The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (120 page)

Killian shouted,
Mica! Tune them out! I need you right now. Anchor me!

Squeezing my eyes tighter, I tried to ignore the chaos exploding around me. The storms raged here and in Switzerland. I couldn’t escape the roar of the torrential rain or the peal of thunder. It was like sitting in a tornado as things were thrown against the walls of the living room.

More screaming, swearing...grunts of pain. The glass coffee table shattered with a loud crash. Shards bounced off of my face. Sinking deeper into my trance, I felt only vibrations until something grazed the side of my head. What the heck was going on in here?

Another loud crack of thunder and lightning flashed behind my lids.

Finally a shriek and a thud, then silence.

Domino rested her chin on my shin, the soft weight reassuring.

Snapping my full attention back to Killian again, I found him squatting next to the box, looking at a timer. His eyes locked straight onto mine and he wrapped his arms around the box.

Before I could take another breath, he dematerialized with it.

The explosion blinded me.

Oh, my God! Killian! No!

Throwing my hands up to shield my eyes, I sat spellbound as the nightmare unfolded.

The incredible force sent the top five floors of the huge building flying in every direction. The Primani vanished like fireflies as a small mushroom cloud billowed up from deep underground. Moving in slow motion, it took forever to breach the surface. At the same time, the flash lit up the valley sending brilliant light in every direction for a hundred miles. Red fire replaced the white flash creating the typical nightmare of nuclear war. Lightning forked above and inside the black ash cloud. The rest of the sprawling structures were sucked into the debris core.

Before I could spin into a full-blown panic, the air was sucked out of the room, leaving me in a vacuum. The force of outflow was so strong that for just a second I was pulled with it, my body straining against the invisible current. I clung to the couch as the waves washed over me in two cycles. Finally it was over. Dani screamed.

There, in front of me, was Killian.

Or mostly Killian, anyway. His corporal body faded in and out. Some of his molecules were missing...there were gaps in his skin, tears in the flesh; his
saol
gleamed through the missing pieces. He looked like a colander.

Even worse, the precious golden energy poured from his eyes as he struggled to bring his body back under control. The skin that was visible was burned and smoking. He’d planted his boots when he rematerialized, but now he staggered towards the wall. Blinded and disoriented, he stumbled and went down on one knee.

“Oh, my God. Baby, stand still!”

The rune on my chest was smoking and I heard his voice in my head. Not panicked, he was furious. His words were gibberish but I knew what he was saying. He was swearing...a lot.

I held my arms out to him and said, “Dani, bring him to me.”

She pulled him to his feet and guided him to the couch. Still blinking furiously, he sank down next to me. Dani’s eyes were full of questions, but there wasn’t time to explain. I had to work fast. I knew exactly what to do.

Leaning my forehead against his, I joined the twin runes together and didn’t like what I heard. His heart raced and stuttered, off beat, out of control. The pattern was dangerously off. His breathing was harsh and he wheezed every time he inhaled. I had to do something or he wouldn’t make it. I closed my eyes and breathed. In and out. In and out. Slow and deep.

I wrapped his fingers around my locket and tuned everything out but the sound of my heart. Strong, steady, normal. I called to my
saol
and released it to him. The locket warmed in his hand and sent a faint trail of light into his fingers.

That’s it; go to Killian. Fill him. Heal him.

Within a minute, he was cocooned and his heartbeat slowed to normal. His breathing grew easier. His thoughts came to me again, but the words were still wrong. He was struggling to form the thoughts; they were disjointed, in mixed languages without any syntax. I couldn’t understand any of it now. Then I realized the problem: his Primani language was missing. I opened my eyes to find him staring into my face.

Oh, no.

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” Dani asked.

Good question. “I’m not sure. Killian? How do you feel right now?”

He blinked at me and cleared his throat to answer me. The effort sent him into a coughing fit that left him gasping and bleeding from his nose.

“Don’t try to talk. Just let me think for a minute,” I muttered under my breath. What the hell was going on here?

Glancing down, I noticed my rune was still lit up like a flashlight. His was dark. In fact, his was fading from his skin.

