Death (25 page)

"He's dead inside. She took it all." He cries. He
rocks back and forth with Tristan lying limp in his arms. "Baby, I'm so
sorry. I don’t know what happened. Baby."

It's gut wrenching to watch.

"Trist. My love. My only love."

Sam steps forward, "We can help. Aimes can suck you both
and send you off."

I glance at Sam and shake my head, "You want me to kill
them?"

He nods, "Yes. Now get over here."

I take a step back, "I don’t want to."

Phillip looks at me and cries out, "Please Aimee. He will
never wake up. We are both clean in the conscience. Everything we have done
they made us do. We can be together in heaven. Aimee this is him, for eternity,
if you don't do it. This is it. Please, send us on our way. Please." He is
begging me with trembling lips and silent tears. I shake my head but walk
towards them.

I put my hands on them at the same time.

"I'm sorry." I whisper into the cold wind that is
blowing my words around.

He shakes his head, "Not as sorry as I am."

I pull slowly. I savor the taste of them both. Phillip
squeezes my hand with the last of his strength and soul and then he too is
gone.

I don’t cry. I turn and look at everyone, "Let's go find
her."

I want her dead. I want her to suffer and cry and scream in
pain like we have. Everyone is dead. We are but a handful of what we once were.

Lorri appears looking like herself. She does a head count and
then her eyes meet mine. I'm glad they're normal colored again, until she winks
at me with finger to her lips.

I'm about to send Sam after her, when she winks back holding
Blake's hand.

He looks around, "Holy shit is this a castle? Where are
we?" He looks queasy from the wink.

My stomach flutters when I see him in her arms.

"Time for me to show you what I make." She says
softly. She grabs his mouth and plants the biggest kiss ever. He pulls back
sputtering, "Lorri. What the heck?"

She smiles softly, "Bite the inside of your mouth till it
bleeds."

"Blake, don't do it." I step towards them but he
does it. He looks into her eyes and she kisses him again. His red blood and her
black mix and seeps out the creases. Gasps, curious looks, trembling hands
brought to trembling lips, all ignored. They kiss like it's the last time they
will ever touch another human being.

He pulls back, gasping for air. He looks at me confusedly. I
shake my head in tiny movements, "Blake." I whisper. I can't imagine
the horror crossing my face, but his confusion fades into fear when he sees me.

"Lorri." I say stepping forward. "Why did you
do that?"

Her face is tragic and beautiful in the faded light of dusk on
the hillside. She looks classic and dreadful.

She shoves him hard off the balcony where we are. He screams.
I wink but she winks and catches me in the air, taking us to the balcony where
we were.

She holds me. I try winking but she takes us back. I don’t
hear his screams. Giselle is crying and Shane is holding her. His face is confused.
We all are.

"It only takes a second." She whispers, holding my
head to her shoulders like a mother would a child.

"What did you make him?"

"A savior."

I pull back. Lucas and Ben whine. They shake their heads like
they hear something we do not.

She grabs my face and looks into my eyes, "Do the same
thing he did. Bite your cheek."

I do it. I don’t know why but I trust her. She kisses me hard
and passionately. She pulls back and grabs my head roughly. Everything goes
black just as I catch a glimpse of something in the darkness. A bright light
like I have never seen before.

I wake and push myself up from the ground. Everything hurts
like it did when Dorian changed me but it's sudden and brutal.

I glance over at Ari. She is on the ground too. She looks
confused and in pain like I do.

I look up at Lorri standing above me.
"What did you do?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know."

Blake is standing beside her. He almost glows in the dark.
"What have you done to him."
His head snaps toward me with a grin like I've never seen. He's ecstatic.
"Aimes, I'm an angel."

I focus my eyes better and look. His shirt is gone. Stretched
out from his back, is a pair of huge black wings. They blend into the night. I
glance at Shane and see the same thing. His chiseled and muscular chest is
bare, but behind him is a pair of massive wings.

"You make angels?"

She presses her lips together, "Not just any kind."

It dawns on me when I look at Aleks. He is dressed and normal
looking, except his face which is angry.

"You have condemned our souls?" Sam says slowly
looking behind him at the wings on his back.

Giselle is shaking and attempting to stand. I wink and I'm on
the mountaintop in Norway. I wink back, "I can still wink."

She nods, "You can never go to heaven Aimee. I've taken
your souls."

"You are the devil? The real devil?" I mutter, still
stunned.

Only Lucas, Ben and Aleks look the way they did before. I
scream, as my shirt is ripped from me and my back explodes in pain. I look back
at the black wings and cry. They're so beautiful and frightening I can't cope.
I cover my breasts and sob. Aleks looks frightened.

