Ascension (Book 4, The Watcher Chronicles) (32 page)

Michael stands us at the ready, and I can feel his simmering anger. He’s angry at Lucifer for causing this situation in the first place. He’s angry at his father for making me sacrifice my life to fix Lucifer’s mistake. He’s filled with determination to keep me alive.

“
You know I have to die,” I tell him.

“
No,” he answers back, “you don’t. I refuse to believe that. There has to be another way.”

“
There is no other way, Michael. I know what I have to do. I guess deep down I’ve always known. Maybe that’s why I never really saw a future for myself.”

“
No. I
will not
let you sacrifice yourself.”

“
You have to. I was born for this moment. You and I both know that. Everything good and bad in my life has been preparing me for this.”

“
I can’t let you give up a life you’ve waited so long to have. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you. And this will kill Mason. He’ll never be the same again.”

“
Don’t you think I know that?” I scream at him. “I promised him I would fight to stay alive. Now, breaking that promise will be the very last thing I do.”

“
You shouldn’t have to break your promise. My father never should have asked you to make this sacrifice. What you’ve been through is more than one person should have to endure in one lifetime.”

“
But I’m not one person,” I remind Michael. “I have you. You have to be my strength right now, Michael. I think you’ve always been the source of my strength. Please, don’t fail me now. Be strong enough to let me go when the time comes. Don’t make it any harder on me than it has to be.”

Lucifer and his princes phase in front of us and we immediately turn invisible before they can sense us.

Michael fumes while I cry.

I feel sure he’ll try to keep me alive for as long as he can but even he knows underneath all his anger that I have to die. I have to sacrifice myself because Lucifer will never give in any other way.

The last prince appears before Lucifer and we watch as Lucifer tells him to take his place within the circle.

I feel Michael grip the hilt of the sword tighter because this is the moment we’ve been waiting for.

Gabe suddenly appears behind Amon and places his crown on the prince of wraths head, encasing him in the white light of Gabriel’s aura. Mason appears and phases Gabe safely away from the fight.

The rest of us lift our invisibility and appear to the other princes.

Just like in the vision, they charge towards us as soon as they see us. Chandler begins to play his music through his pipe and is able to weave his tunes in such a way to hit his targeted audience, one for the princes and one for us. The melody of his song for the vessels courses through my system fueling both me and Michael with a desire to fight Lucifer’s men. The second melody targeted towards Lucifer’s men slows them to a walk.

Zack, who is directly behind me to my right, throws his daggers with exact precision and hits the five remaining princes directly over their hearts. They grab at the daggers but are unable to remove them.

We attack.

Michael rushes us forward and fades us in and out of visibility. I know how this ghosting technique must look to the princes because when I first saw it I was utterly amazed. The princes falter in confusion as we charge forward which makes picking them off one by one easier.

Michael twirls the flaming sword in our hand, making an arch of fire as we run towards Asmodeus. As we approach the prince of lust, a heavy stench of decay seems to hang in the air surrounding him and the visible signs of rot are apparent on his exposed flesh. Just before we reach him, Michael launches us into a vertical cartwheel flying over Asmodeus’ head and slashes him viciously across the back of his legs as we land. The black rot inside Asmodeus splashes across the pristine white of the snow covered ice as he is forced to his knees. Zack fades into existence beside Asmodeus and places his crown on the prince’s head trapping him in a pillar of his archangel’s purple aura.

Mason phases in and I want nothing more than to say goodbye to him. I yearn to give him one last hug, one last kiss and tell him how sorry I am that I won’t be able to keep my promise. That I’m sorry the future we hoped to have with one another was never meant to be. I hope he forgives me for the sacrifice I have to make. I hope he can forgive me for abandoning him.

“Keep her alive!” Mason says, knowing Michael is in control of my body.

Michael nods our head and Mason phases.

“I will keep you alive,” Michael vows to me.

I remain silent because we both know how this story has to end. He may not want to admit it, but my death is the only way the world can have a future worth living in.

Michael directs our gaze to Baal.

As in the vision, Baal looks happy he and I will be fighting one another. Michael charges us towards Baal. Baal tries to grab us as we draw near but Michael judges the timing of our ghosting to perfection, causing Baal to falter forward just as we fade back into existence and bury the edge of our sword into his back, forcing the prince of gluttony to fall to his knees. Michael quickly transfers our crown to Baal’s head, trapping him in a pillar of yellow light.

We turn to face Lucifer.

As Michael and Lucifer stare at one another, I feel how torn Michael’s emotions are between wanting to save me and wanting to save his best friend.

“I won’t let you die,” Michael says to me again.

I say nothing.

Michael runs headlong towards Lucifer who remains completely motionless. Just before we reach him, Michael launches us into the air and Lucifer observes our flight with amusement.

