Fall From Grace (25 page)

“We need to go before she reaches the rift.”
The principal headed for the front door.

The hunter spun on his military style black
boots. “She won’t make it to the rift ma’am. That’s what I came
back to report. The hunters have assembled. More have arrived. They
are camped out by County Line Road. No way she’s gonna be able to
enter the area where that master demon resides.”

The man visibly shook. Of course, he’d just
been held captive and knew what that creature was capable of. The
thought of Gaby facing that kind of evil alone was bad enough, but
all those hunters. His heart ached at the thought of them being
separated forever. He wouldn’t let it happen. He had to save her.
“We need to go before they hurt Gaby.”

“The hunters will all be dead.”

“No, ma’am. They’ve been ordered to stand
down. They won’t attack the master demon without the order. The
higher up’s think the master demon might be in human form, they
believe Gaby is that form.”

Prim chuckled. “No, this master demon never
took human form. Not yet, the rift isn’t large enough. It’s trapped
on the other side for now. But it doesn’t matter. The master demon
won’t kill them. Gaby will.”

“No.” Alexander pushed by Bruce and squared
his shoulders. “You’re lying. Gaby isn’t capable of murdering
innocent people.”

Boon swooped in and landed half-way across
the room before he tucked his wings tight.

His nostrils flared twice and his bull-like
face scrunched tight. “You.”

Prim darted around the couch. “Wait, you
don’t understand.”

Alexander stepped between them. Boon’s
emotions surged through the room. In the year he’d known Boon, he’d
never even sensed a strong dislike for anything. Now, he wanted to
rip this woman’s head off. “What is it?”

“Take form. Show them who you are.” Boon
ordered.

Alexander studied the woman and glanced at
Bruce in question, but was only met with a shrug and arched
eyebrows.

“Show them!” Boon’s voice boomed, shaking
the room. He lunged over the couch and Alexander instinctively
ducked. Boon soared over and slammed into an identical black
creature, only slightly smaller. Prim was like him?

They tumbled through the broken windows. The
frames and drywall peeled open. They all ran to the window to catch
a glimpse of the two demonic looking creatures shred the trees
below. Dirt plumed and debris filled the air.

Sammy flew in and landed below. She froze at
the sight of them.

“Well, it’s never boring around here.” David
mumbled at Alexander’s side.

Alexander had to stop them. Figure out what
was going on, so he could save Gaby. If she was a demon, then
everything she said was a lie. But he didn’t sense that she was one
of hell’s warriors.

With nothing blocking his way, he opened his
wings to their full length and swooped down. “Help me.” He yelled
to Sammy as he clutched Boon’s shoulder and ripped him from his
enemy. At least he hoped it was Boon.

“Stop. We need to save Gaby.” Alexander
ordered.

“It’s you. The one Boon told me about.”
Sammy’s eyes narrowed on the dark frame, partially concealed in the
shadows of the remaining trees. “You betrayed your fellow warriors,
and Heaven. How can you be here? You were forever banished to the
underworld.”

Boon shrugged Alexander off and went to
Sammy’s side. She slipped her small hand over his massive fist.
“You are better than this. Don’t let her bait you.”

“I don’t know how you escaped your prison,
but I’m going to send you back now.” Boon tightened his fists and
his huge raven-like wings shook.

“Herak freed me.”

“He what?” Boon moved to attack again,
crushing a downed tree to dust, but Sammy kept him back. She was
the only one that could keep him from tearing that creature
apart.

“He wants to help stop this from happening
again. If we don’t close the rift, more souls will escape and fight
to open the gate to hell.”

“We’ll stop them.” Sammy stroked Boons
forearm.

“How didn’t I sense you before? It’s some
sort of trick.” Boon huffed smoke through his nostrils.

“You didn’t sense it because I didn’t want
you to. I’m more powerful than you think.”

Alexander didn’t care what plan Herak had,
he just wanted to know how to save Gaby.

“You can’t, only Gaby can stop this war
before it happens. That’s why her powers have been so erratic. You
wouldn’t let her train and when demons were sent, she couldn’t
handle the surge of power. Now, it will take all of you to help her
return from darkness, or she will be lost forever.”

