Damnation's Door: A Cursed Book (25 page)

I was about to run to help him when shadow grew in front of me. Instinct kicked in and I ducked. The air split in half as a scythe barely missed my head. I kept moving, sprinting forward until I thought I had enough distance. I spun on my heel, clutching my hatchet and knife, and saw that I completely misjudged how close the Knight was.

It was three feet from me, coal-red eyes burning into mine as it raised the scythe like an executioner’s axe. It descended and I jumped to the side, wincing as the dark blade plunged into the concrete. The Knight dragged the scythe up from the cement, swinging it toward my stomach. I leaped back as far as I could, feeling the air move as the curved blade barely missed me. The demon warrior turned with the blade, lashing out at my head with his fist. I crouched to avoid it, then threw myself back as the scythe crossed up to me.

I watched the blade rise over my head, flip, and descend. I crossed my hatchet and knife to catch the scythe, narrowly avoiding the blade. My strength was nowhere near the Knight’s, so the most I could do to save my life was shuffle away and let its black blade screech against my silver ones. I had just pushed away the scythe when the Knight closed in and plunged its fist into my stomach.

I thought it had punched a hole clean through me. I crumpled in half and flew back three feet, tripping on my heels and landing hard on the ground. I grimaced at the pain swelling along my belly, using adrenaline and survival instinct to numb it. I still had my weapons, but they weren’t going to do me any good. By the time I was getting back to my feet, the Knight was standing over me. It stood like a black shadow, the red eyes searing into my memory like a branding iron. Its armor clinked as it pulled its arms back, lifting the scythe like a sadistic golfer about to tee off my head.

The blade was just beginning to fall when a blast of gold light exploded behind the Knight. I rolled in the opposite direction of the scythe, scrambling to my feet and backing up. The Knight turned around to see what had attacked it. I peered over its shoulder to see Michael standing in the middle of the battle, his broadsword drawn and his azure eyes glowing with rage.

The second Knight darted for the archangel, swinging its scythe in a powerful arc. Michael didn’t move until the very last second, catching the curve of the scythe and sweeping the blade around. It was yanked from the Knight’s grip, leaving it defenseless. Michael then cleaved off the Knight’s head in a single stroke.

For a second, I thought we could win.

Then Lucifer stepped forward. I could see Carver shifting from foot to foot, as if he couldn’t decide whether to join in the fight, or run for his life. Mateo held Dro back while she screamed over and over again.

“No!”

Lucifer didn’t listen. He approached Michael and held out his hand. Hellfire bloomed out of it like a burning flower, funneling toward Michael. The angel spun around, the edge of his white coat twirling with him, and raised his sword.

The blistering hot hellfire engulfed the blade, licking around the sides to try and catch Michael. But the Heavenly Host’s Commander held his own against the King of Hell, both supernaturals locked in an intense battle of defense and offence.

I was so damn distracted, that I didn’t see the Knight move until its hand clamped around my throat.

It picked me up like I weighed nothing, my feet dangling in the air. I kicked weakly, not even close to touching the Knight. The metal of the gauntlet was blistering the outsides of my neck, getting hotter as its grooves pinched into my skin. I couldn’t breathe, pathetically hammering my hatchet down on the Knight’s wrist. My silver blade
ping
ed harmlessly off the tough metal armor. I was a mouse trying to bite into a metal cat.

The Knight squeezed my throat again, forcing my bones to grind together. Everything I saw was blurry and dark at the edges. I barely made out the scythe as it was pulled back, ready to sever me at the waist–

Another blast of white light burst through the haze, this time striking against the Knight’s back. It didn’t make a sound, but it stiffened and dropped me. I landed in a heap, gagging and coughing. Every time I swallowed, the burns on my outer throat throbbed. I was pushing myself up when hands found my arms and lifted me. I snarled and jerked free, ready to fight again.

Dro held her hands up, watching me like she would watch an aggravated cobra. I lowered my hands, and the battle turned into white noise.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Dro cried over the commotion. “How did you find me? I was blocking Max.”

I narrowed my eyes, glad that Max was too far away to hear his girlfriend. “Does it matter? I

found you, and now you can come back.”

“No,” Dro said.

I absorbed what she said, and blinked when I couldn’t believe it. “What the hell do you mean, ‘no’?”

Dro’s eyes were sad. “I can’t go back with you, Con. It’s too dangerous.” She started shaking her head. “You should have listened to me.”

My anger rose, but I pushed it down. Dro wasn’t the person I needed to take my frustrations out on. I took a slow, careful step toward her. She tensed, but didn’t move back.

“Whatever you’re planning, tell me, and I’ll help you.”

My sister shook her head. “I don’t need help.”

Some of the anger slipped through the cracks. “You were standing next to Lucifer, burning down a church. Tell me what’s right in that picture.”

Dro’s cheeks took on an embarrassed, annoyed flush. “It isn’t what you think.”

“Then just tell me what it is.” My voice was beginning to rise. A battle was not where I wanted to have a fight with my sister. Especially since I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that Michael’s defense had just broken. His sword could no longer hold back Lucifer’s fire.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Dro said, trying to reign in her own boiling temper.

