Swamp Kings 1 (Bayou Bishops #18)

CHAPTER FIVE

Tegan didn’t envy Juliette having to wipe that pissed look off Kaj’s face. Boy, was she in trouble. Spent five thousand of her own money to bribe a woman to divorce a man she used to like then hugs him and blows him a kiss!? What in Texas tarnations was she thinking!? Oh, it was clear what Kaj was thinking. Her poor lil’ ass was gonna be burnt.

“Heck, I think we should just go down and knock on that door and meet them,” Juliette said from their spot on the rooftop. All the action was happening in the house they were laid up on but Tegan was sure personal greetings was a bad idea, at least for Juliette.

“You trying to get divorced before you’re officially married?” Tegan muttered quietly next to her.

“Pfff, I’m already married.”

“Tell that to Kaj. Don’t tell me you can’t feel his stare burning a hole in you from way over yonder. I can feel it bouncing off your hard head.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I would love to see how you’d react if he paid off some man to leave a woman he liked then gave her a big ole hug and blew her a nice fat kiss. You’d lose your dadgum mind.”

“I'd drown his ass in the bayou.”

“Exactly!”

“Fine, it was stupid.”

“Did you even warn him?”

“I did.”

“You did,” Tegan repeated. “And?”

“And… he told me no, it wasn’t my place to interfere with that.”

Tegan’s jaw dropped. “And you still did it?”

“He’ll get over it. And I refuse to regret it.”

“He’s gone take it outta your ass.”

“Oh, I hope he does.”

Tegan busted out laughing and shoved her. “Probably why you did it, you raunchy swamp slut.”

She grinned. “Maybe.”

“You are rotten to the core.”

They all let out a scream at the sudden explosion beneath them.

“Oh my God, is the building falling?” Phelony gasped on all fours, eyes wide.

“Crap, they’re leaving!” Juliette hissed as their magic show left the building. They’d spent a good thirty minutes cuttin’ up and cataloging all the new faces. The Creole Kings, the Syphon King and his lil’ cutie pie girl, Zeen. But it was the Terror Triplets and that other one they were really wanting a good long look at. The one that stopped and did that crazy cool trick with Maggie that Spook was gonna bust her ass over. The ladies with the most obsessive husbands seemed to attract trouble. Heck, they all had psycho husbands in the possessive department and Tegan loved the hell out of that.

“Where they going in such a hurry?” Tegan wondered, following Juliette to the backside of the roof where their ladders were.

“Come on,” Juliette called. “The gators have left the den! We’re goin’ in hot pursuit!”

With all their attempt to be quiet, every scoot and step on the roof came with loud metal popping. Thankfully drowned out by one of the many live bands they had planned for their weekend shin-dig.

“It’s still early,” Tegan said as they made their way through the crowd, searching for signs of them.

Juliette shot off to the right. “Let’s try the docks,” she said. “Those two-hundred nuns should be getting here soon.”

They made it to the little rise leading to the piers and all of them stopped in their tracks at finding the first wave of nuns in white habits making their way toward them.

“Heavens on earth, look at that!” Phelony gasped as they hurried far off to the side, getting out of main sight .

“That’s him, that has to be the Quantum King!” Gracie said eagerly.

“And that must be his wife,” Phelony said as they stared in awe at the giant man next to her.

“Oh my, he’s holding her lil’ hand,” Tully whispered.

“He looks like Dracula!” Maggie said with a squeal in her voice.

“His wife is like a real angel,” Claire marveled next. “Never saw anything like this.”

“Look at all of them,” Mah-Mah sighed quietly. “Just the sight gives me the chills.”

“An army of angels come to reinforce our swamps, thank you gracious Lord,” Gracie added.

The amens began, working their way through all the ladies, with Tegan capping the parade of holy gratitude with a fat Texas, “Aaaaaaaaaaamen!”

As the holy parade passed them, some of the nuns spied their little gawking, grinning group on the sidelines. Tully set off the waving which was soon followed by a chorus of happy gasps and murmurs from the sea of excited nuns.

“Lord, what are we doing!” Mah-Mah cried, suddenly dashing off. “Come on!” she called. “We should be up at the house receiving them! Mercy, and the band! We gotta get ‘em ready for their reception song! ”

Crap right! They’d practiced for hours on that thing and all of them were so excited to perform it—those that would.

They hurried after Mah-Mah until they overtook the holy procession with laughing squeals, not stopping ‘til they ran up the back steps of the big house, phones in hand, dialing in emergency instructions.

A minute later, the music stopped, and Mah-Mah’s voice blared into the air with a crap ton of French words.

“What’s she sayin’?” Tegan cried.

“She's telling them in a couple of minutes the cavalry of two hundred angels will be arriving and to get ready to give them a warm, swamp welcome.”

“Hey sis.”

Tegan spun around. “Tater!” She lunged on him, and he laughed, bear hugging her. “You’re still here?”

“Yup.”

“Where have you been ?” she cried, shoving him off her now.

