Each lesser Vampire vanished. The entire world lit with a blinding flash as it was saved from such zombie-like creatures. Every creature was vanquished. Crixis thought his power was unmatched, but mine was eternal.
The sun did not hurt me. It did not bother me, either. In fact, it felt good. It warmed my grey skin, and I was taken for a moment in the simple bliss of the tranquil, easy warmth of the sun.
The sound of doors opening caught my attention, and I turned my horned head to view Crixis stumbling out, beaten and bloodied. He had his hands in his hair, muttering incomprehensible things. When he saw me, he finally caught his voice, language returning to him, “Where am I? Who…” He fell to his knees on the steps, trembling as I walked to him.
The creature couldn’t remember anything, it seemed. How neat. I should’ve thought of that.
I rose a hand, lifting the man up in the air. Two dark, corporeal hands emerged from nowhere, gripping both his wrists and holding him at bay. “Your spirit is older than mine, but you are nothing compared to me. I may not be able to kill you, but I can open the door to Purgatory, where your soul will be tortured until you’re ready to return to this world, and maybe by then, I’ll have found a way to vanquish you for good.”
Behind the whimpering, sniveling Demon opened a portal. Colors of all hues and luminosities formed the ghostly door, crackling in veins and splashes. The two giant, smoky arms threw him in, a wave of heat blasting me before the portal closed.
I went to the front door, pleased with myself, when I felt something sharp in my gut. As I opened the door, I saw things I never wanted to see. Raphael was unconscious, his hands still sparking a light blue, probably from making Crixis a blank slate. John laid, frozen, his heart torn out. But the sight that made me stop in my tracks was Kass on the floor, a sword through her gut.
My hands clenched into fists as the Kass I used to call my love flashed before me, grinning ear to ear with blood soaking her clothes and her face. Her eyes were lightened, her teeth that of a greater Vampire.
“Gabriel,” she said, recognizing me though I still appeared as the Prince of Darkness. “How’ve you been? I’ve been having a great time, killing myself. I never knew I was so pathetic.”
I couldn’t have failed Kass again. I refused to believe it.
“You know,” she said, drawing a finger down my bare, grey chest, “I kind of like this new you. Who would’ve thought that you had this power in you?” She traced my abdomen muscles, and despite everything, a tiny part of me enjoyed it. “Maybe I should’ve come back to you after Crixis turned me. We would’ve made a fantastic team.”
As she went on and on, trying to perhaps seduce me to her side, I couldn’t force myself to take her soul, even if it did belong in Hell. But I had to force myself to look at the Kass lying on the ground, at the sword through her stomach, pushed all the way through. Sunlight streamed in the room, and I was slow to grab the neck of the girl I once loved with all my heart.
“The time for us has passed,” I whispered, squeezing her small neck. I lifted my other hand, readying myself to end her for once and for all, but a movement caught my eye.
It was Kass.
She wasn’t dead.
I hesitated.
Chapter Thirty-Four – Kass
I thought I wouldn’t open my eyes again. I thought, with my nose shattered and my rose blade through my gut, I was done for. But I wasn’t. My eyes opened. My arms and legs still worked. I felt like passing out, definitely, and my brain felt like it was going to explode, but I was alive.
For now, anyways.
I struggled to my knees, gripping the sword’s hilt as I slowly pulled it out of me. The silver of the blade was coated in my blood, the feeling of metal in my body lingering even after it was fully out. Groaning, I glanced to see that Gabriel had finally decided to join us. He was in his Devil guise, with his hand around the evil Kass’s throat, but when he saw me stand, he wavered.
It felt like my intestines were going to fall out of me, even though the sword’s wound was merely a slit. I bled fast though, and I put pressure on the injury with one hand, holding the sword in the other as I walked behind the Vampiric me.
Blood spread between my teeth, a thin trail of it oozing my mouth as I spoke, “You’re not very good at stabbing people, are you? Luckily, I’ve had a bit more practice than you.” She couldn’t turn and look at me, for Gabriel hadn’t released his hold on her neck, but that didn’t matter.
