After Dante died, one of his followers wanted to take over.
I stood there, unmoving as Jules held his revolver to Cameron’s temple.
I never knew there were more people out there like my father, Dante… They all wanted me to side with them because they all wanted one thing, power.
And Jules knew the very thing that was my weakness.
“If you don’t come with me in the next ten seconds,” he warned, “I’ll blow your boyfriend’s head off. How does that sound?”
Why was he doing this? I didn’t understand!
What did he want from me?
Reasoning wasn’t an option... I doubted that he would make a deal other than what he wanted.
He wanted me.
He wanted me to side with him.
All he had to do was pull the trigger, and Cam’s life would drain out of his body faster than the end of the shot.
No... reasoning wasn’t an option.
Swallowing down nausea, I took an alternative.
Cameron! I said to his mind. Why aren’t you doing anything? Why aren’t you fighting back, you idiot?
Don’t call me an idiot, Winter, he said back jokingly. I know what I’m doing.
His eyes held mine with a shine of sympathy, though he didn’t respond any further than that.
What did he mean, “know what I’m doing?”
Was he nuts?
Was he going to sacrifice himself?
I felt my heart drop down to my feet at the thought, and I could feel all color drain out of my body, making me as white as a sheet.
Winter, Cameron thought to me, run. You need to leave.
“No!” I yelled out loud.
“Run?” He wanted me to run?
What about him? What was I supposed to do when I heard the gunshot? Let him die?
No!
“‘No, you won’t come with me?’ Or ‘no don’t shoot him?’” Jules asked curiously.
He had no clue that I was communicating with Cameron through our minds. Maybe he didn’t know it existed.
“No, she won’t go with you,” Cameron said sternly. “She has a life. And you aren’t in it.”
“Cameron,” I growled, hoping he could hear the warning in my voice.
Did he want to die?
Because antagonizing him was asking for it.
I saw the gun dig deeper into Cameron’s skin, although he didn’t wince.
Winter, he thought to me. Run. Go right now, or I swear to God.
Cameron, please... I thought back. You don’t understand. If you’re gone, I have nothing. Nothing! Do you expect me to let you die? After all that’s happened?
Winter, you must trust me, Angel, he responded. You have to trust that I know what I’m doing, so run right now or I will possess you and force you to.
“Cameron...” I whispered. “Please.”
Angel, go, he thought sternly. Now.
“No!” I said out loud this time.
Winter, Cameron warned through my mind.
At the same time Jules said my name aloud.
“I said no, and that’s final,” I told both of them.
Jules cocked the gun and something cold rushed through me, turning my blood to ice.
Cameron! I yelled to his thoughts. Fight back! Fight back right now or I swear to God!
He just glared at me. Angel, it’s a simple three letter word. R. U. N. NOW!
“No.” Something ignited inside me.
A light... but it burned my veins like acid.
I noticed that Cameron and Jules stared at me in surprise, their dark eyes glowing white with my reflection as my feet lifted off the ground.
I was floating. Actually floating! I was a vampire and a werewolf. My angelic powers were supposed to be diminished.
But I found a month ago, they weren’t.
But I pushed the thought away.
“I’m not leaving without you, Cameron. And I don’t give a damn whether you want to save me. You already saved me enough. Now it’s time for me to save you.”
My skin blazed, but it was cold, and I could feel my eyes sting as if I’d been stuck in a snowstorm, but I was too angry to acknowledge the pain.
I stared at Jules, seeing his grin.
His grin that made the fire burn worse.
Did he enjoy my pain? Did he thrive off of it?
What the hell was wrong with him?
“Well, that was easy,” he said suddenly. “All it took was to threaten your boyfriend who can’t even die.”
He could die, though. I could, too.
I was waiting for a sudden shock to slap me across the face due to Jules’ idiotic words... throwing me to the ground as the cold consumed me.
But it never happened.
Instead, I felt the anger burn worse... I wanted to wrap my hands around his throat and throttle the hell out of him.
“Angel...” Cameron said, his voice calm. “Deep breaths.”
Deep breaths? No! Jules was about to kill him!
And now it was Jules’ turn to die.
Right here in my school.
And he’d see how hard it would be to suffer from repeating the same life over and over again.
Because hell wasn’t a land dedicated to punishing the dead... it was the very dimension we stood in right now.
Earth.
