by Mia Bishop
Abby held her hand to her throat and coughed. “Is she dead?”
“No.” Nico pulled the hammer from his belt and held it up to strike. “But she will be.”
The sound of wings beating through a storm filled the air. A howling wind whipped through the broken door and sent the remaining pews flying. Nico shielded his face against the raging storm. Abby stumbled and took some shelter behind Nico’s broad frame. She heard a crash that must have come from Graham being knocked off his perch. She opened her eyes to try to see what was happening but all she could make out were items churning in the violent wind.
Somehow out of all of the noise came the sound of footsteps. Abby felt Nico tense at the approaching intrusion. The accented voice from her past echoed all around them as the winds started to calm. “This ends now, Nico.”
The man she’d met in Hex who had set her on her path stood in the church. Except now he was sporting midnight blue wings with black tips that sprung from his back and grazed the floor behind him. “He’s the fallen angel?” she whispered in awe.
Nico gave a nod and raised his hammer over Rosa’s unconscious frame. “You’re damn right it ends now.”
Nico flexed, about to strike when an invisible force hit both of them so hard they went flying back into the far wall. The angel was now crouching protectively over The Whore. “You will not harm my daughter.”
Nico pushed himself from the wall and started to move forward. “Enzo, you can’t stop us. She brought about the apocalypse.”
“She didn’t mean to.” Enzo gave a quick glance down at her and stroked her chestnut hair. “She only acts out of anger. Her mother made a rash decision, it damned Rosalie.”
“I don’t give a fuck what Maria did. Rosa is trying to end the world.”
Enzo stood up, walking toward Nico. “What would you do, Lynch? If this were your child? A child you loved more than life itself. Could you let someone else destroy her? Or would you do anything, move Heaven and Earth, to try to save her soul?”
Nico gripped his hammer tight. “She can’t be saved.”
“How do you know?” The angel’s eyes darkened. “Did God tell you that? You’ve killed an innocent, but clearly God’s forgiven you.”
“I didn’t kill Molly.”
“Not intentionally.”
“Your daughter set that whole thing up. She had Molly possessed, she had her killed, she killed Lucas.”
Enzo paused as if word of Lucas hadn’t reached his ears yet. There was sadness etched in his ancient face. “She will pay for what she’s done, but I can’t let you kill her.”
A rustling came from across the church, Graham stood and dusted himself off. “Old man, what the bloody hell are you doing here?”
“Taking my daughter home.” Enzo smirked and turned to the Dark-Soul. “And if you’re a good little boy I’ll even wipe her memory of you interfering with her plans so you can resume your spying in Hell.”
Abby cleared her throat. “How do you know that?”
Enzo laughed. “I’m an angel, one of the oldest. I know much and I help when I can.”
“Like how you helped me, when we met at Hex. You sent me on this path knowing I would die, knowing I would be turned into a vampire. You practically hand fed me to Rosa. How is that helping?”
She wanted answers, she wanted retribution, but she had a feeling she would get neither of those from him. “You are the key, Abigail, they would have set this all up without my interference. They’d already been practicing their spells on you by the time we’d met. You came looking for answers because you were blacking out. That had nothing to do with me. I pointed you to the people who could help. Yes, I knew you would die. It was predestined. And for that I am sorry. You, like my Rosalie, had your fate decided for you a long time ago. She is a victim as much as you are.”
“Bullshit, she started this whole thing.”
He lowered his gaze. “I’m taking my daughter and none of you will stop me.”
“Like hell we won’t.” Nico charged the angel and hit a wall of force that sent him back again. “Don’t do this, Enzo. I will hunt you down.”
“No, you won’t.” Enzo walked to Rosa and scooped her up. “You are the embodiment of Justice now, and coming after me isn’t just. You know now that redemption is possible for all living creatures, it’s embedded into your DNA. You will let us leave. Besides, your fight isn’t finished here.”
