Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

Gabriel

"We have to go. Right fucking now! She will not survive this!"

Kunchin and Maddox hold me down, but they are no match for my strength. Not when the woman I love is about to lose her soul.

I throw off the angel and yeti, but before I can take to the air, Sinclair punches me in the gut. Retching, I stumble back, pull Lucifer's axe from my belt, and prepare to fight the first man on earth I thought could be..a friend.

"Put your goddamn wings away, angel," Sin growls. "That vampire-fae abomination needs her alive ." He turns to Mist. "How long until Willow is unable to fight the pull of Hannah's blood?"

Mist shakes her head. "Not a fucking clue."

"What? You are a vampire, are you not?" I ask. Unbelievable. I am surrounded by idiots.

"Of course I am." Fangs bared, she stalks closer to the edge of the cliff. "If Hannah were a normal, run-of-the-mill vampire—and if this were the first time she forced Willow to take her blood, she'd need to wait ten minutes to be absolutely certain Willow was in her thrall. But she's part Fae. No vampire in history has been able to turn a Fae. I don't think Hannah was made. She was born a vampire. We don't know if that makes her blood more potent or less."

Far below us, Hannah straightens and swipes her tongue over her wrist. Willow sways, head bowed, but somehow, remains upright.

"That's not our only problem." Killian turns away from the cliff. Rage pours off him in purple, green, and blue sparks. "If the witch is blood bound, she'll do anything to protect her mistress. She won't have a choice."

"So? You are the greatest warlock of all time. At least if the name you programmed into my phone is to be believed," Sinclair says.

"I should be." Killian tugs at his hair. "But no witch alive should be able to exert that level of control over another with only her fingers. She is hundreds of years old. And I would wager she's drawing on the vampire's power. If she turns her magic on you—on any of you—fighting her will be impossible."

With every minute that passes, I feel Willow slipping away. Once Hannah released her from the void, her pain and fear washed over me. But now…

"She cannot fight much longer." I sink to my knees, the agony of her loss cracking my heart into pieces. "We have gone over this plan a hundred times. I can get the vampires past the wards. Sinclair and Maddox too if need be. But if we wait, I will have no choice but to go alone."

Sin pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the screen. "Zoe and Grayson are in position. I do not like our odds, but…I suppose we have faced worse. Are you certain you do not want to call for Azrael?"

"He holds life and death in his hands. That is too great a power to risk. If I fall, he has vowed to see my soul—and Willow's—to the afterlife. I will not ask him for more."

Willow

A frigid peace settles over me. The world takes on a gentle glow. There's no pain. No fear. I could stay in this place forever, I think.

Hannah crouches in front of me. "Willow? Are you ready to begin?"

Begin? Oh, right. I'm supposed to help her. Magic sings in my blood, begging to be set free. I can hear it. Taste it. Almost touch it.

Don't listen to her!

What? No. I have to listen. I want to listen. I belong to Hannah now. She'll take care of me. She promised.

"Answer me, Willow. Are you ready to wield the Blade?" Hannah's cool fingers skim over my throat. A subtle vibration hums through the chain.

"Yes. I'm ready."

A shadow moves behind her. My whisper. Why is she here? I don't need her anymore. I have Hannah. I have the Blade.

But not Gabriel.

Gabriel? Gabriel's gone. But…where? I can't remember. Why isn't he here? I love him, and I never got a chance to tell him. My eyes start to burn. I need to run, but I can't move.

Hannah places the Blade in front of me, and I forget what I was getting so worked up about. "Don't touch it until I tell you," she says.

No. I won't. Of course not. I have to do what she says. Always.

The symbols carved into the metal come alive, swirling and twisting, faster and faster until I'm so dizzy, I'd fall over if I could move at all.

Why can't I move?

A man's weak whimper distracts me, and I lift my gaze. He's crying. His eyes hold so much pain.

I'm supposed to kill him.

