by Amy Braun
“That was disappointing,” Lucifer said to break the silence. “His anger was palpable. I instilled more strength into him, and yet you survived. I would set you against the bounty hunter,” he said, gesturing to Drake, who chuckled at my battered face, “but I have already promised him another’s blood.”
My own blood went cold. I knew he was talking about Warrick, but if Warrick were killed fighting Drake, the bounty hunter wouldn’t stop there. He would see Max, and tear him to pieces.
“But I cannot risk fate smiling upon you,” Lucifer said. “I must set you against someone I know you cannot defeat.”
He turned his head. Dro looked up at him, her eyes beginning to widen.
“My daughter,” Lucifer purred. “Kill her.”
Chapter 24
Dro stared at Lucifer as if she couldn’t understand what he said. I heard it clear enough, but I still couldn’t move. I felt like I would collapse if I budged an inch.
“She– Look at how weak she is,” Dro tried. “It won’t be much of a fight if I went against her now.”
Lucifer’s eyes bored into her. Dro flinched.
“I did not tell you to fight her. I told you to kill her.”
An unspoken threat hung in the air. If Dro didn’t kill me, she would be punished. I knew from experience that being punished by Lucifer could be a fate worse than death.
But the hesitance told me that my sister was still locked under the demon controlling her mind. I looked carefully at Dro’s body again, squinting to see if Michael had been right after all. If she didn’t have it, Drake did. I would have no problem killing him, though I dreaded how I would deal with my sister if she wasn’t being swayed by the supernatural shard.
“But–”
Dro gasped and winced sharply, backing away from whatever invisible pain was being inflicted on her. She slapped a hand to her stomach, right where the leather belt was.
If she has a fragment in her, then that’s where it is.
I started walking toward my sister, gripping the hatchet tightly. Not even looking at me, Lucifer flicked his hand in my direction. An invisible momentum slammed into me, knocking me back ten feet. I landed on my ass, not looking forward to more head trauma. But instead of flopping onto the ground again, someone caught me and hauled me to my feet. I swayed, but the hands kept me upright. I breathed deeply, and smelled pine. I would have smiled and thanked Warrick if my face didn’t hurt so much.
I turned my attention back to Lucifer and Dro. My sister was clutching her middle, digging her nails into her side to keep from screaming. I started walking forward again, only to have Warrick tug me back. I was ready to shout at him, when I saw Dro relax. She took one more deep breath, then drew herself up and turned in my direction.
I was about twenty feet from her, but I could still see the darkness shimmering in her bright blue eyes. Her smile was malevolent and bloodthirsty.
Michael was right. Dro had a fragment inside of her, not Drake. She wouldn’t be looking at me with a smile meant to kill if it weren’t. The fragment was dissolving. I had no way to tell if it was dissolved, or if she was holding back. I had to believe she was resisting it. The other option… I couldn’t think about it.
She stalked forward like a cat approaching a mouse it had clawed. Max whimpered nervously, and Warrick’s hold on me tightened. I didn’t move. There had to be a way to get through to her, to let her know that she could be saved if she trusted me.
But I was running out of time, unable to think through the panic taking over my mind. Then Dro froze and frowned. A moment later, the world burst into familiar golden light. We turned around and watched Michael and Sephiel return. And they weren’t alone.
A dozen angels strode confidently to our side. Each one of them holding a drawn weapon, wearing a white leather coat, and looking severe. Sephiel scowled unhappily at my injuries, turning his furious blue eyes onto Lucifer. I was still watching the angels emerge from the golden light, not expecting the next man I saw.
“Gabriel?” I choked out.
Michael’s second in command smiled a thousand watts at me. The archangel looked like a male model with flawless tanned skin, wavy, sandy blond hair, a youthful face, and glowing hazel eyes.
“You are looking a little worse for wear, Constance Ramirez,” he said playfully as he approached me.
I scowled at him, but Gabriel reached out to touch my face. I winced at the initial tingle of his healing magic, but I wasn’t about to refuse it. He repaired my nose, my cracked rib, and most of my bruises, though I could tell his magic wasn’t nearly as powerful as it should have been. But I was more than grateful to have my worst injuries healed. An extra bruise or two wasn’t going to keep me from fighting.
“I thought you were happy to sit on the sidelines until the world ended,” I said when he finished healing me.
Gabriel shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was.” His luminous eyes held mine. “But family has a way of changing your priorities.”
As if those words signaled his entrance, Michael stepped out of the light.
Michael, who still had his motherfucking wings.
Sephiel had had wings before the Heaven Gate was closed, but I never saw them. It was a way of concealing what he was from human eyes, I guess, and they were the reason he’d been able to teleport quickly and invisibly. Dro had been able to see them because she was supernatural. She said they’d been beautiful, but somehow I was willing to bet even his paled in comparison to Michael’s.
