Chapter Twenty-Two #2
The young girl was sliced from ear to ear, and all the life had poured out of her.
All around her, there were things that didn’t look like shit a normal killer would have, and come to think of it, the dude was in a circle.
Of salt.
Witchcraft, Maura mouthed, and that didn’t bode well.
She heard Oracle in her head and knew it was time. Raising the gun, she aimed, found her target, and pulled the trigger.
Will Sinclair’s head exploded, leaving a splatter on the windows not far away.
He.
Was.
Dead.
“Well, Jesus, the cops are going to have a field day with this one,” Maura stated, as they both got up from the floor.
Outside, the storm continued, but inside…
That fire was out.
Pulling out a marker, she scribbled something on the wall, leaving a false trail for the police.
To cover their asses.
Then, they headed back out, leaving that hell hole exactly how they’d gotten in.
Carefully.
Pulling out his phone, Jagger sent a text that he’d prewritten to go to Bishop.
‘It’s done. Will’s dead. We’re heading home. It’s been fun, Princess, but we have our own mess to manage. Kiss Avalon for us. See you when we see you. J and M.’
He hit send, and pulled the blocker off the alarm.
“We have thirty seconds to get to the Hummer,” he said, locking the door behind him, as they hauled ass through the yard, and to their vehicle.
With the lightning crashing, and the rain pouring down, they knew it was now or never.
Because time stopped for no one.
In the distance, they heard the alarms, just as they got into the car.
Disengaging the box, the cameras went on, and boy, were the cops going to be confused.
“Back to NOLA?” Jagger said, pulling off his mask.
Maura laughed.
“Yeah, we gotta change our numbers. I’m not coming back for any more of The Phoenix Files. These jobs are too goddamn easy. That one didn’t even make us break a sweat. A girl likes a challenge.”
Jagger laughed as his wife pulled away, getting them back on the road.
“You’re sick.”
She snorted.
Yeah, well, tell her something she didn’t know. Only, they’d moved on.
For them, they were Hunters now, and they had bigger, slimier, fish to fry.
Mercenaries had to mercenary.
Bet.
Meanwhile…
When she opened her eyes, Genesis did too, but Lucian did not. It was evidently clear that Lucian had made the choice of which two came out.
And who did not.
That told Avalon all she needed to know. He’d been in her head, and knew her plan. She’d intended to stay in the static.
Forever.
Damn him.
“What the hell was that?” Tori asked, as a wave of energy had blown through the room, taking out all of Raven’s warding.
She shared.
“He sent us back up,” she said, crawling toward his prone body. Avalon couldn’t see shit, but she could sense his energy. “He’s in trouble.”
The second she said that, Lucian began seizing. It was at the same time they received the text.
“Oh, Jesus!” Bishop said. “They killed him.”
Oh, holy shit.
Avalon reached back for Nate’s hand, and the second he touched her, she could see.
Oh, and it wasn’t good.
“They weren’t supposed to do it until I gave them the go-ahead.”
Well, that didn’t sound good.
“He’s trapped in there,” Avalon admitted. “It’ll pull him down, and keep him there,” she said. “Lucian can’t get out! That window is closing! I can’t feel him! He burned me out!”
Both Julian and Tori moved closer.
“NO!” Julian said. “Someone save him!”
Only, there was no ‘someone’ who could. Avalon had burned out, holding that vision inside, so he’d think it was safe to come out.
“It’s too late. Lucian is gone,” she said.
Bishop screamed and clawed her way toward her husband, knowing this was a possibility, but hating that it had come true.
She held him.
“Come back to me,” she begged. “Lucian, come back to me!”
There was nothing.
Absolute.
Nothingness.
That’s when they heard it.
There were footsteps, running toward them as fast as could be. They all looked up to see Ridge running down the stairs, and jumping over the rail to land not far away.
He dove into the circle, and pulled Lucian from Bishop, to wrap his arms and legs around him.
Then, he went in.
Locking his mouth to the man’s, he shoved his way into the static, knowing they might both be trapped there. Only, he’d heard him say goodbye.
He’d heard the feral scream of Lucian’s soul being tattered and torn as that demon held onto him, dragging him deeper.
And he wouldn’t let that happen.
“MINE!” he screamed back.
And the real battle began.
In the darkness, Lucian was sliding deeper. He could feel the tearing at his body as something dark had him.
“I told you that you wouldn’t get away!” the darkness said.
