Sparks of Blue (Dark Light Book 2) (10 page)

Knowing it was their best shot of survival, Belle squeezed her eyes shut, poured everything she had into Kai, and prayed.

“Belle,” Gwen called, panic filling her voice. “I really don’t know how to use a sword!”

“I wouldn’t worry ’bout that,” Creed said as he stepped through the spot Serafina had previously occupied. “A powerless angel sword isn’t gonna do you much good.”

Come on, Kai. Wake up!

Chapter Ten

“—ake up!”

The voice was faint, and female. Her desperation apparent, even in the pieces he was fairly certain he’d heard.

“Please!”

Belle.
That voice was Belle. But he wasn’t hearing it with his ears, he was hearing it with his soul. She was praying to him.

Everything came flooding back so quickly he could barely keep it straight. His night with Belle, the knock at the door, his confession of love, and that curse. That woman had been armed with a curse, but why?
Wait.
There was more. The familiar prickling of a demon poked at the edges of his slowly wakening senses. Something was still wrong. He’d lost consciousness; frankly, that was bad enough. But he knew in the next moment that his collapse meant he’d left not only his charge, Gwen, but also Belle vulnerable to attack. And no doubt the demon responsible for that curse had been nearby.

Anger fueled the spark inside him as his eyes snapped open.

“Stay away!” Gwen cried simultaneously. He was sure she was talking to Creed; he recognized that particular bastard’s stench now.

Kai rolled smoothly from Belle’s embrace, using the strength in his forearms to swing a leg up and into Creed’s jaw, successfully forcing him backward. Nothing cracked beneath his foot, indicating that he still wasn’t at full strength, but that was all right. He could take Creed with less than his full power.

Gwen called his name in relief at the same time as Kai stood, his glare locked on their enemy.

“So you’re awake,” Creed said, rubbing his jaw, as he straightened again. “Guess that’s what happens when you trust a woman to do a demon’s job.”

“Is that your excuse?” Kai challenged, flexing his hands at his sides. His body was responding to him, but his power needed more time to build. It wouldn’t be the smartest, let alone safest, thing he’d ever done to take on a powerful demon with maybe half his usual purification. It was going to have to do. “Blaming a human woman? Somehow I expected better.”

Creed spat to the side and grinned, letting his jagged, sharpened teeth show. “And I never took you for chatty. Guess we were both wrong.”

“Here,” Gwen said, sticking her arms—and his sword—into his peripheral vision.

Kai wrapped his hand around the hilt and let the familiar warmth from his weapon empower him. “Stay back,” he instructed as Creed tensed.

“I’ll tear your arms off, angel boy,” Creed taunted. “Then I’ll have me a taste of Nephy ass before I eat her heart.”

Somewhere behind him Belle made a sound of disgust, but Kai barely heard it over the roar of blood in his ears.

Creed lunged forward, and Kai lunged to meet him, enraged beyond reason. Creed had fashioned himself another set of spike-like energy claws, but Kai didn’t bother trying to block them. He swung straight for the demon’s chest, hoping to tear him in half with the raw strength of blessed steel.

Kai’s sword sank into Creed’s chest at the same time as one set of Creed’s claws tore into Kai’s upper arm. Kai grit his teeth and shoved his blade in deeper, feeling it tear through something undoubtedly vital, and Creed roared. In the next instant, the few remaining shadows in the room wrapped around him and pulled him free of Kai’s bloodied blade, taking him back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of. Which meant he’d survive.
Dammit.

“Kai!” Belle exclaimed, relief and exasperation mixed with exhaustion in her voice.

Releasing a breath as the adrenaline drained from his system, Kai lowered his sword and turned to face them. Gwen was slumped against the wall beside the door to the bathroom, looking relieved and a little pale. Belle stepped up to him, grabbed his jaw in both hands, and tugged his lips to hers. He could feel the relief and the bubbling emotion in her kiss and the way her fingers curled behind his neck, digging into his skin.

“Uh, guys,” Gwen interrupted awkwardly, “he’s still bleeding…”

Belle pulled back, and they both looked down at his wounded arm. He had four gashes, of varying depth but all several inches long and bleeding. As they watched the blood rolled down his bicep, curved around his elbow, and dripped steadily to the floor.

