She is my mother.
“From the first moment I arrived, you awakened the powers of hell inside. You gave me my wings.” My wings flutter in response to my words. They’re changed now, I know it without having to really look at them. Golden now, instead of black. Like they’re consumed with both fire and ash, but mostly fire. “You awakened the power of hell within me and used the angel in my blood to open your precious portal.” My hands open at my sides. “But you never awakened the angel in me.”
I want to say that that part of me had been in there all along, but the fact of the matter? It wasn’t. The darker side of me was too loud within my heart for anything quieter to be heard.
But that’s okay.
I smile. “It’s awake now.”
For the first time since I’ve known him, fear slices down the expression on my father’s face.
I think he knows exactly what that means.
“And the blood of an angel is just as destructive as the blood of the devil.” My smile broadens. “If not more so.”
And then I unleash that power from inside myself and send it to his own ranks.
It decimates half of them, and within a single second, the demons go up in heavenly flames.
I close my fist, and the flames subside. Wielding my magic is as easy as breathing now. The two strains flow through my blood, no longer warring one against the other but embracing each other. Because they belong to me now. This magic is mine.
And I mean to wield it in my own way.
“So you will stand against your father,” he says.
Like the burning demons at his sides aren’t enough of a clue.
“I will.”
His gaze darkens. “Then so be it.”
His wings push him toward me, and we meet in the middle. A thunderous clash of magic shakes the whole academy grounds. We’re shoved back from one another but meet again, fist for fist, magic for magic. Heaven and hell’s fire clash against the darkness my father creates.
It’s an unyielding force that pushes us apart, and the desire for vengeance pushes us together again.
Blackened clouds consume us as we take to the skies and slam against one another. His darkness pushes me, and we parry, fire meeting fire.
Smack! I land a blow straight to his chest.
The burning consumes him until he’s swallowed whole by the fire. Angel’s fire. He screams, his wings giving in, causing him to fall from the sky in a rapid flash of streaking fire.
I push after him, and when he hits the ground with a resonating thud that makes the whole earth beneath our feet tremble, the fire burns out. He’s nothing but charred scraps of burnt flesh. He was an angel once, but since he isn’t any longer, the fire can still burn him.
I wonder what it’s like to burn a second time.
The battle around us has resumed. I can hear the clashing and snarls, but it’s like right now, my father and I are in our own little world as I approach his burnt body.
His face is melted away, and the muscle bubbles, sizzling. His eyes glare at me. I know it won’t be long before he starts to heal, but I have to know.
“Did you ever love me?” I ask as I bend down.
Hatred burns in the depths of all that he is, and I don’t even need him to tell me.
I already know the answer.
And it still fucking hurts.
“I am sorry, Father.” I hold my hand over his heart, readying myself for the final blow.
