It was two-pronged—Samantha coming from the right, and Kirk from above and to the left. Their claws slashed at her, and she replied in kind, swinging her sword with all her might. The Void Angels screamed their rage at her, furious that she would not submit to their violent intentions.
Then their attacks suddenly ceased. The darkness continued to flow about her like the thickest of fogs, and she spun slowly, ready to strike at whatever came at her.
In the light of her sword she caught a glimpse of something that turned her blood to ice. The four Void Angels were preparing to converge on Cameron.
“Cameron!” she cried out. “You’re surrounded!”
Melissa threw herself into the black, thrusting her sword out before her in an attempt to reach her friend before their enemies.
Screams rang out close by, but she could not find her friend. Panic gripped her. She willed her body to burn, brighter and brighter still, but it wasn’t enough. Cameron was still hidden in the darkness.
Then Melissa stopped. She turned her sword in her hands so its point was toward the ground. She lifted it high and, with all her strength, plunged it down into the rock.
The chamber was filled with an explosion of absolute brilliance. Divine radiance overwhelmed the shadow with its holy purity.
The Void Angels wailed, recoiling from Cameron’s limp form. Melissa was already diving across the expanse of space to get to her friend.
Kneeling down beside him, she quickly assessed his situation. His clothing was torn and he was bleeding, but none of his injuries appeared to be fatal.
But she knew that could change in an instant, for shadows were already beginning to swirl and coalesce in the chamber.
Cameron moaned as she helped him to his feet.
“We need to find someplace where we can hold them off,” she said.
Laughter echoed from the stone walls, as the Void Angels reappeared.
Melissa tried to maneuver away from their advancing foes, Cameron leaning heavily on her.
“Leave me here,” he grumbled, attempting to free himself from her support. “Get to the back. Gotta be a place there for you to fight them off.”
“Not a chance,” Melissa said. “We’re in this together, or not at all.”
He looked at her, his dark eyes attempting to focus on hers.
“Besides, we’re a mated pair.” She winked at him, then created a particularly nasty-looking sword of holy fire in her hand.
The Void Angels were closer now.
“Tell you what,” William began, his voice dripping with malice. “We’ll kill you quickly, and then I’ll put a special request in to the master for you to join my team.”
Cameron managed to hold on to his balance, calling upon his own weapon.
“You all right?” Melissa asked, not taking her eyes from their enemies.
“To take care of these punks?” he returned, trying to sound confident. “Absolutely.”
The air crackled with electric anticipation; a powerful storm of chaos about to break.
Then the chamber shook violently, and a nearly deafening hissing sound came from behind them.
Melissa spun around to see what new threat was at her back.
A thick cloud of rolling white mist billowed toward them, and within the mist moved something—a great many somethings.
A ragged and bloody Custodian stumbled out from the mist.
“What did you do?” Melissa asked, suspecting the truth, and finding herself suddenly terrified.
“Thought we could use some help,” the old angel wheezed.
Nephilim—more than Melissa had ever seen before in one place—emerged from the fog, each and every one clutching a weapon of fire.
And looking very, very angry.
* * *
Aaron never again wanted to see such a look in his lover’s eyes.
“What does that mean?” she was asking him, a hint of hysteria in her tone.
“It means that I’d be the Metatron,” he said flatly. “The personification of God’s power on earth. I’d be able to set things right.”
“You hope,” Taylor interjected, also disapproving of Aaron’s decision.
“And once things are set right?” Vilma probed.
Aaron was silent, not sure what would follow after he assumed the guise of the Metatron.
“You don’t know,” Vilma answered her own question. “You’re planning to take this power into yourself, fix the world’s problems, and you have no idea what it means for you—for us.”
“Vilma, please,” Aaron said. He reached out to her, but she pulled away.
She might as well have stabbed him.
“I don’t have any choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Taylor countered.
“Look me in the eye and tell me there’s a genuine alternative,” Aaron said, fixing his mother with a steely gaze.
She met his eyes, but quickly looked away. “I haven’t waited all these years to have you in my life, only to lose you,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Vilma moved over and put her arm around the woman’s shoulders.
At any other time, Aaron would have been thrilled to see his girlfriend and his mother getting along so well, but now he was just annoyed, for he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere arguing with either.
Gabriel had been strangely silent, lying on the floor, watching the entire discussion, and Aaron turned to him, hoping for some support. “What do you think?”
Gabriel pondered the question before answering. “Maybe we should ask Dusty,” he suggested.
From what Aaron could gather, something had happened to Dusty back at the school after his encounter with the Abomination of Desolation’s exploding sword.
Something about being able to see multiple aspects of the future.
Dusty had gone off with Mallus and the Unforgiven to prepare a place for the transference. There was no doubt as to what they and Levi believed should be done.
“Maybe we should,” Aaron agreed, looking over to his mother and Vilma to see if that might satisfy them.
They just stared back at him with disappointment in their eyes.