My heart pounds against my ribs. This is wrong. So wrong. I can't do this. I won't. "Please," I say softly. "Let me go."

"How are you still resisting me?" Hannah shrieks. She wraps her fingers around my forearm and squeezes until the bone snaps in two.

I scream. My vision goes dark around the edges. The chain at my throat starts to vibrate again. Stronger this time. My shattered bone starts to knit back together. It's like ants crawling around under my skin.

I'm shaking all over, but still unable to move. Hannah shifts her hand to the back of my neck, and I can hear her in my head .

"Fight me again, you pathetic little witch, and I'll shatter your bones one by one. They'll heal—thanks to my blood—but the pain will be exquisite every single time."

My whisper's tears glisten in the moonlight. She floats behind the kneeling man—the werewolf, I remember now—with her hands over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry. I thought…I'd be stronger."

"Pick up the Blade, Willow," Hannah orders.

I try to resist, but it's no use. My fingers curl around the hilt. A wave of power rolls up my arm and settles somewhere deep inside me. My magic. Created by the very first coven, passed from generation to generation.

The symbols flow into my hand. Up my arm. They're a part of me now. As much as my name, my memories, and even my voice.

"Listen."

"Use her."

"We made the wrong choice."

"You hold the true power."

The voices from the void swirl around me.

"You hold the true power."

My whisper surges forward. Her lips move along with the voices.

"You hold the true power."

She's wrong. I can't fight Hannah's will. It's suffocating me. Drowning every ounce of free will I thought I had.

"Do you believe in fate?" I ask.

Gabriel arches a brow. "As in the Almighty's preordained plan for every soul throughout all of creation?"

"Yeah. That."

"Complete and utter bullshit."

"Strike, Willow!" Hannah shouts, her will wiping away my memories of Gabriel one by one. "Now!"

I raise the Blade high above my head. I can't take this man's life. But maybe I can take my own.

Gritting my teeth, I screw my eyes shut and focus on keeping Hannah out of my head. But she pushes back even harder. The hand on my neck tightens. The chain sends raw agony shooting through my entire body.

I can't fight any longer. I failed. Like all the Whisper Keepers who came before me. Has the grimoire already recorded my last words? Or will they come next?

I'm sorry. So sorry.

My arm swings down, the Blade arcing through the air.

A split second before the Blade pierces the werewolf's heart, a blast of power knocks me back ten feet. I land on top of Hannah.

Metal hits metal. Once. Twice. "Get the fuck out of here!" Gabriel shouts. The collar clatters to the floor. The man scrambles up and takes off at a run.

He came.

Hannah flips me onto my stomach, pinning me with her knee at the small of my back. "Calista!"

The witch flings her arms in a circle. Gabriel rises into the air, his limbs straining. The Devil's axe is still clutched in his hand. His muscles twitch, but Calista has him completely under her spell. His amber eyes tighten with pain. "Willow! Fight her, deliciae . You are the only one who can!"

"You hold the true power."

"Use her!"

A blast of magic explodes across the building. One of the walls starts to crumble. Isaac yells for the others to get their guns.

Shots ring out—so much louder than I thought they'd be. Hannah grabs the chain at my neck, and the void races closer.

"What will you do to stay out of the void, Willow dear?" Hannah asks.

"Anything!" As the word leaves my lips, I know it was the wrong thing to say. But she's so strong. And Gabriel…I can feel his fear. His pain.

Hannah laughs. It's not beautiful anymore. It's as ugly as she is. A shrill, cackling howl that makes my ears bleed. "I don't know what he is, Willow dear. But teleportation? Now that's a power unlike any I've ever seen."

Calista sends Gabriel flying into the wall of cages. My angel groans and starts to get up, but Isaac jabs him with a shock stick. His arms and legs flop helplessly, and his eyes roll back in his head.

With another wave of her hand, the witch slides my angel across the floor until he's lying in front of me.

