The sword vanished.
Oberon was mine.
Chapter 14
A fury blackened my veins. I once read that war was the world's way of cleansing itself. At the time I thought the statement seemed brutal, without compassion. I was beginning to realize that was the point. With purpose I stalked the first chayot. He tried to stand, but the force of the blow from the pendant had him panting, and clutching his chest.
Imagine if you actually tried to use the power in the pendant, my inner voice cheered.
Kneeling next to Oberon, I said, "Never again will your filthy paws touch me, or someone I love." I pressed the pendant into his chest.
He gasped, his body shaking. Like old paper, his skin around the pendant flaked and fell away.
"Don't. Stop, Snow. Please, don't," Gabe called.
I paused, lifting the pendant, catching and holding Gabe's sad stare. If I killed Oberon it would change the way Gabe treated me, the way he saw me. No longer an innocent bystander, but as a calculating killer.
I couldn't do that. No matter how much I wanted to destroy Oberon, I wouldn't, because Gabe didn't want me to.
The fighting stopped. Vampire and chayot parted to let me pass. All around was silence. I focused on Gabe's heartbeat, concentrated on the distinct thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump coming from his chest.
"Gabe." I floated toward him, my feet hardly touching the ground.
The chayot that held Gabe released him. He held out his arms, a slight smile lighting his gloomy face.
I moved faster, allowing myself a moment of hope.
The features on Gabe's face changed.
"No," he shouted.
I sensed Oberon behind me, felt the heat of his sword.
In a blinding flash, I faced him, his blade slicing my shoulder. Immense pain ripped through my body.
From the hand that held the Seal of Gabriel shot a red flash of light.
As I fell to the ground I grabbed my shoulder.
Someone screamed. Cindy, maybe.
The sound of many voices talking at once, like chirping doves, filled my ears.
I tried to hold on, but the pain was excruciating. It seemed to pulse into every crevice, pounding out everything else.
The Seal of Gabriel embedded itself into my hand.
Pieces of conversation filtered through the agony.
... "He's dead."...
..."What will we do now?"...
..."You must lead us."...
A loud laugh. The Vampire Queen.
..."I knew she could do it."...
..."Give me the necklace, Snow. Let go. It's over. You're safe."...
Even if I wanted to let go, I couldn't. The pendant seemed to be inside me. Winding. Twisting. Filling me. Changing me.
I was becoming the Seal of Gabriel. It stitched me up into something more, something scary.
My eyes opened, and I blinked.
The eyes I looked through weren't my own.
They were the eyes of the first vampire.
The eyes of Silindra.