The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (84 page)

“INCOMING!” Killian shouted as soon as our feet touched the living room floor.

Rivin materialized between us with eyes blazing, scanning for targets. Leaving me rooted to the floor, they raced to throw up protection.

But they were too late.

Rivin swore savagely and tumbled down the stairs with a demon riding on his chest. It buried its claws into his shoulder and rode him like a jockey. Two rows of fangs glittered in its mouth as it tried to rip Rivin’s head off. I screamed for Killian and dug for my blade. My hands were sweaty and I dropped the knife. Rivin was still swearing as he and the demon rolled across the floor, each struggling for a better grip. This demon hadn’t bothered with donning a human façade; he was small, wiry, and scaly. His triangular-shaped head reminded me of a praying mantis. He made a weird yipping sound as he snapped his jaws together. A loud grunt from Rivin snapped me into action. Diving forward, I grabbed the knife and threw it at the demon’s back. It bounced off and rolled to a stop at my feet.

Well, that’s not good!

Rivin yelled, “A little help here!” He had the demon shoved into the floor but its claws were buried too deep to dislodge it. He swung his head to the side as the demon snapped at his face.

Snatching up the knife again, I ran over and jammed it into the demon’s side. It screamed shrilly and turned to ash. My knife clattered to the floor. The sound of splintering wood reverberated through the house. Killian!

Rivin was spewing like a fountain and collapsed when he tried to push himself to his feet. Grabbing his hand, I yanked him upright. I raced up the stairs to find Killian outnumbered. Three demons had cornered him in the hall. Two were moving closer and the third was dripping black fluid all over the floor. It was missing an arm but kept coming. Killian raised his hand and blew up the wounded demon. The other two snapped their jaws together and split apart to attack from opposite sides. Without any conscious thought, I drew on my
saol
and released it from my fingertips. The white beam struck true just as Killian disintegrated his target. My target lay in two stinking halves for a few seconds before they dissolved into the air. Both demons were gone. The house was empty again.

“Holy hell! What the fuck was that?” Rivin gaped at me like I’d grown another head.

Still trembling with adrenaline, I closed my burning eyes. Killian ignored him and looked intently at me. “Are you hurt?” His voice was harsh with unspent power.

“I need to run. I’m about to explode,” I said. “I’m burning up!”

“It’s too dangerous for you to go outside right now.”

I held out my shaking hands and looked him in the eye with a grin. “Well, then. How do I burn off this energy?”

Without taking his eyes off of my face, he said, “Rivin, you might want to close your ears.”

The woods were dark now and eerily silent. I stood at the window, peering into the black and giving myself the creeps. A thousand gleaming eyeballs stared back at me and I whipped back around.

Rivin smirked and said, “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a few Bolga demons? A big tough girl like yourself?”

“Bolga demons? Is that what they were? What was that big one?”

Shrugging, he kicked off his boots and flopped down on the couch. He was shirtless again and he’d changed into a pair of black basketball shorts. Spreading his arms across the back of the couch, he winked at me and flexed his pecs, “Go ahead, love, you can touch me. I’m real.”

“You’re a pig. You know that, right? Don’t you own more than one shirt?”

Barking a laugh, he said, “Ah ha! So you’ve been checking me out? I knew you wanted me.” Patting the couch, he added, “It’s laundry day. I’m traveling light…I’m not even wearing underwear; givin’ me boys some fresh air.” He gestured to the shorts with a comical leer.

I was going to have to Lysol the couch later. “That’s disgusting, geez.” But I bit my lip to keep from smiling; probably it was a bad idea to encourage him.

“Where’s the boss?” he asked.

“Meditating.”

“Oh yeah? Nothing ever changes with him, I guess.”

“What’s that mean? Is there something wrong with meditation?”

He considered a hangnail before answering. Nipping it between his teeth, he mumbled, “Not if you’re into that mind-fucking bullshit. Now me? I’d just as soon spend me days ripping apart the boogey man with me bare hands. I don’t have time for all that thinking.”

Did he really just say that? I couldn’t resist replying, “Oh, yeah, I’ve noticed that about you.” Skirting the coffee table, I headed upstairs to find Killian.

He sat cross-legged on the floor facing the window. I didn’t want to interrupt so I waited behind him. He’d know I was there and let me know when he was done. In the meantime, I admired his broad shoulders. Unlike the idiot downstairs, Killian never drew attention to himself. His body was there to support the work he did. Period. Dot. He kept it running in peak condition, not out of vanity, but out of necessity. I loved that about him. Once he’d told me he’d earned his ego; the more I knew him, the more I understood.

Without saying a word, he lifted a hand encouraging me to come in. I knelt beside him and took his hand in mine. As soon as I touched him, I was drawn into the world he created for meditation. While mine was a cozy warm tropical lagoon, his was a windswept sea coast. The craggy world was wild and open. It suited him. Today, the winds were calm and the sea gently lapped at the jumbled black rocks of the coast.

I adjusted my inner vision until I could see myself standing on the shore with Killian. “Walk with me?” he asked as he linked his fingers in mine.

We walked along the shore watching the waves and feeling the gentle sun on our skin.

After a few minutes, he said, “Sean’s drifting…He’s moving around a lot. I sense him out there but I can’t get a good read on him. I want to find him before anything happens.”

My stomach clenched. “Let’s go now! What are we waiting for?”

“We have other problems, babe.”

“What is more important than Sean?”

“How about the death of millions of innocent people? We can’t ignore the smallpox intel. If that strain gets weaponized, it’s going to be sold to the highest bidder. You can bet it won’t be your United States government. Whoever gets it will use it to destroy humanity.”

Millions of people. I thought about that for a minute. Was that so awful? I’d really rather have Sean back…I didn’t care so much about the humans.

