“Of course it wasn’t, my Lord. I meant no disrespect.”
Your mission was to bring both Dalton and Isabelle to us. You failed.
“Momentarily. I can bring them yet.”
You failed. They are lost to us. I do not tolerate failure.
Tase sensed his brothers taking a step back, then another, distancing themselves from him.
It would appear we need a new leader.
Tase swallowed. “Master, if I could-”
You could not, Tase. No one leads who does not succeed. Be gone.
Tase steeled himself for what was to come, but one could never be prepared for obliteration. It came with fury, with violence, with pain that could not be measured. Death would be easier than this torment, this hell that he would have to endure for eternity. He screamed as he was eviscerated, burned in flames hotter than even he could stand, and yet would continue to live, to suffer forever.
Kal had wished and hoped for this moment when he could take over. But now, cowering under the dark visage of the Master, even he feared, knowing Tase’s fate in the dark pit.
The Master looked down on his remaining Sons.
I need a volunteer to take over as leader. Who believes he can do better than he who came before?
This was Kal’s moment to shine or to die.
He took a step forward.
“I’ll reign as leader, my Master.”
See that you do a better job than your predecessor. We have yet to win in this battle.
Kal nodded and the Master disappeared.
Kal turned to his brothers, who bowed their heads in respect for their new leader.
“Now that I’m in charge, a few things will change. Some of our new ideas have worked; many haven’t. The Realm of Light and the side of good has won too many battles. The Master, as you know, is very displeased.”
He moved to the front of the table where Tase and those who came before him had sat. This time, it was Kal who took his rightful place as head of the Sons of Darkness.
“It is time for a new start. New ideas, new plans for the future. We will win next time, my brothers. This, I promise you.”
A new day had begun.
The next morning was a mix of chaos and utter happiness. Isabelle and Dalton walked through the back door of Georgie’s house hand in hand. Nearly everyone was crowded in the kitchen drinking coffee, and when they saw Dalton, there was joy and many hugs were exchanged.
Isabelle was elated. So was everyone else, from a rejoicing Georgie all the way to a smiling Michael, who couldn’t believe everything had worked out so well. Though he wasn’t quite as convinced that all would be well with the Sons of Darkness. Once the shock wore off and Dalton explained what the Archangel had done, the hunters reconvened at the table and drank coffee together.
“I doubt the Sons of Darkness will take the loss of both of you quite so easily,” Michael said.
“You think there’ll be repercussions?” Derek asked.
“They’re not good losers,” Dalton said. “I think there probably will be.”
Michael nodded. “I don’t expect we’ll see anything right away, but it’s in our best interests-and in the best interest of Georgie and her family’s safety-to pack up and get out of here as soon as possible.”
“Agreed,” Dalton said. “What about my position with the Realm?”
“All things considered,” Michael said, “the Realm needs good hunters. Providing you want to still fight with us, I’ll clear you with the Realm. I’ll explain everything, and I think they’ll understand your motivations. Besides, everything worked out at the end.”
Mandy laid her head on Dalton’s shoulder and offered up a tentative smile. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
Dalton hugged her close, then turned his gaze back to Michael. “I’d appreciate that. I would like to continue to fight, though Isabelle is with me now, and she and I haven’t really talked about-”
Isabelle laid her hand over his. “This is what you do, what you love to do,” she said. “Besides, my sister is in this now. You both are my family. Where else would I want to be?”
Angelique sat on Isabelle’s other side and grasped her hand. “It would be nice for us all to be a family, for us to stay together. I’m glad you’re with us.”
“Me, too,” Isabelle said. She squeezed Dalton’s hand and gazed up at him with eyes so filled with love he couldn’t believe he’d been given this chance. “I am where you are.”
He sucked in a breath, still feeling like he’d really lucked out. “Okay, then. We’re in. So now what?”
“Now we head back to Florida and pick up where we left off there,” Michael answered.
“With the demons who walk in daylight,” Dalton said.
“Yes. The Realm is very concerned about this. We’re going to have to figure out how many are out there, how the Sons of Darkness are recruiting them, and start picking them out of the crowds before they begin to outnumber us. The Realm is already trying to figure out if there have been any other similar demon attacks in other parts of the world. We have a lot of work to do.”
Dalton nodded. “We’ll go pack and meet you outside within the hour.”
They dispersed, and Dalton and Isabelle remained with Georgie. Isabelle enveloped Georgie in a hug.
“Thank you,” Isabelle said.
“You have nothing to thank me for, chère. You and Dalton did this on your own.”
“Oh, I think you had a lot to do with bringing this about.”
Georgie’s dark eyes twinkled with mystery, as always. “I’m just the medium through which mystical things occur.”
Dalton laughed, swooped her up in a hug and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, my sister.”
“Don’t wait so long to visit next time,” she said, laughing, a blush staining her cheeks.
“We won’t.”
At the cabin they packed up their things and changed clothes, readying to leave. Isabelle stood at the window and looked out over the backyard. Dalton came up behind her.
“What?”
“I kind of like this place. I found peace here.”
He smiled. “We’ll come back sometime.”
She turned. “When? On your vacation? Do you get vacations? What will life be like with the Realm, Dalton?”
He shrugged. “We can take time away when we need to. I don’t really know how couples do it. We’ll have to make our own way.”
“I’ve always loved travel and adventure.”
She said the words, but she seemed wistful.
“Are you sure this is what you want, Isabelle? Because if it’s not, I’ll give it up.”
She tilted her head, studied him. “You’d do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
She was silent for a few minutes, then said, “Do you remember when we first met in Italy? When we were both pretending to be someone we weren’t?”
“Yes.”
“We both said we loved adventure. Neither of us was lying when we said that.”
“No, I guess we weren’t.”
She wrapped her arms around him, reaching up to press her lips to his. “This is your life now, Dalton. It’s a new page. You get to create it. And you don’t get to live forever anymore. What do you want to do?”
He owed it to her to be honest with her, and he knew exactly where he wanted to be. “I want to hunt and kill demons.”
Her lips curled. “Then we’ll do that. Together.”
“I love you, Isabelle.”
“And I love you, too, my angel.”
“Then let’s go join the demon hunters and kick some ass. This war with the demons never ends. And we’ll fight it until it does.”