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Soft white mist gathered around my legs, but a solid pebble pathway sat beneath my feet. I glanced around and smiled. The trees surrounding me were large and filled to the brim with brilliant colored leaves. It was autumn in heaven and the scene was majestic. I breathed in deeply and settled my soul, calm becoming a quick companion for my journey.
A bright light moved toward me at a relaxed rate and by the time it reached me, I was more than ready to receive it. Extending my hands, I took it into my grasp and lifted the small trinket toward my face. The sterling silver appearance shone so brightly that it threatened to blind me with its radiance.
The heart-shaped trinket had a clasp that was accessible along the side. I pulled at it and opened the shell. A heart-shaped vile of red liquid lay protected inside of it. The cap at the top seemed to slip off without much effort but once it did, my energy weaned.
"Come back to me, Rouge." I could hear Caleb's voice, but it was incredibly far away.
I closed the top, locked the outer cage and closed my eyes, willing myself back to the cabin in Colorado.
When I opened my eyes again, I was kneeling in front of Caleb, my breathing labored and my skin covered in a sheen of sweat.
"You did it." He bent down in front of me, the look on his face that of fatherly pride. It didn't belong to me, but I enjoyed it for a moment anyway. No matter the devastation of what Caleb's relationship would become with Michael, I would forever covet what it had been. The love of a parent was something I'd never experienced, and never would. His anger against me seemed to have diminished... for now.
He reached for me and I took his hand, accepting his help as I stood.
"It was beautiful up there." I glanced down to find my Sioghra still intact right next to Michael's.
"I know. I go quite often to find my center." He crossed his arms over his chest, and for a moment seemed like a normal guy and not the monster he had become of late. "So when you find yourself in front of the dark angel, you know how to open yourself up. What we need now is someone or something to stun him so that you have time to access your lifeblood."
"Maybe there’s something in my journal. Like a spell."
Caleb snapped his fingers. "There is! It's an ancient spell that uses the light to blind the darkness. Find it and memorize it." He snorted and shook his head. "This might actually work. Incredible. All these years we've been trying to use brute force to hunt and try to kill Bentos and yet I knew it would take so much more. We might actually win this time."
"We will." I tucked the necklaces back into my shirt. "If you’re going back in, do you mind to send Michael out? I'm going to sit up on the hill for a while. See if I can find the spell and make it work."
"When are we planning on putting this new strategy into action? I say we don’t wait. We go tonight."
"Tomorrow night." I brushed my hands over my stomach. "I need to rest before going through all of this."
He glanced down and his expression darkened, but he didn't give away any of his negative thoughts. Instead, he gave me a single nod then walked away.
I moved up the hill and sat down, stretching my legs out and leaning back to watch the sun work to finish up its task for the day. It would duck behind the clouds within minutes and leave the evening stars on display for all who took the time to see them. The ground was cool but I ignored it.
I looked down toward the house in time to watch Michael walk up the hill toward me. Butterflies tore up my stomach at the sight of him. His strong shoulders were pulled back, as if he could carry the weight of the world on them. His blond hair was getting a little too long, and was curling up around the edges like Rob’s did on a daily basis.
"Hey, handsome." I smiled up at him as he dropped down next to me, moving close and staring seriously at me.
"I don't like it. You could get horribly hurt, Rouge. This isn't just about me and you anymore, but a child now too. If you die... he dies." He reached out and touched my stomach.
"It’s going to work."
"I'm scared shitless and Sarah agrees with me. I told her about the baby and she thinks we need to find another way. Maybe one of us can do it. Why does it have to be you?" He moved his hand from my belly and turned to look out toward the horizon. "I'm going to do it. That's final."
I chuckled and slid my arm around his before pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder. "I wish it were that easy, Michael. But it's not. It has to be a hunter and Grollic mix. That's me and only me. It's my destiny to do this. Let me do it, and please support me while I do."
He looked over at me as emotions warred in his eyes. "I can't lose you, Rouge. You know that right? I can't."
"I know. You're not going to. We're forever, remember?"
