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He tucked his good wing into his back, and arrowed toward her. She faced the ground, away
from him, her hair flying behind her. He closed the distance in a matter of seconds, withdrew
throwing stars from the pockets of air where he d stored them and nailed every demon reaching
for her.
Shrieks of pain echoed as hands were detached, and one by one the beings fell away from
her. Almost there& so close& contact! Zacharel wrapped his arms around her and tucked her in-
to his chest.
Her elbows pounded at him, and her legs kicked at him. Let me go, you sick, disgusting
piece of
I ve got you, he said, and in that moment he knew. There was only one thing he could do
to ensure she lived.
Instantly she calmed. Zacharel? Twisting, she wound her arms around his neck. Thank the
Lord!
Yes. It is I. He produced his vial containing the Water of Life. Only a single drop re-
mained, but this was a matter of life and death. He didn t allow her to question or deny him. He
simply tipped the rim over her lips so that the droplet could find its way into her mouth.
Drink.
Eyes wide, she swallowed. There. No matter what happened next, she would live. She might
wish otherwise, but she would live.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THIS IS IT, THE END, Annabelle thought, a delicious warmth flooding her, fizzing in her
veins like champagne and completely contradicting the sense of hopelessness screaming through
her mind. Wind whipped through her hair, cut at already chapped skin. And& and& oh, mercy, a
sharp pain tore through her chest, her heart squeezed by a cruel fist. The warmth and fizz were
forgotten. She went rigid, released a cry of pain.
Easy now, Annabelle.
What s wrong& What did you do& Argh!
The water can hurt you as it heals you.
Horrid demons, causing all of this. But I m not& injured.
You must be. Adrenaline could have hidden whatever was wrong.
Can you& land us? Ohhhh, but she could barely speak through the agony. Those demons
must have done more than scratch her.
No. I cannot. Impact will hurt, and I will not lie, that hurt will be the worst you have ever ex-
perienced.
Won t scream, won t scream, really truly won t scream. Any good news?
The hurt will not last. Soon you will feel nothing, I vow it.
Because& I ll be& dead. Breathe, just breathe. But even that caused the vise grip to tighten
on her heart. Sweat beaded over her skin, while her blood thickened to ice crystals. Impact would
actually be a relief, she decided.
I have ensured that you will live. Zacharel s arms were strong bands around her, offering
comfort. One of his wings enveloped her, as if to offer a cushion when they landed. His other
wing flapped in the breeze, ready to rip free at any moment.
She wished her heart would just go ahead and jump out of her chest. Whatever he d fed her
had to be worse than any landing and& Ohhhh, another wave of agony crashed through her.
Yes, this was it. The very end. After all the battles she d survived, all the hardships, she hated
that she was going out this way. With such a bang, har-har. She hadn t had a chance to visit her
parents graves. She hadn t destroyed the demon who d killed them, because he had never re-
turned for her, and trapped in the institution as she d been, she hadn t been able to hunt him. Not
that she would have known how. She hadn t gotten to tell her brother goodbye, even though he
wouldn t have said a word in response.
The ground loomed ever closer. So green, so lovely, making a mockery of her forced calm.
Her eyes burned, teared. Her chest constricted. Closer& any moment&
I m sorry, Zacharel said just before twisting, placing his back to the ground and her focus on
the sky, a haze of pretty blue and white. Thick clouds, puffed in every direction. The pain you
are about to suffer, transient as it will be& I m sorry, he repeated.
Don t be. You did everything you could
He tensed, and she knew. Impact.
Boom! They smacked into tree after tree, jostling them one way and then the other, breath ex-
ploding from them both, mingling, until there was nothing left to exhale Oh, wait, a harder
smack than before proved her wrong, completely emptying out her lungs.
She and Zacharel rolled down, down, hitting branch after branch, not really losing mo-
mentum before they& boom! The final impact proved far more jarring, harder, harsher. But then
they stopped. Just stopped.
A spiderweb of black wove through her vision. She concentrated on regaining the use of her
lungs, inhaling, exhaling, too fast at first, but gradually slowing, evening out. Minutes stretched
into hours, hours into eternity before she found the strength to sit up. A mistake. A tide of dizzi-
ness swept over her, turning her world upside down. She was wet, soaked actually. And oh,
baby, here was the promised pain. A kaleidoscope of burning, aching and throbbing.
Wincing, she scanned the surrounding area.
Broken tree limbs overhead provided a perfect path for the sun, allowing hot rays to lick over
her, spotlighting her. In front of her, a forest loomed. Leaves of dewy emerald brushed together,
and wildflowers perfumed the air.
Beside her& beside her sprawled Zacharel, his eyes closed, his body motionless. Both of his
wings were bent at odd angles, the robe he wore no longer white but crimson.
Blood, so much blood. Everywhere. All over her because of him. It leaked from his mouth,
dripped from his ears, and where the fabric of his robe was ripped, great tides of it overflowed,
reminding her of corroded water from a spout. His torso was mutilated, one of his thighs split
open. His ankle, broken. The bone had sliced through his skin, the edges jagged, chips missing.
Her parents, ripped open, staring at nothing.
Her parents, lying in a congealing pool.
A hysterical laugh bubbled from her. Once again Annabelle would walk away from a grue-
some scene without much damage to herself.
No. No! she thought then. She wouldn t leave Zacharel like this. Wouldn t let him die.
He s already dead, common sense piped up.
No! her stubborn core replied. She hadn t known him long, but he d twice saved her life.
He d taken care of her. He, the man who claimed to have killed his own brother. He, the man
who said he could kill her without hesitation. He, the man who never lied. She wouldn t fall into
the trap of trying to humanize him, assigning him acceptable reasons for threatening her, but she
wouldn t leave him, either. He d done his best to protect her.
Annabelle lumbered to her knees and checked his pulse. The beat was thready, but there.
There was hope!
God, if You re listening, thank You! With shaking hands, she put Zacharel back together as
best she could, gagging, crying. Just& stay with us a little longer. He needs help.
You ll heal, she told Zacharel. You ll survive this.
Her gaze panned the surrounding forest. If she built a sled, she could drag him& where? She
had no idea where they were. Doesn t matter. She would drag him until she found someone who
could call for help.
What did you do to him?
The harsh voice slashed through the air behind her, slamming into her with so much hate and
rage she fell to her hands. Blood splashed. Quickly she straightened, spun. The dizzi-
ness& almost too much, the spiderwebs returning and interweaving with pinpricks of light.
A beast of a man loomed a few feet away.
Trembling, she reached through the slits in her new leather pants and palmed two of the
blades the cloud had given her. Good. She hadn t lost them in the fall. As she shoved her way to
her feet, struggling to stay upright, she pointed both weapons at the scary-looking newcomer.
Don t come any closer. I ll make you regret it.
Ragged abrasions covered his cheeks, the edges singed, but the rest of his skin reminded her
of honey sprinkled with sugar a shocking contradiction. His eyes were black and filled with
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