Free Angel Seduced by Jaime Rush

felt…everything.”
    Hayden moved his hand over them, and Kasabian exhaled as the Light pulsed along his skin. “Three broken ribs.”
    â€œOh, gods,” she said. “What happened?”
    Kasabian’s breathing eased, and his fisted hands relaxed.
    â€œA Caido was kicking the hell out of him,” Hayden said. “Kasabian had put a hurting on the other Caido, but for some reason he wasn’t angel. Which doesn’t make sense, because you always go angel in a fight.”
    â€œCheck his back.” She started to turn him. “That’s where I felt the worst pain.” She sucked in a breath at the sight of his raw skin. It was as though someone had branded angel wings on his back.
    Hayden waved his hand over the bloodied, broken skin, but it didn’t heal. He tried again, and still, nothing. “I can’t heal it. Kasabian, can you Invoke?”
    Kasabian managed to shake his head. “Gone. Stripped.”
    â€œYour angel essence?” Hayden asked, disbelief in his voice.
    Kasabian nodded.
    â€œWhat does that mean?” Kye asked.
    Hayden stared, shock and outrage in his eyes. “It’s the Essex on steroids. The Caido sucks all of another Caido’s essence in at once. I’ve heard rumors of Caidos with dark powers who can do that, but I’ve never encountered one. Who did this to you?”
    Kasabian managed to sit up, and his gaze locked onto her. His eyes were no longer empty, but they were filled with a soul pain. He turned to Hayden. “The other Caido who was in captivity with us, the one who sucked up to my father. Silva.”
    â€œIs that who was beating the crap out of you?” Hayden asked.
    â€œNo.” Kasabian got to his feet, using a chair even though Kye held out her hands. He braced himself on the back of it. “Silva is Daniel. He’s been posing as my friend at Harbor, keeping an eye on me. For my father.” Kye could feel his sense of betrayal.
    â€œSon of a bitch,” Hayden said. “And he’s one of these dark Caidos?”
    â€œHe could use his Light in ways I’ve never seen. Snakes. Birds.” Just when Kye thought Kasabian had suffered some mental damage, he elaborated. “He created a coil of energy that bound me like a damned python. Then he threw a net of bird-like things that attacked my back.” He tried to turn and look but swayed slightly and gripped the chair again. “After that, I could feel the absence of my essence.”
    â€œThere has to be a way to get it back,” Kye said.
    â€œI don’t know enough about being Stripped to know how to undo it,” Hayden said. “But from what I’ve heard, it sounds like Silva is a Wraithlord.”
    â€œWraithlord,” Kasabian repeated slowly, as though he were trying out the word. “Why haven’t I heard of them?”
    â€œBecause they’re a mystery. They stay hidden even in the Hidden, and, fortunately, there don’t seem to be many of them. They’re some kind of Caido aberration. No one knows exactly what they are or how they came to be. They were dubbed Wraithlords because they can control wraiths.”
    â€œGhosts, you mean?” Kye asked.
    Kasabian turned to her with a grim expression. “Ghosts in a way, but they’re vicious. And they have fangs. It’s what Caidos become if they die and aren’t interred properly.”
    Hayden rolled up his sleeve, revealing a V tattoo on his arm. “What I do know is that Wraithlords can use their Light in crazy-ass ways. I’ve heard stories about it becoming anything from a spear to a monster. I’ve never fought one, but I heard a retired Vega talk about encountering one. He barely escaped, but his partner did not. There was a brief mention in our class manual of a Vega being Stripped by a Wraithlord.”
    â€œWhat happened to the Vega?” Kasabian asked.
    Hayden glanced away as he rolled up his other