"I think we should wait a while, before we do this. Take time to really think through how we're going to..."
I pressed my finger to his lips and smiled. "Tomorrow night. Stop trying to control this. It's going to work out beautifully. I can feel it."
"Right." He captured my hand and pressed kisses along my palm and up my arm. "I wish I could."
I pressed my fingers under his chin and lifted his face before moving in and brushing a soft kiss by his lips.
He groaned and slid his hands into my hair, pulling at me to sit in his lap as he deepened the kiss.
I complied and snuggled against him as he made love to my mouth, his actions sweet and sensual all at the same time.
He broke the kiss and brushed his nose by mine. "Soon we'll start celebrating forever."
"I'd like that." I took a shallow breath. "I hope that Caleb and Sarah won't attack us when this is all over. I promised you that I wouldn't hurt them, and I don't want to, but I'll defend our baby until the end against anyone... even you."
Michael brushed his hand over my swollen stomach and turned his gaze toward me. The brilliant blue of his eyes stole my breath. He was beyond beautiful and I was lost to him for as long as he would have me.
"I'll protect both of you until time ends. Don't worry about all that stuff, okay? We'll figure it out as we go. However... there is one thing I want cleared up before we go into this next round of fighting." He repositioned me on the ground next to him and moved to his knees in front of me.
Anxiety swept through me like a tidal wave and my eyes went wide as he pulled out a small black box.
"It's not much. Rob and I searched like hell at the little store a few days ago to find it, but anyway... Rouge, will you marry me? Make me yours and let us bring our son into the world with us joined as one?" The love in his eyes seared me to the center of my soul.
"Yes. Of course." I lifted a shaky hand and he slid the simple rose gold ring on it before pulling me into a hug and falling backward, leaving me half sprawled across the top of him as we kissed over and over again.
"Hey!" Grace's voice pulled us from our intimacy and Michael stole one more kiss before getting up and reaching for me. "Dinner’s ready!"
I chuckled and started down the hill with him, but jerked to a stop as something whispered my name. Rouge...
"What is it?" Michael turned to look behind us for a moment.
"You heard that?" I asked, assuming he’d heard it too. I instinctively moved closer to him.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "No. What?" He looked down at me as his brow furrowed. “Rob hollering?”
I pulled from him and smiled as we drew near the cabin. "Nothing. Just my wild imagination."
"Good. Come inside and let's feed my boy." Michael tugged at me.
"Sounds good.” I pretended to smack my forehead. “Hold on. You go in, I'll be right there. I left my journal up on the hill."
"Want me to grab it?"
"Nah, I know exactly where it is. I’ll be just a moment." I took a step back and forced a smile. "Don't let my brother eat everything before I get back."
"I'll fend him off and have a plate for you safely protected.” He opened the door and paused. “Don't go into the woods, okay?"
"No worries." I watched him go in and turned, walking to the edge of the woods and stopping suddenly. "I'm here. What do you want?" My voice came out low and demanding.
"You, child. I want you." Malaz appeared a few yards from me, just inside the depths of the forest.
I took a step down the path and then another. An ancient chant I don’t remember saying, let alone reading, bubbled up inside of me and spilled over. I didn't have time to analyze any of what was happening, but I stayed on my guard nonetheless.
Malaz's bottomless eyes widened as his mouth twisted in a silent cry. "Where did you learn that? Stop or I'll kill the child in your womb, girl."
I continued to walk toward him as the wind created a slow moving twister around him as he stood, stuck to the forest floor. I chanted the words over and over, the scene around me growing darker. I wasn't sure if it was from the sun setting or my sight once again changing color.
"Stop. Now!” he hissed, his voice growing louder. “I command you to stop! You've no idea what you're doing." He screamed so loudly something popped deep in my left ear and the warmth of liquid rushing over the side of my ear canal forced me to stop moving. The pain was incredible, but somehow lost to the insatiable need inside of me to keep the cadence of my foreign language steady.
He screamed again and I lurched back as my head jerked back, the feeling very much like someone punched me in the face. Liquid poured down my nose and my voice rose higher and higher.
