Chapter 17
I woke up and the first thing I saw was a white ceiling. Turning my head to the right, I took in my newfound surroundings. I was in what looked like a hospital room, but no machines or stuff were connected to me. Damn, I was hoping everything had been just some sort of coma thing.
“Kasadya Levourne, if you ever do that to me again, I’ll kill you myself,” Kali said from my left, so I turned my head to look at her, and started laughing. She was pissed and giving me a deathly glare.
“Kali, you know we can’t die like that,” I reminded her.
“Doesn’t matter. You totally scared the hell out of me. Do you know what it’s like to see someone who has become your friend pass out on you because of a wound? Next time, I’ll take the punch and you can sit here for five hours and look at my body lying on a bed.”
Ah man, had to give it to her. She knows how to get a girl out of bed. I sat up and felt the sheets run over my flesh. Grabbing them, I lifted them up and looked under them to find myself naked, with only underwear on. “Why the hell am I naked?” I asked her, remembering the two guys, and I could feel the red spreading out all over my face. I looked at her to make sure that no way in hell did they undress me.
“Because, Kas, every time Melissa tried to cut open your leathers to get to your wound, they would repair on their own. So we undressed you. Your wound had already healed by the time we got them off, so she only cleaned you up,” Kali replied, still sitting on a chair looking at me with a pissed off expression.
“Please tell me the two guys were not in the room when you did it? I swear I’ll kill them if they were.” I went on, still rattled over the whole naked thing.
“No, Melissa ordered them to leave when she started cutting your clothes, so they left. And by the way, they are not the only two guys. When we landed here, about twenty were waiting for us, fully armed. We were then escorted to the emergency room and then to this room.”
“Okay, where are my clothes so I can get dressed? And while I’m doing it, you can fill me in on what we’ve gotten ourselves into this time,” I replied, and got out of the bed. I transformed to look at my wing, but found it completely healed, just like my body. I changed back and turned to look at Kali, who was walking to me with my clothes in her hands. I took them and started with my pants. “Okay, so where are we?” I began questioning, trying to get as much info as I could and get back up to speed with our newfound friends.
“It’s some sort of base or facility. They airlifted us out from the street we landed in, which by the way, was my old hometown, and then transported us here. It’s still in Russia but I couldn’t make out the location.”
Okay, so these guys had some resources to help them out, and clearly they had even more by look of the room. Hi-tech medical machines were everywhere. Some of them I didn’t even have a clue what they were or did. “Anything else you can tell me about this place or the two humans we rescued? Who is this Melissa you were talking about?” I went on.
“Melissa, I think, is some sort of doctor here, and the two guys I believe are soldiers. All the other guys were suited up in the same gear when we stepped off the helicopter. But believe me, that’s the easy part. It’s the fae male they call commander that gets me totally confused.”
“What, a fae? What the hell is a fae doing here with humans?” I asked her. The moment she mentioned him, I stopped dressing and looked at her, confused at the fae and humans calling him their commander. As Fallen we were not allowed to create such a relationship with humans; it was taboo.
“I have no idea. I was too consumed by fear for a hellhound, who passed out on me, to ask,” Kali sarcastically responded, planting her butt back in the chair. Okay, so she had a fright. She needs to get used to it. I’d taken way more than that stab when I started off in hell, and like I said, we didn’t die that easily. But man, it still hurts like hell, and we could bleed out. It took a long time for our healing to take place, and in the case of blood loss like mine, even longer. But hey, five hours didn’t sound that bad.
“Okay, let’s get out of here and see what the hell is going on. Maybe the fae can tell us what’s up with the shifting thing,” I said to her, fully dressed and sliding my jacket on. She got up and walked over to me. Her face had started turning back to normal, but I could see she was still mad over the whole passing out thing.
“So, where are my swords?” I asked, looking around. I still felt naked without them.
“He took them. He said we don’t need them inside the base. He will return them when we leave,” she answered, and at that, I turned to stare at her.
“Okay, so we are unarmed, in a facility with about twenty fully armed men. Hey, at least we get to look at something not demon this time. Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here and find a Fallen to beat up,” I said, walking to the door. I opened it and found two guys with guns jumping to stand in front of me, weapons raised. Clearly we need to do this calmly. Slowly raising my hands, I looked at them. Yep, definitely humans. I could take them but I had just gotten rid of a wound, and wasn’t looking forward to dodging bullets.
“Alright, guys, chill out. We just want our stuff, and then we will leave.” I said, Kali coming to stand next to me.
“Come with us. Commander Amon will speak with you,” one of them instructed, and the other one took the lead. The one who spoke fell in behind us, his weapon ready. Okay, what the hell is going on here? We were led through hallway after hallway until finally the guy at our front stopped at a door and opened it. He walked inside so we followed. Inside a blond guy with blue eyes sat behind a desk, looking at a computer screen. A blonde woman was sitting on the couch talking to him, but stopped when we entered.
