by C. L. Parker
“Eve! Over here,” a voice called to her. Yes, to her. These were no longer Tori’s memories; these belonged to the mystery woman, to Eve.
But she knew that voice. It was him, although nothing about his presence seemed out of place at all. In fact, she couldn’t wait to go to him.
Because she felt like it, Tori danced along the lush green grass toward him, twirling around in circles and letting her fingertips caress each silky flower petal along the way.
He was standing beneath a beautiful tree, heavy with thick limbs of the richest foliage she had ever seen. She smiled up at him, captured by eyes that reflected every color of the rainbow. She adored him, and he was hers. Her Adam.
“Adam,” she said his name in reverence. “My Adam . . .”
“Yes, and you are my Eve,” he said with a bright white smile and a wink. He leaned down and kissed her lips, and it sent her head spinning. She loved it when he did that.
Once she had her senses back under control, she followed the trail of his perfect arm to his perfect hand, expecting him to point out yet another discovery. She froze when she saw he was gripping the only fruit this tree had ever bared.
“Adam? What are you doing? Our Father has forbidden it.”
“Perhaps your Father forbade it, but my Father forbids me nothing. He promised me everything in His Garden, and I will have what I want.”
Adam wrenched on the fruit and plucked it from the tree. He brought it to his face for closer inspection and Eve stared at it in awe. Perfectly round, its rich, red skin promised the sweetest flesh just underneath.
“It is beautiful,” Eve said, “But we cannot.”
“I do not know the word cannot. I was told that if we eat of the fruit, our eyes will be opened, and we will know good and evil. We will be as gods, wife.” He held the fruit out to Eve. “I want to give this gift to you because you pleasure me. Put the fruit to your lips and taste of its power.”
She backed away. “No. We can have any nourishment we find in His Garden, but not that one.”
Adam gave her that dazzling smile she couldn’t resist. “Do you love me, Eve?”
“Of course.”
“Tell me. I wish to hear you say it.”
She looked at him from beneath dark lashes. “I love you, Adam.”
He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “Now, show me.”
Eve swept her hand over his broad shoulders and kissed his neck.
“No, not like that.” Adam nudged her away and held out the fruit once more. “Show me by accepting my gift. Taste of it, wife. I vow we will not anger my Father.”
Wanting nothing more than to please him, Eve took the offering into her hands. She watched Adam as she lifted it to her lips and sank her teeth into it. The taste that filled her mouth was both sweet and bitter at the same time. Even as she savored the flavor, she felt something change within her. Doubling over, Eve dropped the remaining fruit to the ground.
“What have you done?” Adam asked.
She looked at the fruit, finding its insides had turned black and was quickly decaying. A thunderous boom sounded across the heavens and the sky turned dark. Adam had been wrong; He was angry.
Tori was pulled from the memory and everything Eve knew after that became her memories as well.
“He is the great deceiver,” Eve’s voice echoed through her mind.
Eve had not been the seductress that day as all of mankind had come to believe; it had been Adam, but his actions in the Garden of Eden had doomed Eve’s fate right along with his. He had taken that choice from her when he’d deceived her, taken away her free will—and there was no Guardian of the Light there to thwart his attempt. Saddened by this, Guardians of the Light, chosen by their pure bloodlines, were created to keep it from ever happening again.
As for Adam, when their creator had banished him and Eve from the Garden, he had felt betrayed. Much like a petulant child, he had vowed revenge on his Father for taking away all that had been promised to him. The seven deadly sins: greed, pride, sloth, lust, wrath, envy, and gluttony had originated with the first man of creation, consuming him, and had trickled down to every descendent after him. Adam had become a servant to the serpent from the Garden. The supernatural being had promised to see his unfair eviction righted in exchange for his loyalty. Adam had been only too happy to give it.
