Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Once the beguilement settled inside me, my body slacked in relaxation. I knew I’d tell them anything now; they only had to ask the right questions. And with Crixis here, with Max as backup, they were certain to eventually stumble across the right ones.

  “Why did you try to kill Kass?” Crixis asked, letting go of my face but not breaking eye contact.

  “I had to,” I explained, “to help Gabriel awaken to his true self.”

  No one in the room looked surprised. Crixis spoke, “And what is his true self?”

  “He is the one we’ve been waiting for for centuries. He is Lucifer reborn.”

  “I thought the Templars were Christian warriors,” Max spoke from his position in the back. “Why would they want Gabriel if he’s…him?”

  “Answer his question,” Crixis told me, so I did.

  “The world is corrupt and full of sin. Demons on every street, the unholy hiding in plain sight. The world needs to be born again, like it was once, eons ago in the Great Flood. Humans procreating with Demons, sodomites and sinners. The slate must be wiped clean. This time,” I said, “the world won’t drown. It will suffocate in fire, and from the ashes the New Age will be born. No Demons, no sinners, only pure, innocent life.”

  Kass’s eyes grew wide. “Gabriel is supposed to burn the whole world? Is he that powerful?”

  “When he has nothing tying him to this life, he will be,” I said simply. Couldn’t she understand the world had to be born anew? Why was it so difficult to grasp? Surely she had witnessed enough suffering in her life, fought enough Demons to know they were never going to stop unless the slate was wiped clean?

  “And in this plan,” Kass went on, “does anyone survive?”

  When I kept my mouth shut, Crixis growled, “You will answer every question any of us asks of you.” His glare hardened on me, and my will to fight against Kass and Max crumbled to a nonexistent heap.

  “Those in the Order will survive, and we will repopulate the earth with sin-free, holy children,” I said. It wasn’t that hard of a question. Really, the answer should’ve been obvious.

  “Of course,” Kass muttered.

  The three standing in front of me were so very inquisitive. They asked me about everything, and due to Crixis’s unwavering compulsion, I was all too happy to answer each and every question. Hours passed, and I told them all about the Order’s secrets, about where we had our origin, why we were still around. I explained how I’d supposedly snuck under the Council’s radar for long, how I was trained from birth, much like Kass, Gabriel and Max, though my purpose was far holier than theirs.

  The Purifiers were the foot soldiers. The Templars were the heavy cavalry, the last line of defense humanity had against evil. Purifiers knew nothing of the bigger picture, only following orders to fight and purify until they could do neither, until some Demon claimed their lives. They didn’t need to know the whole picture. Only those in the Order did.

  I told them where our headquarters were when Crixis asked. I freely gave the name of our leader, to which Kass’s eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. She recognized the name. She had to. She wasn’t that stupid.

  “Does the Order ever gather in one place?” Crixis inquired, and I knew precisely to what end he asked. He wanted to know if there would be an opportunity to wipe us all out in one, clean sweep.

  “Not usually, but we were given orders to meet in three days at the safehouse. I’m supposed to bring Gabriel there after Kass’s death.” The safehouse, I’d recently explained, was our little bunker, heavily fortified with living quarters, recreational rooms, and even classrooms. A vault that was self-sustaining, full of food that would last for years and gardens with bulbs that simulated the sunlight. It was where we would wait out the fire, how the Order would survive.

  “Three days,” Kass repeated. “Is it enough time to get over there?” She glanced to Crixis.

  “I can see about—” Crixis paused, tilting his head like he was thinking, listening to his thoughts. “—renting a private aircraft.” And by renting, he meant compelling. Semantics I let slide, because it didn’t matter.

  In less than one week, the world would be engulfed by fires no firemen could put out. No amount of water or chemicals or even anti-flammable material could stop the flames Gabriel was capable of creating. The world would burn, and I couldn’t wait to see it.