“I don’t know if I can do much for those right now,” Belle warned, grabbing his wrist and leading him to the bed. “But I’ll try.”

Kai frowned, allowing her to pull him to sit beside her, and lowered his sword to the mattress at his other side. “You’re exhausted. How bad was I?”

Belle didn’t meet his gaze, but he suspected he glimpsed tears in her eyes before she replied, “I wasn’t sure I could bring you back. You were so far out of it, your powers felt like they were completely extinguished.” She placed both palms over his injured arm, her touch not as warm as it was supposed to be. “I had to put everything I could into jolting you awake. I’m drained.”

Kai covered her hands with his. “Then take a break. I’m not going to bleed out from this.”

“I’m not going to leave you bleeding,” Belle argued. She could be as stubborn as he was when she wanted to be.

“When my powers come back I can heal myself,” Kai said. It was only a partial truth; sometimes he could, sometimes he couldn’t. Self-healing was a common angel trait, one he had the potential for but had never put a lot of effort into mastering. He generally just used his powers to shield himself, which made it twice as hard for him to be wounded in battle.

At his suggestion, Belle finally looked up and laughed. “I wish I could believe you, but I know you better.” She looked down at her work and pulled her lip between her teeth. But what she said next surprised him. “Kai … Serafina was here. Creed killed her.”

Kai closed his eyes on a sigh. “I’ll have to report that to Isabella. What was she doing here this time?”

“Being a bitch,” Gwen offered before Belle could find the words.

Kai felt his eyebrow arch, and he glanced at Gwen before looking back to Belle.

Releasing a breath and sitting back, Kai’s arm no longer bleeding—but not by much—she said, “Gwen’s mostly right. Serafina always hated me. She was trying to threaten me into giving up my title.”

Kai frowned and opted not to voice his first thought. Instead, he stood and gestured to the bed, saying, “Gwen, come sit down. You’re too pale.” He didn’t suggest Belle work on healing her right then because Belle was drained. There wasn’t anything she could do for Gwen other than to offer comfort.

Gwen must have felt as weak as she looked because for once she didn’t offer any argument. She did, however, have a question to ask. “Does this mean we’re teleporting again?”

Kai frowned. Under slightly altered circumstances that was
exactly
what it would mean. But he hadn’t regained nearly enough energy for that big a stunt. “Not yet,” he replied.

Belle rested a hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “You’re too worked up, and I’m not in the condition necessary to help you now, let alone after a teleport. We’ll have to wait.”

Gwen nodded and looked between them, finally settling on Kai. “Doesn’t that mean Creed could come back?”

“He could,” Kai said. “But I’m betting he won’t.” He shifted his gaze to Belle and added, “I’ll be right outside. I’m going to call Isabella.”

Belle inclined her head and sucked in a breath. “Crap. Give me a minute to put something else on.” She pushed to her feet and rushed into the adjoining room without another word. And for as much as Kai understood her point, he couldn’t help but reflect that such a necessity was a shame. She looked damn good in his shirt, which hung barely below the curve of her ass when she stood.

Shaking his head, he turned and sheathed his sword, but before he could slip it through his belt loops, he decided to leave it instead. In case Creed thought him leaving the room was an opening. Belle had her own weapon, which he had no doubt she’d grab while she dressed, but Gwen didn’t. Even without any experience, she’d fare better with a sword in her hand than with nothing.

“Here,” he said, laying the sword beside her on the bed. “Keep it in arms’ reach while I’m outside.”

Gwen blinked at it, looked up at him, and finally looked toward the other room. Her voice lowered respectfully, she asked, “What happened to the whole ‘forbidden’ thing?” Her implication was obvious, and he didn’t have the strength to deal with it.

Straightening, Kai replied, “It’s still forbidden.” He didn’t want to get into it more than that, especially—or perhaps only—because he didn’t know where he and Belle stood now. She’d said she wanted more time, but she could just have meant to think. He doubted very much she meant with him. “I’ll be in the hall. Don’t open the door.” He snagged the nearest keycard from the dresser, slipped it into his pocket, and let himself out before Gwen could think of another question he’d feel somehow obligated to answer.