Grabbing both of his hands, I yanked him as close to me as possible. Leaning to his ear, I said, “Listen to me! I have to do something to fix this. You need to relax your guard and let me in. Just let me do what I need to. Don’t fight me. Got it?”

He was barely conscious. I needed to hurry before he passed out completely.

“Dani, do you see a sheath on his lower back?”

Jumping up, she searched him and produced the gleaming silver blade.
Sgaine Dutre
. Thank God. “This one?”

“Perfect! Hand it to me.” She did and I ordered, “Okay, now hold his wrist out for me.”

She knelt beside us and put his hand in her lap so it rested palm down within my reach.

Gripping the blade in my hand, I said, “
Sgaine Dutre dia en salad
,”
and traced the tip of the blade over the fading rune on the back of his hand.

His hand twitched but he didn’t jerk it back. Dani gagged but held onto him as his blood started to well up. I was working left handed, so the cut was awkward, but I managed to draw the knife across my forearm to get my blood flowing. Dani looked expectantly, and placed his hand on my arm to mingle the blood.

I raised
Sgaine Dutre
again. This time I drew the blade across his forehead and down the center of his face in the shape of a cross.

“Sgaine Dutre a dios.”

The rune on my chest burned like fire and my heart skipped several beats, stuttering and coughing in my chest. Killian’s face went white and he gasped out loud. After a second, my rune cooled down to a faint tingle and my heartbeat settled.

Okay, that was the easy part. Now for the hard part.

Wrapping my arms around him as much as possible, I held him tightly and closed my eyes. Reaching inside myself, I searched for his blood, his powers. They swam below the surface of my own, languid and strong, waiting to be needed. Well, damn it, I need you now.

Come on, come on, come to me, I called them. I held his heavy body against me and trembled as his powers began to build, to surge, to dominate. Like a tidal wave, they crashed through me, overwhelming everything in their path. Stiffening instinctively, I had to force my body to relax and let them take over. The assault made my head swim. My muscles expanded, my skin stretched and tightened, my body heated. Sweat ran like rain between us. Still I waited, let the pressure build, let it overwhelm me. Just when I was sure I would explode, I shoved the wave into him with a sudden surge of force.

Like a dam bursting, the ancient powers rushed out of me and into him. On and on they flowed, strong and eager. His body stiffened, arching against the onslaught. Thunder crashed overhead and rain came down in a current. Gusts of wind blew the rain into the open window behind us. The cold droplets cooled my overheated skin, soothing me with a hiss.

A kaleidoscope of images swam in my mind as I lay there with him, our bodies and minds joined. Color and thought. Memory and emotion. His and mine. His soul open to me, mine to him. Two worlds, past and present. Now and then.

As our blood and powers mingled, the two worlds collided into a starburst.

On and on it went, until I realized the mad rush of power had gentled and settled down to a trickle. Still, I clung to him and kept my eyes closed. After a bit, I felt the steady strength of his powers slip into me again and mingle with my own. The swirling sensation gave me goose bumps and set my teeth on edge. My ears rang and my head swam. Gradually the feeling of vertigo disappeared, replaced by a gentle feeling of effervescence tickling through my
saol
. My blood bubbled and sang with the joy of knowing we were whole again.

We were bonded; our past and our present locked together. The image of his face as he bonded me to him, so many months ago, lingered behind my eyes. Fierce, powerful...he’d stood over the altar with blood running between us, his expression resolute as he cut me with the knife.

The touch of his fingers on my face brought me back to the present and I sighed. I was afraid to open my eyes. I hope this worked.

“Look at me, babe.”

He caressed my cheek and kissed the tip of my nose.

I opened my eyes.

Brilliant blue Primani eyes twinkled back at me. A million shades of blue mixed together in intricate little puzzle pieces to form his irises. They gleamed with knowledge and power. As I stared into those heavenly eyes, I saw the kaleidoscope of his soul once more.

The
essence
of who he was, is, and will always be.

Protector. Warrior. Primani.

Father. Husband.

Mine.