“Mica, Sean is only one Primani. Our job is to protect humans. We can’t blow this off.”

“No,
your
job is to protect humans. I’m not Primani. I’m not bound by your codes.”

He pulled me around to face him and said reasonably, “No, you’re not Primani. But would you turn your back on the laws of the angels after all they’ve given you? Do you really think Raphael runs around making house calls for everyone? Did your conversation with Michael mean nothing to you after all?”

Swinging away, I cried, “Damn it, Killian! Stop being right! It’s not fair.”

I stomped off and looked stubbornly away from him. Damn him. He was right. He was also intelligent, patient, and wise. Leaving me alone for a minute, he gazed out at the open sea. I thought and thought but I had no argument that made sense. Why did I have to fall in love with a Primani who was 3,000 years old? God only knew he’d made good use of those years. He bloody well knew everything. It’s unnerving. Coming up beside him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against him.

“Okay, I’m listening. What can we do?”

Relieved to have my cooperation, he kissed the top of my head and said, “I have some ideas.”

“And what about Rivin?”

With a huge sigh, he muttered, “He’ll have to come with us.”

Rivin didn’t take the news well. “You want me to do what? This is bullshit! What do I care about O’Cahan? We all have our problems; he’ll deal.” He opened his mouth to complain some more but promptly snapped it shut when Killian cut him off with a single word.

“Selana.”

Cursing viciously, Rivin lunged into Killian and the two of them hit the wall hard enough to shake the windows. Rivin’s face was bright red as he did his best to strangle Killian. Killian neatly jammed an elbow into Rivin’s diaphragm and stepped back to watch Rivin’s face drain of color. Not completely satisfied, he lifted him up by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

Growling deep in his throat, he said, “I see you remember her.” He reached out and plucked the tiny cross into the light. “This isn’t penance enough!” With that snarl, he flung Rivin to his knees and stepped back.

Rivin struggled for air and still hadn’t caught his breath. His white face turned red with the effort to breathe. Killian watched with arms folded as Rivin’s eyes rolled around in panic.

“Killian, please! We don’t need his help.” I tugged on his arm and he gave me an irritated glance.

Abruptly, he reached around and thumped Rivin hard on the back. Rivin sprawled on his face but sucked in a great lungful of air. The hoarse sound of his breathing filled the room while Killian looked on. When Rivin had finally settled down to the business of living, Killian finished their conversation.

“You’ll do what I ask, when I ask it. You’ll do it because you’re assigned to my team.” He squatted down to look Rivin in the eyes. “But most importantly, you’ll do it for Selana. Am I clear?”

Pushing himself into a more dignified sitting position, Rivin replied, “Crystal.”

“Good. We’re leaving in the morning. You can meet us in London in three days.”

“I’ll just go be domestic…” I sprinted out of the room.

The atmosphere was heavy with resentment and anger. Rivin was putting off waves of both and Killian was just simply annoyed. The two of them were bringing me down…I needed some testosterone-free time. I gathered up the small bundle of dirty clothes and started a wash. While that was working, I made a snack for all of us. We had food left in the fridge; might as well eat it. I tossed together a salad and threw in a bit of leftover steak, the last two boiled eggs, and the cheese. There were a handful of crackers left so I set them out too. It wasn’t a lot, but at least it was fresh.

Satisfied with the results, I called the guys to come down. Rivin slouched into the room looking grouchy but he brightened at the sight of food. I handed him a beer which he took with a small smile and no smartass comments for a change.

“I’m going to go pack. Would you clean up when you’re done?” I asked him.

“Sure, no problem and thanks for the food.”

I finished packing everything up and undressed for bed. Standing in the moonlight, I thought about the black thing in the forest and shivered with a sudden chill. It wasn’t like any demon I’d ever seen. It was still out there…someplace.

Was it watching me right now?

Killian came up behind me and locked the shutters with a loud clank. Touching my hand on his way by, he said, “Are you coming to bed? You’re freezing.”

Snuggled against my personal furnace, I rubbed my icy feet along his leg making him wince. After a lingering kiss, he curled his arm around me and relaxed.

“Killian?”

I love you too, Princess.

Smiling into the darkness, I kissed him again and settled against his side. The rise and fall of his chest slowed until it was nearly still. And yet I stared at the ceiling and listened to sounds I couldn’t identify. Odd noises filtered through the shutters…yips and howls…wolves. The cry of a night bird startled me. Was it an owl? Creaks and groans startled me out of my spiral into dreams. Every little noise brought me out of sleep and alert, listening. Eventually exhaustion took its toll and the last time I sank into sleep, I was out. The sudden pounding on the metal shutters catapulted me out of sleep with a full-blown scream. Leaping out of the bed, Killian shoved me behind him and yelled for Rivin.

The screech of tearing metal paralyzed me and I sat huddled on the bed. Pounding fists sounded against the downstairs windows and glass shattered. Killian threw my knife to me and palmed his own. The pounding and screeching grew louder, more frantic.

No, no…not again.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared with huge eyes.

Killian stood between me and the window. Rivin raced into the bedroom with his knife ready. He took one look at my bare skin and threw me his t-shirt.

“Move, Mica! Get up! They’re coming!”

Killian shouted, “Mica? Get up!”

Shaking my head, I clutched the blanket in front of me and squeezed my eyes shut.

No, no, no...

The breaking glass echoed through my head and I was back in the tiny powder room in the farmhouse, clutching Sean’s knife against my chest, praying for the strength to use it. They’d come from everywhere…they tore the house into pieces, screaming and yelling for me…hours and hours of siege…

Now they screamed again.

Inhuman, bloodthirsty, terrifying…

The tearing metal, the scraping of claws…