  Chapter Twelve - Liz

  That night I didn’t sleep at all. I sat in the living room, pretending I was unaware of what was happening upstairs. Seeing Michael like that, it was harder than I imagined it would be. His face still tugged at my heartstrings, still made me want to love him and forgive him even though what he tried to do was of the most unforgivable. My resolve was weaker in his presence, my will to stand on the side of the Council wavering.

  How did he fool us all?

  I wondered this question often as the hours wore on and the beginnings of daylight started to seep in through the front windows. I should’ve drawn the curtains. The light was too bright, too yellow and glaring.

  Standing, I went to do so, so I could pity myself in peace, but the moment my fingers curled on the beige curtain, my eyes scanned the front yard, the driveway, instantly spotting people who were out of place, a van whose windows were black.

  We weren’t alone anymore. They were here for Michael, to kill Kass, and to take Gabriel.

  I didn’t bother counting how many there were. I ran to my purse in the kitchen, forgetting I had my phone on the coffee table, next to the Templar chest. I blinked, momentarily hating myself for making such a mistake, turning to grab the house phone. I’d dial 9-1-1 if I had to. It was better than nothing.

  With the phone in my hands, I was seconds from dialing when a soft voice spoke, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Liz.”

  My gaze on the wall in front of me widened, and the phone slipped from my sweaty palm. I recognized the voice. But how did she get in the house without us knowing? I slowly turned to view Vanessa, the woman whose desk was next to mine at Council headquarters.

  She wore the same black outfit the ones surrounding the house did, a single red Templar cross patched on her arm. Like they were some kind of military force. Which, by the look of her and the others, they were. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her hands clad in gloves. She held a small gun, pointed right at me.

  “Vanessa,” I spoke as others kicked down the front door and filed into the house. Men and women—all faces I vaguely knew—marched in with guns slung across their chests. Even if I had the stake in my purse, I’d be outmatched. I didn’t own a gun because they were useless against Demons. “What is this? Why are you wearing that?” I watched a pair of men wander into the living room and inspect the chest.

  Vanessa smiled, her teeth a flawless white. She held the pistol steady. “You mean, after all this time, you still don’t know?”

  My silence was my answer. I could hardly hear her over my rapidly beating heart. Was I going to die? Was this the end for me? Suddenly I knew how Kass felt on a daily basis. It was a terrible feeling, and I couldn’t fault her for wanting to quit.

  “We’re here for the boy, and Michael, if he’s still alive. And to take care of the girl. Can’t have her interfering with our plans. Thank you so much for calling and giving us the heads up.”

  “I didn’t call you,” I whispered. “I called…” I only made one call yesterday, and it was to…

  “You still don’t get it, do you?” Vanessa sighed. “Well, seeing as how I’m going to shoot you in a second, I guess I can tell you the truth, so at least you’ll die knowing why.” She glanced to the others who began to scope out the bottom floor of the house.

  Why wasn’t Crixis down here? Surely he heard them approaching, surely—

  “You’re such a dolt, Liz. I don’t know what he told you, if anything.” Vanessa’s dark eyes flashed brighter before she said, “The Council is the Order of Knights Templar.”

  My heart nearly stopped. “What? That’s im
possible.”

  “It’s very possible, and it’s true. The Order had to take another name when King Philip forced the Pope to order us dissolved and disbanded, so we moved to England and became the Council.”

  “No. If the Council was the Order, why didn’t I—”

  “Not every worker bee is accepted into the hive. You were idealistic, but not in the way the Order needed. You were just a paper-pusher, someone who got the job done, and in the end—” She leveled her gun at me. “—expendable.”

  The Council was the Order, but not every person who worked for the Council was a part of it? My brows furrowed, because it didn’t make much sense. All this time, Michael was…I didn’t have time to finish that thought, because Vanessa’s finger tightened on the trigger.

  And then she pulled it.

  My eyes instantly squeezed shut, for I was not the type of woman who wanted to see her death coming. Would it hurt? Did she aim for my heart or my head? Would I feel the bullet’s impact? Did she…my mind stopped its wandering when I realized I should’ve felt the bullet hit me by now.

