Echoes in Eternity (The Pella Series Book 1) (47 page)

“You may have introduced the weapons,” joins
my voice next to Doc Henry, “but
we
perfected them!” without turning my head I address Marcus behind me, “Marcus, anytime you decide to join us would be perfect my friend,” I call out to him with a calm façade. Our weapons are human guns, but built by Marcus and the Nephilim. Marcus makes a gesture at the rising sun channeling its energy to block the entry of the demons but is immediately restrained by Gadreel and Stella.

Azaziel gives a devilish smile as if he is about to conquer the human soul. He continues opening the portal from another dimension to call his demons. Gabriel raises his arms with his swords and swing
s them with such speed that the pure energy forms a half arch. He shoots a fiery bolt into the first opening portal and it slams shut with two demons barely making it out, while a third one is seared into two pieces leaving his bottom half in the other realm while his claws twitch and his rubbery wings are seared with fire leaving great holes in them. His gaping mouth shows long piercing teeth which he no longer needs.

Gadreel
covers Marcus’ mouth to stop him from uttering words to channel his powers forth. Baraqiel pushes his wings down trying to prevent him from drawing power from the sun. Gabriel rushes forward to yank Gadreel out of the way to give Marcus a fighting chance. Two demons get through spreading their wings, with a wingspan reaching over ten feet long, taking flight while giving a long shriekish scream! They start circling above like vultures as one of them dives straight for Marcus’s chest, and takes a big chunk out of his chest leaving with his heart! Marcus goes limp in the arms of Gadreel and Stella. Stella actually has tears in her eyes.

“I. I...” words don’t come. “I didn’t want Shamsiel to die! I just wanted to be saved!” She looks
at Gabriel pleading. Gadreel on the other hand stands motionless. He has killed before, but it was never one of his brothers, and the agony of it is written all over his face.

The cowboy posse stands up with their guns drawn. Even Doc Henry has a somber face. He slowly murmurs, “I speak for all, Marcus,
morituri te salutamus.
” My former self and I are both numb and speechless at first. Seeing it again, knowing it happened, and the subsequent results of it could have jolted me to my core, but I focus on Henry. My former self is experiencing the death of an angel who saved me for the first time, and I, reliving it as if it just happened. Everyone among the group of
Psyches
is silent, with their mouths agape, except for Hailey.  Her attention is laser focused and she gazes excitedly at me, observing my former self. My demeanor changes to a murderous one, full of rage, unforgiving having experienced Marcus’s death! Marcus who had saved me from Hades, and gave me a purpose. Because of him, my woman exists.

“
Morituri te salutamus,
” my former self repeats as a single silent tear forces its way down my cheek on its own volition. I choke back the rest.

“Us too,” says Buck Whitman, “we who are about to die salute you! You redeemed our miserable souls; we’ll redeem your honor. We ride for the brand to
the death boss!”

A slight breeze of the western wind quickly speeds through our group, shaking us out of
our reveries, jolting us back to awareness of the impending danger.

“I never lose!” barks Azaziel, and
actually grabs Stella by the hair, and brings her face down to face the hole in Marcus’ gaping chest which is still shooting out blood staining her loosened blond curls and her face. When she makes a gesture to wipe the blood off her face with Azaziel still forcefully clutching her hair, she notices her bloodied hands, and laments in a whisper, “It was pure! I didn’t know! I didn’t know!” and her face changes into rage all of a sudden, and yanks a bow out of thin air, and grabs an arrow made of light’s rays, and shoots right into Azaziel’s chest, one after the other and another and another and another until both Gadreel and Gabriel grab her, holding her back.

