Chapter 18 (Clare)

“Your immortality will bring Infinity to your knees.” Her captor whispered in her ear, the tip of his tongue
wetting her earlobe, making her stomach wrench, at the sickly sweet scent assaulting her nose, “Too
bad I have been ordered to kill you. If it was up to me, I’d make you my consort.”

She snarled, “Bastard,” through clenched teeth, not wanting Nathan to lose it. The crushing sound of
her wrist bone-breaking weakened her. Clare ignored her body’s need to release the pain by
screaming, and snorted, her whimper just a whisper, “With your putrid breath I won't even let you kiss
my ass.”

She felt it rather than saw it first, like an invisible shield going up before her mother appeared from
nothing but smoke, her eyes blazing with blue flames, that sparked like a live wire. The same licks of
firelight caught on her mother’s hands in the color of a blue flaming torch. A scenario that should've
caused her captor to loosen his hold, or let her go. But not him, this one was determined to finish the
job.

This woman no stranger to her eyes, but Clare knew she was really seeing her mother for the first time.
There were so much rage and anger, so much strength in those flame-filled eyes that resembled a
warrior. And all of it focused on the man who held Clare captive.

Franchesca grabbed the metal rope from the man’s hand but he tightens it just in time, slicing all of
Franchesca's fingers open in the process. Red liquid sprayed out, Franchesca clenched her bleeding
hand in a tight fist, showing no sign of pain, the only sight of pure anger and determination.

Clare kicked the man who was holding as the metal string loosened around her neck, sprinting behind
her mother. Seconds after, he crossed the floor grabbing her mother by the neck. Franchesca
screamed in pain, her agony echoing in the passageway as he scraped his claws across Franchesca's
neck, her voice cracked and hoarse from the blood gushing out, “RUN Clare! Run, NOW.”



Franchesca pushed back, and spun around in seconds, kicking the guy with enough momentum that it
lifted him in the air, and back down, only to land on his feet. Franchesca somersaulted in the air, with
blazing eyes, screaming, “She's not like the others, we’ll protect her, he can't fight us all!”

The man’s face turned red, his body turning into a fever so high his eyes protruded as they stared
daggers on Franchesca who still stood in mid-air standing guard, like an avenging angel, her fingers
sliced almost completely off, neck oozing blood but she didn’t show weakness.

Nathan flung the dagger in the man’s carotid and grabbed Clare’s arms, shaking her, so she'd look at
him, but all she saw was her mother.

Nathan yelled, “Let’s get out of here,” went like liquid through Clare’s ears, as she stood there, mouth
open, watching. The man’s head spinning, his neck-breaking, a huge sharp thing protruding from his
back. Inching closer toward him, involuntary, wanting to see what it was crawling out of the man's
shoulders, Clare was stopped short by Nathan.

But she still watched in terror and amazement as whatever was coming out of the man’s back got
bigger and more visible, until she saw it properly from where she stood, shuddering she scrunched her
face.

Black and the darkest shade of green wings were now visible, with jagged edges and unsightly oozing
blood dripping from the bottom, bedded in millions of thorns. The right-wing disfigured and for some
unknown, unexplainable reason she felt sorry for the guy, why? It looked painful.

Seeing her mother still in all her glory, Clare ducked her head in Nathan's chest.

Alonso screamed something, in a language Clare didn’t understand but sounded familiar, “EL ELOAH
YAHWEH-JIREH who brings you forth Tempter?”



The Tempter laughed, “Only that which is greater has power over me, Boy. I am Barbatos, Duke of
hell.” His voice powerful, confident.

Barbatos’s confession shocked them all besides Clare. Not understanding why Nathan started pulling
her with renewed vigor, hastening her to move, “Now we really have to go, there's no way out of this
alive, we aren't armed for this.”

Clare tried to pull her arm out of his grip. She was petrified, horrified too, but she was stubborn, and
that only worsened in horrific cases, “We have to wait for mom, we can’t just leave
her.”

The Tempter laughed, “Only that which is greater has power over me, Boy. | am Barbatos, Duke of
hell.” His voice powerful, confident.

Barbatos’s confession shocked them all besides Clare. Not understanding why Nathan started pulling
her with renewed vigor, hastening her to move, “Now we really have to go, there's no way out of this
alive, we aren't armed for this.”

Clare tried to pull her arm out of his grip. She was petrified, horrified too, but she was stubborn, and
that only worsened in horrific cases, “We have to wait for mom, we can't just leave

her.



62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda