Sacrifice (Revelations Book 1) (27 page)

Jack cocked the rifle and gave the slightest sideways glance to Abby. She knew what he was saying. Now is the time to do whatever it was she had to do to close that Gate.

The Beast taunted Jack. "The first four seals have already been broken. Would you really sacrifice yourself for these people? Even knowing that the Horsemen are unleashed and the end of days has started?"

From their hidden place in the tree line Abby leaned in closer listening to the Beast.
Sacrifice.
Abby's eyes widened. She turned to Nico. "I know how to close the Gate."

"How?"

She didn't answer, instead she pulled him closer and kissed him hard. Deepening the kiss, drawing him in so that this moment would never leave him and it would be her last memory to carry her into the afterlife.

As soon as she broke the kiss Nico reached for her and shouted, "No!"

Her saving grace was that she was faster than him. Abby could make it before he had a chance to catch up, nothing would stop her. Not even the Beast who’d snapped his head in her direction at Nico’s protest. He slowly turned in pursuit, but a deafening shot echoed through the air followed by the sound of the giant falling. The Beast roared in pain as Abby heard Jack fire again. The ex-Prophet whistled and called out, “This won’t hold him for long.”

As soon as she reached the opening she skidded to a halt. What she thought was a path on the other side was nothing more than a sheer drop. She would have to jump into the flames of Hell.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her hands a couple times to give herself an extra dose of courage. "I can do this." She repeated the mantra a few times as she stepped back. As soon as she took her final step to jump she saw Nico from the corner of her eye. She tried to react, but he was quicker than she'd expected. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back from the ledge. "No you don't, Abby. You aren't leaving me again."

"Nico, I have to. It's how we shut the Gate."

"No. I refuse to accept that. It's not your sacrifice because it wasn't your mistake."

She blinked. If it wasn't Abby who had to sacrifice herself than who? Her eyes widened, he was moving closer to the pit. "Nico, step away from the edge."

"I have to. It's my atonement. I killed you. I opened the Gates. This isn't your burden to bear. You are an angel." He glanced over the edge into the pit and slid his foot closer before looking back up. "I’m the monster."

She wasn't sure what to say or do. All she knew was she wanted it to stop, all of this mess. "Please, Nico." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Don't leave me. We can go together."

“Don’t say that. I can feel it in my soul. This is what I was destined for. Everything will be alright.” He shook his head. "Don't cry, Abby. You don't belong in a place like that."

"I don't belong anywhere without you."

He smiled. It made her heart break. He was leaving her, but not if she could stop him. She started toward him when something flashed in her peripheral vision. A blur of motion hit Nico and sent him tumbling into the pit. Abby screamed and rushed to the side, but Jack came up behind her and pulled her back. She was able to make out Rosa slashing and stabbing at Nico as they both plummeted into the fiery abyss.

“Nico!” Abby’s entire body shook. She wanted to scream. Maybe she was screaming and just couldn’t hear it over the pounding drum beat in her ears. “No.” The word sprang out a dozen times with every tug Jack used to get her further and further away from the edge.

“I’m sorry, Abby. He did what he was meant to do.”

She looked up horrified at the still open Gates. “But they aren’t closing. His sacrifice was for nothing. Why isn’t it working? Where’s the Beast?”

“I couldn’t hold him, he escaped. He’ll try to make his way as far from the battle as possible before he takes human form. He’s vulnerable when that happens, he’ll be killable.”

“Nico died for nothing. The Beast is here, the Horsemen have fled.” She sunk to her knees. Tears refused to fall as numbness settled deep in her soul.

“He didn’t die for nothing. We still have to fight, Abby.”

Nothing made sense anymore. None of it. And life without Nico sounded less appealing than living a life stuck in hell. Her shoulders sagged. “I’m done,” she whispered.

Jack shook her by the shoulders. “You’re giving up? After all of this?”

“Yes, without Nico,” her voice broke off as the church bells started to chime. Lucas was already buried so the only reason the bells would chime now is if the town was completely under siege and the humans were taking refuge there. Something inside of her sparked to life. Her eyes wide but still full of tears. “This was Nico’s calling, he is supposed to protect them.”

“And he did protect them.”

“But he’s gone now.”

Jack wore a stoic mask but couldn’t cover the sympathy in his eyes. “Everyone has to leave us at some point, Abby. Otherwise we’d never find the strength inside ourselves to keep fighting.”

She buried her head in her hands. “I don’t want to keep fighting.”

