by Mandy Lee
Her father’s voice whispered close to her ear. “You must stay strong. Your brother needs you to stay focused or you will both be frozen in place.”
Turning her head Katia saw that her brother’s skin had taken on a sheen similar to her own, the distress in his eyes partially hidden under a sparkling layer of ice. Nodding jerkily, she reached for him. As their hands connected the coldness melted away almost instantly. Keir blinked in confusion and squeezed her hand.
“What happened?” he asked. “I felt darkness closing in on me when you fell, and then nothingness.”
Katia shook her head as she replied, “I’m sorry, that seems to happen when I get upset.” Glancing back at Luc’s form on the cross she continued, “We have to get him off there. He’s here because of me and I can’t leave him here to die like this. I love him.” The words came out in a choked gasp.
Before Keir had time to respond, a figure emerged from behind the cross. Katia looked at the newcomer in total confusion. What was a teenager doing in a place like this? And why did he look so unconcerned with the bloodshed in front of him? Even at this distance she could see the smile playing across his face, a dimple on his cheek. Keir inhaled sharply beside her.
“What?” she asked
Anger, fear, and frustration warred in his eyes as he responded, “The master. He’s the one who kept me here.”
Katia’s brows shot up to her hairline. “That’s the master? Satan is a teenage shithead?”
Keir moaned and it sounded of pure pain. “Now I understand. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Katia. This is all my fault.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“My drawings. I’ve drawn pictures of you all my life. I saw you in my dreams and sketched. He saw them and asked me to keep drawing, I didn’t realize…I’m so sorry,” he sobbed.
The reality of the situation hit Katia with a bang of clarity. “He used you to get me here. He knew you could see me and used you to track me. He figured out we had begun to communicate. Son of a bitch!” She shouted and stamped her foot angrily.
“He took away all of my sketches before you arrived. I’m so sorry. I brought all of this upon you.”
Katia took her brother’s face in the palms of her hands and looked him dead in the eye. “This is not your fault. You have no reason to be sorry.”
“I wish I could believe you,” Keir whispered sadly.
“You can, I promise. Now let’s get Luc and get out of here. Who would have ever guessed that hell really is a teenager?” Katia whirled around to face her father only to realize that he was no longer there. Spinning back around, she scanned the battle raging in front of her and saw Uriel in all of his angelic glory. His wings were spread wide, a flaming whip in his hand as he brought it slicing through the air to tear through the body of an attacker. He truly was a magnificent creature. As though sensing her gaze, Uriel turned his head and shouted over to them.
“Go! Good luck, my children. I love you both. Never forget that.”
A deep voice boomed from across the courtyard totally at odds with the teenager from which it had emerged.
“In nomine diaboli congelo.”
The fighting around them suddenly froze. Arms were raised with weapons ready to strike killing blows, blood droplets that should have rained down floated like raindrops in space. Satan’s smile grew wider as he stepped down off the dais and walked through what looked like a museum of grotesque statues. The frozen bodies slid away from him as he moved, creating a path that led directly to Katia and Keir. Stopping in front of the twins, Satan eyed Katia appraisingly.
“My, my, you are a pretty little thing, aren’t you? Your brother didn’t do you justice in his sketches. Now I can see why Lucifer went and lost his head over you.” Satan walked around them continuing his appraisal. Katia could feel his eyes moving over her and suppressed a shudder. “You and I are going to have such fun together.” A warm breath that brought a whiff of sulfur caressed her cheek as Satan whispered in her ear. “I can’t wait to show you my playroom.” He slid a hand down Katia’s back to squeeze her ass as he breathed in deeply. “I can smell him all over you. We’re going to have to do something about that, now aren’t we, Katia, darling?” Satan moved in front of the twins and held his hand out to Katia. “You’ve come all this way to visit me in my home. It would be rude of you not to walk with me. You wouldn’t want to be rude, Katia. Would you? I would hate for your brother to have an unfortunate accident all because you weren’t playing nice.”
