Doppelganger Blood (20 page)

“Demons do not dwell within me,” she assures me in a voice that makes my knees shake.  “This is balance personified.”  Okay, if she says so.  I’m still going to take another step back.  Or two.

Johoel
is not to be outdone.  His own form shifts and he becomes as grotesque as his enemy.  His limbs lengthen and his fingers grow claws the length of Taz’s body.  When the Seraphim meet, the ground shudders, threatening to crack open and swallow us all.  Their movements are so fast, I can’t follow them.  They tear at each other, ripping at each other’s wings and bodies.  The sounds they make can only be described as feral. 

I don’t know how long the battle lasts, but it seems like eons.  I
need to cover my ears from the screeching and howling and close my eyes against the sand flying everywhere.  Taz and I huddle together, trying to stay out of the way.

To my relief, Joy wins out of over darkness and fire.  With a final claw tearing at his face and a shove into the still ocean,
Johoel falls.  He may be dead.  If he’s not, he is awfully close to it.   But Haniel’s rage still has a target.

Focusing her attention on my
doppelgänger’s cringing form, she roars, “Your magic was bestowed upon you as a gift.  A gift you abused.  Never once did you perform an act for which the magic was intended.” 

For the very first time, I see fear on my
doppelgänger’s face.  Not fear like I’m experiencing where I just want to stay out of Haniel’s way until she calms back down.  Her fear is the fear of righteous justice.  The fear of one who knows it is time to pay for every single thing she has ever done.

“No!” my
doppelgänger cries when a swirl of magic so strong takes hold of her I’m certain she will turn to ash any second.  With a burst of light that blinds even my eyes, the other me is ripped from this universe.  She doesn’t go to Angel time.  I would know if that happened because my wings have come to protect me from the light.  No, this was an act of the cosmos.  An act of something not dying, but being erased from existence in our universe.  All around us, bodies are flung in different directions.  We are not in Angel time, time has simply stopped.  Because of this, what is happening affects the mortal world.  I want to rush to my husband, my family to make sure they are okay, but in my heart, I know they are.  Haniel would not cause them real harm.

Everything is silent. 
To my great relief, Haniel returns to her Angelic form once again.  She even has a smile on her face when she turns to me.  Wow, and I thought my mood swings could be drastic. 

A question is burning on my tongue and I need to ask it even though
I know the answer.  I want to hear it confirmed.  “You were never planning to bestow the Divine Grace on me, were you?”

“No, I was not.  Divine Grace is too powerful to be in the hands of a being born of this
or any world.”

Born of this world?  Taz was born.  But then he was changed.  He’s no longer what he was when he was born, he exists as an anomaly, outside of the laws of nature.  “Oh,” is my brilliant response.

Turning a radiant smile to my Familiar, Haniel says, “You have done well, little one.  Care for your brother, do not let more harm come to him.  He has been forgiven for the atrocities he was forced to commit and by his choice shall reside here under your protection.”  By his choice?  I don’t remember him making a choice.  But as a Seraphim, she can probably read his mind.  Then again, it’s not hard to figure out he doesn’t want to go where my doppelgänger is going. 

“Are you ready to relinquish the Grace?” Haniel is asking Taz. 

“More than ready,” Taz replies. 

Turning to me, Haniel says, “Thank you.”  She disappears taking the blinding light with her and setting time into motion again.  She leaves a lot of confused beings in her wake.

All around us, beings are rising from where they fell.  Some may have sustained minor injuries, but nothing more than scratches and bruises.  I hurry to my friends and family just to be sure.  They are all fine.

Kallen hugs me tightly.  “She is gone?”

“Gone, gone, gone,” I say, kissing him between each gone.

“She will never return?” Dagda asks.  Many around us stop moving, waiting in anxious silence for my answer.

I shake my head.  “Just like Taz said, she will never be allowed back here.” 

“I appreciate all the thank yous I’m getting,” my Familiar grouses.  To my disappointment, only
I and his doppelgänger can understand him. 

“Thank you, Taz,” I say leaning down and putting my hands on either side of his face.  I kiss his little forehead.  He scrambles back pretending he doesn’t like it but I know he does.  He’s just putting on a show for his new, what did Haniel call him?  His new brother.  “We need to come up with a name for your friend.”

“He has a name,” Taz says.  “Dipweed.”

“Watch it, Goblin-made,” the other Tasmanian devil growls.

“Taz, be nice,” I admonish.  “And that’s not his name.  He’ll come up with his own.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taz mutters.

Dagda comes to stand with us.  “It is time to send all of these fine beings back to their own realms and territories.” 

I nod.  “I’ll bring the Giants home in just a minute.”

He smiles at my lack of complaints over the task.  “Thank you.”

Dagda begins to walk away but I grab his arm.  He turns questioning eyes to me.  “I think it’s time we talk about our relationship.”

His eyes begin to darken and his face reddens.  “I realize your use of the term father was nothing more than a way to get under your doppelgänger’s skin.”

He has it all wrong.  I shake my head.  “No, that’s not true.”  Surprise lightens his emerald eyes somewhat.  “I think you and I need to talk about how we can get my other parents and your
wife on board with our growing connection as father and daughter.” 

One of the happiest smiles I have ever seen attaches itself to his lips.  He leans forward and kisses my cheek.  “As soon as our guests leave, I am at your disposal.”  He walks away.  I assume he’s going to try to hurry the process along.

I lean my head against Kallen’s chest.  “After I bring the Giants home, can we crawl into bed and stay there for a few days?”

His arms wrapped around me again, he whispers in my ear, “As long there is more than sleeping on the agenda, we can stay in bed as long as you like.”

I grin against his hard muscles.  “Sleep really is overrated.”  I lean back so we can kiss.  A prelude to what will come very soon.

“Do they do that a lot?” Taz’s new brother asks.

“More than my stomach can stand.  Let’s go find Tabitha and see if she has any bacon.  We need to fatten you up.”  Both Tasmanian devils amble away in search of whatever treats Tabitha will surely have waiting for them.