Angel of Retribution Ch. 17-Epilogue

"Sorry about this, buddy," Zak heard Remien whisper.

Seth's eyes popped open and he began to cough. After a bout of coughing, the were began to retch. Rowie turned her face into Zak's chest. Zak grimaced at the amount of alcohol Seth spewed onto the hangar floor, the smell of it acrid.

"Oh, I'm gonna puke," Rowie gasped before teleporting out of the hangar.

"W-what-the..." Seth coughed again. "What the fuck?" He gagged, beginning to struggle in Remi's arms.

Remi proceeded to position him over the bubble of water and Zak had to turn away, eyes closed when Remi dropped him into it.

Remien Fyre was never subtle about anything. Zak was glad he'd never found him shitfaced.

Seth sputtered in the water, cursing, hissing and growling. It was the most animated Zak had ever seen him.

"I'll kill him," Seth sputtered. "Get the fuck down here so I can murder you—you—you conceited prick!"

Remi only laughed, turning over lazily in the air as his wings flapped behind him. His laughter died away, however when Seth levitated straight into him and grabbed his red hair. They both crashed back down to the hangar floor, making Zak wince. While they both beat each other black and blue, Zak debated whether or not he should attempt separating them.

"Nah," he sighed touching his eye. He didn't miss getting a black eye or busted lip whenever they started brawling.

Of course, when Seth got his hands around Remi's neck and began choking him, Zak felt compelled to at least try to reason with Seth... from a safe distance, of course.

Zak cleared his throat. "Hey, come on Seth. Rowie's pregnant. Don't choke the daddy of her babies."

"I'm doing them all a favor, believe me," he snarled.

Zak smirked when Remi's back arched, his face going blue now, green eyes bulging. "Dude, really. You're giving him a hard-on."

Seth sprang away from Remi as if burned. "Fuck. That's gross."

Remi rolled over gasping for breath. "Fucker," he croaked. Zak strode over to him and helped him up. At least his boner had gone down.

"Please don't ever sober me up that way, man," Zak snorted.

"Extreme times call for extreme measures," Remi replied adjusting his crotch.

"Fuck you, Fyre," Seth hissed from a few paces away. "I didn't ask for your help. I was blissfully passed out."

"Geez, dude, I need you for the mission Zak and me are going to run right now."

Zak's brows shot up. "What mission?"

Remi grinned at him. "A rescue mission." He turned to Seth. "You in or not, Kitty-cat?"

***

Alluna knew she shouldn't cry, but the face of the beautiful golden angel haunted her dreams day and night. Mother had warned her he wasn't an angel, but a devil that had come to snatch her away.

"An evil snake lies between his thighs, ready to strike at you, bring you pain and make you bleed," she'd warned.

Still, every time Alluna closed her eyes, she remembered with despairing clarity how blue his eyes were, so deep and brilliant. His hair was spun gold, falling in thick waves down his back... and his body...

Alluna shivered.

He was massive. She'd never seen a male so huge. His muscles bulged beneath golden skin, his pectorals kissed with caramel colored nipples and his belly rippled with more muscle.

He looked at her mesmerized, with utter adoration shining from his eyes. His memory brought about an awful ache between her thighs, made her breasts feel heavy and tender, and she did not know how to make the hurt go away.

Throwing open the shutters to her tower room, she allowed the rain to drench her face. The front of her white cotton slip became drenched, but she didn't care. The rain poured over her, making a puddle at her bare feet. She ran her fingers through her tresses, eyes closed, as she tilted her face up to the heavens.

"Save me, Golden Angel, please. I'm so alone without you."

"There she is!"

Alluna gasped and stared down at the base of her tower. A multitude of villagers surrounded the base, their faces scowling up at her. One of them tossed a four-pronged hook up to her sill and began climbing.

Alluna shrank back in terror as she heard them scream "kill the witch! Kill her!"

She whimpered, running deeper into her room, but there was nowhere to hide. Cowering on the bed, Alluna watched the big, burly man step over the sill into her room. Another followed close behind.

"Please," she sobbed, "Don't hurt me. I've done nothing wrong."

The man gripped her by her hair, making her scream. He yanked her out of the bed and pulled her to the window again. "See that, witch?"

Lightning slashed across the sky and the heavens poured more water down in torrents. The land around her tower was flooded.

"We're sick of your calamities," the second man hissed. Alluna shrieked in surprise when he gripped her breast painfully. "Aye, as fresh and alluring as your body is, you've ruined our crops. We'll be damn near starving this season. I say we rape her first before offering up her body to the fire god."

Rape? Alluna wondered if that were some horrid torture.

"Nay," the first man growled. "The fire god was precise in his orders. We sacrifice this witch untouched."

They gripped her between them and tossed her out the window.

Alluna flailed before landing in a tarp they held at the bottom. Although it softened the lethal fall, she still felt her head spin and her body ache from the impact.

The villagers tied her hands behind her back, and pushed and shoved her to walk on shaky legs.

Where was mother? Why was she not intervening?

Alluna slipped and fell in the mud numerous times, her once white cotton slip was a muddied, torn mess. The villagers hit her along the way, some of the children even threw rocks at her. When one struck her temple, making her fall dazed to the ground, they dragged her the rest of the way.

They climbed the Misty Mountains it seemed like forever. Rocks and twigs tore at her flesh until her entire body was nothing but a mass of fiery pain.

At last, they stopped. They forced her to stand again, cutting the ropes from her hands and pulled her to a steaming pit. Alluna looked down the black hole. Billowy steam rose from its depths. Rough hands pushed her headlong into the abyss. Her body descended, limbs too weary to flail, turning, turning, the hole to the surface becoming smaller and smaller, the darkness deeper and deeper.

When she hit the bottom, the pain was only brief. She couldn't breathe, but it didn't matter. As blood bubbled from her lips, she saw the pinhole to the surface brighten. The sun had come out again.

Alluna closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her golden angel was kneeling over her, tears in his eyes.

"We're too late," he whispered.

She smiled, wanting to caress his cheek, wipe his tears away, but she couldn't feel her body.

"I love you, Golden Angel," she tried to say, but only blood poured from her mouth.

The last thing she heard him scream was "Remi!"

Next

Book Four:

The Witch and the Dragon

Zak and Alluna's story