Summon Lyght (22 page)

Lost in the disturbance he created, she hardly noticed her hand at the base of his spine slide lower, and lower still. Her fingers met the lower curve of his ass and grew a mind of their own, exploring. Regrettably, he took all that uncharted territory off the map when he lifted her by the waist.

Once her feet were off the floor, he turned and settled her butt on the edge of the table. Dropping into a chair, he kissed and teased his way down over her belly, then gently spread her knees to slide his broad shoulders between them.

A nervous flutter assailed her stomach.
"What are you doing?"

"
Shh. Trust me?" His warm eyes and smile reinforced the gentle beg. She nodded her approval and he took her hands. "Lie back for me."

His firm hold provided plenty of support as she carefully lowered her back to the cool surface of the table. The nervous flutter had increased in velocity to a thousand giant birds beating their wings against her insides. She knew what he intended. Sure she
'd heard of it before, but suddenly the idea of him doing it to
her
right then...and on the
table
seemed unthinkable. But there was no reason for him not to that she could come up with.

Her fears scattered like leaves in a strong wind the instant his breath brushed across tender flesh. A reverent-sounding moan reverberated through the air to stir silky hair and cool heated skin. Every single force in Miya
's body centered in her core as one pulsing mass.

She writhed on the table, torn between trying to escape and desperate for his touch. The whimpering sounds he demanded from her were naughty foreign to her. And yet so very familiar. As though the woman buried inside her had waited a long time to bear this very pleasure with this particular man.

Thick fingers stroked her exterior and ratcheted that nuclear potential higher. "Unbelievable. Such perfection." He continued his exploration, quickly turning her into a heap of quivering need. Those same magical fingers gently parted her to explore her inner secrets. Lesedi's sharply drawn breath made her pulse surge anew.

How could he affect her so much with so little? Such intensity had to be some forbidden, arcane magic.

He repositioned her legs and pinned her thighs to the table top and touched the tip of his tongue to the tiny bundle of throbbing nerves. Miya's body jerked in unison with her sharp cry of pleasure.

"
Mmm." He flicked the tip of his tongue rapidly over that spot again, making her gasp and shudder, making her grab hold of his head and knead her nails over his scalp. Her hips began to move in tune to the rhythm of desire he created. His tongue danced over that spot the way a snake tasted the air, causing her to cry out sharper, squirm harder.

"
Oh God. So hot." She cried out, needing to have more. So much more, yes, just like that.

He dug his fingers into the tender flesh of her thighs, heating her hotter with his harsh breaths. Then he kissed her there. She could feel his lips nibbling delicately at her folds and Miya squirmed with the need for more.

"Please." She thrust her hips, trying to make a harder connection.

"
Oh Miya," he whispered. "This?" He kissed along her folds then gently worked them open, kissing her hidden secrets. Fingers pressed at the juncture of her thighs, holding her petals open for him.

He settled his lips over her clit and she bucked under his mouth.
"Yes, yes, that."

He groaned and sucked her there, a milking movement that lit her up like a raging inferno.
"Lesedi, God, yes." She held his head and helped him, pressing him just right, moving her hips to the perfect rhythm. "Don't you dare stop! Don't…oh God…"

He slipped his finger into her and flicked rapidly, massaging her core.

"Oh my
God yes! Yes, yes, yes!"
The heat under his mouth finally erupted like a volcano and she writhed and dug her heels into his back, pressed her mysteries firmly to his delicious mouth, crying out over and over,
Lesedi, Lesedi. Yes, oh God.
She'd heard of shocking pleasure and wondered if such a thing existed. It did. She'd never have guessed anything could feel so good. So good.

It was definitely one discovery she wanted to further explore. 

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dorn's Brothers appeared in the Inner Sanctum nearly at the same moment he arrived.

"
What in
God's
name is that?" Kassern asked the question that summoned them all immediately.

Dorn shook his head.
"I don't know, but it's attacking the entire compound. Hitting at the outer and inner walls with a force unlike any I've ever felt or seen." The ground they stood upon shuddered, the entire compound buffeted by some supernatural force that threatened to tear the place to bits.

Toren turned his ear downward, his wings humming with unrepentant power. Dorn impatiently waited for the Mercury warrior
's verdict. All of their powers had been testy since they'd reached the compound. No, since they'd purified. The Purifier was good at what it did, but it seemed to scramble their already unsteady abilities since it targeted spiritual impurities, and since becoming part human all of them were vulnerable to infection.

