Late-morning sunlight softly illuminated the bed, warming Angel's cheeks. He opened his eyes, shielded his face with an arm, and rolled to his side, away from the window. He lay there for a moment as multiple thoughts raced through his mind: Rygen's attack, Charlie saving him, his sister's panicked work to stop his bleeding, and then waking up to Charlie healing him. Angel shook his head softly, amazed at how powerful Charlie was becoming. Clutching the beaded necklace around his neck, he thought, In the end, this saved me from Rygen, but it was meant for Charlie, and I don't want it anymore. Lifting it up and over his head, Angel opened the nightstand drawer and dropped it inside. It was like shedding away a layer of himself, one that was unconsciously worried about Charlie. No more would that be the case.
Sitting up, Angel stretched, cracked his neck, and felt good! The next thought that commanded his attention was much, much more pleasant. Charlie, just Charlie. To think about her—who she was, not what she was—and how much he'd fallen in love with her. Angel felt a silly grin spread across his face as he thought of their lovemaking earlier, and he definitely was glad that they didn't let anything hold them back anymore.
Her tears, though. Those made his heart ache. He hoped that from this point on, he would never see her suffer like that again. Not for him or because of him. He made a silent promise to always be the shelter for her soul.
With a soft sigh, Angel swung his legs over the side of the bed and set his bare feet down on the soft carpet. Standing, he collected some clothes from the dresser and went into the bathroom to have a short shower. He wanted to see his ladies and check on how the training was coming along, and then he'd see about retrieving anything salvageable from the car. As he passed by the mirror, something caught his eye, and he turned sharply. His eyes widened in surprise. Touching his bare chest, he saw it was smooth, as if he'd never been in war at all. There were no telltale signs of a life spent fighting—no scars, no bullet holes—and certainly nothing indicating he'd nearly been killed the night before.
Charlie's power hadn't just healed his wounds; she'd restored him and made him whole again. Angel touched the firm, smooth skin above his heart and realized her love had healed his soul as well. He was finally free of the grief and torment he'd carried all those years. Taking a deep breath, Angel decided that it was time to stop punishing himself; it was time to live again.
—
Clouds had rolled in and blocked out a part of the sun's rays, which washed relief over both Charlie and Cassie. They'd been focused on training for nearly two hours, and sweat had beaded heavily on their brows.
"Okay, Charlie, for this next one, I'm going to show you how to skip-catch. This is good for balance and concentration, and I think with your power, it will make a good defensive posture." Cassie held her staff out horizontally in front of her, and Charlie, standing face-to-face with Cassie about ten feet apart, mirrored her movements.
"Like this?" Charlie asked as she followed, and Cassie nodded approvingly.
"Yes. Now watch me." Cassie started slowly so Charlie could see her hand placements, then began to pick up speed. Charlie whistled softly at the precise movements and Cassie's technique and tried to keep up but dropped the staff twice, and her demon voice growled with frustration.
"Easy, darlin'." Cassie smirked, "It's okay to mess up when you're learning."
"I just want to know everything so I can protect Angel better." And repeat this morning over and over and over and over—Charlie smirked to herself.
"Then don't think ahead," Cassie suggested, and then grinned wickedly and winked, "Or, be stuck in the past."
Charlie swallowed and her face exploded in heat, "H—how? How did you know?"
Cassie set her staff down, and the warmth and love in her smile held no tease, "You know I can feel your power even from afar, remember? It's not potent. More like an echo. But this morning, that echo screamed. I wasn't sure at first what it was. I still thought Angel was injured and it confused me so much. When you told me you'd healed him, I thought at first that was what the power burst had been. But you've been glowing all morning, Charlie. I put two and two together."
"Oh, my." Charlie turned away, truly embarrassed.
"Don't be embarrassed, sis. I know you both were in pain with all we've had to go through. I don't feel that pain anymore. Only love. There's power in love. I told Angel that, and it's about time he found himself. With you. I'm so happy for the both of you."
Charlie still felt the warmth in her cheeks radiating, but she turned back around to face Cassie, "I feel it, too. And I want to use it. Use it to protect Angel, to be his armor." She got back in position. Get back to the now and maybe not feel so embarrassed! "You said don't think ahead or be stuck in the past?"
"Right." Cassie picked her staff back up and said, "Stay in the moment. Watch." Cassie repeated the beginning steps, and Charlie narrowed her eyes to watch every twist and how Cassie would cross her wrists, with her upper hand turning her palm up to catch the staff and twist it to her lower hand. Charlie's eyes widened as Cassie's movements got faster and faster, until the spins looked to Charlie like the propeller of an airplane. Cassie kept going and nodded for Charlie to try again. Charlie started with careful movements and soon began to pick up speed as her demon reflexes took over. Soon, it was Cassie who whistled in awe as Charlie was twisting her staff so fast it became a blur, and Cassie felt the wind from the power of her spins.
"Damn, girl." Cassie smiled, "You got it!"
Charlie giggled as she stopped and bowed to Cassie appreciatively, "I think I understand now. Focus on the grip and stance, and let the motions repeat fluidly."