London, England:

“I’M NOT WORTHY of your blessing, but I thank you God.” Killian had been praying with his head lowered with appropriate humility, but now he looked up with fierce eyes, his voice rumbling in the quiet hospital room. “I promise you I’ll see them ready for your work.”

Under his breath, he added, “
Es cabrinae e diade
.”

They are my heart and soul.

He thumbed a tear and smiled to himself. Sentimental, he wasn’t. Not usually...But there was a first time for everything. Today was one of those firsts. He was a father--finally. He and Mica had a whole family now. They’d come full circle. The troubles of the past were behind them and they were moving forward again. No more waiting; no more living in an endless freezing limbo. They had their lives back and had each other again. He couldn’t be happier.

Mica...He never got tired of watching her. She’d given him three healthy baby boys. It was the family they’d been denied all these years...oh yeah, he was truly and forever blessed.

Killian dragged his thumb across the back of her limp hand and allowed himself to relax for the first time in days. She was fine. No, better than fine. She was beautiful. Perfect. Other than the dark smudges under her eyes, there was no sign of the hard work and pain she’d just gone through three hours earlier. Now hooked up to an IV and sleeping like the dead, she was the poster child of a new mother. Her face was flushed with health and happiness, eyelashes dark against her cheeks. The sight brought another tear to his eye and he let it go. As it rolled along his cheek, he draped the blanket across her chest and kissed her forehead. Damn, she was amazing.
Three
babies! And they were big boys, too. He’d be lucky if she ever let him near her again...

A light tap snapped him out of his musing. Dec stuck his face through the door and waved a hand for Killian to join him in the visitors’ waiting room.

The grey chairs were too small to be comfortable, so Raphael waited for them near a bank of large windows. The view wasn’t especially inspiring; it overlooked the wet roof of another wing of the hospital. Off in the distance, they could see a swath of green trees and the black asphalt of a parking lot.

As soon as Killian walked in, Raphael gave him a two-armed hug. Beaming from ear to ear, he said, “Congratulations, my friend! How is our little mother?”

Before he could answer, Dec threw his two cents in. “Judging by all the yelling, you’d think she was dying in there. But last time I checked she was still alive.”

Raphael’s smile vanished instantly. “What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”

Killian shot Dec an amused glance and drawled, “Yeeeah, we got here too late for the drugs...she wasn’t thrilled to hear that. She, uh, let the doctors know it.” He shuddered at the memory and shook his head to clear it. No sense in dwelling on
that
.

Instead, he said, “Other than the really mean names she called me, the delivery went perfectly. No problems for her or the boys. She’s sleeping now and the boys are in the nursery. The staff wants to keep them for a few days since they were early.”

“Surely they are fully formed? There’s no reason to be concerned.”

“It’s uncanny how you know these things,” Killian laughed. “You’re right. Even though they’re early, their organs are all developed and they aren’t underweight. They’ll be able to leave soon. Come on, let’s go to the nursery. We can talk on the way.”

The two angels beamed at Killian and beat him out of the room.

As they made their way through the hospital’s maze of hallways, Raphael asked, “Have you and Mica decided on a place to live?”

Nodding, he answered, “We’re moving back to the farmhouse in New York. Mica and Dani’s families are there and they both want to be near them. Plus, it’s a good location for our east coast ops. We’ll be able to work from there like we’ve been doing. I’m going to have an addition built onto the back of the house though. There aren’t enough bedrooms for all of us now.”

Dec disagreed, “Dani’s planning to get her own place. We won’t need a room for her.”

“Oh? And what about you, Dec? Are you moving in with her?”

Throwing up his hands, Dec protested overmuch. “No! There’s nothing going on between us. I’m just saying what she told me! What is it with you people? Stop playing matchmaker!”

Raphael turned serious and pulled them over away from a crowded nurses’ station. “I’ve actually come with other news.”

Both Primani snapped to attention at his tone.

“Michael’s made his decision. Lara’s lost her wings and will spend 50 years in the Stone Garden.”

Dec whistled at the harsh sentence. “Sucks to be her.”