Two enormous, rounded wings sprouted from his back, beaming with intense white light. It was like he was standing in front of two blinding spotlights. When my eyes reacted to the whiteness, I was able to see the bare edges of feathers on the wings, which shone like crystals. They were so thin they were nearly transparent, veins of gold shimmering through them. Long gold bands traced the edges of the wings, making the entirety of them look like two golden windowpanes under the sun.
I never thought I would see anything that compared to the beauty of the Heaven Gate. I was wrong.
Michael looked right past me, striding forward with his broadsword in his hand. “This ends tonight, Lucifer. You have left me no choice.”
I whipped my head around to find Lucifer. The King of Hell had stripped off his jacket to reveal his own wings. They were as incredible as Michael’s, but more terrifying than beautiful. Four bat-like wings tipped with horns protruded from his back, the two larger ones edging along his shoulder blades while the two smaller ones stuck out from his lower ribs. He took the claymore from his back and held it loosely in his left hand. His eyes fixed on Michael, and for the first time, I saw an emotion in them.
Too bad that emotion was complete, utter hatred.
“I never intended to,” Lucifer replied.
The King of Hell raised his right hand, snapped his fingers, and let the demons off their leashes.
They charged forward like horses on the racetrack. The angels didn’t need Michael’s permission to confront them. Dro filled her hands with white-hot hellfire and swept both arcs at the approaching angels. Gabriel suddenly appeared on the frontlines, pushing against Dro’s hellfire with his own heavenfire. The white and gold lights slammed into each other, creating a burning explosion that nearly blinded me.
When it faded, Dro was staggering back, scowling and rubbing her eyes. I broke out of Warrick’s grip and raced for her. Lucifer was charging for the frontlines, and Michael overtook me. I got in his way before he could do anything to hurt Dro, but it wasn’t until I stood in front of her that I realized I might have made a mistake.
Dro’s eyes blazed with anger, her beautiful face twisted into a terrible snarl. I couldn’t see a trace of the sister I was trying to save, but I knew she was in there. I had to find a way to get her out without really hurting Dro.
Not that it would keep her from hurting me.
Something in Dro must have sparked when she saw me, because she didn’t burn me to a crisp. Instead, she fired a punch at my face.
I raised my arm to block her, the force of her strike sending a huge shock through my arm and pushing my block toward my head. She had become incredibly strong thanks to her time with Lucifer. If Gabriel hadn’t healed me, Dro would have pounded me into the dirt by now. There were openings I could have taken to turn the table of the fight, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. If anything, I was more cautious about my hand holding the hatchet.
Yet my eyes kept flicking back to her stomach. I had to see if the fragment was in her. If it was, I wasn’t going to have a choice. I would have to hurt Dro to save her.
During my distraction, Dro punched up and caught me in the chin. My head rocked back and she kicked me in the chest. For a girl fighting in a dress, she moved with shocking ease.
“Give up, big sister,” Dro taunted. Her smile was as cold as her eyes. “We both know you aren’t going to hurt me.”
Unintentionally, I remembered the first and last time a Possessor had taken control of me. I’d been locked inside my body, struggling and suffering, but never giving up. Dro had known I was in there, and she’d told me to keep fighting. She’d believed I could break free. Being under the influence of a fragment was the same thing. Your soul just didn’t know it.
I couldn’t let that nightmare come true. I wouldn’t let her live with knowing she killed us.
I held my hatchet tightly, meeting Dro’s eyes sadly.
“I’m sorry about this, little sister.”
Dro scoffed and launched herself at me again. This time I struck first. My fist jabbed into her face, just enough to daze her. Being very careful, I sliced my hatchet along the leather belt at her stomach.
The blade just nicked her skin, but completely ripped open the leather. Beneath it, Dro’s flesh was black and corrupted, just as mine had been. She was moving a lot, but I could see the outline of the fragment pressing against her skin.
It was there. Right there. If I had been fighting anyone else, I would have already lunged in for the strike.
But I wasn’t fighting just anyone. I was fighting my sister.
I hesitated, and it cost me.
Dro roared furiously and pushed a handful of hellfire at me. I dove out of the way, feeling the heat of the white-hot flames rush past me. I caught myself in a roll and kicked back, sweeping her feet from under her. Dro landed on the ground, and I pounced on her before she could get up. She thrashed and screamed and clawed at me, but I took the hits and pressed down on her chest.
Then one of her punches connected with my jaw. It was a hell of a hit, and it knocked me off my sister. I was still recovering from it when Dro pinned me and wrapped one hand around my throat. She splayed her other hand on the ground next to me, white flames creeping along the grass and hovering next to my skull.
I grabbed her wrist with one of my hands. The other held my hatchet. Yet my entire body was frozen.
Oh, God, I can’t do it. I can’t.
“Dro,” I rasped out. “Stop.”
“Stop?” she repeated in a dark, mocking voice. “Why should I? You had your chance to run. You didn’t listen to me. If you had, it wouldn’t have come to this, Constance.” Her eyes glowed a shocking blue, the rage in them as alien as the twisted smile on her face.