"
My ruby is saying all of hell is outside the door." Kassern pointed at the wall that quaked more violently than the others.

"
I feel it too."

Dorn turned at the voice of Francis and in the next second, Maxwell, Peggy, and Robert were there.

"We all feel it." Peggy's mercurial form shuddered with power as she stood with eyes closed, head tilted slightly in concentration, making her look like a rippling human chrome mirror.

"
It's familiar to me," Robert whispered. He looked around at all of them, his bright diamond eyes sorrowful. "It's my father."

"
Holy shit, you're right." Kassern's wings sagged then erupted to full expanse as the wall behind him blasted inward.

Lyght staggered in and collapsed on the floor. Every one of them flashed to his side and Dorn couldn
't believe what he saw. The beautiful archangel trembled as though he'd fought his last battle and lost. But judging by the color of his wings, this battle was more deadly than any he'd ever fought.

"
He's
bleeding.
" Robert dropped to the floor and took his hand between his pincher.

Toren muttered curses and hurried to summon the
farechtera
to help.

By the time all the Quad members made it to the scene, the doc knelt at their Brother
's side. After quick examination, he looked up, his brows full of something Dorn had never seen before. Confusion.

The human side of Dorn
's temper erupted without warning. "Speak, for God's sake!"

The
farechtera
shook his head, as though to clear an impossibility. "He's…somehow…
dying."

Without thinking, Dorn yanked him up to his feet.
"Archangels don't
die farechtera,
so stop bullshitting around with this."

"
Bullshitting? Male…" He trailed off, confused. Genuinely. "I am not being facetious. I assure you, I am not."

The fear in the doc
's eyes didn't soften Dorn's anger in the least. "Did you go through the Purifier?"

"
Brother!" Dorn turned to meet Kassern's hard ruby gaze. "He doesn't pass through the Purifier. Only we do. Release him."

Dorn realized everyone around him was covered with aqua flames. But it wasn
't until he found Sally's compassionate and loving gaze on him that he was able to get control. That the control was so tenuous nearly sent him into another rage.

He growled and released the doc, fighting not to shove him clear back to Aesculapius
' Grotto.

Toren laid a calming hand on Dorn
's shoulder. "Do you have any idea how this has happened?"

The doc seemed relieved for the question and smoothed his pale hands over his impeccable white robe.
"It is almost as if he is having an anaphylactic reaction to humanity."

Kassern knelt next to Lyght.
"Can he hear me?"

Dorn looked at his normally beautiful Brother who stared into nothingness, his clear eyes having gone solid blackish red with no way to distinguish pupil from iris from white.

"He's hurting." Sam clutched Toren's arm as if for security.

"
What can you see, baby?"

She wiped tears away and moved closer to Lyght, tilting her head as she slowly circled him.
"Oh my God." She squatted next to Lyght and touched his forehead.

A soft growl rumbled from Toren and Dorn eyed him curiously, finding jealousy an odd response for the Mercury Warrior at such a time.

Lyght's hand nearest her, slowly rose. Sam looked at it then looked at the diamond warrior who appeared to be sleeping with his eyes open.

"
Don't touch him!" The doc moved to put himself between Sam and Lyght.

Sam slipped her hand around the doc
's leg and put it in Lyght's. She smiled and nodded at her husband while she tried to soothe his Diamond Brother, tears streaming. She curled into a fetal position on the floor next to the stricken warrior, retaining his hand. And shut her eyes.

The others stood and waited for endless seconds only for nothing to happen.

"Sam?" Toren knelt down at her side. "Sam, talk to me." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Tell me what you're doing."

She didn
't answer.

Toren looked at the doc, then Dorn and Kassern before trying again.
"Sam." He touched her cheek and the room exploded with white light, turning him into a mercury projectile that exploded through several walls before coming to a stop on his back.

"
Holy shit!" Kassern stared from the two peaceful figures lying on the floor holding hands to the gaping hole in the wall where Toren was just visible dragging himself to his feet. "What the fuck was that?"

The doc bent down for a closer look, conspicuously careful to avoid touching either of them.
"I believe he's formed a link to her. But why?"

Toren was suddenly back, his wings bearing swords that whirred and whined with relentless fury.

Dorn and Kassern both blocked him before he could do something stupid. "You don't know if she'll get hurt, stop!" Kassern braced both hands on the large warrior's chest. "Let's talk about this first."

