Chapter 13
Raphaim smiles when they leave him. Did they actually think one simple watcher could get rid of him that easily? Now thinking of the Indian, his fangs lengthen and he realizes he is starving.
“I need blood and this Hunter is the perfect candidate to give it to me.” His eyes go black as he steps out into the fresh air. He closes his eyes and inhales to draw in the familiar scent of his prey. Raphaim launches himself with a great sweep of his midnight colored wings. Flying fast, he closes in on his victim.
He circles Polly’s house looking down for his meal. Smelling him inside Raphaim lands lightly and slips into the house, listening, it sounds empty.
As he stands in the living room a feminine scent wafts to him. It can’t be! Raphaim inhales deeply, drawing the scent into his soul and his eyes snap open in recognition.
It’s her! He rushes down the hallway into a bedroom and sees her, his Rena! A step into the room towards her and an unseen blow throws him into the wall with a crash of broken sheetrock.
Fury fills Raphaim’s face when Alex steps through the door behind him.
“You are not welcome here, demon!” Before Raphaim can move he is hit again driving him backwards through the hall and into the living room. Raphaim crashes onto the coffee table and shatters it into pieces.
With a laugh, he leaps to his feet. “Okay, boy! Let’s play!” Raphaim screams and launches himself through the air straight towards Alex.
Varena walks slowly through the demolished hallway, holding her newborn daughter. She listens to the fight and prays for guidance. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. Raphaim is flying through the air at Alex, with his fangs fully extended, claws out, and wings ready; she sees him for the monster he is.
Hunter has waited for the right moment to reveal himself and this seems like the ideal time. Before he can move, Varena feels her power pour into her hands and she starts to panic when they begin to burn.
“It’s alright Rena, give it to me.” Alex whispers in her mind. Terrified Raphaim will try to take the baby, she nods her head and she feels Alex touch her mind, like a cold breeze on a scorching day. He draws on her gifts and her hands begin to cool.
Alex, in an instant, directs all of their combined power straight at the demon, sending him through the living room wall in an explosion of dust and debris!
As Raphaim lands in the front yard, Hunter strikes at him before he can move.
“I see you demon, I see you.” He chants as he surrounds Raphaim with a ring of enchanted smoke. “I am Gunskaliski, a demon hunter. Your time has come.” Hunter creates a circle of entrapment with his power, locking the demon inside of it.
Raphaim struggles to rise up from the ground. Covered in rubble, laying on the glass and wood, he starts to laugh. He stands slowly and shakes his mighty wings tossing the scraps away. A snarl at Hunter and Alex with hatred burning in his eyes, he steps through the barrier.
“You think to contain me, Gunskaliski, with smoke?” He screams at Hunter, “I am MORE than a demon! I am Angel and Demon, and I AM HUNGRY!!!” He starts to leap at the Indian but stops when he hears her voice.
“Raphaim?” The sound of her voice calms his beast and his eyes widen with shock, as she walks forward holding his daughter. “You will not harm them. They were only protecting your daughter.”
“Varena? How are you here?” he asks struggling against his hunger and hatred for the two men. He steps closer, reaching out to touch her, but Hunter drops a shield of protection around Rena and the baby
“Enough! They are mine, Gunskaliski!” Raphaim screams in rage. He attacks so quickly that Hunter barely sees the movement before he is struck. The blow sends him sliding across the earth, stopping unconscious at Alex’s feet.
“Dad!” Alex yells and drops down to check him.
“And YOU!” Raphaim snaps. Lunging, he grabs Alex by his throat, strangling him with a clawed hand.
“No!” Varena screams and the baby begins to cry at the sound of her mother’s distress. Alex struggles kicking wildly and screams for Elina in his mind.
Elina is tumbling through space, panicking at the feeling of falling before it occurs to her that she can’t fly but she can port. Just as the thought enters her mind, she hears Alex screams in pain. He is calling for her to help him.
She locks onto the sound of his voice and follows it. With no hesitation, she drops in behind Raphaim and swings her sword down, slicing a wing from his body. His scream of pain echoes through the air and he releases Alex, falling to his knees from the shock.
Elina’s eyes begin to glow and her power builds as she jerks Alex to her side.
Inside the house Malach returns holding a wounded Elsbeth and Jake. They find the wall of the house blown outward when a scream like that of a wounded animal echoes across the yard.
He places Elsbeth on the kitchen table and orders Jake to stay with her. Malach rushes outside and finds Elina holding hands with Alex and he immediately moves in behind the wounded demon.
Simeon lands, followed closely by Nameed, who holds the body of Jake’s friend. Simeon joins the circle with Malach and Nameed after he places the body on the ground.
Raphaim is surrounded. They join their power to the Keepers and the circle of containment is strengthened. For the first time Elina feels the full power of Heaven with her.
Alex steps back and helps Hunter stand as they move slowly towards Varena. She trembles as she looks at Raphaim, the father of her child. In her mind, she knows he is evil, crazy even, but her heart remembers
