Purgatorial

Nina's POV

I was human. The thought still rung hollowly whenever I tried to pull from that prickly well of energy… It was empty. There was nothing. There wasn't even a hole to be filled, it was like… like I'd always been Powerless.

I was sitting in the basement of the Lunantis Coven, in the study room Cam showed me one last memory so I would shed a tear. I wasn't alone, though. Dawn was pressed against me, weeping silently against my shoulder after hours of loud sobbing; somehow, I'd managed to leash my own tears as she told me muddled memories of her time under Cain's thrall. Mostly, Dawn cried for Zeke. She hadn't been able to mourn him properly; Cain had slipped her the love potion so soon after Sam killed him.

I was swept in a tide of pure hatred. The arm around Dawn's shoulders tightened despite the numbness creeping along my muscles; we'd been like this for hours. Hours of not knowing where Cameron was. Tears must've shone because Jade, who was sitting across from us, came to kneel in front of me. She was human too, now. Serena was busy taking Power from whoever wished it.

A young, calloused hand settled on my knee. Injuries from her time as Cain's punchbag were nearly gone. No flesh wounds, but she still sported a massive yellowing bruise across the abdomen.

Blinking away the burning was made that much harder by realizing that my friends—these two girls—had been tortured at the hands of that monster and—and now… now he had Cameron. I'd had time to re-read his letter a thousand times; what he'd told me last night, about making a hard choice, God, I hadn't… Hadn't been smart enough to understand!

"Nina." Jade squeezed my hand. I forced myself to look her in the eye. I couldn't help the lost, glazed expression. "Are you going to leave?"

Dawn's frame pulled away slightly. A bundle of curls crowned her sweaty forehead, jostling as she wiped furiously at both cheeks and nose.

"I…" I began, feeling completely defeated. I had no Power; not that I could've done much in a fight to start with, but at least I would've been able to heal. "I can't live without him—I… I can't." even though I couldn't feel those lovely tickles anymore, I could feel him. It was just a sort of sixth sense that told me Cam was alive.

"You're going after him." Dawn whispered, none of her bubbliness present, only grim realization. "Nina, you could die! Cam is powerful, right? He has powers. You… You're…"

The door opened and a girl with curly hazel hair came inside accompanied by none other than Raphael. My heart churned. Olivia—Liv, as she liked being called—was Eve and Adam's descendant. Her skin hadn't been anywhere dark, but now she was pale, her face reminiscent of a shriveled grape. They'd needed to spill her blood on the Sacred Word, to taint every page—front and back—until the words showed. How much had they needed? Raphael practically carried her to the armchair Jade had vacated. Liv's head lolled, letting us glimpse her shuttered eyes.

"They bled her for a long time, nearly three litters. She'll be alright if she rests and eats. I healed her wounds myself." Raph explained. Those champagne eyes met mine and I shot to my feet, pushing Jade onto her back and Dawn aside.

Raphael eyed me intently as I stood before him, fists clenched. Shaking.

"Help me find him—take me to him. Please." I begged before he could utter a word. "I can't leave him alone with that monster. If he dies…" Cam was afraid of being alone. The memory of Cameron dying on a bed reached me. It was so solid—still so vivid. His pasty face, the desolate eyes, made better only by my presence. "I can't just sit here and let Cameron die. And if that happens, I won't let him face it alone. I need to be with him. Please, please, Raphael!" I balled the shirt the Archangel was wearing, knees buckling at the sheer emptiness that came from being powerless to save the person I loved most in this God forsaken world.

Cameron was trying to save this dimension, but I had no intention of living in a world without him. There was no world for me without Cameron. I would claw through legions of Cains to see him home, unharmed, smiling so beautifully—sporting those twin dimples; I would bleed and tear myself apart until we were one again.

Hands caught me around the shoulders, halting my descent to the floor—to beg on hands and knees. I lifted a tear stained face to Raphael's breathtakingly handsome one and found a tortured gaze.

"Please," I repeated—sucking a breath. "You raised him, Raphael—"

"Yes." My mouth stopped working. My heart skipped several beats on that three lettered word. "I never agreed to Cameron's horrible mess. His are always terrible, half-baked plans." A skittish laugh tore itself from my throat. Raphael's grip grew tighter, steadying me. "Serena lifted the cloaking spell before he left. She can easily locate him for us."

That was all I needed to hear before the cogs started to spin in an effort to concoct a plan of our own.