“Like fuck I wouldn’t,” I snapped. “How can you say that to me?!”

“
Because you’re human!
” she exploded. Her eyes burned like the flame from a welder’s torch. “You have no idea what it’s like to hold all these powers and thoughts inside of you, always being afraid you’ll hurt someone you love, and losing control when you were so sure you had it! I
had
to let it out, Constance! It was tearing me apart not to! Lucifer was the only one who could show me control!”

She took a moment to breathe. I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t speak.

“I told Lucifer to look for you. I asked him to give you a deal that would keep you and the others alive. You should have taken it. You still can. You can’t trust me, so you need to let me go.”

It was my sister’s voice, but they were Lucifer’s words. They had to be. Dro knew she was dangerous, but she always wanted to stay with me. It was a promise we had made, that no matter what came across our path, we would overcome it together.

But what if Lucifer didn’t tell her to say any of this? What if Dro’s finally telling me all the secrets she’s kept? What if she really has given up?

I shoved the thought away. I refused to believe it. I couldn’t.

“No,” I told her flatly. “I’m not going anywhere unless you’re coming too.”

“Damn it, Constance, I’m trying to save you!” she yelled.

“But you’re not!” I shouted back. “You’re hurting me!”

I didn’t know the words were out of my mouth before it was too late. The stunned expression must have remained on my face, but Dro looked at me with utter despair. If this was the only way I could get Dro to listen to me, then I would do it. Even if I hated myself for it.

“You’re hurting me,” I repeated.

Seeing the tears form in my sister’s eyes cut me deeper than I imagined. My words had caused her pain. But I didn’t know what to do. Hurting people was the only thing I knew I would never fail at.

I took one more step, until it felt like just the two of us. I almost forgot about the battle we were losing.

“Andromeda, please,” I begged. “This isn’t right, and you know it. This isn’t what we promised each other.”

Tears spilled down Dro’s cheeks, but she didn’t reach for me. She took a step back.

“Is that what you’re banking your hope on? A promise? Like the one where you said nothing bad would ever happen because you, Dad, and Mom would protect me? Or all the times you told me we’d leave Mexico? Or when you said Isabel would never find me?”

Her callousness numbed me for a moment, but it didn’t last. Soon the pain crept in, like an icy air that froze everything it touched. It hurt to breathe, my damaged heart cracking again. I didn’t want to think it was Dro telling me this. Not my sister, the sweet, innocent, lost girl who was afraid to be alone. Who was kind to those who didn’t deserve it. Who loved carefully, but with all her heart. The sister who never wanted me to leave. It couldn’t have been her.

But there were no Possessors hovering over her head. No one sticking a knife in her back to make her talk. No sadistic father whispering in her ear.

It was just us.

“You made a million promises to me, Constance. But how many did you really think you could keep? You wanted to save me, but you can’t. I wanted you to trust me to save you, but you wouldn’t even do that. You held onto me too tight, and now you have to let me go.”

Now the tears were building in my eyes. I felt the world crumbling around me, but my feet were glued to the ground.

“I can’t,” I whispered shakily.

There was no sympathy in her eyes. No regret or guilt. Not even a hint of pity.

“You can,” Dro said. “And you will.”

She held my eyes a moment longer, then turned on her heel and ran back for the battle. All I could do was stand there and watch a piece of my heart, life, and soul, run away from me. I stood on the sidelines of the battle, unable to find the will to join it. I watched Dro rush to Lucifer’s side as Michael fired a blast of heavenfire at the King of Hell. She swept it aside with a stronger flash of her unique hellfire, hurling it directly into another angel and incinerating him instantly. There was no shame on her face.

Michael backed up a step, snapping up his hands and creating a heavenfire so bright it rivaled the sun. I saw Lucifer step in front of Dro protectively, warding off the spell. Michael shouted something I couldn’t understand, though I spotted Sephiel grabbing an injured Warrick and helping him limp toward Max. The young prophet was fiddling with the
movens caeli
, as if he’d forgotten how to use it.

My feet moved on their own, survival instinct kicking in over the swelling heartache. As I moved to the much smaller group, I saw Michael move his attention from Lucifer to Carver, who was trying to edge out of range.

He wasn’t fast enough.

Michael spun on his heel and hurled his sword at the demon slayer. The blade sank into his chest like butter, nearly cutting him in half. Carver was on his feet for one more second before he began to dissolve into black ash around the blade.

Lucifer’s roar sounded through the night like thunder, his strength building over top of Michael’s heavenfire wall. White fire smothered the gold, pushing out like daggers that drilled into the archangel’s chest. He collapsed onto his back, writhing in pain as a dozen points of flame scorched through him.

I ignored Sephiel’s warning, running for Michael. I reached him as he slapped his hands to his chest, using whatever magic he still had to heal himself. I grabbed his arms and was about to pull him back, when a dozen of the white flames shot toward my face. There was no way I could avoid them. I closed my eyes and turned my head away.

Hot air blew in front of me, sweeping out to the left instead of around me. I opened my eyes, seeing the edges of white hellfire push away Lucifer’s flaming daggers. When the light and fire cleared, I saw Lucifer staring down at Dro.