He ran across the cave, creating a small ball of energy around Kanai’s bracelet. Both of the bracelets began reverberating, their energies mixing with each other. Bingwen rushed back to Axle and helped him to his feet, creating a shield to protect him from the blowback of the explosion that was to come
Natalie smiled as she watched. They had done it. They had won.
A second later there was a white flashing light, followed by an explosion, causing her to take a step back and shield her eyes from the light and sand. As it cleared, Natalie spotted Kanai on his knees, a burnt remnant of flesh and guts, smoking from the explosion.
As she took a step forward, she looked down at her hands to see her bracelet return. She looked up just in time to see Axle fall to the ground from his wounds. She let out a yelp, running over to him as his body lay flat on the floor. She felt a pang of fear running through her as she reached out for Axle, not sure what had happened.
Bingwen walked over to the body of the demon, looking it over to find the bracelet. He looked around at the ground, seeing that the bracelet which Kanai had worn was gone.
Chapter 19 - Axle
Axle woke with a start, looking down at his midsection to see the wads of bandages wrapped around it. He hurt like hell, but it was nothing he hadn’t been through before. He looked to the side, hearing a heartbeat that had almost become synonymous with his own, and knew it was Nat before he even saw her. She ran a hand over his body and he spotted the bracelet on her wrist.
“Hey,” Natalie began. “How are you doing?”
“Feel like someone tried to punch my gut out with some shears,” Axle replied, hearing how weak his voice sounded. “How about you? How are you doing? I’m sorry, I…I passed out after the fight.”
Natalie smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Yeah, Bingwen didn’t even try picking you up. But it was fine, I’m fine. Everything went well…sorta, and we got help.”
Axle raised an eyebrow. “Help?”
The door opened, and he turned to see Levi and Lyra walk in. Levi had a smug grin on his face, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked over. As always, Levi emanated nothing but power, and with Lyra beside him they were the Jay and Beyonce of the paranormal world.
“Thought I told you to wait for backup?” Levi began, poking at Axle’s wounds.
“Well, I can’t have you lead the charge all the time. Also Kanai got his hands on something really powerful and was going to do…some damage.” Axle coughed, still in pain. “So I had to do something, we had to do something.”
“And you almost killed yourself in the process,” Lyra replied, sitting on the bed next to him. “You’re lucky we arrived when we did. That old geezer didn’t look like he was going to do anything to help you.”
Axle chuckled, knowing they were wrong. Bingwen wouldn’t have let him die. But trash talking Bingwen was fun and he wasn’t going to even try to stand up for the old man. Levi took Axle’s hand, nodding at him. “You did good, little brother. The entire pack showed up, took out the rest of the swarm, but the fight was over.”
Axle nodded. “So this is it then? Kanai is dead, it’s over, right?”
Natalie looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes and no.”
Levi nodded. “Bingwen is gone, ‘cause things didn’t exactly go according to his plan. There was an external factor that came into play. Something a lot more powerful than Kanai killed him and took the other bracelet.”
Axle turned to Natalie, but she smiled. “It’s fine, I’m safe. He said that it wouldn’t be coming for me, so I’d be fine, but uh…I have to be careful either way. So, yeah. I’m safe for now.”
Axle nodded, glad to know it was over. Kanai was gone, but there was something else out there. Whatever it was, it was the thing responsible for the blinding light that had taken out Kanai in a single attack. It had reduced him to nothing, and made away with the other bracelet.
“So, we’re good for now, yeah?” Axle asked trying to sit up.
“Yeah,” Levi replied.
“Good, cause I can’t throw another punch if my life depended on it.”
Natalie laughed, rubbing his arm. “I’m sure you’ll find your way around it, when the time comes.”
Levi and Lyra left the building, telling him that there were still a few demons running around, and that they would take care of it. Ultimately, the entire ordeal was over.
Natalie ran her hand across Axle’s cheek as soon as they were alone, listening to the sound of the world outside. Axle slid his hand down the side of the bed, taking her hand in his own.
“Hey, so…I take it you’ll be sticking around, yeah?”
Natalie chuckled. “Well, your brother is married to a werewolf, and I have a lot of questions. Also, this bracelet isn’t coming off any time soon and I need to learn to use its power, so yeah. I’ll be sticking around for much longer.”
Axle smiled, squeezing her palm. Natalie paused for a moment, staring at him.