Hideous laughter mocked them. Zach was right, they'd kill them. A deep anger rose, but her decision was unchanged.
"That's a brave but ludicrous thing to say in front of... what... your girlfriend?" asked the pink-eyed Fallen. She nudged her bow, the arrow still pointed at Zach. "Zar, I want to take him back with me and teach him a few lessons." She licked her lips like she had already tasted him.
Zach's eyes narrowed as he stood his ground. "I'll never−"
"Come now, Kalma. We're not here to find you a new plaything. We're here for the girl." Zar said it like they were picking Olivia up from school.
"How do you know her name?" Sergio called, his hands gripping her upper arms.
"That's none of your concern," Zar sneered. "Let's not waste any more time, shall we?" Zar's voice was laced with his feral threat. Green-spiked fingers beckoned Olivia again. If she touched them, he'd never release her, but she had no choice. She had to save Zach and Sergio. She risked her life going with the Fallen, and they'd do the same for her.
They could run to the door if I distract them....
"I'll come, but promise you won't hurt them." Olivia pushed herself away from the boys. Ruthless laughter drowned out their startled cries. Zar snatched her hand with lightning speed, clamping down and yanking her toward him. She gasped, slamming against his armored body. His long fingers entwined around her ponytail. He pulled down, forcing her to look up at him.
Fear like she'd never known clawed up her spine as she looked into his evil green eyes. She knew in that moment she'd die a terrible death at his hands.
"I won't hurt them. I'll kill them," Zar sneered. "No witnesses..." His evil intent hung in the air, sickening Olivia.
"No!" Olivia howled, struggling against him.
Bright lights swung around the end of the building. For a precious moment, the whole group stood still. All heads turned as the car's high-beam headlights lit up the lot. Olivia, blinded, heard the car gun its engine. Tires squealed. The car sped, aiming at them. She shoved against Zar, but he grabbed her around the waist, leaping into the air, missing the speeding car. The car hit the orange and hot-pink Fallen, sending them over the hood, flying into the air and landing in a heap behind the car.
"Manny!" Sergio yelled.
Manny slammed on the brakes, blocking the boys from the other demons with his car.
"Run!" Olivia screamed.
"Get in!" Manny yelled as he jumped out, putting himself between the Fallen and the boys.
"How did−" Sergio cried.
"I was watching you, and then you just disappeared." Manny lunged for Sergio. "Move it!"
Time became jumbled, distorted as it moved in slow motion. Zar trapped Olivia against him, caught in the horror of watching her friends and helpless in their escape. She screamed in fury, fighting harder to find her newly embedded powers to harness.
"Kill them!" Zar screeched as he backed away. A sizzling sound emerged from behind her. She didn't have much time left. She had to do something... fast.
"You'll watch them die, Olivia, and then we'll be gone forever." His excited breathing was hot against her hair, nauseating her.
Michael... Help us.... Michael!
The deafening roar in her ears drowned out her friends' cries, leaving her with only their panicked faces and the wordless movements of their mouths. Olivia's eyes widened as the gold Fallen jumped over the hood, landing in front of Manny. Sergio reached for Manny, but Zach grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the open car door. Sergio strained against him, his face stricken with fear.
The gold demon raised his sword high. Metal glinted in Manny's hand before he plunged it into the Fallen's chest. The Fallen threw his head back in a macabre scream before bursting into oil and ash. For a split second, everything dripped oil as ash fell. The stench of sulfur assaulted Olivia before the oil and ash disappeared like being sucked into a vacuum.
A snarl erupted in her ears. Zar pulled a silver dagger with a green hilt from his belt, and for a moment, Olivia thought he'd plunge the wicked blade into her heart. The evil emanating from him was crushing. Zar laid the sharp edge against her neck. Olivia panted as he pressed it against her flesh.
"Zar!" The red Fallen pointed his axe at the opposite side of the lot. An electric blue light appeared. Manny and the boys paused for a split second, distracted by the light. But the red Fallen took advantage of their hesitation. He ran around the car and charged behind Manny with his axe raised high. He swung the axe, and red flames erupted off its head before he buried it in Manny's back. Manny's body arched at the force of the blow. Blood exploded from his wound, red spreading across his white t-shirt. Shock and pain were carved on Manny's face as he dropped to his knees. He fell face-forward with a sickening thud, the axe's red flames extinguished by Manny's blood.
