AN: Sorry for the delay! I've been really busy, and writer's block has been horrible to me. Thankfully, I managed to work through this chapter, which was really hard for me to write. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write.

Chapter 25

My mother, to put it mildly, was not pleased. She was livid when she stepped into the office to sign me out, and the short ride home was the longest ride of my life. I sat quietly, hoping maybe my submissive silence would be enough to deter the wrath no doubt waiting for me at home.

As predicted, when the kitchen door slammed shut behind her, with me fleeing for cover at least by the doorway to the living room, she began her outburst.

"Why can't you live like a normal person?" She shouted in exasperation.

I frowned. "Why can't you at least ask what happened before you accuse me?"

"Accuse you? You've been suspended. I don't have to accuse you of anything. They obviously know enough to tell you not to come back for a while. God, Gabriel. This never happened in L.A. What has gotten into you?"

I glared. "I don't know, Mom. Maybe it would be better if I curled up in a ball on the floor and let them hurt me however they want. I'm sorry I felt like defending myself when he came at me and accused me of murdering Abby."

She sighed, losing some of her will to fight. Her shoulders slouched. "He did that?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry I wasn't willing to let that one go."

She strode past me curtly. While I could tell she was no longer angry, she was still less than appeased. "Fine. While I'm at work for the next three days, you can clean house."

Jacob was laughing his ass off, at my expense. "You have to clean house as punishment?"

I shot him a glare from my place by Bella's car. "Yes! And it isn't really a punishment; I should be helping her out around the house anyway."

"I don't see a Necromancer cleaning house," Blaise said, standing beside me. He was a decent fighter. He wasn't quite as quick as me, or as brutal, but it was nice to have someone who actually knew what they were doing. He had a certain amount of grace that I normally lacked in my fighting style, but I didn't have dozens of others to train and practice with. I had demons. They weren't very good at correcting your fighting technique while trying to rip open your throat.

"You've known me for two days," I retorted. "For all you know, I'm gay, too."

The Paladin snorted at that as he sheathed his broadsword. It was made similarly to mine, with prayers and Bible scriptures lining the blade. The exception was that a Paladin's sword had no traces of the dark magic that a Necromancer's had. It lacked the incantations and wards that accompanied mine.

I pulled myself onto the hood of the car and absently twirled a dagger around my fingers. A glance at my watch told me it was a quarter till one. Alexander would definitely be awake and active by now. The nocturnal creature was likely not to answer his phone, but it was worth a shot.

"I still need to make that phone call," I said solemnly, staring up at the stars the glittered on the dark horizon.

Blaise shot me a disdainful glance. Reluctantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny silver instrument.

It took me a moment to register the little silver thing in my brain. "You had a cell phone the whole time and you called California—long-distance, might I add—on my house phone?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know I had a cell phone until I looked in the console of the car. Do you want to use it or not?"

I snatched the phone from his hand and flipped it open. Bella leaned against my right leg, and Jake and Daniel both stood in front of me. It took a moment for me to remember the phone number, but soon enough I pressed the right combination with my thumb.

It rang twice. "Yo, Necromancer! How's it going?"

"How do you do that?" I asked, irritated.

"What can I say? It's a gift. I'm assuming this isn't a social call?"

"Of course not."

"I'm—."

"Not cheap. I know, all right? I know how this goes. I've got your account number, for the last damned time." Blaise's eyebrows twitched downwards, and Bella patted my leg to calm me down.

"What do you need to know now?" I detected laughter in his voice, but for the sake of my blood pressure and the virgin ears of the innocent Paladin beside me, I ignored it.

"Gates—to Hell. What do you know about them?"

"One way road, so to speak. Leads dirty souls to Hell. Why?"

"How can they be opened to become a two way road?"

There was silence, and then, "Necromancer, that isn't possible."

I exchanged a heavy glance with Blaise, and then I glanced down at the phone and pressed the speaker button so everyone could hear him. I put a finger to my lips to make sure they kept quiet.

"What do you mean that isn't possible?"

"Exactly what I said. There is no way to open the Gates of Hell—or none that I'm aware of."

"What do you know about a demon who calls himself Daedalus?"

A fuzzy sound filled the phone—he'd breathed against it. "That's the demon you've been after? The one in human form I told you about?"

"Yes. Why the serious tone, Alexander?"

"He's big league, Gabriel. I didn't know he was in human form now, so that's new. He's planning to open the Gates?"

Blaise poked me, and I looked up to see him adamantly shaking his head. He didn't want the Halflings finding out about our problem.

"I'll take your silence as a yes. And if the Paladin knows what's good for him, he won't withhold any information. If he does, it just means that's less I can find out for you."

