I straightened and watched as the doorway to Hell opened and welcomed me inside. The pain in my chest had quelled; however, my heart was beating a mile a minute.
“Did you do that?” Braydon asked.
I assumed he was referring to the door opening up. “I… I guess. I mean, yes. Of course. How else would we get in?”
“Every time I’ve come here… I’ve had to transport directly inside. I could never get that wall to open for me. I only brought you out here to make sure you were ready instead of just throwing you right in. How’d you do that?” Confusion crossed his face.
“Need I remind you of who I am, who you want to spend the rest of eternity with?” I asked with narrowed eyes. “Or rather, what you want to spend eternity with?”
A pained expression had replaced the confusion before he scrubbed his hand over his face. After letting out a heavy sigh, he grasped my upper arms and said, “Cassie, I know exactly who you are. As I’ve already mentioned, I don’t care, because I know I can bring out the light in you. Once we’re together, my love for you won’t ever let the darkness overshadow it. I promise you.”
I wanted to laugh in his face at the irony. No. I wanted to yell that he was too late because the illumination was gone. My light wasn’t as simple as a burned bulb that could be replaced. A huge power surge had taken it out and completely annihilated the circuitry, never allowing another connection. I was darkness.
He would see that soon enough, but not before I got my hands on the Sword.
“Cassie?”
Braydon was waiting for me to say something. His head had tilted slightly to the side and his eyebrows furrowed down as he peered at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head as if to clear it. “I know you’ll try, Braydon, and I’m so thankful for your faith in me. It means so much to know someone sees the good in me. Being in Hell, being around Caleb, I’d started thinking maybe my fate was to remain in the darkness.”
One of his hands came up and rested against my cheek. “Never think that, Cassie. Never again.”
I pulled away from his hand and focused on the doorway, now open to the view of stone steps leading down into the depths of Hell. “Let’s do this, so I can put the darkness behind me for good.”
“Okay,” he said and held my hand in his. “Follow me.”
He led me through the doorway and down the steps. The minute our feet hit the floor of the long, shadowed corridor, the door behind us slid closed, blanketing us in darkness. That image only lasted a second before all of the torches hanging on the walls magically lit with bright flames, lighting the path in front of us. Just as magically, a surge of energy hit me, like a strong gust of wind in a powerful storm. The torch flames continued their slow, steady flicker, making me realize the rush of energy was only impacting me. Before I had a second to rationalize it, the force beckoned me forward.
Braydon had given pause from the torch flames appearing, so I found myself pulling his hand, urging him to follow me. I had no idea where I was going but knew I was being led exactly where I needed to be. The Sword was calling me.
My steps quickened, and eventually our pace became a steady jog, turning corners, following one corridor, then another. Braydon’s hand had dropped as he trailed a few steps behind. A few times, he asked how I knew where I was going, but I didn’t bother to answer. The power within me grew with each step. I followed it like a lifeline until finally reaching a cell door. I was familiar with this one.
Peering through the bars at the top of the door into the chamber beyond, I thought of the irony of our location. It had been my prison… for however long… I’d never know. I’d been chained and tortured at the very pillars where I now longed to be. Fate had become a very witty and poetic bitch. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Braydon grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him, forcing me out of my thoughts. “Cassie? What’s going on?”
I couldn’t let him know how strong the Sword’s pull was to me. I didn’t want him to question my motives. Not now, not when I was this close. “I’m sorry. I just… this is where Nergal kept me prisoner. I… I had to see it again. I had to see that it was empty, and I was free of him. I can’t explain it. I just… I…”
“It’s okay,” he said, pulling me close. “You don’t have to explain it.” I laid my head on his shoulder and let him hold me.
“Did I take us too far off course?” I asked, trying to sound innocent.
He pushed me away from him and gazed down at me with wide eyes. “No. You’re not going to believe this…” He paused and glanced into the room before checking my reaction. “This is where I hid the Sword, Cassie. Jesus, I’m so sorry. If I’d known…”
I put my hand on his cheek to soothe him with mock sincerity. “It’s all right. You couldn’t have known.”
