Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 (8 page)

The newscaster’s image disappeared and
was replaced with a selection of video images of mortals killing
one another in the streets. Cities burned. Mortals lay dying. Angry
wails thundered out of the screens and echoed through the streets.
The infected threw themselves at each other like wild beasts, their
eyes rolling in the back of their heads.

Kara averted her eyes. It was
happening a lot faster than she had hoped. Lilith was on a rampage.
At this rate, the entire humane race would be infected in a few
days.

“
The Center of Disease
Control has compared it to the animal rabies virus,” Kara heard the
newscaster say and she raised her head to the screen. “It has an
aggressive killing nature. The center tells us that there is no
anti-virus yet.”

The newscaster swallowed and fumbled
with sheets of paper on her desk before continuing. “The Center of
Disease Control is unclear whether the virus is airborne or
transmitted through physical contact. The Center urges everyone to
stay indoors. Stay in your homes. Be safe.”

The image flickered and went
out.

Chapter 6

Most Wanted

K
ara’s gigantic face appeared on the screens again.

David whirled around. “This royally
sucks. And I thought things couldn’t get any worse. How are we
supposed to be incognito with Kara’s gigantic face
everywhere?”

Jenny leaned closer inside the group.
“I don’t get it. How did the mortals get a hold of your picture?
And why are they blaming you for this. It’s completely
insane.”

Something caught Kara’s eye across the
street. A white face stood out from the crowd. His black leather
coat grazed the ground with every step as his strong shoulders
swayed back and forth. Even from the distance she could recognize
the hunger in his eyes.

“
It’s not insane. The Seirs
did this. Look.” Kara cocked her head towards the opposite side of
the street; the others followed her gaze.

“
I think it’s time to do a
little
de-clowning
.” David reached inside his jacket, but Kara pulled his hand
away.

She shook her head and squeezed his
arm gently. “Not here. It’s too dangerous, and there are too many
mortals.”

“
Look. There’s another one
over there.” Jenny motioned to the left, “Right beside Bobby’s
Candy Store.”

A Seir leaned against the front of the
shop. He grinned wickedly, uncrossed his arms, and waved at
them.

David scowled. “We can’t let them get
away with this! First with the bounty on your soul, and now this.
It’s time for a massive butt-whooping!”

Peter looked around nervously. “David,
lower your voice.”

A group of men and women pointed their
way. “Look! That’s her! That’s the girl who’s been infecting
everyone.” An older lady looked as though she was about to fall
over.

“
Oh crap, this isn’t good,”
whispered David, his eyes wide.

Kara pulled Peter and David around to
face her and lowered her voice. “Let’s start walking slowly away.
Pretend we didn’t hear them. Maybe they’ll just go away and forget
about us. Come on, Jenny, let’s go.”

With Kara squeezed in the middle, the
four of them waddled down the street like a club sandwich. Their
situation had gone from bad to worse in a matter of
minutes.

Kara peeked over Jenny’s shoulder and
tensed. Accusing eyes watched her from all around. She searched for
the Seirs, but they had managed to disappear in the crowd.
Typical.

The street became unnaturally silent.
She could hear the tread of their boots. Cars sat still in the
street, their engines killed. The stillness in the air freaked her
out—it wasn’t normal. Why were the mortals so silent? She raised
her head and peered over across the street.

“
That’s her! She’s the one.
Get her!”

Suddenly men and women dashed down the
street after them. They raised their fists and shouted. Even the
elderly shook and hit their canes on the street as they shuffled
towards her. Their wet eyes glimmered with contempt.

Kara turned to the others.
“Run!”

The angels tore down the street. The
mortals’ angry shouts echoed in her ears. She was a terrorist to
them, a killer. Whatever the Seirs and Lilith had planned, there
would be time to figure all of it later. They let their M-5 suits
push their speed until they were a safe distance from the mortals
before they slowed to a jog.

“
But guys, what about
Santo? He’s waiting for us,” cried Peter, and he nearly tripped on
a crack on the sidewalk.

Kara steadied him as they ran. “We’ll
meet him later. I’m sure he’ll understand once he sees my face all
over the news. Maybe he already knows—”

A black SUV appeared up the
street.

It ploughed through metal garbage bins
and benches on the sidewalk as it sped toward them. They leapt out
of the way just in time. The SUV fishtailed and swiveled to a stop,
tires screeching and burning rubber. Kara blinked through a sickly
grey mist. The doors flew open, and four Seirs leaped out of the
SUV, with death blades glimmering in their hands. The black kohl
that rimmed their eyes made them look like ugly masked
jesters.

The largest mortal Kara had ever seen
took an enormous stride towards her. His gargantuan body towered
easily over the other Seirs, making them look like children rather
than full-grown men. She had never imagined that humans could be as
large as archangels.

The giant’s pallid face was oblong and
warped, as though someone had hit him with a shovel and the skin
and muscles had stayed that way. His white flaky eyebrows crunched
into a frown, and he lowered his massive head and cocked it slowly
to both sides, like a tyrannosaurus examining its prey. Kara saw
her reflection in his dull blue eyes. He gave her the
creeps.

“
Your soul is mine, angel,”
said the giant, in a guttural voice that sounded more animal than
human. He pointed a great fat finger at her. “I’m going to rip you
apart with my bare hands and eat you.” He made a twisting motion
with his hands, and his face cracked into an ugly smile.

Kara called to David from the other
side of the SUV. “Go. Get Jenny and Peter out of here. It’s me they
want.” Kara pushed Peter roughly behind her.

“
What? And leave you here
with all the fun?” yelled David. He shook his head and laughed. “I
don’t think so. I’ve been waiting for a long time for this.
Shotgun
on the green
giant.”