"I am the real devil, Aimee. I was sent with the mission
of keeping the balance. I've always had the ability to create an army of
darkness. An army of beings so strong that there is no force that can kill
them. But all of my brother's have betrayed me. All of them. It was always a
losing battle. I just didn’t see it. Like Jonathan said, always the last to
know." She strolls to where Aleks is. She looks at me, "I have never
done it before. I needed to be sure." She punches Aleks in the face hard.
She grabs his mouth and plants a kiss on him. They flash and wink and then
they're back and he is on the ground "Lorri, what the hell?" He growls
at her.

She stands back and watches us changing and touching
ourselves. Lucas and Ben creep back on the balcony.

She points at them and wags her finger.

I run to Aleks and hold him close. His warmth sends chills
across my naked skin.
I look back at her, "Why would you do this to us?"

She shakes her head, "It's too late." She winks and
is behind Aleks. She snaps his neck. He drops to the ground. I scream.

His neck starts making popping sounds. She sighs, "I have
failed. You are plan b." She winks and grabs the wolves and winks them
away.

Ari is crying and shaking. She turns to face me. I am covering
Aleks with my naked skin.

My wings feel the breeze in them. They feel the way my arms or
legs do. I can feel every feather.

Giselle is spinning like a dog trying to catch its tail.

Shane starts to smile at Blake who is jumping and flapping the
wings like a bird. Shane's start to twitch.

Ari is shaking and trembling until Lucas's dead body is dumped
next to hers. Then Ben's. They are in naked human form. Ari is shirtless and
covering herself, sobbing into Lucas's bare skin.

Lorri is back. Marcus steps forward, "You had this all
along? Why didn't you use it?"

She shakes her head, "I couldn’t. It was the emergency
hatch. Once pulled it couldn’t be un-pulled. These cannot be unmade. There is
no destroying them. No hellfire. No magic. No angel. No nothing. They're
completely indestructible. God's last stand against it all. Do you have any
idea the kind of power that is to bestow upon someone?"

He laughs and points, "You chose this group? These
people?"

She nods, "I have. They are called redeemers. They can
redeem a soul and send it back to heaven. For every soul they save, the balance
will tip slightly in the favor of the light." I catch the stolen glance
she sends me. I know what she wants.

Aleks starts to stir. He wakes and screams. He flashes away.
We all have our safe haven we go to when we're scared. He and I share the same
one.

Lorri points, "These are true angels. How I was before I
fell."

Marcus sighs and looks at Giselle, who is still moving in a
circle trying to touch her wings. "This is the best you had to choose
from?"

Lorri laughs, "Yes. No human or immortal has lived
through what they have. Except you and I buddy."

He puffs his chest out, "I'm one of them."

Lorri gives him a look and rolls her eyes, "I trust them.
Completely."

Shane looks back at Lorri, "What do we do now?"

Lorri looks grimly at us all, "Prepare. You can feel
pain. You can bleed. You can suffer. She will try to make you live through all
of those things. She will try to make you join her. She will have things
equally as strong as you are."

I glance at Ben's twitching body. Lucas wakes with a start and
screams. He tries to phase but instead his wings shoot from his back.

Aleks is back. His huge beautiful black wings look amazing on
his strong thick physique.

Blake tries to see things through his glasses and then takes
them off. He puts them in his pocket, "So you made us into angels of
darkness, but we are good?"

Lorri nods, "You are what you want to be. I have given
you the ultimate immortality. You will live forever. With that come horrible
amounts of responsibility and terrible things to cope with."

Blake looks upset, "Alise?"

Lorri nods, "She can't ever know."

He looks heartbroken but nods, "Well, we all know her."

I glance at Hanna and realize my hatred is gone. I just see
the sweet girl she is. Has always been. She holds her hands over her breasts
and shakes her head, "My Siren? My beast?"

Lorri shakes her head, "Gone. You can all wink but no
more wolves, no more blood lust or succubus powers. Nothing but the pure power
of God."

I cross my arms over my chest and shiver, "It's too much.
You've made a mistake. We aren’t worthy of something like this. We'll screw it
up. I know we will. One of us is going to be bad and join Lillith in her evil
deeds. I know it." My voice is panicked.

Lorri laughs, "I'm counting on it. I'm also counting on
the rest of you to be the team you've always been. The best Roses I have ever
had. You have to be there for each other."

Sam spins around, "Where are you going to be?"

She laughs, "Retired. I will ask one of you to step
forward and help me out. Then Abbey. If you don't mind."

"What?"

"Retired?"

"How?"

"Lorri we can't do this alone."

"She's kidding. She's kidding us."

She shakes her head. She winks and is back a moment later. The
silence of the dark is creepy. She smiles at me. Abbey looks confused.

"You guys have wings?" She looks at Lorri,
"That’s sweet eh? You got wings too baby?"