I didn’t want to look into my Demonic eyes as I did what I had to.
After lifting the sword, I plunged it into her back expertly, knowing precisely where her heart lied. I had years and years of practice, after all. Just like I did with John.
She started to laugh, most likely to say something about how a sword couldn’t kill her, but this wasn’t just a sword. It was not only metal. It was imbued with magic, thanks to Alyssa, and the moment it pierced her skin, the blue hue of it intensified tenfold. Sparks danced across her skin, swallowing her in fire. How very similar it was to how Raphael had purified Kirk.
The Vampire me let out a loud scream, and Gabriel released her, stepping back as the blue ate her, leaving nothing but the sword, letting it clang on the floor.
Once she was gone, I swayed, feeling faint. “At least we’ve cleared the way, right?” I fell into Gabriel, though he looked more Devil than man. His strong arms steadied me, the warmth from his body flooding into mine. “That wasn’t so bad.”
A clawed finger tilted my head, and soon we were kissing. The intense, cold grip of death faded, and I no longer felt any pain. It was like the sword was never impaled in me, like my nose never met an iron blow from a supernaturally strong Daywalker.
As our lips parted and I saw that he healed me, I stood on my own, picking up the magical rose blade. I wondered if Crixis had tortured me before he turned me, or even after, surely I wouldn’t be so evil simply because I became a Demon…right? Sure, we were taught from birth that all Demons were Hellspawn, that the world needed to be rid of them and that we were the keys to doing so. Across the globe, there were hundreds or maybe even thousands of Purifiers doing the exact same thing I did.
Then again, none of them seemed to have any impact once I died.
But recently, I had started to wonder if all Demons truly were bad. Yes, John went psycho after Osiris’s light went into him, but he didn’t show any signs of doing so before that. He was a little weird, a little too into me for his own good, but I couldn’t blame him for that, I supposed. He didn’t seem downright evil, and neither did his brother. Technically, in the Council’s eyes, I should’ve contacted them, told them about the pair of brothers, that the Daywalkers couldn’t be purified by our normal means, and I was sure they would’ve sent an Agent who dealt with such things for a living. And what did that make Alyssa to them? What did that make Witches?
Earth should be Demon-free…but I was starting to think that maybe it depended on the Demon itself. This world’s John was all right, and Raphael, whatever had happened to him, bothered me less than my Raphael did. Condemning all Demons because a lot of them were bad was not a very faithful, moral thing to do, was it?
Gabriel turned his horned head to Raphael. “I’ll get him, you help John.”
I gave a nod, moving to where John lied, immobile. His heart sat a foot away from his body, still beating with whatever power kept Daywalkers alive, even with a pierced or torn-out heart. Grimacing at what I was about to do, I picked up his heart and put it inside his chest, past his broken ribs and lungs. It was like his body waited for its return, for muscles and veins snapped back into place. I was quick to remove my hand from his chest, not relishing the feeling of bodily organs and blood around my hand.
As John gasped, coming back to life, I gagged somewhat, standing and muttering, “That is by far the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done.”
“Does that include spending the night with the Devil?” John asked bitterly throughout a coughing fit, holding a hand to h
is chest as he struggled to stand, gripping the wall behind him for support.
I shot him a glare. “I’ll take that heart right back out if that’s how you’re going to act.”
Catching his breath, he uttered, “Sorry.”
Gabriel was beside me in an instant, once more in the older, sadder, handsomer form that I often found myself blushing under, like some stupid giddy school girl. Then again, he was a lot less sad than he was when I first saw him in his world. Raphael came, trudging along, holding his head like it was about to explode. The man had never looked this worse for wear.
“That,” Raphael spoke, “took a lot more out of me than I thought it would.” He managed to glance around. “What happened to Crixis?”
Gabriel frowned. “He is out of this world for now, but he’ll return in time. Whatever’s inside him, it clamors for chaos on this world.” He turned smug, an action I never would’ve guessed him to take when I first met him, “You’re lucky I was here, otherwise I doubt you would’ve had the resolve to be in the same room as him, let alone fight him.”