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, because the needs of others outweigh our own wants.”

Another round of bells ringing and screaming came from the church. She didn’t want to care about those people, she wanted to curl up at the entrance to Hell and die. Nico was gone and he had been her rock. He’d convinced her she wasn’t a monster and she could control herself. But there was a tug inside her, something buried underneath the grief that said
Keep fighting
. She wiped at the tears still falling down her cheeks and looked up at Jack. “They need us, don’t they?”

“Yes.” Jack nodded.

She could see the sorrow in his eyes, she could feel his anguish, but she could also sense his resolve. Even without Chloe he would still fight for these people. Maybe she should too. She leveled her shoulders and pushed her hair out of her face. “Nico wouldn’t want me to stop fighting.” Jack nodded again but didn’t say anything. She pulled out her blades she’d tucked away during her run to the Gate and steeled herself. “Let’s go.”

“You’re back in?”

“I’m back in. All the way. We kill them or we die trying.”

She vaguely heard him reply, “That’s what I like to hear.” She was already yards ahead of him. Saving those people and protecting her town was all that mattered now.

The church was packed. Virtues and Personifications consoled the frightened people taking refuge. The Striga had gathered there as well, while allies like the vampires who accompanied Alexander were noticeably absent. Arveda stood at the make-shift podium with Hannah to her right. Jack nodded his head towards them and started to lead Abby through the masses. She stared in shock at how many people were crammed in the church.

She’d never thought about how many people actually lived in Dusk. Since she only came out at night she’d only seen the people who frequented the bar and the Striga. Here were families; men, women, and children huddled inside a run-down church looking for their savior. Their savior had been Nico although she was fairly certain most of them didn’t know it.

Someone caught her eye and she paused. It was the man she’d danced with at the bar, the one who thought of Nico as an old drunk. She bristled. Nico was gone. He sacrificed himself to try to save these people and they would never know that he’d spent his nights risking his life for them. She wanted to lash out at Jake, rail against him and take her anger out on someone. But he was no longer the young oil field worker full of bravado and bluster. He stood with his shoulders slumped, worry clouded his face. His eyes no longer glowed with youthful exuberance, they were frightened and hallow. Deep lines etched his face and purple bags of fatigue settled under his tired eyes.

She couldn’t fault him for his cowardice, and lashing out wouldn’t help. He was one of the people she would protect. Just as Nico had. She could mourn later, just like Jack would, but for now she had to be strong. Strong for Nico, strong for Chloe, strong for her town and its people.

Jack finally got through the crowd and approached Arveda with Abby close behind. Arveda gave them both a somber look. She bowed her head and whispered. “I know of your loss, I’m sorry.”

Again her anger flared, but it was quickly resolved. Later she could tangle words with Arveda. She gave a slight bow of her head. “Thank you. What is our next move?”

The elder Striga tapped the mic. “Excuse me, settle down.” The crowd fell into an instant silence. “You all know what is happening. There are demons and monsters attacking your homes, threatening your children, but deep down you all knew this was coming.”

There were whispers through the crowd. Abby leaned over and cleared her throat. “I don’t think that is the way to put their minds at ease.”

Arveda’s eyes turned cold and spoke loud enough for the whole room to hear, “It’s not my job to ease their mind, it’s my job to protect this town.” She looked out on the scared faces. “You all knew it, it was inevitable. You hide in your houses at night ignoring the shadows. You buried your heads in the sand every time Father Lynch walked by carrying shovels and weapons. You gladly accepted his help without so much as a thank you and now you can no longer hide from what’s going on. You are here standing before us. Huddled and scared and looking for one of us to make it safe for you. Well, guess what? We’ve been doing that. Some of us have lost more than you could imagine. So this time it’s your job to stand up, defend yourselves, and take up arms. We cannot do this alone.”

Abby blanched. “Arveda, they can’t fight. They aren’t trained.”

“Bullshit. These people are sturdy. They are survivors, they wouldn’t have lasted this long if they weren’t.” She directed her words back to the townsfolk. “You are all spiritual, you are all believers. Now is the time to wear your faith as your armor. We will fight, we will defend you, but we will no longer do it alone.”

The people stood up slowly, one family at a time. Heads nodding in quiet agreement. Not everyone joined in the camaraderie, people like Jake showed their true colors, cowards who were too afraid to fight. They slowly stepped back from the crowd who was already starting to raise their voices in praise of Arveda. Their leader.