“Let the woman finish the business!” shouts Doc Henry. She elbows both Gabriel and
Gadreel and springs her magnificent wings open and she shoots into the air to catch one of the demons with Marcus’ heart in his mouth, shooting the arrow right through its eyes killing it. Its limp body starts falling to the ground while the other demon screeches angrily. As the dead demon is falling out of the sky, its mate starts chasing Stella like a flying predator. Stella retracted her wings into her back, and shoots like an arrow catching up to the dead demon and retrieving Marcus’ heart from its clenched mouth. The screeching female demon catches up with Stella and bites into her arm making her drop Marcus’ heart.

I see my former self narrowing my eyes, and jump onto my horse running full speed. My eyes are focused on the tiny falling precious object. I
know I can’t let it hit the ground. I have to get it. The object appears to be a speck of dust in the sky moving rapidly. My heart lurches. This is a time I wish I could fly. The object changes location with the wind and I see the demon greedily diving towards it, fighting and clawing Stella on her bid to get Marcus’s heart. I aim my Colt, and pull the trigger. The bullet catches the demon in his neck making him falter in the air. Though the shot slows it down, the demon makes another attempt to catch the falling heart but this time Gabriel opens up his wings to take flight while the cowboys down below shoot the demon’s wings to shreds just as Gabriel flies right above the demon and relieves her of her head with his sword.

The heart falls and I leap nearly ten feet into the air to catch
it just in time after holstering my gun with lightning speed. With Marcus’s bloody heart in my hand, I slowly make my way to my wife’s father’s human body, the body that housed the angel who saved me, and place the heart where it once belonged.

Stella slowly makes her way down to Marcus’s side and whispers, “I’m sorry brother. I misjudged you. How can I expect God to forgive me when I can’t forgive myself for being the aid in killing my own brother?”

Gabriel speaks to Stella just as Azaziel starts groaning and moving in the dirt, “That’s what he paid for with his agreement. He abandoned his human body. He shall not come back to earth in this form.”

“Help me to toss his ass on that group of jumping cholla!” yells Buck Whitman. All hands volunteer, and grab Azaziel, and toss him into
a large clump of cacti.

“Why don’t you lay your hideous head on this large barrel cactus, goat boy?” says Doc Henry just as Azaziel gives a shriek. I turn to Gabriel and bellow, “Don’t you have a job to do? We can’t contain him here for long!”

Gabriel turns to Baraqiel and Gadreel, “Now is your chance to have a go at being redeemed,” he says. “Azaziel’s hands and feet must be bound, and we must make an opening in the desert floor to cast him into the darkness. His eyes must be covered so he cannot call his followers.” The three angels get to work.

“The seven snake heads will not appear to us in
its current form. But they will be in the underworld. Sever them!” orders Stella. Gabriel does as he’s told. Tying Azaziel up with the shackles forged in heaven, they toss him into the depths of Tartarus.

“I thought angels couldn’t die,” I mutter with darkened eyes, my emotions are forcefully pushed down as I stand protectively over Marcus’s
human body.

“They can’t. Death is forbidden for our kind,” replies
Gabriel with a solemn face.

“How then is he dead?” I hiss with malice through gritted teeth.

“It’s because he surrendered. He can never come back to earth to be with his child, or to protect her in anyway. He sealed himself off to show these
Fallen
that his sacrifice was for love. He’s bound for all eternity, but inevitably his exit seals my oath I gave to him,” replies Gabriel solemnly.

“What happens to his daughter Ellie, and the
twins?” asks a somber Buck Whitman making me flinch. All faces look anywhere, but none dare to look at me.

“I volunteer to be her guardian in place of her father,” says
Stella.

“You’re
Fallen
!” bellows Gabriel.

“Even angels ought to get a chance to redeem themselves. I give you my solemn oath in the presence of these witnesses that I will protect her from getting into the hands of the
Fallen
.”

“She is my wife!
I
will protect her!” I growl at the Angels.

“Alexander, you’re her twin soul. She can’t exist without you. But you alone can’t protect her from what awaits and lurks among the
Fallen
. If you had one chance to get you to heaven after you’ve been wondering the earth for thousands of years, don’t you think you would take that chance? They’ve been punished! They need her blood to sacrifice her to get them to heaven! She’s the only loophole that exists for them. Marcus’s daughter needs an insider from my kind! And unfortunately she needs his kind too!” she says jabbing her finger towards Gabriel.