“Yeah,” John spoke, drawing out the word, “we owe you so much.”
“Shut it and get along,” I told both of them, turning to Gabriel. “Heal him so we can get on with this.” I figured the least I could do was make sure John didn’t have a giant, gaping wound in his chest as we finished this mission. I doubted Gabriel would’ve helped him without my insistence.
Begrudgingly, Gabriel waved a hand, mending the hole in John’s chest and fixing his broken ribs. John muttered his thanks, and I studied the room, amazed at how twenty years and one big, wall-breaking fight could turn a government building into nothing but dust and rubble. I spotted the stairs beside the elevator.
“There. Let’s go.” I took the lead, rose blade in hand as I went down the flight of stairs. Just as Alyssa said, the rooms were offices-turned-jail-cells. I recalled the blueprint she showed us, remembering it in perfect detail, knowing exactly where to turn. Within a minute, we came upon a locked door. “Here goes nothing,” I said, kicking down the door, splintering the wood.
As we entered the room, it was nothing but darkness. Next to me, Gabriel waved a hand, a fire floating in his palm. The flames were the color of blood, and he sent it upward to the ceiling, effectively lighting the room.
“Why is it that every bad guy has to have a trophy room?” I asked, taking in the sight of all the artifacts, both magical and mundane. Masks hung on the wall, a collage of cheap, Halloween masks with expensive Venetian ones. They were pretty, sure, but I wasn’t obsessed with them like the other me was.
Pretty. That’s all they were to me.
“Spread out,” I said, setting the rose blade on a nearby table filled with odds and ends, gold and silver trinkets galore. Everyone knew what to search for; though they didn’t know precisely what it looked like, they knew enough.
I was so close to my world I could taste it.
Chapter Thirty-Five – The Prince
We searched the room. Some of us looked with more gusto, picking through the items as fast as possible. I wasn’t looking as fast as I should have been, nor was I being as thorough. It was simple, really. I didn’t want her to go.
Was it surprising that I wanted her to stay? Was it truly that shocking that I wanted her for myself? I was the Prince of Darkness, the Devil, the first of the Fallen. I deserved to have one thing all to myself, didn’t I?
I was all those things, yes, but before that, in this life, I was Gabriel. Being with her made me feel like Gabriel again, emotions I’d never dreamt of having again swam through me with ease. It was all because of her. I was whole.
And perhaps it was fate that I would be the one to find the yellow-stoned staff while everyone was busy in their own corners of the room. Perhaps it was destiny that I, half man and half Devil, would find it. I reached for it, holding the timeless wood, drawing my finger down its stone. It was such a strange thing, yet it was the key to opening the door that would lead Kass back to her world.
And out of mine.
Seeing what had become of the Kass I’d failed was a hard blow, worse than any attack or injury. It reminded me of how truly good this one was, how fortunate I was to have found her, to have felt her presence, even in Hell. And last night, how wonderful it was. In reality, I wanted nothing more than to do that every night, to spend every day with her, to smile and laugh with her. I couldn’t do that if she went back to her world. I’d subject myself to a life without her.
That was something I couldn’t imagine.
I knew what I wanted to do, what the old soul in me wanted, but maybe it was because of her, because of what she made me feel, that I knew what I had to do. It was what Gabriel would do.
I was Gabriel.
With a long, explosive sigh, I turned to face the rest of them, saying, “I found it.”
John and Raphael took their time with halting and coming to me, but Kass was on me in an instant, bouncing for joy, clapping her hands and murmuring, “I can’t believe we found it so soon.”
I wanted to say something more, I wanted to touch her, hold her, love her, but I had to let her go. I had to live without her, because I knew she was needed in her world. This world would recover; it would take years upon years, but I would see to it that it went back to the way it was. It would be a lonely existence, but it was one I could handle.
Still…that didn’t make it hurt any less.
I offered her the staff, not saying a word as she took it from me. The expression on her face made me content, though I remained sad that I was losing her.