Killian thought it wasn’t long enough, but Michael hadn’t asked for his opinion. He was just glad she’d be out of their lives.

He said, “I still can’t believe she was working alone. I was sure Irku was involved in this. Rivin had solid intel.”

Smiling tightly at one of the nurses, Raphael started back down the hall. “The intel was wrong. She claims she hired humans to do the wet work and she only provided the power to mask them. She vehemently denies working with any of the demons. That’s what got her only 50 years.”

“And Michael believes her?”

Raphael didn’t bother to answer the disrespectful question. He gave him a pointed look that said ‘shut up already.’

If she’d been consorting with demons, she’d have gotten double the sentence. Damn it! If Dani hadn’t been there, Mica could’ve been killed. Thinking Mica was unprotected, Lara had boldly walked into the safe house. Finding Dani there had thrown off her plans which gave Dani time to react.
He who hesitates is lost
. Lara was stunned when tiny little Dani kicked her ass and tied her up. When Killian had come to, he’d found Dani beaming at him and Lara snarling from behind the hacky sack that Dani had gagged her with.

Maybe he’d lost his Zen during the explosion, or maybe he was just amped up from Mica’s jump start, but he was ready to kill Lara with his bare hands. He’d been about to pull the bitch outside and beat a confession out of her when the rest of the team had shown up. His brothers had taken one look at his face and took her to Michael right then and there. She had no idea how lucky she was.

According to her confession to Michael, she decided to kill Mica herself after the attempt in the park had failed.

Wow.

She wanted to kill Mica just to hurt him. All this was about pride. Jealousy. Vengeance. Pride.

It boggled his freakin’ mind.

She was willing to destroy their lives just because her ego was hurt. Psycho bitch. He’d made it perfectly clear for centuries and she still didn’t fucking get it. He’d never liked her, never wanted her. Her weakness made his fingers itch to strangle her...slowly. He took a deep breath and recalled some sense of calm. Gotta find that Zen again. He couldn’t afford to give in to rage. Now wasn’t the time. She’d rot in the Garden like she deserved. And he would always watch out for Dani. She deserved nothing less.

The sound of crying babies echoed faintly in the hall as they got closer. As they turned the last corner, the nursery windows loomed right in front of them. The three big men stopped and stared. There were so many...Killian felt a second of panic. They all look alike! What if I can’t tell them apart? Are they too young to tattoo? That would help...maybe just first initials?

The boys were swaddled like tiny sausages in their bassinets. Their eyes were closed as they slept off the hard work of being born.

Raphael scanned the nursery with half-closed lids. Suddenly his face lit up and he touched his fingers to the glass in wonder. “They’re perfect.”

As soon as Raphael touched the glass, three sets of brilliant blue eyes blinked sleepily up at him.

One year later:

The screen door opened by itself. Tiny bare feet pattered across the porch and stopped. Don’t turn around. Don’t look. For God’s sake, don’t laugh. Mica will go ballistic.

Sticky fingers tugged at his hand. “Daddy, I did it!”

Killian allowed himself a fleeting moment of pride before scooping up his namesake and pressing him nose to nose. The boy giggled, but his father chided, “Killian, you know you aren’t allowed to do that. Someone might see you and get scared. We only use our powers when we are working. And you, my boy, are still wearing diapers. Toilet training is a job requirement. So knock it off!”

The small boy wasn’t impressed with his father’s scowl or his hard tone. He simply nodded seriously and pulled the smoky Ray Bans off of Killian’s nose.

“It’s getting worse, you know. You’re going to have to tell Grandpa Raphael,” Mica mused as she plopped down on the swing beside them.

“I’ve got it under control, babe. They’ll be fine.”

Three hours later, the grill was smoking, the music was playing, and the kids were screaming. The boys were one year old today. Their extended family had shown up to make sure they made it to year two. There were days when that was in doubt...Killian Leahy, Jr., Michael Declan Leahy, and Sean Raphael Leahy were currently careening across the lawn with Domino, Abby, and Monica in slow pursuit. Sean Michael shoved himself out of his mother’s arms and raced off to join his cousins.