Gabriel stood and walked to the office door before turning back to Aaron. “Are we going?” he asked.
Aaron waited to see if Vilma and Taylor would join them, but they just stood there.
“Yeah,” he said, opening the door so he and his dog could leave.
The two started down the cold concrete corridor, Aaron lost in his thoughts until the dog interrupted them.
“This means you’re going away forever, doesn’t it?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah, probably,” Aaron said. “And no matter what you, Vilma, and Taylor think, I’m not okay with it, but it’s . . .”
“It’s the only answer right now,” Gabriel finished. “A long time ago I probably wouldn’t have been able to understand that myself, but since my change, I get it.”
“Thanks,” Aaron said.
“You’re welcome.”
They were about to enter a garage area where the army had kept their vehicles, and where Mallus had been brought by the Unforgiven, when Gabriel paused.
“Aaron?”
“Yes, Gabriel?”
“You are the best friend a dog could have.” Gabriel turned his dark-brown eyes to Aaron. “And I will never forget you.”
“You are the best dog,” Aaron told him, doing everything in his power to keep his voice from cracking. “And I will never forget you.”
“Aaron!”
Vilma was coming down the corridor, Taylor close behind.
Taylor opened the door, allowing Gabriel to enter the garage first, then followed him in. “We’ll be inside,” she said, leaving Aaron and Vilma alone in the corridor.
Aaron knew how strong Vilma was, how powerful, but right then, before him, she looked like she might shatter.
He was afraid of what would happen if he moved closer, but he was inexorably drawn to her, and
there was no way he could resist her pull.
“Vilma, I—,” he began, desperate to make things right between them before—
She came at him full force, throwing her arms about his body and squeezing him so tightly that he feared she might break him.
“I know what you’re doing, and I completely understand,” she said, pressing her face to his chest. “It doesn’t mean that I like it or I accept it, only that I understand it.”
“If there was any other way,” he said, holding her just as tightly.
“I know,” she said. “And if I’m not careful, I get selfish and think, why him? Why does it have to be the one I love more than anything in this world?” She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Haven’t we already sacrificed enough?”
He had no answer for her, as he brought his lips down to kiss the top of her head.
“Maybe this will be it,” he said. “Maybe after it’s done, everything will return to normal.”
“It won’t ever be normal again,” she told him.
He held her as she started to sob.
“You have to promise me that you’ll be strong. The others are going to need you.”
“We don’t even know if they’re still alive,” she said pathetically.
“They’re alive,” he told her, not sure how he knew, but he did. “They’re going to need you, and so are Gabriel and my mother.”
“I like her,” Vilma said. “At first I hated her for what she did to you as a baby, but now that I’ve gotten to know her, I see what a strong woman she is.”
“I’m going to need you both to be strong, to carry on what we started,” he said. “No matter what I do, the world is never going to be as it was, and humanity will need you and my mom, and the others, to help guide it.”
Aaron reached down and took her beautiful face in his hands, tilting it up to him. “Will you do that for me?” he asked.
“I would move the world for you if I could,” she said.
She reached out, placing a hand gently around the back of his neck, and pulled his face down to kiss him.
If there was anything he needed to inspire him to endure, it was in that kiss. If it had lasted a lifetime, it would still have been too short, and Aaron wished that he could kiss Vilma forever. But it was time.
They said nothing as they stepped apart. Aaron took her hand in his for one last bit of physical contact, as they approached the double doors and pushed through them into the large concrete room.
Gabriel was standing there to greet them, along with Dusty. Aaron was a bit taken aback by the young man’s appearance; his skin was covered in dark gray patches that appeared almost metallic.
“Gabriel says you have a question,” Dusty said before Aaron could ask how he was.
“Yeah,” Aaron answered, knowing that it was only a formality for Vilma and his mother. He knew exactly what he had to do. “So, what I’m about to do . . .” Aaron trailed off.
Dusty considered his words for a moment. “It’s so much worse if you don’t,” he finally said.
Aaron nodded. It was as he thought. He looked to Vilma, who squeezed his hand, acknowledging that she understood as well.
“If this is going to happen, we might want to make it quick,” Levi called out. “I’m not quite sure how much longer Mallus has.”
Levi was standing near Mallus in the far corner of the garage. The angel’s gaze was focused entirely on the sphere that he still held in his hands. He looked even skinnier than when he’d first arrived.
Aaron gave Vilma one last kiss, staring into her eyes for what very well might be the last time.
“Love you forever,” he whispered.
“Love you forever,” she echoed.
He squatted down in front of Gabriel and threw his arms around the Labrador’s thick neck, squeezing tightly, breathing in the comforting smell of the animal.
Then he rose and headed toward Mallus.
Taylor Corbet intercepted him, taking him by the arm. “I wish we could have had more time.”
“It would have been nice,” Aaron agreed.
“You’ve made me very proud.” She touched his cheek.
