Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) (41 page)

“Oh Crap.”
Trinity couldn’t take her eyes off the man. She then looked down at her own hands, grateful she wasn’t subjected to the same fate.

“You two have already bonded!
Of course, why didn’t I see this before?” Azazel frowned down at her. “This complicates things. Now I only have so many ways I can kill you. But now my fun can last even longer.” The last part was said as an afterthought with a grin on his face.

He held up his hand and brought it to her arm.
She was still in her same t-shirt from before, so his fingers touched her bare skin. Trinity watched his hand gently caress her upper arm before he took one of his long nails and started to push it into her arm.

“God Dammit!
Get your hands off her!” Malachi yelled.

Everything stopped and there was a collective gasp as Azazel froze.
“What did you say?” The menacing sound to his voice made Trinity shiver.

“You heard me, God Dammit!”

Malachi barely finished what he was saying, before Azazel flew over to him and threw a punch that connected with his nose. The punch had enough force behind it, that anyone near could hear the bones crunch under his hand.

She wanted to be concerned for Malachi, she really did, but all she could think about was the pain exploding over her face.
She threw her hands up and covered her nose before she dropped down to the ground moaning.

Azazel paused in his assault on Malachi and started to laugh.
“Oh this is too good. She feels your pain. This is going to be so much fun!” He turned to look at his men. “Seth, handle your woman. Bring her to her knees.”

“Gladly.”
That was the only thing she heard before she was lifted off the ground and placed facing Malachi. She hated to be touched by Seth and she tried to shrug him off, but he just tightened his hold. 

The pain had slowly subsided as she knelt there, and she was finally able to open her eyes.
Malachi was staring at her with a look of dread in his eyes.

She took a moment to look him over.
His face and shirt were covered in blood, but she couldn’t find a wound. It had probably already healed, she thought. Then what Azazel said finally hit her, she felt Malachi’s pain. Trinity remembered the sudden headache earlier, and she eyed Malachi’s bloody wrists as she remembered the pain in hers before. This bit of information should have shocked her, but after everything she had learned recently, it didn’t.  Did she understand it, no, but that would come eventually. She did understand that Azazel was going to use this against them and she had to brace herself for the worst.

Trinity watched as Azazel unsheathed the sword at his side, that she had failed to notice earlier.
He examined the blade and slowly ran his hand over it, as if in a comforting gesture. In the next instant, he quickly thrust the blade into Malachi’s shoulder.

Shit!
The pain was unbearable! She wanted nothing more than to curl up and scream out, but she wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. As she knelt there, she blocked out Malachi’s roar and Gemariah’s shouting. Azazel’s laughter slowly faded, and Seth’s touch was now non-existent to her. She looked passed everything and stared at the tree line, while refusing to move.

The pain was still just as strong, and she noticed from the corner of her eye that Azazel was frowning at her while holding the sword that was still impaled in Malachi.
A look of determination crossed his face and he gave his wrist a swift twist, successfully rotating the sword.

She was going to be sick.
The feeling was beyond anything she had ever felt before. God, please let it be over soon, she thought.

Trinity slowly looked over toward Malachi and noticed that he was staring at her, probably trying to judge how much she was feeling.
Slowly, she grinned at him.

I love you.

At that moment, he understood. She felt everything, but was holding it in for him. Immediately his body relaxed against the pain and her discomfort dimmed. They could do this, they could manage, together.

A fresh wave of pain hit her when Azazel pulled the sword free.
He growled. “I guess I was wrong.” Immediately, he shook off the disappointment and gestured in her direction. “Back to the original plan. Kill her.”

Trinity immediately tensed and Malachi looked panicked as his struggles started up again.

Instead of the killing blow that she expected, she was pulled back against Seth. “No. You said I got to keep her for a while.” As if to punctuate his point, he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. A fresh wave of nausea came forth at the close contact.

Azazel looked furious and turned his gaze in their direction.
“You dare defy me?”

She felt the body behind her start to quake out of fear, but he still didn’t move.
“You promised.” He now sounded more like a child, denied his favorite toy.

She watched as Azazel walked over toward Malachi’s bag and pulled forth a weapon with a long blade before coming towards them.
She really thought Seth had lived his last day, and if the tightening hold on her was any indication, so did he. When he reached them, he held the knife out with the handle side closest.

“Kill her now!
If not, I’ll make a meal out of your intestines and make sure you stay alive to feel every last bit of it.”

Seth didn’t hesitate in grabbing the knife.

“No!
You fucker, I’ll kill you! Don’t touch her!!” Trinity’s body began to ache even more, and she looked up towards Malachi. His attempts to escape his restraints were doubled, cutting into his skin with each pull.

“Through the heart should do it.”
Azazel’s words brought her attention back to him. He looked so calm, and at that moment and she witnessed how much evil had really taken him over.

She felt the tip blade at her back and she looked over towards Azazel.
“He’s never going to take you back, you know.”

There was no misunderstanding who she was talking about, and the look of utter hatred that came over his face said that he knew as well.
“Now!”

It was so quick, and there wasn’t as much pain as she thought there would be.
He removed the blade just as swiftly, and she started to fall towards the ground. Before she touched, however, all hell broke loose.

