“So be it.
“But it shall be by my hand and in my own time. Ever you forget that I am the father of all vampires, a Seraph that chose his own fate rather than drift unanchored and purposeless as my own creator has bereft me.
“Despite all that you would do, Caim, you will never be a master of vampires, for there is only one. Kabiel, brother to Malakh, brother to Galgallin, and paladin to the dark forces that prey upon mankind. I am your lord.”
The dark angel blazed in black fire, his eyes shining despite the darkness that crackled around him.
“You force me to reveal myself, youngling," he said as he walked over to seize the Journeyman by the scruff of the neck and then shake him like a toy.
"And for that you shall pay dearly."
The angel did not release him as he went back to the burst open window.
"Daniel would have seen you destroyed at the hand of that man, but feared he would not suffice. He came to me and I have come to rescue not you, but what you have learned about this new way of warfare."
His wings lifted as he was about to take to the air, then he turned back toward them and said in Braze’s direction, "His plan was not without merit, wolf. Be warned. I have taken notice of you now and the empire you attempt to build.
"This will not be forgotten as I consider what to do with such knowledge."
With a rush of air that smelled faintly of brimstone, the angel and the Journeyman disappeared into the darkness and silence fell at last upon them all.
There were grunts and groans as Sara and Clement got shakily to their feet. Seeing Braze still lying there, Sara raced to his side and began to try unwrapping the chains that still bound him.
“Are you hurt?” she asked Braze as she worked at loosening the chains.
He answered in a heavy voice, “No...there is no need for concern. Just free me.”
At last, Sara managed to undo a knot and the whole length of the chain eased its tight hold. Then, she was pulling it down off his body, his skin unblemished but for his ever present tattoos.
Sara glanced over her shoulder and saw Clement standing there looking at them vacantly, his hands empty.
“Are you alright?” she asked him.
He did not seem to hear her and just as she was about to repeat her question, he said, “I do not suffice. You and I both heard it, Sara. And the thing is, he was right. I don’t.”
She did not understand what he was trying to say, convinced that he was under some kind of shock after all that had just happened.
“Look, you did the best you could. And, now it’s over and we’re all still alive.”
Clement nodded and replied, “Yeah, but my best wasn’t good enough.”
He stood still a moment, then shrugged and said, “I’m going for a walk. I think I need some air to clear my head.”
He clenched his hands, then unclenched them, as if trying to reconcile with himself that they were still empty, then he strode from the room without looking back.
She did not like seeing Clement and the way he had seemed so defeated, his own self doubt doing more damage than anything the Journeyman had managed.
Braze groaned as he pushed away the last of the silver chains, then Sara flung herself at him, her arms wrapped hard around his body.
Only he did not embrace her in return and gradually Sara loosened her hold upon him, drawing back from him slightly then dropping her head down to seek his velvety lips with her own.
She kissed him, desperate to feel him answer her and for a time it was though he were frozen, the power of the silver slow to quit him. Then his lips moved under hers.
He kissed her back and suddenly it was with so much force it was like violence. His tongue went deep into her mouth, but it was not in the sensual dance that she had always known with him. Rather, his tongue stabbed into her with no sign of subtlety or elegance.
Sara started to pull back from him when his teeth bit down hard on her lip and she screamed as she broke free.
“What in the hell’s the matter with you?” she asked, blood running from the corner of her mouth.
Braze’s head was down and as he answered her, he lifted his chin up and what Sara saw made her take a stumbling step backward.
“Nothing is wrong. Not anymore,” he said with a deep voice laced in sinister tones. Over his body, black markings swarmed darkly, their colors more stark than Sara had ever seen them.
“The time has come for what I believe is now inevitable. And for that, I blame you, human bitch.”
He said it with a grin that twisted horridly upon his face.
“Braze...honey, I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Sara asked, afraid of his answer.
“I’m afraid Braze is unavailable at the moment, bitch. My name is Nash and I am going to end your evil influence on him.”
