All I can do is reach over and hug him.
“Sam says thank you for taking care of me,” he whispers.
I smile and give him another hug before Jennifer scoops him up and Ethan portals them
out of there and to a place where only they will know where it is.
***
As soon as they are gone, Hunter asks if I’m okay.
I take a deep breath. “I’ll be okay. Besides, Sam is with them.”
I didn’t mean to say the part about Sam and the hurt look in Hunter’s eyes say more
than a thousand words.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“No, it’s okay. Whether I like it or not, you were forced to have a past with him.”
I look away from him and my gaze falls on Stephaine who is facing Benjamin and talking
to him.
I gasp. “Your wings! Trent didn’t get to heal you before—”
Stephaine puts her hand up. “I wouldn’t have allowed him to heal me even if we had
the time. The colors of my wings don’t dictate who I know I am. I feel like I’ve
done more good as a fallen than I ever did before and as long as I know that, I’m
okay with who I am.”
I can’t help but to smile at her, and I’m glad that she’s happy, even if Benjamin
is the one responsible for such happiness.
“So, what now?” asks Benjamin.
“I really have no clue. But the house is warded and I’m going to go back to sleep,
and hopefully sleep well for the first time in years and when I wake up, I’ll figure
out what is next. Well, besides seeing my parents.”
Before Benjamin can complain that we don’t have a plan to protect Stephaine other
than the wards, I reach for Hunter’s hand and pull him toward the room with me.
With nothing to worry about other than Stephaine’s protection, I let everything go
and fell in a deep sleep. I remember waking up sometime during the day and finding
Hunter sound asleep next to me. I put my arm over him, my head on his chest, and
fell asleep again.
“Kayla.”
I look over at Samael. “Shouldn’t you be with Trent?” I ask.
“Don’t worry. He is safe. I have come to warn you.”
I roll my eyes at him. “What are you anyway?”
He grins. “You know that little race of forsaken angels you created?”
I nod.
“I’m their leader.”
“What? How?”
He shrugs. “It was necessary, and soon, you will have an important job yourself,
but for now, you need to get your ass up.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. You’re their leader. Not mine.”
“Still just as stubborn… I’m serious, Kayla. Ezra is coming. You need to get up
and be ready.”
I sit up, fast. I then stand up and subconsciously start to search for my dagger,
remembering that I no longer have it.
I turn around and find Hunter sitting up and watching me. Then we both turn to face
the sound of heavy metal hitting the hardwood floor and my dagger falls out of thin
air.
“What the—” says Hunter.
“No time. Ezra is coming.”
“How do you know? Can you sense him?”
I shake my head. “Samael warned me… in my dream.”
He lets out a growl.
“It’s okay. The wards are up, right?” he asks.
I nod. “Yes, but I’m bringing it down.”
Hunter’s eyes widen in shock as he stands up.
“What? Why?”
“Because I’m not running forever. And I’m definitely not getting stuck with Benjamin
forever. This ends right here. Right now.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Why do you insist on being reckless? Why
can’t you grasp the fact that you are mortal? I don’t have forever with you, Kayla!
I would like to take whatever time we do have and make the most out of it.”
I sigh. “So do I, and that is why I have to do this. I can’t make the most out of
our time together if we are running, or worried about wards and demons.”
Hunter takes a deep breath and then, surprises the hell out of me. “What do you need
me to do?” he asks.
I look startled for a few seconds.
Not knowing how long we have until Ezra gets here, I say, “I want you to guard the
wards I put up to keep Benjamin trapped inside this house. If he manages to get out,
I want you to try and stop him. Otherwise, he will never let me hurt his dad.”
“Kayla, I—”
“I’m keeping him warded in the living room and you in here. I don’t want him to get
to you just to get to me.”
He shakes his head. “No. I stay out there and him here. I need to be able to watch
you so that I can come to you if you need help. This is nonnegotiable.”
“Okay.”
We go into the living room before Benjamin can sense his dad coming. Once there,
I ask Stephaine if she can take Benjamin to the room while I have a word with Hunter.
Once they step into the room, I ward it and just as soon as I can sense Ezra, I run
outside, keeping Hunter in the house.
I stand there, with my dagger in my hand and ready to attack him.
Ezra grins as soon as he sees me. “If it isn’t my lucky day… I get you and the fallen
who damaged my son all at once.”
I laugh. “You got this all wrong, demon. You damaged your son. She made him better.”
“Huh. Out of everyone, I never thought you’d be the one to defend your brother.”
I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. I launch forward and manage to cut
his arm with my dagger.
He growls and then shrieks. It’s a piercing sound so powerful that I can’t help but
to drop the dagger so that I can use my hands to shield my ears. As the sound gets
more and more intense, I crouch to the ground, and then, it suddenly stops. There
is no sound, except for the ringing in my ears. I let go of my ears and stand up.
I didn’t realize how disoriented that sound made me. Not until I can feel Ezra’s
hand on my shoulder and his very own dagger, piercing my skin and being driven into
my stomach.
I drop to the floor and drop the wards.
I can see Hunter run toward me. I move my hand against the dirt and grass until I
can reach the dagger.
Still looking in his direction, I see that Ezra doesn’t even bother with Hunter. He
keeps walking toward the house… toward Benjamin and Stephaine.