"Would you stop doing that?" I demanded irritably. Blaise turned away angrily.

"Fine. What else can I do for you? I'm about to go out—anything you want me asking around about?"

"Yeah. How do the Gates open both ways, and how can we stop it?"

"I don't know much, but I can tell you this much: if the Gates can be opened—and that's a serious 'if'—I highly doubt there's any way they can be closed by a mortal. Demons can't even open the Gates both ways. If Daedalus succeeds, and I'm sure he can if he really sets his mind to it, the world as we know it will come to an end."

I didn't have anything to say to that. Part of me had known it before he'd spoken it. Hearing it spoken aloud only ingrained the truth in my brain—I wouldn't be able to defeat him.

"Not that I would mind. The world has basically gone to shit, anyway. Humans are acting like demons now—killing, maiming, lying, and cheating their way through life."

"I didn't think you the philosophical type, Alexander."

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises."

"Uh-huh. Look, find out what you can. I'll call you back in a few weeks and see what you've got for me then. You'll get your money when you give me something I can work with. Deal?"

He laughed. "Sure thing, Necromancer. Talk to you soon."

"I don't like this, Gabriel," Blaise informed me as soon as I closed the silver phone.

I handed it back to him and shook my head. "I don't either."

"Giving a Halfling information? What if he turns on you?"

"He won't."

"How can you possibly know that?" He demanded irritably.

I turned and glared at him. "I know him well enough to know that much. He's loyal to money—he won't turn on me if I'm paying him. But he can't find out what we need to know if I'm keeping him in the dark."

"There are better ways—."

"How?" I slid off the hood of the car angrily and turned on him. "I can't twiddle my thumbs patiently while your prophets sit on their asses and pray for a vision from God, Blaise. Things for me are a little more serious than that."

"Everything we do is serious, Gabriel." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Really? Could've fooled me. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"We know it as well as you." His calm voice infuriated me.

"Do you? Did you watch as your friend was buried before her eighteenth birthday? Before she graduated? Do you have to look over your shoulder every time you're alone and beg the cops to keep watch over your friends' houses because you inadvertently started a war with a demon who's way beyond your knowledge and strength?" I leaned toward him, all but spitting the words in his face. "Are you willing to sacrifice everyone that has ever meant anything to you for the world? Keeping them safe means ignoring Daedalus, as he suggested. Fighting him means putting everyone I care about in danger. He will kill them all, Blaise. So no, you don't understand shit."

He turned his head away, looking anywhere but my fiery gaze. I turned sharply on one heel and strode away from him, covering my face in my hands.

Small, warm fingers gently pried my wrists down from my face. I looked up to see Bella standing before me, blue eyes soft.

"Take me home," I whispered.

She nodded, threading her fingers through mine and pulling me toward her car. She waved to the boys as she sat in the driver's seat, and in moments we were down the road.

She stroked my hair soothingly, and my eyes drifted shut. Despite all efforts not to, I thought back to my sudden anger at Blaise. It wasn't really his fault that my life had suddenly become crappier than L.A.'s sewage system. I was just so frustrated with everything, and he'd been the first person around I could unleash it on. Combining everyone who tried telling me what to do—the cops, my mother, the town, Daedalus, the Paladins, and the school system—my drastically falling grades, my tight schedule, which included maybe three hours' sleep on weeknights due to my new hunting routine, all added up to make me one cranky teen. I had enough on my plate as it was. I didn't need a Paladin hanging around trying to be my second conscience. I had been doing this a long time—I knew what I was doing and how to go about doing it. Just because he wasn't used to talking with Halflings did not give him a right to tell me I shouldn't do it.

When the car slowed to a stop, I opened my eyes to the sight of my darkened house before me. I turned to Bella, who was smiling softly.

"Everyone understands what you're going through," she whispered. "We're trying to support you all we can. But if you push us away, how can we?"

Elbows on my knees, I put my head in my hands. "Bella, you're all going to die."

"It's possible. I'm not saying Daedalus doesn't terrify me, because he does. But I think we'd stand a better chance if you would stop trying to push us away. He knows what we mean to you, whether you're around us or not."

Her familiar words rang true. Had I been pushing them away? It seemed like I barely remembered speaking to them since Blaise showed up. Granted, that had been two days ago, but the fact remained that a lot had occurred in my life in that two days. And they had been a part of none of it.

"I'll explain everything. Bring Jake and Daniel to my house tomorrow after school." I didn't want to keep them in the dark.

She nodded, accepting my answer.

"I'm not trying to push you away," I whispered. "I'm just—."

"Afraid you'll get us hurt." She spoke the words that I couldn’t.

