“Fuck,” grunts Gabriel. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
In two long strides he’s across the room, his gun pressed to mytemple. “Come out, Damien! Come out and face me! Don’t be a fucking coward!”
But only the wind answers. He looks out the window, his gun still cocked at me threateningly, and yells, “Damien, if you don’t show yourself, I’m going to kill your pet!”
Nothing.
I close my eyes, willing my heart to stop racing. There is no answer to Gabriel’s threat, but when I glance up at the Angel leader, I can see in his wide, frenzied expression, that he’s capable of anything.
“I swear to God, I will kill her!” he lashes out again, his finger pressing on the trigger.
My heart is in my throat. I try to force myself to calm down, try to remember the way I felt just a little while ago, when I believed that dying was the only way to save Damien.
Now, I actually can save him. I can die, and save him.
But the thought of him out there makes my whole core twist with need. I can’t bear the thought of going now. All I want is for his body to wrap around me, for his fingers to thread through my hair, soothing me. For the scent of his cedar cologne, wafting over me. I wanthim.
“Please, Damien…” I whisper, but I’m not entirely sure what I’m begging for.
His voice seems to answer my quiet prayer, though I know it’s impossible. “If you kill her, there will be no hope for you,” he calls out from somewhere in the wilderness.
“Is there any hope for me anyway?” shouts Gabriel. “Might as well make you suffer on the way out.”
Damien’s voice floats back a moment later, taunting. “Oh, Gabriel. Always hiding behind others. Do you really think so little of yourself? Come out and face me, while you still have a chance. Come out and face the Devil.”
Gabriel swallows, staring down at me in deep thought, then atlast, swings the gun away from me.
“I will be back,” he snarls. “I will be back, and I willendyou.”
He creeps out of the cabin and I hear the crunch of his footsteps die down. At once, panic strangles me. Is the man I love going to die because of me?
I struggle against my bonds, more frustrated than ever at my own helplessness. All I manage to do is fall over, the chair clanking hard against the mud floor, my shoulder scraping against some hidden nails. I wince as I feel blood bubble up and burst out.
Then all of a sudden, my breath hitches.Nails! Nails on the floor! Probably jutting out of the old, rotting planks hidden by years of grime. Groaning with the effort, I manage to move my body a bit, my tied hands groping around, searching for the nails. At last, they hit upon something hard and sharp, and at once, I position my wrists against the small metal objects and start to rub back and forth.
A sudden shot makes me still in panic. The next moment, I hear Gabriel’s voice. “Got you!”
I open my mouth in a silent scream and then, beads of sweat pricking down my forehead, I frantically rub the ropes against the nails until at last I’m able to break my hands free.
If there’s even the tiniest chance he’s alive… if there’s anything I can do to save him… I will.
It’s quick work now to undo the ropes around my ankles, and at last I’m free. My eyes rove around for a weapon, and I spy the gun held in the deathly grip of Aaron. But I’m not sure I’d be capable of shooting a gun. Grimacing in disgust, I fumble through the pockets of his vest, until I find what I’ve been searching for: a small sharp knife.
My weapon of choice.
Then I burst out of the cabin just as another shot rings out.
He wasn’t dead yet. Could he still be alive?
As I go deeper in the forest that surrounds the tiny clearing, I spot Gabriel, standing a dozen feet away, facing the other direction.
“Where are you?” he thunders. “Stop fucking with me. Stand in front of me, and let the best man win!”
He aims his gun wildly into the forest, he shoots a third time. Then suddenly he stops.
Suppressing a gasp, I see a man lying in the forest.Damien. Gabriel’s shot has found him. Wounded him. Killed him?
I take a few steps toward him, and the leaves crunch under me. But Gabriel’s entire attention is fixed on Damien.