***

Raphael's ability to manipulate air had other uses than just throwing people across floors. He could cocoon himself and others in a scentless, mute bubble of invisibility. Raphael thought he could do a good job at shrouding his Power from Cain; it better be true, otherwise, what good were all the millennia he'd spent honing his Power?

Serena located Cameron in New Orleans, at Lafayette Cemetery to be more precise. From there, it wasn't a far leap to guess where Cam and Cain were. Cain's next move was to open the Hell Gates without restriction. Unlike the Archangel escorting me, Cain didn't bother with concealing his Power. It was like a rotting, stinking wound. According to Raphael, losing my Power meant I couldn't feel others. The closer Raphael led us, the more I shivered. Almost like a part of me knew something was up ahead—something that shot fear through me, human or not.

As we edged toward the cracked mausoleum, I braced myself against Cain's voice. I jumped at the sudden grip on my elbow. Looking over a shoulder, I was met with a foreboding expression. A mix of awe and dread.

"What?" I whispered, even with Raphael's assurance that no one could hear us.

"It's started. Purgatory has been opened." No wonder he looked shaken. The Archangel pointed at the sky. "Can you see them?"

I followed his finger. I saw… I saw a night sky. Cloudy, almost no stars. Only the full moon sparked potently. I couldn't see a them. I shook my head.

"Then we're in luck," he retorted, seeming to shake fear like a cape. "Humans won't know something is amiss. There are clouds of green and blue shimmering together, heading straight for a devouring black eye high above the ground."

An—an eye? I felt compelled to check if I saw it this time around, but a loud scream tore through any curiosity. I knew that scream anywhere. It had haunted my nightmares before I ever met the person it belonged to. I rushed forward, Raphael in toe. I was snatched around the waist before I could throw myself inside the candle lit crypt.

"Raphael…" I struggled. He didn't relent.

I took in the scenery, immediately feeling sick. Several large jars of blood were placed at four points of a pentagon and at the fifth… a skull. A very small skull. A hand shot to cover my mouth. To cover a scream or the vomit, I had no clue. Then, at the center of it, Cameron. He was kneeling, chest heaving, blood streaked clothes and skin—so much blood.

Cain held up a hand when Cam tried to move.

"Nope. I need you to stay right there. The last ingredient is Power. I need to sacrifice a large amount and who better than an Archangel's descendant? Better than anyone else I have lying around." Cain curled his fingers and Cam let out a wet gasp.

I grabbed Raph's hand, intent on prying it away.

"Stop. Think. Purgatory has been opened. Cain has the largest sum of Power on Earth, but already I can see it leaving him. It won't be long before he feels something is amiss. Unless someone distracts him." Someone who can put a target on his back without being instantly killed. "Purgatory is already tugging at my Power—at everything I am." Because Power is woven into blood and blood is one of the essentials to live. "It's leaving Cameron as well."

"No!"

"Quiet, I don't know how long I'll be able to mask us." Because Purgatory was slowly destroying everything he was—because he was being killed. Raphael grabbed two cerulean daggers from inside his jacket. He pressed one into my slack fingers. "I'll buy you as much time as I can, Nina. Be quick, don't wait for me, grab Cameron and leave." I was supposed to call Serena afterwards; she was going to try and open a portal to our location. She'd never tried it before.

It might not work, the thought braced down on me, suffocating.

Cain began chanting.

Raphael tilted his head, listening to Cam's hiss. Then those bright eyes met mine.

"Tell them I regret not doing a better job. Especially with Cameron."

My lips parted—to say what, I had no idea. To thank him? That wouldn't have been enough in the face of what he was about to do. Cain was completely thrown off balance—literally and figuratively—as Raph plowed into him, sending him flying into a wall. The impact shook the very ground I stood on. With the hybrid still reeling, the twin's honorary uncle jumped him, guiding the Azure blade into Cain's chest like a fierce avenging Angel.

Cain shot out a hand. Raphael was thrown aside like a rag-doll.

"You think you can win against me?" the purple eyed man bellowed. Warning bells rang louder than his ire. He was up and walking to where Cam was, still struggling with Cain's Magic. "Are you here to save him, Archangel? How sweet. Would you like to trade places with him?"

"Yes." Raphael said.

Cain laughed loudly.

"Sweet and noble." What followed were howls from my boyfriend. Deafening. Raphael fought against Cain's hold. For what felt like forever, there was no end to Cam's bloody cries, to Raphael's pleading screams.

Then it happened. Cain swayed. He faltered a step and the hold on both men was broken. Cameron pitched into the dirt, exhausted. Raphael moved with less speed, but swiftly, nonetheless.

