Asmodeus(82)

Jesus. Like the sharp ringing of a bell, the words of the angel washed over him, as though it were a reminder. What did it mean?



"What are you going to do?"

Asmodeus turned to see Raum leaning against the doorjamb. He looked tired, and well he should. He now shared his life force with Kelly. His powers.



"I'm going to leave it, Raum. She failed." For some sadistic reason, he wished she hadn't.



Raum seemed to regard him with pity and understanding. "Don't we all?"





Chapter Twenty





Brianna had been sitting at her kitchen table with the phone in her hand for hours. How did one say goodbye to parents who had no idea you were saying goodbye?



Time was ticking and all she could do was sit in her kitchen with her thumb up her ass. Questions were swirling in her mind at hurricane speed. Hadn't the angels known Asmodeus was standing behind her when they spoke to her? Wouldn't they have known he would hear?



Of course they would. But why would they do that? Something was going on and all she happened to be was a pawn in someone's sadistic game.



Screw it. What could she do about it?



A little voice in her head told her she could call Asmodeus. Tell him what was going down tonight. Somehow she doubted he would care. Another part of her figured he would bring in as many demons as he could muster, fight to the death.



She fingered the white phone, running her thumb over the gray buttons.



Bounding out of her chair, she went for her cell that lay on her bed in her room. Breathlessly, she scrolled down to his number. She could do nothing but stare at it until the light on her phone went off.



He wanted nothing to do with her, and rightly so. But she wanted everything to do with him. She wanted to see him, feel him…tell him that she loved him.



Michael's voice traveled through her mind, as if he were standing in the room with her.



The decisions he makes in the next few days will not only affect him, but those around him. His situation is precarious at best.



Yes, his situation was precarious, and so was hers. But she'd heard those words before. She had a small recollection of one of the angels saying that to Asmodeus the first night he had been in her house. Something about how a decision of his would affect him and those around him.



What decision? Could she merely sit here like a jackass and not call him? She had to warn him, whether or not he cared to hear her voice.



With trembling hands she dialed his number before she lost the nerve.





"Kelly?"



Raum shouldered his way through the guestroom door, closing it softly behind him. As his gaze found hers he breathed a sigh of relief. She looked better. Damn near like her old self. A possessive streak unexpectedly slammed through him. She was better because of him. He had done something good in this world.



He shook the emotion off. He was a selfish bastard, and fooling himself to think otherwise was a waste of time. "How are you feeling?"



Her gaze rested on the blue and gray comforter on the bed. "I'm feeling better. A little woozy."



Well, that was to be expected. She'd been through hell. "You'll be feeling like yourself shortly." Was he trying to convince her, or himself?



He slowly crossed the room and stood next to the bed. "Mind if I sit down?"



She scooted her legs over.

As he sat next to her, he still couldn't believe what he had done. The utter selfless sacrifice he had made for her benefit. He'd never been like that. With anyone. He vaguely wondered if he could start liking the man he was once again. It had been so long.



Again, he pushed the thoughts away. Kelly had been right. When they argued the first time he had met her, she had told him he was a bad person. How could he not be? He was a demon. He had fallen from grace and no one had been beating down his door with an invitation welcoming him back.



"Is Asmodeus still here?" She closed the book she had been holding on her lap. No spell books for her. She was reading a romance novel.



"Yes. He's out on the porch."



"Still?"



"Yeah." And it was disturbing as all hell. Asmodeus acted like he was in mourning. He could understand how he would be rattled, given what he had heard Brianna say to the angels, but how could the bastard not realize something wasn't right with this scenario?



"Are you going to talk to him?"



"I already did. I think he needs his space now."



She nodded, looking down at the bedspread again, and in that moment he could sense exactly how she felt, as though she were useless. He glanced at the door, wishing he could help his fallen brother. But there was nothing to be done.





Asmodeus jumped when his cell phone rang. Raum had likely called Naberius and told him all the details of what transpired between himself and Brianna, and he really didn't want to listen to Naberius's shit at the moment.