I nodded curtly. "No one is safe. I'm not even sure Blaise can keep up, and he's the closest thing I've got to an equal." At her glare, I elaborated. "I mean when it comes to fighting demons. And even then, he's weaker than me. He's been trained for this, sure, but underneath it all he's still only a human."

"And you're not." The statement sounded more like a concerned inquiry. She knew I'd found what I'd been looking for.

Slowly, I shook my head. "No…I'm not."

She breathed out slowly—not quite sighing. Her hands covered one of mine, warming my fingertips in her palms. It was a soothing gesture. I wondered how she'd come to know me so well in such a short period of time. How could she look at me and understand the turmoil of my thoughts? Was I simply that transparent, or did she know me better than she let on?

I leaned toward her, my dark eyes catching her emerald green one just before our lips brushed. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she pulled on my shirt to draw me closer. I was amazed to learn that the rest of her was just as warm as her hands had been. I couldn't be sure if it was my weary mind playing tricks on me or if I was naturally colder than other humans. It was another aspect of my demonic side that I'd never stopped to consider before. Daedalus had always been cold to the touch, hadn't he?

"Gabriel, stop that," Bella muttered.

I pulled back so I could look into her eyes. "Stop what?"

"Thinking," she replied before pulling my mouth back down to hers.

I happily obliged.

A change in lighting made my head snap around. The porch light had gone out. Turned off from inside the house? My mom should be asleep, so that seemed unlikely. Maybe the bulb had blown?

I made sure my blades were strapped on before stepping out of the car, eyeing the side door to the kitchen warily. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight out in apprehension.

"Gabriel," Bella called softly, voice tense.

"Go home, Bella."

"I'm not leaving you."

I turned to glare at her. Bending down to look into the car, I reiterated. "Go home. Call the cops. Tell them to get out here as soon as possible. It may be a false alarm, but I don't want to take chances."

She nodded, putting the car in reverse. "I'm coming back with them."

"Bella…"

"Do you want me to call Blaise? He might be able to help."

"He can't. Don't worry him about it. He'll only wind up getting hurt."

"Are you—?"

"Yes. Go."

As her car pulled away, shining my silhouette across the gravel, I turned warily toward the house, drawing my sword. I bounded up the steps and carefully turned the knob, knowing the element of surprise was all I had—if I had anything at all. If he had been watching me, he would know my schedule. That meant he would know I usually came home at about this time.

A cold shudder rippled through me as I realized something I hadn’t thought of before. What if he done whatever he'd intended and fled the scene for me to find? Images of my mother's mangled body, each as grotesque as the last, flashed behind my eyes and almost made me gag. I fought the wave of nausea and stepped into the kitchen. Whether anyone uninvited was in the house had yet to be discovered, and I couldn't afford to take chances. There was no reason to go rushing into a situation I had no idea about.

My shoes were silent on the linoleum floor of the kitchen, for which I was extremely grateful. I couldn't hear anything except my own heartbeat drumming in my ears and my shallow breath. Tightening my grip on the hilt of my sword, I slowly crept toward the door to the living room.

A dull thud, magnified a thousand times by my already alert senses, resonated through the room as I reached the doorway. A soft, urgent sound followed. A whimper.

Dark laughter filled the room, sending chills up my spine. I clung to the doorway, blinded by the darkness and frozen with fear. Daedalus knew I was standing there, searching for the only family I had left.

I reached out and furiously flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. He'd cut the power, then. I should've known.

"M—Mom?" I asked the darkness, terrified of not getting a response—and what it would mean.

"Gabe…honey…?" Her voice was faint, but I could just barely detect the soft syllables coming from across the room, somewhere behind the couch.

Walking out into the middle of that room was beyond frightening—and stupid. I couldn't just open myself up on all sides like that, could I? It would mean leaving her to her own defenses, which were not many considering who she was facing.

I knew I couldn't leave my innocent mother to face Daedalus alone.

I skirted along the wall as best I could, facing the darkness and keeping my eyes wide to catch all the light from the windows that I could. When an anonymous hand reached out and yanked my ankle, I almost hit the ceiling and only barely managed not to squeal like a little girl. I fell to my knees, dropping my sword so I could better hold her.

"Mom, are you okay? Can you walk? What did he do to you?"

"I—I don't remember…I was sleeping…and then it felt like something grabbed me. I fell down the stairs. Hit my head. Honey, why are you up so late?" Her speech was slurred. She probably had a concussion.

I reached out to roll her against my body, hoping maybe I could carry her out of the house before Daedalus showed up again. I wasn't fool enough to believe he'd left us alone yet. He was still somewhere in the room.