Now came the hard part. Isabella, popularly referred to as simply The Commander, wasn’t going to like his report. Part of him even feared she’d pull him off the mission.
She would if she had any idea…
But, in case she didn’t, he intended to keep his cool.

Inhaling a deep, cleansing breath, Kai closed his eyes and leaned against the wall directly beside the door. It was a little scratchy against his bare skin, but he ignored the sensation. He summoned a mental visual of his superior and thought her name to the skies.

“Isabella.”

Seconds ticked by while he waited for her response, but he was patient. He of all people knew how busy she usually was.

“What is it?”
Isabella’s familiar, firm voice asked. Her tone was calm, merely curious with a bit of concern. She didn’t know.

Biting back the interior sigh, Kai said,
“There was an incident. We lost Serafina.”

More seconds passed and Kai straightened as the hairs on his neck stood at attention. He pulled his arms from his pockets and bowed his head at the neck for a prolonged moment.

“What do you mean, ‘we lost Serafina’?” Isabella demanded as he straightened, standing before him in her complete battle garb.

While most of the armada fought in sacred battle leathers, the hides provided from sacrifices of old and woven with thin, blessed steel, Isabella was more of a traditionalist. When she dressed for battle, she donned shining battle armor the likes of which were most commonly associated with the Archangels. Of course, Isabella was as powerful as any Archangel—credible rumor had it that she’d actually turned down the position some time ago.

Keeping his face calm, Kai said, “The demon, Creed, used a human to curse me. But apparently at the same time Serafina showed up to … talk with Belle. Creed killed her before turning on Belle and Gwen.”

Isabella’s blue eyes darkened in anger, but her voice remained calm and controlled. “Where is Belle?”

“Inside.” He refrained from adding getting dressed for Belle’s sake more than his own.

“Then let’s go inside,” Isabella said. “I should speak with her. Find out what was so urgent Serafina abandoned her post.”

Kai inclined his head. “From what I hear, she was angry about Belle’s assignment. This wasn’t her first visit since we’ve been here.”

Isabella paused and arched a brow.

“Belle says Serafina’s been trying to push her out of Angel Clinic altogether. But I was unconscious for the altercation.”

Isabella’s gaze landed on his wounded shoulder, and her eyes softened. “From what I can sense, you’re all quite drained. If Creed attacks you again today, you’ll be vulnerable.”

Kai ground his teeth. Vulnerable was not a word he’d ever encouraged in association with himself. But he couldn’t deny it this time.

Isabella released a breath and transported them back into the hotel room without bothering to use the door.

Gwen screeched, short and sharp, and Belle spun in place before relaxing to stand at attention. When Gwen reached for Kai’s blade Belle held out her hand to stop her and shook her head.

“Belle,” Isabella began, “Kai told me of Serafina. Is it true she coveted your title more than she cared for her own responsibilities?”

Sighing quietly, Belle nodded. “At least insofar as she didn’t seem to think anything of tracking me down and ditching her station long enough to come threaten me, yes. But I swear, Isabella, I’d have saved her if I were able.”

“I believe you,” Isabella assured her with a faint nod. “Now, all of you gather your things. I’m going to take you to a new destination and ward the room so that you’ll be safe while you recover.”

Kai nodded sharply and moved to retrieve his sword.

Belle hesitated. “Isabella, Gwen’s not well enough to travel, and I’m not well enough to restore her right now.”

Isabella glanced to Gwen, who was now gawking unabashedly, and said, “I see. Ms. Manning, where did you want to go?”

“Oh, ah,” Gwen replied, her cheeks reddening.

“We were headed to her brother’s,” Kai offered with a faint smirk. For someone who was usually so quick with a comeback, Gwen sure was at a loss for words.

“Very well.” Isabella moved forward and grasped Belle’s hands. “I’ll infuse you with enough of my own energy to reverse any damage Gwen suffers at the teleport. I’m sorry I can’t give you more.”

****