Chapter 92 Danica #2
As I look around, I square my shoulders, straightening to my full—albeit unimpressive—height.
Waiting.
"See, the way I figure it," I continue, unable to resist throwing a little extra vinegar in my tone, "being pathetic is more your shtick than mine.
I mean, come on—groveling at the feet of your demonic sugar daddy, lapping up whatever crumbs of power he deigns to toss your way?
" I shake my head in mock disappointment.
"That's just sad, dude. Have you no sense of self-respect? "
Azrael materializes before me; his handsome features contort with rage, but I barrel on, undaunted. If I'm going down, I might as well go down swinging...and give him a few well-deserved verbal jabs in the process.
"But I guess that's what happens when you're a sniveling little bitch who can't cut it on his own merits," I taunt with a derisive snort.
"You latch onto the first big bad who promises to make you a real boy, and next thing you know, you're his bitch doing all the dirty work while he sits on his throne getting his cloven hooves massaged. "
The area grows very cold. My veins turn to ice. "Oh, my mistake then," he growls, the words laced with venom.
The shadows have now engulfed the clearing in an inky shroud. I reach for my time-warping abilities, grasping at the threads of reality and pulling them taut until the world around me slows to a crawl.
The manifested shadows drift like tendrils of smoke, their movements languid and ponderous in this dilated plane of existence. I zero in on the nearest wisp, channeling a concentrated beam of celestial light that lances through the gloom and strikes true.
The shadow recoils like a wounded serpent, Azrael's anguished roar echoing through the stillness as time snaps back into its natural flow with dizzying force. I'm flung backward by an unseen blow, the world spinning as I crash to the ground in a bone-jarring impact.
Dazed, I struggle to push myself upright, blinking away the stars that dance across my vision. But before I can fully regain my bearings, a blur of movement catches my eye.
Azrael is on Damon, his clawed hand wrapped around my brother's throat as he hauls his broken form into the air with sickening ease. Damon fights feebly, his struggles growing weaker by the heartbeat as Azrael's merciless grip tightens.
"Azrael, no!" The scream tears from my lungs, raw and primal. "Let him go!"
But my pleas fall on deaf ears. With a sickening crack that seems to reverberate through my very soul, Damon's neck snaps, his body going limp and crumpling to the ground in a boneless heap.
I can't breathe—can't think—can't process what I've just witnessed as the world narrows to a single, horrifying point—my baby brother, broken and still, his life snuffed out before my eyes.
"DAMON!!"
The scream rips from my throat, shredding my vocal cords until all that's left is a hoarse, anguished wail. Tears streak down my face, scalding and salty, as ragged sobs wrack my body with the force of a hurricane.
"I didn't say he would leave here alive, now did I?" Azrael seethes. "You should learn, Dani. Never to trust me or anything I say."
Damon is dead. Gone—ruthlessly ripped away from me by the same evil son of a bitch that stole my parents, my childhood, my innocence. Adrian, John. The list of people this piece of shit has taken from me never ends.
A part of me dies with Damon at this moment, the fragile threads of my sanity fraying until they're ready to snap completely. My mind teeters on the edge of a black abyss, threatening to shatter into a million jagged pieces.
What's the point anymore?
After everything I've sacrificed and endured, how much more can one person take before they simply...break? I've given my heart, soul, and humanity to serve a destiny I never asked for. And for what? More death? More unendurable agony?
I want to surrender, to let the darkness swallow me whole and find oblivion's cold embrace. Rhyland, Erik, Seraphina, Emily, Lucian...even they can't undo this loss, can't fill the void Damon's death has carved into my very being.
I've lost too much and witnessed too many horrors—felt too much pain.
He's taken everything from me that I hold dear.
Damon's sacrifice is the final straw that shatters what little remains of my spirit into a million jagged shards. As Azrael's shadow falls over me again, I wonder if the cold caress of oblivion would be a welcome reprieve from this endless cycle of torment.
I crawl to Damon's body, ultimately defeated. "D-Dam-on." I choke the words.
The Atherite stone—it has to work. it worked on Emily—
"You know," Azrael muses, his voice a dark caress that sets my skin crawling with disgust. "It's so easy to break you, weak humans. All it takes is playing on your bleeding heart and poof." He chuckles, the sound grating like nails on a chalkboard. "You're as useless as flies on shit."
I'm crying, sobbing uncontrollably as I crawl towards Damon's lifeless form, the rest of the world fading into a blur around me. Nothing else matters but reaching him, cradling what little remains of the brother I failed to protect.
I begin to focus on the power of the Atherite….
Azrael has other plans. With casual ease, he snatches me up, his fingers encircling my throat in a vice-like grip that steals my breath. I choke and gasp, clawing futilely at his unyielding grasp as my feet leave the ground, kicking uselessly.
Azrael's cold, soulless eyes lock onto mine, endless voids threatening to pull me into their depths. "No, I don't think I'll let you use that rock on your dear old brother," he sneers, with cruel amusement. "This is far too enjoyable—watching you fall apart."
His gaze sweeps over me with a hunger that makes my skin crawl. "But you can still be useful. Your blood—so delectable. Remember, I have every vampire under my command ready to hunt you down and drain you dry. Your little secret? It's out in the open now."
His lips twist into a vicious imitation of a smile. "I'm quite impressed you followed directions and didn't bring that Viking lapdog of yours. I wonder how he'd react if I took another bite? Do you think he'd mind sharing his precious pet? I'm dying to know what the sun feels like…"
Panic claws at my chest. Every vampire will be after me, my worst fears coming to life.
The memory of his fangs piercing my flesh, the searing agony and vile sense of violation, ignites a firestorm of hatred and terror that steals what little breath I have left. I shudder, my hands flying to claw at his wrist, desperate to break free from his merciless grip.
My angelic fire is no longer attainable as Azrael's shadows engulf me, suffocating me—I can't breathe. The whispering starts in my head.
"You're worthless."
"No one cares about you."
"You couldn't even save your family."
"What Kind of savior are you?"
"Your brother is dead because of you."
It's right. I couldn't save any of my family.
I close my eyes—I want to give in—give up.
His grip on my throat tightens.
But even as the darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision, that defiant spark inside me refuses to be extinguished. I glare at Azrael through the haze of tears and pain, baring my teeth in a savage snarl.
"I d-don't k-know," I rasp the words, tearing at my abused throat. "Why don't you f-fuck around and f-find out?"
Azrael's eyes glitter with dark amusement at my bravado, his lips quirking in a mocking semblance of a smile.
"Such fire," he murmurs, leaning in until his face is inches from mine, near enough for me to feel his fetid breath on my skin.
"I do so love it when you fight back, Dani.
It makes the game so much more... invigorating. "
His fingers tighten inexorably, cutting off what little air I have left. Black spots dance across my vision as I claw desperately at his hand, my nails scrabbling against unyielding stone. The world begins to fade, the edges of my consciousness fraying as the darkness closes in.
Azrael's putrid, scalding breath assaults my neck, his fangs glistening with venom and drool as he zeroes in for the kill. The stench of decay and malice rolling off him nearly makes me retch, his closeness a vile invasion that sets every nerve alight with revulsion and dread.
Just as I resign myself to oblivion's cold embrace, a roar of pure, unbridled fury shatters the night's stillness.
Rhyland.