Lorri shakes her head, "Not yet."

She looks at me, "It works exactly the same as before
Aimes."

I take a breath.

"I have a million questions. You can't go."

She puts her arms out, "You have each other. I'm afraid I
don’t have a choice. Making you all, took all there was in me. There is nothing
left. I'll be useless now."

I swallow and step forward. The fever and heat isn’t there.
There is nothing. My hand's shudder when I lift them and touch her and Abbey.
Abbey looks confused, "Aimee? Lorri?"

Lorri nods a head toward Abbey, "One at a time now Aimes.
Her first."

I pull my hand off Lorri and squeeze Abbey's arm. She tries to
pull away but I grip her hard.

"Aimee!" Her voice breaks with panic and fear.
Terror fills her watery eyes. I close my eyes and do my thing. It's different.
It's cool and refreshing. I don’t feel like I'm feeding. I'm floating. I'm
sailing down the river of her memories and thoughts. It's instant. I open my
eyes. She is on the ground in a heap.

My eyes sting instantly when I look into her eyes, "Don't
leave me."

Lorri shakes her head, "Never. You'll always have help
Aimee." She offer's me her hand. I look back at the others. They look
desperate. Aleks takes a step forward. I shake my head and look back at her. I
close my eyes again. This time it's long and musical almost. Her memories are
huge and amazing. They span the world's life. I see so many things all at once.
I can't keep up. I don’t keep them as memories or knowledge. They float past me
in a cool breeze. Joy and pain, bliss and love. The way Abbey's face beams in
her mind. There is a bright light, a flash. And then it's black.

I open my eyes. She is on the ground in a heap next to her
love.

I step back. I don’t want to touch them. I don’t want them
near me. My jaw trembles. I turn and look at Marcus. He shakes his head and
sighs, "Brilliant. Bloody brilliant."

I turn and face the others. The looks are the same. The faces
are desperately sad and horrified.

My wings twitch in the dark wind.

"How do we find Lillith now?"

Aleks steps toward me and takes my hand in his.

"How do we know what to do?" Hanna asks.

Marcus paces, "Henry. We find Henry. I can’t believe she
didn’t make me one of you."

Sam laughs and for the first time it's bitter and harsh,
"You can't?"

Marcus snorts, "Well of course I can, but I am still
pissed about it."

Hanna looks at Sam's wings, "How do we get rid of the
wings?"

In the dark we look awesome. There is no doubt. Our skin is
slightly glowing, with a light that seems to be who we are now. Our wings are
black as the night and filled with shiny black feathers. We all stand topless
and glowing. The looks on our faces are all the same. Awe and confusion.

"You must pull them back in. You must forget everything
else you think at the moment and pull them in."

We all look in one sweep at the voice speaking to us.

"Henry. There you bloody well are. How could you?"
Marcus asks haughtily.

Henry laughs, "You not need me at the time. You need me
now. Shamans know about need. We hear the calling."

Lucas makes a noise and then he stands wingless next to Ari.
"It's just like phasing." He says it like it's helpful.

Blake frowns, "Oh, okay then." He makes a face. As I
laugh Ben pulls his wings in.

Then Aleks does his. The rest of us are staring at them
helplessly.

"What does phasing feel like?" Giselle asks.

Shane pulls his back. "Hah, just like the fangs."

Giselle pulls hers in at the same time as Hanna. Ari and I
look at each other and laugh.

"It's like exploding from your skin."

Blake frowns, "And if you've never exploded?"

Aleks laughs, "Like when you run and you push the last
couple seconds. Push the exertion."

Ari's wings pull in.

I sigh and look at Blake. He shakes his head, "We played
a lot of WOW and didn’t run, ever."

"How can we suck at this? We're the smartest people
here."

Marcus walks over and grabs my face, "Orgasming Aimee."

I feel the flushing in my face and instantly my wings pull
back. Blake's do as well.

"See, you did it." Giselle smiles.

Marcus shrugs and walks to Henry, "How do we find
Lillith?"

He shakes his face, "She has the power. Impossible. You
failed. Now you must prepare."

I snap, "What does that even mean?"

Sam looks horrified as if a light bulb has come on for him,
"Oh my god. Revelations."

"What?" Blake asks.

Henry nods, "The world as you knew it, is over. The world
now is broken. You have seven years to fix it before it's too late."

"Friggen hell. Great. Seven more years."

Ari beams, "At least I can't switch the time
anymore."

I laugh.

"Where do we go from here?"

Henry points at Shane, "His house. Protected lands."

I laugh. Aleks laughs with me.

Everyone else shakes his or her head.

"That stupid Shaman story is true?" Shane asks,
making Aleks and I laugh harder.