“Lies.” Boon crouched and bolted into the
air. He rammed The Prim in the chest, sending them both to the
ground. The rumble from the force of them hitting the ground felt
like an earthquake.

Sammy flew to Boon’s side and begged him to
calm. Alexander caught a wing of the principal and pinned it to the
ground. She howled and he noticed David had speared the other wing
with a long sword. He shivered at the memory of his sister pierced
through the wing with the sword designed to kill Angels.

He sniffed the air, but found no hint of
decay. Part of him was relieved, until he saw her pull the sword
from her flesh and spear the man through the leg.

He cried out and fell to the ground.

Bruce jumped over his friend and raced to
Boon. “Please, we need to listen. It might be Gaby’s only
chance.”

“You don’t understand. It will only be a
trap. This woman was in love with Herak during the first war. She
was his personal slave to his cause. She committed unspeakable
crimes. Killing fellow angelic warriors, slaying innocent humans,
and freeing demonic prisoners. The war only lasted for so long
because of her treachery. We all thought she was our friend, a
fellow warrior. But she was only a traitor. The most hated angel in
history. Even more despised than Satan himself.”

Alexander’s stomach churned at the thought
of how deceitful this creature had been. Did he dare hope anything
that woman said was true? Or, was it all part of a plan to separate
them and kill the chosen one, his beloved? He shivered at the
thought of losing her to the Darkness, this time for eternity.

“Tell us what to do. Now.” Alexander pushed
from the ground and faced her.

Boon’s knuckles cracked under the pressure
of his tightened fists. “Did you not hear—”

“She can help save Gaby. That’s all I need
to hear.” Alexander flapped his wings to meet his height.

“She won’t stop the war. It’s a trick,
because of her thousands of innocent humans and angels
suffered.”

Sammy hooked her arm through his. “Please,
let us hear her out. If you still don’t trust her, then we will all
stand behind you.”

“Talk fast.” Boon muttered through clenched
teeth.

Alexander floated down by Bruce’s side, but
kept his wings ready. If Boon didn’t trust her, there was reason to
fear. He saw the good in everyone, even the earthbound demons he
tried to save.

The principal stood straight, bones cracked
as her long nose receded back into her face, and her harsh dark
features cooled to a flesh tone. Her shirt was stretched beyond
repair, and her pants were in long strips hanging from her
waist.

Boon remained in his angelic form ready to
fight.

The principal tugged the edge of her shirt
down to cover her upper thighs. “Herak has known from the day the
gates were sealed that it was only temporary. He wants to make
things right.”

“If he wanted to make things right he would
have warned us when the gates were sealed that demons would rise
again.”

“Would you have listened?”

“Boon, let her finish. There isn’t much
time.” Alexander crossed his arms over his body and concentrated on
remaining calm, but all he wanted to do was fly off after Gaby. The
thought of her facing all those hunters alone made his feather’s
ruffle.

“When Alexander arrived and asked for the
cure to save his sister, it was code from Grace that the war was
coming.”

Alexander’s head throbbed at her words. No,
it couldn’t be. Grace didn’t know, she would have told them.
“You’re lying.”

“Am I? Think about it. What could Herak have
possessed that Grace needed so badly to heal Sammy? It was a way to
send you out of town to cool off and to warn Herak that he needed
to prepare. He summoned me once the rift was open.”

“Another lie. You were sent to hell, there
is no way you could have returned.” Boon clutched a nearby tree,
snapping it in half.

Prim jumped out of the way before it smashed
on the ground where she had stood. “No, it’s the truth. I was sent
to my prison, but it wasn’t in hell. When Gaby was buried alive by
Forras, and entered the darkness, I held tight to her. That’s why
it took so long for you to free her. When you prayed for God to
release her, you proved you were ready to fight for Heaven, and I
was given another chance. Once free, I returned to Herak, who sent
me back here to watch over all of you. The real Principal Mastema
was offered an incentive to retire early, and I took over the
school to keep an eye on Gaby.”

“Why should we trust you?” Sammy asked.

David moaned and held his leg, but they all
remained focused on The Prim.