"Manny!" Olivia screamed.
"No!" Sergio's anguished cry pierced Olivia. He kneeled down next to his brother, wailing his name. Olivia sagged against Zar, hot tears of horror and defeat burning down her face.
He's dead because of me. I shouldn't have fought...
Olivia’s eyes locked with Zach's. Pain-riddled, they looked at Sergio and Manny. Engulfed in sorrow, Sergio cradled his lifeless brother in his arms.
"Your turn." The red Fallen pointed at Zach, maliciously laughing as he raised his other flaming axe.
Zach took a step and shoved his hands in the air. Swirling green energy exploded from his palms, slamming against the Fallen’s chest. The energy spread, crackling across his armor. The Fallen flew back across the asphalt, landing motionless on his back in a heap of green sparks.
Zach stared at his hands in disbelief, then back at the Fallen. His bewildered eyes flew back to Olivia. A thrill of hope ran through her. She didn't know how he had created the energy, but she wanted him to do it again.
The red Fallen rolled over, getting to his feet. He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from the energy blow. An angry roar erupted as he threw his axe. It flew end over end, aimed for Zach. Before Zach could raise his hands, Sergio, his face streaked with tears, jumped in front of Zach. He stood before the oncoming ax, clothes and hands stained with his brother's blood, heedless of the axe’s strike.
Nooooo.
Olivia wasn't sure if she or Zach yelled. All she knew was her best friend was about to die.
Sergio thrust out his hands like he wanted to catch the axe. But it stopped moving, suspended mid-air just a few feet from Sergio. Frozen in place, motion had stopped for each of them.
Kalma released a flurry of hot-pink arrows into the blue webbing, while the orange Fallen crept up from the back of the car. Her whip's orange current ran from handle to tip, slithering through the air encircling Zach's neck. His hands flew around the whip, his face turning red. Zach fell to his knees as she yanked him toward her. His eyes grew wider, clawing at his throat while his face deepened to purple. Her face glowed in evil delight as she pulled hard against the whip, choking him to death.
"Zach!" Olivia strained against Zar's arm, squeezing into her waist. She threw an elbow but hit unyielding armor. Panicked, she wrestled against him even as the knife threatened to cut her wide open.
"You're coming with me," Zar seethed, pulling Olivia toward his portal.
No, I'm not.
A new, buzzing emerged drowning out the surrounding chaos. A pull of powerful energy race through her body. Her senses were like a live wire, one with her surroundings. She felt Zar's hot blood pounding through him, the hate from the orange Fallen for Zach as she choked the life out of him, the engulfing rage radiating from Sergio. She was one with them, stealing their energy and combining it with hers. Olivia didn't understand how to control or stop it, but she didn't care. She let this unknown power take over and course through her body to whatever end would come.
Olivia focused on the axe still suspended in front of Sergio. She imagined it flying through the air, its red flames swirling as it landed in the middle of the orange Fallen's chest, buried in her hea
rt. But it wasn't her imagination when Olivia heard the thud of the axe's impact, the orange Fallen writhing in pain, or the whip unwinding from around Zach's neck. The Fallen exploded in oil and ash and disappeared, taking her filthy grime with her. Zach gasped huge gulps of air, and his surprised face swiveled toward Olivia.
Olivia's chest heaved as the realization of her power unfolded. She hadn't imagined it; she had made it happen and saved her friend. Now she needed to save herself. She stared at Zar's hand, which was holding the knife to her neck. Focusing on it, she wrenched open his hand. Zar snarled as the knife flew from his grip, landing a few feet away. She shoved away, but he grabbed her ponytail and yanked toward him. She fell backward, losing her footing. Desperation drove her struggles even as Zar's grip threatened to rip the hair from her scalp.
Three white-winged angels emerged from the blue portal. They separated as they chased their targets. Their majestic, colored wings gave away who had arrived.
Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.
Kalma continued shooting arrows at Raphael. He chased her as she flew toward Zar's web. The arrows bounced off his shield, falling to the ground.