Abby’s stomach turned sour. Arveda and Hannah were in charge now. In one speech the old Striga had made sure the masses would look to her for strength. Maybe that was a good thing, Nico and Chloe were gone, which meant she didn’t see much chance of Jack sticking around after the battle ended and Dusk would need leaders. Unfortunately, that meant Abby was now under their command. She had a fleeting thought of finding Alexander and begging him to let her come with him when he left. She could start a new life, far away from here. That thought was quickly replaced by the guilt of her cowardliness. She would stay here, in Dusk, to honor Nico’s memory. She’d never leave the place he called home.

Arveda started handing out written orders, family after family headed up to receive their directions. Children were scurried away into the back rooms of the church with Hope, one of the Virtues. Everyone else was given their instructions and those who chose not to fight were given two options: Stay and help with the wounded and care of those who are fighting or leave town within the next hour. Anyone left who wasn’t fighting or helping would be considered an enemy.

Just like that Arveda had the town under control, the wounded being taken care of, and some sort of order restored. Only a handful of people chose to leave, Jake being one of them. Abby glared daggers at Arveda’s back, why couldn’t she have been this helpful at the beginning? She let out an exhausted sigh and turned to Jack. “Where do we go?”

“We find the Beast and end this.”

“What about the Gate, why isn’t it closing?” As if on cue the familiar rumble of stone grinding against stone started to slowly echo through the air. Her eyes widened. “Shit! Are more coming out of it?”

Jack shook his head. “No, I do believe they are closing. Slowly but surely.” He paused and swallowed hard. “It seems Nico’s sacrifice has been deemed worthy in the eyes of Heaven.”

Her shoulders shook. It wasn’t fair. She wanted him back, made whole, and standing at her side. Why would any sort of God allow this to happen? “I don’t want him in Heaven, I want him here. He shouldn’t have had to sacrifice anything.”

“I know, but he’s at peace now.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Cry for him later, Abby. For now, be proud. He is closing that wretched Gate and soon the demons will be cut off.”

She nodded and pulled out her blade. “Right. Then let’s find the Beast and end this.”

Nico dodged a swipe of Rosa’s knife when they finally recovered from the impact of the fall. Hitting the ground should have liquefied both of them, but what would be the point of being cast into Hell only to die from the fall? Time passed differently in the underworld. It felt like months had passed as they’d fallen. With the impact it seemed to take days before his body stopped colliding with the rocky ground. Dark magicks were at work and Nico was fairly certain that if he were to die in Hell, Rosa or Lucifer would make sure the experience was as painful and drawn out as possible. Rosa crouched down as he ambled to the other side of the outcropping while trying to regain some sort of balance.

After a second of scanning the area Nico’s hopes faded. There was no escape that he could see. Glancing upward his gut knotted up, the Gate wasn’t closing. Something was wrong, he’d failed. The moment of doubt was quickly replaced by a need to survive until he could figure out how to close the entrance to Hell and protect the people he cared about. He gave the cliffs and surrounding space another look. Everything was bathed in an eerie red glow, fitting for the lair of Satan. The outcropping of the mountain where Nico stood opposite of Rosa was edged with lethal looking spikes of black rock. A dense fog covered most of the realm, with the exception of a few pockets below and the Gates above. He inhaled and recoiled after the deep inhalation. “Brimstone?”

Rosa smirked. “Were you expecting daisies?”

He paused and sized her up. She slowly rose from her crouched position and rolled her neck as if to ready for another round. Nico spun his dagger in response. “I suppose it wasn’t enough for you to deliver me to Satan, huh? Which means we’re still going to fight this out.”

For a brief moment he thought her saw her smile drop, but if it had she’d regained her composure too quick for him to be sure. “I’d like to make you a proposition first. You know, since I’ve got you down here and all.”

“You do realize I was already on my way down, there was no need to give me a push.”

“Oh, I wanted the satisfaction of the kill.” Her eyes twinkled, “And if you refuse my offer then I’ll still get it.”

“You’re kidding me, right? I’d rather get on with the fighting.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the world below. “Are you really in a hurry to meet your punishments?”

Below him were tortures he could hardly fathom. One in particular caught his eye. A young woman was screaming. She knelt in the center of a circle cradling what looked like a baby. All around her demon infants rose from the ground, baring their sharpened teeth, salivating at the child she cradled in her arms. Nico swallowed and stole a glance at Rosa just in time to see her smirk and nod towards the woman.

“You want to help her don’t you?”

“You know I’m going to.”

“Why? She’s here for a reason.”