After his new allegiance had been made, the serpent had revealed to Adam that the forbidden fruit hadn’t really been a fruit at all; it held the powers of Light and Dark, forbidden for any man or woman because of the destruction one having such a power could inflict on the world if they weren’t careful. Eve had taken it into herself when she had eaten from the fruit and denied Adam that power. As such, he had kept her close, never letting her stray from his sight. But she had refused to use her power to betray her God, even if it meant betraying the man she loved so passionately instead.
Because of Adam’s flagrant deception and vulgar sins, upon his death he was banished behind the walls of Hell, only to ever be resurrected by the one made from his rib. His only chance for victory was to lure his wife’s reincarnation to his bed and plant his seed deep within her womb for a transfer of power to take place. Under Adam’s control, the fruit of his loins would rule over the Earth, swaying the Creator’s children to rise up against Him with promises he had no intention of keeping. Adam would be a king among men and his vengeance would be served by destroying everything his Father held dear.
There was one rule he had to abide by: free will.
Eve would have her chance to redeem herself in the eyes of her Maker by thwarting Adam’s attempts, but she would not be sent back to Earth until the end times.
Tori was Eve’s reincarnation and this was the end times. The final battle between Light and Dark wasn’t to be fought on Earth. Light and Dark resided within Tori, and that was where they were to make their final stand. As promised, she still had free will, the power to choose a side. Her decision determined the fate of all mankind, and mankind would probably never know the truth.
But she did, didn’t she?
Finally whole, she was Tori and Eve, and the Light and the Dark powers inside her had embraced to form an alliance. No longer would the Dark be allowed to hold court over her decisions, for there would now be balance.
Tori removed her hands from her eyes and lifted her head.
“Angel?” Dante whispered, and then he gasped. “Your hair . . .”
Tori looked down at a long lock that fell over her shoulder, seeing golden blond mixed with her natural auburn. She and Eve had truly become one.
“Eve?” Adam addressed her counterpart.
Tori turned her head methodically to regard him. When she saw the realization on his face, she smirked. “I know who you are, Adam, Son of God.”
He clapped; a sarcastic gesture that matched the ego written all over his face. “Bravo, wife. Now you know that your place is at my side.” He held a confident hand out to her. “Tell me. I wish to hear you say it. Quickly now, before your loved ones are murdered.”
A strong wind blew through the sanctuary and Tori closed her eyes as a calm swept over her soul. She smiled, unable to resist the joy she felt in her heart.
“Where did they all come from?” Dante whispered in awe beside her.
Tori opened her eyes to witness the league of Guardians who had passed before her descend from the clouds to provide their aid in the battle Kerrigan, Dominic, and Drew had been on the verge of losing. Balls of Light flew in every direction even before the mercenaries touched feet onto the scorched ground of Tori’s sanctuary. Demons scattered in fear, but there was nowhere for them to hide.
“Grandfather? Great grandfather?” Dante said quietly at her side as they watched the two men lend their strength to a very weary Drew.
Availia Cruz and Sarah Grayson were also present. Availia, Tori’s great grandmother, was Guardian nobility, her movements unhurried and unforced as she laid waste to demon after demon. Sarah, Dominic’s
mother, was quick on the draw and unmerciful in her quest to protect her son as well as all the world. There were other Guardians, too, and although she had never met them, Tori knew them all by name. It was a convergence of Guardians such as the world had never and would never see.
Tori turned to Dante, her smile still in place. “Shall we go help them?” she asked with her hand outstretched.
Dante’s eyes brightened with his Light as he took her hand. The love he held for her was so potent it permeated her skin and warmed her to the core. He was her choice. There couldn’t have been a more perfect one to make. She would tell him she loved him, but not until they were alone together and she could properly express her feelings. As for Adam, he no longer held power over her anyway.
Still holding tight to Dante’s hand, Tori walked to the invisible barrier. Without a second thought that she might not be able to cross, she stepped over the line.
Dante pulled up short, his hand falling from hers. “What about him?” he asked, nodding toward Adam where he stood silently stewing in his anger.