  I peeked under squinted lids. Was Vanessa that horrible of a shot?

  No, she didn’t miss. A tall, scowling figure stood between us with his hand outstretched. The bullet, I saw, landed directly in Gabriel’s hand. It popped out, dinging on the floor as he healed himself. He was fast; I didn’t even hear him come down the stairs.

  “I am tired of people coming into this house with the intent of telling me what to do,” Gabriel muttered, his voice worlds different than the happy-go-lucky one he had before his poison-induced coma.

  Vanessa’s arms finally showed weakness as they shook. She dropped to her knees, murmuring, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you cared for her.”

  Both Gabriel and I were well aware of the scout of troops that were slowly and silently raising their assault weapons. They only needed Gabriel; they didn’t want me alive, otherwise I could spread the truth. Vanessa acting repentant was just that: an act.

  “Do you think I don’t see you?” Gabriel asked, his voice deadly. “Drop the weapons.”

  The other members of the Order resisted, but their will crumbled as I watched them, mouth agape, drop their massive guns to the floor. Gabriel could compel like a greater Vampire? He didn’t even have to stare at them to force them to bend to his will.

  What else could he do?

  Gabriel bent to pick up the bullet that was meant for me. He studied it for the longest time, or maybe it was only seconds. I was too unnerved to know. The room seemed to grow hot, the air stifling. A low growl came from his chest.

  I stepped aside, watching as the soldiers grabbed at their heads, squeezed their eyes shut. One by one, they fell to their knees, writhing in agony. Even Vanessa let out a howl of pain. Blood started to seep from their eyes and their ears. Their skin turned red and blistering, their veins popping.

  I couldn’t say why, but I wanted to defend these people who I thought were my coworkers and friends, even though they were going to kill me just a minute ago. “Gabriel, you’re killing them—”

  A pair of smoky, fiery eyes turned to me, and my entire sight turned to black as the room grew dark with…wings?

  I stepped back, shielding myself as best I could, my back hitting the counter. When the heat dissipated and the air felt clear, I slowly opened my eyes. Gabriel was gone, and every single one of the intruders were dead. They looked as though they were heavily irradiated, pus and boils, red and pink and gooey. Blood pooled under their bodies, still leaking from every orifice. After a moment, the smell of burnt flesh entered my nose, and I fought the urge to vomit.

  I ran to the sink, about to lose whatever was in my stomach, when I glanced outside. There were more men and women out there, as dead as the ones in here. All these lives…lost in the blink of an eye. I couldn’t handle it. I wretched into the sink, nothing but stomach bile, all acid.

  “What happened?” Kass’s voice broke through my retching.

  I was slow to turn to face her, wiping at my mouth, still reeling. “The Order is the Council.” I wanted to cry, but the smell of death was too strong. I felt both numb and sick. “They came to take Gabriel, to finish the job with you. Gabriel…he did this. He…he’s gone.”

  Crixis was behind her, Max holding a hand over his mouth as he surveyed the damage in the living room. Crixis spoke, “If the Devil-boy is on a warpath, we must stop him.”

  Surprisingly, I agreed with him. Something as powerful as this had to have a weakness we could exploit. If he killed a dozen people without blinking, without even trying…what would he be capable of at his full apex?

  Gabriel could not be allowed to fully awaken.

  “No,” Kass said, confident. She had a dagger in her pants, her expression muted. She would not look down at the floor, at the bodies. She stared at Crixis, then at me. “I’ll go after him. You guys stay here, take care of this, since we can’t call the Council for a cleanup.” She looked back to Crixis. “Take care of Michael. Do…what you have to. We got what we needed from him.”

  I watched as Kass stormed out the door. How would she know where Gabriel went? He didn’t seem particularly interested in being friendly with her. What if he hurt her worse than he did earlier? What if she ended up like the bodies on the floor? But I couldn’t stop her. She was determined.