"
Look at us," Dorn whispered to Kassern. "We're a freak show. All of our powers are out of control and we're blind."

"
I think it'll get better as we get acclimated to the changes."

Dorn turned to the girl who
'd spoke. "Do you? Whoever you are, I can't even remember your name." He looked at Kassern again. "Me. The perfectionist who forgets nothing, can't even remember a
name.
"

"
Jessie," the girl mumbled. "I'm in your Quad."

Dorn threw up his hands.
"The nail in the coffin."

****

Kassern fought to keep his ruby properties in place as he helped the
farechtera
move the unconscious Lyght to the big conference room while Toren carried Sam. One of the doc's many useful abilities was his preferred method for moving immobilized patients. He could flash them, but without knowing the state of Lyght's spirit, deemed that method too dangerous. So he encased them in an energy field and levitated them, guiding the floating and undisturbed bodies through the corridors then finally to the open space of the room's floor. He carefully set them down and everyone stared like they'd just buried a family member. 

Kassern wished he could pinpoint the exact problem for all of them. His aquamarine Brother
's words were far too true for comfort. They were pitiful. If so much weren't at stake, it might even be funny, but there was nothing at all funny in the circumstances.

Karly touched his arm gently, for once not having to half-run to keep up, since the entire group moved at a careful pace.
"Maybe Kassie knows what's wrong with him?"

Kassern turned to Karly in surprise. Why hadn
't anyone else thought of that? "You're a genius!" He looked around for Lyght's wife. "Where is she?" He searched for the Quad members. "Where are…" he snapped his fingers several times, "…Lesedi and Miya!"

Dorn quickly caught on.
"Everyone, search the compound. They could be in trouble." Dorn directed each person to various locations. Fifteen minutes later, Kassern returned supporting Lesedi and Miya who staggered like sick zombies.

Kassern waved the doc over.
"See what ails them. I have a feeling they're not just too tired to walk." Kassern turned to the tall black man. "When did you notice your symptoms?"

The man rubbed his face with one hand while holding his arm protectively around his mate, who looked ready to collapse.

"Someone get her a chair." Kassern helped Lesedi lead her to the seat that had been moved closer for her.

Lesedi looked around as if he needed to sit too, and Kassern led him to another chair and pulled it close to Miya
's.

At some point when this was all over, they
'd need to make more arrangements throughout the compound for this or other kinds of emergency situations.

Finally, Lesedi swiped a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away cobwebs.
"I…cannot recall time well. Everything is a painful blur."

Kassern remembered what it felt like when Devyn and Troy fought, how it had taken the life right out of him.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" Kassern didn't want to wait for the doc to finish his assessment. He prayed that the humans weren't impacted the way the angels were when there was fighting.

"
There doesn't seem to be anything seriously wrong with them," the doc said. "Extreme fatigue. Likely not an uncommon side effect from inheriting angelic abilities."

"
I would think the opposite would be true?" Dorn and Sally came to stand next to Kassern, his aquamarine eye trained on Lyght and Sam. Toren knelt next to Sam, gazing down. What was he doing?

Kassern turned his attention to Francis and the others, huddled at the far end of the room. Robert slumped in the middle of the group, completely still as if lying in ambush for prey. Except there was no prey and the diamond eyes were dull and listless.

The Tyler kid was with them, easily included in the group. Zool had said he'd come because of the kid. Or had he meant for him? No one had a chance to find out before the silent warrior was called back to emergency business. The only information they obtained was the single grunt the mysterious Onyx Brother gave after touching the boy on the head. And who would know by that whether the boy was good news or bad news or something in between?

Lesedi nodded at the diamond warrior on the floor.
"What is happening?"

Kassern wished he knew.
"We're trying to figure that out. He stumbled in and collapsed and now we can't find Kassie." Kassern looked around, sudden fear striking him at the thought of his own wife. He relaxed when he saw her talking quietly with Francis.

"
Doc, would you mind having a look at the creatures we seized from Kharef? Something spooked them earlier and they went berserk, attacked a human." Maybe that was tied to this.

The doc nodded once. Kassern looked around and signaled Troy over.

"I'll take him," Dorn said. "I don't trust them."

It was a relief to actually know his aquamarine Brother shared his feelings. Maybe that meant he wasn
't being overly emotional about it. He'd wondered if his feelings for Karly were fucking with his judgment. "Good idea, Brother." Or maybe Dorn was as bad off as he was now. Wouldn't that be the shit?