Purgatorial

Cam's POV

Michael glared around the partially destroyed space with sharp eyes. Gray irises dragged on as they crossed the male body on the floor. His chest tightened visibly as he kept in a breath. I knew how hard restraining Power outbursts could be and Michael was doing one hell of a job.

That hyper focused hawk-like zeroed in on me.

"Cain got what he wanted." I said. It was a raw whisper. I could still taste my own blood in the back of my throat, under my tongue; there were chunks of briefly disintegrated organs stuck between my teeth. The situation was too serious for me to worry about how disgusting it all was. "I tried to get them out…" my body went stiffer than a board. My jaw stopped working properly, so, I flexed it, shutting up.

"Cain will be able to regenerate now. That's unfortunate."

I tipped an eyebrow at Michael's bereft monotone. Any emotion of sadness—at the sight of Lucifer dead—was gone. My healing stomach churned, like a live eel was sloshing around inside it for shits and giggles.

"Your brother's dead."

Michael turned his back on me, head tilting downward. He had to be inspecting the pool of blood left by Cain. The same pool of blood from where a Cain-clone had crawled out of, minutes earlier. I shifted my weight, ignoring the yells across the compound. Had to be the angelic cavalry whopping ass of any remaining lackeys.

"Why aren't you angry?"

"There's no time to be petty. Etna is gone," he turned at the waist, flashing me a glimpse of the dragon head tattooed on his face. "I assume Cain collected Heaven's energy?"

"He went through the portal just as you got here." without a second's hesitation, the largest pair of wings I'd ever seen, sprung from his back. Unlike people thought, they didn't punch holes in the fabric of Michael's shirt. Their wings were less matter and more a manifestation of light particles, something like hard light. "You're going after him."

"Of course. The celestial army in Heaven won't be able to hold him off for long."

"What if you fail?"

Michael spun around quickly, black wings arcing like an eagle preparing to attack, to dive for its prey's neck. I stood in place, a little transfixed by the rainbow-like colors washing across the coal feathers as the overhead artificial light hit them.

"If I fail, you'll know."

"How?"

"You'll see it." I started to frown. "If that happens, use the Sacred Word. Don't hesitate. Even if it means you'll get sucked into Purgatory along with Cain." I drew my eyes away. Not wanting to hear it. "Cameron."

"What?" I snarled, gaze whipping to his.

"You can't be so selfish as to want the world to pay for your happiness." Michael cut me a look. "Not that there will be any happiness for anyone if Cain keeps this up."

It wasn't like I wanted the world to be at Cain's mercy, but I sure as hell didn't want to die. My eyes dipped to where Lucifer and Etna's bodies were. Lucifer hadn't needed to cut a deal to save me. He hadn't gotten shit out of it; only my life. I forced myself to swallow the horrible mix of saliva, blood and whatever bits in my mouth. If the Devil could do something selfless for… whatever the reason, I could too.

"I understand." I muttered, lifting black eyes to Lucifer's identical twin. "If you screw up, I won't."

Michael's lips tipped at the corners.

"You remind me of Gabriel," he said just as wings prepared to tuck around him, to ship him off to another dimension. "He had a funny way with words too." light encased the entire room again, flooding it with a more intense, blinding kind.

It was a good minute before I got my eyesight in order. I stood there, in an empty room, with two dead bodies at my feet, hoping Michael could put a stop to Cain. That would take a miracle. God would really come in handy right now. What Michael said rattled me; not because I reminded him of Dad, well, not only that. But because… For the first time, in a long time, I wished I could have family other than Phillip. My gaze instantly did a one-eighty to Lucifer's unmoving body.

There was no point in wishing for anything, though. Least of all dumb things like that. I needed to get out of here—wherever here was. I needed to get back to Nina and the others, needed to warn them. That this might be it. Maybe this was the end for supernatural beings—all of us. I fished through my pockets and found my cellphone inside the left pocket of my jacket. The screen was cracked. I tried giving it some charge… Nothing. Sighing, I bent down. Whatever I was going to do, I couldn't just leave their bodies like this. Not only because Nina would kill me if she knew, but I was already paying the damned guilt toll for their deaths—especially Etna's.

I slipped my hands underneath Etna's body, hefting her into my arms. Already she felt colder. I put her down, gently, beside Lucifer. Then I shut my eyes, feeling the electricity zapping around myself, in the air, between the molecules; inside the walls, the circuits. I drew all I could from the building and the atmosphere surrounding us. I was still on the mend, but this was something that came naturally, and I was feeling motivated. The blue—almost white—energy built in my right palm. It was hot, scalding. The lightning zapped from my skin to their clothes, so scorching it set them on fire. I did it a couple more times, until the flames were orange, fat enough to spread across their entire bodies and slowly consume them.

