Runaway Devil
25

I awoke in a sweat, a deep, burning pain startling me. My gasp got caught in my throat and I reached out blindly. My fingers found the angel's throat and wrapped around it before my eyes were fully open. I felt him gently swat my hand away and it fell by my head.

"What are you doing?" I said, my voice groggy and gravelly.

"Assessing the damage."

"I'm sure it's fine–" I moved to get up but was rudely interrupted by a sharp pain shooting up my legs. The angel's heavy hand enveloped my shoulder and guided me back down to the floor. Balan, who had been quietly sitting by my side, rested his chin on my shoulder. He looked at me as if to say 'This is for your own good'.

"You're covered in blood. It looks like you were painting with it." The blood had dried into crusty maroon splotches on my skin and clothes. Balan licked my forehead, dried blood coming off on his tongue.

"That angel was the one painting with it." Alec chuckled dryly and lifted my shirt up to just below my ribs. He probed gently with his fingertips, looking for any internal damage. He hit a particularly tender spot, making me suck air in through my teeth in an agitated hiss. Balan nestled his face in the crook of my neck and I rested my hand on his scruff, thanking him.

"You've got some bad bruising throughout your midsection. It's mainly your legs that I need to look at though." I tried again to sit up, this time he helped me. My legs had lacerations wrapping around them, they were deep and angry looking. The skin around the main paths was puckered and torn. I cringed and looked to the angel.

"Well, that doesn't look too good." He nodded.

"If you want to be able to walk anytime soon, I'm going to need to heal that now," He said. "But you're going to have to trust me."

"Alright cowboy, let's do it." He reached for the button of my pants and I swatted his hand away. He rolled his eyes when I started to unbutton them, sitting back on his heels. After I had gingerly shimmied out of the pants, that were still sticky with blood, I leaned my back against the couch. I presented my legs, which were cut to shit. In some places, the muscle was exposed. I tried not to look at them too closely. I could already feel my stomach cramp and my face drain of color.

"Deep breath for me," Alec said. He looked like he was bracing himself. I slowly inhaled as deep as my human lungs could go. Before I could exhale, his brow furrowed and he placed his hands on my thighs, just above my knees. I clawed at the carpet, the stinging making my whole body burn. I threw my head back and squeezed my eyes shut, my neck muscles bulging from the strain. "Breath, Kara." His voice held a tone of a cautious command.

I let out a shaking controlled breath, letting the heat comfort me. The pain gripped my core and held fast. I slowly brought my head back up and opened my eyes, looking directly at him. I silently reassured him that I was okay, I nodded and braced myself. His hands were flexed, a warm glow emitted from their palms. A small, concentrated flame, directly from him, was flowing into me. Slowly, my core started to relax. It felt like I was dipping my legs into a pool of lava, the heat sinking in deep.

Once Alec was done, he sat back, panting. My breathing had slowed, my whole body was relaxed and warm. I rarely felt that kind of warmth anymore, I missed it. I let myself feel it, enjoy it even, for another moment. The angel getting up broke my second of peace. He grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and turned around. He offered me one and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"You made coffee?" He didn't respond. He turned and looked at me expectantly. I raised my brow, got up, shook out my now reenergized legs, and grabbed the mug he had offered. "What?"

"We need to talk about what happened last night."

In the alley...

"Now, who the fuck are you?" I was exasperated. There had been too many visitors for my liking. Alec growled, stepping in front of me, laying his claim. I rubbed my hand down my face. "Here we go," I said.

The angel lunged forward, a short sword already out and at the ready. Alec met him in the middle, dodging the weapon and landing a solid kidney shot. The new angel hadn't hidden his wings, and their brilliant white was giving me a headache. I stalked, looking for an opening.

I saw it, just under the angel's wing, his side was exposed. He was busy grappling with Alec while I planned to use my talons to rip a chunk of his fucking lung out. I went in, low and fast, expecting little to no trouble. It was not a good call. He could sense me coming, threw Alec back, and turned on me. He went to grab my neck, I ducked in just enough time. I hooked my talons under the chest plate he wore, ripping it up and over his head. The force I used tore the straps loose and I threw it to the side.

I snarled at him, circling him like a wolf. "Demon savage." He spat the words at me with a heavy angel accent. He hadn't mastered the English accent, and his original language was not one of this realm. He rolled his shoulders and adjusted his grip on his short sword.

Alec circled from the opposite side, communicating with his bright eyes. He looked to the angel's neck and back at me. I grinned with my full fangs. The angel listened, trying to keep track of both his targets. But he was at a disadvantage, he hadn't expected another angel to already be here. Alec lept forward, locking his arms around the angel's neck. I followed his lead and got in close, looking to disembowel him.

