Chapter 11
Serena could see her words hitting Des like a slap. He'd taken the lives of so many, caused so much suffering and misery... She couldn't deny that she'd failed him. But this was her mistake. She'd made it and now she'd put an end to it. Des was left on the floor, pathetically trying and failing to get to his feet as his body slowly fell apart. She couldn't watch him suffer like this. Getting up, she kicked him over onto his back. She readied herself to transform to go for the death bite.
"This changes nothing!" Des spat as he glared up at her. "We're one and the same, you and I."
"Oh Des, you're a Wolfblood with the power of the gods, true enough. But you're nothing like me. You strayed from the path to strengthen a gift that should never have been yours. I buried my gift to be used only in the most inconceivable of circumstances. You set out to hurt the people I love the most. I protect them, all without exception, even to my dying breath. Those who would threaten them are worthy of neither pity nor mercy. I will grind them into dust. But I took you in like my own. I can't watch you suffer like this. I will put you down and put an end to your suffering." With that, she transformed. Des didn't even have time to scream as her fangs descended onto his throat. In a second, it was over. She returned to human form and stood up, Turning to leave the room and free Damien. To her immense shock, she spotted him slumped against the doorframe. He'd obviously managed to free himself somehow and made his way in to try and help her.
"Serena..." His voice was barely audible even to her.
"Damien!" she raced over and embraced him, tears she'd held back for so long finally breaking loose. Taking his left hand in both of hers, she pressed it to her stomach. It took a second, but he realised what she was trying to tell her.
"Well, this is a great surprise." He tried to grin, but his face was too bruised and swollen to manage it. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be stupid!" She pulled away and stared him down. "You just need time to heal. You're no better or worse now than you were. You'll find your own place in the organisation if you still want to and you can still be a great dad. Losing an arm isn't the end of the world." But doubt nagged at the back of Serena's mind. She knew that he wasn't apologising for failing. She knew what he was really trying to say.
"I love-" Suddenly, he stopped. His body sagged sideways as she eased him down to the floor. In a split second, it felt like the entire world had ended for Serena. She knew what had happened, yet some part of her still tried to deny it.
"No, Damien, get up!" she pulled him close and tried to listen for a heartbeat. There was nothing. His breathing had stopped and his skin already felt like ice from the time he'd spent in the cell. Any denial she'd been holding onto slipped away. The emotional floodgates opened properly as she threw her head back and let out a sound that was halfway between a scream and a howl. It resonated through the tunnels as her eyes burned with the brightest yellow light she'd ever remembered.
"Serena!" She turned around, tears flooding down her cheeks as Abraham shouldered his way into the room with his rifle. "Cole came and got me. What's going on?" With a horrified expression on his face, he took in the devastation around them. Serena hadn't noticed, but several of the room's medieval torture devices had also been destroyed as they used their powers. The room was in shambles. Des and Damien's bodies just completed the picture. Abraham spotted Des in the middle of the room and raised his rifle in case he dared make a move.
"Don't worry." Serena got to her feet feeling utterly broken. "The Shadow of Stoneybridge is dead, I assure you."
"Abraham!" Serena could hear Agnes calling from the top of the stairs. "The journalists have arrived!" They must have caught wind of what happened at Amy's house and followed the trail like Abraham had. A glance at his face told her that he'd heard Agnes' call and clearly reached the same conclusion.
"Help me once again, Abraham." Serena looked up at him, her eyes telling him everything. "No one can know that Des was a Wolfblood or that we had anything to do with him." Abraham nodded and moved into the tunnels again.
"I want them gone this instant!" he hollered. "Get those parasites out of here!" With that, he bent down and picked up Damien. Carefully, he carried him from the room with Serena following. There was no way that they were going to totally avoid the journalists. Publicity went hand-in-hand with Segolia so that the world could see the rise of the organisation. They would see what Serena wanted them to see while their more covert connections such as within the police worked discreetly to bury any records of the Wolfblood species. The media were an unavoidable part of that. But for tonight at least, she knew Abraham would save her from having to answer any of their questions.
"Thank you." Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears. That was when Abraham stopped walking, set Damien down against a wall and untied something from his waistband.
"Amy and Cole gave me these to give you." He handed her boots to her and she sat down to slip them on. She didn't bother tying the laces, instead tucking them inside. At least now her feet weren't going to freeze again. She nodded gratefully as he helped her up and picked up Damien again. Together they walked towards the entrance to the catacombs and from there, out of the church. To Serena, it didn't matter where they went from there. She was just glad to be out in the clean, fresh air. She was glad to leave the church behind, and the tunnels underneath that echoed with the howls of the damned.