A bead of sweat dropped down my hairline. Yep, still weak. I swayed on my feet, staggering like a drunk goose. Hands steadied my shoulders. I didn't fight them off because of the voice that accompanied them, "Is that…?"

"Yeah." I answered Raphael. "Cain's a lucky bastard."

"He is." Raphael agreed, sounding very, very pissed. I let out a chuckle, remembering all the times he'd chastised me with 'language!'. "You're weak. What happened?"

"Cambion bite. Again. I'm an unlucky bastard." Raphael made sure I wouldn't fall on my ass before releasing me. I watched him as he observed the impromptu-burning ceremony. "Michael went after Cain. To Heaven."

"I figured. Cain wouldn't have killed Etna if he hadn't gotten that out of her." I noticed the blood on Raphael's usual pristine white clothes. He caught me eying the blood spatter. "Cameron? You don't look alright."

None of this was alright. I shut my eyes for a moment. Once I reopened them, I grew acutely aware of the smell of burning flesh. Flashbacks of my father sprung forth. I wrestled those to the darkest corner of my mind, where they belonged.

"I need to go back. I need to warn the others. Michael told me to open Purgatory if he doesn't succeed in stopping Cain. He said… We'd see it if he failed."

"I'm not sure what he meant by that." My surrogate uncle stated as an afterthought. "We're about one day from the Coven's manor. I'll accompany you. You look like death." I felt dead. "How aren't you dead?" I snorted. After all these years, Raphael still detained that tactless Angelness to him. Aw, some things never changed.

"Believe it or not, Lucifer offered Cain a deal. He taught him how to permanently open the Hell Gates in exchange for an antidote." Raphael's eyes grew larger than life. "Yeah, I can't believe it either…"

"He taught him what?" Oh, yeah, I could see how that was a big, worrisome deal.

"Things are shit already. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?" I forced myself to walk away from the pyre-like burial. I needed to get away from this smell. "Besides, Cain won't get to perform that spell. He'll be too busy getting sucked into Purgatory."

***

Raphael made me rest for two handful of hours at a dingy motel somewhere on the side of the road. As much as I hated admitting it, he'd been right. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to run all the way to the plantation. As I prowled the halls, being led by a younger Coven member whose name I'd already forgotten, I thought about what I told Raphael.

About Cain losing.

I talked a big game. Though, as I was left alone in the Lunantis' basement, where my brother was, I felt anything but a winner. Serena was coming out of what I assumed was Phillip's temporary bedroom. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. I didn't blame her, it looked like I'd been tossed into a blender.

"You should see the other guys." Serena wasn't amused by my humor. Giving me some berth, she eyed me warily, dreading the news I was about to deliver. "I tried stopping him…" I explained what happened as quickly as possible, putting big emphasize on Michael's warning. Serena didn't look happy about that last part. Who would be?

"That's where you two disappeared to." Apparently, my fun-filled adventure at Cain's evil lair had cost me an entire the night and then some. "Din told us he never heard from you."

I ignored that, crossing my arms.

"How's Phillip?"

Serena cast a side-long look at the ground.

"He was in a lot of pain when they started. He went into a delirious state for a bit." The pain was that intense? Shit. Every bone in my body told me to charge into the room and take him away from this Coven. A scuffing sound tore my eyes off the shut door; Serena pushed a hand against my forearm. "It's working, Cameron. Phillip said so. I don't know how he knows it, he says he can feel the urges diminishing." Her lips pinched for a second as she looked between me and the door. "He asked for you. Before."

"Can I see him now?"

"Yes, but he's sleeping." I shrugged; I just needed to see Phill. "He's restrained, Cam. If he wakes up and asks you to set him free, don't. No matter what he might tell you, don't listen. A lot of times it's the virus trying to save itself."

I nodded, knowing I could handle myself because this was probably the only way to save Phillip from Purgatory. The inside was dark, only lit by flares littering the walls. A single bed was shoved against a sturdy rock wall. I could smell blood and sweat. Something akin to sickness too. I took a seat on a folding chair near the bed, where Serena must've spent hours at. Sweat dotted my brother's brow, matting the dark sandy hair to his forehead. Despite everything, he didn't seem so pale. That was a good sign. I sifted through his hair as Phillip's whole body shuddered, moving under the thick covers. I heard the distinct sound of shackles clicking.

