“You got no business being here, boy.” As a show of power, Mr. McKenzie forced Billy’s arm higher.
Billy winced. He lifted his head what little he could and glared at his dad. “For fuck’s sake. What’s wrong with you?”
James glanced back at the dishevelled thief hanging before him. “I thought that was obvious, son.”
“You need to let them all go.”
“Is that request coming from my son or the police?”
“Jesus Christ, does it matter?”
James shrugged. “May have had more sway coming from a professional body.”
Billy struggled to free himself, but Mr. McKenzie held tight. “Fine, then I am ordering you as the police.”
James laughed. “And I promise to take it under advisement.”
“Under advisement? Eliza’s strung up like Jesus-bloody-Christ himself. She’s going to die if we don’t help her.”
“You misunderstand me. I do honestly feel a little guilty about doing this to her, son.” James glanced across to Eliza and his face took on a look of admiration. He turned back to Billy and smiled. “But sacrifices have to be made. She is my key into Heaven.”
“You’re insane if you think I’m going to let you kill her.”
“You’re hardly in a position to stop me.”
“Then take me.”
A smirk found James’ lips. “You?”
“Yes. If you need a sacrifice in this demented plan of yours, for fuck’s sake use me.”
James rubbed his chin. Even if Billy couldn’t see it, Roman could. The guy was just playing with his son. “Interesting idea. But I think I’ll stick with the girl. You just don’t have what it takes inside you to open the Gateway.”
Billy struggled further – all to no avail. “Christ, Dad. Please don’t do this.”
James lifted the dagger back towards the thief. The dagger gouged the thief’s chest. The man lifted his head and his screams filled the night. His body stiffened and veins bulged in his neck to the point of bursting. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and only then did James pull the dagger free. The life in the thief’s eyes died. His head lolled forward, and any fool could see what Roman sensed – that the man was dead.
Shock greyed Billy’s face. “You have to stop this.”
James smiled. “Everything I have done has come from generations of planning.”
“This madness is barbaric. You’re barbaric.”
“I am dying, son, and I have no intention of spending my afterlife in Hell.” James stepped past Eliza and stood before the second thief.
The man began to cry out, offering money and anything else James desired if only he’d let him live.
“If you take one more step, I swear I will kill you where you stand.” Billy stretched for his sword once again, but his reach fell short by a foot or two.
“You won’t kill me. I’m your father.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t,” Roman limped through the doorway, his right arm held close to his side. His time to heal had just been cut short. “But I’d have no hesitation whatsoever.”
James paused. His gaze found Roman. “Ah, you must be the elusive Roman. Now you, I was expecting.” He clasped the dagger with both hands and smiled.
James raised the dagger and just like he had with his first victim, he placed its tip against the man’s chest. He glanced over his shoulder towards his son.
Roman hobbled forward. The attempt to stop Hamilton killing the poor bugger that hung on the pole was nothing more than wasted energy on a futile gesture. His injured leg slowed him, and he never reached Hamilton in time.
McKenzie stood and pressed the tip of the sword against the back of Billy’s neck. Roman saw and halted. He needed a plan, and quick.
James smiled. Just like the first man, he plunged the dagger into the thief’s chest. The man’s savage cries died quickly and within seconds, his body hung limp on the pole.
James wiped the blade down his robe then looked at his daughter. Eliza struggled, but it was short-lived. She looked drained of energy and ready to die.
Shit. “Wait.” Roman limped forward.
“Stay where you are or I’ll kill the cop,” McKenzie said.
Billy craned his neck. When he spoke, it was directed at McKenzie. “For Christ’s sake, you were Eliza’s neighbour.”
“Neighbour?” Roman’s interest was piqued. Suddenly he had a plan to get the sword away from Billy. “No relation to a bad Dolly Parton lookalike by any chance – like, say, your wife?”
Mr. McKenzie halted. Now it was he who looked unnerved. It took a full minute before the confused look on his face was replaced with concern. “What have you done?”