His eyes held so much sympathy, I almost felt bad.
“I’ll go in and get it. You stay out here.”
I nodded, letting him play the hero.
He disappeared, and I knew without turning around that he had transported inside the cell. A faint shuffling sound came from within, but that wasn’t what proved to me he’d located and taken hold of the Sword. It was the overwhelming urge I had in the depths of my soul to rush into that cell, tackle him, and take back what belonged to me.
The Sword was mine and mine alone.
I was so close to ultimate power and could practically feel the thrumming energy in every molecule of my body, but I had to stay patient for a while longer. Soon enough, I’d be in total control of everything. Of everyone.
Afraid of losing my resolve, I didn’t turn around to see what Braydon was doing in the cell with my Sword. Instead, I’d follow through with my visions of annihilating anything keeping me from my destiny. Luckily, Braydon reappeared in the corridor with me before I lost control.
I knew, while staring at the Sword in his hands, my gleaming eyes and parted lips, I’d probably revealed too much of my adoration for a material thing. He couldn’t know how much it meant to me, how much it was a part of me, but it was difficult to conceal when it was this damn close and pulling me closer.
The blade, pointing down, radiated with an iridescent glow when Braydon held the beautifully jeweled hilt in both hands. It had become a beacon of light filling my darkness, and I craved it.
Knowing from experience the weight of the Sword was much heavier to others than to me was evidence enough of its rightful, natural home. My fingers brushed over Braydon’s hands instinctively, an act of longing to feel a direct connection without showing my true desperation to have it in my own hands.
“Okay,” he said, breaking my trance, “what now?”
“We get out of here,” I answered, concentrating on the Sword in his hands.
“You said you wanted to take it back to the Sanctuary, right? Are you sure? We can take it with us, Cassie. Go somewhere now, search out someplace where no one will find us. We don’t have to go back at all.”
The love and innocence in his soul were real. He truly believed we could live out some happily ever after, and for a moment, I even wanted it too. The truth of what I was, what I planned to do and become, would crush him and put out his shiny light like wind to a candle flame.
I could make it easier for him by killing him now. I’d figure out a way to get into the Sanctuary without him once it was all done. Using him would be less challenging, but not exactly necessary.
My hands squeezed over his at the hilt of the Sword. The power radiating through my palms from underneath was fierce. It would be so easy to snatch it from his grasp and slice the blade through his neck. Without any apprehension, I knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.
Take it, Cassandra.
As much as I wanted to, as much as I was compelled to, I just couldn’t bring myself to act.
“Cassie?” he said with puzzled eyes.
“Ahhh.” A shout rang from down the corridor. “By the angels, I think you’ve found it.”
&nbs
p; Caleb sauntered toward us, followed by at least a dozen of his minions.
My window of opportunity had just expired.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Give me the Sword, Braydon,” I said through clenched teeth.
His eyes were wide with panic. I couldn’t blame him. The numbers were not in our favor, and he knew how powerful Caleb had become. “Let’s just transport out of here, Cassie. We have what we came for. Let’s just go.”
“No,” I said, determination in my voice and in the grip of my fingers over his. “We can end this now. I can end this. With the Sword, I’m more powerful than any of them, even Caleb.”
“Cassie, no. I can’t let you—”
“This is the only way.” I stared directly into his eyes, softening mine, pleading with him to see. “If I don’t do this, we will always be running, forever looking over our shoulders. Let me do this so we can be together. Give me the Sword, Braydon. Trust me.”
Caleb let out a loud, low laugh that bounced, echoing off the stone walls. We both looked in his direction. He was approaching too fast, getting too close. “Oh, you are good, you little devil,” he said with an evil smirk. “My dear, love-stricken angel, why don’t you ask her how she was envisioning you moments ago. I promise you, it was not together. As a matter of fact, it was very much in pieces. Don’t worry, boy, the first cut is the deepest.”
