death. Either way its up to her.” He said and Leviathan snarled
something in Gaelic.
“What does he mean I have a choice?” Kai asked, moving to sit
in Leviathan’s lap who wrapped his arms around her waist
possessively. She gave a defeated sigh and Naomi chuckled.
“What I mean,” Pierre said, his eyes glowing as he glared across
the fire at her, “Woman. Is you can choose to merge with an
angel and allow his light to purify the darkness inside your soul
or you can die by the hands of the demons you’re consorting
with.” Leviathan gave another snarl, dumping Kailani out of his
lap and onto the ground as he leapt across the fire and caught the
angel by the throat. Naomi shouted but knew better than to get in
the middle of them as they traded blows.
“Leviathan stop it!” Kailani scrambled to regain her feet, running
to grab Leviathan by the arm and pull him away from where he
was punching Pierre in the nose. He spun on her with a roar, his
hand going instantly about her throat, but instead of the gentle
caress he’d given her the night before he lifted her off of her feet
with enough force to completely wind her. She struggled,
clawing at his hand as tears filled her eyes.
“Demon! Look at what you are doing!” She heard Naomi scream
as dark spots began to dance before her. She watched recognition
return to him as he slowly lowered her to her feet and released
her. Kailani’s hands went to her throat as she coughed in an
attempt to regain her breath.
“Kailani—” He reached for her and she held up a hand to stop
him.
“No, it’s alright. I’m fine.” She said quietly and he didn’t believe
her for a second but was in no position to question her. But still,
his eyes were so pained; it was if she’d stabbed him. “I don’t
know any angels.” She turned to Pierre to say, missing the way
Leviathan’s jaw clenched.
“I know of one who may be willing to help you but there is no
way to be certain.” Pierre said, wiping the blood from his broken
nose on the back of his hand. Naomi moved to assist him, which
he gladly welcomed. “His name is Ophanuel, he is an archangel.
Travel to Munich, the last I heard of him he was somewhere
around there.” He said and Kailani nodded, not liking the fact
that she had to spend more money to fly to Germany.
“Must you be so cheap?” She heard Leviathan say but ignored
him. Pierre cut them both a hard glare.
“I want you both out of my camp first light, do you understand
me?” He asked and Leviathan took a menacing step towards him,
an oath forming on his lips, which was only drowned out by the
sound of Kai’s acquiescence.
“We understand. We won’t cause anymore trouble.” She watched
him turn and with the help of Naomi retire to a tent on the other
side of the camp. Kai heaved a sigh, expelling the last of her
adrenaline. Never in her life had she been so tense.
“Had you let me kill him there wouldn’t be a need for tension.”
Leviathan said and again she ignored him, turning to go back to
their tent. He followed her, watching the disgruntled woman sit
and turn her back on him completely. Leviathan slipped in beside
her, propping his head up on his hand as he stared up at her.
“Don’t be angry.” He said, more of a demand than a request.
Kailani turned to glare down at him.
“I’m not.”
“Liar.” He growled low in his throat and she did her best to
ignore the wicked things his voice did to her body. Leviathan sat
up behind her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling
her back against his chest. “Forgive me.” He whispered against
her ear.
“There is nothing to forgive. I should have known better.” She
breathed. “I just… I just didn’t want to see you get hurt. After
you were attacked by those demons I thought I’d lost you, I
didn’t want to see you like that again.” She listened to him snort.
“If you think for one second that scrawny little angel could take
me—”
“Not take you,” She turned her head to stare into his eyes, her
face deadly serious, “Hurt you, Leviathan. I don’t doubt your
skills I just don’t want to see you injured.” She said and he
frowned. There she was again, caring about his well-being. Not
only did it make him uncomfortable, it made him feel things he
didn’t want to feel. He let out a long suffering sigh, pulling her
into a laying position and wrapping his arms around her, to which
she growled. “I don’t wanna cuddle.” She said gruffly.
“This isn’t about what you want.” He replied with a growl, fitting
her against his stomach as he held her tightly. “Lay with me.” He
growled again and she ceased struggling.
“Fine. But only because you’re warm and you smell good.” She
listened to him chuckle, the warm sound vibrating against her
back.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night princess.”
The next morning went by in a blur. Before either of them
realized what was going on they were making the trek back to
their nearly wrecked jeep. Alone. Leviathan kept silent, doing his
best to ignore the little glares Kailani kept shooting him. Finally,
unable to take it anymore he spoke.
“What in the name of seven lords are you looking at?” He asked
and she rolled her eyes.
“Nothing.” She said quietly and he waited for her to continue,
“Except you didn’t have to set the damn tent on fire before we
left. You did that just to piss off Pierre.” Leviathan chuckled
darkly.
“Oh? How did you guess?” He continued to laugh as she picked
up a rock and threw it at his head, narrowly missing him.
“You dickhead! And after all they did to help us too!”
“Oh for the love of— The most they gave us was information that
we probably could have found on…Wikipedia or something.” He
said and she paused to balk at him. “What?”
