Asmodeus(74)

He couldn't face that situation again. It would kill him.



And praying was not permissible from beings such as him.



What was foolish was Brianna didn't seem concerned about what they had done or that she may be carrying his child. She'd read the stories of what had transpired, but she hadn't been there to see the carnage firsthand. Still, she should be more concerned than she was, which made him think there was much more to the situation than met the eye.



When the sliding glass door opened he took a deep breath to control the rapid beating of his heart. Raum came to stand next to him.



Asmodeus slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his thumbs hooking on the seam. He had to control the pain, the shaking in his hands.



"Kelly will not make it through the night."



Asmodeus answered with a nod. He couldn't trust himself to speak. His species had been made with perfection in mind, built to be strong, both emotionally and physically ideal.



Yet now, with possibilities leaving him stricken with fear, he had never felt weaker or more inadequate.



"I'm trying to make her as comfortable as I can, but she's been trying to bite me. If she latches on I'm sure it will be hard to break free."



Asmodeus cleared his throat. "Desperation lends its hand to strength."



"That it does."



They were silent for a while. Asmodeus did his best to drag his thoughts away from Brianna. He should have thought about his actions before he took her to bed. It was his own damn fault for being weak.



"Where's Brianna?"



"At her bookstore." He'd sent Naberius with her. Searching for Leviathan would be useless. He could be anywhere, even a different realm if that was his choice. He had briefly thought about asking Brianna to summon Leviathan again, but decided against it. It was a bad idea on so many levels. If things went wrong she would be caught dead in the middle. They were stuck with waiting for his next strike. Forced into a defensive position. A weak position.



When Leviathan struck, he would be going for Kelly first. Without her, his carefully laid plan would fall to pieces. Without Asmodeus standing watch over Kelly he would have a damned good chance at apprehending her. Raum's and Naberius's powers were no match for his.



He cursed himself a fool. As diligent as he was being in protecting Brianna from Leviathan, he should have protected her from himself first. Instead he had possibly created a being that would one day die by his own hand.

Their child.





Leviathan couldn't flash himself into Raum's house. Asmodeus would sense him before he even finished materializing. He had been forced to break in like a common human.



It hadn't proven difficult to get past Asmodeus and his weak brother-in-arms. Asmodeus had seemed lost in thought, and Raum was nothing but a pathetic jackass.



He followed the stench of death and found Kelly curled in a corner of a back room. She was fading rapidly. The skin over her body was taut. Pale. She was shaking and mumbling spells to herself in a pitiable attempt to bust her ass out of Raum's.



Moving as swiftly as he was able, he ran across the room, placed a hand over her mouth and flashed them to Brianna's house.



Kelly didn't fight him. When he removed his hand she only kept mumbling to herself, as if he failed to exist.



Good. She was more animal than human, her eyes hungry and carnal. He waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention.



When she finally looked up at him she seemed not to recognize him. Her cold blue eyes were shiny and crazed. She launched herself at his throat with a low growl. He merely used his powers to keep her grounded to the floor as he attempted to sense Brianna's whereabouts. It was obvious she wasn't home. He had to be quick and find her before Asmodeus and Raum realized Kelly was missing. He had to keep Kelly here, which meant he would have to move fast. Taking Kelly to his house wasn't an option. Not when he'd burned the fucker to the ground.



His brush with the assassin had been close. He had to end this. He had to gain these powers or he would be dead.



Kelly was useless. Even if he asked her to summon Brianna, he doubted she would be able to do so. That left finding the bitch up to him.



From his association with Kelly, Leviathan was aware Brianna frequented two places—her home and her bookstore. If she wasn't with Asmodeus or Raum, she was more than likely with Naberius. After his attack they wouldn't leave her defenseless. He would check Naberius's house and her bookstore, and if he hadn't found her by then, Satan help them, because he'd be on the goddamned warpath.



He glanced down at Kelly's animalistic form, writhing on the floor, biting at the carpet, pulling out tufts of green-marbled insulation.



Fucking animal.