"John!" Elizabeth screamed as Andrew swooped down from the ceiling, faster then the speed of light. Gone was the loving, benevolent face of the human, replaced by the head of a gigantic lion. Andrew roared his anger, the fangs that filed his mouth as thick as steel bars. They were bared at Constantine, could easily split his skull.

The cherub's humongous wings held him aloft, flapping in great strokes, sending anything not nailed down flying. His massive hands closed tightly around John's throat, strangling the exorcist. John could feel the darkness closing in, clouding his vision, as he clawed against the cherub's mighty hands.

Shots rang out and the lion-headed angel roared. John gasped, managing to suck some air into his lungs when the grip on his throat faulted. Suddenly Constantine and Andrew were dripping wet. Elizabeth had pelted them with every vial of holy water she had. The skin of the lion's face, the fur of his mane, began to melt away. John pulled his arm back and landed a solid punch.

Startled, bleeding from the gunshot wounds, Andrew lost his grip and Constantine fell ten feet down to the carpeted floor. He groaned, mentally checking to make sure nothing had been broken by his fall. Still in one piece. The cherub remained in the air above him.

Scooping up the holy shotgun, Constantine fired once, then a second round into the heart and forehead of the angel.

"Father!" With a pitiful cry, Andrew dropped from the air and fell to the ground, crumpled in a bloody mess. Constantine knew the job wasn't done. He had to send the soul down to the pit, where Satan was probably having a fiesta. Probably had made one of the other fallen angels into a piñata.

Pulling the slim black book from his inner top pocket, he took the few steps to the crumpled mass that was Andrew and stood over him. One hand held the Bible open to the appropriate page; the other held the shotgun against what remained of the lion's forehead.

As Constantine opened his mouth to say the words, he caught the barest of movement in the corner of his eye. With in a split second he was bodily shoved out of the way by Elizabeth.

"No!" John screamed as the crushing jaws of the lion's head closed on Elizabeth's side. She screamed and fell, the fangs still sunk deep within her flesh. John made it to his knees and emptied every remaining bullet into the cherub, Andrew's mortal body blasted away piece by piece until nothing but a headless corpse remained.

Blinking through the matter and blood that had sprayed up, John looked to make sure he hadn't hit Elizabeth. At that moment the lights in the sanctuary dimmed deeply, returned then winked out fully. The whole room was pitch black.

"Elizabeth!" he roared, staggering to his feet.

John… He felt her weak cry through their link. John! More urgent this time.

"Elizabeth!" he yelled, casting out to find her in the darkness. She was down on the floor, behind a pile of wood that had been a pew. John dashed towards her, sliding on his knees to her side. "I'm here!" He put his hands on her to reassure her and his hand slid into a wet mess. "No…NO!"

He drew the dim light that shined through the windows that circled the high ceiling and came from the door sconces in with his psychic powers, making enough illumination to see by.

"No baby no…" his voice was strangled by a half-sob. Constantine could now see the gaping maw in Elizabeth's right side where Andrew's jaws had shredded her flesh. Blood still flowed from the fatal wound and most of it was spilled in a large pool that continued to spread out along the plush carpet.

Elizabeth's breathing was erratic now, heavily labored. "It's ok, John. I knew."

Constantine looked down at her, his vision having a hard time focusing through the tears welling in his eyes. "When you touched the fetish…" She nodded weakly. "Why didn't you tell me! I told you I didn't want you to come with me!"

"It doesn't matter now." He saw her choke a bit as the blood came up her throat, ran out her mouth. It was very dark blood: Heart blood. He cradled her closer, desperately trying not to cry. The anguish was a boulder on his heart and mind.

"No…" He had never cried over the loss of his other friends; he'd only let the guilt and grief burn in his heart day and night. Now it came back upon him ten fold. "No…"

"I love you, John." Her whispered words were heavy as she choked harder on her own life-blood. Her once crystal eyes were darkening. Constantine pulled her closer, his arm around her, hand pulling her face to his. He kissed Elizabeth hard, ignoring the coppery taste of blood, trying to force her to stay with him. John felt her kiss back softly, the last sparks of life used up.

John Constantine howled then, a great wracking pain burning through every inch of him. He crushed her body to his chest and rocked her, hands tangled in her hair. No! They couldn't take her! Not after all this!

John. The voice was a whisper in his subconscious, feathery at first. He made a noise at it, trying to ignore it. It was only his memory of her voice now. Constantine. He looked around wildly, still gripping Elizabeth's corpse.

Elizabeth was standing beside him, her form shimmering. The ghost of her soul. John. Her mouth didn't move; she was using telepathy to say her last words.

"NO! I don't want another ghost haunting me! You were mine! They can't have you!" he was shouting aloud now.

I have to go now, John. Constantine felt the veil part above him, felt the pure energy of Heaven move into form. He watched Elizabeth's ghost start to rise towards it.

Yanking on the cord around his neck, he ripped the fetish charm loose. Gently he laid her body back onto the floor and rose. "I don't care who the hell You are! You can't fucking have my wife!"

Holding the carved ivory ball up high, Constantine screamed the incantation. "Quantum in me est, expeto tui spondeo!" Then screamed it again. "Quantum in me est, expeto tui spondeo!" The light of Heaven skewed a bit and Elizabeth's soul hovered in the air.

Drawing on the last ounces of strength, John threw every bit of power behind his voice and roared the incantation one last time.

"QUANTUMN IN ME EST, EXPETO TUI SPONDEO!"

Everything around him quaked as the veil closed once more and the light of Heaven switched off like a lamp.