At some point, while I sat there, just thinking and studying my brother's face, Phillip's eyes cracked a fraction. I wasn't sure if they saw me, they looked anything but alert… A scream rippled throughout the basement. It was followed by a series of yowls, like an animal was being slaughtered with an axe. I waited a couple of minutes to see if Phillip reacted, but he kept on snoozing. When the yells didn't subside, I got up, pressing my lips to my brother's head like Mom used to do when we'd been scared.

I was not expecting to find a short, curly-haired girl with stunning mocha skin coming out—more like rushing out—of another identical door.

"Dawn?" I croaked above the massive yelling. The screams were female, now that I paid attention. Suddenly, her being here made sense: Nina had contacted Vanessa about the cure.

Dawn's typical happy face wasn't looking good. Fat tears were skating down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them as her almond shaped eyes sought out mine.

"Came—" my name died halfway on her lips. I was still wearing the same bloody clothes as before. "Jesus—are… are you okay? Is that…?"

"Some is mine. Some isn't." I let that linger between us. "But I'm all fixed up. What are you doing here?"

"Nina, she… got in touch with Vanessa and told her about everything that might go down. Long story short, someone did a whacky spell and opened a… door or portal or something… I came with V." Dawn's usual bubbliness was a no-show. Surprisingly enough, I wanted that blabber mouth attitude of hers to peek out. I wanted something normal—something familiar—to cling to. Because everything felt tainted, like it was slowly being pulled apart by one entity, one being. "Things are a little crazy, huh?" she whispered, blinking several times. Dawn wiped at her eyes quickly. She let out a choked sad laugh. "Shit. I haven't cried in front of you since Peter Lawrence pushed me off the swing."

I cocked my head down at her. The screaming came to an abrupt halt, causing Dawn's head to jerk toward the door keeping Vanessa from view. The last thing I needed, was to think about what a cure for Vampirism entailed. So, I did both of us a favor by keeping the conversation flowing.

"That was sixth grade." She whipped toward me, a flabbergasted expression on her face.

"Yep. You put the fear of God into that kid. He never so much as looked at me again." I let out a long exhale. Still, the heavy weight didn't leave, it kept pressing down on me, causing my Power to become agitated. All the feelings I'd been dampening ever since Cain waltzed into school were slowly leaking out and Nina was right. She'd been right since—since I tried to leave Haven Hills with her tossed over a shoulder. I did care about other people, about… friends. "Hey, so… I kinda owe you an apology." Tight curls fell forward, cluttering Dawn's face as she sniffed. My gaze snapped to hers; Dawn looked to the side. "Vanessa told me about… everything. I don't understand some things—a lot of things, really. But… I understand why you couldn't be around her after… After what happened to her and her father. In the woods. With the…" Dawn trailed off. This little ball of sunshine was assimilating a lot of darkness. "With the Vampire. Holy crapola. Vampires are real."

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" she mimicked with a sad, shaky grin. "I can't believe this has been your life. Like, you know, always."

"I'm not going to sugarcoat things and say it's been fun. It hasn't." Especially this last year. "You don't owe me anything. Despite everything you know now, I'm still a first-rate jackass." I tried to lighten the mood. Seeing Dawn so miserable felt wrong.

It worked on some level because Dawn decided it was okay to step forward, lift her arms and wrap them around me. Dawn had never hugged me before. Phillip? Sure thing. Dawn had hugged Phillip a million times, especially whenever he won basketball games. But us? Our relationship had always followed a mutual understanding, unspoken, but both of us knew our 'banter routine'.

"I know we don't hug," came the small, muffled voice as she squeezed her face against my chest. "But I just really need a hug right now, Cam." I didn't ask why; it could be because Zeke was dead, because her psyche was hitting a breaking point, because Cain used a love potion on her and made her do horrible things—things I didn't want to hear about. It could be because she understood that the world could soon be in the hands of a maniac whose only goal was to cause suffering upon everyone.

Whatever the reason didn't matter. My arms slithered around her small frame, encasing her softly. Dawn tightened her hold, showing no signs of letting go any time soon. People like Dawn didn't deserve whatever Cain had instore. Most humans didn't know people like me were real, they thought we were the stuff of nightmares and fiction novels. Maybe I couldn't get a happy ending, but it didn't mean others couldn't. That Nina couldn't. Even Phillip and V if the virus was exterminated on time—before Purgatory was open. If it had to be open.