“And you’re every bit as beautiful as I thought you would be,” he said, wrapping his arms around her in a loving hug. “I’m so grateful that we got the chance to do this.”
And with those words, they released each other. Taylor stepped back. There was so much more that they could have said, but they would have to be satisfied with what they had shared.
The fallen angel lifted his gaze at Aaron’s approach. “It’s about time,” he said weakly.
“Had some things to get in order first,” Aaron told him.
“Understood,” Mallus said. “Are we ready to try this?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Aaron answered. “What do I need to do?”
Mallus’s eyes had returned to the sphere. “Hope with all your heart that it accepts you.”
Aaron braced himself for what was to come.
“Here goes.” Mallus leaned his face in toward the crackling sphere. “You can let it out now, Tarshish. The kid’s here, ready and willing.”
The halo that had once been the Malakim, Tarshish, gradually began to break down, and the divine energy that once belonged to the Almighty began to pulse and grow all the more intense as it was released from its confinement.
“Let’s see if he’s able,” Mallus said, thrusting the power of God at Aaron.
* * *
Vilma had no idea what to expect. She didn’t know any more than any of the others did.
Mallus was going to give Aaron some kind of power that might—
Might.
Be able to help them save the world.
As she stood beside Aaron’s mother, Vilma’s mind raced. She thought of what was happening in the world outside, of her uncle, aunt, and cousins, of the other Nephilim, but mostly she thought of Aaron and how much she loved him, and how she was now going to have to share him with this new power.
Mallus looked as though he had aged fifty years, and Vilma had to wonder if the same would happen to Aaron. She feared for the fallen angel. He had only been part of their group for a short time, but during times like these, people bonded quickly. Could she bear to lose another friend?
She watched from across the vast garage as Mallus turned toward Aaron, that glowing sphere in his outstretched hands.
He offered the power to Aaron. It was the passing of the guard, so to speak.
Vilma had to fight the urge to tell him not to take it, to cry out that they would come up with another way.
To everyone else, the power of God represented a chance to right what had been done to the world. But Vilma saw it as an end to any happiness she might ever have had.
A warm hand slipped into hers, and she started. It was Taylor Corbet.
Aaron’s mother stared ahead at the scene unfolding before them, sharing her strength. It couldn’t be any easier for Taylor; meeting her son after so much sacrifice, only to lose him to this.
Vilma gave the woman’s hand a gentle squeeze, acknowledging that she was there for her—that they were there for each other.
Aaron stepped closer to Mallus, and the fallen angel thrust his prize toward Aaron’s chest.
She didn’t know what to expect; none of them did.
Which made what happened then all the more scary.
* * *
Mallus felt his life slipping away.
He wondered if this had been God’s plan all along.
He thought of his past, of how he’d followed Lucifer Morningstar into war, escaping God’s wrath by coming to earth, and falling in with the Architects and their mad plans to make the earth superior to Heaven, no matter the cost. Those were interesting times, but what had been even more interesting was his change of heart. A change of heart brought on by the Morningstar’s transformation, nonetheless. In watching Taylor and his former commander, Mallus had been able to see the beauty of this world,
and all the good that God had intended for it.
Mallus’s failing eyes searched the garage for a sign of her, the human woman who had transformed the Son of the Morning: Taylor Corbet. Across the room, she looked as beautiful as when he’d first seen her. There was something special about that one.
Mallus chuckled to himself. Of course there was; she had managed to tame the Morningstar. And, in the process, she had given birth to the savior Nephilim, the one who would restore the fallen to Heaven. And now he could very well be saving both earth and Heaven, if all went as hoped. If there was anything that Mallus had learned as he’d wandered this world, it was that God was always two steps ahead. One might think that He had turned His attention elsewhere, but He was there. Everywhere. In some form—He was there.
Mallus felt God’s power leave him. He watched Aaron’s face, not sure if this mad plan was even going to work.
But if what Mallus believed was true, then this, too, was all part of God’s divine plan.
* * *
For a split second Aaron wanted to change his mind.
The little selfish part of him that made him human grew incredibly strong for an instant, almost swaying his decision. But the true Aaron was stronger than that selfish part, and he accepted the gift offered to him.
He reached out for it, to hold between his hands, but the power would have none of that, surging into his chest.
It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, it was like dying, and being born again, over and over. It was like having the sun placed inside you, so wonderful and warm, but deadly hot.
But you don’t want to let it go, enduring the pain for as long as you possibly can, for to release it would be—
Awful.
The energy of God swirled around his soul, before settling in for its stay.
For now.
A soundless explosion of sheer force emanated from his body, the way in which the force of Heaven let them all know that it was staying. Aaron watched as Mallus’s body was carried away by the silent emission, his now ancient skin and bones dissolving in the force of the blast, leaving nothing behind to show that he had even been there at all.
And as quickly as it had started, the sounds of the world returned, and Aaron found himself quickly turning around to see what this sudden release had wrought.
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