“What—” Abby paused and cocked her head to the side. Screams were coming from inside the cemetery. “The Gate,” She hissed.
Enzo nodded. “I’ll handle Rosalie and make sure she doesn’t cause any more harm.” He took something from his belt and tossed it to Nico. “Cast that as soon as we are gone. It will banish her from this town, she’ll never be able to get near the Gates, and at least one of her entryways into Hell will be lost. I’ve managed to seal off a few more as I’ve come across them.”
Nico seemed to be thinking it over, Abby on the other hand knew a good deal when she heard it. They weren’t going to be able to win in a fight against an angel, and at least this would limit Rosa. She stepped forward and held out her hand “You’ve got a deal.”
As the angel sealed his deal with Abby with a handshake Graham spoke up, offering a cryptic question to Enzo. “What about Sabina? She trusts you.”
Enzo’s nostrils flared, whatever type of threat this was it rankled the angel. “You won’t tell her, or I won’t wipe Rosa’s memory of you aiding the Priest.”
Graham flinched at that ultimatum. He cast his eyes downward and gave a defeated nod of his head.
Enzo flexed his massive wings and the swirling wind kicked up again. He hovered for a moment holding his daughter, giving the three people below him a pained look before flying away.
As soon as the wind died down, Nico opened the small bundle in his hand. The bundle itself was a scrap of leather holding an array of items and bound with a simple leather cord. As Nico laid it out Abby peeked over his shoulder. She squinted at a design painted on the brown hide. “What’s that circle design?”
“A spell.” He placed the items from the bundle inside the circle. A small bone, a lock of hair, a vial of something metallic. Abby frowned watching him run his fingers over the words written on the scrap of leather. Whatever it said, it was written in blood. Abby could smell it. Nico whispered words that had no meaning to her, but as soon as he was done a shimmering burst of energy radiated outward like the aftershock of an explosion.
He stood up. “It’s done. Rosa can never enter this town again.”
Abby stood beside him. “You sure?”
He nodded. “Positive.”
The screams from the graveyard grew louder. Nico and Abby both started running. Graham was gone. With his job on the line Abby was sure they wouldn’t see any help from him in this next round of battle. It didn’t matter, this was her fight. And Nico’s. They’d end this one way or another.
She was amazed at the change in him. He could keep up with her. She guessed his strength would be a match for hers as well. They rounded a group of trees and slid to a halt. The Striga were battling something large, loud, and deadly. Three of the women lay motionless near Abby, but they no longer looked human, they were like a mix of women and giant birds of prey. Covered in feathers and wings with soft feminine features. They were something amazing. Something out of this world, just as Meri had looked before she died. Abby stared down at them. “What is going on?”
“There is more to the Striga than meets the eye.”
She blinked. “I can see that. What are they fighting?”
Nico squinted and peered into the darkness. “The Beast.”
“The second one? Great. How the hell are we supposed to defeat it?”
“Kill it like we kill everything else.”
They marched forward. Arveda soared overhead, diving and attacking the creature in violent bursts. Kara leapt from the shadows and grabbed Abby’s arm. “Mother’s been waiting for you. We’ve fo
rced him to start his change.” She nodded to the three Striga on the ground. “Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain. This one is almost in his full form now.” She paused and added. “With the black sword you can kill him.”
“What?”
Kara pointed her finger at the Beast. “You can kill him now.”
“Right.” Abby threw back her shoulders, loosened her arms, and hit a full run. Arveda swooped and dodged the Beast to keep its attention locked on her. Just as Abby was getting close, the Beast swatted at Arveda and sent her plummeting to the ground. He turned the moment Abby leapt into the air. She pulled the ornate black sword from her belt and buried it in his neck. He bellowed in pain and she struggled to keep hold of the hilt. His staggering body and the momentum of her run helped drive him to the ground where he thrashed in pain.
