Vincent
You lay on the ground, bleeding out, while Azrael raised his sword to strike again. My limbs were moving before I realized what was happening. I leapt onto Azrael’s back and using the golden chain between my wrist cuffs, garroted him until he dropped his weapon. Using the chain as leverage, I climbed higher and sunk my teeth into his neck. I gnashed against his leather-like skin until I reached his jugular, then tore it out, snapping it like a rubber band. Azrael fell to his knees, grasping at his throat as he tried to dislodge me, but I held on tightly, biting and shredding his neck until he collapsed on the ground. I wrested the sword from his dying hands, lifted it high above my head, and brought it down on his spinal cord, severing the cyclops’s head.
“Orcus,” I shouted above the din of the battle. The shadowborn swiftly descended and busied himself with extracting Azrael’s soul from the cyclops’s body.
I scrambled through the blood and gore to where you were laid out. My hands went to the hole in your gut, trying to staunch the bleeding, even while knowing it wasn’t enough. It gushed between my fingers, until my hands were slick with it. I stroked your long, golden hair, staining it red. Your eyes were open, staring at nothing.
This could not happen. You werenotdead. I wouldn’t allow it. With the battle having died down and the warborn now united under Aretha’s command, I called for Lucian, who was tending to Stefan. Orcus was still at my side and I said to him, “You know what I have to do. Will you help me?”
Orcus nodded. “I have business there too.”
Lucian’s expression turned grim when he saw you lying still and the hollow look in your eyes.
“Can you heal his injuries?” I asked, praying to the gods that he might be able to repair your body.
Lucian nodded, still worried. “I’ll recruit the salusborn to help me. What are you planning?”
“I’m going to the under realms, and I’m going to bring back Henri’s soul.”
I stoodat the base of Bastet’s temple, alone because Orcus had his own dealings with the shadowborn to attend. I had nothing of value to trade and no earthly claim that Bastet wanted, and I feared my loyalty and cunning might not be enough. I didn’t even have Spooky by my side.
“Child of Ra,” Bastet greeted me warmly, her spirit infused with golden light. “You’ve blessed me with another visit?”
“Yes, my queen.” I dropped to one knee to properly venerate her before rising again. “I’ve come to inquire after my beloved’s soul. Henri Cherusci of the bloodborn tribe.”
My spirit was assaulted then with an oppressive gloom, and I fought it with all of my might.
“Henri offered himself freely, Child of Ra. He sacrificed his immortality to further your holy war.”
“And we have been successful. Azrael has been vanquished in the earthen realm.”
Bastet lifted her regal head as though scenting the air. “Yes, I sense his putrescence in our midst. Have you come to offer his angelic soul as trade?”
If only Orcus would have allowed it.
“No, my queen. But I have loved Henri for two lifetimes, and I would love him for many more if given the opportunity. You’ve already bestowed several blessings upon us, but I would beg you, your majesty, for just one more.”
“I’m listening,” Bastet said, her cat ears tilted in my direction.
“I offer you my everlasting soul in exchange for Henri’s return. Make us both mortal men.”
“You would forsake your divinity for this bloodborn warrior?”
“Yes, your majesty. And I would ask that when we die, you be the keepers of our souls and permit us, when we return to the earthen realm, to be reborn in each other’s orbit, so that we may find each other again.”
“You wish to know this man for an eternity?”
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted, your majesty.”
“Mortal men are weak, Child of Ra. They are selfish and vindictive. You deserve more.”
“Maybe so, but Henri is mine. We share our joys and our sorrows, our sins and our triumphs. I want him in all of my lives.” I remembered something you once told me, in this life or my last. “I want Henri as my one and only subject. With the blessed gift bestowed upon me by Ra of the sunborn, I wish to rule just one man. Henri is my past, my future, my forever. Please, I beg you, your majesty, make me the master of his soul and bind us for all of eternity.”
Bastet considered my plea, and perhaps some warm memory of her own beloved master came to her then, for her countenance shifted and a tender smile softened her expression.
“Very well, child of Ra, I will grant you this blessing. And in between lifetimes, you can visit me and tell me of your passions and your regrets with your beloved. And perhaps one day, I will tell you mine.”
I bowed my head, relief and gratitude washing over me at this sacred benediction. “Thank you, your majesty.”
