“What was that?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Kelly said, standing to go have a look.
Jade had other ideas. She concentrated hard on her mother. “Daddy?” she whispered. And then louder, “Daddy!” she cried out.
“Jade,” Kelly said softly, “what is it?”
“My dad!” she yelled.
“How do you know that?” Kelly asked. “It could be anything.”
Jade stared at her like she was the dumbest creature on the planet. “I know because I have super brain power,” she snarked back at her. “I know because I can’t reach my dad and I can read my mom’s mind whenever I want! Even if she blocks me!” Jade jumped up and ran through the door and out into the hall. She saw Antonio’s ghost talking to Macy and she stared him down.
“Jade,” he said to her with all the pain in his heart, “I’m sorry.”
Jade shook her head back and forth trying to get a handle on what he was saying. “Why can I see you?” she demanded.
“I don’t know,” Antonio said.
Jade didn’t say anything more, but figured if she could see him, she could likely read his mind too. She pushed into his mind.
“Jade, don’t,” Antonio said when he felt her trying to read him. “Please.”
But it was too late. Jade had already gotten in. She saw the horror that had happened to her family as he remembered it. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It isn’t true!” But she knew it was. Her family was gone. She saw their blood and she saw the bodies of those she loved. Jade brought her hands up to her head and tried to block the images from her mind. It was no use. She cried out from the physical pain in her chest. It was too much. It was all more than she could handle. She brought her hands down at her sides in fists and opened her mouth to scream. It carried the horror and the pain from her heart and when she let it out, a blast of energy left her little body and all the glass in the windows shattered around her.
Sam was staring in amazement at Azerial. She was back. She remembered him. She remembered everything. He moved to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless when a pain shot through his chest like a bolt of lightning. “Oh, fuck,” he bit out. The pain was excruciating, but what was worse, was that he instinctively knew that it was Gage. “Gage,” he whispered.
Azerial’s face went slack with horror. “It is happening,” she whispered. “We must go.”
“Yes,” Samuel agreed. He wanted to run back to the estate and kick that demon bastard’s ass all over the city. But he had made a promise to his family and he would keep it, no matter how badly it hurt. Another wave of pain sliced through his heart. He grabbed his chest and bent over in pain.
Azerial took his hand and he went down with pain again. He cried out from the intensity. “Save… them…” he panted out. “Must save them…”
“That’s what I have been trying to tell you,” Azerial said, pulling him to a standing position.
“Not you,” he croaked. “Me. Just me.” He tried to push her away from him so that he could make her stay where she was.
Azerial rolled her eyes. Samuel made a promise to protect her and he would do it. But promise or not, he couldn’t stand by knowing that his family was dying. “Let’s go.”
“No,” he bit out.
“Do you have so little faith in me, Vampire?” she asked him in a tone that showed her true nature. She commanded respect. She spoke like the goddess she was.
“I love you,” he said.
“Good. I love you too. Now let’s go.”
“But I can’t run like this.”
“I am a goddess,” she said, “I can go wherever I want.” She took his hand, and with only the power of her will, she took him back to the estate.
Samuel was unprepared for what he saw at the house. Blood and carnage was everywhere. There was nothing that was standing upright. He went into the main hall where the summoning had taken place. The first thing he saw was the bodies of his family. All of them. Angel, Antonio, Rebel, Gage, Serena, Frankie and Sebastian were all lying on the floor like discarded dolls. All of their hearts had been ripped from their chests. It was obvious by the gaping holes in their torsos and the frozen expressions of horror on their faces.
But Phoenix was alive. He was sitting in a corner with Leigh’s body in his lap. Silent tears were streaming down his face. “I couldn’t save them,” he whispered. “I tried. He killed me too. Didn’t know I would come back. When I came back, they were dead. All dead. I couldn’t save them,” he babbled. “I can’t fix dead.”
Samuel put his hand on Phoenix’s shoulder and slumped down to the floor beside him. His family had told him that they would die to protect Azerial. And they had. Now here he was, alive, and so was she. But everyone else who had given him the strength to protect her was gone. “Is he dead?” Samuel asked.
Phoenix shook his head. There was no need to say his name, they both knew full well who Sam was talking about. “Gone. Both him and the fey woman.”
“What fey woman?” Samuel asked, pushing his grief to the side.
“Anora,” Phoenix told him. Stupid fey bitch. Samuel had known she was trouble, but he figured it would be in the way that most mother in laws are to their daughter’s new family. Death and destruction wasn’t something he had considered. Then, he remembered something else.
Samuel looked for Azerial. She was hunched over Frankie’s still body, stroking her hair. “We need Macy,” Samuel told her. “Macy can bring them back.” Of course, that was why they had sent her to Boston, wasn’t it? She was a necromancer and could raise the dead!
Azerial shook her head. “I am afraid that even Macy does not possess this kind of strength. She was only able to do it because of the combined power of Frankie and Serena to aid her.”
“Do you?” he asked, hopeful. She was a goddess, she could do anything, right?
