Page 37 of Fated Angel

Her black eyes blink, and when she opens them again, the crystalline blue irises he has grown to love are back. Shaken, he watches her look at their friends and nod, before her eyes fall back on him.

“Get ready for war,” she says, the calmness in her voice battling with the turmoil of his soul.

He’s never been so terrified, as if he lets his hands drop the Gabby he has known and loved all this time will completely vanish. Her eyes are back, but they’re hard with determination.

“Gabby?” Colt says, not sure what he’s asking.

“I know where they are…” she whispers, her voice full of awe as her gaze rises and holds on the obsidian tip of the Spear.

“Gabby…” Will she wield the spear, or will it wield her?

Gabby looks up at him and smiles, but it’s a smile devoid of the vibrancy she usually contains within her. “Colt, we don’t have time. We’ve merged the Spear and the obsidian, I know where the Grigori are. We must go now.” She shrugs his hands off and steps away, walking over to the door where Blaise and Sierra stand shocked. “You can stay here or you can come watch me destroy them, it’s up to you.”

Once outside the door, she plants the spear on the floor and her wings fling out behind her. Gabby’s hair seems to stir on some unseen breeze, her skin glowing as she radiates limitless power.

“Decide now, Colt,” she demands. “I’m going to end this once and for all, with or without you.”

“I’m coming,” Colt says, his voice scraping out as more of a growl than an agreement. He stalks forward, but Gabby spins, cutting him off with her wings and making him walk behind her as they leave.

Even from here, behind her, Colt can feel the evil of the obsidian trying to tap into his own darkness and expand it. He looks back at the wide-eyed women who tried to come and help, but they have no words of wisdom to offer. They look as worried as he feels.

When they step into the sunlight, Gabby flaps her enormous wings and jets into the sky with unbelievable strength. Colt spreads his black wings, fists clenched, and follows her.

He may not be able to get her back under her own power, but he sure as hell can keep her safe while she’s subjected to the pull of the obsidian. They fly for what seems like hours to Colt, but he knows inside it hasn’t been. The distance between him and Gabby has seemed to stall time, stretch it out, instilling him with growing dread.

Gabby tucks her wings and dives, flying through the pillars of a ruined cathedral and slamming to the destroyed marble floor with a spray of stone and dust. Her wings flare, each feather stretching to its maximum, and she stares directly into the eyes of Vladimir and his cult.

Colt lands behind her, mouth agape. Vladimir is around a huge rectangle table, going over what looks like battle plans with at least a dozen men. When Gabby landed, there was a flash of fear in his eyes and then his confidence bloomed and he smirked directly at her without an ounce of fear.

The fool.

“What? Did you think you’d be able to track me down and I’d be with the Grigori? You’ve had a spurt of luck, angel, I’ll give you that, but we’re not that stupid. I am not that stupid,” Vladimir sneers, his tone condescending.

Gabby cocks her head to the side and smiles at him, making Colt’s blood run cold and Vlad sputter in surprise.

“B-besides, they’re working on something now. Something you can’t stop. Together, we will repair reality and bring back peace on Earth?—”

“Are you sure about that? Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” Gabby’s smile widens and she lets out a pulsating burst of dark magic. With both hands, she raises the Spear over her head and slams it down on the ground between her legs.

Vladimir visibly balks, taking a few steps back, but when he backs into the table and his men see him cowering, he squares his shoulders and straightens his coat. “That stick is nothing in your hands, little girl. Give it to me, hand it over now, and spare yourself of the humiliation of me taking it from your cold, dead hands.”

“Not going to happen!” Colt roars, diving under Gabby’s wings and taking Vladimir out at the shins. They crash into the table, rolling over the top of it and knocking papers and plans everywhere.

Gabby shouts, enraged, and unleashes shooting beams of black light from the tip of the Spear. She flattens her wings, diving into the crowd of men and women. She stabs one man in the chest with the Spear and twists. Veins of darkness rip from the wound and begin devouring his chest until all moisture is sucked from his body and falls dead in a heap. Gabby grins, watching the terror in everyone else’s eyes as she turns on them and strikes.

Colt and Vladimir roll off the table, now a tangle of limbs and strength. Colt batters Vladimir with his fists, his wings, his knees, anything to cause the evil man pain. But no matter how hard he fights, no matter that Vlad can’t land a single blow, the Cult leader doesn’t tire or flinch away from the pain he certainly must be feeling.

“You cannot hurt me, demon,” Vladimir hisses. “Not this time. Neither you nor your dark angel can do anything to stop me now!”

Rage flares inside Colt and he leaps away from Vladimir with a powerful thrust of his wings. He crosses his arms over his chest and closes his eyes, reciting a spell he never thought he would have to use. When his eyes open and his arms fling wide, he’s got a Damascus scimitar in each hand, blazing with hellfire. The green light flares to life, casting everything in the ruined cathedral into a hellish landscape.

Gabby turns, feeling the burst of power, and her eyes flash with rage directed at Colt. She takes one step towards him, raising her Spear. Her eyes have gone fully black again, her skin splattered with a spray of blood and her dark magic.

“Gabby!” Colt calls, desperate to run to her. With that look in her eyes, it could be the last thing he ever does.

She shakes her head, holding the Spear to stabilize herself with both hands. When she looks at Colt again, he can see the blackness of her eyes flickering with blue. She’s fighting the pull. Someone behind her roars with rage and she turns, Spear pointed in one hand and palm forward in the other. Celestial fire explodes from her in a torrent, but it is no longer the blinding white and gold Colt knows it should be. No, now it’s streaking with the dark purple taint from the obsidian. The man running at Gabby is reduced to ashes.

Colt realizes he was the last to fall, and this time when Gabby turns her attention is fully on Vladimir. “He's completely invulnerable!” Colt shouts, moving around Vladimir in a wide circle so they’re standing on opposite sides of their enemy. “The witch protecting him must be more powerful than we imagined. We need to break the connection if we ever plan to kill him.”

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