Angel Seduced by Jaime Rush Read Free Book Online Page B

Caido barrier. He could see beyond but couldn’t pass it. He felt along its edge as he followed it toward the back of the property. He saw no sign of any children, but last time his father hadn’t allowed outdoor toys or play equipment.
    Kasabian needed to get a feel for the scope of the operation. How many kids held captive? How many adults involved? He kept close to the tall, thick hedge that separated this property from the next. The windows were all blocked by blinds. He dropped his invisibility cloak, which was cumbersome to maintain, and crouched near a cluster of hibiscus bushes to wait.
    Twenty minutes later, one of the back doors opened, and a man herded a boy of about ten to some vegetation, where he proceeded to vomit. Kasabian remembered when the channeling got too much for his body. He strained to throw himself through the barrier and strangle the adult. He had to suck in deep breaths to pull his Shadow back.
    The adult gave the boy a small towel to wipe his mouth. The vomiting was only the beginning. Early in Kasabian’s captivity, two Caido boys started getting sick. His father told him that, regrettably, he had to slow the pace at which the boys channeled the essence.
    Kasabian watched as the man escorted the boy back to the house. The kid was gaunt, his movements listless. Like all of the children had been before they “went home.”
    He knew where “home” really was. Death.
    There were only two ways to get through a barrier. Be invited in or go through with someone who was allowed. He made his way to the front of the property and waited for his father to return.
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    Silva watched the intruder slither among the landscaping toward the back of the property. He might have not seen him at all but for the fact that he was staring out between the narrow slits of the blinds daydreaming.
    Who would dare come onto the property? And how had he gotten through the front gate? Not that he’d get past the barrier, but still, an intruder had to be dealt with.
    Silva waved his hand, creating a cloak that rendered him invisible. This shouldn’t have anything to do with the mess he’d inadvertently caused. Could the man be the Caido whose wings he recently Stripped? Silva flexed his hands at the sweet memory. He had powers not many did, and he was finding new ways to use them.
    He slipped out the side door on the other side of the house. The intruder was hunkered down near some bushes, his face hidden by the pink flowers.
    Silva passed through the barrier, stepping lightly on the grass as he neared his quarry. When the man stood, Silva nearly dropped the cloak in his shock at seeing him here. Kasabian. That he was here meant the memory lock had failed after all these years. But how? Had it just gone poof ?
    It also meant he was investigating what those memories meant. He was once again a threat to their operation. And that couldn’t happen. Treylon had questioned the wisdom of letting him live after his escape, regretting his weakness. It was Silva who had convinced him that Kasabian posed no threat if he remembered nothing. Treylon would kill him on the spot now.
    As much as Silva had wished Kasabian dead for abandoning him and nearly destroying Treylon’s work, he did not actually want him dead. He wanted him broken and bleeding and under his control. He had dreamed of it for so long, Kasabian begging for mercy, then forgiveness, then for Silva’s gentle caresses. In contrast to the pain, Kasabian would accept, even welcome, Silva’s hands on his muscular, tanned body.
    Kasabian was intently watching Beldeen taking one of the young Caidos out back to puke. Treylon was pushing them too hard now that the solar storm was approaching. Silva touched the starburst scar. It still burned from his last session. He was doing it voluntarily now, but he remembered how helpless he’d felt when Treylon had first brought him to his estate all those years ago. Kids