I felt his ribs at the end of my talons, I wanted to get a little deeper so I could grab them with my full fist. But he grabbed Alec's arms and used him as a counterweight to kick off the ground, entrapping my torse between his knees. He flicked his short sword into a backward grip, tagging Alec in the side. He growled and let go, holding his side, trying to keep his blood from pouring out.

The angel fell to his back, bringing me down with him. He cushioned my fall, our bodies fully touching. He took that golden opportunity and grabbed the back of my head, bringing his elbow down hard on my forehead. He cocked his arm back for another blow, but I had ripped my hand out from his ribs and caught it, splattering blood all over us both.

I growled down at him, my fangs centimeters from his face. He cringed, trying to move his face, now pale, back. I sank my teeth into his bicep, ripping the muscle from the bone, exposing the inner workings of his arm. His pained yell was stifled by Alec, who covered his mouth with his blood-covered hand. The angel groaned and looked like he was going to be sick. "We need to go," Alec grunted. He was losing blood fast, it was pooling everywhere he stepped. The noise most likely attracted enough attention, we had to get out of there before the police showed up. And I didn't want to be found surrounded by this much gore, especially not after my involvement with Dante.

I nodded, dismounting from the angel. He didn't look like he was moving anytime soon. He should have bled out in minutes. He looked like he was at death's door. Just as Alec and I were at the mouth of the alley, checking if the coast was clear, I heard the rattling of chains. I looked at Alec with confusion, to check he heard the same noise. Before either of us said anything, I felt the pull of them around my legs.

The barbed chain was a whip the angel had used as a last defense. He held a flask in his free hand. He swayed on his feet but had enough strength to yank, pulling me off my feet and dragging me towards him. I couldn't control my pained yelling, the whip dug into my skin, tearing it to the bone. The closer I got the more clear the flask became, there was a white lily engraved on it.

The holy water that dripped from its mouth seared my blood on the ground below. The smell of my skin singeing was nauseating. I clawed at the gravel, my fingertips bleeding in my desperation. I sounded like a wounded, crazed animal. Alec dove, catching my wrists, and dug his heels into the concrete. He pulled but that only made it worse, my legs felt they were being torn off. My eyes rolled and I could feel my blood drain from my entire upper body, leaving me weak and shaky. I groaned, sounding pathetic and lowly. Alec ditched my wrists and went for the angel with a ferocity I wish I could have watched.

As soon as I felt the whip slacken, I dragged myself weakly away from the final moments of the fight. I could hear the life leave the angel, Alec being the victor. He untangled my legs from the death whip. When I tried to stand, I fell weakly with a whimper. My own frustration spurred my adrenaline, which is what got us home.

"You knew other angels, and demons for that matter, would be after you."

"Yeah, just not so soon." I rubbed my eyes and sat back in my chair. "I didn't know that you would lead them right to us. And that fucker had holy water." I shuddered. Holy water in the human realm had an association with Christianity. But the holy water that could actually hurt demon, searing our skin and burning us, was water that has had white lilies soaked in it. The white lily is a flower that represented purity. Back when the war between angels and demons began, the queen of the angels' favorite flower was the white lily. So she weaponized it.

"There will be more. And they'll all want to take or kill you. And me probably." I nodded.

"Yep." The silence between us was expectant like we were waiting for an answer to fall into our laps.

"I thought demons could only heal other demons." Alec killed the silence with an uncomfortable, unspoken question.

"You've only ever seen demons healing other demons. We can heal whomever we choose." I sipped my coffee, hoping that would be the end of it.

"How do you heal? I know I can heal you with fire, but what was that? I felt–" he couldn't find the right word for it. Most people couldn't.

"You felt me. That was my soul and your soul. Together." I covered my blush with another sip from my mug. Demons don't take healing lightly. We rarely heal each other because it requires so much energy. Only mates typically heal each other. There is an intense level of vulnerability and trust that is required between two creatures to bare your soul like that. Demons choose their mates and share themselves with them. Because you share a part of you, they can communicate mentally. They can feel each other, feel the other's emotions and pains. That's why I could speak to Balan and heal him so easily, we share parts of our souls with each other.

But I wasn't going to tell the angel that.

"What does that do to you?"

"Makes me tired. I need sleep after I heal, if I push too hard, then my body will shut down until I've restored enough energy. The soul is a bottomless resource. It doesn't 'run out', ever," I said while staring ahead, trying my hardest not to look at him. "You don't lose pieces unless the person you've shared it with dies."

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I could feel my eyes harden, back on my guard, ending the discussion. I silently dared the angel to pry further. He didn't.

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