Hannah digs her fingers around my left collarbone. The bone shatters. My vision goes white. I can't keep her out of my head.

I'm hers. I always will be.

With one final sob, I drive the Blade deep into Gabriel's chest.

Gabriel

I thought dying would hurt more. I feel only peace. Also…cold. Very cold.

Such an odd thing, knowing five inches of metal have run me through. Even odder to see the Blade sticking out of my chest, with Willow's hand still wrapped around the hilt.

"Gabriel. God, Gabriel. Why?" she sobs. Her tears fall, mixing with my blood. So much blood.

"I sensed your…despair, my love. I could not let you…lose your soul. My plan…was to destroy the Blade… Not…this." I struggle for each breath. My lungs rattle, and I taste blood.

The entire building rumbles. Another section of the wall collapses, this one closer. Killian's spells chip away at the wards protecting this place. The vampires should be close now. But not close enough. They were supposed to subdue the witch.

"What are you, Gabriel? " Hannah peers down at me. Her nostrils flare. "Your blood…it's intoxicating." With her hand tight around the back of Willow's neck, she leans closer. "Tell me, Willow. What is he?"

She's sobbing harder now, trying to twist out of Hannah's hold. Rage fills the vampire's brown eyes, turning them blood red.

"Answer me!" she screams.

Willow lets out a wail. "I can't! Gabriel, I…lov?—"

A bone in Willow's shoulder snaps. She collapses on top of me, but whether because of the magic within her or the iron-clad control Hannah has over her, she can't let go of the Blade. My angelic power seeps into the weapon. Old wounds—long healed—open and bleed. The wings that carried me thousands of miles as we searched, blister once more. Soon, they will start to burn.

I have little strength left. But perhaps enough for one final miracle.

" Mea amor. Mea lux. Mea deliciae. Do not…be afraid. I will…always be…in your heart."

Another bone snaps in Willow's battered body. Her screams are getting weaker. As is her resistance. I feel everything. This vampire bitch will not continue to torture the woman I love. Not as long as I draw breath.

"Enough!" I roar. "You want…to know what I am? I…am the Archangel Gabriel. Bringer of…Justice. Revealer…of Truth. Interpreter…of the Almighty's…Plan. And you…will let…Willow…go!"

"An angel? With your power, I will live forever!" She winds her fingers through the short chain around Willow's neck. "Take it, my pet. And give it to me. Now!"

Willow tries to resist, but a human body cannot hold angelic power for long. Her free will, her very soul starts to fade. The horror of what I have done washes over me. She trembles, her whimpers turning to hoarse sobs. "I…I love...you, Gabriel. I'm sorry…"

A blast of Killian's magic arcs across the cavernous space. The cage doors heave, metal screeching. The men and women trapped inside start to fight. But before any of them can escape, the silent witch takes off at a run, flicking her fingers at each prisoner until they are all screaming in agony.

I cover Willow's hand with mine and hold her gaze. "I chose this, my love. I go…to my death…at peace. Because you will survive. I will see you again…in the afterlife."

"Gabriel, no!" she wails.

Wrenching her hand from the hilt of the Blade, I loose my wings. I cannot make it far. Thirty, forty feet into the air. But I can see the reservoir beyond these walls. I know what I have to do. My heart slows. I struggle to draw the shallowest of breaths.

Hannah screams. "He has the Blade!"

The raven-haired witch has her hands full fighting off Mist and Kàra. She sends Mist to her knees, then lifts her hand to spell me.

I yank the Blade from my chest and fling it over the top of the wall. It flies end over end, passes through the wards, and splashes into the depths of the frigid water.

"I love you ," I whisper, hoping somehow, Willow will hear me.

My heart thumps once. Twice. Then stops completely. Falling is so very much like flying. Almost…peaceful. I hit the ground, releasing one final breath. The Blade is gone.

Willow…someone needs to save…Willow.