His Soul To Keep (Dark Knights of Heaven Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter Thirty

Cassidy wiggled her toes deeper into the warm sugar-soft sand and lifted her face to the sun.

Everything was so new—it was as if her body felt everything around her on the cellular level. The sun’s warmth and energy moved through her skin, seeping into her blood, spreading throughout her body, and awakening her senses. The cold hand of death still clung to her bones, but it’s hold faded under the sun.

"You know, you can’t sneak up on me." She opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder with a smile.

Rail walked out of the foliage, looking delicious in his open loose white shirt, muscular legs flexing below the hems of his baggie board shorts. "I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you. I was trying not to disturb your meditation."

"Meditation?" She turned back toward the rolling waves. "I wouldn’t call it meditation, really, but I was thinking."

"About what?" Rail dropped into the sand behind her, framing her body with his—ever protective.

Cassidy leaned against his chest, covering his hands with hers as Rail wrapped his arms around her. "I died two days ago. I came back from the dead. Now, I’m different." She watched a pair of dolphins frolicking offshore.

"We’ll take this one day at a time."

"How do you deal with the whole coming back to life thing?"

"We just do." Rail shifted.

"Will you tell me what you remember about that first time?" She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. Her chest ached with the thought of Rail dying time and time again through the millennia. She was having a difficult time dealing with just one trip into the Void.

Rail rested his chin on her head. "I don’t remember much, but I do remember I didn’t handle it well. I didn’t understand what had happened. I was alone and fighting a demon that had attacked a human village." He closed his eyes. "I woke up days after the battle, buried beneath a cairn of stones."

Cassidy twisted to face her strong, loving, gorgeous Fallen Angel. Kneeling between his thighs, she rested her hands on his shoulders. "You woke up in a grave?"

"I was dead. The demon had sliced me open. The surviving humans buried me out of respect for my attempt to save them."

"What happened when you when you came back?" She caressed his face to ease his tension. Rail opened his eyes.

"I dug myself free and the humans fled in terror. That was the first time I realized I was no longer an angel. It was also the first time I fully transformed. I couldn’t control the rage. A few villagers returned with weapons and attacked me. I killed them out of fear. I was so confused. After that, I stayed away from human encampments for a long time."

"How long?"

He shrugged. "A few thousand years, give or take a hundred."

"I can’t believe you lived alone for so long." Cassidy kissed him softly.

"I had to learn to control my transitions. I’m sworn to protect humanity, even from myself."

When he shifted his hold and rubbed her arms, Cassidy caught a glimpse of color through his shirt, right over his left pectoral. "What’s this?" She moved the fabric out of the way to examine Rail's new tattoo and gasped at its beauty. There, rising toward his collar bone, was a being of light, neither male or female, but both angel and demon—the figure surrounded by an aura of blues and greens on the right, which faded to reds and oranges on the left. Against the blues and greens was a silver-white angel wing so realistic Cassidy could almost feel the soft feathers. On the left side, a black demon wing stood out in contrast against the red and orange. "It’s…it’s…"

"It’s us. One heart. One soul. One being forever."

"It’s wonderful," she whispered, skimming her fingers over the figure. "When did you get this done?"

"This morning, after your check up."

Cassidy traced the outline. "I want one."

Rail grimaced. "A tattoo?"

"I hear a '
no
' in that." She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You can do what you want. I just don’t like the idea of you marking up your perfect body."

She giggled as he kissed her. "Flattery—now that’s a new argument technique." Rail continued trailing kisses down her neck and across her collarbone. "Uh, Rail?"

"Hmmm?"

Cassidy lifted his chin. "I know where this is going, but I have vowed to never have sex on the beach again. I’m not spending another two hours getting sand out of places it should never be."

"Even if I help with all of those hard-to-reach places?"

"Sorry, enticing as that sounds," Cassidy kissed his neck, nipped his ear, "no sand."

"But I want you now."

"I want you too." Her voice dipped, husky with desire. Running her hands up and down his arms, she scooted forward to feel his arousal against her belly. "But not here."