Tori regarded him for only a moment. Then with a discarded shrug, she said very blandly, “He’s nothing.”
She turned her back on the one from whom she was created and slowly walked toward the fight with a ball of Light energy in each hand. Adam growled ferociously behind her, but she refused to grant him the attention he sought. It was no less than what he deserved, but she should’ve know he’d want his revenge on her, just like he had wanted revenge on his Father when He had turned His back on him as well.
“If I can’t have you . . . no one will!” she heard Adam proclaim.
Tori turned on him, but he had already unsheathed a blade from somewhere on his person and made a lunge at her. Before she could let the ball of energy go, Dante yelled out and threw himself in front of her. Tori could hear every fraction of sound, from the sickening puncture of the initial stab to his chest to the turning of the blade as it pierced and shredded Dante’s heart.
Tori’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open, but any sound she might have made was drowned out by the loud thumps of Dante’s failing heart. Adam tore the jagged blade from Dante’s chest and let him fall to the ground with complete disregard. Tori shook with grief as she looked down at the man that she loved. A thick pool of blood had already begun to spread beneath him, his blood-stained shirt mocking her with the proof of his mortal wound. The Light in his eyes had begun to fade, and Tori fell to her knees just as the first tear fell from her eyes.
Cradling his head in her lap, Tori’s hands floundered over his chest. “Please, Dante . . . please . . .”
She found purchase over the gaping wound and laid her palm flat against it.
“See if your God will help you with that.” Adam kicked at Dante’s boot as he laughed and walked away from the scene of the crime.
Tori would deal with him in a moment, but Dante needed her now. Closing her eyes, she pushed her energy into the wound, willing it to close and heal. When the warmth of his vacating blood continued to bathe her hand without abating, she opened her eyes to see for herself that she hadn’t made a difference.
Dante smiled up at her, but not without a great deal of effort. The color of his eyes had gone flat and although he strained to do so, he wasn’t able to lift his hand to her face. Tori took it and placed it to her cheek for him, turning her lips to his palm to kiss him reverently.
He choked on a bit of blood that had risen to his mouth and then cleared his throat as best he could. “I love you.” His voice came out in a deathly croak. “Truth of the matter is . . .” He coughed and blood splattered Tori’s shirt, but she didn’t care. “I always have. It was you,” he said and then took a deep breath. “The statue in my garden . . . it was you. You’ve always been my Angel.”
Tori smiled and nodded, fat tears falling like raindrops onto his face. With the pad of her thumb, she swept them away, and then leaned down to kiss his bloody lips. With closed eyes, she whispered against his mouth. “Don’t you worry about anything. I’m going to get us out of here, and you’ll be fine. You have to be fine . . . because I love you, Dante Dickens. So much . . .”
A single breath left Dante’s parted lips, warm, yet chilling as it washed over Tori’s face. She pulled back to see his reaction to her words, but his eyes were lifeless, no breath spilled from his lungs, and his heart had gone silent beneath her palm.
“Dante?” Tori jarred him a bit, but he still didn’t react. “Dante, did you hear me? I said I love you.”
Nothing.
She shook him a little harder and his head lolled to the side. Anguished pain ripped through her and she shook her head violently, refusing to believe he was gone, but he was. An indescribable grief consumed her, suffocating in its ferocity as it pushed against the very barrier of her skin, wanting to break free and be unleashed. She bore down, clenching her teeth, its pressure too much to take.
Dante had died for her.
And Adam was going to pay.
She lifted Dante’s head lovingly and carefully placed it on the ground. Standing, she turned toward the battle, finding Adam standing as a spectator on the sidelines with his arms crossed over his chest—so smug, so confident. She pinned him with a murderous glare. Feeling her ire upon him, he turned and looked down at Dante’s body. Then he looked back up at her and made a mock frown that quickly turned up into a satisfied grin accompanied by a wink.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Tori lifted her face to the heavens as a feral cry clawed out of her chest and sprang into the air. The ground quaked with a mighty roar that dispelled her anger, her grief, and her refusal to believe she had lost so much and still Adam was victorious. He had taken away her free will. He had taken away her home. He had taken away her sanity, her belief in herself, her trust in her family, and now, he had taken away the man she loved.
