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Raum and Naberius. Hands touched his shoulders, and he heard his friends kneel down. All
four stayed in that position until the sky darkened to black.
***
Raum sat next to Kelly on the four-poster bed in his guestroom. She looked better now than
she had since her deterioration had begun. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her breathing
normal. She was still terribly thin, and would only get thinner. The blood she had consumed
from Brianna and Asmodeus would wither away, leaving her in the same condition she had
been in before she had consumed it.
The thoughts swirling around in his mind weren t worth thinking. She needed to bond with
someone powerful. Someone who could sustain her and would promise to be there for as long
as she needed it.
He had only heard of one other bonding that had worked. If one could consider it a success. A
female witch had bonded with a demon, just the same as Kelly had done with Brianna and
Asmodeus, and she d had relapses. The longer she had gone without blood, the further the
witch had depleted. It had been a constant tug-of-war to keep her alive. Sane. The feedings
hadn t been constant. There had been times she needed to feed daily, other times a feeding
once a week was enough. She couldn t be separated long from the demon she had bonded
with.
Kelly had made a grave mistake when she had used the Demonic Book of Spells. But if
anyone knew about mistakes, and atoning for them, it was he. Everyone deserved a second
chance. Who was he to judge?
Her canines were gone for the moment, but like a vampire, they would elongate if offered a
vein. The animalistic tendencies that now possessed her body would come alive at the
prospect of a feeding. It was a survival mechanism.
He pulled the covers up to her chin when she shivered, tucking her into the soft comforter.
Her head turned on the pillow, and for a second he thought she would open her eyes. Instead,
she sighed and remained sleeping. Her features soft, her hair clean from her bath, she looked
like a child. A helpless child.
Asmodeus and Naberius would not condone a decision to bond with her, if indeed that was
what he wanted to do. It would weaken him, make her stronger. Fighting Nephilim would
become more difficult, if not impossible, because he would be sharing his powers with her.
He wasn t even sure how much power she would need to survive.
But how could he turn his back on her when she had only made a bad decision?
His conscience would never handle it.
Not when his past seemed dark and cold compared to her slip-up. There were things he had
done that made her mistake look pathetic in comparison, yet he had been given another
chance.
Who was he to deny her?
***
Brianna opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto her patio, allowing the cool breeze to
brush over her skin. She inhaled deeply, enjoying every breath she took. Asmodeus thought
their problems were over. Leviathan was dead, Kelly somewhat healed.
He had no idea that in only a few days the angels would come for them, and she doubted they
would stop until both were imprisoned.
When she had witnessed Kelly s attack on Asmodeus, power had surged through her body,
and she had defended him without thought. Leviathan she couldn t fight Kelly, on the other
hand, she could.
Her life had been empty before she had summoned Asmodeus. Her parents were in another
state, her only friend had been Kelly and the occasional chat with Phillip at her store. She d
been unfulfilled and she hadn t even realized it until now.
The powers Kelly had taken from her were already trickling back. It was amazing she felt her
powers now after so many years of denying them. Her lack of believing in herself had made
her ineffective and clumsy when it came to spells.
She took a deep breath. She picked up the scent of honeysuckle in the air. She could hear a
police siren in the distance.
The dog was resting at Naberius s house. Asmodeus had suggested they take it to the pound,
but Naberius had offered to take it home. It was one less thing she had to worry about.
Asmodeus had loved her body for the past few hours. He was showering now. She had opted
to get out of the confines of the house and gaze at the star-filled sky.
It was funny. She couldn t remember the last time she had taken the time to enjoy the beauty
of the earth, yet she was always trying to wield its power. She only took, never gave anything
back. Never cared.
As they had made love, promises spilled from Asmodeus. Promises of love. Of protection.
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