Nash? Nash Abraxis? But, his father’s dead....
The man who had held her so sweetly in his strong arms began to advance upon her as Sara backpedaled away. The hands she had come to know so well as they caressed her body were hooked things, like claws.
“You have very nearly ruined all that we have planned together. Your presence alone enough to cloud his reasoning and push me away, leaving him weak and exposed.
“I have known human women and their wiles...how dangerous you all are. Clement’s mother was the same and very nearly led me down that path before I managed to see clearly at last.
“I will not allow the same errors to befall my beloved son.”
Sara shook her head.
“Braze! Braze, listen to me. I know you’re in there and you can hear me. You have to fight, Braze. Don’t let him do this.”
The man who was quickly slipping into the form of a beast whose skin crawled so thickly in runes that it had become almost entirely swallowed up in darkness shook his head from side to side.
Then took another step toward her.
“There can be no more of the human woman, son,” it said, speaking to someone who Sara could no longer see, “The desire you feel for her will only yield weaklings like Clement and the bloodline must flow on, strong and unadulterated.
“My hand has been forced. I never wanted to reveal to what extent I can control you. But so be it. Together from now on, Braze, you and I will rule and upon one of our own females we shall sire a son that will carry both our souls, sparing us from the cold fingers of Death. Then, he too and his sons after him, will join us as we continue the great work you and I have begun.”
Sara shook her head at what she heard, at the madness that rang in every word of the black beast before her.
“What you are describing is a condemnation to hell for Braze, to exist for all eternity trapped in your shadow,” she said.
“And, I can’t allow that,” she continued.
The beast smirked and said, “You have no say in the matter, bitch.”
"Over my dead body," Sara replied, her eyes blazing with anger.
Nash Abraxis twisted his son's mouth into a leering smile and said, "Yes...my thoughts exactly. Prepare for the sweet embrace of oblivion, human bitch."
He advanced upon her, his hands curling into claws. The muscular body that had become almost completely blackened over in seething tattoos began shifting into wolf. A black beast whose eyes were rimmed red in madness.
Sara shouted, sure that Braze could still hear her.
“Braze, now! You have to fight him now! If you don’t, you’re going to lose any chance of ever being free to live your own life.”
The werewolf hesitated. The foot it had raised to close the distance between it and Sara sank slowly to the floor.
Sara saw its red rimmed eyes slip into familiar, beautiful amber tones and it was Braze’s own voice that spoke to her.
“Sara. I cannot hold for long,” he said, then nodded towards the sword still lying on the floor where Clement had let it fall.
She heard a terrible sadness in his voice as he continued.
“It is the only way, my darling. Otherwise, I will be forced to watch, helpless, as I rip you apart, then be damned to exist eternally under my father’s complete domination.”
Sara swallowed, tears springing to her eyes.
"It is time to put an end to this madness, Sara," Braze said, then, anguish thick in his throat as he continued, "But, know this. If it is by your hand, I do not regret it. My end shall be sweet if it is by the hand of the woman I love."
Sara's eyes widened, then taking hold of herself, she nodded to him and went to pick up the sword.
It was heavier than she thought. And cold to the touch.
"Sara...hurry. Please. He is forcing me back."
She approached him, seeing that his entire body was shaking with the effort it cost him to hold his father's spirit at bay.
Sara leaned close, almost nose to nose with the man she loved and she asked him, "Do you trust me, Braze?"
His eyes said yes just as his jaw locked tight. Black curling tattoos wrapped round him as his massive arms lifted, his hands become claws in truth.
"Braze shall be rid of you for once and all," said the gravelly voice.
And, without hesitating, Sara thrust herself against the man she loved, against the beast that meant more than anything to her.
And as the creature wrapped its blackened arms around her, vicious claws sinking into her back, poised to rip in her in half, Sara could see the sword's tip dripping blood, protruding from the werewolf's back.
Heavy arms fell away from her and the beast took a single, awkward step back before looking down to see the sword that remained buried low on its abdomen to one side.