“How the fuck do you even know what that is?!” She swung her
fist towards him but he just laughed, ducking her swing and
catching her about the waist, lifting her over his shoulder. Kailani
let out a squeal of indignation as she hung there like a sack of
potatoes. “You are such an ass!”
“And you have a great one.” He gave an opened palmed smack to
the body part in question, gaining another shriek from Kai.
“Put me down!” She kicked and he ignored her, his brows
creasing as he came upon the spot they’d left the jeep in. There
were tire tracks headed in both directions but no sign of the car.
“We have a problem.” He said, allowing her to slide down his
body until she was standing on her feet. She stared around the
open space, her frown matching his own.
“Where’s the jeep Leviathan?” She asked and he cocked a brow
down at her.
“And I know this…how?” He asked and she let out a frustrated
growl.
“Are you telling me we’ve been carjacked?!” Her hands dropped
against her sides as she began to panic. Leviathan stayed calm as
always.
“Looks like it.” He watched her storm over to a rock, and like the
trashcan before, kick it as if it had just insulted her. Only this
time she yelped and hopped around on one foot, spitting curses
that would have made a sailor blush. With a sigh he went to her,
pointing towards the rock she’d just assaulted. “Sit.” He barked
and she complied, watching him kneel in front of her and take
hold of her injured foot. Leviathan carefully pulled off her shoe
and sock, rubbing the sore appendage to check it for fractures.
She flinched and his eyes flicked up to hers. “You shouldn’t get
angry so quickly.” He scolded her gruffly and she shook her
head.
“You don’t understand. Everything we had was in that car and
now it’s gone. My bag and my clothing, my passport, even my
wallet containing my credit cards and ID. I’m stranded in
Australia with no money and no identification. And it’s not like I
can just walk into a bank and make them give me the money we
need.” She said, shaking her head in defeat as tears brimmed her
eyes, “How are we going to get to Munich? We’ll never make it
to Ophanuel.” She watched his jaw clench.
“You also shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of me.” He replaced
her sock and shoe, ignoring her frown.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that. Everything just seems
so…hopeless.” Leviathan stood, taking her hand and pulling her
to her feet.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll get what we need, you don’t have to
worry. I’ll take care of it.” He said, wiping the tears that slipped
down her face before turning to head west. She balked.
“We can’t walk all the way back to Perth, it’s an hour drive from
here. We’d never make it there alive.” He resisted the urge to roll
his eyes at her.
“Must you be so melodramatic? We’re not walking to Perth but
to the highway. Once there everything will fall into place.” He
grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her alongside him. Together
they made their way back to the road, which was surprisingly
busy being so early in the morning. Vehicles of all sorts zoomed
back and forward, whipping up dust around them as they stood
dangerously close to traffic.
“What now?” Kai asked over the sound of the cars.
“You’re going to stand here. And attempt to look cute.” He said
with a smirk and she glared up at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Stop scowling, you’ll never get anyone to stop.” He folded his
arms over his chest and moved a good distance away from her,
just out of sight of the road.
“I’m supposed to hitchhike?!” She yelled in his direction and he
ignored her. What was she? A prostitute he could just stand on a
corner? Through her indignation she watched several cards
hesitate as they neared her, as if they wanted to stop but thought
better of it. Instantly she put on a smile and tried her best not to
look like a deranged serial killer. Like clockwork a balding man
in a silver Chrysler pulled to a screeching halt in front of her. It
was obviously an American made car as the driver’s seat was on
the left side, meaning he was probably a tourist instead of a local.
“Do you need any help miss?” He asked, his accent definitely
American. That was great! Maybe he could help her out, or at
least get her back onto US soil. Before she could open her mouth
to ask for help Leviathan appeared next to her, grinning cruelly as
he reached through the window and punched the man hard
enough to shatter his jaw.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” She screamed as he opened the
car door, unbuckled his seat belt and pulled him out onto the side
of the road.
“Getting us what we need. Now get in.” He ordered and she
balked at him, backing away when he reached for her.
“Do you have any idea how illegal carjacking is?” He just gave
her a droll look.
“About as illegal as sneaking a demon onto an intercontinental
flight under guise of an invisibility spell?” He watched her
seethe.
“Bastard.” She accused and he grabbed her by the bicep, forcing
her into the car via the driver’s side. He pushed her out of the
way, climbing in behind her and slamming his door. The car
growled as he stomped the gas pedal and sped off down the
highway. “We are so going to jail.”
“That’s only if we get caught.” He smirked and she frowned at
him.
“What is with your sudden illegal streak? First arson, you burn
down Naomi’s tent, and now carjacking?”
“Simple. I’m a demon, with no regard for mortal law. If I want it
I’ll take it. I’m only giving you a taste of who you’re dealing with
Kailani.” He said, a wicked gleam in his blue eyes. She felt a
shiver go down her spine.
“So this is all for my benefit?”
“You could say that.” His words were simple but she suspected
he had an ulterior motive for all of this, not just to make himself
look like an immoral jackass. Was he trying to force her away?
To show her how horrible he could be just so she wouldn’t
attempt to get any closer to him? She thought about the man
they’d just robbed, would other innocent people suffer just so he
could prove a point? Kailani turned to stare over her shoulder,