly made his way back inside the bedroom.
*****
Cass was furious. Her whole life she’d imagined different stories about what had happened to her parents. Her favorite fantasy was that she was kidnapped and that her wonderful loving parents had been searching for her the whole time.
Now, she was crushed to find out that no one had searched for her, that she wasn’t born of love but out of some Arkangel military strategy to get the upper hand over their enemy. It was too much, all of it. She never liked being angry, but right now she would hit anyone who got too close to her.
“I want to go home.”
“You can’t; the demon is still out there, and who knows what kind of damage he will do next. You are safe here.” Father Raphael finally stepped back inside.
“I don’t care! This is your responsibility, not mine. I didn’t sign up for any of it!”
“Regardless of whether you got a choice, it is your destiny. You should be honored to do your duty.” Michael folded his arms over his chest, which served to piss Cass off even more.
“You know what, Michael, you’re just a bigoted asshole who can shove your righteous destiny up your shiny white ass!”
“Why don’t we all take time to calm down? We can check in to see if there have been any other disturbances. I know someone with the police who can find out for us.” Ari, demi-demon, was the voice of reason in the room.
“I want to call Leeza and Jerry to let them know I’m alive and okay, not dead like—Tim.” The thought of Tim cut up in those garbage bags had her reaching for a waste bin. Luckily, she didn’t have anything left in her stomach to lose.
Father Raphael waved Ari and Michael out of the room. “Go check in on what the police know. I’ll stay here with Cassandra and she can let her friends know she’s safe.”
Cass looked up at Ari. “Be careful.” Then she glanced at Michael. “Both of you.”
Ari winked at her. “I’m earning that kiss I’ve been asking for, babe.”
She snorted. “You have a long ways to go to get a kiss from me!” She turned to Father Raphael. “Where’s your phone?”
“Down in my office. Come, I’ll make you some soup while you talk to your friends.”
“I don’t want anything to eat.” Her stomach growled, proving her a liar. “Maybe a little something.” She followed him down the circular staircase, then down the hallway to the office.
“I’ll go get you some soup heated up while you talk to your friends. I warn you not to let them know where you’re staying, just in case the demon tries to get that information from them.”
Shit. She hadn’t thought about the demon seeking out her friends. She rushed over to the phone and dialed Leeza’s apartment. It went to voicemail.
“Hi Leeza, it’s Cass. I’m safe and wanted to let you know. They sent a…a SWAT team to rescue me. I’ll call you back later.” She dialed Leeza’s cell phone but also got voicemail. She left another message. Next she called the diner.
“Hello?”
She felt instantly relieved. “Jerry, it’s me.”
“Cass! Thank God. Are you okay? What happened? Leeza, it’s Cass!”
She heard Leeza’s voice come on the line. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Yes, some special-forces type people helped me to escape from the killer. He killed Tim. It was so awful.” She choked up.
“Come here to the diner, I’m staying at Jerry’s for now. I forgot to charge my cell, but it’s charging now. Come home.”
“I—can’t. I have to meet with the police again about what happened. The guy got away, so they’re going to have to hunt him down.” That was a lie. She couldn’t tell a bunch of cops that a demon chopped up Tim and wanted to sacrifice her on a rock altar so that he could earn a spot next to the Devil. There was no one she could tell this to.
“I’m safe, I’m at a friend’s place right now.”
“What’s the number there?”
Cass looked at the phone but it was an out-of-date one and the number wasn’t written down. “I don’t know. I called your cell phone so it, should have the call-back number on it.”
“I’ll check in with you later. The police are going to let Jerry open the diner tomorrow night.”
“That’s fast.”
“Jerry and I both had alibis. The police were questioning about you, though. I told them there was no way you would kill anyone. Just be prepared, you may want to get a public defender before speaking with them.”
“Thanks, Leeza. I’ll call you later.” She hung up feeling a little better now that she knew her friends were okay. She headed in the direction that Raphael had gone and found him in the kitchen by the stove.
“Are your friends okay?”
“Yes, I’ll call and check on them again later. They’re opening the diner back up tomorrow.”
“That’s kind of fast.”
“The police cleared Jerry and Leeza and I’m sure Jerry pressured them to let him open. It’s his only means of support. He’s letting Leeza stay with him for now to keep her safe.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He is. He gave me a job and agreed to pay me under the table so that I didn’t have to take out insurance and taxes. It let me earn more.”