Aisling turned to Sean and said, “You’ve totally corrupted him. All he wants to do is wrestle.”

Sean took a deep breath. He’d been learning anger management from Mica. Killian could practically hear his brother counting to ten before he answered his overprotective baby mama.

“Ais, you need to buy a parenting book. Boys like to wrestle. It’s how they learn to control their strength. Good Lord, woman, he’s Primani. Do you expect him to say he’s sorry after he whacks a demon?”

Flushing with anger, she opened her mouth to argue when Mica intervened. “Aisling, I know you’re only here for a few weeks, but I was hoping you’d come in and help me teach a few classes. I could really use your help; one of our instructors quit.”

Killian wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and settled her butt against his lap. She was wearing a purple sundress that showed off her sexy shoulders and long legs. He was content to share her with the family for now, but he had plans for her later. Breathing in the citrusy scent of her hair, he stomped down the caveman urge to toss her over his shoulder and keep her busy for a while. Instead he sat back and enjoyed the perfection of the day. It just didn’t get any better than this.

Sean raised a bottle and winked at him as they listened to the women talk. Killian closed his eyes, and let the sound of their voices wash over him as his mind drifted. Life was good. Aisling had finally agreed to share custody with Sean, after Gabriel intervened, and had flown to New York to spend some time together. She was still living in England, but was thinking of moving closer. The past year had been good for her. She’d lost some of the chip on her shoulder and wasn’t as defensive. Mica and Dani had worn her down too. Flooding her with baby pictures and calling every week, they managed to make her like them in spite of herself. Withdrawn and private before, she chattered away with the other two women like they were old friends.

He caught the word ‘classes’ and his ears perked up again. What would Aisling say? Mica wanted Aisling to help with her classes in the studio she just opened. She’d barely made it home from the hospital before she picked up her workout routine again. She was as fit and strong as before she got pregnant. She’d shocked him by announcing she wanted to open a self-defense studio for women. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Had he expected her to stay home and be a wife and mother? Give up her powers?

Nah, not her style. Oh, she’d been a patient, caring mom so far, but he knew teaching women to defend themselves was a passion for her. She glowed like a torch every time someone asked her about it. No way would she let anything keep her from doing both. She’d be a mom and a business owner. Also a demon killer, when needed. That was his wife. She was just that talented. Naturally, Dani was all in as soon as she brought it up. Dani had been the one to come up with the marketing plan and made it her mission to go to the battered women’s shelters and jails to spread the word. Classes were brutal, but cheap; free if the girls were too broke to pay. They’d had the grand opening a month ago.

It was late afternoon when Mica elbowed him awake and snorted, “That girl’s got no sense. Look at her!”

Michael had curled up on her lap and dozed against her chest. He clutched a bit of her shirt in his chubby fist and jammed it in his mouth. Rafe was curled on Killian’s lap, his head lolling and pink mouth open in complete abandon. These boys slept like the dead. On the other hand, Mini Killian was still chasing Domino around the yard. The boy was like the Energizer Bunny. His heart swelled with pride. Black haired, blue eyed, and golden skinned, they were identical down to their fingernails. Although their appearances were identical, their personalities and temperaments were completely unique. Once you got to know them, it was impossible to mix them up. They were beautiful babies, just like he’d promised her.

Killian followed Mica’s finger and had to laugh. As soon as her parents drove away, Abby had cornered Dec and pinned him in place with one hand wrapped around his bicep. His back was pressed against a tree. He looked miserable. Her lips were angled towards his in a blatant invitation. Killian could practically feel the panic ebbing from the trees. Over the past six months, Abby had followed Dec around with a single purpose. She’d filled out nicely and was convinced he should notice. Dec got a haunted look in his eyes every time she came over. Right now, he swiveled around looking for help. Dani stood with arms crossed, pretending to ignore him--again. Dani was a slippery fish and he’d not reeled her in yet. Every time he tried to make something happen, she gave him an amused little smile and sashayed away. Judging by the frown on her pretty face right now though, she might be having second thoughts. Hmm, that was interesting.