Angel Seduced by Jaime Rush Page B

Kasabian fight to free himself. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
    Black rage saturated Kasabian’s mind. He felt the same sensation, heat passing through his eyes, as when Hayden told him his eyes had darkened. The Shadow. It moved closer to the surface and whispered seductively: Use me.
    The shock of hearing it, the feeling that it was a separate, sentient entity, completely threw him.
    Gren was staggering to his feet. “Kill the son of a bitch.” His arms hung useless, but they were no doubt already healing. His crumpled wings were straightening.
    â€œNo. He goes to the white room.”
    â€œWhy the hell would you do anything but kill him?” Gren asked.
    â€œShut up.” Silva tilted his head as he considered Kasabian. “Get the room ready. And tell no one.”
    Gren’s sneer appeared again. “This is the one, isn’t he? The one you—”
    â€œGo,” Silva ground out, and the Caido stiffly walked toward the house.
    Room . Prisoner . Words that shot panic into Kasabian. He would never be held against his will again. The Shadow thrummed through him. He feared that if he let it come, it would take over.
    The snake squeezed tighter, making Kasabian’s voice breathless when he said, “Why did you pose as my friend?”
    â€œYour father asked me to check on you, make sure you were still blissfully ignorant of your days with him. Your memories have recently returned. How?”
    Kasabian would never bring Kye into this. “I dropped some acid last night. It uprooted everything in my brain.”
    Acid was a no-no for any Crescent. Kasabian had never touched a drug in his life.
    â€œI don’t believe you. We’ve been friends for a long time, and not once have you ever said a thing that would lead me to believe you’d do drugs.”
    Why his deception should piss Kasabian off, with much more pressing matters at hand, he didn’t know. “So you do my father’s bidding.”
    â€œI follow his orders because he has given me a life. He has been like a father to me. Because I see the value of loyalty in a world where the people who should care will toss you away or sell you for a few dollars.”
    Silva and Treylon believed Kasabian had betrayed them . “And you think I should have allowed kids to die out of loyalty ? You of all people should have fought for those kids. Instead, you aligned with my father!”
    Silva shook his head, a soft laugh on his breath. “We always differed on our ideals, even as we are alike in other ways.”
    â€œAre you kidding me? We are nothing alike.”
    Silva threw out another net of those damned birds. They tore into Kasabian’s wings and back, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. His arms were pinned, body immobile. He bit back screams of pain because he wasn’t going to give Silva the pleasure of hearing them. But Silva was getting pleasure all the same, given the smile on his face. In fact, he knelt close to Kasabian and watched. “What would you do to convince me to stop the pain? Beg? Suck me off? Maybe you’ll understand me better if you’re desperate to escape your circumstances.”
    â€œFuck you,” was all Kasabian could manage.
    Hell, Silva’s smile grew even bigger. When the birds were done, he released the snake with a snap. The snake and birds evaporated.
    Kasabian arched in pain, the sensation of a thousand razor cuts on his back. Something wasn’t right. He felt a gaping hole in his soul. “What did you do to me?”
    â€œI Stripped away your angel essence.” Silva flexed his hands. “I haven’t used the ability much, though it did come in handy not long ago. You are a mere Mundane. Well, mostly.” His blue eyes twinkled with some kind of secret glee.
    That’s what the hole was, the lack of his essence. No wings, no Light, and no ability to Leap. All he could do was sink his fingers