Scarred (the Spellbound Series Book 3) (25 page)

              Nick waves his arm, and his immense power throws me backward. I crash through the glass window, and lose sight of him as I hurtle to the ground below.

27

              I only panic for a fraction of a second as I sail through the air. I’m so used to flying, that I’m more worried about the shards of glass falling beside me than hitting the ground. I twist in midair, and spread my wings so I can glide to safety. I can still hear Nick screaming in agony, even from hundreds of yards away. As soon as I land, I turn to see the shining metal building that I just fell from. Surprisingly enough, it wouldn’t look out of place in downtown Manhattan. But even more surprising is the black disc flying straight towards me. I dive out of the way as the table from Lucifer’s office hurtles past. It crashes into the side of a mountain, most of it crumbling upon impact.

              I brush myself off as I climb to my feet, and watch with narrowed eyes as a dark figure slowly descends from the skies. As he approaches, I realize with horror that it’s Nick. Or at least, it used to be; evidently, his soul lost the battle for control over his body. Lucifer has taken over, and he’s made significant changes since I saw him last. Whereas Nick’s skin had been slowly turning alabaster white, it’s darkened to the color of charcoal. And the black veins that had been claiming his body inch by inch now glow the same shade of red as his eyes. It’s hard to believe that what I’m looking at had ever been a human being.

              As his feet touch the ground, Lucifer flexes his fingers, and looks down to inspect his new body. “This is more like it,” he says. It’s eerie to hear Nick’s voice coming out of this body; it’s still very much his, but at the same time, he sounds nothing like the boy I used to know. Lucifer grins at me, and asks, “How do I look?”

              I scowl, and mutter, “Get out of Nick’s body, you piece of shit.”

              “Not a chance.” Lucifer folds his arms behind his back, and turns away from me to watch the lava flowing down the side of a nearby volcano. “I gotta say, your boyfriend’s body is every bit as useful as I’d hoped. With every ounce of strength he’s gathered, and all I have to give, we’ll be unstoppable. I’ll finally be able to repay Michael for all he’s done.”

              “You’re gonna have to go through me first.”

              “I was hoping you would say that. A quick warm up sounds perfect.” Without turning to face me, or moving at all, I can feel the enormity of Nick and Lucifer’s combined power fluctuating. A split second later, the top of the mountain next to us explodes in a shower of ash and lava, chunks of rock raining down on us from above. Even more worrisome, however, is the river of lava flying right at me.

              I latch onto the lava with my own power, and redirect it so it’s jettisoned towards Lucifer. He finally spins around, and with a spell of his own, he gathers the lava in a ball a few feet away from his face. The ball grows until it’s bigger than his entire body, and that’s when he throws it back at me. I sidestep the attack, and watch as the lava spills onto the ground near my foot. We don’t have time for this; I’m not going to play catch with the devil, there are people on Earth that need me to finish this as quickly as I can. I cool the molten rock with a spell as I swing my arms in an upward motion, and the bubbling lava solidifies into what looks like a sculpture of a crashing wave.

              I whirl around to lunge at Lucifer, only to find that he’s disappeared. Before I can truly look around, something sweeps my feet out from under me, and I land hard on my back. I look up to see the bottom of Nick’s boot, and roll out of the way before it lands on my face. Lucifer closes his fist, and I’m launched into the air by a pillar of rock that springs out of the ground. I land on my feet, and deflect a punch flying at my face before striking Lucifer with one of my own. When he cries out in pain, it’s with Nick’s voice, and I realize that I may not be able to do what I came here to do; any pain I inflict on Lucifer will also effect Nick. How am I going to kill one without killing the other?

              Lucifer realizes my conundrum at the same time I do, and a malicious chuckle escapes his lips. “What’s the matter, Heather?,” he asks. “Afraid to hurt your boyfriend?”

              I grit my teeth, and close my eyes as I punch him in the jaw, which sends him spinning to the ground. Lucifer’s back up in a flash, and kicks out at me, but his movements are so obvious, he may as well be broadcasting his attacks. He may be wildly powerful now, but that doesn’t mean he’s become any better at defending himself. I grab Lucifer by the leg, and use his momentum to swing him around and throw him to the ground. “I’m only going to say this once,” I retort. “He’s not my boyfriend!” 