“Me? Nothing. She accidently fell on a knife and split her jugular wide open.”
“You’re lying.” Now Mr. McKenzie had the sword trained inches from Roman’s abdomen.
Roman held up three fingers. “Scouts honour.”
“She’s dead?”
“Well if she ain’t, she’s definitely going to be a lighter shade of white now.”
“It doesn’t matter, McKenzie,” James interrupted. “You can be with her again.”
Anger filled Mr. McKenzie’s eyes. He glared at Roman. “I’m going to kill you.”
“McKenzie,” James said, but Mr. McKenzie wasn’t listening. He stepped away from Billy, his glare fixed on Roman. “I’m going to gut you until your insides spill across the floor.”
Now Billy crawled for the sword. “McKenzie!”
Mr. McKenzie turned in time to block the blade that Billy reigned down upon him.
Billy sidestepped, raising Davis’ sword again, and in unison, the two men circled each other. McKenzie launched his attack and Billy responded, the clang of steel upon steel deafening.
Roman looked at Hamilton. Now it was just the two of them.
James rushed towards Eliza.
Roman hobbled to intervene.
Hamilton was quicker. He held the dagger centimeters from Eliza’s neck and almost dared Roman to continue forward.
The urge to rush to her side and pull her from harm’s way was immense for Roman…but stupid. He stopped just feet from Eliza’s body. “Her blood is all over the Cross. You don’t need to kill her. You never needed to do any of this.”
“Ah, but I do.” James pushed the matted auburn hair away from Eliza’s neck.
“Damn it. All you needed was a little of her blood.”
“I need her to die.”
Roman glanced at Eliza, and her eyes met his with a look of painful bewilderment at the predicament she found herself in. “I’m begging you. Don’t do this.”
James grinned. His lust for wanting to get to Heaven couldn’t be bartered with. Evil filled his eyes, and Roman’s heart sank. James pressed the dagger against his daughter’s throat.
Roman limped another step closer. His heart raced. He didn’t need his senses as a Reaper to know Eliza was close to death. “Let the girl go and I’ll let you go to Heaven and do whatever the fuck you want to up there.”
“Her blood has already been spilt on the Cross. Whether I kill her or not, she will die. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Then put the knife down and let her go.”
James smiled, but his eyes remained cold. “I can’t do that.”
“Then you leave me no choice.” Roman raised his hand.
“You’re no longer a Reaper, and I’d hazard a guess that my soul hasn’t been earmarked for the taking. Kill me like this and you’re signing your own death warrant.”
Roman clenched his fist, his power taking hold of James’ heart. “Trust me, it’ll be worth it.”
James’ face drained to almost grey and he clasped his chest. His face creased with pain and he collapsed to his knees. “They’ll find you, like they did the last time,” he gasped.
“Maybe.”
“And Eliza’s life is worth that much to you?”
Roman thought of Jane, and wondered if she and their son waited for him in Heaven. All he had to do was release Hamilton and he’d be able to find out. He glanced at Eliza, her head slouched to her shoulder, her eyes closed. This girl had been a pain in his backside the last couple of days, but life without her? Well, that suddenly wasn’t an option. Roman twisted his fist, his body rigid with anger. “Hell yes, she’s worth everything.”
James collapsed to his knees. Roman had not taken a life as a Reaper for centuries, and it felt good using his power again. But taking Hamilton’s soul in this way would reveal his whereabouts to those who hunted him. And if they found him, they’d take him back to Purgatory. Flashes of his past spotted his vision. Bellowing cries deafened his ears and images of harrowing torture filled his head. He couldn’t go through with it. He couldn’t go back to that hellhole of a prison. He unclenched his fist, defeated, and concentrated on not collapsing under the exertion. He wanted to kill Hamilton, but he couldn’t go back to the place he’d evaded for so long.
“You had me worried for a moment.” Rattled breaths wheezed inside James chest and, although he struggled to breathe, he smiled. “I thought you were going to kill me.”