I take three strides to meet the gaze of this female angel. “What makes you think I can trust you with the owner of my soul when you held her father down when he was getting his heart ripped out? Tell me!! How can I trust any one of you?” I say pushing my finger into her angelic face.

“I have nothing to tell you. You just have to trust me, because you have no choice...” she replies calmly.

“I don’t trust you. Or you!” I
say turning to Gabriel. “You’re only bound by duty Gabriel and you want to get back to heaven! Even if each of you loved her every day of your existence with all your heavenly might, you couldn’t have loved her as much as I love her in one single day of my life!”

“Now what happens?” asks Doc Henry trying to change the direction of the growing confrontation.

“Now you take home a body to show Elissa, and bury him,” replies Gabriel. “But, don’t think this is over. This is only the beginning. The
Great War
is coming. We need all the help we can get. Heaven and Earth must unite! This is Marcus’ last wish. Whether you like it or not Alexander, Elissa has new guardians. Me and Stella.”

“Stella as my wife’s guardian!” I snort in haughty derision.

“Yes,” replies Stella transforming into a short, unassuming blonde woman. “I’m your new nanny.”

I am beyond furious; rage drips from my pores and my gaze is murderous.

“You may not trust me Alexander. But trust that I’m oath bound to my brother; trust that I will protect the reason for his existence, the reason for him to leave his ranks in heaven. I will do my best to never let harm come to his daughter; your wife, as long as I’m near her,” says Stella calmly.

“No one can promise that, not even I
can! And I’m the one who loves her!” I bark with barely controlled rage.

“Alexander, your strength is also your weakness. Your love for her and your status as a Nephilim makes you stronger than any of us here!” she says gesturing at the
angels, Nephilim and humans standing. “Sometimes it is better to be half human, than a complete Angel like me, because, you have the virtue of angels and that of man. But that same love would also make you bargain with the Devil if it came to save her, even if it is to the detriment of the universe. We need to balance that scale. Gabriel and I,” she says making an unpleasant face with the prospect of forging an uneasy alliance.

“Is this a truce?” asks Gabriel.

“An unpleasant one; I know but we are going to be sharing a ward. As long as she exists, we see her through it, and we have a truce, Gabriel.”

“She has me! She doesn’t need either of you!” I shout again.

“You can protect her against the world. But we have to protect her from Heaven and Hell. She needs us.
You
need us!”

“I’ve given my binding oath to my brother!” Gabriel booms.

“Do you think that I don’t know what loyalty and honor are? But where have you sent the brother whom you’ve given your binding oath to? They’ve been saying that you’re the spirit of truth, Gabriel. Then, speak the truth!” I challenge Gabriel.

Gabriel’s eyes darken; he looks threatening as if he’s on a mission to destroy us.

“He’s exchanged his life for my oath in protection of his daughter and chained for all eternity by the
Divine Law
,” he says and shows us the image of Marcus chained in the abysses of Tartarus.

My eyes
widen; I feel a sudden anguish after seeing Marcus chained for all eternity to give Elissa and our family a chance to survive. He exchanged his life for Elissa’s freedom. The rage I feel at the moment takes all the practice of my two-thousand years of existence to control. Even the
Psyches
are shaken with what just occurred, except for Hailey. She’s utterly focused, calculating, and thinking. I can feel the gears of her mind turning.

“Even in the worst, most brutal days of my existence as an emperor where I have killed and tortured and let my men’s bloodlust run amok
throughout an entire   population, I have never tortured anyone I loved, anyone I was loyal to; only my enemy! I don’t trust you to look after my wife when you have chained your brother who you claim to love in Tartarus. Does your God know what is being done to Marcus?” I growl.