“I do not,” Azerial told him.
“Fuck it all!” Samuel barked out and gave in to his grief. He slammed his fist into the nearest wall before he let himself fall backward hard on his ass and let the tears fall freely. He felt Azerial’s hand on his neck, but he couldn’t take comfort in the touch. His family. Gone. All of them. He hadn’t realized how much he cared for them all until now. And now it was too late to tell them. It was too late to apologize for being an ass and it was too late to go back in time and never start this. If he could go back in time, he would let the cancer kill him.
“That is a fine idea,” Azerial said.
“What?” Sam sniffed. Had he spoken aloud?
“No, you were projecting again,” she said softly.
“So what’s a fine idea?” he asked her. “Go back in time and die?”
“Well, not the die part,” she said.
Samuel lifted his head and looked into her eyes. Did he dare to hope that she was thinking what he thought she was thinking? “What are you saying?”
“I may not be able to bring them back, but I can manipulate time in short bursts. I say we go back. We go back and we do not let this happen.”
Phoenix nodded as he stood to his full height. He didn’t doubt Azerial could do it. At this point, he was willing to try anything. “Can you make sure I remember this?”
“Of course,” Azerial said, and then she waved her hand through the air and thunder broke out all around them before a blinding white light engulfed everything.
Samuel felt the world slip out from under him and he was flying. Or floating. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he was solid at that point. But he trusted Azerial and that was the important part. He could feel her small hand in his own and that was all that was keeping him from floating away from reality. When the light faded and he felt the ground under his feet once again, he was in the estate, but no bodies littered the floor. He heard Abaddon’s laughter fill the room.
“There is no need to call me,” Sam heard him say. “I am already here.”
Samuel resisted the urge to run full out into the room and tackle that demon pie
ce of shit to the floor. Azerial made him wait. “We must wait until all is revealed,” she told him. He understood. He didn’t like it, but he understood.
When Anora entered the room again, Azerial had to force Samuel to wait. He waited and waited. When Anora asked Gage where he was, that was when Azerial nodded. The three of them stepped into the room and when Phoenix saw his other self, the pair slammed together as if drawn by an invisible force. Phoenix shook his head to clear it. He had all the memories of what happened, or rather, what was about to happen, but he was in his old body. His past body. Whatever. He couldn’t think about it too hard or else he would give himself a migraine.
“Stop woman,” Azerial commanded. Anora had her fist balled up and was preparing to strike the blow that would kill Gage. Instead, she turned and looked at Azerial.
“Oh, my daughter in law,” she said. “We have come to help you seek vengeance on those who tried to kill you.”
“You are not my mother in law,” Azerial said, “and they didn’t try to kill me.”
“Hello, wife,” Abaddon said with a grin. Samuel nearly fell out of his own skin with the need to shut that demon’s mouth.
“And I am not your wife.” Azerial raised her hand into the air and passed it around as if to encompass the entire room. “This is not yours to take. That life is not yours to take,” she told them.
“We had an agreement,” Abaddon told her.
“You were to make it so that I could be with Samuel,” she reminded him. “I recall nothing of allowing you to make me forget him.”
“I took your grace,” Abaddon said, overly proud of himself. “You can do nothing here.”
“That,” she told him matter of factly, “is where you are mistaken. You never had the power to take my grace. You never will. Only the true God can take my grace.”
Abaddon’s smile faded from his face.
“You deceived me,” Azerial continued. “And you have committed one of the most heinous crimes against my people. You have used humans for your own desires. You have killed innocent souls. But the worst thing is, you have attempted to kill love. Love is what I value most. For that, you shall pay.” Azerial let her heart fill with anger and the emotions that were foreign to her, but necessary. He had at least helped to kill her family. He had pushed drugs onto the streets. He lied to her and he tried to touch her. But most of all, he would kill her vampire if given the chance. She would not let him have that chance.
Abaddon began walking backward. “I don’t think so,” he said.
She pulled on the anger and betrayal that was coursing through her veins. “Evil in this place,” Azerial said loudly, “You shall not dwell.” The floor rumbled beneath their feet.
“You can’t do this to me,” he said, still backing away from her.
“You are not welcome here,” she declared. How dare he try to take her vampire from her? The wind that came out of nowhere blew around their ankles.
“I will come back,” Abaddon sneered at her.
“Take what you have brought,” Azerial continued. The air in the house became thick and heavy. A wind blew the curtains to the side and lifted Azerial’s hair. Her eyes became so bright that they almost glowed. Azerial had always been a creature of love and this demon tried to take that from her. In the process, she learned a new emotion. Hate. She hated him.
“I am not finished yet,” Abaddon snarled through clenched teeth.
“Take what is truly yours and go back to Hell!” Azerial yelled at him. She may not be able to kill him, but she could protect her family from him doing harm to them again. The windows rattled and the entire house began to shake.