He glared. “They’re going to harm her child. She needs help.”

“Does she?” Rosa pointed at the woman.

Nico knelt down and surveyed the scene below, something passed over the woman’s face. Her eyes narrowed and her trembling jaw suddenly locked. He leaned forward. “What is she doing?”

“What do you think she’s doing?”

He rolled his eyes. Clearly Rosa wasn’t going to be any help. In fact, he was certain this was some sort of a trick, but he couldn’t turn away. The woman dropped one hand, still holding the infant in the crock of her other arm. Nico held his breath as the mother stood up and defiantly shouted something at the demons. Nico jumped to his feet the moment the young mother threw her infant to the demons in an effort to distract them so she could run away. The demons weren’t fooled and pounced on her the moment she turned to flee. They clawed and bit chunks of her flesh off as she screamed. Nico felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Standing on shaky legs he turned away from the scene below. “What was the point of having me watch that?”

Rosa edged closer running one of her slender fingers over his shoulder. “She’s a murderer, Nico. She belongs here. The baby in her arms was a re-creation of her victim. That infant’s soul is resting peacefully in Heaven. The mother’s soul belongs to Lucifer.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“To make you see that things down here are just and right.”

“Bullshit, this is Hell. Demons are trying to take over the world. You’re helping them.”

“You gave me no choice.”

“I don’t understand. Tell me what I did.”

She shook her head. “Help us and you’ll see. This is all just part of the great design. Lucifer will be a just and fair God on Earth.”

“Gods don’t live on Earth, Rosa.”

“He will, and it will be paradise.”

“Don’t you think The Almighty might have something to say about it? He gave Earth to mankind, it’s ours.”

Rosa clenched and unclenched her fists. “If he gave a damn, even one little bit of a damn, he would have stepped in and put a stop to this. He’s sent none of his warriors, no angels to stop us. He doesn’t care about humans anymore. And look at the sorry state of your world, can you blame him? His experiment with mankind has failed, epically. This plan alone has been in the making since before you were born, Nico. Don’t you see? God abandoned you long ago. He left you alone in this world without a chance of survival. Bow to Lucifer and your new God won’t be so cruel as to turn his back on you.”

“That’s insane.” He refused to spare another glance at the scene with the demons and the woman below. “I won’t join you. Or him.”

“Suit yourself, Priest.” She all but snarled the words.

He was hoping to have more time to reason with her but Rosa was back in attack mode. She swiped her blade at him as he rolled to the side avoiding most of the blow but feeling the sting of the blade at the end. The small wound didn’t stop him. This time he lunged, exchanging his knife for his fist at the last moment and driving his knuckles into her cheek. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t want to kill her. Not yet, and not here. It had occurred to him that maybe she couldn’t die down here. Maybe Lucifer would keep her alive no matter what. She was, after all, the Whore. Satan’s weapon donning the face of an angel.

If he could just get away and find help, find his way out of Hell then maybe they could kill her. He glanced up and Rosa chuckled. “There’s no escape for you that way, Priest, unless you’re going to sprout wings.”

“How did the demons get out then? Not all of them were of the flying variety. And the Horsemen? How’d they ride their steeds out of Hell?”

She swept her head to the right and nodded. The thick fog hovering over most of the underworld parted. Nico followed her gaze and stood in awe of the golden bridge arcing its way through the red haze. One end appeared to rest at the top of a faraway mountain, the other end stopped near the base of the cliffs he now stood on. A winding narrow trail cut a dangerous path into the mountain, rising higher and higher until it reached the Gates. The trail was more than a hundred feet away from where he stood. If he could climb over the slick rocks between him and the trail, then he would be able to get out through the Gate.

He looked up to the entrance and then inched to the edge to look down upon the lake of fire separating him from the other rings of Hell. One wrong move and he’d boil in the lava and more importantly, he couldn’t leave until he figured out how to close the Gate. That was his first and only priority. Staying in Hell didn’t bother him, as long as he could stop the rest of the demon army from flooding the earth.

He grimaced. “Damn it.” Rosa laughed and tossed something into the air. Nico jumped back as acid rained down on the spot he was just standing in. “Bitch.”

He went on the offensive. Knife spinning, fists flying. For every blow he rained down on her she brought down on him in equal fury. They were an even match. Blow for blow, drops of blood were exchanged, broken bones crunched. The pain was unimaginable and yet he kept fighting. Being in Hell wasn’t giving him any immortality, but not wanting to die in this place was giving him a boost to fight through the pain.