Abby’s grip tightened as she sawed her blade through the thick grisly muscle and sinew until his head hung by only a meaty string of fibers. He wasn’t moving, only the occasional muscle twitched from leftover energy in the nerves. Nico stepped forward and leaned down to inspect the corpse. His eyes widened and Abby peaked over his shoulder to see the flesh slowly starting to regenerate. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Nico growled, raised his hammer and swung so hard the head detached and rolled into the crowd of Striga nearby. It was like a grotesque game of croquet. Some of the women clapped, others laughed. Abby wasn’t sure which response was more appropriate. She turned her attention back to the Beast. “Is it dead now?”
Nico shrugged. “I don’t think so, but as long as it can’t get to its head I think we’re okay.” He nodded toward her blades. “Just to be safe, take his heart.”
She nodded in agreement and quickly plunged her sword into the creature’s stomach, sawing and cutting upward until she’d hit bone. She lifted her chin at Nico before shoving her hands into the open wound and gripping the firm breast bone that protected the creature’s heart. The cold bone gave a creak as Abby grunted and pulled. With one final growl and tug the bone broke.
There was a loud crack followed by a gruesome sound of meat and muscle squishing between her fingers as she tore the body open. How different had her life been before coming to this town? She once worried about term papers and making her parents happy, she spent Saturday nights out on innocent dates at the movies and eating popcorn. Now she was elbow deep in the open chest of an ancient evil that was hell-bent on ending the world. And she had to pull its heart out to ensure it would die. She couldn’t be further away from who she had been before.
Wrapping her hand around the still-beating muscle she tugged. Nothing. She tugged again. And again, harder this time until the fibers clinging to the heart finally snapped. The heartbeat slowed. Abby swallowed and wrinkled her nose. “Do I crush it?”
He nodded. Abby squeezed until the juicy mound of muscle made a sickening popping noise and bloody tissue oozed between her fingers. She wrinkled her nose at the remaining bits of tissue that clung to her fingers and flung what she could off before wiping her hands on her pants.
The slow screeching sound of the stone Gates closing suddenly stopped. Abby cursed, “What the fuck? Why did it stop?”
The Striga all paused in midflight— hovering, watching and waiting. Without warning the Gates slammed shut sending a shockwave rippling through the ground. Trees ebbed and moaned, birds that should be silent at night squawked and in the distance a choir of wolves howled sending a shiver down Abby’s spine. She squinted and approached the Gates, there wasn’t the faintest hint of a gap. The wretched portal into Hell was closed. She finally breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s over,” she whispered. “Will it disappear now? It was never here before, right?”
Nico was behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. He didn’t say a word, but she took comfort in the strength that radiated from him. Maybe she didn’t need all the answers after all. If the Gate stayed at least it couldn’t be opened. Maybe they needed it to stay as a reminder of what they were fighting against.
A twig snapped off to the side. Then another and another. Abby stepped away from Nico and swallowed down the fear building inside her. She could smell sulfur nearby. A sharp growl echoed around the quiet clearing and two figures stepped out of the darkness with a slobbering four-legged beast beside them. Abby’s voice quivered. “Mom? Dad?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Familiar eyes met hers and a tinge of guilt hit. These were her parents, maybe not her biological parents but the people who’d raised her. She saw them as the monsters who had made her life a living hell a few months ago. But a small part of her was looking at the faces of the people who'd stayed up with her when she was sick, took her to soccer practice, and spent every weekend helping her with school, giving her advice about boys, and loving her for the first 20 years of her life.
"Jane, honey, it's time to stop this." Her father stated.
Her mother quickly joined in. "You don't know the truth. These people have lied to you. We love you and want you to come back home. You have no idea how much we've missed you."
She shook her head. "No, I've seen the pictures. I remember everything."
Her father grimaced. "You know nothing. You only know the side they want you to know. Those people you are with could never tell you how much we love you."
"I know what you did to me. There’s nothing you can say that would change how I feel.”
