“Ethan, no!” I flew over the altar and wedged myself between them.
“Samantha!” Lucas yelled for me and I saw Sebastian tense. Shit. I had to do something to keep his focus on me.
“You want the pendant? Fine.”
“Sam, no.” Ethan tugged at my shoulder, pulling me back toward him. “I’m doing this. It’s my duty to protect you. It’s my job.”
“Fuck your job.”
Sebastian clapped his hands and laughed. “Now, now, son, Ethan, if Samantha wants to give me the pendant, then by all means. Let her.”
“No.” Ethan gripped the necklace and pulled it from my neck, snapping the chain. The light from the pendant was blinding and the three off us were knocked off our feet just as a set of wings fell beside us. A scream erupted from above us and Christian’s body dropped to the ground. Mara fell soon after, her body covering his with grief-stricken sobs.
“He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead,” she repeated over and over.
Chapter 26
I wasn’t sure where to go or what to do. Damien entered the clearing, meeting my eyes with his. This was my promise, Samantha. To help you defeat him.
I drew strength from his arrival, as did the others. Noah joined us on the ground and the six of us surrounded Sebastian.
“Damien, how nice of you to join us. I was just thinking of all the ways you and I could rule this earth. Of all the ways you and I could step out of hiding and become.”
“You and I? I don’t know Sebastian. Things didn’t work out too well for me the last time we were ‘you and I’, you know?”
“Oh, dear friend. You aren’t still angry about all that nonsense, are you? Things have worked out for the better. Don’t you think?”
“Better for who?” Damien spat out his words.
“For whom, my dear Damien.”
“What?”
“You said ‘better for who’ and that’s grammatically incorrect.”
Sebastian was obviously trying to distract Damien. It didn’t look to be working.
“I’m thinking,” Damien said calmly. “You should keep your minions away from me. My wings aren’t out my friend.”
I looked up quickly and saw four of them trying to sneak up behind Damien, each with a needle-like sword in their hands.
“Mine are.” Sebastian pushed his wings forward with more force than I thought possible, throwing Damien back into a tree.
Standing slowly, Damien brushed bits of mulch from his clothing and stalked deliberately toward Sebastian. “It’s gonna take a lot more than tricks to get rid of me, as you know. So I think you should just walk away now. We both know if we get into this, it won’t end well for you.”
“All I want is what is mine. Ethan, bring me the pendant.”
“No.”
Lucas ran and stood in front of his brother. Mara tried to drag the slow-healing Christian toward the shelter of the surrounding brush. Noah pulled his sword and I could feel his aggression grow. Cal was battling an injured Exiled.
In that moment, I didn’t know where I belonged. Everything spun in slow motion and I couldn’t catch my breath. Slowly, Mara’s sobs broke through the haze and I turned to look at her slumped over Christian’s battered body. Pulling myself together, I knew we needed strength in numbers.
“Move over, Mara.”
“No, no, no! He isn’t dying. He can’t be dying.”
“Let me help. I can help.”
I placed my hands on his chest, pulled every ounce of positive energy from everyone and everything around me and pushed it into his body. At the same time I pulled the damage caused my Sebastian’s freak outs. I watched in horror at first then in amazement as the black negativity swelled through my veins and traveled up my arms. Color was returning to his face and his breath grew steadier. I watched as his eyes fluttered open and his wings regrew beneath him.
“Oh my God! Samantha, you did it! You saved him!” Mara pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I felt weak, but I knew it wouldn’t last. “I can’t believe you-”
She was staring at me strangely. “What?”
“Your face. There are marks all over your face.”
Reaching up, I felt the swollen veins protruding and pulsating just below my skin. What was happening? I had no idea, couldn’t fathom what was happening to me. Pulling my hands up in front of my face, the same black lines continued to slither across my hands. It was then I heard Sebastian’s wicked cackle echo through me.
He had Ethan on his knees, a sword placed on his shoulders.
“And why shouldn’t I kill you?”
“You’ll never get the pendant,” Ethan spat.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. And I’ll get it with you alive or dead and buried. That much I promise you. Now give it to me!” His last words shook the earth.
“Leave him out of this!” I yelled as darkness swooped down and lifted me up.
My wings stretched out so far I thought they would rip the skin right off my back. The pain, terrible and frightening, only fueled my need to destroy Sebastian. I reached out and pulled the wind into my body until it formed a tornado around me. Cloaked in shadows, I channeled all my energy into my attack.
Trees uprooted, dirt lifted from the earth and rain poured down. Lightning struck the ground at Sebastian’s feet. I siphoned anger from him and used it against him. Minions, ripped apart in mid-air, fell from the sky. Black power poured from my body, striking Sebastian until he could barely stand. It wasn’t enough.
Samantha. Stop.
Damien was trying to reach me, but all I wanted to do was shut him out.
Wait for my signal.
I can’t.
Darkness is not the way to defeat him. Trust me.
I had distracted Sebastian with my display for a moment. It was long enough for Damien to act.
“I will kill you!” Sebastian readied himself to hit me with everything he had.