"You!" Cain growled. I thought he'd seen me. Maybe Purgatory had taken too much from Raph already. Those purple eyes were glued on Cameron, though. "You… This was a trap."

He was feeling his Power draining. Raphael wrenched Cain away from the pentagram. Cain was lifted and slammed into the rectangular tomb. It cracked under the force. The Archangel and the hybrid became a flurry of limbs and growls animalistic enough to make you think a pack of dogs were having a go at each other.

I started forward. Just then, Cain got the upper hand, gaining ground on Raphael. They were blocking my way to Cam. I just needed an opening to grab Cam and haul him outside. That wouldn't be easy. That would be near impossible. He didn't look like he could stand. Adrenalin was good for a ton of things, even for causing feats of strength…

It was a full moon.

A random variety of things scurried across my mind. I would never listen to Cam's wry chuckles, the obnoxious jokes, the lovely song he wrote for me—the way his voice worked as a caress, a whisper burrowing underneath my very skin, eliciting shivers riffled with wondrous passion. I would never see those striking obsidian eyes shining even in the poorest light. The heat of his sensuous mouth on mine would be lost. He would never just hold me for hours, safe and sound, like my personal army.

My perfectly imperfect Prince of Darkness would be gone.

I wouldn't—I couldn't stand it. Those thoughts—of what I would lose—replayed, accompanying me through the quick run to get to him. Cain was close—too close for comfort. Raphael struck again. This time the Azure blade met the psychopath's chest. Cain's scream was hideously loud, crude, like he had no experience in screaming.

One knee buckled on the dirt, next to Cam's trembling shape. I looped an arm around my boyfriend's torso, wincing at his whimper. I'm sorry, darling, the words never left as I grabbed for Cam's hand, stretching his arm towards the round place on the wall. Cameron was so smart. Thankfully, he'd already caught on. Blood ran in an inverted river—up to the snake head. Another roar sizzled through the tomb. I doubled down, pushing my forehead into Cam's cheek, listening to his shallow breaths.

"Is it draining you?" I risked asking. It was soft enough to go unheard.

Cam grunted in reply, but I had no idea what it meant. So, I held him tighter, praying that if I pressed closer it our bodies would blend and he would be as human as I was. My eyes flickered to the leering snake head—they widened at the glowing orbs. The Hell Gate swung open without a shudder or hesitance and just like that, I threw out our joined hands to touch the slippery mantle of dark whispers.

The last thing I saw before oily tendrils covered my head, was Raphael being slammed into a wall—the wall dented in the shape of his body and a cruel hand broke through muscle and bone, intent on killing the last Archangel. Cain stumbled—

Then nothing but the familiar screams of the souls trapped in the Gate. They can't hurt me, I thought, heart racing despite it. I clung to Cam even if I couldn't properly feel him, wishing this unwinding passageway would spit us out.

Just like last time, we were spat out in an icy hallway filled with identical doors. Concerns about the prowling Demons turned flimsy at a spatter of blood; I spread Cam on the cold floor, spinning him onto his back. My hands hovered the large gashes across his front. I was just about to apply pressure on the nastier looking one—near his stomach—when a wheeze drove a palm to his cheek.

"Cam, darling, please—please heal!"

Cameron tried and failed to lean into the caring touch, flinching. A blood smeared hand came up, falling halfway. Fingers wiggled though. They wiggled again. I started frowning until it hit me; he was pointing—pointing at his throat! I touched two fingers against it. Cam's agitation didn't die down, if anything it picked up. His nostrils flared every two seconds and a strangled wet, cry left him.

It sounded like…

"You're choking?" I asked out loud. He didn't need to nod or widen his eyes to confirm the hunch. I joined my hands, rearing them back—lifting them high above my head—bringing them down on his chest where the diaphragm met the lungs. Droplets of blood sprayed me and stained the corners of his mouth. I repeated the motion; again, again, again, until finally, a jet of blood spat from his mouth. He'd been drowning in his own blood. I helped Cam onto his side. He spat two mouthfuls before shudders took over. The cave was filled by greedy gasps. My nose pressed into the back of his head as I smoothed a hand across it, slicking back his silky hair. I wasn't aware that some of those gasps were mine—sobs. I was trembling along with him.

"Are you healing?" I never released him, never stopped stroking his hair.

"Nina?" he murmured in the most defeated voice I'd ever heard him use. "Nina." He repeated my name, voice cracking. He was crying. Cameron was crying in my arms—because he never thought he'd see me again. He'd been prepared to die.