Hunter drops to the ground, a look of desperation in his eyes.
I’m weak, but I manage to grab the dagger and lift it up to him.
“G-Get him, p-please.”
Shocked, he grabs the dagger. There is so much confusion in his eyes… so much love…
so much rage. He looks up at Ezra who is being blocked at the door by Benjamin. Hunter
stands up and turns around. I can’t move my body, but I manage to move my head to
the side so I can see him. He runs toward the demon with such speed and determination
that surprises me. Benjamin seems to be distracting the demon and once Hunter is
inches away from him, my heart skips a beat. Hunter moves quickly and drives my dagger
into his back. Ezra turns to face it Hunter and his eyes are now yellow. Hunter
takes a few steps back. The demon slowly walks toward him, his skin, slowly turning
into a black shell-like skin as he does. I hear the sound of thunder as he continues
to move toward Hunter, until Benjamin approaches the demon. “Stop,” Benjamin orders
him. “The dagger is killing you.”
The demon stops. And Hunter keeps walking away from him and away from me. I know
what he’s doing. He hopes I’ll be healed and he’s protecting me to make sure I have
that chance. He’s luring the demon as far away from me as he can. Benjamin quickly
follows them. He stands behind his father, puts one hand on his shoulder and uses
the other to remove my dagger. The demon turns around to thank Benjamin and I know
that my dagger barely did any damage at all. At this moment, I know we are all done.
This is it… the end of it all, and we lost the battle. I feel like I should just
close my eyes right now and give in, but Benjamin’s fast movement catches my attention.
He throws my dagger toward Hunter, who catches it in the air. The demon’s eyes show
nothing but fury, and even though he is furious at Benjamin, he wastes no time with
him. He turns toward Hunter and moves faster than he was moving when the dagger was
in his back. Hunter launches at the demon with my dagger, but the demon grabs him
by his neck with one hand and lifts him off the ground. Hunter tries to move the
dagger toward his chest, but he can’t reach the demon’s body. Unable to breathe and
fearing for Hunter, I put pressure on my stomach and try to get up, but the pain is
unbearable and the bleeding gets worse. Benjamin rushes toward me once I cry out
in pain.
“No! Help Hunter!” I manage to say.
Benjamin freezes. “I—I can’t. He’s still my father. He can’t die by my hands. I
gave Hunter the weapon to kill him. That is all I can do.”
“Please,” I beg him.
He looks from me back to Hunter and his father, and I can see the confusion in his
eyes.
With tears running down my face, I look at Hunter and the demon. The demon moves
his free hand toward Hunter, scratching his chest with his long nails. Once Hunter
looks over the demon’s shoulders and his eyes meet mine, I think that he is about
to give up, but then, he quickly moves the dagger up and cuts off the demon’s hand,
the one that is holding him by his neck. Hunter falls to the ground and before the
demon can react, Hunter quickly gets back up and launches forward, driving my dagger
into the demon’s chest. The demon drops to the floor immediately and his body bursts
into flames. It’s not until Benjamin thanks Hunter and goes back inside that I can
breathe again, but I know it won’t be for long.
Hunter rushes to my side and drops to the ground. He is crying and that alone, nearly
destroys me.
I put my hand up to his face.
“Stephaine is coming. She’ll heal you. Please stay with me.”
“There is no time, Hunter.”
“Don’t you dare let go. You’re the strongest person I know. Just stay with me—”
“Hunter, this is our chance. If I become one of them, I can come back to you.”
He doesn’t even take the time to think about what I just said. “No. Absolutely not.
You’re not giving up. There are not even any guarantees. No… just no…”
He hears a sound and looks up at Stephaine, who is standing next to him. I also look
up at her and shake my head, because I know that it’s too late.
“PLEASE HEAL HER!” he begs.
“I’ll come back to you, Hunter.” Those are my last words before I close my eyes.
“Not you again! Please tell me I won’t be stuck with you forever.”
“Words hurt, you know. They hurt before and they hurt now,” says Samael, grinning.
“So what? Now I died and I’m here with you? Is this what you were talking about
when you said that something important was coming my way? Am I now supposed to lead
the forsaken with you?”
“Yeah… yeah… I know you had other plans… to become a fallen for love. Really Kayla?
Come on, you’re a freaking nephilim warrior and you were willing to become a fallen
angel for love?”
I stand there, furious, and cross my arms, and he bursts into laughter.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.” He sighs. “You’re not really dead, just a bit
unconscious. Relax. You will heal.”
“I will?” I ask confused. “Nah, you’re lying.”
“Seriously, I’m not.” He does look serious now. “I’m here to tell you what some
of the fallen refuse to because according to their rules they would be interfering.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Do you remember when you got stabbed by that succubi?”
“Of course I do! It was your fault.”
“Not the point. Anyway, you needed a blood transfusion and the only blood they could
use was Hunter’s.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Oh, come on… do I really have to spell it out?”
I just look at him.
“He has immortal blood… which means that…”
I freeze in place as it all hits me.
“Yeah, you’re a kick ass nephilim warrior who also happens to be immortal.”
“So this whole time that Hunter was trying to find a way to become mortal—”
“Yeah, it would be pretty messed up if he had found it, huh?”
“What about Trent?”
“What do you mean?”