"There’s too much to explain right now, but we need you to trust us and come home. Everything will be clear once you listen to us."
Nico was saying something but he sounded a million miles away. She inhaled deeply and caught the distinct smell of lavender mixed with cinnamon. Her shoulders relaxed as calmness washed over her. Things that seemed cut and dry a second before now became muddled. Maybe there was some truth to what her father was saying. Maybe there was more to it? Her eyes teared up. Her parents did love her. Abby’s chest hurt as the surge of emotions welled up.
Nico’s voice was faint but she could hear him nonetheless. “Don’t give in, Abby. It’s a spell.”
Her eyes widened. The smell was familiar. It had permeated the basement of her parent’s house. The room where they’d performed their spells on her. She was falling for their lies. Cursing under her breath she refused to take another breath, she’d given in to her need to cling to human necessities that were no longer necessary. Abby straightened her back and raised her chin high. Her focus became clearer, the spell tugged at her but she refused to give in. Glancing at the slobbering beast she locked eyes with her father once more. "What is that thing?"
“Relax, he won’t hurt you.” Her father glanced down and patted the creature on the head. "Don't you recognize your dog?"
"My dog?" Abby pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to shake off the foggy feeling that was still trying to overtake her. "My dog?" Splinters of memories rushed in— her as a child playing in their big backyard with a large mastiff puppy. He was a tawny brown color and slobbered all over her. "Moose?"
Her father nodded. "He's always been by your side. We had to bring him with us. We hoped," he paused and glanced at his wife, offering her a small smile, "we hoped he'd help convince you to come home."
The beast inched closer to her, snarling low and dipping its head down. Abby instinctively took a step back. "Keep it away from me."
"Sweetheart, he'd never hurt you."
"That thing is not a dog, it's a…" She scrunched up her nose it was familiar. Its acrid breath penetrated the air as its tail whipped behind it. "It's a hellhound."
Her father nodded. "Yes, he is, but just like any dog he is loyal to his master."
"You."
"No, Jane—"
"Don't call me that. My name is Abby."
He frowned but nodded his head. "Fine. Abby. I am not his master and neither is your mother. You are. He even killed another hellhound because it was going to come after you. When you came by the house and that disgusting Virtue killed its pup."
"Why would you give me a protector when all you've wanted to do since you adopted me, or stole me, was to kill me?"
Her mother interrupted. "Don't be foolish."
Abby was hit with the distinctive memory that all of her life she'd been closer with her father. He'd sat up with her more nights than her mother did. He'd wiped her tears away. They'd spent every Saturday as father/daughter day. He never missed one.
Her mother was always a bit colder, harder for Abby to gauge, but her dad had been her world. Which is why it hurt her so badly when he hadn't defended her against Chris. Jackson Stine had always been kind to his daughter where Katherine had always been distant. And her dog, the slobbering hellhound in front of her had been her protector. The sulfur stench she'd been smelling every time she woke up from a black out hadn't been the spell, it had been the hellhound, dragging her back from whatever hell she'd been sent to.
She knelt down and held out her hand to him. The beast's tongue flopped out of its mouth as he bounded to her in two leaps. It nuzzled her hand and whimpered. She looked up and stared at her father. "You let Chris hurt me. I came to the house. I saw the hidden room where you let him…" Her words trailed off as she wiped the falling tears from her eyes. "How could you do that? Why would you give me this creature to look after me, let that demon do horrible things to me, cast a spell on me, possess me, and send me off to die?"
Her mother bristled. "That is enough, young lady, you will come home with us now. This man has sacrificed everything for you, all you had to do was one little job and you managed to fuck that up just like you fucked everything else up."
"What?"
Her father cleared his throat. "I told you it was a long story, but the bottom line is, I did all of this for you. I wanted another child, we had a daughter but she was murdered. Katherine couldn't have children anymore. So we decided to adopt, but it was a long and difficult process. So much red tape. No one wanted to let an elderly couple adopt a child."