He struggled to his feet, his attention once again firmly set on Eliza. “But Davis told me you were an egocentric bastard.”
Roman dashed forward. Pain erupted down his arm. His knee buckled beneath him, but determination kept him moving forward.
James sliced the blade towards Eliza’s throat, but this time Roman reached him. He stretched out his arm. The dagger sliced his wrist and Roman felt his veins sever. Blood painted his skin within seconds. James swiped the dagger towards Eliza again, but Roman blocked the blade.
“Did Davis also tell you I’m unpredictable?”
James’ eyes widened.
“Thought not.” Roman twisted Hamilton’s wrist until it pointed towards its bearer. In one swift motion, Roman forced pressure behind James’ elbow, and stabbed the blade into the man’s abdomen.
James dropped to his knees and clasped the wound, but the blood already seeped through his fingers. He glanced up at Roman. “You stupid idiot. Good luck when they find you.”
“Research your history, mate. There’s nothing in the rule book about killing you like any other human being.”
Behind him, Billy clashed swords with McKenzie like an expert and looked to be winning his fight. But it was a fight that Roman needed to be over. He pulled the dagger from James. Roman’s vision spotted, and he glanced at his wrist again. Way too much blood. He gave himself minutes before he passed out and probably died before the wound could heal – and he didn’t have time to waste on dying. He refocused on Billy, flicked the dagger into the air, and caught the cold steel between his fingers. With lightning speed, he launched it towards Mr. McKenzie. The blade passed by Billy and embedded McKenzie between the shoulder blades. McKenzie stopped mid sword swing and he fell forward against the stone wall.
Billy paused, sword raised above his head. He glanced at Roman, an element of contempt in his eyes that it had not been he who’d won the fight. Nausea overwhelmed Roman, and he turned and vomited.
“You okay?”
But Roman had moved on. He reached up, cradling Eliza’s face in his hands, and soon Billy was beside him, both men tugging to free the nails that pinned her wrists. Billy’s spike slithered easily from the wood, and Eliza’s body swung to the left, her impaled right wrist the only thing keeping her from dropping to the floor. Roman’s nail wouldn’t budge, and he had no choice but to slide her wrist over the end of it. Eliza fell from the Cross, and Roman caught her body in his arms, falling to the ground with her. “Billy, grab that robe.”
Billy did. “Is she dead?” He covered her nakedness.
“No.” Her breathing was slow. Roman brushed the blood-soaked hair from her face and her eyes opened, taking a while to focus on him. He repositioned himself beside her, still holding her in his arms. “It’s okay, you’re safe.”
Behind him, Roman heard James crawl to his feet.
“She’s dying. It’s only a matter of time,” James said, his face already pale from his blood loss. He picked up Mr. McKenzie’s sword, and stumbled to the corner of the tower.
Hamilton was right. Roman could feel the life draining from Eliza’s body with every second that passed.
Thunder roared across the night, and light swirled in the sky above him like poured cream in stirred coffee.
“Looks like I win. And you lose.” Amusement licked at James’ words.
Roman glanced down at Eliza.
A faint smiled creased the corner of her lips. “I want to go home,” she whispered.
Roman pulled her close.
Her eyes slowly closed, and Roman felt her body go limp.
Billy saw. He raced to Eliza, but Roman shook his head. She was gone.
A lightning bolt cracked through the darkness, and a ray of beautiful white light shone down directly over the Cross.
Crippled and dying, Roman glanced at his bloody wrist. Anger bubbled inside him. Throughout his life, love had only ever found him a couple of times. Once, when his brother brought home his new wife; and two days ago, when he first saw Eliza at the train station. He stood, dizziness instantly taking him, and limped towards the Cross. “You forget one thing, Hamilton.”
James staggered towards the light, a look of delight twinkling in his slowly dying eyes.
“A Reaper chooses the soul’s destination to the afterlife.” Blood dripped from Roman’s wound, running the length of his arm. He glanced at Eliza, her dead body motionless and finally at peace, and grit his teeth. “And yours definitely isn’t going up.”
