Hellhound Born (Kasadya #3) (10 page)

“Mercy, Hellhound,” he pleaded.

I started laughing, but it sounded deeper, more evil. I stopped a foot from him and looked down at his simpering face.

“You’re going to die today. And I am sending all of you a message,” I said as I sneered at him.

With two precise moves, his head was cut clean off, sliding to the ground with a sickening thud. I looked up and saw the Fallen looking at me; my eyes searched the crowd until I found him.

The entire time I could feel him too. I heard him talking to me, encouraging me, telling me to be careful. Chax stood there, bloodied but alive, and smiled at me.

“I-” I was about to say something, but then wham!

Something slammed into me, nearly knocking me off of my feet. The feeling was familiar, bringing memories of the cave and Ira to the forefront of my mind. But this hurt way worse. I roared and fell to the ground, trying to get them out of me.

“Michael!” I heard Chax scream, but my own scream of agony burst from my mouth. 

I was freaking dying
!

My body shook, the ground following the motion. I heard someone curse and a fight going on somewhere in the distance.

Another bolt shot threw me and I arched my back, trying to relieve the pain that assaulted my body. A burning sensation was spreading up from my feet towards my head, making everything worse. In desperation, I cried out “Chax hel…”

The next bolt was so strong that the moment it hit me darkness claimed me. I drifted off into a dark world filled with nothing, and for once I was pleased. The pain was gone and I could breathe again. But it also brought the loneliness with it. The void was always empty, with nothing inside it but me.

Chapter 8

The moment I cracked open my eyes I wanted to kick myself. The pain was overwhelming. With a groan, I rubbed at them, desperate to wipe the pain away.

“Kasadya?” I heard Chax say next to me.

“What happened?” I croaked out, my throat on fire.

“You defeated Avaritia and received divinity,” he replied.

I could feel his hands slide behind my back before he pushed me upwards. My body felt like a truck had taken a test drive over it, eliciting a groan from deep inside my chest.

“Here, you will be thirsty.” Chax said.

I reached out and tried to open my eyes again to see what he was offering. Squinting them, I could see a huge jug.

To hell with what was inside it!

I grabbed it and brought it to my mouth, the juice soothing the burning sensation that had claimed my tongue. I downed the entire jug and released a relieved breath.

“Thanks, I needed that.” I thanked him.

He settled me back onto the bed and I heard him rustling about. Peeking through my eyes, I saw him pouring more juice into the jug before he returned it to me.

“Here is some more if you need it.” He offered.

This time I sat up on my own and took the jug from him. My eyes started to function again, fluttering to remove the acid that plagued them. I took a few more sips of juice. I looked at him and almost choked.

“What happened to you?” I croaked.

He shrugged and a small grin formed on those perfect lips.

“I haven't washed yet,” he replied.

He sat back in the chair that he called his bed the other night, his eyes focused on my bruised form.

“How do you feel?” He asked concerned.

He was looking at me like I was about to sprout an extra eye or something.

“Like a train hit me. Is this going to happen every time?” I was dreading the answer.

The whole divinity thing was a real pain in the butt. Hell, it was a pain everywhere.

“Yes, unfortunately it is the process. Those that will follow will be even worse.” He explained with sympathy.

Oh good. I can pass out again
.

I gave him the jug and lay back again, not impressed with any of this.

“Is there no other way?” I questioned, a slight whine in my voice.

“No, sorry,” he replied, rubbing his hand over his face.

In that moment, I finally saw just how tired he was. The bruising under his eyes told me that he hadn’t slept in days.

“Have you been sitting here all this time?” I asked.

He turned his face away from me and looked around in the room.

“Yes. You were in a bad shape. Your life is my responsibility,” he stated.

Wow, that sounded so duty bound.

“Well, hell. Sorry for the inconvenience,” I blasted back at him.

He pinned me with an annoyed look. “Kasadya, I was worried about you.”

My face dropped so fast it almost slammed into the bed.

Crap.

“Oh, well thanks.” It took all of me to manage that simple thanks.

He stood up and moved towards the door.

“Rest, we can talk later,” he said before leaving my room.

Why do I suck at this whole bond thing?

My door burst open and the team stormed in. Nanini and Raven jumped on the bed and I was jostled around, my body bouncing off of the bed.

“Wow, wicked show Kas,” Nanini said with a grin.

“Scared the crap out of us,” Lada mumbled from behind her.

I gave them a small smile.

“Next time I am going too. I don’t care what Caim and Zurita says.” Raven didn’t look happy at all.

“Kas, how are you feeling?” Max asked. His face was filled with concern.

“Except for the train that hit me, Okay I guess.”

He nodded, but no smile greeted me.

“Did you see how freaking huge you are in your hellhound
born
form?” Nanini asked, jumping on my bed with excitement.

Huge?
“Ah, no I haven’t,” I replied.

“Well, you make Max look like a school girl. Wow Kas! You were like Godzilla big,” she continued.

I looked at Lada and Max for some support or maybe an explanation.

“Michael said it was because of the first kill. Your body has already grown to accommodate the rest that’s coming,” Lada said with a smile

Great, so I am a huge freaking hellhound now.

“How does it feel when the lightning runs through you like that?” Lotan asked, coming to sit next to me.

 “Like I am being fried alive, I guess. It’s no fun at all,” I replied.

“Well, you gave us an awesome laser show. I can't wait for the next one,” Nanini replied, her face beaming with happiness.

I must have gone white, because they all started laughing.

I don’t see anything funny about this
.

“Okay guys, scoot. I need to check on Kas,” Maia said, stepping inside the room.

The team said farewell and went outside while Maia checked my vital signs and wounds. The air shifted and Melissa was suddenly standing on my other side.

