Sparks of Blue (Dark Light Book 2) (9 page)

And then everything exploded.

Chapter Nine

“Kai!” Belle cried, having barely had time to don panties and his long-sleeved tee before he’d cried out and her senses had gone haywire. She ran from the adjoining room in time to see him stumbling, arms swinging wildly before he hit his knees and released a scream of agony like she’d never heard.

“It’s okay,” the woman at the door said as Kai finally collapsed, his body twitching. “I’ve neutralized him, you’re safe.”

Belle turned horrified eyes to the woman, fairly stunned to see that this person was indeed wholly human. She was not possessed and didn’t appear hypnotized. “What have you done?”

The woman made to step inside, reaching up as if to unlatch the door, and Belle reacted on impulse. She rushed forward, tugged Kai’s sword from his sheath, and swung it out until the woman froze in place.

“Do not move,” Belle warned, her voice firm and angry. “Just tell me what you’ve done to him.”

“I … I saved you,” the woman insisted, her eyes wide. She seemed to truly believe her insanity. “I saved you from that demon.”

“She touched him,” Gwen interrupted from behind Belle. “I saw her grab his arm right before he freaked out. What did she do to him?”

“Exactly what she was supposed to,” a male voice declared from the other side of Gwen’s bed. It was the demon who’d nearly captured her before; the one, apparently, that had now escaped from Kai twice.

Gwen shrieked and plastered her back against the opposite wall, keeping the interior door, and another possibility of freedom, between herself and him.

The woman at the other end of Belle’s borrowed sword made a sound of confusion and slowly dawning realization. “How did you…? You said he was a demon?”

The demon, who, to his credit, looked completely human to human eyes, inclined his head. “I did,” he agreed. “But I lied. It’s something we do.” He flicked his wrist in a short, snappy motion and the door slammed shut in the woman’s face. Belle heard her cry out seconds after an unnatural impact and assumed he’d broken her nose.

Wanting nothing more than to be able to care for Kai, but knowing that she needed to protect Gwen, Belle swung around. “What did you make that woman do to him?”

The demon arched a dark brow and lifted a piece of paper with an intricate drawing. “A spell from a friend,” he said. “Neutralizes holy powers. It’s temporary, unfortunately, but for a being made completely of light energy, well, it’s a real bitch.”

“How did you get in here?” Gwen asked, fear leaking through in her voice.

Belle answered the question, rapidly rising anger helping to keep her glare on their enemy. “When Kai’s energy was neutralized so were his wards.” They were, after all, powered by that same energy.

“Bingo,” the demon said, tucking the paper into a pocket. Saving it for later, no doubt. “Now, my orders are to fetch the human girl, so we could end this without anyone dying if you’d put that useless sword down.”

Belle flexed her hands on the hilt. “If it’s useless then why do you care if I don’t?” She was stalling, but she needed a plan. If the demon had actually come alone, then she could take him—unless he got in a good hit. But if Creed was about to pop in they were in big trouble.

The demon sighed as if greatly inconvenienced. “Fine, then,” he mumbled. With an upward and outward push of his hand Belle went flying backward, her spine crashing hard into the sturdy hotel door. “Don’t say I didn’t offer.”

“Stay away!” Gwen cried as the demon moved around the bed, toward her. She tried backing sideways along the wall, closer to Belle. Closer to Kai’s sword, which Belle had managed not to drop.

The demon
tsk
ed and curled his hand deliberately.

Belle could only watch as the dark energy he commanded curved around Gwen’s torso, pulling her away from the wall. “Let her go!” Damn him, anyway, for being so good with dark energy manipulation. He was still holding her flush against the wall.
Kai, wake up!

Struggling against the large, invisible hand pulling her across the room, Gwen demanded, “What do you want with me?”

The demon stepped right up to Gwen and trailed his knuckles down the side of her face. “Personally, nothing. But I promised Creed I’d help him capture you.”