Katia squeezed her eyes shut for a second to steel herself before slipping her gun back into its holster and sliding her hand into Satan's. As their fingers touched she felt a dark and oily feeling move up her arm making her recoil. All the showers in the world wouldn’t make her feel clean again. Satan tugged her forward so she was at his side, much closer than she’d rather be.
“You’re coming with us,” Satan said as he motioned for Keir to join them.
Satan walked sedately, taking stock of the frozen warriors, occasionally reaching out to test the sharpness of a blade or to spit on an angel. His arm snaked out to encircle Katia’s waist, pulling her flush against him. She shuddered in disgust.
“Did those dirty angels really think they could best me in my own house?” Satan mused.
Katia ignored his comment and continued walking, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Her only thought was to get to the dais where Luc was frozen in place, upside down, bruised, battered, and bleeding from a multitude of wounds that didn’t seem like they had even begun to heal.
“I mean, really, what were they thinking?”
Again, Katia ignored him. Suddenly she was cranked around in front of him, one arm banded around her like iron, pulling her flush against the front of him as he reached up and yanked her head back by her hair, forcing her to look him in the eye. She could feel the bones in her neck grinding. Her eyes watered in pain as she stood, staring into Satan’s glowing red eyes. Keir gasped.
“Don’t make a single move or I’ll snap her neck like a twig,” Satan said to Keir calmly.
Katia slid her eyes over to lock with Keir’s, silently pleading for him to stay put. Almost imperceptibly, he inclined his head in acknowledgement.
“I’m trying to have a civilized conversation with you, Katia, darling. Why are you ignoring me? That isn’t very polite either, is it?” he asked, a quiet menace in his voice.
A tear slid out the corner of Katia’s eye as she replied in a raspy voice. “I’m sorry.”
Satan laughed, clearly pleased with her response. “You’re sorry. Yes, everyone’s always sorry. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t go very far with me, but perhaps today I’ll make a special exception just for you.” He pulled back a little harder on her hair, causing Katia to cry out. She could barely breathe; any more pressure and her neck would break. The pain was excruciating, and Satan knew it and liked it...judging by the bulge in his pants that he ground into her. Katia was caught between wishing her neck would break so he would stop touching her, and hoping he would continue moving them closer to the cross, and Luc. As though her prayers were being answered, Satan suddenly released her. Katia stumbled backward a couple of steps gasping for breath.
“Shall we continue?” Satan motioned toward the dais. Katia flicked her eyes up to her brother with another silent request to continue on calmly. She resumed her position at Satan’s side. He kept his hands off of her this time as they continued their leisurely stroll through the killing field. As they walked, Katia peered around to see if there was anyone she knew in the fray. Familiar faces jumped out at her. She saw Sam, B, Gadreel, Michael, Belial, Asmodeus, and Azazel. They all seemed to be in one piece as they stood frozen mid-action. Katia breathed a quick sigh of relief. She didn’t see Amir anywhere, which was a good sign. He may be trying to open another doorway to the courtyard, but knowing how shadow-walking worked, it was anybody’s guess at how long it would take him to find his way back.
As the trio approached the dais, Kati
a’s stomach clenched. Luc was held immobile through the same dark magic as everyone else. His eyes were open but unblinking, the blood that had once run freely down his body suspended in time. Almost every inch of visible skin was cut, bruised, or burned. She wanted to run to him, to free him, to fix him, but all she could do was stand silently at his tormentor’s side waiting for an opportunity that may never come. The closer she got, the more Katia realized something was wrong. Luc's Sigil was gone, the golden aura was missing, the low level electric hum was absent. It was as though he were an ordinary human man that was knocking on death's door. Katia blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay.
Breaking away from the group, Satan hopped up the steps of the dais and made his way to Luc’s side. “I’m sure you’re happy to see your beloved one last time, my dear,” he said to Katia as he ran a finger down one of the deep gouges in Luc’s chest. “Perhaps you’d like to give him a kiss goodbye? He will, after all, be dying soon.”