I cried along with him. Shock and delirium taking over.

"I'm here," I whispered. "Oh, Cam, darling, I'm here. I'm real. This is real—you're safe. You're safe with me." I wasn't sure if we were safe here. I just knew—prayed—that Cain couldn't last long or had already been wiped from Earth, swept and trapped in Purgatory for all eternity.

Don't let him come after us, please, please. Just let it end, please… Long ago, or what felt like eternity, when I found out what I was—what the brothers were—I'd been told God had abandoned us. Cam said there was no use in praying to Him. Yet, for the first time, I was praying to God—really praying—eyes clenched shut as we both rocked in a ball of sweat, fear, blood and tears.

Minutes ticked by. Nothing came through the Gate. Faintly, sounds reached us from beyond hallway. The image of a Freeloader entered my mind. I cringed, hating to have to pull away. That hate was replaced with warmth as Cam's eyelids slid open, fixating on my face.

"You found me." he stated in awe.

A finger skimmed across those plentiful lips, tenderly wiping at the blood. Some of it was caked; cuts marred his upper lip at the center.

"I would follow you to the ends of the world." Cam huffed a chuckle. The sound was so small… So at odds with everything he was. Brash, arrogant, prideful, passionate, loving—my love. "I could never walk away from you, darling. Never."

Unsteadily, he raised a hand, touching the pads of his fingers to my cheeks. The ghost of a touch. I found my skin singing at the bare nearness, anyway. I thought I'd never feel his closeness again, this was larger than life.

"I should have known… my warrior princess." A light laugh bubbled out of me; the sound became choked halfway through. New worry bloomed. "It'll take some time to heal. This—this isn't safe." He rasped breathing hard, tearing those fathomless eyes from me, cataloging our surroundings.

I showed Cam the Azure dagger I'd stashed inside my boot.

"Like I said…" Cam strained to sit. His hair tickled my temple as he leaned in, "Warrior princess." A shuddering breath later, his mouth found mine. I could've wept for hours. A tang of copper covered my tongue as it lapped at his mouth, but I couldn't be bothered to pull away or care. This kiss was soft and desperate, relief incarnate—something in my chest shrunk as I clung to his shoulders for fear of being torn apart. Never again, I promised silently. We would never be apart again.

Even if Demons found us here, ripped us to shreds, ate us—we would die together.

The air hummed around us. I blinked, pulling away, as strands of hair soared. The air was charged with electricity, I realized. One glimpse at Cameron told me enough. He could feed on electricity to fuel his healing. Still, it didn't work like the last time. Cuts sluggishly eased into frail patched pink scars. The larger slashes remained open, though bleeding less. Bruises seemed to dull.

"What's this?" I skimmed a finger above his neck, smearing dirt and blood from a tattooed symbol.

"A present from Cain. It means he's still alive. Most spells fade after the person who cast them dies." A warning not to return.

"It's fading at the edges," I whispered, focused on the passageway across from the doors, where a hallway of noisy Demons lurked. "That means he's getting weak, right?"

"Or maybe he's already gone. Maybe the magic is taking a while to fade."

"We don't know when Purgatory will be closed." We just knew it would close after it stole every shred of Power from Earth. "No one knows we're here."

Cam settled a hand on the one trembling with cold, the one clutching the dagger. Our eyes met and held. His were sobering from pain. No matter how bleak the situation seemed—to be stranded in Hell—I felt the most relieved I had in weeks. Slowly, Cam pried my fingers from around the hilt.

"We need to leave this place. Your lips are turning blue." Surprise speared through me. Already? "There's no sliver of Power to protect you now. You're human." He reminded me, not unkindly. "Help me up?"

Warmth seeped into my cheeks. I was human but he was relaying on me. So unlike a couple of months ago when he'd kept Lucas' possession of him secret, because my ability wouldn't have been able to help solve the problem. Cameron looped his left arm around my shoulders. Our height difference made it awkward, Cam was practically tilting onto his left. The first couple of steps were harrowing, we both nearly slipped on patches of ice. Freeloaders were blind, I recalled as we lumbered on, their sense of smell was the dangerous part. And right now, Cam had left a pool of blood in our wake. Thankfully, most of the bleeding had ceased and what was left on Cam was dry.