“
Your soul is mine!”
repeated the giant Seir. He ignored David’s comments completely,
and Kara wondered if he was a little deaf.

“
Not the brightest giant,
are you?” Kara continued to push Peter back with her hand and
lowered her voice. “Peter, get ready to run—when I say
run
.” She heard him
whisper in reply, and squeezed his arm reassuringly.

“
Mine!” the giant lunged,
his hands going for Kara’s throat.

“
Run!”

With a great leap, Kara ducked and
sidestepped around the massive man. His fat fingers grazed the top
of her head and pulled out a chunk of Kara’s hair in the process.
She let out a yell. The ground shook under her feet, like the
aftershock of an earthquake. Kara felt his presence behind her and
ducked and rolled onto the ground just in time to avoid another
blow to the head from his giant fist. She whirled around. The other
three Seirs had formed a circle around her. The giant stepped
forward and closed the circle.

His sick eyes desired Kara. His plump
fingers twitched at his sides, and his fat lips moved, but she
couldn’t hear what he was saying. Drool dribbled from the corners
of his mouth. She wanted to throw up.

Her eyes locked with Peter’s through a
gap between two Seirs, and she gave him a reassuring smile. She
couldn’t see David.

With their faces twisted in hunger,
the Seirs flicked their death blades in their hands, taunting her
to strike, laughing horribly. Kara could see in them the demons
they would eventually become.

Over their sickening laughs, she heard
the racket of hundreds of mortals coming their way. Soon they would
reach them. She had to find a way to get out without hurting any of
the mortals. But there was nowhere else to go. She was
trapped.

“
Hey, fart-face, over here!
Yeah, you heard me, you oversized ogre.” David leaped onto the hood
of the SUV. He winked at Kara and then jumped down into the middle
of the Seir circle. He landed in a puff of dust next to
Kara.

“
Are you freakin’ mad?”
hissed Kara.

“
Maybe just a little.”
David smiled impishly. “There’s nothing I won’t do for love,
baby.”

Kara wanted to slap him. “It’s
decided. You’re totally mental.”

David studied the giant and made a
face. “What the heck are they feeding you? You’re monstrous, you
big beast,” he laughed. “Is that a giant beer belly?”

The giant didn’t take kindly to that.
He came at David with incredible speed. Muscular arms reached out
towards David’s head. David parried, but the giant was too quick,
and David’s smile evaporated as the giant squeezed him in his beefy
arms.

Kara teetered on the spot. The three
other Seirs advanced cautiously towards her. Grinning, they watched
the giant, as if they were waiting for David to die before they
took care of Kara. She had to get to David.

The giant grunted and squeezed. Bones
cracked. Skin tore. A wicked smile distorted the giant’s face.
David’s skin thinned under the pressure. His angel essence started
to seep through the pores like a strainer. His M-5 suit ripped and
dissolved like tissue paper soaked in water. The giant was going to
squish his angel life out of him.

“
Come on, big guy. Is that
all you’ve got?” croaked David, his face paled as he struggled in
the man’s grasp.

Kara stepped forward, ignoring the
warning in her head, as the warmth of her power tickled inside
her.

The giant laughed and crushed David’s
body more furiously.

David struggled to lean forward . . .
and kissed him on the lips.

The giant stumbled back, and David
fell to the ground. The giant Seir spit repeatedly in shock and
wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

David was already on his feet. He
slammed his boot into the giant’s kneecap. The giant yelled, and
David scrambled through the giant’s legs and reappeared next to
Kara, laughing.

“
You’re totally insane, you
know that.” Kara couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “He could
have killed you.”

David’s smile widened and batted his
eyelashes. “Nah, I think he likes me. Uh oh.”

The remaining Seirs came at them,
blades thrashing furiously.

“
Let’s go.” Kara leapt onto
the SUV. David followed closely behind.

She ran up the hood and onto the roof
of the vehicle. The SUV rocked with their weight, and Kara
struggled to keep her balance.

Behind them, angry wails filled the
air as mortals spilled into the street from every direction. A
death blade grazed her arm, cutting into her mortal flesh. Ignoring
its stinging pain, Kara jumped down to Peter and Jenny. She threw
her hands in the air. “Go. Go. GO!”

Without a second to lose, Peter and
Jenny tore down the street, in the opposite direction from the
mortals.

“
David, let’s—” Kara
expected to see him beside her.

The Seirs had circled around the SUV,
like a pack of hyenas moving in for the kill. David stood on the
roof of the SUV.

“
David!” Kara dodged
another death blade. It swooshed past her head and crashed through
a parked car’s rear window. Two Seirs broke from the group and came
at Kara. “David, come on!”

“
Coming, my darling.” David
ducked a blow and side kicked a Seir in the gut. He fell into the
other two, and all three fell off the other side of the SUV. David
leaped down and landed beside Kara, beaming.

Kara rolled her eyes and grabbed a
fistful of his shirt. “Come on, you idiot.”

Grinning, David followed Kara as she
rocketed down the street. Within seconds, they caught up to Jenny
and Peter.

“
Where are we going?” cried
Peter, holding on to his glasses as he ran.

“
I have no idea. Keep
running.” She knew they couldn’t keep on running like that.
Eventually their mortal suits would deteriorate, and then they’d be
easy targets.

Another mob of mortals appeared ahead
of them. They skidded to a stop. Behind her hundreds of mortals
blocked the way out. The Seirs ran ahead of the group with the
giant at their lead, running like an angered bull.

David stopped on the spot. “We’re so
screwed.”

A 1940’s Ford sedan raced through the
mob. Mortals jumped out of the way as it tore down the street. With
tires shrieking, it fishtailed and stopped at Kara’s feet. The
doors flew open.