Immortali

Chapter 41: Good and Evil

Rage and anticipation stewed away in her gut.

"Samael!" She shouted. She sounded older. Stronger. Braver.

The figure turned, an evil grin gracing his young, immortal face.

"Raina, what a pleasant surprise. So, I take it you've decided to join me then?"

Silence ensued. Raina scrunched up her face in a snarl, her angry green eyes glaring at him.

The smile on Samael's face disappeared. "I'll take that as a 'no', then. Therefore... you must be here to... 'fight' me, yes?"

Another silence, broken only by Samael's laugh.

"Oh, my dear, stupid, little Raina. You might be powerful, and you might be the one destined to defeat me, but you're a child. You cannot win. I have millions, even billions of years of experience behind me. You have, what? A few months?" He laughed again.

Annoyance twitched in Raina's stomach. A burning feeling tingled the tips of her fingers. She looked down. There, where her hands held her katanas, were green flames.

She glanced back at Samael, who'd noticed it too. As soon as she saw him, the rage returned, and she remembered why she was here.

She took a step closer. "You killed them, didn't you?" her voice was soft, barely even a whisper. But he heard it. She knew he did.

Samael shrugged lazily. "Of course I didn't kill them myself. I had my Drear kill the man and the woman, and I let Claire and Lilith have their fun with the children."

Raina raised an eyebrow. Outwardly, she made no other movement. No other sign that this news bothered her. Inwardly, something was screaming inside her head. The angry monster within had grown to an impossible size.

But Samael didn't miss even the slightest display of emotion. He grinned. "Ah, yes. You do remember Claire, don't you? Your lovely cousin. I'll admit, she's quite good at what she does. Torture is a refined art, and she's almost mastered it. She quite enjoyed using your little sister for practice."

Raina's nostrils flared. She took another step closer. "She did what?"

Samael smiled smugly, clearly very happy with himself. "She tortured your little sister. Something about making her believe that there were bugs crawling all over her skin, so she scratched herself to death in an attempt to get them off. I think they even let her see what she'd done to herself in her final moments."

Raina felt sick. For a moment, the world dizzied, but she held on to the rage. The rage was her tether. It kept her there, reminded her of what she had to do, of why she had to do it.

She took a step closer. She was an arm's length away from him now. He didn't move back, neither did she. "So, you killed them? Why?"

He shrugged again, his smug grin remaining in its place. "Why else but to bring you here, on your own? Now, you don't have anyone here who can help you. Now, it's just you and me, as it should be."

Raina closed her eyes for a moment.

She'd known this: she'd known he'd only wanted to draw her out. He thought he was going to win. He thought he held all the cards.

That was his first mistake.

Like Sebastien, like Claire, like Sienna, Samael had underestimated her.

Perhaps, in the past, she may have believed him too. She may have given in to the jibes and the obvious logic that she clearly lacked experience. But, then again, the doubt of her past-self had always managed to dull her inner power.