We look down at Lucifer.

“Do you want to kill me, old friend?” Michael taunts.

“Every fiber in my being wants to snap your neck and pull out your heart,” he yells back at us, his face filled with barely controlled rage.

“Then come and get me if you can.”

Michael flies us over to the nearby mountain range, searching for the crescent moon shaped rock face we saw in the vision. It doesn’t take us long to find it.

After we land, Lucifer phases in a few seconds later to join us.

As we face each other, a black sword with a gold hit and scroll work along the blade appears in Lucifer’s hand. Blue-black flames ignite along its edge.

“I should have known I would end up facing you in this battle,” Lucifer says. “What’s wrong, Michael?  Don’t trust Jess to get the job done?”

“She has more heart and skill than you will ever have,” Michael yells to him as the pair begin to circle one another.

“Then let her come out and play,” Lucifer taunts.

“I’d rather she didn’t get her hands dirty with your death,” Michael tells him.

“Do you plan on killing me Michael?” Lucifer asks, amused by Michael’s threat.

“I plan on saving Jess and your death is the only way that can happen.”

“Then kill me if you can,” Lucifer says, raising his sword and slashing it with all his might towards Michael.

Michael raises our sword and blocks Lucifer’s swing, pushing him back away from us.

Lucifer grabs the golden hilt of his sword with both hands and comes at us again. His anger for me and Michael fuels his swings with more strength than my human body is able to withstand. Michael ends up using a combination of our flying ability and ghosting to avoid many of Lucifer’s vicious swings and thrust with his sword.

“
Michael…”

“
No, I will not give you back control.”

“
You have to. It’s the only way.”

“
No.”

“
Please,” I sob. “Let me go.”

“
No.”

“
Let me die for the ones I love.”

“
No.”

“
Let me save this world.”

“
No!”

Michael continues to fight against Lucifer. He’s completely focused on just trying to keep me alive. When I see my opening, I take it.

While he’s distracted with keeping Lucifer at bay, I push Michael’s consciousness aside, retaking control of my body and finally meeting my destiny.

I watch as Lucifer, fueled by more rage than I have ever seen anyone display, rears his arms back to thrust his sword at me. I loosen my grasp on Jophiel’s sword and let it fall from the tips of my fingers to the snow covered ground. I hold out my arms accepting my fate as Lucifer’s blade slices through me.

I hear him gasp in surprise at my unexpected sacrifice. He holds the sword’s hilt firmly against my stomach. I grab onto Lucifer’s arms for balance as I look up into his eyes. I feel the warm tears of my sorrow and grief trail down my face as we stare into one another’s eyes. I ask the bracelet I wear to tell me what Lucifer feels. In an instant, I feel a mirror of my own debilitating grief.

Lucifer holds me up, not allowing me to fall.

“Why?” He asks, his voice breaking with emotion. “Why?”

I feel myself slipping away and I know I don’t have much time left.

My body goes completely limp and Lucifer kneels on the ground, pulling out his sword from my gut to cradle me in his arms.

“Why?” He asks again, my loss and grief manifesting in his eyes.

The last thing I see is JoJo, her face wet with tears, lowering Michael’s crown onto Lucifer’s head, encasing us in a pillar of blue light.

“For the future,” I whisper, letting go of life.

Letting go of Mason…

Chapter 21: Fight from Chandler’s Point of View

Ok, I admit it.

I’m staring at Jess’s ass.

Hey, I’m a man and she’s a wickedly cool hot chick!  Add in the tight leather pants, and I was doomed to failure before we even started. But, I’m not the only one having a hard time not staring at her assets. I glance over at Zack and see his eyes glued to Jess in the exact same inappropriate spot while we wait for Lucifer to find his last prince.

Zack must notice me staring at him because his eyes dart over in my direction. I tilt my head towards Jess and Zack shrugs helplessly with a ‘guilty as charged’ smile.

I feel your pain, dude. I feel your pain.

Though, if we don’t stop staring at Mason’s lady we might both be feeling some real pain. If Mason catches us ogling his wife, he might throw me and Zack through a couple of walls when this is all over. Can’t say I blame Mason for being so protective though. If she were my wife, I’d probably never let her out of the house. I smile at the thought because Jess told me she and Mason were going to stay in bed for a month after this fight was over.

I really hope she gets her wish. Of any of us, she’s had to work the hardest, sacrifice the most. If anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s her.

When the last prince appears, I get ready to lift my pipe to my lips to play my music.

At first, I thought my power was pretty lame. I mean making people feel emotions through my music has always been my thing even before I learned I was carrying around an archangel, but it doesn’t sound very impressive when you compare it to throwing fireballs like Leah or healing almost any wound like Rafe. Plus, Rafe got that wicked cool water power too!  Geesh, not cool man, not cool.