Abaddon was overcome by smoky shadows that erupted from the floor. They entwined themselves around his ankles and began to work their way up his torso. Abaddon tried to fight it, but the misty shadows were too strong for him. “I am not going alone!” he barked out. He broke free with one hand and motioned for Anora to come to him. She shook her head, but the shadows went to her and pulled her to him. They wrapped around the pair and got thicker and thicker.
“No!” Anora screamed.
Abaddon laughed. “Didn’t you know? When you seal a deal with a demon, the price is your soul!” He broke out in hideous laughter as the shadows concealed them completely.
“I banish thee and all your created fears,” Azerial continued, “Leave this plane for ten thousand years!”
The shadows coiled tighter around Abaddon and Anora, then they winked out of existence completely; where they once stood, now there was nothing. Not a scorch mark on the floor, not a pile of dust. Just. Nothing. The house was encased in total silence.
Azerial finally let her breath out and dropped to her knees. Samuel was there in a flash supporting her and lifting her into his arms. “You did it, Baby,” he whispered.
“Take me to rest,” she sighed. Samuel grinned the widest grin he had ever managed in his life as he looked at the faces of his family. His living family. “I love you guys,” he said as he whisked Azerial off to his room.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Angel was beside himself. Damn it, hadn’t they told Samuel to run with Azerial? Why in the fuck would he risk bringing her back? Not that he wasn’t happy with the outcome, but it wasn’t as they planned. “I believe we missed something,” he finally said.
“You have no idea,” Phoenix replied.
“What happened? Why didn’t she remember us at first?” Frankie mused aloud.
“I can help with that,” Phoenix said. “But I think I am gonna have to show you. If I told you, there is no way in hell you would believe me.”
“Well, show us then,” Rebel urged him. “Inquiring minds want to know.”
Phoenix walked up to Angel and placed his hand on the leader’s shoulder. “It’s up here,” Phoenix said, tapping his own temple. “You’re gonna have to look. When you’re done, show the others.” Angel nodded and pushed into Phoenix’s head with his mind. He saw what had just happened, only a different version. He saw one where Sam did as he was told and ran with Azerial. And then he saw the carnage that followed. He saw Anora killing his family while Abaddon watched and laughed. He saw everything. The pain that they felt was evident and overwhelming. Angel’s knees threatened to buckle underneath him. And then, he saw his own death.
Angel wanted to get out of Phoenix’s head. He wanted to believe that this was all some sort of twisted joke. He knew, though, that it was not. He could see the truth, in living color in Phoenix’s memories. He saw Azerial bring them home and he saw Samuel’s grief for their loss. And then he saw Azerial manipulate time. He watched in horror as the whole thing played through in Phoenix’s mind, up to where they were now.
Angel was grateful when Phoenix finally shut the images down and he was able to see the current situation. His family was staring at him, waiting patiently for an explanation. His family that he had just watched die. They had been so brave. He felt the pride well up in his chest and he couldn’t handle it anymore. Too many emotions swirled in his heart and soul to even make sense of them all. Angel fell to his knees in front of everyone, placed his hands over his face and wept.
He found that he could not speak. He looked up at Phoenix with tears in his eyes. The man nodded and turned to walk away. “I gotta call my wife,” he said as he stalked from the room. Frankie sat beside Angel and put her hand on his arm. “What is it?” she asked softly.
Angel shook his head. There was no way he could put what he saw into words. He was emotionally devastated and overjoyed at the same time. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he reached for Gage’s mind. He let all that Phoenix had shown him flow from his mind into his brother’s, who in turn, showed everyone else. When it was done, not one person was standing. Not one eye was free of tears. Not one person could say anything.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Serena finally spoke. “My own mother,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Gage told her. “I had n
o idea she was involved.” He wrapped her tightly in his arms.
Serena shook her head, dismissing him from anything to apologize for. “She was never right,” she finally said. “There was always something wrong with her. She just couldn’t let it go.”
“I mean, I’m sorry she had to go to hell with Abaddon,” Gage told.
“She brought it on herself,” Serena told him. “At least now we can rest easy.” Gage knew Serena meant what she said, but he could still feel her pain.
“We owe her everything,” Frankie said quietly. “We set out to save Azerial and she ended up saving us all.”
“What were we thinking,” Rebel said, “Taking on a demon like that. We are just stupid.”
“Not stupid,” Angel told him. “Brave. Courageous. Loyal. There are many things that I can think of to describe my family, but stupid is not one of them.”
After another long silence Frankie spoke again. “We should clean this mess up,” she said to no one.
“Leave it,” Angel told her. “We can deal with it tomorrow. For tonight, we shall rest. This is a lot to take in and we are all emotionally drained. We can clean up the mess tomorrow.” He wasn’t just talking about the physical mess in his home either. There was a huge mental and emotional mess that was going to have to be dealt with by each person in their own way. Angel found the strength to stand and turned and walked away, leaving his family to sort it out on their own.
Brea was helping to clean up after dinner when she heard Angel's voice in her head. All is well, he said.
Oh thank God, Brea thought back to him. She had been catching glimpses of what was happening, even though Angel had been doing his best to keep her out of his head. How did it go? Is the demon gone?
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