Authors: Christine Zolendz
Before I turned from Shane, I watched his eyelids flutter. Sheer terror crashed through me, I needed
to get Shane help. I needed to get to a phone
.
God, please
,
please let me save him
.
"Stay with
m
e,
Shane," I pleaded over and over.
"Please don't leave me
." Tears
poured openly from my eyes.
Gabriel swung his arms
around
me
, pulling me back,
and locked me into his
chest
. Pure horror spiked and tore against every surface of my skin.
"Grace, my love. You
can
still save him," Gabriel murmured into my ear, nipping at it.
"Come with me and I
will
let him live."
I struggled against his grip as
darkness seep
ed through my skin
, hardening my flesh
layer by layer. It ebbed through my veins
whispering
its
beautiful little lies. It called my name, pressed its insidious lips to my soul and offered me a h
eaven like I'd never known.
I fixed my eyes on Shane, trying to focus on how much and how long I loved him. Shane blinked his eyes at me in what seemed
like slow motion. His lips moved slightly and the lightest of whispers
caressed my e
ars, "
Don'
t,
Grace, don't listen to him
.
"
A gurgled gasp.
"Time is running
ou
t,
Grace," Gabriel threatened.
Shane's body trembled and a thin stream of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, spilling to the floor. His expression didn't change, though. And it spoke to me crystal clear. "
Your heart belongs
to
me."
Gabriel raked his lips along my neck a
nd clutched me tighter. "Then,
watch him
di
e,
Grace." Every nerve ending in my body hummed with Gabriel's desire, and my
stomach convulsed
against the
thought of it.
I whimpered,
and then
screamed, "I WILL ALWAYS BELONG TO
HI
M,
GABRIEL, NEVER YOU!"
Shane's lips lifted slightly and his body stilled.
And then he wa
s gone, taking his last breath, and taking my heart with him. I never fully realized the meaning of the word death until just then and the thought of living this life without him in it wasn't happening...because without him, without him in my life I'm dead inside anyway. I've spent lifetimes looking for him and I wasn't wasting a minute more without him.
"Oh
,
Grace," Gabriel whispered. "
Maybe you will change your heart when
I get my hands on Lea
?" He released me and I collapsed onto Shane.
A broken whimper escaped my lips.
I can't lose him again, I can't
.
Blurry eye
d, I pressed my lips to Shane's. "I'll be right
ther
e,
Shane
.
I won't stay here without you,
"
I quietly whispered to him.
With
the agony that tore through my
body,
a strange
force of energy surged in my veins. It traveled from somewhere deep in my belly and out over every inch of my skin. Rushing up the
stair
s,
my head was filled with visions of how I would end my
life;
the best option to me was riding my bike off a bridge.
Gabriel was sitting at my kitchen table eating the damn French toast smiling at me. "Grace," he nodded and stood up to block the kitchen door and my only way out. "Do you really think I am going to let you hurt yourself?
No,
my love.
That body of yours is
a little to
o
precious to me."
"You'll never keep m
e from him, Gabriel. He'll either
come back for me or I'll find him." I paced the kitchen trying to find a way out. I was trapped, caged and so
fucking enraged
.
"All that has
transpired
and you still believe in
him
?" he chuckled.
"Yes, Gabriel. If there is one thing that I have learned in the last two thousand years is to believe in what Shane and I have. However you try to twist it or mangle it with your jealousy and lust, it will still never affect how my heart and my soul will always be his." I stalked up to him and stood an inch away from his face. "No matter how much you torture me, no matter what you say to me, it will never change the truth.
You want to take over
heave
n,
Gabriel? You're going to have to do it without me on your side and I will fight against you every step of the way."
Gabriel laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to sit down again at the table and wipe the tears from his eyes. Disgusted, I stormed past him into the living room, and headed for the front door.
Gabriel's hands grabbed my shoulders back and he spun me around like I was a rag doll. My body shuttered with pain at his touch, and when he wrapped his arms around me
,
sheer tormenting agony
ripped through me in waves. "I told you there are
so many ways
to torture a person. It's one of my most favorite pastimes, my heart. I have a certain skill for it, I've been told."
Wrapping his hands around my throat he lifted me over his head, my feet dangling
loosely
below me
. Behind
him,
shadows moved together and stepped forward into the room.
Holy hell,
was that a fucking ARMY behind him? My vision blurred and my lungs struggled to pull in air
.
I kicked my feet out
while my windpipe exploded in flames.