The two armed men took positions at the door, so Kali and I walked up to the pair at the desk and stood, waiting. “Where are our weapons?” I asked, already pissed off at the fae sitting behind the desk, and desperately wanting to get out of here.
He glanced up at Kali and me, before leaning back in his chair, still looking at us. “They are safe, but I will only give them to you when you are out of my base,” he replied, checking out both of us.
“Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?” I went on, trying to figure out this setup.
“My name is Amon Paganus, and as you know, I’m a Fallen just like you. But in my case, I’m considered to be a deserter or traitor, as so many of you say,” he answered, standing up and walking around the desk to stand before us. He crossed his arms over his chest. Okay, trying to make a challenge, I see. No problem. Two can play that game. So I did the same, which only made him smile.
“What are you doing here with humans? You know the law?” I questioned, maintaining my stand off against him. I’d battled demons. Hell, I even took on Ballen, and would have liked to kill him, but alas that would be left for another day. No way in hell was this guy going to scare me off, even if he had twenty fully armed guys. They could still die.
“Okay, you two, that’s enough,” the woman said, coming to stand at his side but looking at us intently. Amon smiled and took her in his arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Now the two stood there in each other’s arms, like a real couple, looking at Kali and me. I turned to Kali to see if she also getting this, and indeed, the shock on her face said it all. This guy was in so much freaking trouble. I returned my eyes to them.
“My name is Melissa Paganus, and I’d be the wife to this insane man,” Melissa offered, extending her hand to shake. I was even more shocked that he went so far as to marry her, and I took her hand in silence and shook it. “Come. Let’s go get something to eat. I know when Amon gets hurt he needs to regenerate himself with food,” Melissa said, taking his hand and leading him out the door. I just stood there, watching the two lovebirds leave the room.
“Kali, I think this guy is so dead when they see this,” I pronounced and turned to look at her, only to find her looking at the floor.
“Kas, if someone held me like that and showed such love, I wo
uld take it. Even a human,” she replied and looked back up at me.
“A Fallen male can also give you that, Kali. You know our law clearly states that what they’re doing is wrong,” I said and gestured for her to follow as we walked out with our armed men at our backs.
“Yes, I know that, but maybe this Fallen has a real good explanation for it. Just hear them out before you go all crazy on them,” she went on.
I just kept my mouth shut and walked behind, following them into a room where a lot of human men were gathered at a table, getting some food. The moment my nose caught the scent my stomach rumbled. Oh man, Melissa was right about that part. Amon gestured for us to take the two spots open across from them, so I planted myself immediately and looked at the food.
“Help yourselves. There is more than enough,” Amon said, so I didn’t waste any time. I grabbed a scoop of mashed potatoes and then some meat, which looked like pork. Who gave a damn what it was; it was food. My mouth started to water at the sight of it. I looked around the table for a source of gravy to smother the mashed potatoes in, and found it sitting across from the black haired guy from the battle. I looked at him and saw that he almost had no scars to speak of, but he was covered in blood.
He looked at me and smiled. “Want some gravy?” he asked with his Russian accent, which was kind of sexy.
“Yeah, that will be great, thanks,” I replied. He lifted up the gravy cup and held it for me to take. I took it from him and poured some over my mashed potatoes, giving it back to him for the others to use. With a hunger burning like a furnace in me, I grabbed a fork and dug into the potatoes, taking a huge bite. I closed my eyes. Man, this tastes so good. I opened my eyes to take another bite and found the Russian guy still looking at me with a smile, and all by itself my freaking body decided to blush. Damn teenage hormones. I dropped my head and continued with my food, ignoring him totally.
“So, let’s start over again. Your names?” Amon asked, sitting across from Kali, whom I could see was also enjoying her food.
“My name is Kasadya Levourne, Kas for short, and this is Kali Legkodimov,” I replied, looking at him and his human wife, who still smiled all the way.
“So, Kas, how did you end up in the middle of a demon brawl?”
“Well, we were sort of kidnapped by one, and we had to fight for survival or end up as dinner. Or worse.”
“How did he kidnap you?” Melissa asked, very keen all of a sudden.
“Well, that’s actually my fault, well sort of. You see, this demon, I think he was a nightmare demon, was bugging me and Kas in our dreams. Then, one day, he took me over completely and made me shift to his den. Kas wanted to help me and ended up shifting there with me,” Kali answered, taking another bite.
“How did he get into your dreams? I thought they couldn’t reach Exsilium?” Amon asked, and I could see the anger on his face.
“By means of traitorous Fallen, he placed a charm in The Hellhouse, enabling him to reach not only Kali and me, but also everyone else in the house. He called it a “gateway,”” I explained. I stopped eating and looked at him. I still need to find the traitors, and I’m not skipping anyone. To me, each Fallen is guilty until proven innocent.
“What? You mean you were in The Hellhouse when it happened?” Amon went on, confusion taking the place of anger.
“Yeah, we were attending there, our first year as Apprendos.” Kali answered, and at the mention of our apprenticeship, he looked at the black haired guy and then at me. Okay, now what?
