Summon Lyght(72)

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?