There was a sharp cry from somewhere around her, and Seth’s body hit the ground before hers did.
She saw his body land and his head roll in the opposite direction, while Gideon was standing over her, breathing heavily. Glancing around, she noticed Tori, Terah, and others she didn’t recognize, joining in the fight as well.

Letting out her last breath, she relaxed into the ground.
Malachi was going to be okay. He had his friends, they would take care of him; they loved him.

With that last thought, she looked over to see a lone figure walking amongst the fighting.
He was like nothing she had ever seen before, so beautiful. Once he was by her side, he held out his hand for her to take and she easily accepted the offer.

He guided her onto her feet and directed her away from the battle before she realized that she hadn’t felt this good in a long time.
There was no more pain, no more heartache. The burdens she had been carrying were all lifted away.

The man smiled down at her as he led her farther away.
Taking her gaze away from him, she looked forward and saw two figures standing in the distance. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was her mom and dad. There was no hesitation as she let go of the man’s hand and began to run, run right into the arms of her waiting parents.

******

“No!” Malachi yelled as he saw the knife go through Trinity. He couldn’t get lose to get to her! Continuing to pull at his restraints, he no longer felt the pain anymore. When he watched her fall, he knew the knife had hit its mark and passed through her heart. He could still heal her if only he could just…get...free!

When the night exploded around him, he thought he might just have a chance.
Gideon almost flew at Seth, and with one swing of his weapon had him decapitated. He noticed people he had worked with in the past, were fighting the others. It was then he spotted Tori and Terah running through the scuffle, towards him. Splitting apart, Tori ran to Gemariah while Terah reached him and started to undo his bindings.

“You guys okay?”
Terah asked.

“Hurry up!”
Malachi pulled on his restraints, but never took his eyes off Trinity’s body.

The second his hands were free, he reached around and pulled the wires off his legs, not caring about the small amounts of flesh that came off with them.
Finally being able to move, he stood and ran over to Trinity.

When he finally reached her, he pushed Gideon, who was kneeling beside her, out of the way.
Placing his hands on her, he concentrated on finding her spirit to lock onto.

There was nothing there.
She was gone.

“I’m sorry Mal.
I tried to reach him in time.” Gideon was kneeling next to him. “I even tried to use my healing power to sustain her till you got here, but she was dead before I could.”

“No.”
Malachi shook his head and refused to accept it. He reached out and tried to find even the tiniest spark left. There was nothing to grab onto; she was truly gone.

Rage like never before coursed through his body.
This was not going to happen again! Looking up, he locked eyes with Azazel, who was grinning widely at him. This fucker was not going to be around to torment anyone else after tonight.

Malachi stood and made his way over to his sword, that hadn’t been touched since it was dropped earlier.
Picking it up, he remembered his little firecracker wielding the weapon. At the time, he had been so afraid, but never more proud to see the fight in her. Now she was gone. Gone!

Turning, he strode toward Azazel and watched as the man easily unsheathed his sword and waited.
If he could kill him, he would, but he would have to settle for banishment instead. 

“You think you’re ready to play with the big boys?”

Malachi ignored his remark and swung. The blow was easily blocked, but that didn’t stop him. He continued to swing and thrust his sword, not letting up for a moment.

The fight went on, each person alternating being on the offensive.
Malachi had no idea what was happening with everyone else around him; he didn’t care. To lose his focus one moment would cause him to lose everything.

Azazel lunged toward him and Malachi spun away.
At the same time, he brought his blade down and grazed the side of Azazel’s face. The sizzling sound meant that he had obviously broken skin.

Jumping back, Azazel reached his hand up to feel the wound.
There was no blood, just an open cut that was not healing right away.

“I think I’m actually going to kill you this time.”
Azazel nodded. “It’s been fun all these years playing cat and mouse, but all good things must come to an end.”

Malachi could listen to the words all day and not be fazed, but the look of Azazel’s true form coming through was enough to make Malachi take a step back.
He physically grew as his skin became more pewter and sunken in. The eyes were now black as night, and the razor sharp teeth showed as he hissed. Malachi could tell that Azazel’s time on Earth had severe negative effects on him. Angels were always so majestic, but Azazel mostly resembled his demon counterparts now.

Basically, Azazel was pissed, and this was Malachi’s clear warning.

The fighting resumed and he found himself on the defensive more than not.
This was quickly turning south. One more swing, and Azazel’s sword slashed across his chest and threw him back.

Getting the wind knocked out of him, he was now lying on the ground.
He was wrong, he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t strong enough.

As he struggled to rise, he glanced around at his surroundings.
The fighting had stopped and people were rounding up the dead. Gideon and Gemariah were yelling at him, but wouldn’t interfere. This was his fight, but the problem was, he hurt too much and didn’t know how much longer he could go on.

Looking in the opposite direction, he saw Terah cradling Trinity’s lifeless body in her arms.
The tears running down her face made him remember that it wasn’t only him affected by the loss. Trinity had so many people that cared about her, but how many other people’s lives have been crushed because of Azazel?

This is why!
This is why he
had
to succeed. He had failed to protect Trinity, but at least he could avenge her and everyone else.

Finding his sword, he got to his feet with a recharged confidence.
The fighting increased in strength and speed, but Malachi was still holding strong. As he was fighting, he was watching; watching and waiting for an opening, no matter how small.