“Explorin’ these beautiful swamps.”

“Well, dadgum! You get lost?”

He laughed. “Couple times. Met a lot of people. Stayed here and there, helpin’ and stuff.”

“Oh, here they come!” she gasped, grabbing his hand, and yanking him off the porch where they had a better view. Right then, the band started playing their song. It was sung by verses. One in French, then in English, and Tegan never loved a tune of lyrics more!

“You hear that? They’re duelin’ it!” she said as they hurried to the gazebo not far from the main path.

“Duelin’ it?” he laughed, standing next to her, getting her giggle and shove.

“You know what I dadgum mean.”

“Well, well, well,” Juliette called from behind. “Who is this Texas cowboy still dirtyin’ up my swamps?”

“Don't you dare hug that woman, she’s in enough trouble already!” Tegan warned, getting Tate’s hands immediately up while Juliette laughed and laughed.

“Oh, keep laughing, cuz Kaj is headed over here.”

The whites in Juliette's eyes doubled in size as she spun around, racing straight to him as Tegan shook her head with a grin. “My girl runs straight into that storm.”

“Mmm-mm she sure does.”

Tegan smacked him, getting his laugh. “I'm teasin’. Mostly.”

“You'll be bleedin’ mostly, if you don't watch it.”

He grinned and leaned his forearms on the rail. “I ain’t scared of no Vicki,” he drawled. “Specially not my buddy Kaj.”

“Oh look, there they are!” Tegan gasped, grabbing his arm. “You should get you a nun and marry her! There's a gazillion of them to choose from.”

“Marry a nun?” he balked. “The hell’s wrong with you?”

“You need a good girl,” she argued.

“I thought they were here to help with the bullshit supposedly coming, not fuck around with the only hot cowboy here.”

“You're a piece of work. I'm just wanting to see you settle down and find love.”

“Who says I didn't?”

Tegan jerked back from him. “You did !?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Sure did. Fell in love with these swamps. Think I’m stayin’.”

Tegan lunged on him again, nearly knocking him over, hugging and squealing.

“There's my wife.”

Patches' voice sent her everything plumb to her feet as she abandoned Tate and attacked him next.

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her, and swinging her around, planting his gorgeous mouth right on hers with a lusty “Mmmmm-mm. ”

“There's like fifty thousand nuns watchin’ y’all’s indecent acts,” Tate said like they were hell-bound for it.

“You’re just jealous and lonely. You missed me?” she murmured to her husband, smiling at the tiny pecks he put all over her mouth.

“I need to talk to you in private.”

Lust and need clobbered her at what she felt and heard in his tone. “Carry me,” she whispered, jumping up and getting his hands on her butt followed by another one of his sexy moans.

“Later, sis,” Tate chuckled, leaving them to their dirty schemes.

She broke the kiss and yelled, “Call me!” then got her hair pulled and mouth yanked back to his for a real kiss. “Is this what you needed to talk about?”

“Mmm, it fucking is.”

“Well, I'm not sure I understand everything you’re saying.”

“Let me bring you where I can speak more freely.”

“The barn?” she asked, moaning around his tongue.

“You want me to fuck you in the barn?” he asked, or tested, getting her nod.

“There's spiders in the barn.”

She froze. “Ew, right.”

He chuckled, setting her down on her feet. “Walk with me to my Swamp Dragon. ”

“You takin’ me for a ride?”

“Yes ma’am. A nice, long, hard ride.”

“And fast?”

“So fast.”

“And dirty?”

“Filthy.”

She giggled as they went. “What about mean?”

“‘Til you’re ugly crying.”

Tegan belted out one of her Texas laughs as they took off toward the back of the house. Dear Lord, she’d prayed for this very thing. Already these nuns were bringing God’s favor to the swamps. Oh my Texas loins .

****

The moment Lore stepped off the boat, all the horrible feelings returned to Celeste, bringing her panic. It suddenly felt like a sticky lava lined her veins, grabbing hold of her blood as it fought to push through her body. She closed her eyes getting thrust into a gooey darkness that terrified her until she spied a single window. She mentally raced to it, finding a kind of map of all the evil things taking place in and around her. She watched as a darkness stirred and growled inside her as though fighting with its own self with her mind and body as the battleground. One second it fought to protect her, the next it attacked. Like a faithful canine turning mad, forgetting the bond with its master.

She slammed her hands over her ears when the heated whispers started.

“Celeste, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head quickly, Natasha’s fear not helping. She forced her eyes open, fighting to get away from the battle ramping up inside her.

“Oh my God, your skin!”

She needed Kaphas! “Help me!”

Power escaped through her shriek and flung the sisters near her onto the ground. Her body pressed into the boat rail as a sound encased her muscles like a net of steel. It was Lore! She watched in her mind as the dark powers ate through the prison then launched her through the air. She flailed her arms and legs as the ground raced toward her. The wind exploded from her body right as another sound blasted through her eardrums and clamped her skull like metal fingers. The darkness writhed through her bones and muscles while drawing the kinetic energy from the claw into itself and then reversed the direction of molecules, sending the attack back to its source.