Rail stood and wrapped Cassidy’s legs around his waist. "You’ve given me the perfect idea."

Chapter Thirty-One

Cassidy winced as she pulled on a t-shirt, sat back against the headboard, and adjusted the pillows. "You know, if we’re going to keep having sex in the shower, we need to pad the tiles or something."

Rail slid sensuously into bed next to her, his sweatpants riding low. "I’ll look into it." He kissed the spot on her shoulder he knew was bruised. "In the meantime, please accept this as an apology." He presented her with a laptop.

Excited, she snatched it from his hands like a greedy child on Christmas morning. "How did you get Kaz to agree?"

"He doesn’t know. It’s one of mine. Besides, we’re not breaking the rules. You’re under supervision." He reached over the side of the bed and produced a second laptop. "I thought we could spend some alone time looking over the files we appropriated."

Setting the laptop aside, Cassidy bracketed Rail's face with her hands and planted a kiss on his mouth. "Thank you."

Rail smiled against her lips as he returned the kiss. "Work now, play later."

Huffing in disappointment, Cassidy settled back and booted the computer. It was just as well; she needed to rest after their most recent love-making marathon. "Where’s the hard drive?"

"Right here." Rail produced the drive Hacker downloaded the files onto and hooked it up to both computers. "Let’s get to work."

* * *

Two hours later, Cassidy set the laptop aside and rubbed her eyes. "I need a break."

Rail stretched, grunting. "Me too." He reached over and began massaging Cassidy’s neck.

"Oh, God. That feels good." She shifted to give him better access, moaning in pleasure as he worked her sore neck and shoulders.

A soft knock on the door interrupted any thought of taking things further.

Growling in frustration, Rail rolled away from Cassidy, placing his computer in his lap to hide his erection. "Come in!"

The door opened, revealing a female Un-tar.

Cassidy checked the nametag and waved. "Hello, Lil-it. Can we help you?"

The little demon ran forward and threw herself on the floor in front of Rail, gesturing wildly. Before Cassidy could react to the odd display, Rail leapt from the bed and grabbed the Un-tar roughly by her wings.

Ignoring Cassidy’s startled screams, he dragged the demon from the bedroom and down the hall to the landing overlooking the foyer. Once there, he shouted in a singsong voice. In short order, the occupants of the villa came running.

Cassidy realized he’d used the Angelic Language, and it no longer sounded like irritating noise to her—in fact, she could almost understand it. One word sounded like ‘death’.

Boomer and Gina were the first to reach them. "Rail? What’s happening?"

Kaz appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing?"

Rail hefted the struggling demon over the banister, shouting, "Here is your traitor, Kaz." He tossed her to the stone floor below.

Broken and bleeding, the Un-tar reached out to her fellow demons congregating on the far side of the mosaic. Even without words, it was clear the female pleaded to them for assistance. All she got were bared teeth and claws.

Cassidy grabbed Rail's arm. "What is going on?"

"She confessed. She’s been passing information about us to her demon master—a servant of Lucifer!"

"Lil-it?" Cassidy grabbed the banister as if she'd been struck.

"She also told her master we were going out the other night. That’s how the minion found us." Rail trembled, barely in control. "They were looking for us."

Turning ashen, Cassidy took two unsteady steps down the staircase. "Why, Lil-it? Why would you do that?"

Kaz stepped forward, nodding to the other Un-tar. "They say she has always been distant, unhappy being here."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? They begged us to rescue them from their master after we raided that demon nest," Boomer snapped. "They came with us willingly." When he stepped forward growling and partially transformed, Zach held him back.

Motioning for Boomer to calm down, Kaz listened to the Un-tar Cassidy now recognized to be Norc. After a moment, the warrior translated. "They have been content here. Happy even. In Hell, they are considered little better than pests. Lesser beings to be tormented for fun. They were slaves to the whims of higher-level demons. They were treated no better when their master brought them to this world to serve his nest. Until we rescued them, they hadn’t been sure they had even been taken out of Hell. They were afraid we would send them back, but we gave them a purpose and a home. Even hiding from the new humans wasn’t bad. It was like a game. Things have gotten better recently. No more hiding. The females are happier. But not Lil-it. Lil-it was never happy. She…"

Kaz stopped speaking as Norc gestured wildly, frustration clear on his childlike face.