The wind blew higher, covering my enemy and leaving the bottom of his dark gown on display. It was no longer fluid and alive, but had turned into casted black stone.
I closed my eyes and found my center, rushing into the throne room of heaven and reaching greedily for the light. I opened my Sioghra and forced myself back to the belly of the forest as the dark angel jerked and twitched violently.
"Damn you! This is not a game. I rescind the offer for you to take your father’s place. NEVER! Your father will see you dead. I've given all of myself to him. He will destroy you for us."
I uncapped my lifeblood and jerked my wrist as the chant flowed from my lips again. Now was the time. I had no choice. The large tree next to me offered support as I reached over and pressed my free hand against it as instant weakness and exhaustion slammed into me.
Malaz screamed again. A horrible sound that echoed inside of me, leaving me feeling empty and forsaken. The wind around him consumed him, twirling like a small tornado spinning faster and faster. It uprooted small trees around us and dead leaves whipped across my face. I closed my eyes, trying to prevent dirt from getting into them.
I chanted continuously, the words foreign on my tongue, even as I repeated them over and over again. Forcing my eyes open to watch Malaz, I gasped. The strange wind and whatever else was inside of it had turned and twisted him into a stunning macabre statue. He looked like a magnificent black angel, his arms lifted high and heavy emotion on his perfectly sculpted face.
I jerked back as the wind shifted black as night and swept toward me. Like I was its next target.
"No! What's happening?" I cried out as it circled me, leaving me cold and unsettled. My back was pressed against the trunk of the large tree. I had nowhere to run or escape. "No! The curse was for him..."
The darkness slithered around my legs and circled my chest as I shrunk back terrified it would seep inside my skin and steal my baby. I let out a blood-curdling scream.
It wound around me in a tight circle until it was nothing but a small tendril of smoke. The wisp floated in the air above my chest, rising to eyelevel. Suddenly it hesitated its ascent and curled in a small circle before diving down in a mad rush. I barely had time to let out a scream, horrified it was going to cut me open and turn my heart and body into the marble statue beside me. It sped down, the small curled loop opened the top of my Sioghra and rushed inside. The last tendril of smoke wrapped around my wrist and forced me to close the cap and lock the heart trinket before disappearing.
I would die. The baby inside me would never survive this. I fell to my knees as the darkness consumed me from the inside out. Visions of death and carnage rushed by me and I screamed again, sounding like Malaz a moment earlier.
"Make it stop," I cried out and swatted as two strong hands wrapped around my upper arms. “Get away from me!”
"What's the matter with her?" I could hear Michael scream as I looked up through a haze of darkness into Caleb's face.
"Dammit! The dark angel's power mixed with hers." Caleb took me into his arms. “I’ve never seen eyes black as this... not since...” He tutted and began to jog out of the forest. "The next hours are crucial."
I could make out their words, but nothing held meaning. They floated above the horrific visions I continued to see and wrestle against.
"Why? Give her to me." Michael jogged beside us, rubbing at my hand. His touch burned at the moment and I managed to pull my arm away.
"Because she's consumed the power of the ancients, Michael. She's either going to die from it, or if she's strong enough, she'll consume it and it’ll become part of her."
"Making her evil?" Michael paused as Caleb slowed down.
"Making her the greatest weapon known to man or angel. She’ll defeat her father, but first she has to defeat this... the battle wasn't in the forest with Malaz. It's here now, in the center of her soul."
My eyelids fluttered closed and I exhaled as the pain inside of me ceased for a minute. I knew how to tame the evil, how to destroy it, but I wasn't sure how to do so while keeping my baby safe. My spirit hovered around my womb, like a scared warrior, desperate to protect the only thing that mattered.
"Help me," I mumbled and reached out. Someone’s hand covered mine, the touch no longer burning.
"I'm right here, Rouge. Fight it! Fight it and come back to me. I need you. We need you. Never stop fighting."
I released his hand and tried to nod. He was right. I could do this. I had to.
