Archangels Creed Series (Summon Kassern) #1

Excerpt #6 Trouble Coming

Regretfully, Devyn shut the water off before it could get too cold. Maybe someday she and Karly would have a place where they could spend more than five minutes each in the shower and still have plenty of hot water. That wouldn't happen on their current path, though.

She dried off, then wrapped the threadbare towel around her hair. Rather than look like a stripper headed to work, she would wait until she reached the Castle to do her hair and makeup. For the moment, just clean and dry was sufficient.

An unfamiliar metallic glint caught her eye as she passed the spotted and blackened old mirror over the sink. Fear froze her rigid as she stared at the deep glow of gold at her throat. The crucifix. She held on to the sink, feeling dizzy, replaying how she'd stashed it in the box where she kept her panties and extra bra.

Was she sleepwalking? Obviously she had to be. Necklaces didn't walk themselves out of boxes and attach themselves to people's necks. The urge to rip it off warred with her need to have it. If so many damn horror movies didn't involve crucifixes with unreliable power that seemed to only piss off shit that shouldn't exist, maybe she wouldn't be freaking the fuck out.

She'd been having bad dreams. Maybe she did put the crucifix on while she slept, since wearing it seemed to calm her.   

She fought the hesitation, took it off again and dropped it on the shelf. The flat gold chain with its broad links, and the heavy gold crucifix wouldn't go well with her G-String and tear-away bra.

Refusing to allow the damn crucifix back into her mind, she turned to more important topics.  Devyn wanted to have a serious talk with Karly while they were both calm and awake. She headed to the kitchen after dressing, planning to do just that over breakfast.

Ransacking the single, nearly bare, food cupboard in their little kitchen, Devyn began converting the odds and ends she found into something edible. Stale hot-dog buns and the single outdated egg became French toast, chocolate syrup the new maple. Half dried out spam would play the part of bacon or sausage.

In the mood to splurge, she dumped the old coffee grounds, instead of just adding a new scoop, and started out fresh. Devyn looked around her. Everything in their lives was make-shift-shit. Damn! So fucking tired of pinching every single penny until it screamed! Just once, she'd like to cook an entire meal, without having to substitute cheap scraps for ingredients.

She slid the sad little chunks of French toast and fried cholesterol onto a cracked plate as Karly shuffled into the kitchenette and sank into her usual chair. Avoiding looking too closely at Karly's delicate features, still puffy from crying, Devyn took her own seat, passing a steaming mug across the table's warped surface.

Karly sipped automatically, then her eyes widened with surprise. "What's the occasion? We haven't had full-strength coffee in ages!"

How direct should she be? "Well, you're still here to drink it with me, for one." Devyn took a sip from her own mug.

"I'm sorry for putting you through that. It won't happen again." The careful control of the expression on her pale, heart-shaped face told Devyn exactly how much Karly wanted to avoid the subject of her suicide attempt. She'd prefer it forgotten.

Devyn shook her head. "Uh-uh. Not good enough. Look, I know things aren't easy. They never have been. But some things are… well, more difficult than they need to be." Shit, that sounded real wise. Like some of the idiots that worked for social services they'd always made fun of. The ones who thought skimping on dental floss was true hardship. She chewed her lip. "What I mean is, I think you should make some changes. I'm scared for you, and not just because of what you might do to yourself." There. She'd opened the door.

Tears gathered, making Karly's pale blue eyes shimmer. She took a breath, as if to speak, but stayed silent.

"Karly, exactly what's the deal with you and Jake?" Just saying the bastard's name almost gagged her. "Why are you with such a low life? You deserve better."

Anger flared, flushing Karly's pale cheeks. "What are you talking about? None of this is Jake's fault. He loves me. He wants to help us both."

Karly's long-term boyfriend gave Devyn the creeps. He wasn't just dangerous, he was sneaky about it. And he resented the closeness between Devyn and Karly. "Baby, you know better than that." She took a deep breath. Hopefully what she was about to say wouldn't cost her the only real friend she had in the world. "He's using you. He hits you. We both have seen the same thing happen to other girls. He'll be turning you out, next thing you know."

Karly's face wilted with pain and the tears finally spilled over. "You're just jealous." Her tiny words barely squeaked out, colored with pain where conviction should be.

Devyn wanted to puke from agony. Karly wasn't just repeating the lie branded into her mind, but her tormented expression confirmed the worst. "He already has, hasn't he?"

Mute despair filled Karly's face. Devyn went to her, kneeling and pulling Karly into her arms. God, she wanted to kill that fucker!

Karly shook her head. "That isn't why I tried to kill myself. I can handle anything he does to me."

Devyn pulled back a little, her mind racing for other clues that would push her best friend over the edge that way. "Then what?"

"He… uh…" She swallowed and half nodded her head as though convincing herself that telling was the right thing. "He wanted me to bring you in." Karly stood abruptly, trying to wipe tears without ruining her makeup. "He knows someone who wants to buy you. He tried to make me convince you…"

The cold lump in Devyn's stomach threatened to come up. How much did Karly know about what she'd done to keep a roof over their heads while Karly was laid up? Had she really paid closer attention since getting clean?

"He said you were already whoring, he should get a cut." The devastation in Karly's eyes when she looked up nearly broke Devyn's heart. "I didn't believe it at first. But I paid attention. It didn't take long to figure out. It's the only way you could keep the rent paid and food on the table while I couldn't work." Karly's arms went around her waist, hugging herself tight. "How could you keep that from me, Devyn?"

Fuck. "It was only a few times. I was too ashamed to tell you." Shame burned Devyn's face. "I couldn't have you feel guilty, and I wasn't going to let you take the money Jake offered. That came with strings attached."

"I know. But I can handle it. I've been treated as a whore half my life. At least Jake's willing to give me a little money. You're too good for that. You didn't come from that kind of life. When Jake told me I had to bring you to him, or he would put you in the hospital, I knew I had to end it. If it hadn't been for me and that stupid tubal pregnancy, you never would have had to do that, and Jake wouldn't have gotten the idea."

For a while, Devyn just held Karly, both crying with the realization they'd crossed that line they'd sworn they never would. Back when they shared a room in the foster home, just after Devyn's parents were killed, they'd spent hours dreaming of the future. Neither of them had imagined such a nightmare. Devyn shuddered to think just how much worse it could get. Devastating as it was, simple prostitution was nothing compared to the other horrors that awaited young women without a safety net.

When the tears faded, Devyn pushed Karly's curls back from her forehead. "You can't go on like this. You have to end things with him."

Karly nodded. "I'm scared."

"I know. I am, too." Devyn hated admitting to being afraid of any man, but the savage glint in Jake's eyes terrified her. "I'm right here with you, and I won't turn away. We'll get through it together."

"He'll kill us."

"No! He won't." The cold lump of dread settled back in the middle of her chest. He might. "We'll do whatever it takes."

Life in a new city started to look more appealing than frightening. If things got bad enough, nothing held them down. They could go anywhere, do anything.