              “Really? That’s a shame, you two were so
cute
together!” Lucifer fires a black bolt of lightning at me from where he lies on the ground. I shriek, and fall to my knees as the electricity surges through my body. I’ve never experienced any pain like this; if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume I were being cooked alive. When I realize that the current of power isn’t slowing at all, I interrupt the flow with a shield spell, gasping and twitching as the pain subsides.

              While I try to catch my breath, I hear a
crack
overhead, and look up to see that my shield is actually cracking. Lucifer’s newfound might is enough that he can penetrate even the strongest of defenses. I only have a precious few seconds before I have to move, so I try to figure out just how I’m going to end this without killing Nick. There has to be some way to kick Lucifer out of his body, but as far as I know, an exorcism is the only way to force an intruding soul out of its host body. Unfortunately, I don’t have any idea how to perform one. And there’s a slim chance a dagger soaked in holy water will kill a demon without killing the human it inhabits, but since Lucifer is an angel, he wouldn’t be effected.

For a fleeting moment, I consider offering
my
body as an alternative host for Lucifer’s soul. I’m much stronger than both him and Nick individually, I may be able to maintain control. Then, I’ll just impale myself on my sword, and…
My sword
! Michael’s words ring in my ears as I realize that I can use his old weapon to my advantage:
“It burns with the fire of six archangels, their strength contained within the ruby on the hilt. Together, they make sure only the worthy may wield their might, and burn the wicked ones who might try to steal their power for themselves.”

Lucifer may be evil, but Nick has always had a heart of gold. If I’m right, I can hurt one without hurting the other. If I’m wrong… Well, I pray that I’m not.

I crouch just as my shield splinters apart, and the black bolt of lightning sails right over my head, singing a few stray strands of hair. Before Lucifer can hit me again, I launch him into the air the same way he did to me. I grab him with a spell, and hold him in the air for a moment before flinging him into the side of a volcano, where he slams against the rock.

Lucifer grunts in pain, but he’s far from done with me. He brushes off his shoulders, then dashes towards me, his leathery wings stretching out behind him as if he’s ready to take off. I pull my sword out of the sheath at my hip, and smile to myself as flames race along the length of the blade. Lucifer’s eyes widen in panic, and he slides under my sword as I thrust the tip towards his heart. He rises from the ground a few feet away, covered in dirt and rubble. He points at my sword, and demands, “Where did you get
that
?!”

I look down proudly at the crackling flames, and reply, “It’s a present from my father.”

“Michael…” Lucifer shakes his head, and says, “That bastard. He won’t get to see me killed with the blade that killed my brothers.”

I narrow my eyes, but withhold any comment. I’m suddenly a little less confident in my plan to save Nick. If he knows how Michael killed the other archangels, does he know about the blade’s other qualities as well? I can’t be sure. At least it’s clear that he’s unsettled by the weapon’s presence. “You know, if you somehow come out of this alive, you can put him down the same way he killed the others.”

Lucifer cracks his neck, and the red in his eyes and veins glows brighter than ever. “Oh, I intend to.”

It sounds like Lucifer doesn’t know the sword will burn him alive; I can use that to my advantage. I point it towards him, and suggest, “How about you come and take it, then?”

Lucifer reaches an outstretched hand over the ground before him, and a crack spreads across the solid rock. It splits apart, and widens to reveal an ocean of magma just beneath us. From within, a slender black object rises slowly, until Lucifer wraps his fingers around the obsidian hilt of a sword. A glistening black blade extends from the hilt, as long as mine, but just an inch or two thinner. He grips the hilt with both hands, and eyes me with amusement. Now, it’s my turn to panic; if he’s anywhere near as skilled as Michael with a sword, I may be in trouble.

I launch myself skyward with a spell, then spread my wings, flapping them quickly to pick up speed. If Lucifer wants this sword so badly, he’s gonna have to work for it. When I look over my shoulder, I’m rewarded by the sight of Lucifer taking flight, his leathery wings flapping clumsily in an attempt to propel him forward. It’s almost amusing, watching him struggle. It must be strange adjusting to Nick’s wings after a thousand lifetimes with the wings of an angel.