The red Fallen also flew for the web. Michael tackled him mid-air, sending them to the ground. The force of the collision separated them. The red Fallen jumped to his feet and unsheathed a black sword, but not in time. Surprise was the final look on his face as Michael's flaming sword sliced across his neck. For a second, the head stayed in place, then wobbled backward off its perch. The demon exploded and disappeared before his head hit the ground.
Olivia had to do something quickly before Zar pulled her inside the portal that was leaching hot, stagnant air. Her body was tiring from using her powers, making it difficult to harness them. They couldn't slip away yet. She focused on the arrows, commanding them to fly toward the escaping Fallen. But only one moved. Its hot-pink tip sliced through the air, heading for her. She moved her head, but the arrow grazed her cheek before piercing Zar's right shoulder. His body jerked back, his hand releasing her hair.
"You little−" Zar yelled at Olivia.
His words were lost as she fell to the ground, panting, numb from the exertion, not even sure if she had the strength to get away if Zar grabbed her again. Her vision narrowed as she looked back at her attackers. Gone was their unbreakable evil; they now showed fear. No longer the predators, now the prey. She willed herself to crawl, to get up. After all this, she wouldn't let them win. A hard hand snagged her ankle−
"Let her go.... We'll come back!" Kalma yelled as she landed. Zar hesitated, his eyes dark with pain and malice and fixed on Olivia's.
"We're not done," he spat, releasing her ankle.
Kalma pushed him through the portal, but his eyes never left Olivia's, washing her with his hate, disappearing into the dark hole. Kalma passed through the web behind him, her shock of pink hair swallowed up by the closing web that cauterized the cold night air.
Raphael launched his arm inside the closing portal but came out empty-handed. He shot out his fist where the web had been, growling in frustration. Raphael's face turned crestfallen as he absorbed the turmoil behind Olivia. "I'm going to Zach."
Olivia could only nod. Michael kneeled next to her, his hands gently combing over her body.
"Are you hurt?" Michael asked, inches from her.
"No," Olivia muttered.
But my heart is broken.
Chapter Forty-Two
Manny's Dead
Where once was light,
darkness consumed every pore....
Chapter Forty-Three
Sergio
Sergio felt nothing, heard nothing, said nothing.
His world was a black, numbing void.
Because of who was draped across his lap.
Manny.... Dead.
Manny’s lifeless eyes stared back at him, face pale, mouth slack. The front of Manny's white t-shirt was covered with Sergio's bloody handprints, transferred when he'd grabbed Manny, pleaded with him, begged him not to die.
But he did.
Taken from Sergio by evil... by the Fallen... by Sergio's enemies.
My fault.
The air hung thick with the copper smell of Manny's blood, pooled around them in a dark oil slick. Sergio rubbed the heel of his palm against the pressure on his broken heart. A pain only a brother's love would fill. Only a brother's hug would ease.
The world stopped for Sergio when the Fallen's axe embedded into Manny's back. Life had ceased to matter. Sergio remembered nothing except the exploding pain rocketing through his body, as if he'd also been hit with the flaming axe. His eyes flickered to it, lying under Manny's car, where Sergio had tossed it after pulling it from Manny’s back. Dried blood covered the head, the flames doused by Manny's blood. The red handle still glinted in the darkness, hypnotic in its evil. Its mission complete.
Sergio's eyes narrowed, flashes of the Fallen exploding when killed and their weapons disappearing with them.
Why was the axe still here?
Sergio's hand itched as it crept across the asphalt. His hand tightened around the handle, driven by a deep, morbid need to hold the vicious weapon that had killed his brother. His body shook as he brought it closer, Manny's face blurring underneath it.
The axe handle was red, inlaid with large scales. The head was shaped in a half moon, ending in sharp points. Three red claw-like prongs emerged from the handle clutching the head. It was lighter than it looked, but even more deadly close up. Evil vibrations flowed from the axe, snaking their way up Sergio's arm.
He closed his aching eyes. A vision exploded behind them. The axe raised high, the thud of steel splitting bone, blood splattering−
"Sergio!" Olivia's desperate cry broke through his haze. He quickly laid the axe under the car as she came around the hood. Tears fell down her pale face, mixing with an angry cut on her cheekbone. Olivia kneeled next to him, landing in Manny's blood. She pulled him into a hug.
