Chapter 24

A/N: Here's the end. Let me know how you feel

I pulled the sword free from the sheath and brandished it at my adversary.

Despite the proximity of the weapon to his face he still approached me fearless. He gently pushed the blade aside, his voice honey sweet. "Again with the sword? Don't you know that a sword isn't a weapon for a woman?"

"Then what is?"

His left hand reached up and gently caressed my cheek, lingering on my lips. "Her voice." His right hand curled into the fingers of my free hand. "Her touch." He stepped back, as if taking me in for the first time. "And her body." Before I could snap back at him with a biting comment, he continued. "But your speech is crude, your hands are calloused, and no man would want you after he sees what you truly look like."

"Just shut up." I snapped.

"You do realize that if you kill me then you and your sister will both die?"

"So be it."

"Your courage is commendable." He looked impressed for a moment. "Or just stupid."

"Stop talking." I extended the sword. "I came here to fight."

"Then it's a fight you'll get." He took several steps back. "Of course, it's only fair for me to have a weapon as well." He reached into his trenchcoat and removed a 12-gauge shotgun. He shrugged when he saw how wide my eyes were. "It's only fair."

"You'd use a gun on me?"

"Maybe you misunderstood my intentions. I want you dead as quickly as possible, and I don't care what your body looks like afterwards."

So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the gun. I licked my dry lips and tightened my grip on the sword handle.

"Fear is not becoming of a death angel. It reeks on you." He cocked the gun back and leveled it at me. He pulled the trigger, and a bullet ripped through my right shoulder. He pointed the gun straight up. "I'd like to see you use that sword of yours now."

I bit down on my tongue, trying my hardest not to cry or scream.

"You know, it's better not to keep your feelings bottled up inside. Someday you'll break."

I tenderly switched my weapon to my left hand, as that was my dominant hand anyway. I brandished the sword one-handed.

Tayo smirked at my efforts. "You kid yourself thinking you were strong enough to defeat me. Even without the gun I could kill you. I managed to scar you without any human weapon." To prove his point he tossed the gun aside. His trenchcoat and shirt soon followed, leaving him standing in front of me weaponless and shirtless, midnight wings extended. "What's the matter Alanna? Frightened?"

"I'd never let you have the satisfaction." I charged at him, slashing mercilessly at his legs.

Tayo jumped and flipped, avoiding my every attack with ease. The inability to use my right arm was making my attacks weaker, and my decisions more predictable. I cursed him in my mind, swearing to the heavens.

Somewhere in the middle of my thoughts Tayo lunged at me, sending me flying into a tree trunk, slamming my freshly scarred back hard. I couldn't help it, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"That's right." Tayo gripped my cheeks, squeezing them tightly. "Scream. Bring your sister and friend running here. I shall have witnesses to your death."

My sister? Dana and Peter were here? Why did they follow me? Why couldn't they see that this was my battle, that I was the one Tayo wanted?

Tayo smashed my head back into the tree. We both could hear the crack it made as it dented the tree. I could feel the blood starting to drain down my neck and back from my now open wounds. He stopped pining me against the tree and I fell unceremoniously into a heap. "There there." He wiped the tears of pain from my cheeks. "Don't cry. I hate to see angels cry. Does something to the soul…at least it would if I had one." He slapped both my cheeks in succession. "Get up Crimson Angel. I remember you saying you came for a fight. Now give me one."

I struggled to my feet, my body a mass of pain. Somehow though, I felt stronger than I ever had in my entire life.

"Feeling confident?" Tayo questioned.

I didn't bother to respond, I only stepped closer.

"Gotta love your spunk kid. It's too bad that it's completely wasted." He cracked his knuckles and approached me menacingly.

I remembered blindly that my weapon was out of reach. I would have to buy myself time so I could run and go get it. Although angels weren't exactly human on the inside, their anatomies were exactly the same. So when he was within range I kicked him in the groin. Hard.

He sank to his knees and groaned, but I didn't take the time to revel in my small victory, instead I ran to the spot where my sword was lying and grabbed it, swiveling to face him in one clean movement.

He stood to his feet, the initial pain and shock having worn off. He clapped mockingly. "Nicely done."

"Small talk done." I said.

"In such a hurry to die?" He questioned, a smile fixed on his face. He cracked the joints in his neck. "That can be arranged." He stretched a hand out towards me, and I could feel the swirling wind, summoned no doubt by him, pulling me towards him. I struggled to keep myself grounded, and only succeeded in falling onto my face.

"Damn you." I growled, lifting my face from the dirt. His hands wrapped around my shoulders, freeing me from the confines of my jacket. I was powerless to stop him from ripping the sleeves off of my shirt. He gingerly placed his hands on the wounds he inflicted on me and then stood up.

I could feel the muscles in my back contracting, as something tried to fight its way to the surface. The wings began to poke their way out sending shockwaves of pain rippling through my entire body. I screamed at the top of my lungs as the wings shot through my back, dripping with blood.

"There we go angel. Show yourself to the world. Do not be afraid."

I snarled and staggered towards him, perhaps drunk from the loss of blood, perhaps drunk from the scent of blood. I eased my right hand painfully around the base of the sword. "It ends here Tayo. Once and for all. I refuse to die without bringing you with me."