“Looking for this?” Damien leaned against the altar, casually swinging the pendant from his hands. He looked at me and shifted his gaze for a split second to the box.
I crouched and waited for Damien’s signal.
“Stop fucking with me! I will kill all of you. I will destroy everything, take everything, just as everything has been taken from me.” Sebastian lifted his face to the sky. “Do you hear me? People will cringe when they whisper my name! You will no longer exist in their minds. They will know you’ve abandoned them, yet again!”
In that moment, the sky opened up in the most glorious shaft of light. Dust motes sparkled, trees bowed and Sebastian fell to his knees.
“Why? Why do you forsake me?”
The white angel appeared before him and wrapped him in her arms. It was the most beautifully serene display I’d ever seen.
“Now Samantha!” Damien yelled to me and threw the necklace. I caught it midair and crashed into the altar. As the pendant glowed white-hot in my grip, I knew what to do.
I jammed it into the keyhole on the box.
“Now get down!” Damien tackled me, covering my body with his.
The angel turned ugly as her grip on Sebastian grew tighter. He screamed as the box opened and they were both sucked into it along with anything else standing in the way. With a boom, the box closed and the shaft of light swirled away.
Chapter 27
When the dust settled, I looked around to make sure everyone was all right. Lucas helped Ethan off the ground, Christian leaned on Mara though it was obvious his strength was returning quickly, Noah collected his sword from the chest of an Exiled and Damien held me tighter. Cal hobbled close, one wing torn from his body.
It was as if everyone stopped holding their breath at the same time. Looking around, I knew the wide eyes, the tears, the smiles and the prayers were all because I finally did what I said I would.
“What just happened?” My voice sounded foreign, far away.
“Sebastian is gone.”
I walked to the altar and rub
bed my hand across the top of the stone. “Gone? Dead?”
“No, Sam.” Damien smiled. “Not dead. Just tucked away in the box.”
“Gone, then.” The box, once so beautiful and ornate was now just a…a wooden box.
I ran my fingers over the keyhole where my pendant fused itself. “And the angel?”
“The Angel of Hope now resides in the box with him. If it is ever opened again, she will be there to right all the troubles with her hope.”
“What of me?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He traced his fingers across my cheek.
“What of me? Of balance? Now there is nothing to balance, what of me?”
“Oh, Sam. Believe me, there will be another to rise up in his place. Probably sooner than you’d want.”
As he tugged me into a hug, I didn’t have time to contemplate what he said. Emotions flooded through me. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After feeling like a pariah, about to be run out of town, I’d finally made good on my promise. His lips brushed the top of my head before he stepped away.
“Holy shit! You did it! Sebastian’s finally gone.” Lucas lifted me off the ground as I watched a weak but growing stronger Christian grab Mara and kiss her. Even Noah’s normally reserved tone was replaced by the tone of absolute disbelief and elation. I, however, wasn’t sure how, exactly, to feel. The man who killed my father was finally gone. Not dead, but surely enough, locked in a box.
And I put him there.
I should have been elated, but something was scraping against the back wall of my thoughts and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was about to slam into me.
Wincing as arms wrapped around my shoulders, Ethan tugged me into an embrace. It was uncomfortably rigid and I swallowed the urge to question it aloud. “You are amazing, Samantha. You did it. You did it.”
“I had help, you know. If it weren’t for you and the others, I’m not sure I would have been successful.” Pulling away I held onto Ethan’s shoulders, looking him in the eye. “Damien was right. His plan worked. Now can you see he was here to help? That he is an ally?”
Every muscle in his body tightened further and the light that filled his eyes only a moment before disappeared. “Sam, I…”
Pressing my fingers to his lips, I shook my head. “No. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed my friend. Whatever you have to say to me can wait until tomorrow. For now, be my friend. Just be happy with me.” I wasn’t ready to face his words, whatever they might have been. He nodded but the happiness and hope in his eyes didn’t reignite.
Damien approached and Ethan let go quicker than I would have liked. I knew the corner I’d thought we turned was nothing more than a straight and narrow path with no end in sight. Realizing I would now have time to fix what was broken, or at least try to, I made a mental note to finally put thing right. Without Sebastian clouding my thoughts, I finally felt a ray of hope, a sliver of the light in which everyone around me was already basking.
“We’ll talk later, Sam.” My skin prickled with something all too familiar as I watched Ethan walk back into the house.
“How are you doing?” Damien grasped my hands. I forced myself to look away from the house.
“Fine. Better than fine, I think.” Relief and fear flooded my heart. “He really is finally gone, isn’t he?”
“He is. Like I said, for now.”
“What does that mean for us?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“Us.” It wasn’t a question. It was obvious he knew what I was asking.
“Yes, Damien. Us - you and me. Us.” I hated the way my voice tilted toward pleading.
His eyes moved from mine. “It means we can figure us out, finally.”
Fear intermingled with relief at the forefront of my thoughts. I didn’t believe him, at least not deep down. I had to brush it aside to at least get through until tomorrow. Tomorrow I would focus. Tomorrow I would force myself to confront the confusion swimming in my head. Tomorrow, I would begin to heal, finally.