My sister had truly become a demon.
The heat and flames crept closer, singeing the edges of my hair. I smelled the sharp scent, knew how horrifically close I was to dying, but I couldn’t look anywhere but Dro.
“Andromeda,” I begged, digging my nails in, trying to reach her one last time. My hatchet was a weight in my hands. “Don’t make me…”
“Don’t make you what?” she sneered. “Kill me?” She shook her head. “We both know you won’t do that, Constance. You should, but you won’t. You imagined it differently, didn’t you? You really thought you could win.”
A tear slipped past my eyelids before I could stop it.
“I didn’t want to win,” I whispered. “I just wanted to save you.”
Dro shook her head, lips twisted between a snarl and a smile.
“That was always your problem, big sister. You always assumed I needed to be saved.”
Her grip tightened on my throat. She lifted her burning hand rose from the grass and hovered over my face. I could hardly see her past the heat searing my eyes.
“What I needed was to be let go.”
The tears evaporated on my cheeks. In that split second, I knew I couldn’t save my sister.
Lucifer had won.
I blinked, the dreaded realization creeping into my stomach.
This was what Lucifer wanted. He knew that if Dro killed me, she would be his absolutely. The fragment was meant to skew her perception of me. That was why he’d caused it to flare in her when she hesitated at his first command.
My sister was still in there. I knew she was. Her demon half was trying to strangle and burn me, but it wasn’t Dro. It wasn’t my sister, the girl that I knew was screaming inside, begging me to save her one last time.
At any cost.
My hand tightened around the hatchet, and I looked at the mockery Lucifer had made of my sister. Imaging him behind her eyes made it easier to lift the hatchet, and slash the side of Dro’s stomach.
She yelped in surprise and jerked her hands free of my face and throat. I twisted my hips and bucked her onto the scorched ground. I straddled her body, jabbing her once in the face to disorient her and control my weight. I glanced at the cut. It was shallow, far from any major organs.
But I had to make it worse.
Dro thrashed and squirmed beneath me. “Con, you hurt me! How could you cut me?!”
Gritting my teeth, I ignored her betrayed cry and cut a deeper slice into her stomach. Deep enough that I would be able to reach inside and pluck out the fragment, as she had done for me.
Dro twitched from the pain and started begging.
“No, Connie! This is what Lucifer did to me! Please don’t hurt me like he did! Don’t, please!”
It nearly broke my resolve, seeing the horrible connection to the pain I was putting her through, and the torture Dro had endured when Lucifer tore out her rib to open the Gates.
But I couldn’t stop now. As long as the fragment was still in her stomach, she would remain corrupted. She would try to kill me, and there would be no hesitation the second time. I pushed her down again, and reached inside the wound for the fragment. Dro trembled and screamed again, but I felt the small, burning stone between my fingers like a metal splinter. It was whole. Thank God.
I yanked it out of my sister’s stomach and hurled it onto the ground. I stared at it as it dissolved in the grass, leaving nothing but a pile of black and red ash. Now that it was dissolved, it wouldn’t be able to corrupt me, or anyone else.
Satisfied that the fragment was destroyed, I scrambled back to Dro. She was lying on her back, staring at the black, smoking sky. She looked stunned, catatonic even. I grabbed her wrist and slapped her hand on the cut on her stomach. Dro’s hand remained free of healing light. I looked at her face, hoping I hadn’t made a soul-crushing mistake.
“Come on, Dro,” I pleaded. “I can’t heal you by myself!”
There was a sharp, painful scream that caught my attention. I whipped my head around, watching the battle raging. The smell of sulfur and demon blood was thick, but it looked like most of Lucifer’s monsters were still alive. The angels fought back with determination, but I could see the exertion in their motions and the blood on their faces.
Sephiel was moving faster than I’d ever seen him move before, swinging at three Reds that were trying to surround me. The one in front of him swiped its claws at his head, but Sephiel ducked. The demon behind him pounced, but he was already stabbing back with his short swords. The Red shrieked as Sephiel pulled his swords free, and kicked the decaying demon back until it exploded into a cloud of ash. He twirled his swords in his hands, stabbing one into the chest of another Red while swinging and slicing open the throat of the third one.
&
nbsp; Max stood at the edge of the battle, silver knives in his hands. Some ghouls ran at him, but he fought back. He kicked one away and stabbed the second one repeatedly until it collapsed. The second ghoul tackled him, but he stabbed at the grey demon’s throat until it dissolved.
Warrick stood with the angels, helping them take down a Shredder. The enormous demon batted its hand backward, knocking down two angels. Warrick appeared on its other side, then stabbed his knife into its neck and pulled it across. The demon roared and whirled, stabbing its bone-claws toward him. Warrick slid underneath them, ducking the Shredder’s arms until he appeared in front of its chest. His free hand dropped to the ground, and picked up a fallen sword. In the same flowing motion, he drew the sword up and shoved it under the Shredder’s chin.