Guilt and sorrow raced Roman’s veins. He could easily jump into the light and be with his beloved Jane. But he didn’t. He slapped his bloodied palm against the weathered timber, the purity of Eliza’s blood now contaminated by his.
He wanted vengeance.
The ray of light started to grey, darker and darker, until it turned blacker than coal itself. It whirled like a tornado, churning the ground and overturning everything in sight. The sky crackled, and thunder boomed down past the clouds.
“He’s getting away,” Billy shouted above the noise.
“He’s not getting away with anything,” Roman said. “I’m sending him somewhere where he’ll never get away from it.”
But Billy raced towards the darkness, the sword outstretched and reaching for his father.
“Billy, don’t!” But Roman couldn’t stop him.
Billy lunged for his father. The sword ran through his torso and Billy took him down to the ground…and into the pit of the dark tornado.
For a second or two, Roman heard their screams. Then their voices drifted away. When the black light dispersed, both Billy and James had vanished.
The winds grew more ferocious. Roman’s broken body collapsed beside Eliza’s and he hugged her into his chest to shield her body from further torture. The wind howled around them, and piece by piece he heard the True Cross splinter apart. He didn’t look up, and instead clung to Eliza as he waited for the storm around them to die.
When he finally opened his eyes, moonlight flooded the sky. The True Cross was gone, along with the two bodies that had hung from the wooden poles. McKenzie remained in a heap, the dagger still embedded in his back.
Roman cupped Eliza’s face, tilting her head so he could see her one last time. Blood smeared her skin, and anger surged throughout his body unlike anything he’d ever known. Tears burned his eyes, and he grabbed the crown of thorns from her head and pulled it free from her tangled hair.
“I’ll make this right,” he said, throwing the artefact across the tower.
Then, he glanced up towards Heaven.
And screamed.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Heaven did not respond.
But then, Roman hadn’t expected it to. Heaven hadn’t helped when he’d
asked for Jane’s life to be returned to him, and he knew it wouldn’t help now.
He glanced down at Eliza, the seconds ticking away before he lost this window of opportunity and was forced to live with yet another bad decision for the rest of his days. Eliza deserved to live. He’d hidden as a coward for far too long. Now he needed to do what was right – no matter what consequences he was about to bring down on himself.
McKenzie lay facedown in the dirt, and Roman sensed that death hadn’t taken him yet. Well, he’d just have to help death along a little. He got to his feet, unsteady and wondering if he had the strength to pull off what he was about to do. Not just the physical strength, but mentally as well. Pulling a soul back from the afterlife would be like hanging a neon sign above his head. Purgatory would know his whereabouts almost immediately and he reckoned he’d have little over half an hour before they sent the Sheriff for him.
Nevertheless, he limped across the tower and grabbed hold of McKenzie’s arms. His body was like dragging a dead weight across the dirt, and Roman stopped midway to catch his breath and alleviate the pain in his leg. He glanced at Eliza, detecting nothing but coldness inside her heart. It was his fault. Anger rose within him and he grit his teeth. When the frustrated yell left his lips, he did nothing to stop it. Every painful step he dragged McKenzie was comeuppance for his part in Eliza’s death. And everything he suffered from here on out, he deserved.
He flopped McKenzie beside Eliza and pulled the dagger from his back. When he rolled him over, McKenzie’s eyes were open. He stared at Roman, almost as if he knew what was about to happen.
“You know someone needs to take her place, right?”
McKenzie’s eyes widened.
Yeah, he knew alright.
Roman turned to Eliza. His energy was waning. He could feel it inside: the usual rush of adrenaline was drying up. He needed to do this now, before it was too late. He pulled down her robe, revealing skin stained red by her own blood. She didn’t move or protest the action, and not a single acknowledgement of pain or discomfort crossed her face. Roman grit his teeth, pressed his hand against her chest, and sighed. He had to stay focused.
The Sacrifice Page 26