chapter Thirty-Six
"Something's wrong," Romulus growled; he moved away from the balcony. Bleeding from his wounds on the floor, Lawson could hear the sounds of screaming and chaos, but if Romulus was not satisfied, then maybe, just maybe, his pack had succeeded in changing the orders. Maybe it meant the Sabines would survive, and so would the line of wolves.
The great general turned to him with a menacing glare. "This is your doing," he hissed. "There is no other way. The orders were clear."
Lawson managed a weak laugh; if this was all the victory he would taste, he would savor it before the end. "It is too late ... you will not be able to change it ..."
"No matter," Romulus said. "You were the gravest threat to the Dark Prince and you will die today." Once again, he struck Lawson with the staff, sending him skittering to the far wall.
Lawson was too debilitated by his injuries to protect himself but he did not care. He would die, but he had saved the wolves. Bliss was wrong; he was no Fenrir, but maybe Marrok would find a way to bring them out of the underworld.
Romulus raised his staff again, but a voice rang from the balcony.
"Don't touch him. You are nothing but my father's dog," Bliss said, entering the room. She must have climbed up from the back way to avoid being seen, Lawson thought. But what was she doing here? Why had she returned? Why did she care? Wasn't she the one who had stolen the angel's sword from him?
"Ah, Lucifer's bastard. He has been searching for you," Romulus said, smiling. "Why don't you return to him? Do not waste your time with this filth."
Bliss smiled. "I have a message you can send to my father ... Ahri, now!" she said as she tossed Michael's sword to Lawson. The archangel's blade glinted golden in the sunlight while Ahramin stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing thick black gloves and holding a heavy silver chain.
"Stay, hound. You are still one of mine. I can hear your thoughts as clearly as I hear my own. You are correct in believing you will die if you do not listen to me," Romulus said.
With a great scream, Ahramin leapt and wrapped the chain twice around Romulus's neck, climbing on his back as she pulled and tightened, and the Great Beast of Hell fell to his knees.
"Remove it! If you treasure your life, you will do as I say!" Romulus ordered as he struggled with the chain, which smoked around his skin. As powerful as he was, he was still a creature of Hell, and silver was poison to him as well.
The scars on Ahramin's neck began to throb, and a silver collar appeared against the skin as Romulus bent his will to hers. She wrestled and thrashed against it, howling in pain, but slowly, excruciatingly, she began to remove the silver chain around Romulus's neck. "I'm so sorry ..." She sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I can't fight him anymore ... "
They were losing time. "Lawson!" Bliss yelled. "Do it!"
With a roar, Romulus threw Ahramin off his back, and he turned to pick up his staff. Romulus snarled and readied to launch the final blow.
But Lawson had gotten up. If he could stand, he could fight, and if he could fight, he could hold a sword. He felt the weight of it in his palm, and he stood, uncertainly. He was broken and battered but he was resolute.
"For Tala," he whispered. "For all the wolves in the underworld." Then he lunged with the blade, which cut through the golden armor like butter, and he stuck it deep into Romulus's black heart.
The Great Beast of Hell howled in pain, and his whole body began to shift, from wolf to man and back, trembling and shaking and smoking, until finally only a small black wolf lay dead on the floor before it disappeared in dark smoke.
There was a clamor and the rest of the pack entered the room. Rafe and Malcolm ran to Lawson, Malcolm's eyes wide with fright, but Edon had eyes for only one person.
"Ahri!" Edon yelled, running to her side; she lay still on the ground next to Romulus. He knelt and cradled her in his arms. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me."
She was lifeless in his arms, and the silver collar was still around her neck, but when Romulus's heart exploded, the collar fell apart and broke in two.
Finally, she opened her eyes. "I told you, there is still wolf in me." She smiled, and Edon kissed her.
Lawson collapsed to the floor even as his wounds began to heal. The silver poison had disappeared with Romulus's death. He put his sword away as he turned to Bliss. "I'm sorry I doubted you,"he said as she knelt down to hear him.
"Never mind that now, did you find Tala?" she asked.
He shook his head to indicate no hope remained, but he had little time to dwell on that for now. "What about your aunt Jane?" he asked.
"She got away. I asked the oculus to show her to me, when I changed the orders. She told me she led the hounds through the passages but she was able to slip away at the very end. She went to London, she said. She told me to meet her there. The Blue Bloods need us there."
Lawson removed the postcard he kept in his pocket and turned it over to read the text: The Abduction of the Sabines. They had succeeded in keeping the timeline safe, in killing Romulus. The wolves would soon be free, and there was still hope for the hounds as well; Ahramin had shown that. Lawson should have felt joy, but all he felt was exhaustion.
"I'm sorry about Tala," Bliss said, and squeezed his hand. "I wish it had been otherwise."
He had won, and yet he had lost. Bliss, of all people, seemed to understand that victory and triumph were not the same.