“You were Apprendos when you were taken?” he went on, now sitting back and no longer eating.
“Yeah, I just did a month, and I think Kas was only there a week before we ended up in hell,” Kali went on. I looked at her to see that she was still eating and enjoying the chat, not noticing that Amon and the black haired guy were looking strangely at each other. Amon’s face changed instantly.
“Which Fallen species are you?” he asked, suddenly all serious. Kali was about to answer him, but I stopped her by placing my hand on hers. I looked at him, and then at the black haired guy. Something’s up. I don’t know what, but I don’t like it.
“I’m a hellhound and Kali is a harpy,” I told them while keeping my eyes on them.
Amon stood up and started walking over to our side, the black haired guy and all the rest followed. Kali and I jumped up and stepped away from the table, going back to back, ready to fight. Amon stopped before me and looked at me. “Transform. I must see your eyes,” he demanded, a sword now held in his hands.
“Why?” I asked him. What the hell do my eyes have to do with this?
“Transform now,” he bit out, locking his jaws. Okay, so the guy wants to see my Fallen eyes, fine. I transformed, keeping my eyes on them. I felt Kali also transforming, our wings touching each other. He stood there looking at me, searching for something. “Your eyes are still yellow. How long have you been there?” he asked, his swords still ready.
“We don’t know. The day we were taken it was 8 February 2010, and we could not tell time there,” I answered, feeling Kali’s wings moving against mine. She was ready, just like me. He kept his eyes on me.
“It’s 6 June 2012. What did he make you do?” he went on, but my mind stopped at the mention of 2012. Oh my soul, we were there for more than two years. I felt the blow of that thought hit me, causing my body to go numb. All this time, I thought it would only be like six months or something, not that long.
“Answer me, hellhound,” he demanded, making me forget the total blast of realization and focusing back on him.
“I was thrown into battle against demons; Kali stayed by me as a companion,” I answered. No way in hell did these guys need to know what had happened to Kali down there. I heard her blow out a nervous breath. He turned his head to the black haired guy.
“Max, are you sure of what you saw last night?” he questioned him.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Max answered, and Amon looked back at me.
“Did they not tell you what would happen if you embrace that side of you?” he asked and at that, I was dumbstruck. What the hell? Silence followed his question.
“When a hellhound embraces his or her true born nature, they have a tendency to go into what can only be described as bloodlust. A sign of that to other Fallen is when the hellhound’s eyes turn from yellow to red. Yours are still yellow, but I’m afraid that your time is running out.” he finished, looking at me with pity. Okay, this is news. So my eyes turn red and I go into bloodlust? Been there, and it didn’t end too bad.
“So what’s the problem?” I asked him, keeping my eyes on his.
“The problem, hellhound, is that the first hellhounds had to be destroyed to stop them from killing. Their trueborn nature was beyond sanity. The more they killed, the more they drifted into bloodlust, until they reached a stage where they would kill even a Fallen or human standing between them and the demon. They became even worse than a demon.” he finished and I felt the strength drain out of me. I composed myself quickly.
“I’m not like that. I kill demons but I don’t harm anyone else. I helped save their lives last night; I didn’t kill them to get to a demon,” I said, pointing my finger at the black haired guy, seething with anger. Amon looked at me for a while and then turned around to gesture for everyone to leave. Kali and Melissa where the only ones to stay behind, each side not trusting the other.
“Kas, it begins slowly and then works into that state. If you don’t find your “charm,” you’ll go insane, just like them. The Fallen will have no choice but to kill you, because you will destroy anything that stands in your way,” he explained. Okay, so I need a freaking charm to stay sane, no problem.
“So, where can I get a charm?” I asked him, but he looked at Melissa and then walked over to her, returning his eyes to me.
“It’s not an object, Kas. It’s a person. Someone who will be able to stop your hellhound from slipping into insanity,” he finished, resting his hands on Melissa’s shoulders. Okay, so
I have to find someone. That can be done, no problem.
“Okay, just give me a name and point me into the right direction. I’ll help myself from there,” I threw back at him, but he just stood there holding her and looking at me.
“Kas, he’s trying to tell you he doesn’t know the person you’re looking for. Your pactum mate,” Kali said from behind me, and I turned around, shocked at the words.
“You can’t be serious?” I said, backing away from her. She had transformed back to normal and was standing there looking at me with more freaking pity on her face.
“I’m sorry, Kas. Many hellhounds feel that they were pushed into a mating to speed up the hellhound population, but it was to keep them from such a fate,” Amon went on. I hit the wall and pressed back against it. Oh damn, this is so not good.
“Any other solutions? Because I just got out of hell. I’m so not getting back into another one,” I threw back at both of them. Kali just looked at him, and so I kept my eyes on him as well.
“I’m sorry. None was ever found. This is the only way, and finding your charm will not be easy. He must be able to calm your hellhound, and not many are able,” Amon replied. Oh, just freaking great. I so don’t have a life anymore. I dropped my head and transformed back to normal. So, my defeat will be my destiny. What a way to go.