I snapped my head back to Braydon. His eyes had narrowed, and I couldn’t tell if he was contemplating what Caleb was telling him or if it was pure hatred aimed at the monster ambling down the corridor toward us.
Grabbing Braydon’s forearms, I forced him to face me. “Don’t listen to him. He’s only trying to trick you. Give me the Sword and transport back to the Sanctuary. I’ll come as soon as I finish this here.”
“What? No. I’m not leaving you here.”
“Goddamit. I can’t beat them all if I have to protect you too. Now go.” I snatched the Sword and pushed him with enough force to send him down the corridor in the opposite direction of Caleb and his demons. He stumbled to the ground and pulled himself back up. He started running back toward me, but I aimed my glowing eyes his direction and watched as he hit an invisible wall, the one I placed there. “Go, Braydon,” I shouted. “Trust me.”
I quickly turned to face the approaching army. I couldn’t worry about Braydon anymore. My fate pressed upon me step by measured step. This was it. My ultimate life, Caleb’s ultimate death. Or maybe it would be the other way around. We were about to find out who held the most power.
Caleb stopped about twenty feet ahead of me. His army continued to walk around him as if Caleb were parting a sea of evil slowly rolling toward me.
“I’ll be back, Cassie,” I heard Braydon shout from behind me. “I’ll bring help.”
“Don’t bother.” Caleb sneered without taking his eyes off me. “This will be over soon.”
I held up the Sword, brandishing it as a warning to the demons, who were now only a few feet away, flanking the sides of the corridor. They all stopped and glared at me.
“Cassie, I must admit, I’m quite impressed with you,” Caleb said, keeping his distance. He was either scared, or biding his time. If I were to guess, I would choose the latter. I’d never seen Caleb scared. Regardless of the weapon I held, I probably didn’t appear as foreboding as I felt, especially when the odds were about twenty to one. “You’ve come a long way from the sweet little guardian angel I met back at that bar. Not so angelic anymore, are you? It’s such a shame. You really would have been the perfect queen, if only you would have realized your place, serving your king. Me, Cassie. I’m the king.”
“See, that’s your downfall, Caleb. You’re still stuck in the dark ages where only men can rule. Well, welcome to the new age where the queen reigns supreme. If you fall to your knees and bow down before me, I may not make you suffer too long before your Final Death.”
He laughed, a loud hearty one, which shook every nerve in my body and set me on high alert. My body had been humming with energy, feeling so light on my feet I might have believed I’d been floating had it not been for seeing them touching the stone floor with my own eyes.
“I really am going to miss you,” Caleb said in typical high-handed tone. “Give me the Sword, sweetheart, and maybe I’ll reconsider killing you. I could make you my pet, but, of course, you’d require a permanent collar.”
My lips curled back at his suggestion, baring my teeth, like the dog he alluded to, albeit a feral one.
“The only way you’ll get your hands on this Sword is if you pry it from my stiff, dead fingers.”
Caleb shook his head as he stared back at me, a forlorn look on his face, but a glow in his eyes. “What a waste. Sadly, the time has come then.” With a nod of his head, his voice matching the calm demeanor, he called out, “Men.”
The army of demons descended upon me, but I knew they were hesitant, not of a fight with me, rather of what I held in my hands. They eyed the blade cautiously, knowing its power, but they were loyal to their leader and would die trying to carry out his orders. They stopped a few feet in front of me, and we seemed to be at a stalemate, none of us willing to make a move for fear it would be the wrong one.
I needed to get this over with, be done with it, not only because the anticipation of a life or death situation was one of the worst feelings in the world, but because if Braydon were bringing back the angels, I’d have to contend with them too. That situation was on my list of plans, but on my terms, when I was ready. And I would be ready if I survived this.
