Gwen appeared at Dom’s side, her eyes full of worry as she clamped a hand over the wound. Wisps of her hair were standing on end, charged by the storm. “What the hell is going on with the weather?” she asked, needing to raise her voice to almost a shout as the wind began to howl around them.
“It’s a side effect of so much magic,” Zach explained.
“Is it dangerous?” Dom said, his face still taut with pain.
Before Zach could even reply, a bolt of lightning struck the ground only metres from them. They all cried out and Drew found himself on the ground, Zach shielding his body with his own.
Edward shrieked and rolled himself into a ball, covering his head with his hands.
“Well, fuck me,” Dom said from his position crouched on the ground, Gwen tucked under him. “I suppose that answers that question.”
“We’re getting on top of the demons,” Drew told them. “If you see a gap and you think you’ve got a chance to make it, run. Okay?”
“But what about you?” Gwen demanded.
“I’ll be fine,” Drew assured her, even as he threw another wave of concussive magic at a group of approaching demons. “Zach’s got my back. Promise me you’ll make a run for it if you can.”
Dom nodded. “We will. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Good man,” Zach said and smiled at them. He turned back towards Drew, his mouth open to say something but it was cut off by a scream. He clutched at his chest and fell to his knees on the broken concrete.
“Zach!” Drew cried, sending another blast of magic at the closest demons before darting over to the angel. “Zach, what’s wrong? What is it?”
Zach couldn’t reply, the pain too great, but then Drew saw it, the purple gem in his chest pulsating with energy through the material of his shirt. “Drew,” Zach finally managed to utter, his eyes locked on a point over Drew’s shoulder. “Go, it’s too late. He’s h . . . here.”
Drew looked behind him and saw a tall bald man with flashing silver eyes striding through the demons as if he were taking an afternoon stroll in the park. An old-fashioned cane with a gold tip swung from his right hand. His sharp gaze fell on Zach and he grinned, then he lifted his finger and made a hooking gesture, and Zach cried out again even as he was yanked to his feet by an invisible force. Lightning crashed above them, immediately followed by the deafening roar of the thunder. “My, my, Zachariel,what an interesting adventure you’ve been having,” the man, who Drew assumed was Oberon, said.
“Jealous?” Zach asked, managing a sneer, before he screamed once more as whatever Oberon was doing to the gem intensified.
“Oh, no, not at all. In fact, I’ve enjoyed watching your antics. It’s been a little like reality TV.” His eyes flicked over to Drew. “You even have a love interest.” He shook his head and tsked. “Zachariel, Zachariel, Zachariel. Whatever convinced you that I would allow you to behappy?Your fate is in my hands, and that will only ever involve suffering.”
“I beg to differ,” Zach ground out through the pain.
Oberon snorted. “Always so stubborn.” He hooked his finger again, and Zach screamed, clawing at the gem, trying to remove it from his chest. His nails tore through his shirt and then at his flesh. Blood ran in dark rivulets down his skin, soaking into the material and turning it crimson.
“Stop it!” Drew screamed, hurling a ball of magic at Oberon.
The demon laughed and flicked the magic away as if it were nothing more irritating than a mosquito. “Oh, you are precious. I’m going to have fun making you suffer.” His grin faded as a force hit him from behind and Drew looked over to see Kensington there, throwing ropes of golden magic at him.
“You’ll have to go through me first,” Kensington challenged, and Simon must have disabled the magic users who’d been summoning the demons because Drew noticed that less than twenty demons were remaining. Simon, Daniel, Hashmal, and Adriel were easily taking care of them.
Oberon roared and lunged into a fight with Kensington, and Drew turned his attention to Zach. The clouds above them opened and a torrent of rain began to fall, soaking them instantly. He lowered Zach to the ground and ripped away the torn remnants of his shirt, revealing the brightly glowing gem in his chest. The pulsating purple light had a sickly sheen to it that made Drew’s stomach clench just from looking at it. “Zach, can you hear me?” he asked, stroking his cheek.
“Hey, sweetness,” Zach whispered, his eyes fluttering open as he looked up at him. His lashes were thick with droplets of rain and he blinked them away. “We had a good run, didn’t we? I’m sorry it couldn’t last.”
“Oh, don’t you dare take that defeatist attitude with me,” Drew growled. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“So long as he controls the gem, I cannot be free,” Zach whispered.
“Then we’ll just have to do something about that, won’t we?” Drew dropped his hand down from Zach’s face, trailing over his collarbones until it was hovering over the gem. “Do you trust me?”
“With everything I have,” Zach said.
Drew smiled and leaned down to kiss him gently. “I love you, Zach.”
“And I love you.”“And love will set you free,” Drew whispered, then closed his eyes and concentrated.
The magic of the gem was stronger than anything Drew had ever felt before, nothing at all like the objects he had studied with Kensington. No matter how strong it was, Drew knew he was stronger. He’d been told that by Zach and Kensington, and deep down inside himself, he could feel his strength and he believed it too. Ignoring the storm and the rain, the ongoing battle and screams of pain, he found his centre. He felt the magic jump to do his bidding and it poured from him. He directed it towards the gem and it twisted around it, tendrils of magic searching and seeking, looking for cracks in its power. The power of the gem seemed to be almost sentient, and it fought back, each surge of power blocking Drew’s magic and making Zach convulse and cry out.