We navigated with difficulty. Still, we managed to stumble upon three Freeloaders. Their giant mouths filed with teeth hung with slimy saliva dripping to the floor. A blast of electricity streaked across the ice, hitting the prowling Demon straight on, leaving charred skin in its wake. The other two came at us; we maneuvered into a tunnel, barely dodging the smaller one. The broader one held its eyeless head before throwing itself at us—putting its entire weight behind the lunge. Cameron's arm slipped from me, grabbing the monster's jaw. Although, trembling, he managed to keep it from chomping on his nose and probably most of his face. Instinct drove me to grab the Azure dagger from the back of Cam's jeans. I stabbed the Freeloader everywhere I could—it howled.

"Near the head! The skin's thinner!" Cam hadn't finished explaining and I'd already drawn a deep, bloody necklace around the Demon's supposed neck.

There was no time for 'good job' or smiles. Cam threw the body onto the smaller one and we were half running, half slipping down a tongue of ice ground, headed for the light. A shriek bit at our heels just as we neared freedom. I whirled in the crunching snow to see Cam smash a rock at dizzying speed, until it broke. The Freeloader didn't stop quickly enough, ending up buried in glossy grey debris. Fresh, cold air washed my face in a fiery embrace. The crisp scent burned my nostrils as I took in the large orange sun and lovely blue moon orbiting the sky; the first, was impossibly larger than our sun and more sunset than early sunshine and the moon was so much closer, it felt like it was precariously hung, that a strong wind would cause it to tumble and crush the sizable snowy-covered mountains. I let out a frustrated huff at the jagged obstacle before us.

I'd barely managed to climb this wall the first time. Back then, we'd had furry coats, gloves… Cameron took both my hands in his. The skin below my nails was turning purple.

"It'll be faster if I carry you." the thought of arguing crossed my mind only because he didn't look steady. "Trust me. I won't let you fall." Last time, he'd pushed me to climb this cliff, because he'd known I would've felt useless if he'd helped me.

I nodded. The ginormous sun was already dipping low. Once it was gone, the Freeloaders could hunt outside the tunnels. Cam turned around, crouching. I was on his back, arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist. I thought he might go fast, but we moved at a slow, steady pace. He was saving his energy. He stopped once before dragging us across the cliff's slippery edge. We stayed there for a minute, on our sides, bracing for the rough miles ahead.

***

We collapsed near the shore of Abyssal Lake, where Basilisks roamed beneath poisoned waters. During the night, an ice layer would form to get us across. Cam pulled me into his lap, nestling my head in the crook of his neck. We wrapped each other in an embrace, uncaring of wet clothes or bloodstains. I thought the sudden flicker of warmth came from our bodies but then a soft sizzling snickered the air; my skin flushed from a net of sparkling energy.

"New trick?"

"I learned a lot in that Cube." One day, he was going to explain how he'd managed to turn a cursed prison into a beneficial experience. "My stay was therapeutic in some ways." He shared, giving me a conspiratorial smile as if reading my thoughts. "I can't feel you anymore. There aren't any tingles back here," he rubbed my neck. "It's so strange."

Along the white-stone covered shores were decaying carcasses and scattered broken bones. Romeo had told us about people trying to cross the lake in a desperate attempt to escape the Demons Cain riled. In Hell, time flowed differently than on Earth, I could only assume the low temps were responsible for the bodies' preservation.

"What if they broke into Domain?" I asked through chattering teeth. Now that we were finally able to step on the thick icy layer above the roaming snakes, Cam couldn't use Power. Neither of us wanted a repeat of last time. We kept a crushing grip on each other.

"Let's hope they didn't." I couldn't imagine Demons breaching those massive walls. We made it without calling attention to ourselves. The night was eerily quiet. I couldn't remember if it had always been this way. We walked a dirt road and entered a forest; it was the place we camped the first night, where Romeo scavenged for Mandrake fruit to heal me from the Basilisk poison.

"Sit down," I ordered Cam. He lifted an eyebrow, trying to play it cool. "I can get sticks for the fire." I motioned behind me, where an abundance of trees were. "You can keep an eye out. Plus," I showed him the dagger. "if anything jumps out, I'll stab first and ask questions later."

Cameron sighed, sinking to the ground. He leaned against a hollow trunk.

"Stay where I can see you." I kissed his forehead in response.

Minutes later, we were huddled together near a small fire Cameron sparked. Flames underlined the marred fatigue on Cameron's face; he took deep breaths, fingers intertwined with mine. Just before sleep pulled him under, I whispered:

"The mark's gone." I felt tears spring to life. "We won, Cam. We won." I whispered, unbelieving.

"I won the moment I met you." Cam hummed, head resting on the log.