"Exactly." Cassie said, impressed, "Let's try this one. It's called 'Let the pinkie lead the way'. With this one, you can modify it to take out those in front and to your sides."
Cassie demonstrated again slowly, but Charlie was catching on faster and faster, and after a while and a few other techniques, Cassie took a challenging stance: "I'm sure you recall how I beat you up last night?"
"Oh, how could I forget?" Charlie smirked as she took on her own defensive posture. "I owe you a few bruises," and with a pause, Charlie let her demon voice finish, "Sis!"
Cassie chuckled as she began to move slowly, combining techniques and looking to catch Charlie off guard. "Smart. You're using your innate abilities mixed with the training as a way to make your opponent nervous." Cassie suddenly dropped to one knee, spun her staff along the ground, and nearly clipped Charlie's feet, but she was more prepared than before and hopped up. Still, Cassie was far more trained for such combat, and she swung the staff up hard and caught Charlie in the hip, and she stumbled. Cassie watched Charlie's horns sprout out, and red eyes glowed at her as Charlie found her footing. "But of course, I'm not scared of you—sis!"
Charlie let her full hybrid form spill forth, and her claws gripped the staff to the point it almost cracked, but her demon voice held a tint of amusement: "Oh, come on!"
"Let your power flow, sweetie. Just know that with me, you're going to have to really rely on what I've been training you. Try everything; come at me with all you've got!"
Charlie did exactly that, starting with the pinkie move to drive Cassie backwards, twisting her wrists to lower and raise her attack to avoid Cassie's blocks. Charlie nearly had Cassie back against one of the dojo walls when Cassie suddenly dropped her staff. In the heat of the moment, Charlie moved in to attack Cassie for her mistake, but she heard what Cassie saw and stopped. Turning her eyes towards the door, Charlie's features melted back into her human form, and she grinned wide at Angel, who leaned against the door frame watching the two practice. Charlie felt more than saw Cassie's energy move past her, and then watched Cassie grab Angel in a tight embrace.
"Kevin!" Cassie's voice was thick with feeling: "Thank the goddesses, you're alright!"
Angel returned the embrace and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry to put you through all of this, sis. Thank you so much for saving my life."
"Always!" Cassie wiped her eyes as she took a step back, "I can't believe Charlie was able to heal you. It's a real miracle."
Charlie stepped up to the siblings, staff still in hand, and Angel opened an arm for her to nestle herself into him. "Yes, she is," said Angel as he felt her settle against him.
Cassie chuckled at Charlie's cheeks turning crimson.
Charlie shook her head. "I'm glad, but… if I didn't have these powers…" She looked at Angel, "I nearly died with you last night."
Angel nodded and moved a few strands of hair out of Charlie's face, "We were all lucky you found your power, Charlie, and now we know more about what you can do… and," Angel's demeanor turned serious, "what Samedi, under Bible's guidance, can do."
The celebratory air was suffocated under the reminder of last night and the three were silent for a moment. Angel continued, "Rygen may be dead and gone, but Samedi could call up more demons."
"Yes. Though, from the texts I've read and my conversations with my coven sisters, violent summonings exact a great deal of metaphysical energy out of the summoner. They won't feel weak by any means, but their internal energies need to recharge before they can do another summoning. If they do anything like that before they're fully recharged, it would then manifest in physical ways. Since it seems Rygen may be days old, at the most,. I'd be confident enough to believe we should be fine for a few days, at least," Cassie assured them.
"That's good to know. It will let us focus on trying to pinpoint where Bible is. I just hope Amanda has found something in the files she's collecting."
"Has she called?" Cassie asked before remembering that Angel had no phone.
"With my phone busted up, I don't know, and I don't have her number memorized, or I'd borrow yours. We'll just have to wait for her to show."
"There's still an hour before noon. I'm going to teach Charlie a few more tricks, then we'll grab lunch. If Amanda gets here by then, we can go over everything she brings."
"Sounds good. Umm," Angel remembered and looked chastised with the next question, "About your car?"
"I got it back here before it gave up completely," Cassie shrugged, "but it's definitely done for."
"I'm sorry."
"Charlie took payment out of Rygen, and you're okay." Cassie shook her head, smiling. "That's all that really matters to me."
"So, it's parked in the back?"
"Yup."
"Then I'm going to collect the arsenal I'd bought and see what I can salvage out of the groceries. Meet you in an hour in the shop?"
"Deal."
Angel leaned into Charlie and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, "Go easy on my sister, okay, princess?"
With a wink, Charlie suddenly jabbed her staff out and caught Cassie in the shoulder, who grunted and stumbled back, "Just as easy as she did on me last night!"
"Why, you little demon!" Cassie skipped backwards and fetched her staff, taking on a challenging stance again, "That's the last time you get one up on me!"
Angel laughed and stepped back as Charlie lunged at Cassie, and the two began to spar in earnest. Taking that as his cue to leave, Angel opened the door and took the stairs down to the main floor and out to the back.