Unfortunately for Will Sinclair, that evil exploded from him, and it was now driving the bus. The man’s soul was gone, and it would never be coming back.
Goodbye, Ridge. I love you. Please take care of Bishop and my girls. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you. Thank you for being mine for just a little while.
Just as he was about to be pulled into the darkness, he felt him. There was something light descending toward him. Looking up, he saw him.
“I have you,” Ridge said, grabbing onto the man he loved, and holding him against him.
Lucian was a bloody, battered mess. There were tears to his flesh, and his body was scared up with burns from the demon.
The elemental screamed.
“NO! He’s mine!”
Only, Ridge wasn’t losing him, either.
“He’s mine. He’s never going to be yours! Lucian, kiss me!” Ridge ordered.
To save them, he had to pull the one thing from the man that fueled their strength here.
Lust.
As his mouth met his there, and on the other plane, the energy pulsed, and Lucian could feel Ridge not letting them slip deeper into the static. In fact, he was trying to pull him upward, and toward the other plane.
“You’ll never pull him out. You’re not strong enough. He’s mine now! They cost me Oracle, and I’ll take his soul to torture forever!”
Ridge held on.
Let me go, my love. He’s right. You can’t pull us both out. You’re not strong enough. Just take care of Bishop for me, and tell her I didn’t suffer. Please tell her I didn’t end up like this.
Only, Ridge wouldn’t let him go.
Lucian, you can’t leave me too. I’m sorry, I was angry. Fight for me. Please hold on and fight for me. I need you now.
He wanted to, but he was empty.
Completely.
Empty.
They began slipping deeper.
Ridge, it’s time to let me go. One of us has to make it back to save Bishop and the girls. I’ll hold him in there. I’ll be enough for him to stay away. Take my wife and children, and protect them for me. Please, my love. He’ll come for my next child.
That wasn’t happening.
None of it.
I can’t lose you. I love you, Lucian. I love you so much. Please don’t leave me!
Only, it was too late.
Lucian was a battered mess.
He used what was left to shove the man back up.
He let go.
NO! LUCIAN!
Ridge felt himself being pulled up. He felt hands on him, as he was torn away from Lucian, and shoved out of the static. He was pushed forcefully from that realm, and back to the other plane.
ALONE.
When he opened his eyes, Bishop pushed him off of her husband and began CPR.
She straddled his body and began working on his heart as Honor was breathing for him.
“NO!” Ridge shouted. “Please!”
Then, like a miracle, Lucian’s eyes popped open, and he gasped for breath, sitting up so fast that Bishop nearly fell off of his body.
“How?” she asked, taking his face in her hands.
He was honest.
“I don’t know.”
One minute, he was being pulled into the darkness to be tortured forever, and the next, he was here.
From the floor, Bishop’s phone came to life.
“HOW. THE. HELL. DO. YOU. THINK. YOU. DOGS. THE. DEAD. SAVED. THE. DAY. NOW. CAN. WE. HAVE. OUR. OWN. PARKING. SPACES?”
Julian looked around.
“How the hell?” he asked, not sure how they got out of Raven’s home. “And did he just call us all bitches?”
The dial spun, the room got cold, and the photocopier began sliding across the floor, and toward the door.
“ORACLE. brOKE. US. OUT. OF. RAVEN’S. CAGE. WHO. LET. THIS. RICHARD. BACK. INTO. MY. GOD. DARN. KINGDOM!” Trey said, as the front door opened, and the copier went flying out the door.
With a crash.
It would have been funny, had they not nearly just lost Lucian to this.
Bishop began sobbing, and Lucian held her. When he looked back at Ridge, he opened his other arm, and the man crawled toward him.
And he held them both.
“HE’S. GONE. HE. IS. TRAPPED. IN. ORACLE’S. TRAP. GOOD. RIDDANCE.”
Avalon agreed.
“He’s definitely gone, and so are my gifts. I’m burned out,” she said, unable to speak in any of their minds.
It looked like that had been the cost, and she was more than okay with that, considering.
Her husband gasped.
“Wait! Your gift is gone?” he asked.
She was resting against him.
“Yes. It’s gone. I’m no longer Oracle. That mantle has just been passed.”
But honestly, they’d all lived.
The entity was done.
And Salem was safe.
Oh, and so was Genesis.
For all of them…this was the best possible outcome. They’d been saved by their dead.
And they were never living this down.
Trey would make sure of it.
Forever.