How did one go about fighting off an army? I had very little experience with any kind of physical altercations, aside from beating the hell out of the bags in the gym and fending off Caleb a time or two. Now, I was facing a freaking army, emboldened with evil sneers and really shiny, sharp swords. They weren’t as deadly as the Sword of Final Death, but they could take me down and give Caleb the opportunity to change the hands of power in an instant if I weren’t careful. Did I take the risk of striking out at one in hopes I was quick enough to fend off an attack from another? I honestly had no idea what the hell I was doing.
The darkness within me called my name. Pure instinct caused me to close my eyes. A burning sensation ignited in my chest and radiated throughout my body, heating my blood and loosening my muscles. My heart rate slowed, as my breaths became long and deep. Sound silenced around me and my mind cleared. All anxiety faded away. I no longer worried how this battle would play out because I knew the only outcome for me was victory. I had the ultimate power. No, I was the ultimate power, and there was nothing or no one who could defeat me.
With eyes still closed, my arms raised the Sword horizontal above my head, pointing behind me. I inhaled once, and then exhaled, long and slow. Swinging the Sword left to right, spinning with the action, I felt no need to open my eyes. My body was on autopilot, and I let it take over. I was cognizant of each movement, each breath, but at the same time I stood in my protected shell, waiting for whatever was happening to play out until I could open my eyes and claim my conquest.
All sense of time had disappeared before I finally opened my eyes. When reality returned, I was standing in the middle of a black tarry mess, a bloodbath all around me. Pieces of demon, or what I assumed was demon, lay among the dark, gooey mess, bits of black stained flesh stuck on the walls and ceiling of the corridor. Not a demon was in sight. I’d defeated them all without a drop of sweat.
All but one.
Frozen and standing in the exact same spot he’d been before I’d closed my eyes, Caleb stared back at me, his face devoid of emotion. No glaring eyes. No sinister smirk. He was blank, unreadable.
“You must be feeling pretty powerful right now, little girl,” he said.
“And you, Caleb? How about you?” I asked. I was enjoying the power, but experiencing the nervous side too. This was it. The final moment. A fight for ultimate power. Do or die. Would my power be enough to defeat Caleb once and for all?
“Oh, no, m
y dear. You see, all those new powers you’ve recently stumbled upon, I’ve had months to perfect. You’re no more than an adolescent trying to control all those raging, chaotic hormones. Me? I’m a full grown man.”
He disappeared before my eyes, and without an instant to react, I felt his length behind me. His arms had wrapped around mine, and his hands clamped my wrists, preventing me from swinging the Sword. Squeezing me into his body, he ground his hips close to my ass, smashed his face into the side of mine, and whispered in my ear, “And I know exactly what to do with them.”
I gasped. While involuntary, it was a sure sign to Caleb that he’d gotten an edge on me. And he had. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even try, his grip was stronger than a solid, metal vice.
He spun me toward the wall, and we launched forward until I slammed against it. The Sword jerked toward me. If I hadn’t moved in time, it would have sliced my head in half. It did, however, manage to nick my cheek as it swung over my shoulder. A small trail of blood dripped down my face.
“I’m afraid it’s time, my queen,” he said, his lips still close to my ear. “I want you to know, Cassie, this really does pain me to have to do this, but believe me when I tell you, this is going to hurt you way more than it will me.”
He pulled me away from the wall enough so he could maneuver my hands.
Mind racing, I searched for a means to escape the death hold. While I did, Caleb managed to get the Sword pressed against my neck. My heart beat too fast, and I was out of air from the breath I’d been holding, but I didn’t dare exhale. Energy assaulted me from within, and I thought I might explode with it.
“Don’t you love the irony of it all?” Caleb asked, with a snicker. “I mean, who’d have guessed you’d die by your very own hands?”
Everything stopped. The pulsing energy, my wild heartbeat… it all leveled out as if a calming switch had been flicked. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
Turning my face to his, I whispered, “You want irony? I’ll give you irony.”
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