Page 16 of Stolen By the Devil

Sal’s eyes widened further, disbelief etched across his features. He took another step back, as the reality of what he was facing began to sink in. His dark posture faltered, and for the first time, I saw fear flicker across his face.

"I am an angel of justice," I continued, my voice firm but filled with compassion, "but I am one of mercy most of all."

I watched as his knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, his head bowed before me. His once-powerful formseemed to shrink beneath the weight of my presence, his demonic energy retreating in the face of my light. The gun slipped from his hand, clattering uselessly to the floor.

For a long moment, the room was silent, the air heavy with the aftermath of what had just transpired. I hovered above him, my wings casting long shadows across the walls, my light dimming slightly as the immediate danger passed. I could have ended it then. I could have destroyed him—ended the threat once and for all. But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

I stepped back, the light around me receding as my feet touched the ground once more. My wings folded neatly behind me, dimming into a soft but still present glow. I looked down at Sal, now just an old man crumpled on the floor, and felt a pang of sorrow for the darkness that had consumed him.

"Take them out of here," I said quietly, turning my attention to Reaper, who had entered the room just in time to witness what had happened. Stepping forward quickly, he took the children’s hands.

Liliana and Marco were trembling, their small faces pale with fear, but they clung to him as he led them out of the room. I watched them go, my heart heavy with the weight of everything that had just happened.

As the door closed behind them, I let out a shaky breath, my body trembling from the energy it had taken to confront Sal. But before I could fully process what had just transpired, a deafening crack echoed through the room.

A gunshot.

I turned, my heart lurching in my chest, and my breath caught in my throat when I saw Drago standing there, the gun inhis hand still smoking. Sal lay crumpled on the floor at his feet, a dark pool of blood spreading around him.

Drago looked up at me, his eyes burning with a fire that hadn’t yet dimmed. His demonic form flickered and faded, his human self struggling to reassert control. His chest heaved with ragged breaths, his entire body shaking with the force of what he had just done.

Tears filled his eyes, streaming down his cheeks as he stared at me. “I’m not like you,” he whispered, his voice broken. “I am not an angel. I am not even a good man.”

My heart ached at the sight of him, the pain etched across his features so raw, so deep. I wanted to reach out to him, to hold him, to tell him that he wasn’t beyond saving. But before I could move, he spoke again.

“But I will show you mercy,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “For what you’ve done. For what you were willing to sacrifice for the sake of what was mine. And for that…you’re free.”

I blinked, my mind struggling to process what he was saying. "Free?" I asked, hearing the tremor in my own voice,

He nodded, dashing the tears from his face roughly with the back of his hand. “Go home,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’ll give you whatever you need. Money, a house, safety for your mother. But you don’t have to stay here anymore. I release you from all of this. You’ll never want for anything again.”

The weight of his words hit me like a tidal wave, washing over and pulling me under. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. He was setting me free—giving me a way out of the life that had bound me to him. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. He was pushing me away—trying to protect me,to give me the life he thought I deserved. But my chest tightened, my throat closing as the realization hit me.

I loved him.

The tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them, and without thinking, I crossed the space between us and kissed him. It was a desperate, aching kiss, filled with everything I couldn’t say. Everything I felt but couldn’t express. His hands gripped my arms, and for a moment, I thought he would pull me closer, that he wouldn’t let me go.

But then he stepped back, my heart shattering as I looked into his eyes one last time.

Without another word, I turned and ran.

I didn’t know if I was running home. I didn’t know where I was going at all. All I knew was that I had to leave before I changed my mind.

Epilogue

Angel

Two weeks later.

The estate loomed in front of us as the car pulled up to the front gates, the iron bars gleaming in the late afternoon sun. My heart pounded as I glanced out the window, my fingers tightening slightly on the hem of my dress. I hadn’t been back since the night I’d run, after Drago had told me to leave—to be free. But now, I wasn’t coming back alone.

Beside me, my mother, who was now getting the treatment she needed, giving us a light at the end of the tunnel, sat quietly, her hands folded in her lap. Carla Rossi, the woman who had fought her own demons for as long as I could remember, had insisted on coming with me. There was a quiet strength in her now, a sense of peace that had been absent for most of my childhood. I didn’t know how she would react to Drago, or to the life I had chosen for myself, but I knew she needed to meet him. To see what I had found in him.

As we approached the entrance to the estate, the guard waved us through, recognition flickering in his eyes as he glanced at me. The gates opened slowly, creaking slightly as they revealed the long, winding driveway that led to the mansion. My heart raced, and I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

Would Drago be surprised to see us? Would he understand why I had brought my mother here?

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