“Because, Grace believes Herak and I are
trying to save all of you.”

“Convenient that Grace can’t vouch for any
of this.”

Sammy stepped in front of Boon and placed
her palms on his stomach. Alexander took a few steps so he had a
better view. “We need to help Gaby. I know one thing she says is
true.” Sammy bowed her head and her shoulders rose and fell.

Boon rested a clawed hand on her shoulder
that covered half her small arm. “What is it? You can tell me
anything. We’re Soulbound forever. There are no secrets between
us.”

“There are always secrets.” Prim chided.

Alexander shot her a look of warning.

“Grace did send Alex to Herak to warn him.
She believed Herak had changed, but didn’t think you were ready to
hear. She didn’t think anyone who saw what Herak was capable of,
could believe in him again.”

“Grace was there. If anyone knew of his
evil, it was her.” Boon shook his head. “How could you keep this
from me? Why didn’t you tell me about Grace communicating with
Herak?”

Even in his dark frame, lines of sadness
etched into his face.

“Please, forgive me.” Sammy stood on her
tiptoes and stroked Boon’s cheek.

Alexander shifted, wanting to give them a
moment, but they needed to go. He healed David’s leg and flew him
back through the broken window. The connection was awkward to the
hunter, and he missed Gaby’s spirit.

Boon and the rest joined them just inside
the home. “We’ve wasted enough time, Gaby needs us. The rest we can
work out later. If Judy’s right, which I doubt, Gaby is about to
murder a bunch of innocent humans.” Alexander’s gut clenched tight
at the thought. “If she’s wrong, then Gaby is about to be captured
and tortured by the hunters.”

“Alex’s right. No more time to waste.” Bruce
slung the AR15 over his shoulder and marched over to Boon. “It’s
time to save my daughter.”

“I’ll grab Avery. There’s a chance we can
free the demon from her. It’ll be enticed to join the master demon
when we reach the rift.” The principal’s wings shot out, and she
ripped the shirt from her body.

“I’ll take David and we’ll meet you at
County Line.” Sammy released her wings.

Boon grasped Bruce around his chest. “We
wait for the principal. I don’t want her out of our sight. This
could all be a trap.”

“We need to hurry if we’re going to make it
to the hunters in time.” Sammy hovered a few feet off the ground,
sending waves of air through his feathers. The breeze sent a chill
through the outside of his wings, and traveled down his back.

The principal crouched to fly back up to the
house. “You’re already too late, they’ll be nothing left of the
hunters by the time you get there.”

Chapter Nineteen

Hunters were only monsters in disguise. The
twenty plus gun barrels pointed at her were evidence to this fact.
If few were injured for the greater good, would it really matter?
She was the only one that could close the rift and stop the
ascension of hell. The journal hidden in her bag had to reveal more
information. She just needed to get to the rift to read more.

The mark on her abdomen burned, but she
didn’t fight it. If Prim was right, she needed the demonic power to
cross the barrier to the rift, and save the lost souls. No more
crying on her Daddy or Alexander’s shoulder. It was time to be the
weapon she was born to be.

Cold liquid sped through her veins and she
welcomed it. A defense for her body to remain protected from the
fires of hell. A gift from all worlds. Now she would face another
piece of herself, the hunters.

Fifteen hunters stood only a few feet away.
“I warn you, put down your weapons.” She could feel her lip rise
into a snarl, and flashed back to the last time she faced Forras
and his crew. She’d denounced Forras’ demonic blood and welcomed
her angelic powers.

A man with salt and pepper hair pointed a
handgun at her head and stepped forward, proving her suspicion that
he commanded the others. “You’ve got thirty men surrounding you. No
chance for escape. It’s time for you to go back to the underworld
where you belong.”

A flicker of heat shot from her pupils to
the outside of her eyes. She focused on keeping control. Despite
the desire to rip their limbs from their bodies, she knew right
from wrong and had to keep sight of the mission.

“Hands over head and nose to the ground.”
The man’s grip tightened around the hilt of the gun.

Her eyes stung, and she blinked in an
attempt to contain the fire burning for release.