So he has no vested interest?
Belle only had one hope to get them out of this from her current position. It was a small hope, but she had to try. “Are you serious? You’re risking your life for a guy who’d sacrifice you as easily as he sacrificed the others?”

The demon whose name they didn’t know looked over at her with a dark frown. “Your angel was the one who killed them.”

“I didn’t see Creed trying to stop him,” Belle returned. “Or fighting with them at all. He hid behind me last time, and the time before that he turned tail and ran when Kai got close.” It was all true, but demons weren’t exactly known for courage and loyalty, so she wasn’t too confident her strategy would pay off.

For better or worse, though, the demon paused. He cut a long, dark glare down to Kai’s unconscious body before dragging his attention back around to Gwen. “You’re already dying,” he said as if he hadn’t been aware of that detail.

Gwen glared right back at him. “Yeah, so?”

To Belle’s utter shock, the demon promptly released Gwen.

“I don’t need to kill a woman on the brink of death,” he muttered, sounding disgusted. He turned and melted into the mid-morning shadows without another word. As soon as he was gone the pressure holding Belle to the wall vanished.

Gwen stumbled, barely staying on her feet, and stammered, “What … just … happened?”

Belle barely heard her. Kai’s sword fell to the floor, and she rushed to his side, instinctively taking his head into her lap. “Kai!” He hadn’t moved an inch since his body had stopped twitching and she didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one. Remembering what Gwen had said, Belle scanned his arms for a mark that might indicate an entry point. It didn’t take her long to find.

The symbol burned onto his forearm was identical to the one from the demon’s paper. It was circular, like most demonic spell symbols, with smaller, intricate lines carefully placed within the circle. Belle didn’t recognize it, which only meant it wasn’t a common curse for injury or disease. Being careful to keep his head resting on her lap, Belle reached over and curled her palm over the mark. It stung at first contact, indicating that it was still rather full of demonic energy. And that, in turn, meant that Kai’s body was likely fighting off an onslaught of interior demonic energy. All alone.

Taking a deep, slow breath, Belle closed her eyes and threaded the fingers of her other hand into Kai’s hair. She would heal this curse from his system even if doing so left her exposed should another demon come for Gwen.

****

“What the hell happened?” Creed demanded as Knox stalked into the room. The younger, slightly shorter demon had a dark scowl on his face. “I gave you everything you needed to grab that bitch.”

“Except backup,” Knox returned shortly. “And this isn’t the first time you’ve sent me off without adequate backup.”

Creed met Knox’s glare with one of his own. “I never promised you backup, shithead. You had a job to do. I gave you that curse, and I know you used it.”

“Yeah, the curse worked fine,” Knox said, “and I could’ve handled the Nephilim, but you didn’t want me to. That complicates shit. Besides, the woman’s half-dead already.”

With a snarl, Creed reached out and backhanded the punk so hard Knox stumbled into the crumbling pillar behind him. “I didn’t
ask
for your fucking
opinion
. I gave you an order!”

Wiping the bit of blood from his jaw, Knox found his footing and said, “But you forgot, Creed, I don’t
take
orders. You want that human so badly? You can go fucking get her yourself.”

As Knox turned to leave, his message apparently delivered, Creed growled, “You turn your back on me, boy, and my next mission will involve your bleeding heart in my hand.”

Knox stopped but didn’t turn around. Fists clenched at his sides, he called over his shoulder, “Try me, bastard. I’m not the pushover you think I am.” Without waiting for Creed’s response, he continued forward and disappeared around the corner.

Creed growled low in his throat and rolled his neck. Fine, if Knox wanted out so bad, he’d find someone who thought taking on an angel and his bitch was worth the cred. And once Manning had been bled dry, he’d take his new power and filet the little punk like a cheap sirloin. In the meantime, though, if the angel was out for the count then now was the perfect time to strike.

****

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Gwen asked again, continuing to pace the floor. She’d changed into day clothes, packed both hers and Belle’s bags, and made both beds. Apparently she wasn’t good at sitting still.