"I'm so sorry," she mumbled as she rocked them back and forth. "This is all my fault."
Her words tore something open inside of him, flooding him like hot lava scorching a path inside, leaving behind a bitter wasteland. What was once quiet, once numb, once deaf, burst open with torturous pain. He shoved himself away from her suffocating grasp.
"This isn't your fault, Olivia! It's not always about you!" Eyes wide with hurt stared back at him, but he didn't care, reckless in his rage. "A Fallen killed him! Not you! Can't you see? It's God's fault!" Hot tears burned; his voice cracked. "We should have said NO to their impossible request. Then none of this would've happened. The Fallen wouldn't have come−"
"Sergio," a familiar voice called. Gabriel stood before him, his golden wings and armor aglow in the dark night. Sergio glared at the face he didn't know well, who had promised to help him... protect him.
"We failed to get here in time to help you... and save your brother," Gabriel said. "I'll forever be sorry for this failure." An iridescent tear slipped from the corner of his eye. Sergio followed its trail down Gabriel’s face until it slipped from his jaw, mixing with Manny's blood at his feet. "One day I pray you can forgive me."
Sergio seethed, his rage and pain driving him, blinding him to anyone's pain but his own.
"I will never forgive you... EVER!" Sergio's neck corded, his lip peeled back as his blood pounded in his head.
Gabriel's shoulders sagged against Sergio’s condemnation. "Olivia, your dad is on his way to take you all home. Joe will come back here, thinking he'd forgotten to set the alarm. He'll find Manny and call the police. I will stay, unseen, with Manny. He'll not be left alone."
"I'm not going anywhere," Sergio said, lifting his chin.
A set of headlights came around the building. Sergio held Manny tighter. How could he let Manny go? What would he tell to his parents?
"We have to go−" Olivia whispered.
"Just leave me alone!" Sergio yelled at her.
Olivia nodded and stood. She walked into the truck's h
eadlights. Her dad jumped out, hesitating, then scooped her up into his embrace. Olivia sagged against him, her back shaking. Her arms slowly rose and circled his waist. When Zach joined them, her dad laid an arm around his shoulder.
"I have to let you go, Manny." Sergio choked on his bitter words. "But I promise you... I'll avenge you, big brother. I'll kill as many Fallen as I can in your name."
Sergio's eyes bore into Gabriel's back as Sergio’s hand darted under the car to reclaim the axe. Sergio tore off his jacket and wrapped the axe inside. His hand then grabbed Manny’s knife that lay next to his dead body. The demon’s black blood had disappeared, leaving it clean. Sergio sneered as he snapped the blade closed. He slipped it in his pocket, liking the feel of it close to him.
Sergio kissed Manny's forehead, a harsh sob clawing in his throat. "I love you, Mano."
He eased Manny's head from his lap onto the blood-soaked asphalt. Sergio's heart shattered when he stood, cradling the wrapped axe to his chest with thoughts of hate and revenge consuming him. His eyes returned to Gabriel's back. A small malicious voice whispered:
This is his fault.... He deserves to die.
Gabriel glanced back at Sergio like he'd heard the silent death threat. Sergio returned with a weak smile, hoping to appease him. His smile turned slack when Gabriel turned back to Olivia's dad.
Sergio placed his hand on Manny's car door. Inside, lay Manny's leather jacket on the passenger seat. He opened the door and snatched the jacket. Sergio raised the jacket to his face, inhaling the soft leather entwined with Manny's musky scent. He put it on, placing his coat with the axe against his stomach, and zipped it up. A strong determination enveloped him as he wore Manny's jacket. He gave his brother one last look and made the first devastating step away from him. Sergio didn't glance back again, shutting out the pull to return to Manny and never let go.
Sergio put one foot in front of the other and walked away from his past. He shed the easy-going, naïve Sergio and embraced the hardened, bitter one burning at his core. But no one would know about his change, his motivation. He'd play their games, learn their rules, and master their weapons. All the while growing stronger to carry out his personal destiny.
Mark of Orion Page 28