pushed her into a seating position. “You were right.” He said and
she blinked at him, watching as he turned over her abused arms
and frowned at her wounds. They weren’t very deep, and while
they stung like hell they were the type of shallow cuts that would
bleed a lot but not leave scars behind.
“About what?” She asked and his eyes caught hers.
“You’re not who I expected you to be.” Ophanuel placed a hand
over her cuts and she watched in astonishment as her wounds
closed as if they’d never been there at all. “There are very few
people left in this world like you, Kailani.” He said and it was her
turn to frown. Ophanuel climbed to his feet and moved into the
bedroom, tsking at its torn apart state. “I’ll have Sergei replace
your bed. The demons shouldn’t have been able to infiltrate the
castle.” He paused to throw a meaningful look in her direction,
“They must have followed you in.” Kailani stopped to think
about that for a moment before shaking her head to clear it.
“Don’t change the subject. What do you mean by that?” She
jumped to her feet and followed him, watching him turn from
surveying the room to stare down at her. Part of him seemed
amused, the rest of him slightly agitated that not one, but
two
demons had found their way into his home.
“What I mean is, you’re completely unbiased. The world has
been conditioned to feel one way about things they don’t
understand. They fear the unknown and embrace the familiar.
Those children could have easily killed you just now, and yet you
went out of your way to save them.” Ophanuel took a step
towards her and she felt herself tense as her mind bid her to
retreat into the other room. She watched unknown emotions play
on his face as he lifted a hand and brushed her hair behind her
shoulder. Every sense she possessed told her to run, she felt like a
field mouse who’d been cornered by a king cobra. “You’re
perfect.” He breathed, a smirk tugging at the corners of his
mouth. He could probably sense how uncomfortable he was, but
he didn’t make any moves to reveal such a fact to her. Kailani
chuckled nervously and pulled herself away from him, no longer
able to bare the heat of his golden gaze.
“I’m far from perfect. I’m human, nothing more.” She made her
way to the other side of the room, her hands compulsively
tugging at the remains of the comforter that once covered the bed.
Ophanuel smirked as he pursued her.
“But you’re not human, Kailani. You’re a Hellmouth.” He folded
his arms over his chest as he came to stand before the window,
moonlight filtering through the glass dancing on his silvery
wings. They almost looked as if they were glowing.
“Well, I guess I’m not. If you want to get technical.” She
straightened herself and frowned at how close he’d gotten. She
was cornered, trapped between the wall and a homicidal
Archangel. Her only way out was across the bed and there was no
way in hell she was going there. He didn’t need any strange ideas
floating around in his head. “But I still make stupid mistakes. I
complain about things and sometimes I even lie. I’m human in
everything but name.” She told him, her eyes meeting his. “Up
until a week or so ago I lived as a human. It’s all I know.”
“And you want to go back to that.” He said and she nodded.
“More than anything.” Kailani admitted, flinching when he
reached for her again. His hand stilled in midair before falling to
his side. “Hey…they will be okay, right?”
“You mean the children?” He asked, his voice dropping an
octave as an annoyed look came over his face. If she hadn’t
known any better she would have sworn he’d rolled his eyes.
“Yes. Whatever you did to them didn’t look very painless.” She
said and he chuckled.
“I didn’t purposely hurt them if that’s what you’re getting at. I
simply purified them, killing the demons that possessed their
bodies. Think of it as, shining a flashlight in a very dark place.
Like the light, I chased away all the shadows.”
“Couldn’t you do that with me?” She asked suddenly and he
frowned. “If all you need to do is purify me, why go through all
this merger crap?”
“Because you are not possessed. You are a Hellmouth. Instead of
being filled with shadows like those children were; you are the
shadows. To attempt to purify you in that way would only mean
killing you, Kailani.” He told her and she felt the little hope that
had bubbled up inside of her die. Why weren’t things ever
simple? “You don’t have to worry. When the time comes, I’ll be
gentle with you. You’ll experience no pain.” He reassured her
and she did her best to keep her face and thoughts blank. Pain
was the least of her worries. It was
him
she was concerned about.
To say she was having second thoughts about the entire thing was
a serious understatement. She knew why Leviathan always told
her she shouldn’t be so quick to be rid of him. Now that he was
finally gone, she couldn’t wait to have him back. He was the one
stable thing in a world that was falling apart, and the more she
envisioned a future with Ophanuel, the more her world seemed to
crumble around her.
Chapter Eighteen
Leviathan cursed as he pushed an iron beam off his chest.
The flesh on the palms of his hands protested, sizzling as it came
into contact with the poisonous substance. He groaned as pain
shot through every inch of him, the feel of his muscles and joints
stretching and popping as they attempted to repair themselves
only adding to his agitation. He had to apologize to Kailani;
wearing a seatbelt during a plane crash did absolutely fucking
nothing. Rolling to his feet he pulled himself from the wreckage,
black smoke stinging his eyes as jet fuel continued to burn the
charred remains of the humans who died in the crash. Part of him
felt sorry for them, the rest of him was only concerned with the
blood that poured continuously from the gash over his left eye.
