Emily's eyes go wide and she immediately tries to scoot away, grotesquely, forgetting one arm is badly broken. She shrieks in pain but Dominic follows her, his unrelenting chase ending with her pinned against the wall and panting like an animal."I already told you!" she yells, still not backing down as Dominic brutally thrusts her up by her good arm like she's a rag doll. "Do not be stupid, doctor," his enormous fingers wrap around her forearm, tightening their grip, "You will not win.""Zull!" she shouts, spitting in his face and he drops her, causing her to scream in pain as he knuckles away the wetness.Heavy footsteps sound to my right and Gideon fades into view, charging toward us. Dominic takes a single step back still glaring at Emily, "Take her to the infirmary." He commands, finally pulling his eyes away from her to look at Gideon. "And assign two Fighters outside her door."Without hesitation, Gideon leans down, reaching for Emily but she ducks, scurrying away from h
"Don't you understand you can't get rid of me? I mean, sure, you can kill the vessel," she holds out her arms, the broken one now thickly bandaged up as she glances at their movement like she's seeing them for the first time. "But I believe I've made the game a little harder." She smiles, cranking her head oddly, "Because killing a woman, especially an innocent one, would be unbearable for you." Her lips curl into a smile, eyes glowing with a hint of red, "Am I right?""This is not a game, Zull, release her! Now!" Dominic's thunderous voice shouts back at her and she stumbles slightly, a sibilance of fear behind her expression. I wonder if the real Emily, the woman I don't know, is hiding somewhere deep inside."Sweet bleeding Jesus, you are feisty when you get angry!" She laughs, staring up at Dominic regaining her sick humor.Dominic leans into her, somehow totally calm, "I will only ask you once again, release Dr. Mansfield."Laughter erupts again and she cranes her neck, look
I don't know what to say so I say nothing for a while; letting his words linger in my thoughts as my fingers run along large, hard knuckles. It is a Warrior's hand-but he is not a Warrior, not at this moment. He is my supporter, my friend and my husband. Everything else is secondary. Only the lives of the Seraph Realm come before either of us. Which brings me back to my original thought, so I turn to Pastor, "We must do everything we can to keep Emily alive."He nods slightly, "Agreed.""What's the next step?" I ask."We must receive approval from the Seraph Council.""Approval? For what?"Pastor steps away, rubbing his palms together, "For permission..." he pauses and locks eyes with me, "to involve the angel Michael."Gulp."Whoa, whoa, whoa...do you mean, THE Archangel Michael?""He is the most powerful of all the Seraph Kingdom. It is the only way to destroy Zull. For good.""Oh my God..." I whisper under my breath, grasping Dominic's fingers a little harder.Pastor notic
But he doesn't answer; he simply leans down, effortlessly picking me up. He's huge, not Dominic huge, but no match for me. I don't dare struggle too much; the pain only gets worse when I do. "Where are you taking me?" I shout again as loudly as I can, my voice cracking on the last word. He stops suddenly, tugging me tightly and I scream in pain. Heavy footsteps echo to my left and I squint in the dim torchlight, trying to get a better view. Two more Fighters are fiercely approaching and like a trapped animal, I yank my wrists back one last time, trying to free myself as the intense pain takes my breath away."She is ready." One of them says to my captor, his voice gutteral and deep. My mouth goes dry and I try to swallow. I know who he's referring to, I can sense her evil all around me. I keep trying to focus on Dominic but feel nothing-like our connection has been lost, or maybe blocked? I don't have time to analyze it before I'm violently shoved forward by two additional Fig
Pastor eyes go past me to Zack before looking up at Skylar, who's watching us from a few feet away. It's obvious he's considering what to say me, every line in his face showing indecision. I take another sip, getting nervous with each second and he rubs a hand over the balding spot on his head."What are you hiding?" I ask reluctantly. Jesus, do I even want to know?"We had to be sure." Pastor's voice is low and steady. "Be sure?" I tilt my head, "Of what?"He squeezes his lids shut like he's in physical pain before finally looking over to me, "Gideon returned an hour ago." "Yeah, so?" I ask abruptly, remembering he was supposed to bring back Dr. Mansfield's husband and son. "Oh, wait, yes-Peter and Jason. "Where are they?"Zack shakes his head and I put my cup down on the pew and wait. A few seconds go by like hours and I can no longer stand it."Zack! What?!" I blurt out."Katie," he reaches for my hand, "they're both dead."I shake my head, not wanting to believe it so I
A quiet stir from behind pulls my attention away and I look back. Skylar and Victoria are walking toward us, their expressions both serious yet calm as Pastor immediately goes into action, placing white cloaks over each of them. Zack moves closer, facing Victoria and I watch their eyes meet. Victoria stares approvingly up at my brother and he touches her cheek"You are a sight for very sore eyes." his voice kind and soft as they walk over to the trough of holy water. I glance over to Skylar who is standing very still as he watches them, his face a blank mask, no doubt hiding strong feelings. Pastor moves toward him, a white cloth draped over his forearm and he whispers something in Skylar's ear. He gives him a slight nod as they join Zack and Victoria at the trough. Once again, Pastor quietly begins a prayer while the yellow glow of candlelight flickers along the stone behind them. Another minute goes by before Pastor raises his head, glancing at each one of us."It is time to go,"
A flush of relief calms my mind and Dominic reaches out, clutching me tightly to his chest. I can hear the thump of his heart loud against my temple and he turns, still holding on to me but I don't look up. I know my brother, Victoria, Skylar and Pastor are close behind. I can hear their footsteps as Dominic walks me through the golden doors. We move at a steady pace, farther into the dim corridor and I feel exhausted, the adrenaline pulsing through my veins only moments ago, clearly subsiding. I look up and notice several Seraph Fighters standing at attention along our path, each one bowing their heads as we walk by. A tribute of some kind, or maybe they're guarding our walk? It doesn't really matter; I'm more than relived to see a few Fighters still left that Dr. Mansfield hasn't managed to infect. It doesn't take long before the fiery torch hanging outside the door to our quarters catches my eye. Dominic moves in front of me with Gideon to his side, their actions so quick, the doo
I whip around, relieved for the interruption and see a single white crystal in Dominic's open palm. "Take it," he reaches out, placing the cool stone in my hand, "now squeeze."Without warning, the crystal begins to heat up, almost too hot to keep holding. I look up, eyes squinting from the burning sensation."It's working, keep going." He instructs.I glance back down at my fist and actually witness the bruises along my wrists begin to fade and the broken skin, now completely healed. "Better?" Dominic asks, still holding a look of concern over his face."Much." I smile and he lets out a breath."Good," he leans in, kissing my forehead, "Come on, let's finish that glass of wine."The heavy darkness of the night slowly begins to fade and the morning sun casts an orangey-yellow light along the ancient stone walls. The room felt unusually cold all night and Dominic held me close, keeping me from shivering. I barely slept and when I did, visions of Uncle John's contorted, decayin