The sound of Lore’s agony filled her with horror. She was hurting people. Oh God help me . Help me !

Celeste !

Kaphas’ voice filled her ears. She fought to turn her head, seeing him there, ten feet from her with his hand reaching. The darkness yanked every which way inside, turning her into writhing limbs on the ground as it realigned for something new, something worse. The moment she saw its intention, she screamed at him with all her might and breath, “Run!”

But he did not run! Fetch, Fathom and Fin were now forming a symbiotic barrier around her. The terror of what it wanted to do to Kaphas forced her into the fight inside herself. She threw every ounce of her being into the battle, bringing the Kevlar in her body to a boil as its will flashed between weapon and shield.

Fight it, angel, Kaphas whispered through her, slowly moving toward her.

She looked up at the dome of electric energy encasing all of them as the backlash began pushing at every inch, rapidly calculating.

“We can’t hold her for long,” Fetch, Fathom and Fin warned in unison as Kaphas closed the distance between them.

I need to touch you, Angel. Help me. Command my power. Our power.

I am she screamed, fighting to reach for him as her jaw clenched so hard, she feared it might break. It wants… to kill you. And… use… me.

I will never let it happen .

She focused on the inches of distance between their hands as the powers screamed. While locked in his beautiful gaze so bright with love and terror, she saw the sacrifice he intended to make to save her. She realized six inches of their life remained between them. Six inches of heaven and hell clashed inside her and him and even the triplets. Six inches before she would lose him.

Another vision flashed through her mind, and she threw herself at the salvation. She flung her arms and hands open wide and screamed as she commanded the Kevlar and backlash power into her fingers. The demons saw her plan and shifted their powers as the Kevlar ripped through her body, obliterating the doorway between her and Kaphas.

“Nooooo!” Kaphas roared, his arms suddenly wrapping her tight. His mouth crashed down on hers, his panicked agony piercing her. She held on to his stare as the Kevlar then formed a prison around her spirit and flew her and the demons far from her love, from the one she would always protect.

Even still, their agony grew with every atom that divided them until it sliced through her spirit. Light poured in from all around, a soothing balm coating whatever remained of her.

Sister. Look at me.

Celeste turned, finding the bluest eyes before hers, the beauty in the depths stealing her breath until her being shook. “Jesus? ”

He smiled with such a deep kindness and love. “Just a brother. Samuel.”

She pondered the name, familiar with him. “Why are you here?”

He reached his hand out for hers and she looked at it. “The Lord still needs you. Kaphas needs you.”

The stillness inside reminded her. “The demons want him. I didn’t know another way.”

“But I do. Take my hand and don't let go.”

****

This was fucking bad. Kult watched Fetch, Fathom and Fin drop to their knees, all three roaring as they fought to hold Kaphas who stood, holding his lifeless wife in his arms, rage and agony tearing through his vocal cords.

The air and ground vibrated, bringing panic at remembering what was coming. “RUN!” Kult yelled to everybody nearby as Kaphas lowered his wife to the ground, every inch of his skin shiny and black. He stood and turned, teeth black and elongated, nails matching.

Kult watched as Pain hyper-jumped and slammed Kaphas to the ground. Atlas, Sync and Harlow followed, dog-piling on top of him. Kult ran for them and dove next, all of them absorbing their brother’s pain as every fucking one of his “My angel, my angel, my angel” chewed gashes in their soul.

Syphon King appeared with the Seer like a fucking apparition. Seer knelt next to Celeste, placing his hand on her head while Syphon King held his palm toward her. Oh fuck, could he do it?

“Get off! Get away!” Pain roared.

The power beneath them built, creating literal waves that passed through their bodies like walloping heart beats. His instinct to hold on and die for his brother got shredded by his instinct to live for one particular piece of trash that needed him.

Before he could make the decision, something bit into his back and sent him flying. While airborne, he realized it was Quantum, tossing Harlow, then Sync and Atlas off of Pain. He fought to loosen Pain last then gave up and grabbed Kaphas’ head in his hands, bringing full-body seizures that caused the air to ripple. Seconds later, the black sheen of Kaphas’ skin began to fade until normal skin remained.

Quantum suddenly collapsed onto the ground next to Kaphas with a resounding what-the-holy-fuck thud.

“Move back Zeen!”

Kult snapped his attention to Syphon King, his alarm returning at finding his massive body turning black.

“It’s too much!” Zeen shrieked, throwing her arms around the Syphon King .

She let out another scream that seemed to bring massive bolts of lightning from the fucking air particles all around. The thick arcs anchored into the giant dude’s body, filling him and the immediate forest with bright light.

The sparking couple stood frozen like a statue for several seconds as sizzling and popping filled the eerie silence. Slowly, the frozen couple began falling back and the triplets raced forward, catching them before they hit the ground.