Wiping his face with the back of his fist he searched his
surroundings for any sign of life, finally spotting the tip of a
white wing that was lodged between the remains of an engine and
the cockpit. Trudging through bits of flaming metal he moved to
push another beam off the angel, frowning when the bastard
opened his eyes and sat up.
“That’s a shame. You looked better dead.” He said and Pierre cut
a glare up at him before climbing to his feet and shaking soot
from his wings.
“I don’t want to hear it from you.” He bit out, silently testing his
limbs for any sign of a break. Other than the knot that throbbed
on the back of his skull he’d escaped the worst of the damage.
“How could you bring a hybrid on the plane? This is probably
part of some stupid plan you concocted to murder me, right?”
“Shut up. If I wanted you dead I would have killed you already,
why would I waste my time fabricating a plane crash? And I
didn’t know he was a hybrid, apparently demons can’t sense
Grigori asshole.”
“You’re so good at lying even I can’t tell if that’s the truth or
not.” Pierre sneered, turning to glare over at James who was
steadily getting…bigger. His muscles bulged and his body
distorted as his limbs grew longer to accommodate his larger
stature. A yellow film covered his eyes as they shifted to sit
higher on his face, his mouth and lower jaw elongating to give
him a wolfish appearance. The monstrous creature dropped onto
all fours and began pawing at the dirt, a strangled cry lodging
itself in his throat. “I almost feel bad for it. Almost.”
“You would. Don’t get too attached as we’re going to have to kill
it.” Leviathan looked around himself for a makeshift weapon,
finally sighing and deciding his own hands were just as good as
anything else. Pierre reached for his sword, only to discover it
missing.
“I don’t have my sword.”
“Where did you leave it?” Leviathan asked drolly and the angel
cut him a glare.
“I don’t know.”
“Figures, you’re entirely too fucking stupid for your own good.
How do you loose an entire sword?”
“Will you get off of my back demon?! Who are you to scold
me?”
“Children please. Will you stop your bickering so that I may
disembowel you already?” Their heads snapped around to look at
James who was back on his feet, still grotesque and horrifying to
look at but a little less pitiful. He stood nearly seven feet tall and
was covered in thick patches of hair that stood on end as he
arched his back and flexed his muscles.
“What the fuck…is that?” Leviathan asked as Pierre snatched up
a twisted piece of metal from the ground beside him.
“That is a hybrid. Half Grigori, half Werewolf.”
“Disgusting.” Leviathan curled his lip, steeling himself as James
sat back on his haunches and roared, his voice reverberating off
the steaming wreckage around them.
“That’s not very nice mate, I’m still the same man I once
was…on the inside.” He slurred in that thick English accent of
his, his head lowering as he bared his teeth at them.
“This shouldn’t take long. You know what to do.” Leviathan
said, ignoring James completely. Pierre gave a nod of
understanding.
“Very well then. I shall make the first move.” Pierre readied his
makeshift sword, his body tensing briefly as he readied himself
for battle, but before he could move an inch James threw his head
back and released a deafening howl. Leviathan frowned as the
hybrid pawed his way towards the on all fours. Surely he was
joking? He couldn’t mean to take them both on at once could he?
The scrawny angel may not have been much to fear physically
but paired with Leviathan he was damn near a juggernaut.
“You’ve got it all wrong mate. I’m the juggernaut in this
equation.” James pulled his lips back in a fearsome grin as his
body shuddered. One second he was slowly making his way
towards them and the next he’d disappeared entirely. Leviathan
cursed as he braced himself for impact, his eyes widening when
James appeared in front of Pierre, a growl erupting from his chest
as he brought a heavy paw down across the angel’s chest. The
man barely had time to avoid being dissected as he dashed to the
side, his arm flinging out to throw his ‘sword’ towards the beasts
head. But James was entirely too fast, disappearing again and
leaving the metal to sail towards the unsuspecting Leviathan. The
demon sidestepped it, his frown turning into a full on glare. Just
what in the hell was that thing? Were’s as a rule couldn’t read
minds, except for the minds of their pack mates. Telepathy was
too risky in a species that had more territory wars than it
produced offspring. And the Grigori, who could say for sure what
they could and couldn’t do? He’d been out of Hell only once in
the thousand or so years and it wasn’t as if he’d made it a priority
to sit down and have tea with filling angels while he was out and
about. Regardless of either species traits it was obvious that
James the hybrid
was much stronger than either could be on their
own. Demons weren’t exactly respected in the supernatural
community but they were feared. Even the oldest, most powerful
breeds used extreme caution when dealing with his kind; by all
rights James should have been cowering at his feet by now,
begging to be spared. “A lot has changed I’m afraid.” James
appeared before him just as Leviathan had expected and he
snapped into action, grabbing the creature by the muzzle and
twisting until a sickening crack and a yelp filled his ears. Before
he could smirk in satisfaction at the blood that seeped from
between his tightly clenched fingers, James brought up his arms,
forcing him to break his hold before plunging his claws straight
into Leviathan’s exposed stomach. He grunted in pain as his body
instinctively jerked away. James held him fast, digging those
razor sharp claws of his into his organs. Blood spilled from
Leviathan’s lips as he watched the hybrids muzzle repair itself
before his eyes. The creature opened its maw fully prepared to
