“You’ve come for me so many times with the same threats. Does it tire you for me to ruin you each and every time?” Cain asked.
Abel simply growled in response.
“Long ago, the Lord asked us for a sacrifice. He accepted yours without question, but with mine, he didn’t. He accepted your offering, but he did not accept mine because he wanted something else. He wanted something more,” Cain began.
“He cursed you because you killed me,” Abel snarled.
“No. He didn’t,” Cain answered, his voice plain.
“You’re lying,” Abel sputtered. His disbelief was painted all over his face.
“I’m not. I killed you to protect someone else,” Cain continued. “There was another that was demanded in sacrifice and I refused. I chose you instead.”
“It’s not true,” Abel snarled. “Who would he demand to see dead?”
“Our mother, Eve,” Cain answered.
Abel’s face went white.
“You speak lies,” he said dangerously. His brows furrowed and his eyes burned hot with perilous, unhinged emotion. I took a single step back, lifting my arm across my chest in a protective maneuver, preparing for the inevitable clash that was to come.
“I don’t,” Cain replied calmly. “I speak only the truth. I killed you instead of our mother and that’s why I was cursed with immortal life and an insatiable blood thirst. It wasn’t because I decided to kill in the first place. It was a punishment because I killed the wrong person. I made the wrong sacrifice.”
Cain had made a choice and it had painted him as the picture of evil since the very beginning of time. He’d lived under that dark cloud. He’d thrived under it and made a life for his own. I saw him in an even brighter light now and I was proud that he had claimed me as his. I was even more proud to call him mine.
I would protect him with my life because he would do the same for me.
Abel roared. My eyes tore back to him. I could tell he didn’t believe a word that came out of Cain’s mouth, or at least, he was afraid to. He’d lived in a cloud of vengeance for so very long that he was blind to believing anything different. I watched as his wings darkened, streaks of gray furrowing deeper into the feathers at his back. They darkened considerably until it appeared that his once white wings were lined with black veins. It was quite unnerving, and I found myself nervously awaiting what he would do next.
There was no reasoning with him. He wouldn’t walk away, and I knew right then that the three of us certainly not going to survive this day.
Someone was going to have to die and I had to do everything in my power to ensure that it wasn’t me.
Or Cain.
I was going to have to kill his brother.
Abel’s eyes slid to mine, and I was suddenly reminded of those of a snake. His head bobbed just a little, from side to side, and I gritted my teeth. This man was once an angel and now he’d fallen so far. Hell had destroyed him and there was nothing of him left except fury and the need for revenge. He wasn’t going to stop until he got it.
Today wasn’t that day. I was going to kill him first.
It was time to fight.
His upper lip drew up in a snarl, but I burst forward toward him, channeling my magic into my fists. My skin glowed with fire, burning hot as I drew my arm back and shot it forward, catching Abel hard in the jaw with my knuckles. He screeched as the smell of burning flesh swirled around us. His skin turned bright red, bubbling as it burned right in front of me. I kicked my foot outward, swinging it around and knocking him off balance. I expected him to fall flat on his back, but he recovered quickly by fluttering his wings around his body. He used them to knock me backwards and after that, he flew up out of my reach and hurtled another ball of fiery energy straight toward me. I dodged it, but the flames just caught my shoulder. I screamed in agony and tried to roll and put it out. I knew better though.
Demon’s fire would burn until the caster decided to let it stop burning.
In desperation, I ripped off my shirt before it burst into flame too, leaving me in only my bra. I didn’t care. I was fighting for my life. The fire quelled, incessantly burning into my skin, but I considered it a success because the rest of me didn’t burst into flames too. The terrible agony only increased with time. There was nothing I could do to stop that burning pain except ensuring that Abel lost this battle. Only his death would ensure that the flames went out.
Fuck. It hurt.
I was going to kill him.
I roared with pain and threw my own sphere of fire in his direction. I didn’t stop there. I threw another ball of magic toward him, only this one was comprised of electricity, flame, and highly compressed air. I cried out in anger as he dodged it, my own fire just licking him as it had done to me.
Behind me, Cain threw his own demon’s fire. He was calm and threw one sphere after another while I fought to protect my life and his. We worked together in an effort to keep the both of us alive.
Abel dove for me and I dodged a second too late. He’d fashioned a knife in his palm, and it cut through my cheek. I screamed and quickly swung my fist, catching him in the ear and he staggered to the side. He reacted just as swiftly and dove back toward me, attacking me with the knife once more. He was bigger than me and quickly overpowered me to the ground.