One wrong move was all he needed. When Rosa tripped, Nico slipped behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck. “You are going to talk, bitch. I’ve had it with the ten-round fight night. You hear me?”

His knife slipped to her stomach, the same place he’d buried it before and to his satisfaction he heard her hiss. He might not know much about her abilities but she certainly didn’t want to feel his blade again, that much was clear.

“Spit it out then, Nico. What is it you are dying to ask me?”

“What did you mean when you said this was all because I’d stolen your hope?” He tightened his grip, “When did I ever do anything to hurt you?”

“When you turned me down.”

“What? Are you fucking crazy? You’re pissy because I turned you down when we were at that hotel room? No, that’s not right. This is an old grudge and that was just a few weeks ago. Stop dicking around.”

“Not then. When you were at the rectory. Remember?”

“We had good times back then, Rosa. You weren’t a crazy, psycho minion of Hell then.”

“Yes, I was. And you had the opportunity to save me and instead you turned your back on me.”

“I would never.”

“You did. We had dinner, just you and me. We drank wine. Remember?”

He blinked. He did remember that night, but he hadn’t thought anything of it. His head shook, that night was just a mistake and what followed in the days after made his evening with Rosalie pale in comparison.

Rosa’s voice was shaky, “My soul was cursed when I was a child, Nico. This was by no action of my own. And after being with Jack, I thought I could try to be good, for him. Lucifer offered me a chance. He said if I could get you to grant me salvation then he would remove the curse my mother bestowed on me. I thought it would be an easy task. You were so young, so impressionable. So I joined the church, gained your trust, your friendship, and that night was going to be my ticket to a new life with Jack.” She laughed. “You weren’t the only naive one back then. I knew he loved Chloe, but I thought that if the apocalypse never happened, then Arveda would never allow him to get near her daughter. I would win. It would be me and him forever. But you refused to help me.”

“I never denied you salvation, Rosa.” Had he? He couldn’t recall.

Rosa lifted her hand, reaching back to lightly touch her finger to his temple and suddenly he was no longer in Hell, neither was she. They were in the rectory. Eating dinner, laughing, drinking wine. Both of them too young to legally enjoy it. A sin, he’d told himself he would seek forgiveness for later.

Rosa raised her glass. “To us.”

She beamed brightly and Nico felt a stirring. He wasn’t supposed to look at women that way, but she was no ordinary woman. She was exotic and funny and breathtaking. Still he warned himself away from such thoughts. The church was his calling, he’d made his deal with God to bring his mother back. He had to follow through. “To us,” he toasted.

Her eyes grew heavy and filled with desire. Heat radiated off of them each time their knees touched under the table. He loved every minute of it and yet felt guilty at the same time. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he missed sex. He missed the feel of a girl beneath him. But that was his old life and he’d willingly given it up to serve God. Before he entered the priesthood he’d had more than a few girls in his bed. In an effort to commit the feel of human contact to memory knowing he’d have to forego all such contact when he joined the church. He missed it, but he didn’t regret his choice.

Taking another drink of wine Rosa scooted closer to him. “Nico?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever thought about us?”

“Us, how?”

She reached under the table and took his hand, sliding it up her leg, pulling the fabric of her dress up with every inch. His hand stilled, but she kept inching up her dress until his hand rested on her bare thigh. His fingers tightened on her leg. “Rosa…”

She moved his hand up further. His heart pounded in his ear as she whispered, “Don’t stop.”

“We can’t do this.”

“Yes we can.” She kept moving his hand until his fingertip brushed against her soft folds. He let out an audible gasp as he rubbed his knuckle against her warm flesh. Rosa let out a breathy moan that sent all the blood in his body rushing to his cock. “Fuck, Rosa.”

“That’s the plan.” She said with a grin as she spread her legs for him.

His fingers slid through her slick lips, coated in her juices. His body trembled as he sank one finger deep inside her, feeling her walls quiver around him. He used a second finger, reveling in the way her body tightened. Pumping them in and out, she writhed with every thrust. He could cum just from listening to her make those noises.

Her hand reached up and ran through his hair. God he wanted her hands all over him. He was completely lost to her. She brought his mouth to hers. The kiss was forceful, needy. Her tongue invaded his mouth, working wonders over his mind, body, and soul.

She tugged at his lip, he pumped his fingers harder. When she came he felt the whole world come alive. She moved out of her chair, pushing him back as she sank to her knees. “I need to taste you, Nico.”