"He says he doesn’t have the right words, but I think he said that lately she’s been acting guilty or secretive. Sorrowful is the only word I understood clearly." Kaz paused and waited for the demon to regain his composure. "He says they should have known what she was doing and for that he is sorry. They are all sorry."

Cassidy stiffly walked down the remaining stairs, feeling Rail behind her with every step. Stopping in front of Lil-it, she asked, "Why do you want me dead?"

Lil-it gestured toward Kaz with her good arm.

"She said she did not know you would be killed. Her orders were to help her master’s master catch one of us." Kaz shook his head. "She only told her master that a group was going to be leaving that night. She didn’t know you were going to be with them."

"I told you taking on demon servants was a bad idea." Bass spat at Lil-it.

The demon dragged herself toward Cassidy, bloody tears rolling down her face. Rail snorted with disdain. "She’s begging for your forgiveness."

Cassidy shook her head slowly. "I don’t know if…if I can. You’ve been feeding information to the enemy, information about the Knights, about the humans who live here. You got me killed!" Fear, anger, and sorrow lodged in her throat, choking her.

Kaz crouched in front of the broken demon. "What did your master promise you?"

Lil-it answered, stunning the Knights.

"What did she say?" Cassidy asked, breaking the lingering silence.

"She said she was promised her mate’s freedom," Rail answered coldly.

"You should have come to us," Zach responded. "We could have found a way to get him back."

Lil-it shook her head and looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

"No, Zacheril. Don’t you dare feel sorry for her." Disgusted, Rail turned from his brother and faced Lil-it. "You were willing to sacrifice my mate for yours. I have no forgiveness for you."

"What now?" Tam asked, indicating toward the other Un-tar. "Can we trust them?"

"They say they no longer hold allegiance to the underworld," Kaz answered. "And they want our permission to punish Lil-it by their laws as proof."

Rail nodded and turned to face Cassidy. "Don’t look, sweetheart." Silence filled the space, and the remaining Un-tar converged on Lil-it.

Cassidy looked away, burying her face against Rail's chest, but couldn’t block out the sounds: tearing flesh and snapping bones. She clasped her hands over her ears, thanking God she could not hear the Un-tar’s screams. Her friend’s screams and sobs were already deafening. With an agonized cry, she flung herself back up the stairs and ran to Rail's room.

* * *

Rail didn’t stay to watch the carnage, nor did any house members. Somber, yet shaking with rage, he slowly followed Cassidy back to his room. Inside, he found her bent over the toilet retching.

"It’s over, sweetheart. It’s over."

"I can’t believe this happened. It’s like a sick nightmare. They just…just killed her like rabid animals!"

"It’s their way," Rail said matter-of-factly.

"And you just stood there. You gave them permission."

"Cassie." Carefully, Rail pulled her into his arms, refusing to let go when she fought his hold. "I’m sorry you had to witness that, but we are at war."

Cassidy pushed against his chest again. "She didn’t die in battle, Rail. She was executed. Murdered!"

"She was a traitor and this was justice served!" His shout echoed off the bathroom tiles.

"No! No!" She broke free.

Rail grasped her arms, forcing her to face him.

"That was revenge for what happened to me and you know it," she hissed.

Rail could not deny he felt some measure of gratification in the demon's death, but he would never admit that to Cassidy. "War is not pretty. In war, bad things happen. You do things you wish you didn’t have to do or forget you had to do. We do not kill because we want to. We kill because we have to. We do not kill innocents, Cassidy. Our whole existence is based on protecting human kind. Hate me if you want. Hate us all, but you must understand this: Lil-it was a threat to all we honor and hold sacred. We are at war with an enemy as old as time, as old as the entity who brought life to this world. An enemy who will use everyone and everything in its power to destroy us. That is its sole purpose…to destroy. It doesn’t care for anything but itself. And if I have to turn my back on the death of one demon to stop worldwide destruction, then so be it."