Holding it to her chest, Kass turned to Raphael and John. She gave them a smile, thanking them, her sincerity plain on her face and in her voice. “I couldn’t have made it this far without you guys. Thank you.”
Raphael took her thanks with nothing more than a smile, and John simply shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal. In fact, it couldn’t have been a bigger deal. He went against me, fought with me, fought for her. Maybe he was a better man than me.
Or maybe not.
Kass turned to me, gazing up at me, her innocence and beauty overwhelming. It was not so easy to fight Demons and remain whole, yet here she was. “Thank you, Gabriel.” She looked down, the words not coming easily to her. “For…” It seemed she could not finish what she wished to say.
It didn’t matter. She didn’t need to.
I gently cupped her face, tilting her toward me, bending my top half to give her one, final kiss. Slow, soft, tender. I didn’t want her to go, but she had to. When our lips parted, I whispered, “Goodbye.” And then I did the only thing I could.
I took the staff, snapping it in half before I could hear whatever she was about to say. I could not bear the thought of hearing her voice say something along the lines of I’ll miss you. I could not hear that from her.
As a yellow light took her from this world, away from me, everything was as it was before.
Chapter Thirty-Six – Kass
I wanted to say something to him, to tell him goodbye, to thank him for helping me even though I knew he didn’t want to, but before I had the chance, the jerk took the staff and broke it. A light enveloped me, blinding me and forcing me to close my eyes. Once I felt the light die down, I slowly opened them.
The Sorcerer stood before me, holding his yellow-tipped staff. His bald head was as scarred and ugly as I remembered, maybe even more so. When his golden gaze saw me, he grew confused, glancing at his staff, probably wondering why I was here and not gone. The thing didn’t realize how long I’d spent in that other world. It went to lift the staff and do the spell again, but I was quicker than it.
“I don’t think so.” As I grabbed the staff, I kicked it hard, sending it to the ground. The Sorcerer tripped in its robes, remaining on the floor, begging me wordlessly not to do anything to the staff. Feeling the white wood, the magic ebbing and flowing, radiating around the crystal at the top. “Sorry, but no more spells for you,” I said, breaking the staff o
ver my knee.
The very second I broke it, the Sorcerer doubled over, holding its stomach as holes appeared in its body, growing and enlarging until it was no more, gone. A staff could go on without its Sorcerer, but a Sorcerer could not go on without its staff. I took a moment to catch my breath, still reeling from everything I’d done to get back here. All that work just to get home. It was worth it.
I reached for my neck, where the necklace from other Gabriel was. Somehow it remained, despite the fact that it shouldn’t. I pulled the collar of my shirt up, hiding it. It seemed it was the only thing I brought back with me; I wore the same clothes I wore before this whole mess. The last thing I needed was for Gabriel to see the necklace and question me on it.
My ears heard the sounds of grunting and fighting, and I suddenly recalled just why I decided to venture into the forest in the first place. Holding the two halves of the staff, I sprinted out of the woods and into the cemetery, where Max and Gabriel were busy holding off a group of five Nightwalkers. Koath stood to the side, arms crossed, studying the way the two boys worked together.
I was beside Gabriel in an instant, staking a Nightwalker from behind and then tossing the staff to the blonde boy, who then did his part and stakes the two surrounding him. I shouted to Max, “Here!”
The nerdy, oddly small Purifier caught the other half easily, and his enemies were nothing but flames in mere seconds. Looking at him, you wouldn’t think he had such skill or strength, but a Purifier’s abilities weren’t just due to their physical size. It was also because we were divinely blessed.
Wiping sweat from his brow, along with some of the cover-up that hid his intricate tattoo, Gabriel spoke, “About time.” He gave me a grin. “I was beginning to think that I’d have to go in there and drag you out. I definitely would’ve enjoyed that.”
I found myself smiling at Gabriel. His messy hair, his young face. No wrinkles surrounded his eyes, nor was his gaze sad. He was my inappropriate, sarcastic, immature Gabriel. I wanted to hug him, but figured that’d be weird, so I settled with leaning my head on his arm…to which I still received a puzzled look from everyone, even Gabriel.
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