Aziel's blood was poison.
"Kill, kill, kill," his voice whispered. "He took from us."
"No." I fell to my knees, the blue blood continued to drip from my fingertips. I quickly bit into my wrist, letting more of the blood fall out of my system.
"Choose," Sariel said from behind me.
Cassius shook his head slowly. There was a piece I was missing, a piece of the puzzle that wasn't fitting together.
A daughter.
My mind replayed back the images. The baby was wrapped in a blanket — he or she wasn't human.
Half-angel?
A Dark One.
"Mine," Aziel whispered in my head.
"No." I choked out a hoarse cry. "You destroyed her."
Aziel would live until the last of his blood left my body. Images flickered in front of my eyes as if I was watching a movie.
Aziel crooked his finger at Ara. She didn't need any more encouragement than a flick of his wrist, a smile in her direction. Ara had been lost to him before she even took the first step in his direction.
"Wanted her," the voice whispered in my head. "So bad."
"You killed her." I hung my head.
"You killed her."
"Because it had to be done." I was arguing with a dead angel, arguing with the last of his lifeblood.
Cassius reached for me.
I gripped his hand and helped him to his feet. His face was covered in bruises. His lower lip bled blue. Dark hair mixed with blood caked on his cheeks.
"You didn't kill her?" I asked.
"Well done," Sariel said from behind us. "Didn't think a vampire could control himself, and now I see him touching a Dark One. Impressed, but this is going a bit too slowly for my taste."
The room went black.
A chill filled the air.
The last thing I heard was Genesis scream before the room flashed again.
Everything was in black and white.
The house around us faded to an apple orchard.
A little girl with bright blue eyes was climbing a tree, giggling as she went faster and faster.
"Keep up!" she yelled. "You can't catch me!" She laughed harder.
Cassius was standing beneath the tree, his hands on his hips. "Get down! You'll hurt yourself."
"Nope!" She hung upside down, her long hair nearly sweeping the grass beneath her.