I felt something hot and sticky across her stomach, and I drew back in surprise and shock. She was bleeding—heavily. I had to get her out of the house. She would bleed to death in a matter of minutes. The cops would be here soon. I just had to make sure she was safe. If something happened to her…I didn't want to think about it.

"Mom, listen to me. I need your help, but I need you to stay awake. You've got a concussion and you're bleeding. Mom, I'm going to help you—."

A strong arm snaked around my neck and literally yanked me off the floor. My sword dropped to the floor with a clang. I couldn't see where it fell. Panicking as I realized I couldn't breathe and it would be a matter of moments before I collapsed, I stumbled back into him as hard as I could. I felt his back collide with the wall, because my back hit his chest and he didn't yield to my movement. But he didn't release my throat, either.

He lifted me off my feet again and threw me to one side. My elbow busted through a window, slicing open my arm. And just as quickly, he tossed me in the other direction, keeping me off my balance so I couldn't counter him.

"Gabriel…?" My mom breathed. From the sound of her voice, she was fading.

"Mom—!" I struggled to get free of Daedalus's steely grip.

Abruptly, he slammed me face first into the wall. The side of my head cracked against the unyielding drywall, dazing me. And then I felt Daedalus's lips on my ear.

"You can never defeat me as you are, Necromancer," he snarled mockingly.

"That," I said, bracing myself, "is bull shit!" I threw myself backwards with as much strength as I could manage, and we toppled to the floor.

I rolled away from him, ignoring the little aches and pains and the fact that he could probably see me twice as well as I could him. I just had to distract him long enough for Michaels and Ridley to get here—hopefully they'd bring an ambulance. If my mom didn't need it by the end of the night, I probably would.

I stood up and drew both daggers, glaring around the room in search of movement. He was a demon, but he was still in human form. He couldn't pull off the same tricks as he could while in demon form—or at least not as well.

"Gabriel…" I spun around, swiping a dagger out in front of me, just in case he was there.

Icy fingers brushed the back of my neck.

"Stop it, Daedalus. Stop your tricks and fight me!"

"As you wish, Necromancer."

He was upon me before I knew what to do with myself. His black-bladed sword sang through the air, and I barely had time to register the threat and block it with my daggers before it came down on my face.

Pulse pounding, I took a step back to gain some leverage. He pursued relentlessly, swinging his blade with a quickness I'd never possessed. I continued backing up, parrying his blows all the while. I kicked at him, making him back up to escape my foot.

"So, Necromancer. You finally discovered your origins."

Before I could react, his sword sliced across my bicep, and I instantly felt the hot blood slowly begin to trickle down my arm. Snarling, I brought my blades up to better protect myself.

"So what if I did? It doesn't change anything."

His teeth glimmered in the moonlight streaming through the window as his lips pulled back in an animalistic sneer. "You and I are not so different, Necromancer." He stepped to my right, and I moved left. It was the start of a vicious game. We circled one another, goading each other to see who would snap first.

"We're more different than you'd think, Daedalus."

"How so?" He asked, patronizingly.

"I'm not evil." My teeth clenched together as I said it. I wasn't fooling anyone. He knew my fears.

"So you say. Why do you think everyone loves to hate you, Gabriel?"

I didn't have an answer for that.

"Because, just as you and your little friends can sense the demon in me, the humans in this town can sense it in you. They subconsciously know how dangerous you are, and their basic instincts tell them to run away."

I didn't doubt the truth of his words, though I was loathe to admit it. He knew better than I the woes of harboring demonic tendencies in a primarily human world. I suppose that was part of the trouble. The only one who could really understand me happened to be a psychotic demon. That didn't do much for my self-confidence.

"I want you out of my house, Daedalus. Now," I hissed.

"I'm not finished with your mother, yet. You came home too early." I could hear the sadistic pleasure lacing his voice. "I was going to etch a message for you into her stomach."

Fire fueled my veins as I realized what would've happened to her if I hadn't come home early. I charged forward, slashing my blades at him with renewed vigor.

"Gabriel?" My mom muttered.

"Mom!" I shouted, hoping the desperation in my voice would rouse her. "Mom, get up! You have to get out of the house!"

"Honey…what's wrong?" I could hear her struggling to get to her feet as I jumped back, barely avoiding that dark blade. Her voice sounded heavy with fatigue. She wouldn't be conscious much longer.

"Just get out of here! Hurry—ah!" I cried out unintentionally as the tip of Daedalus's sword sliced across my collar, barely breaking skin.