“Kas, you are always in a mess.” She wasn’t so glad to see me.

“You know me.” I retorted, trying to make her laugh, but this time she didn’t think it was funny.

“I almost killed Raphael when he came to fetch me.”

Okay, that was news. I looked at the two buzzing around me. Maia checked my eyes with a light while Melissa checked my injuries lifting up some bandage and pocking with her finger.

“Your eyes have started to become like theirs,” Maia said, releasing my eye.

“What do you mean like theirs?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Haven’t you noticed that the Archangels have what we call light eyes?” she asked, shaking her head at me when my mouth fell open.

 “No. When does that happen?” I asked, utterly confused. Their eyes appeared normal to me when I looked at them.

“When they go into battle. A gift from our sire. They can see what others cannot. For example, the evil inside a human.” Maia explained.

“So, I will be able to see stuff I couldn’t before?” I was so confused with all of this.

She nodded as she sat down beside me.

 “You are going to be so special Kas. Everyone is waiting to see what you will become. I remember when Ch-” She was cut off when Chax stepped inside the room, no longer disheveled from our fight, but clean and dressed in new clothes.. With a blush, she looked away from him.

“Is Kasadya healed?” he asked, his eyes blazing with disapproval.

She hurried off the bed and stood next to Melissa. “Yes, she is fine Chax,” she answered.

The fire in his eyes was brutal and focused solely on her. He made her nervous when he turned that look on her.

“You are not going to put her through that again, are you?” Melissa blasted at Chax and even met him face to face.

Wow, Melissa was mad.

“We have no other choice,” he replied, not backing off.

“So, you are going to put her through all that pain just to create another Arch?” Melissa was not mad, she was livid.

“Do you think I enjoy seeing her going through that? I was by her side every second trying to take her pain away. I saw what she had to endure.” His face was ablaze with fury, his lip curled up in a snarl.

She didn’t give a damn; she kept her stand against him.

“Melissa, it’s alright. I know it looks bad, but we need to stop them before they breach the wall,” I said, trying to reassure her.

She looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes. Without even a goodbye, she shifted out.

Crap, I don’t like this.

“I need to go too. Good luck, Kas,” Maia said and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Chax.

 He didn’t look at me.

Taking a deep breath, I got out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom. The quicker I got this done, the quicker I could avoid the pain and save the world.

“Kasadya,” Chax called from behind me.

With a brave face, I turned to look at him. He looked miserable.

“We have a job to do Chax, so let’s get it over with and save lives,” I replied before he could say anything.

 I turned around and walked into the bathroom, closing the door without looking at him again. I showered slowly, my body aching with each movement. At last I finished and made my way back into the room and started to put on my gear.

I heard voices outside my room, but couldn’t hear what was being said. Slowly getting up, I picked up my swords and placed them into their sheaths. I looked at myself in the mirror, finding dark circles under my eyes and liking haggard complexion. Sucking in a breath, I headed for the door and stepped outside. I found Zurita and Maia in the hall, their heads bowed, whispering to each other. But when they saw me they stopped talking and looked very guilty trying as they quickly broke apart.

“Nice to see you’re up, Kas,” Zurita greeted.

I nodded and passed by her and Maia, not interested in their shady conversation. I went down the stairs and straight for the kitchen, my stomach growling as I took each step

Walking inside, Michael and Raphael, who were sitting at the table, greeted me. Max already had a plate of food ready and handed it to me.

“Thanks.” I took it and stuffed my mouth full before I even put it on the table.

Gulping down the food, I noticed that the two angels were looking at me.

“What?” I asked, wiping my mouth with a serviette.

“Hungry, hey?” Raphael taunted me.

I frowned at him, “How long was I out this time?”

“Well, let see, that would be two and a half days,” he replied with a grin.

 
I am going to smack him again.

“How does your body feel?” Michael asked, intercepting what was the beginning of a small war.

“It’s better now than a few moments ago. Have you arranged another battle?” I asked, cutting to the chase.

“Yes, when you’re done we will summon the rest. With you down so long, your waking days will only be for this, until you are done.” I nodded.

Glad to know that. Hell, waking up will be so much more fun.

I finished off my plate and thanked Max again. Making my way outside to get some fresh air, I walked past Chax’s study and stopped.

“You have no choice, as her mate you will not fail her,” someone was dishing out from within the room.

 “I cannot stand by and watch her get hurt like that!” Chax bellowed at the person.

A smile spread across my face. Knowing Chax cared helped a little bit.

“You will not interfere again. Is that clear?!” This time I could make out that it was a woman’s voice.

The door flew open and Ariel walked out, straight into me.

“Kas, how are you?” she asked smoothly.

Her frown was instantly covered by a weak smile.

“Ah, peachy I guess,” I replied, looking past her to see Chax staring at us.

He was pissed off again.

“Good. Are you ready for your next battle?” She searched my eyes, waiting for a reply.

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.” My eyes drifted to Chax who turned around and escaped my view.

 “Good.” Ariel motioned at me to walk with her.

“Why are you mad at Chax?” The question slipped out before I could stop myself.

Ariel sighed and looked at me disapprovingly.

“It's not polite to eavesdrop on private conversations, Kas.” She pinned me.

Raising my chin, I replied “It's not polite to speak about someone behind their back.”

She nodded and looked straight ahead.

“Chax has become over protective of you. We fear that he will intervene with your divinity.”

Mm, that was news. Chax had always left me for dead, but now he wanted to save me.

Why didn’t he all the other times?

I thought about that, reaching the arena outside where more Fallen were waiting. I looked around and caught sight of Nina. She was indeed a sight. With her head held high and proud, she listened intently as another Fallen spoke to her.