Laying my head on his shoulder, I breathed him in. “I’m tired.”
“Then let’s get you to bed. You should sleep and start anew tomorrow. It will truly be a new day for you, for all of us.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“I know you’re glad to finally be rid of Sebastian, but isn’t there a small part that will miss him? I mean, you and he have been together since the beginning.”
“Those feelings will be sorted out tomorrow as well. There is no need to dwell on the past right now. Now is a time for celebration and rest. You will see the world with new eyes when you can finally think clearly.” He kissed the top of my head. “As will I.”
I watched as he walked to Mara and Christian. Hugging her, shaking his hand – it looked as though Damien might finally be accepted.
The celebration continued with tears and smiles. More relaxed than I’d ever seen them, my friends let the walls around them crumble. My bones were sore from bear hugs. Even Noah was a different person.
“You did well.” He held out his hand and I took it, shaking away the previous distrust.
“Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without all of you behind me.”
“I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I still don’t like that prick Damien, but it looks like you were right about him. He did what he said he would do.”
I couldn’t shake the odd feeling nagging at me. I couldn’t run the goose bumps away. “Noah…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you feel something else?”
He cocked his head to the side like he was trying to figure me out. “Something else? Like what?”
He was obviously not privy to the same vague undercurrent of impending chaos that continued to nag me. “Oh, it’s nothing. Probably just residual crap left over from Sebastian.”
“Well, kid. He’s gone now.” He rubbed my head like I was a child that needed encouragement.
I ducked away and faced him like we were equals. “You’re right. He is.”
“True balance is achievable. We have the box with Sebastian tucked securely inside, we have the pendant which is the only key to unlock said box... Now we decide how to make it all work again.”
With a pat on my shoulder, he held my stare for a moment before joining the others who had started a bonfire in the yard. Holding back, I watched from the outside and let their happiness fill me. I felt almost content and told myself whatever else was coming, it could be handled. There was nothing else for me to do.
“Sam.” Whipping my head toward his voice, I smiled.
“Damien.”
“Been a long day.”
“Sure has.” I looked around at all my friends and watched as they hugged and laughed and smiled. I watched as Damien watched me.
“You need some sleep.”
Waving him off, I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“We both know you’re going to crash any moment. May as well plan ahead and go to bed.”
As he spoke, I felt my adrenaline fall away. I stumbled a bit, falling into Damien.
“I told you.”
His smile was genuine and sexy and full of something I couldn’t place. Sorrow? Joy? I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t see straight. “I need to go to bed.”
Tired and spent, Damien carried me back to my room. “Get some sleep, Samantha. It’s a whole new world for you now that Sebastian’s gone. You will see a new set of challenges. But for now, just sleep.”
The way his arms felt around my body made me truly believe I was finally safe. “Will you stay with me?”
“I don’t think I could leave you if I tried.”
“Then don’t try.”
I tightened my grip around his neck as he leaned his head down to kiss me. In that moment, everything else disappeared. There was no pain, no worry, no fear of losing control— it was just us. At least for that moment. And fear that it wouldn’t last threatened to choke me.
/> Chapter 28
Lying in bed, we faced each other as I memorized every angle, every line, every little thing about his face. Despite it all, the devil was my home. With him I knew I could do anything, conquer any fear, handle anything that was laid before me. With him, I was complete. A perfect blend of light and dark, hope and despair.
“Samantha,” he breathed. “There is something I have to tell you.”
I placed my finger over his lips like I did with Ethan. I didn’t want to talk; I didn’t want to explore my feelings. I just wanted to sleep. Dreamlessly. For the first time in a long time. “Tomorrow. Tell me tomorrow. Tonight I just want this. For the first time in a long time, I am truly happy. Whatever it is, can wait until then.”
“But…”
Before he could finish his sentence, I kissed him. Lost in his touch, I let myself go.
***
Damien’s absence roused me from sleep. Reaching for my sweatshirt, I shrugged it over my head and opened my bedroom door. I could hear light snores coming from Lucas’ room. Smiling to myself, I wondered if he was finally experiencing the peaceful rest I had before I was awakened.
Careful not to make any noise, I stepped down the stairs. Navigating in the dark wasn’t as unpleasant as it once was. Though the balance that finally tempered my being felt off kilter, I shook it off as par for the course. Considering I’d been so uneven, it felt only natural to tip the scales a bit. It wasn’t until I reached the bottom landing that I finally found the reason I felt askew.
“Damien?” The scales nudged a hair toward darkness.
His shirt tightened as the muscles in his back contracted and he froze a moment before turning to me. “What are you doing awake? You should be sleeping.”
“What are you doing?” Tip, tip, tip. White noise filled the space as I felt a shift shudder through me.
“You really should go back to bed.” Tip, tip, tip.
“I’m fine. Where are you going?” I knew I hadn’t imagined his hand on the doorknob.
His eyes flicked behind me before he answered. “Nowhere.”
“What’s outside?”
“Nothing. Look, it’s late. You really should go.”
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