I don't care what he does or wh
o he
brings,
I'm
fighting him until I cease to exist.
I felt myself being thrown from Gabriel's hold and then the blackness came.
And from that darkness I felt
life
.
I felt hope
.
Then a voice, more like a
nuclear explosion, detonated through the darkness. It tremble
d the ground below my body and thundered through ever
y inch of my soul.
It called me by name, snapping my eyes wide open.
Gabriel stood
tall, wings outspread
near the door, with others like him al
l fiery eyed and ready to attack
.
I froze.
What the HELL happened to the hope I just felt?
How the HELL AM I GOING TO FIGHT
ALL OF
THEM?
Gabriel laughed lowering his gaze to me
and crouched down over me. His eyes were cold and remorseless. I felt the bile rising up from my stomach and the heat splashing colors across my face.
But the last thing I was going to do was back down from him. He just took
Shane from me and rage was boiling my blood.
I want to end him
slowly
.
"You and your merry
men
there
can tear me to
shred
s,
Gabriel
, but I
will
go down fighting.
You can have my body after it's
cold and dead, but
never
my soul." I knew my voice sounded raw and panicked but I held his stare, daring him.
Gabriel grimaced and looked beyond me, eyes flaming brighter.
I twisted my head around to follow his line of sight.
On the other side of me was the archangel Michael and two mor
e blue-
eyed angels with their arms braced securely around Shane.
I swear to
yo
u,
I could just about see the butterflies fly out of my mouth. Shane was
STANDING THERE!
My heart stuttered in my ch
est and pounded so wildly that my lungs
began to convulse
.
He was c
rouching, rea
dy to attack baring his teeth. Facial features hard as granite and full of rage and vengeance.
His muscles strained and twisted against
the steel hands that restrained him
.
"You lay one finger on
he
r,
Gabrie
l,
and I WILL FUCKING DESTROY YOU!"
He growled.
My avenging angel
.
I tried desperately to catch my breath, but the sobs came. And when the first of my whimpers reached his ears
,
Shane's eyes locked on mine and for a brief second his eyes softened.
"Oh come now
,
Shane
. We both know I've
la
id
more than one finger on her already
," his voice grated at my insides like grounded up glass.
Snarling and screaming, Shane's body rocked with tremors and he lunged forward trying
violently
to charge Gabriel. The two angels holding him back grunted and fought against his pull but lost their grip and stumbled backwards.
Shane slammed Gabriel into the wall with such force it cracked with impact and it crumbled around them. Gabriel's minions circled
around them and
I jumped up and
ran to Shane.
"NO!" I spun around to face Michael. "
Michae
l,
do
something!
"
Shane began pummeling Gabriel, pounding him over and over again in the face until his
demons threw him off
,
sending him flying up against the opposite wall. Gabriel stood laughing at Shane and licked his lips. I jumped in front of him and blocked Shane.
"
N
o,
Grace! Get behind me!" H
e yank
ed me behind him and w
hen his hands touched
me,
I fell into his arms and wrapped myself around him. Throwing his hands around
me,
he held
me
close and kissed my forehead, "I am in fucking complete awe of your strength and your reverence.
But you
have
to get behind me babe.
"
Gabriel charged at us, arms reaching towards us, steel claws grasping. But just as he came close enough to touch me Michael stood between us wings spread the span of the room, and Gabriel stumbled back with fear in his eyes.
Michael faced me and searched my face with his ancient blue iris
es, looking right into my soul and I felt it being
weighed and measured
.
I stepped forward and held my chin up towards him. "Yes, Michael. Take a good look at my soul and what I have been through because of Gabriel for the last two thousand years or so. Weigh and judge it
wel
l,
Michael
."
The archangels eyed widened and he turned his eyes on Shane, looking at him the same way.
I stepped even closer and leaned in, "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."
Shane jerked his head at me, "Dante Alighieri, Grace?"
One corner of Michael's lips turned up so slight that if you weren't standing as close as I you would have never noticed. "You
are
so much like
Job
, Grace. You never faltered in your search for him, you never lost your faith, never questioned it." His
eyes smiled at Shane, "And you. You gave up your heavenly place to be with her. I stand in awe of the both of you."
Turning his face toward Gabriel his lips pulled back. "Gabriel
your envy, your lust, your greed and all the trouble you've caused in between are far worse crimes than that of a simple kiss. A simple kiss that may I add was forgiven and sanctioned long ago."