And he was proud of it all.
She stalked toward him, barely aware that the fighting had stopped and all eyes were on her. With her chin set in determination, sure feet, and the power of confidence rushing through her being, she knew what to expect and how to end it—once and for all.
Meeting her challenge, Adam’s arms fell to his side as he straightened to his full height and rocked his head from side to side. The air around him pulsing and his body mutating, he took his true form before their very eyes. The body of man, God’s perfect creature, had been disfigured by his sins, and seven heads sprouted from the necks of slithering black asps to match the one to whom Adam had pledged his allegiance. Each head had a name of its own: Sloth, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Pride, and Gluttony.
He tore the shirt from his chest like ripping into tissue paper and spread his arms out to the side. Every muscle flexed, every head hissed as he started forward to meet her in the middle of the battlefield.
Dominic’s voice sliced through the eerie silence. “Tori! No!”
Tori turned her head toward her father. The air around her became distorted with energy that begged for release. She felt it weaving through her being, coating every molecule like a body of armor. She was doing this for her father, her mother, Dante, every Guardian who had passed before her, and every mortal human who would never realize the war that had taken place in honor of their salvation.
A thousand voices echoed through her Guardian blood, guidance for the task at hand. The heads must be severed from the body, the sins relieved from mankind, the voices told her.
Catching her off guard, the murky green head of Envy struck, sinking its fangs into her arm. Kerrigan screamed out, but Tori barely felt the sting from the bite. She jerked her arm away, the muscles beneath the puncture marks tearing from the bone as the flesh was shred. Instantly, the wound healed, and Envy reared back with a demonic growl of displeasure.
Tori looked up at the beast with an amused grin and cocked her head to the side. A wave of energy slammed into her with the force of an atomic blast from a nuclear explosion. Images of her time with Dante flashed through her mind far to
o fast. And then they suddenly stopped, settling on one scene in particular. She saw him in their training room, his hands slamming together and then separating to pull his Light energy like a band between them. A shiver ran down her spine and shook her from the memory. She looked down at herself, and like a marionette controlled by a master puppeteer, found her arms were swirling about and her own mixed energy mimicking Dante’s Light. It grew and stretched, elongated to a thick rope that was unbreakable. Tori could feel its power becoming one with her limbs, outwardly projecting and wanting to escape its barely controlled leash. She did not fear its strength. Instead, she harvested it and made it submit to her will.
Wrath made to strike, but quicker than the asp, Tori threw out the band of Light. Her arms made a wide, half circle until all seven heads were lassoed and her arms were crossed in front. Adam’s hands reached up to pull at the band, but it was no use; he was at her mercy.
“It started with you, and with you . . . it will end.” Seeing no use in prolonging the inevitable, Tori yanked her arms back and the band of Light sliced through the beast’s necks, decapitating it in one smooth move.
Bright white Light exploded all around Tori, temporarily blinding her with a blast that sent her spiraling backward. She fell until she was no longer falling anymore.
When her vision finally cleared, she found herself looking up at the ceiling in her bedroom at the Dickens estate. She felt the familiarity and comfort of a warm body pressed to her side and the weight of a head resting on her shoulder.
Dante . . .
Tori turned in her bed, but Dante didn’t rouse or budge an inch to give her room. Instead, he lay there in a deep sleep. Only, he wasn’t asleep, was he?
Tori bolted upright and grabbed his face. “Dante? Dante! Oh, God, please . . . Dante!”
Sinclair let out a loud wail and threw herself onto the bed to gather Dante into her arms. Gabe reached for her, fighting to pull the devastated mother back so Colton could move in to check her son over. Drew backed up to the wall, his eyes blank and his limbs heavy as he stared at his one and only child lying lifeless in the bed before him.