“Which you stashed away in the floor of your apartment.”
“How did you know that?”
“Ari. He knew where you lived and took me and Michael there when the demon kidnapped you. The demon needs something personal of yours in order to hold a proper ceremony, and we thought he would take you to your apartment.”
She wasn’t sure if she was more embarrassed that others had seen how she had to live, or upset ove
r the fact that Ari knew where she lived and where she stashed her extra money. How long had he been watching her? Did she have two stalkers now?
“The soup is ready. Come and sit down. There’s more we need to talk about.”
She sat down at the table and Raphael brought over two bowls of steaming soup. She wasn’t sure she could take any more revelations at that point.
“What do we need to talk about, unless you’re going to tell me the name of my father?”
“I’m sorry, I cannot reveal his identity. I swore an oath.”
She grumbled as she took a sip of her soup. “What then?”
“Your powers, when did they start to come out?”
She hadn’t thought about that; she’d kind of pushed it to the back. “I think when the demon cut me. Instead of getting weaker, I felt sort of a release.”
He nodded his head. “What freed you from the ropes?”
“I felt this electric current running up my arm. Then all of a sudden the rope holding me burned off.”
“Can you do it again?” Raphael reached for a dishtowel and placed it in front of her.
She focused on it, but nothing happened. She took it in her hands and closed her eyes. Come on, electric current, do your magic! Nothing.
“I can’t get it to work.”
“We need to find your trigger.”
“My what?”
“A trigger is what lights up your powers. It could be anger, sadness, pain, or even love. We need to find it and learn how to work your powers, so you can have control over it.”
“Why? So I can fulfill your stupid prophecy?”
“It’s not my prophecy, it’s your destiny.”
“My destiny is to grow old and die.”
“If you don’t control your powers, you may not reach old age before you die. Demons will be drawn to you because of that untapped power; they will want it for themselves, or to sacrifice you to gain a place in the inner circle. Everyone around you will also be in danger. They will be seen as your weaknesses.”
“I can’t let my friends suffer because of me. I could always leave here.”
“There are portals everywhere in the world. Some places have multiple portals. There is no hiding from this.”
“Well fuck it. Sorry, Father. I guess we’ll have to find this trigger then.” Whatever the hell it was.
Chapter 9
Cass was ready to bolt by the time Ari and Michael returned. She tried to feel every emotion known to man, but of course it would figure that when she tried to feel something, she couldn’t do it, or she got the wrong emotion. It seemed like no matter what she did, she couldn’t find the trigger.
She tried to be angry, focusing her thoughts of fury on a mannequin in the church’s basement. She concentrated so hard that she gave herself a really bad headache. Next she tried to concentrate on love, but she hadn’t let herself really feel that emotion before. She’d never been in love.
Her thoughts wandered to the romance novels she secretly read, and she started to giggle. When Father Raphael asked what was so funny, she looked at him and pictured him riding on a horse to save a damsel in distress, with his sword he could barely hold. She burst out into full laughter. Obviously humor wasn’t her trigger.
Finally Father Raphael got up from his chair in the corner. “Let’s take a break.”
“Great idea.” She ran up the stairs, and as she opened the door she almost ran over Ari. He caught her and pulled her upright. His hands lingered on her, and she could feel the heat between them sizzle.
“Easy, beautiful.” He stroked her cheek gently, and she shivered from a small zing that went through her body.
She stepped back from him in surprise. “That can’t be.”
“What can’t be?” Michael asked, coming from the kitchen.
“Father Raphael and I have been trying for what seems like all day…”
“It has only been an hour and a half.” Raphael amended for her.
“Anyway, we’ve been at this trying to locate my trigger so I can learn to control my powers. Nothing, nada, zilch. Then Ari touched my cheek and—bam, there’s a spark.”
Raphael and Michael both stared with horror at Ari. Ari just puffed out his already muscular chest and smiled. “I light you up, huh baby.”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe you just piss me off enough to want to zap your ass.”
He approached her slowly, with his usual bad-boy swagger. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Father Raphael stepped between them. “We have other things to deal with right now than your libido.”
Michael agreed with him. “Raphael is right. Let’s go to the kitchen and talk about this demon and where he might be hiding.”
Michael and Raphael went ahead down the hallway. She watched them disappear inside the kitchen. “Come on.” She turned to look at Ari, but he didn’t move. He had a gleam in his eyes.