  All I could do was give her a nod and pretend like I didn’t catch the Michael part.

  Chapter Thirteen - Gabriel

  Rage was all-consuming, easy to fall back into. I never knew until recently how good it felt to let loose, how amazing it felt to hold all the power in my hand. I could do anything I wanted; I wasn’t going to sit back and listen to a group of usurpers who thought they could use me to make the world born anew. I would not be used.

  I was so much better than that.

  I was fast, strong, able to command heat and fire. I felt like I could fly, soar high into the sky and never land again. This world was too much. Too many people with too many feelings.

  Maybe…maybe the Order had the right idea. Maybe it should be born anew.

  My instincts took me to the one place that felt like home to me, even though it was in the early hours of dawn, a time of day I’d never stepped foot in a cemetery. I appeared, not before a random headstone, but before one I knew. A name I knew well.

  Koath Elsin, beloved teacher and father.

  I bared my teeth at the stone, standing on the dirt above his coffin. It was still somewhat fresh. The grass below was nowhere near the fullness and greenness of the space around us. I knew he was dead, but I hated him all the same. I hated him for bringing me into this life, for forcing Kass on me. She was…I was better off without her.

  I wanted to break the headstone, shatter it like glass, smash it into a hundred pieces, too small to put back together. I wanted to destroy everything around me. Maybe it would make me feel better, less like a void in the shape of a man.

  The Order wanted to use me. The Council wanted to use me as a Purifier, though apparently from what I heard, the Council and the Order were one and the same. Kass wanted me to go back to the way I was. Did no one care what I wanted? Did what I want not matter? I was just a means to an end. A way for people to get what they wanted.

  Damn it. I wanted…

  What? What did I want?

  I knew what I used to want. I wanted Kass by my side, her hand in mine. I wanted to experience everything life had to offer with her. She was my best friend, my only friend, my life. But she threw it all away the moment I fell into a coma. She clearly didn’t care for me the way I cared for her. I wasn’t going to continue to pine after her like some pathetic man. I was so much more than a pining teenage boy, jokes aside.

  I, I finally realized, was better than everyone. More powerful than anyone. I had enough power flowing through me to destroy it all.

  I could end the world and let it burn, watch all those living in it die. Was I that cold? I certainly felt like it, now. Could I be that cruel, th
at evil? Clearly, I was capable of mass destruction. I could close my eyes and will a fire to form, a fire that would never stop spreading until the entire world burned.

  I felt the urge to start the apocalypse sooner rather than later, but a bright light shone behind me, the opposite direction of the sun, which rose straight ahead of me in the distance. I didn’t need to turn around; I knew who it was. I could feel it.

  “Gabriel,” her angelic voice spoke. “This isn’t you.”

  “It is,” I said, slowly turning my gaze away from the grave, to the woman floating near me. She wore a flowing white garment, her feet bare and six inches off the ground. Her brown hair defied gravity as well, flowing in slow-moving, wispy tendrils.

  “You know who I am,” she said.

  “Yes, he showed me. You’re the one who led Koath to me. You’re the reason I was put into this life.” The disdain in my voice was evident, but she didn’t flinch.

  “You mistake my intentions. I gave you everything, Gabriel, everything you needed to walk the path of light. Simply because you fell and chose the dark once does not mean you are fated to do so again.”

  I chuckled. “It kind of feels that way.”

  The woman, beautiful in every way, was so very reminiscent of Kass. It hurt to look at her for that reason. “I knew the moment I fell in love with a human that our daughter would save the world. She would fight and stand for those who couldn’t stand for themselves. She’d inspire those around her with her heavenly presence, even Demons. Even you.”

  I blinked, seeing, for the first time, giant white wings behind her. They faded in and out of existence. Of course. Kass was her daughter, an Angel’s daughter. I should’ve known. “So you threw your kid to the Devil and hoped he wouldn’t eat her alive.”

  “You are no Devil. Simply because the power is there does not mean you must use it for evil. You choose to become who you are. There is always a choice.”