Page 24 of Revelations

The others hastened back into the smoke-filled corridor. At the door, she stopped, almost unwilling to leave the beautiful place.

A now familiar voice boomed through the garden.“How you have fallen from Heaven, Morning Star! Only through the redemption of both angel and man may the gates open again to you.”

Chapter 6 – Back to Business

Greylyn, Jasper, and Kael did not stop running until they were at least a mile away from the smoldering inferno. By the distant roars and animal sounds, she assumed that they were close to the zoo. Smoke filled the air for miles around, as the vampire lair burned to the ground. Whatever Jasper had used to set off the explosions had obliterated the building but left the surrounding forest unscathed.

She knew that it would be a grotesque scene for the firefighters to discover. Luckily, the vampires’ bodies would be turned to ash to mingle with the ruins of the lair, but there would be at least one set of human remains--bloodless and scorched--Brian.

Greylyn turned back as sadness overcame her. Brian might have been a bit of a sleaze, but she could never completely accept any loss of human life without regret. There had to have been something she could have done to save him.

Jasper forcibly grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around to face him. “Want to tell me what the hell was going on back there?”

His fury at finding her with Kael had not subsided in the least, nor had she expected that it would. But a few minutes to catch her breath would have been nice.

Kael shoved Jasper away from her, knocking the guardian against an old oak tree. The force of the blow nearly toppled the tree as it creaked. Dead leaves, bark, and limbs rained down on them. “Don’t touch her or I will kill you, guardian angel or not.”

Centuries of pent-up anger overcame them both as they lunged for each other with guttural growls. Frustration swelled up in Greylyn. Yes, she knew they hated each other with the ferocity of a thousand burning suns. Yes, they were due for a slugfest to the death, but she had no patience for it, or their raging testosterone-fueled tempers.

Jumping between the two warring men, Greylyn screamed, “Cut it out! Both of you are making me sick!”

Both stared at her with fists still clenched, heaving great gulps of air, and looking like glorious angels of death. Blood trickled down their faces—a large gash over Jasper’s icy blue eyes and a jagged cut across Kael’s left cheek.

“You two can bash each other to bits another day, but now isn’t the time or the place.” She rounded first on Jasper. “Kael and I were trapped in there together and had to combine our forces to get out. We had just killed the vamp leader when the explosion you set off knocked me over and onto him.”

In between forced deep breaths, she fought to control her rage at their Neanderthal behavior. After silently daring him to argue with flaring darts in her stare, she continued, “That’s what you witnessed. Now get the hell over it.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t kill him now, just on principle’s sake.” Jasper’s arm shot out around Greylyn to grab Kael. Before he could get a hold of the dark guardian, she knocked him to the ground.

“I said ‘no’. What part of that confuses you?”

Kael’s satisfied chuckle sent her temper into the stratosphere.

“As for you,” she directed at him, “stop threatening my best friend. You make a move to hurt him, and you will find your eyeballs shoved down your throat and your skin scorched off your body…slowly, very slowly.” A malicious smile grew across her face, pulling the skin tight. “Don’t think that I wouldn’t enjoy every single second of it, either.”

He nodded, almost looking sorry for his actions and words. Almost.

A few moments passed in silence as she regained her composure. There were nosounds, except for a lone blackbird’s call off in the distance. Even the ruckus of animals in the nearby zoo had gone quiet. The two men stared at the ground, while Greylyn’s eyes searched the treetop canopy for deliverance from this mess.

Finally, when no deliverance came for her, she sighed deeply to refocus on the immediate task at hand. “Jasper.” His head shot up like a rocket. “We need to check that Kristina made it back to civilization.”

She did not need to explain further.

He shrugged and cast a disparaging look at Kael. “Fine. I’ll take care of it. If… you truly think you don’t need assistance dispatching this guy.” His lips curled up on one side in a silent snarl as his fists clenched and unclenched in a quick rhythm. “You are going to kill him now, aren’t you?” His eyes bore into her own, demanding she have the right answer. After a moment without her reply, his back straightened and he glared up at the forest ceiling.

Jasper stalked a few feet away before stopping, pivoting on his heel to walk back and stand in front of her. He reached behind him to pull something out of his rear pocket. With a thin smile, he handed the item to Greylyn. “Thought you might want this back.”

It was her dagger. Power emanated from the special curve of the handle with its Celtic symbol encased in a dramatic figure eight—the sign of infinity—as she clasped it once again. Its dueling opals glittered faintly in the pale light of the forest. Holding it felt like home. After being captured by the vamps at the club, Greylyn had feared that it was gone forever.

“How? Where?”

“Found it embedded in the human. Looks like they tortured him with it before slicing his throat and feasting.” With downcast eyes and a furrowed brow, he added, “Sorry, I know you would never want it to be used for something as evil as that.”

Jasper understood the remorse she felt when a life was lost, made all the more painful because it had been her own knife that had killed him. The dagger had been forged for good deeds and to annihilate demonic creatures, not for something as perverse as murder.

Jasper cast a wicked look at Kael. “You know, Grey, you could put that to good use right now.” He did not wait for an answer before starting to walk away. He called out behind him, “So where do you want to meet up later?”

“Sofia’s. The psychic we helped a few months ago. Remember, the demon siege?”

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