“Please.”
Lou’s single word was a whispered plea.
Maybe it was her imagination, but she saw that demon shimmering inside him. Trying to get out, maybe?
Oh, no. That couldn’t happen.
Angelique didn’t know who shot first. Maybe that was a good thing. A split second later, they were all firing, blue light hitting Lou square in the chest. He jerked back, his entire body shuddering violently with the impact.
Tears streaked down Angelique’s face as she watched the destruction of a human being. She wanted to cover her face and not watch, to sob at the savagery of the act, but she knew what was being done was necessary in order to kill a demon. Lou had made the ultimate sacrifice, one she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to make.
When they stopped, there was nothing left of Lou, or the demon that had taken up residence inside him.
Afterward, there were no words. With zero emotion showing on her face, Mandy shouldered her weapon, pivoted, and walked away. Derek dropped his head down and Gina laced her fingers with his, tears streaming down her face.
The grief was palpable.
It was over. Lou was dead. And so was the demon inside him. The black diamond sat on the ground, now a lifeless dark rock.
Ryder wrapped his arm around her and lifted her chin.
“Are you all right?”
“No. I’m miserable. Why did this have to happen?”
“I don’t know, darlin’. It sucks. But at least that thing inside the black diamond is dead.” Ryder turned to Michael. “It is dead, isn’t it?”
Michael nodded, his expression grim. “The demon’s dead.”
And so was Lou. She hated even thinking it. It made her hurt all over.
“Let’s go,” Michael said. “I’ll debrief you all when we get back to the Realm headquarters.”
Angelique inhaled on a shudder, then allowed Ryder to lead them back to the vehicles.
One of the SUV’s was missing. “Where’s the other car?” she asked.
“Dalton. . took Isabelle away so the Sons of Darkness wouldn’t get to her,” Michael said.
There was something vague about his response, but she pushed it away. She’d ask him about it when they got back to headquarters. There were too many other things occupying her mind right now.
After they said their good-byes to Father Vintaldi, they piled into the one remaining SUV, crushed together like sardines. Angelique stared out the window at the church, still unable to fathom what had just happened.
Ryder put his arm around her shoulder and she laid her head there, comforted by his presence and wanting to comfort him, too. Killing Lou had to have hurt him, and yet he was the one soothing her. He kissed the top of her head and she relaxed against him. The only thing she could do was be there for him, love him, just as he loved her. And maybe they had a couple things to be grateful for.
The Sons of Darkness had disappeared, but they hadn’t taken Isabelle. And the hunters had killed a lot of demons. The black diamond was obliterated.
There was sadness, though. Isabelle had shown how much darkness she possessed. They didn’t even know if she could come back from it.
And they’d lost one of their own in the process. A kind, wonderful man she was just beginning to get to know.
Really, they had won nothing.
“We’ve lost.”
“We were supposed to emerge triumphant, and look at us. Not only did we not keep Isabelle, we lost the black diamond, and Drucilla within it.”
Tase paced back and forth in front of his brothers, listening to them lament. He shook his head at their stupidity.
They could never see the big picture.
“You are all fools. Don’t you see how much we’ve won?”
They ceased their wailing and focused on him.
“How can you say that?” Badon asked.
“Easy. If you’d stop your blaming and bickering long enough, you’d see how much we really did profit from all that happened.”
Kal crossed his arms. “Do explain it to us, brother.”
“Isabelle is in darkness, lost to the human world. We saw to that. You all felt it. She is still one with us and will remain so, regardless of her location.”
“That is true,” Aron said with a reluctant nod. “She was immersed.”
“We will someday use that to our benefit. Everything doesn’t have to occur right now. You all must learn
