Summon Lyght(41)

She hurried, almost jogging, desperate to tell someone, anyone, how she'd injured Lyght and of the need to rescue the other prisoners. Soon, she began passing doors labeled with things like 'Garage 3', 'Dormitory E', and 'Armory 7'. The vast scale of the operation began to sink in at some point along that corridor. This was far more than a couple dozen people on a harebrained wild goose chase.

A faint electronic whirring sound caught her attention and she realized she'd first become aware of it moments earlier. As it continued to increase, she looked around, searching for the source. A door bearing a label for 'Archives 2' whooshed open and a vehicle resembling a tow-motor used in warehouses rolled soundlessly into the corridor.

It came to an abrupt halt beside Kassie and the driver looked at her expectantly for a moment. "It's Kassie, right? I'm Troy. Are you…okay?"

The kindness in his voice sent fresh tears spilling over her lashes. God, perfect. Grow up! "I'm fine." She dashed the tears away and tried to force a smile. "Just a little lost. I'm trying to get back to the main compound so I could talk with someone about the people being held prisoner back there where Lyght rescued me." During her nonchalant explanation, emotion choked her so badly the words turned into a wail.

Troy climbed down from the tow motor and handed her a tissue. "Somehow, I don't think something like that would cause tears like these."

Damn it, his kindness just inspired more tears to spill and a sob to try and work its way out. "No, but I'll have to live with the rest on my own. This at least maybe I can do something about." She forced a smile and dried the tears to make way for the next wave. "You were a minister, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Maybe you could say a little prayer for me? That maybe someday Lyght will be able to forgive me?" Again the final words dragged out on a wail.

A concerned frown crimped his handsome forehead. "Forgive you? Why would Lyght need to forgive you? That angel is so in love with you I can't imagine anything you could do that would upset him."

She shook her head. "I…I…you wouldn't understand."

"Try me. I'm a good listener. We can talk while we walk back to the central area." He held a hand for her to accompany him.

Kassie drew a deep quivery breath, trying to steel her resolve, and nodded and moved to Troy's side.

"So tell me, what's so awful you don't think Lyght can forgive you?"

He sure believed in getting to the point, didn't he? And she might as well tell right away because the burden was too great to bear alone. "I…I ruined him. I let my flesh overrule what I knew to be right."

Troy was silent so long Kassie thought he must be trying to come up with a nice way to tell her she was as horrible as she knew she was. "Let me make sure I understand. You think that by making love to him, to a man you love and who loves you, that you've ruined him?" He paused to stare at her.

When he put it that way… "Troy, he's an angel. Not just any old angel, an archangel. What we did was blasphemous." She whispered the last shameful word. "He's un-corruptible. He gave in because of me."

Troy laughed at her. Actually laughed. "You're kidding, right? You think a mere human could sway one of these guys into doing something he knew was wrong?" He shook his head. "I don't know, maybe you're in shock or something, but when you think clearly about this, you'll realize how ridiculous the idea is. These are men who've spent thousands upon thousands of centuries fighting against the most unimaginable evil. Sex was not even on their radar before this mission. They're not like human priests who go through life constantly being told what they're missing. Lyght loves you because it's right and he wants you because passion is a divine gift he wants to share with you. Now, while you think about that, tell me more about the warehouse."

Taken aback by his words, Kassie stayed quiet for a moment, then told him about the other prisoners. But it was hard to think about that when what she wanted was to ponder the absurdity of his words. He, a minister of all things, should understand what she was saying. And why would he act like it were nothing? Something was wrong with him. All of them if they thought causing an angel to have sex was not blasphemy. No, without a doubt, she'd corrupted Lyght. What she didn't know was how she could live with the knowledge.





Chapter Fourteen





Hunger kicked Tyler out of sleep like a quarterback in the playoffs. Man, he'd never been so hungry before. He started to stretch but his right arm and shoulder wouldn't move, weighed down by something. Crap! Was he tied up again?

The thought took him straight back to that nasty dark place where he'd been so scared and hungry. And he'd been the lucky one. Those creeps hadn't used him like they did Kassie. He opened his eyes, needing to make sure he really wasn't there anymore.