Evidently, Lucifer can’t handle being too slow to catch me. I feel his power surge once more, and the ground I’m flying over crumbles, human sized chunks of stone falling into the ocean of magma below. Geysers of molten rock spew into the air all around me as I pass, some of them close enough that I can feel the heat roasting my skin. Lucifer laughs as I dodge the obstacles he throws in my way. I’d only planned on luring him closer to his body, but now it’s a struggle to keep from getting burned to a crisp.

After the third close call, I’m fed up with letting Lucifer toy with me. He’s not the only one around here with unimaginable spellpower. I whirl around, and stir the magma between Lucifer and I into a swirling, flaming vortex a hundred feet high. It’s enough to distract Lucifer for a moment, while, I gain some altitude and fly through the broken window to his office.

The moment my feet touch the cracked marble floor, I pull my wings back inside of me. I jog towards the center, and hold my sword by my side while I wait for Lucifer to show. Mere seconds later, he flies through the window as well, and skids to a stop just inside the office. He watches me through narrowed eyes; evidently, he’s done playing games. He’s ready to end this. And so am I.

We circle each other for just a moment, before he lunges at me, the point of his sword aimed directly at my throat. I sidestep him easily, and wait eagerly for his next move. I could easily parry his every move, but as Michael taught me during our training, that would be pointless. We would needlessly damage our blades, and it would interfere with observing his movements. I see an opening in the middle of Lucifer’s next swing, and give him a shallow cut on his left calf. He gasps in pain, and rather than bleeding, the wound glows white. I can’t tell which of us is more surprised, but afterward, Lucifer’s strikes carry even more urgency than before.

I’m no master, but I can tell Lucifer’s swordsmanship has gotten rusty, if he’d ever even had any skill. He’s sluggish, and sloppy, and leaves himself open more often than not. I could easily end this in an instant, if only he weren’t hiding in Nick’s body. Every so often, I leave him shallow gashes on his forearms, or his calves. But for the most part, I dodge every slash aimed my way. It dawns on me that merely cutting Lucifer won’t separate his soul from Nick’s body. I can tell the glowing cuts along his limbs are incredibly painful, but they won’t be enough. Maybe he’ll have to
hold
the sword for my plan to work. And there’s only one way to make that happen.

I feign a moment of absentmindedness, and let Lucifer disarm me. My sword clatters to the ground, and slides a couple of feet away as the flames die off in the absence of my touch. Lucifer laughs triumphantly, and slashes at my throat while my guard is down. It’s so quick, that I barely have time to move my head back, and his blade slices the air mere centimeters from my skin. Lucifer punches me with his free hand, and I allow the blow to knock me to the ground.

Lucifer stands over me for a moment with a smug grin plastered on his face. He raises his sword high, and I flinch as he flings it to the side, and the black blade sinks into the wall. “Ease up, kid,” he gloats. “If I’m gonna kill Michael’s daughter, I’m gonna do it right.” Lucifer reaches out his hand, and with a spell, calls my sword into his palm. It rises slowly from the ground, and glides through the air until his fingers wrap around the golden hilt. And that’s when the screaming starts.

I roll into a crouch, and stand up tall to watch what’s happening. Lucifer’s hand is engulfed by the flames of the blade as he screams in agony. The flames race up the length of his arm, spread across his torso, and swallow the other arm to the fingertips. Within seconds, his entire body is burning, and for a moment, I worry that Nick’s body will be destroyed in the blaze. The white light pouring from Lucifer’s many wounds expands until it shines brighter than the flames wrapped around him, and all I can see is white.

Just when I take a step towards him, it seems as if Nick’s body explodes, and I’m thrown onto my back once more. A black smoke billows out from where he stood, rising to the ceiling as it coalesces. The white light dissipates, and to my immense relief, Nick’s body remains intact, his mouth still open in a silent scream. He’s not only alive, he’s better than ever; his skin has returned to its original pallor, and his eyes have become the same gentle brown I’ve always known. There isn’t a single trace of Lucifer’s corruption left.