“Ari?”
Before she could stop him, he reached for her and pulled her in for a kiss. His lips were full and firm. She fought him at first, but faced with his persistence, she finally opened up. The moment their tongues met she felt something explode inside of her. All her pent-up needs and passions came pouring out into the kiss.
Cass had kissed men before, but this was like a revelation. His hands traveled her body, she felt them spinning, a door opened and she blinked, looking around. Somehow he’d managed to get them inside a closet. She should push him away, tell him she didn’t want this. He nuzzled her neck with his lips, and all thoughts left her except one: I must have him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back for another kiss. This time there was no hesitation; she was open and on fire for him. She pressed her body closer, rubbing against him. Her nipples hardened into tight little points, and she felt dampness in her panties.
Cass bit his bottom lip, gently pulling it with her teeth. He growled and pushed her against the wall, knocking hangers onto the floor. He lifted her legs, wrapped them around his waist, and ground his hard cock against her pussy.
“Fuck yeah.” Was that her voice? Was she possessed? Oh...God. He was fucking her with their clothes still on. Somehow he’d gotten his hand between them and under her t-shirt. He shoved her bra up to free one of her breasts. She arched into his large hand.
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve fantasized about this—about you?”
She shook her head. “Ari.”
He bent down and raised her shirt so he could suck her nipple into his mouth. When he released her she protested, trying to pull him back to her. He chuckled against her.
“Did you fantasize about me?” He licked the underside of her breast, making her shiver. “Did you, Cass?”
“Yes—please, Ari.” She needed something, anything, to take her over that edge. He returned to her breast, sucking and nibbling her, driving her crazy. She vaguely heard the zipper to her pants being undone, and he distracted her enough that she didn’t notice him pulling her pants down just a little. When she did finally register a draft he already had his hand in her panties.
This was the moment where she should finally pull back, make him stop touching her. She felt his fingers parting her folds and entering her at the same time he bit gently on her nipple. It was all she needed to make the fireworks building up inside of her go off. She moaned out her release, calling his name like a mantra.
“Ari, Ari, Ari.”
He moaned himself as he slowly slid his finger out of her wet folds. “Look at you, sweetness, you’re glowing.”
She opened her eyes and looked down at her body. He was right, she was glowing. She was about to question him when the closet door was jerked open and bright light filled the small space.
“Good heavens!” Father Raphael sputtered and tried to turn away, but Michael was standing too close to him and they both fumbled around in a circle.
Ari was much quicker in moving to block their view of Cass. “Don’t you guys know how to
knock?”
“Why would we knock to enter a closet?” Michael asked, trying to peek around Ari. “What are you doing in here?”
“Trying to tap into Cass’s powers. It was working, too. She was starting to glow.”
“Really?” Father Raphael moved further inside the closet, attempting to look at her. Thankfully she’d pulled her shirt down and her pants up.
“Could we all—come out of the closet, please?” Cass felt the heat in her cheeks. “Damn, that sounded weird.” It was embarrassing enough to be caught making out in a closet but now all three men were looking her over from head to toe like she’d grown horns or something.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see the glow. Maybe my eyes aren’t what they used to be.” Father Raphael shook his head. He left the closet, and the rest of them followed to stand in the hallway. “Could you try to replicate it?”
Cass closed her eyes and tried to focus on the glowing. Come on, glow-worm! She opened her eyes expectantly, but nothing happened. “I don’t get it.”
“Maybe the half-demon did something to cause the glow,” Michael offered.
Ari leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his legs casually. “Oh, I definitely did something to her. And I’m more than willing to repeat it, anytime and anyplace.” He raised his fingers, the fingers that had been inside of her doing wickedly sweet things, and licked them.
She felt her pussy spasm with need, and she sucked in a breath. Shaking her head, she glared at him. “Stop that, Ari!”
“Cassandra, now you’re glowing.” Father Raphael’s voice broke through her fury.
She looked down at her gently shining fists. “Why is it doing this now?”
“The trigger is a strong emotional response.” Ari said as he finished licking his fingers.
“Like anger? I get angry all the time, so why haven’t my powers surfaced before now?”
Everyone looked at Ari like he held the secrets of the universe. He snorted and shrugged his shoulders. “The hell if I know.”
She looked down at her hands. The glow was beginning to fade. “So, what? Do I just get mad again or something? Is glowing all I’m able to do? How is that even helpful against a demon?”