"Things are going to be alright," I whispered suddenly, without a filter. "I promise."

"Phillip says you never break a promise." That earned her a languid chuckle.

"Phillip's right."

***

After making sure Dawn wouldn't have a full-on mental breakdown, I left to find Nina. Serena told me which room had been assigned to her and I had no trouble following the tickling at the base of my neck.

Her beautiful face greeted me as she pulled the door back. Her heart shaped face twisted with annoyance. I almost smirked; then thought better of it, Nina would slap me if she thought I was laughing at her.

"Where were you? I've been calling you non-stop!" I kept a long sigh under wraps. Nearly two days had passed since Cain's ritual. Whatever was happening in Heaven was anyone's guess. "Your clothes…"

I shook my head, "Don't worry, I'm unharmed. Can I come in?" we were still on shaky ground because of my recent behavior. Suddenly, though, I wasn't angry at Nina for being pissed at me.

Nina backed up, letting me in. It was a nice room. Large and spacious with little furniture. It was impersonal. It made me ache for home, for that large mansion back in Haven Hills. Would I ever go back there? The thought hit me out of nowhere. The worry lines etched on Nina's face made me focus.

"I don't know how to tell you this without it being a shock, so, here it goes." I drew a short breath. "Yesterday, after I got back to the motel, I saw Lucifer wandering off on his own. I called him. He didn't respond, so I followed him…" as I carried on sharing yesterday's events with Nina, I saw she already knew how the story ended. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist and she wasn't dumb.

What struck her silly was the obvious, "Lucas made a deal to save you?" she sounded as baffled as I'd been—it was still hard to believe it was true. Wiping her hands across the sides of her hips, Nina bit her lip. "Maybe he wanted forgiveness for… everything he put you and Phillip through."

Maybe. He'd given plenty of reasons why he might have had such a sweet heart towards the end. I shrugged wordlessly.

"You were right, Nina." I whispered. "I do feel bad that things ended like that. For them. But what else could I have done? Cain had me—had Phillip. Jade. I had to do something and that was the only way out, I—"

Nina strode over, clasping my cheeks.

"Stop. I know, okay? I know there was nothing else you could've done to get out alive. I thought I was angry because you gave up Etna and Lucas and—at first—yeah, it was. But I couldn't be angry once I put myself in your shoes. What would I have done?" her fingers dug a little into my skin; the galaxy clusters that were her eyes shone brighter. "I would've done the same thing to save you. I was being a hypocrite" Her voice broke. And that hurt. Because we still had humanity left in us. Unlike some crazies like Uriel and Cain who hurt people for no reason.

"I've been avoiding this—all of it—because it feels like I have to make a big choice. A life altering decision that's going to affect so many beings on this planet. You feel me?"

I brushed tawny hair from her face. Bliss washed through me as our skins touched, mine humming for hers.

"Even before Michael told me to open Purgatory," even if it meant I got sucked out of this dimension along with every other being with Power. "I've had this… feeling. It's scary. Cain, he's… He legitimately scares me, Nina. I've never been scared like this. Ever." It was almost an irrational sort of fear, the kind I imagined animals felt when humans hunted them. "I know how much Cain terrifies you. I didn't want to tell you. I thought…"

"You thought what?"

"I thought it would make it worse for you. Knowing that I'm that scared." It made me feel utterly weak. "I didn't want you think I couldn't keep you safe from him."

Her expression softened. Nina grabbed the edge of my shirt, uncaring of dried blood. I swallowed slowly as my heart sped up.

"You don't need to act tough for me. I'm the one person you don't need to lie to," Nina blinked. "I know exactly who you are, what you're capable of and how strong you are. That's how I knew you were bullshiting yourself. When you told me you're too selfish to care about the world."

And that's why the decision I might have to make scared me shitless. Healed and in my right mind, I remembered what Lucifer told me, about Cain's obsessions. About me being one of them. Being alone could bore anyone, even the Devil, why not Cain? The sneaking suspicion filled my veins with ice as I cradled Nina's chin with my left hand.

"I prefer it when I'm right and you're wrong." Nina showed me a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Do you have a bathroom? I need to get out of these." I broke off, searching the room for some door. Nina tugged my arm. I followed her pointing finger.

"I'll find you something to wear."

"Thanks."

Things felt raw between us, but better than before. I was glad she didn't have the ability to read minds, otherwise, she would've slapped some Golden chains on me and thrown me into a basement with reinforced steel and bars.