Katia felt anger boil up inside at Satan’s cold and calculated pronouncement. Keir must have felt it too as he reached out and took her hand in a gesture of comfort. Instead of comfort, the moment their hands connected that strange electric charge took hold again. Katia’s body began to buzz with energy. The air around the twins became thick, like a nasty storm was brewing. Sparks started to dance along their arms, little blue flames popping and crackling. Satan’s eyes grew large in confusion. Katia wanted to laugh. She wasn’t quite sure what was happening herself, but anything that threw him off his game was good in her book.
“I’ll kill him now if you don’t stop that immediately,” Satan bellowed.
In perfect synchronicity, Katia and Keir turned to look at each other, and that was when all Sheol broke loose.
Chapter Thirty-Six
From Luc's position on the cross, all he could do was stare at the scene unfolding in front of him. Luc could hardly believe what he was seeing. They were yin and yang, each one mirrored in the other. He struggled against the dark magic that held him immobile, desperation to get to Katia was his only driving force. Luc felt the sting and burn as Satan dragged his finger through the wound on his chest, the pain only serving to renew his struggle against the invisible bonds that held him. The air in the courtyard suddenly ionized. Luc could feel the electricity skipping over his skin. The twins turned to face each other as they joined hands. Sparks began to fly through the air, radiating off the duo. A shockwave travelled through the courtyard as though the twins were standing at the epicenter of an atomic bomb. The sound echoed off the stone like canon fire. As the shockwave travelled upward, the glass in every window of the castle shattered, raining dagger-like shards upon the battlefield. Flames licked out of the windows like tongues of a great serpent hell-bent on destruction. Halja was burning. The blast must have shocked Satan into dropping his defenses, the courtyard was suddenly awash with movement. Angels and demons dropped their weapons as they yanked out the chunks of glass embedded in their skin. Confusion reigned as everyone looked up at the thick black smoke billowing out of every opening, blocking out the burnt orange of the sky.
Luc felt blood begin to trickle down his body, dripping over his face and neck to splash on the ground. He knew he was going to die here, but he would be damned if Katia was going to witness it. Gathering what little strength he had left, Luc cried out to her, hoping she would be able to hear him through the strange force that had her in it's grip.
“Katia! Go, get out of here!” Luc’s voice was hoarse and could barely be heard over the din. He felt his heart sink as he looked into Katia’s face and saw only an otherworldly light glowing behind her beautifully flawed eyes. Suddenly, Satan’s voice boomed through the courtyard.
“Enough!”
Katia turned toward Satan, piercing him with a look of pure hatred that turned to abject despair as Luc felt a burning sensation at his neck. He felt a strange warmth as his remaining strength drained away. He eyed the ground not far beneath his head, seeing the river of red that was pooling beneath him. It was kind of pretty, he thought, ruby red like a gemstone. Luc heard Katia cry out, and saw her brother clutching at her, trying to hold her back as she made a move to run toward him.
“Bind your soul to me and I will save him,” Satan said from Luc’s side.
Katia dashed to the bottom step of the dais and reached her hand out to Luc, touching his face so lovingly it broke his heart. “I’m so sorry...I love you.” The tears ran freely down her face as her hand shook with the force of her emotion.
Luc tilted his head into her palm and replied, his words slurred with blood-loss and pain. “I know...I will always love you.”
Katia leaned forward and gently kissed Luc on the lips, the most chaste kiss they’d shared, but somehow the most meaningful. Luc tasted her sadness in the tears that trailed down her face to salt their kiss. Not wanting to miss a moment of this goodbye, Luc almost didn’t hear Keir’s voice as he spoke softly from behind his sister.
“You have so much more to live for. Let me do this for you.”
As Katia pulled away from him, Luc could see realization dawning in her eyes. “No!” She shouted over her shoulder.
“Flesh of my flesh, mind of my mind, soul of my soul, once split in twain join together forever.” Keir reached forward and grasped Katia’s hand in his own. A pulsing light travelled down his arm and up through their joined hands. As the light reached the place over Katia’s heart it flashed so brightly Luc momentarily squeezed his eyes shut. Katia spun to face her brother as he stood rooted to the spot in shock. His skin began to turn a sickly grey and his lips started to turn blue.