"And die you will." He sneered. "Whether or not I come with you remains to be seen."

We launched ourselves at each other, him attacking me at full strength. He grabbed my right arm and wrenched it behind my body, eliciting another scream from my lips, and causing my sword to once again fall from my grasp.

"Bastard." I muttered.

"It's really no fun unless you fight back."

"You sick bastard. You think killing people is fun? No wonder you fell."

"You know nothing of me." He jerked my arm up even higher.

Squinting back tears I threw my head backward, smashing into his. His grip on my hand faltered, and I took that moment to twist in his grip and kick him in the shins. I grabbed the sword from the ground and jammed it as far as I could into his thigh.

This time Tayo was the one who screamed in pain. Served him right.

I yanked the sword free of its prison. I watched, mesmerized as his blood dripped down the weapon.

He moved to attack me while I was distracted, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I pivoted and pointed the blade at his neck, allowing it to hover one centimeter away from his flesh.

"You so much as twitch and you'll be breathing through your neck." To prove that I wasn't kidding I touched the sword to his neck and twisted it against the flesh, extracting a few drops of blood.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you would kill me." Tayo replied. "So go ahead. It's what you want."

"Why did you kill him?"

"Who?"

"Arturo Phillips. My father. Why?"

"Because I knew it would make you angry enough to kill. Didn't it work?"

I growled, but didn't reply.

"That's right. You want to kill me now. More than anything. More than you even desire to live."

"You don't know anything about me."

"Do I?" For a man with a sword at his neck he was eerily calm. "I knew you loved your father and would do anything for him. That's why I killed him and not your mother, or that boyfriend of yours."

"He's not my…" I cut myself off in mid-thought and shook my head. It would make no sense to argue with him now.

"What good would it do to kill me?" He questioned. "Think about it. If you kill me you won't wipe out my existence. You may send me to hell, but that would make me even more bitter."

"I know what you're trying to do, and I don't like it."

"What am I trying to do?" He asked.

"Beg for your life without actually begging."

"So what would that make me be doing?" His eyes darted sideways.

"Stalling while you're trying to think of a plan. So I'll think of one for you. You die, go to hell, and life is better for the miserable human race." I lifted the sword from his neck, and moved to slice at him.

He blocked the strike with one midnight black wing, and my sword cut straight through it. To his own credit Tayo didn't scream, but merely hit me over the head with his remaining wing.

I ignored his attack and swung the sword slicing him clean across the chest. "Bleed." I kicked him to the floor and stood over him, the sword still pointing at his chest. "For everyone who died. Everyone who you killed. For my father, for Rachel, for her mother. Your blood will be the only acceptable atonement for your sins."

"Go ahead." Tayo taunted. "Do it if you dare. Take off my head."

I swallowed and pulled the sword back. "Stand to your feet. I will not allow you to die like a beggar." I reached down, wrapped my fingers around his and jerked him to his feet. "There." I pointed the sword at his lips. "Are you going to beg again?"

"No. You've pretty much made up your mind."

"Good." I pulled back and slammed the sword through his chest cavity. I withdrew the sword slowly, the blood dripping from the weapon and soiling the ground. I walked over to where he had discarded his trenchcoat, picked it up and wiped the sword clean on his jacket.

Two people emerged from the forest. Two people who I recognized. Peter and Dana came crashing through the underbrush towards me, tearing my attention away from Tayo's body.

They were both breathing with difficulty. Peter was the first to see Tayo lying on the ground. "You killed him?" He questioned. "Then aren't you, supposed to be dead?"

I shrugged. "Maybe luck is with us."

He began to move towards me, but Dana grabbed him by the hand. "Wait!"

While my attention was diverted, Tayo's fingers were stretching towards his fallen shotgun. His hand closed around it, and he raised it off the ground enough to aim directly at Peter.

A swirling wind built up just then, dragging me towards Tayo, and suddenly I was lying on the floor myself, a shotgun in my hand, aiming at the object of my affection. I cursed myself, cursed my job, and cursed God. But to my surprise everything seemed to pause, and I saw Dana's soul separate from her body. She walked over to me in Tayo's and leaned over us. She whispered, but I could hear her as clear as day. "I don't want to be pure if it means that you'll be tortured forever." She lay a pale hand on my gun arm. "Let me. You should be with him when he dies, not killing him."

Then for the first time in my life, I was allowed to do what I always wanted, to turn my back on a job. Dana's body and mine switched places, and I embraced Peter from behind. Then time restarted, and the bullet tore through Peter's chest, sending him limp in my arms. I could almost feel the bullet pierce me also, and I heard a gun go off again, faintly. I was dying, I could feel it, my wounds must've been too much. "I love you Peter." I whispered. "Sorry, about before…"

His head turned to my ear. "Love you too Alanna."

In my blurry vision I saw my sister fall to her knees, her majestic golden wings splattered with blood.

The world around me circled and blurred into a bright magnificent white. And a voice, pure as the heavens, called to me. A voice I had heard so many times. "Well done, my good and faithful servant." And finally, the voice had a face.