Belle frowned, only barely aware that she was massaging Kai’s scalp with the hand not pressed firmly over the mark of the demon curse. “Curses are tricky,” she replied. “They have to be
undone
, not just countered. I could wake him up prematurely, but he could have a heart attack. I have to find what’s being affected and work backward.” That was a rough, short explanation but it would do.

The problem with this curse, from what Belle could tell so far, was that it seemed to have short-circuited Kai’s soul. The source of his power. In truth, they were damned lucky it hadn’t killed him. Undoing a curse of this magnitude was difficult, not merely because the curse itself was strong, but because Belle was essentially trying to restore powers to someone whose power naturally outclassed her own. And it was pretty hard to pull that off.

But I have to.
She couldn’t lose him.

The last thing she needed right then was an interruption.

“Wow.” The voice belonged to Serafina. Gwen started, jumping sideways to see their unexpected companion, but Serafina paid her no mind. She stood, hands planted on her hips, eyes narrowed into a glare aimed straight at Belle. “Isabella’s going to be pissed if you let her Second die.”

Grinding her teeth in an effort to curb her temper, Belle met the glare for a brief moment before replying, “I’m not going to let him die. But this will go faster if you get over here and help me.”

Serafina crossed her arms over her chest. “Help you? Aren’t you the
Master
?” She made a scoffing sound. “I tell you what, I’ll ‘help’ you on one condition. You resign from Angel Clinic and accept whatever punishment is deemed fit for the Nephy, who tried to taint one of the armada’s best.”

Belle froze. Slowly, she lifted her gaze back to Serafina, her mind all but numb. “What did you say?”

Serafina smirked. “You heard me.”

Releasing a long breath, Belle finally gathered herself. “You know what? Fine. Turn me in, take over the clinic, I don’t care. At least
my
priority is to
help
the
injured
. And I’ll be sure to tell Isabella that, too, when she confronts me for tainting one of her people.”

“Hey, excuse me,” Gwen interrupted, looking at Serafina. “Aren’t you an angel, too? Aren’t you supposed to be one of the good guys?”

Serafina lifted a brow at the question. “I am,” she replied. “But this is personal business, human. Kindly leave the room.”

“Uh, no, not happening,” Gwen declared. “Kai was trying to protect me when he got hurt. Belle’s tried to protect me. I’m not abandoning them.”

Serafina shook her head. “I really don’t understand what you’re playing at, Belle. But honestly, I don’t want to have to answer to a Second, who falls for your tricks.”

“Then you’re in luck,” Belle returned, her temper snapping. “This trick is Isabella’s. Take it up with her.” If she weren’t busy doing something far more important, Belle suspected she’d have added a satisfying door-in-face to that statement. As it was, she kept the majority of her focus on Kai. She could feel the flickering of his spark somewhere inside, finally.

“Ugh,” Serafina said. “Why does it reek of sulfur in here, anyway?”

“That was probably the demon that tried to kidnap me,” Gwen offered smugly. “The one Belle
talked
into defeat.”

Belle couldn’t help but grin at the pointed pride in Gwen’s voice.
If I could hug you right now, I would.

Serafina opened her mouth to respond, her disbelief obvious, but all that came out was a startled, wet gurgle. Her expression shifted, flawlessly becoming one of surprise and pain, as all eyes focused in on her chest where a bloodied hand protruded. The darkness behind Serafina solidified and lightened until it had morphed into the pale, leering form of Creed.

“Oops,” he said with a feral grin, “looks like I got one.”

“Ohmigod,” Gwen said with a gasp before she snatched Kai’s sword from the bed and ran to Belle’s side. “Ohmigod!”

No!
Everything about his arrival was bad. Regardless of her dislike for Serafina, she’d never have wished for the angel’s death. And she certainly wasn’t wishing for any of theirs.

Serafina’s eyes finally rolled up in her head, and her body went limp moments before bursting apart in a soundless, yellow-white shower of light eerily reminiscent of a human’s fireworks display. The lights sizzled on the hotel carpet like sparks but left no trace of themselves once they dimmed.