I saw her dark silhouette rise, leaning heavily on the couch. She staggered across the room, toward the front door behind me. Daedalus slammed his elbow into my chest with enough force to knock me completely off my feet. The breath was knocked out of me, and my head banged dizzingly against the wood floor. I looked up to see Daedalus striding purposely away. Toward my mother.

I saw the door open, and seconds later a choked scream followed. I pushed myself to my feet and staggered to the door, fearing what I would see.

My mom lay crumpled at the bottom of the concrete porch steps. Her temple had a new gash in it. Daedalus was standing at the top of the stairs, looking particularly pleased with himself.

"Why are you…?" I broke off wearily.

He turned, smirking. "You wanted a war."

"Between us. Not my mother."

"Emotional attachments are a window for weakness, Gabriel," he chided. "You must learn to sever your ties to these humans before something…bad happens to them."

I shook my head. "You'll pay for this."

His smile grew. "Would you like to punish me?" He spread his arms, and his expression darkened. "Here I am, Necromancer."

I bared my blades, jaw clenching. He raised his sword and darted forward, not waiting on me to make the first move. I backed away, back inside the darkness of the living room.

When he was a few steps inside the doorway, I spun around him, trying to get away from the onslaught of attacks. When I caught sight of Daedalus's back, I took advantage of my position.

I wrapped my arm around his throat, a mirror image of what he'd done to me earlier. I dropped my daggers, and moments later I heard the heavy clunk of his blade falling to the floor. His hands grappled with my arm, and I responded by tightening my grip.

Daedalus began pushing me backwards, causing me to stumble. Abruptly, he leaned forward, and just as suddenly he threw himself backwards against me. I flew back but refused to let him go. My back collided with a window, and I felt it snap behind me.

We tumbled through the broken glass. My back, neck, and arms received most of the damage, and I felt a sharp pain my right calf. I landed on my back on the front porch, with Daedalus on top of me. He grabbed the collar of my shirt, yanked me up, and then slammed me back into the porch floor again. I bucked my hips and rolled, sending the two of us down the porch steps.

We stopped in the grass, with him once again with the upper hand. He wrapped his icy fingers around my throat, tightening until I felt my throat close off.

Red and blue lights caught my attention from somewhere behind me. Daedalus's hands on my throat eased.

"See you soon," he snarled, punching me in the cheek for good measure.

I rolled to my stomach and crawled to my mother's limp form. I was afraid to move her, not sure if she had any broken bones that needed to be strapped before she was thoroughly examined. I simply reached out, placed one hand on her jugular to feel for a pulse, and used my other hand to feel for breath. Her pulse was somewhat erratic, but her breath came steadily enough.

I could hear shouting—people calling my name, my mother's name, giving orders, and all. I didn't hear a word of it. I tossed my shirt over my head and pressed it against my mother's abdomen, praying that the blood would clot. She was still bleeding heavily, and I knew she wouldn't make it if it didn't slow down.

Michaels and Ridley came to a sliding stop on the other side of my mother, having run to us when they spotted us in the front yard.

"What happened?" Michaels demanded while checking my mother for a pulse, breath, and heavy injuries.

"What do you think?" I asked wearily, allowing myself to sit back now that help had arrived.

"Him?"

I nodded. "He broke in."

"Gabriel!" Bella ran to my side, falling to her knees beside me. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I just gave her a dark stare, and she understood. "How did he get in?" She asked. I knew the deeper meaning to that—how had he gotten past all my carefully placed wards?

I shook my head. "I really don't know."

"We have to get her to a hospital," Ridley said, sounding worried. His fingertips were on her neck. "Her pulse is slowing."

"Put her in the backseat of my car," Bella suggested. "You guys can follow in your car."

I stood up—or tried. A sharp pain in my right leg sent me tumbling into Michaels, who caught me just before I face-planted. He had to help me get to Bella's car, while Ridley carried my mother and laid her gently in the backseat.

I sat down heavily, and seconds later we were speeding down the road, following the red and blue lights in front of us. Knowing my mother was safe, and she would be in the care she needed soon, I took stock of my own injuries.

My leg was my primary concern. I propped my foot up on the dashboard and saw a thick slice of glass jutting out from my jeans.

"God, Gabriel," Bella whispered when she saw it. "What did you do?"

"Distracted. Until you guys could get here." I carefully took the piece of glass between forefinger and thumb and jerked it out, crying out through my teeth. The amount of blood that trickled out immediately after was unnerving to watch. I lowered my foot to the floorboard and attempted to stifle the blood with my hand.

"I'm glad you're both okay."

Sighing, I glanced back at my unconscious mother and said, "I don't think we are."

AN: Thanks to all my readers for taking time to read and review this story. You guys are what keep me going.