“Keir,” Katia said with a catch in her voice. “I just found you...I can’t lose you.”
Crystals of ice began to form over Keir’s skin as he replied in a whisper. “You have so much to live for. You have a great love. I know who I am now, that’s enough. You know what to do.”
Satan’s dark laugh resounded from the dais. “In absentia luci, tenebrae vincunt. In the absence of light, darkness prevails.” He cried out. A thick, dark fog began to move throughout the courtyard slowly blocking out the remaining light. The blackness slithered past Luc. It looked like smoke, but brushed against him cold and thick, briefly snaking around his neck as though it were planning on choking the life out of him. The darkness began to coalesce and solidify as Luc watched, his sight winking in and out as his blood continued to stream down onto the flags. The blackness became dense and solid in the shape of a man, and not just any man. Luc groaned. Thanatos — Death himself had been summoned to the party. His skeletal form with its thinly-stretched skin a horrifying sight.
“Keir!” Katia cried out as the light faded from his eyes, crystals icing them over with a final crackle.
Quick as a flash, Thanatos grabbed Keir from behind, snaked an arm around him and slammed it down hard on his chest. “Katia, what’s happening to me?” Keir asked in confusion as strength coursed back into his body. Those mismatched eyes so like Katia’s suddenly flashed red, the ice cracking and dropping off of his body like a snake shedding its skin. A look of pure malevolence came over him as Thanatos wrapped them both in a blanket of smoke that appeared to collapse in on itself sucking them both in. They disappeared leaving behind one hissed word uttered in a tone of pure evil that made Katia shudder. “Ssssissster.”
Katia whirled to face the dais. “What have you done to him?” she screamed at Satan as he chuckled with glee.
“Now I get you both, you see. Thanatos brought me one of my souls from the abyss for Keir, and you’ll be bound to me. You’re two of a kind, but I knew only one of you could ultimately survive...it seems I've found a way around that. Kind of my specialty, I’m afraid.” Satan’s twisted smile transforming his youthful face into a mask of evil, stripping away the feigned innocence to show the truth that lay beneath the surface.
“No.” Luc heard Katia whisper as his vision finally went black. The sounds around him grew muted and distant as death finally reached its c
old hand toward him.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
You know what to do. Keir’s last words to her before he gave up his part of their soul echoed through Katia’s numbed mind. Shoving her heartbreak aside, she forced herself into action. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Death. The Keir she knew was truly dead now that he was animated by a dark soul. He was gone, but Luc wasn’t, not yet and not ever if she had anything to do with it. You know what to do. Yes, she damned well did. Katia raced up the steps of the dais to Satan’s side as he clapped his hands gleefully looking like a kid who’d just gotten the latest Xbox.
“Fine, you win. I’ll do the binding,” Katia cried out. The words of the binding spell poured out of her, like they’d been sitting in the depths of her soul just waiting to be called forth. “Darkness and light, servant of neither, I bind my soul of my free will, irrevocable as the passage of time, my soul belongs to you.” She reached out her hand and touched Luc’s bloodied and beaten one. Katia felt triumphant as anger spread across Satan’s youthful face. The amazing warmth and power she’d felt before with her brother surged through her again, slamming down her arm and into Luc. His whole body jerked upon the cross. Luc’s eyes flew open as the cuts, burns, and broken bones began to knit back together at lightning speed. As the strength poured into his body, Katia could actually feel him. His love for her, his desire for her, they all washed over her consciousness through this new soul-deep connection. A split second later, B was at Katia’s side wrenching the nails out of Luc’s body and taking him down off the cross. The courtyard was in confusion as demons looked toward their master for orders. Satan stood there, a mixture of anger, awe, and incredulity playing on his face. Checkmate, Katia thought as she and B staggered down off the dais with Luc propped up between them. Hearing her thoughts, Luc turned toward her and chuckled softly. “Smartass,” he whispered.