“How do I murder him?” I snapped to Cameron. “Tell me.”
“You can’t kill me,” Jules said smugly. “I’m immortal, you know.”
So, he was a fallen angel.
Huh.
But I looked over to Cameron’s face, seeing a sadistic smile creep into his expression. “You’re right, Jules,” he said. “We can’t. But we can still banish you from the living. No one truly dies, Jules. Not when you murdered countless people. You’re stuck in this world now, get used to it.”
The same smile seemed to curl at my lips, and I looked over to Jules, whose face had turned pale, the originally tan skin now as white as a sheet.
“No, you can’t....” He sounded unsure. “You can’t rid of me, Cameron.”
“What about this?” Cameron said, holding something stiff and shiny in between his fingers.
It was a feather.
“You seriously didn’t think I would hold onto one after I tore off your wings?” Cam chuckled. “Wow... you are an idiot.”
Hold on… when did Cam tear of his wings? And why?
Jules’ eyes narrowed. “You still can’t burn it. You have to burn it to banish me.”
Cameron threw his hand out to me. “Do you not see that girl right there? The girl who literally is ice right now?”
Jules’ irises darted to me, and he glared despite his eyes hardening like rocks. “She’s ice, not fire. You can’t burn me with ice.”
“Yes,” Cameron agreed, “but, Jules, if she freezes this to the point of where it becomes fragile, all I have to do is drop it and—well—you’re gone.”
I hadn’t even spoken during this discussion, just letting Cameron intimidate him.
A taste of his own medicine.
I looked over to Cameron who had already started walking toward me. One of his pirate smiles settled over his expression as I saw my reflection in his eyes.
I glowed white in his gaze; like a light at the end of a tunnel.
But when I looked down to my arms, I saw ice crystals scattered across my skin... and my breath came out in a cloud as if we were outside in the snow.
He stopped in front of me then, holding out the black feather as Jules launched into a sprint toward us.
I reached for it, seeing steam emanate off the edges as my hand got closer; as if it was somehow wet.
Jules shoved Cameron off his feet right as my fingers closed around the feather. It froze in my hands, the edges growing cold and stiff.
The black feather now consumed in crystals of ice...
I looked up then, expecting to see Jules attack me, but he stood frozen like I stopped time.
Though his face was white, and I touched his shoulder, feeling his skin grow cold.
It was like his feathers controlled every part of him, and when I froze one, he froze, too.
“Winter!” Cameron yelled from the floor, trying to get up. “Drop it before it melts!”
So I did, watching it shatter to pieces at my feet, and when I looked up... where Jules stood, was now a pile of ice.
Like he shattered to pieces.
The moment I closed my eyes, letting the relief wash through my cold veins, the darkness consumed my every being, and I vanished from the world I once knew.
*****
I woke with a start, gasping.
For some reason, I lay on my bed, the wind blowing the dark curtains of my open window.
I could’ve sworn I was at my school’s gym... I remember being there, fighting with Cameron and turning Jules to a pile of frosted ash.
Could it all have been a dream?
Suddenly, my mattress bent under me with another body’s weight.
“Hey, there, Angel.” Cameron brushed my hair out of my face.
He held something in his hand... but by the look of the white ceramic and handle, I could tell it was a mug...
“Can you sit up?” he asked softly.
It turned out I could... my strength came flowing back into my body... It was like I’d never fainted before...
So, I sat up, resting my back on the headboard.
He handed me the mug, and I could smell the cinnamon and pumpkin spice from the cup.
“It’s chai,” he told me, giving me a playful smile.
The hot cup of chai I held in my hands soaked into my skin and warmed my icy heart, but I still managed a passive-aggressive tone. “What? No....”
Then he leaned toward me and pressed his lips to mine, a gentle kiss...
Almost too gentle...
“I love you, Angel,” he said, lips tilting into a ghost of a smile. “You did a good job today. I’m really proud of you.”
I smiled, realizing that what I thought was a dream, was real life.
All of it was real...
“Thank you,” I said, sipping my tea. “Next time, it would be nice if you didn’t try to get yourself killed, though.”
He chuckled, lying next to me with his head propped up with his hand. “I’ll try.”
232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBN9YRgLnv
Author's note:
Hahahahahahah, I swear I'm so cruel to my characters. It's sad.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJIpfdnleU
232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghNrboVEGV
