Chapter 43: Cold as Hell, Part 9

Adams turned around to look at the girls, acting as if the hole in his chest didn’t bother him at all. Barely an inconvenience.

“I’m not here to kill innocent people, but to defend this family.” That phrase didn’t sound very convincing when his shadow was being swallowed by the shadow of the Wright mansion, which had been reduced to frozen ruins. “Leave. No one else has to die.”

Was it a bluff, or was he really willing to kill them if they didn’t back down? The sensible thing was to assume the latter and act accordingly, of course, but he wished he could be sure which was true.

“I won’t let you hurt my brother,” Christina said.

“He’s not your brother.” For a moment, he wondered if she knew the truth that Blake had refused to believe. “He never has been, and he never will be. He’s nothing but the devil’s seed. A being only capable of doing evil.”

“That’s not true. He’s not like that,” Christina protested, but Violet remained silent.

Had she come for him or for Christina?

In any case, she was here, and that was convenient for now, but he didn’t like the idea that it might be just for Christina. Not because of his ambitions, not because he desired to possess her, none of that. But because then she would have reasons and the will to open her little sister’s eyes. And after all, she had a good chance of succeeding, even if she sweet-talked Christina by giving her everything she wanted, which was the same as he did.

“He’s good at pretending otherwise, just like his father,” Adams said. “I have no doubt about that. I’m sorry he... deceived you. I won’t enjoy it, but I won’t hesitate to kill you if you get in my way.”

It wasn’t a bluff.

Suddenly, there was no doubt. What an angel he was.

However, even so, they should be fine. Violet and Christina were better help than the Acheri. Nothing told him he couldn’t summon more... except for the potential reaction of the girls.

Christina had come all this way, risking her life to help him. That was, of course, a good sign, but clearly, she was still conflicted within herself.

She wanted to believe him.

She wanted to love him.

She would do what she could to deny what Adams was telling her, but there was still a chance he could convince her. That’s why the Acheri were out of the question. Too obviously demonic.

He didn’t like it, but he knew it was true.

It was a bit foolish—he had already done enough horrible things right in front of her eyes—but it was still true. It would be the last straw. In reality, he was lucky that the angel had dispatched the Acheri so easily, before they could see them.

“He loves me. He... We made love.”

Christina turned as red as a tomato, even her earlobes lit up. She looked very cute, he had to admit, but this was no time to be embarrassed about something like that when all their lives were in danger. Well, it wasn’t the time to talk about it either.

It wouldn’t help convince the angel of anything, obviously. It only provided him with what he believed was, and was, proof of his manipulation.

Violet was staring at her little sister, mouth agape.

Oh, right.

Christina hadn’t told her, of course. He had almost forgotten.

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Now that she had revealed it, it would be quite awkward to handle the situation... if they survived this, of course.

“What did you do?” Violet asked. Well, more like demanded to know. She also gave it more priority than it deserved. It was a life-or-death situation, for God’s sake, they could worry about who had put what into whom when they survived this.

Christina refused to respond and refused to look her sister in the eyes.

She had her gaze fixed on the angel, defiant.

But she blushed even more, if that was possible.

“Do you think that proves he loves you, little one?” the angel asked with a hint of pity, shaking his head. “That should prove the opposite. He’s your brother, and he looks at you with the eyes of a pervert. He doesn’t see you as family; his only family is Satan. He only desires your body.”

He had heard enough. He had been waiting for the right moment to strike back—it was now or never.

This way, it would be more effective.

Or so he believed; he didn’t know Christina as well as he would have liked, but it should be. He had to trust his instincts. They had brought him this far, so they weren’t that bad.

There was the humiliating matter of how badly he had handled Rose’s death, of course, but there he had ignored his instincts. Not the other way around. He had been impatient.

“I love her,” Sam declared without a hint of shame. “As my sister, as my friend, as a woman. What’s wrong with that?”

There were various reactions. The angel didn’t even blink. Christina shrank even more into herself, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, as if she were too embarrassed, though it was exactly what she wanted to hear from his lips.

As for Violet...

Well, she looked like she was about to faint from shock.

What a circus we’re putting on, as if I weren’t stained from head to toe with the blood of dozens of innocents I’ve massacred.

Of course, he didn’t give a damn, but the atmosphere...

He would do whatever he could to win, as always. Everything else was irrelevant.

This embarrassing conversation was important because he needed his sisters on his side, and Christina was the deciding factor. If he couldn’t convince her, at the very least, the angel would have free rein to tear him to pieces.

“I asked you a question, feathered one.”

“It’s unnatural.”

“And what do you think Eve was? From man’s rib, God made woman. Isn’t it obvious they shared DNA?”

“That’s... more of a metaphor.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure. The usual excuse. Well, what about after they left the garden? How do you think they populated the world exactly? We’re all incestuous bastards, baby.”

The angel shook his head.

“My name is Castiel. And that’s not... I’m not going to waste time listening to a serpent’s words. Like father, like son, that much is clear.”

“God,” Violet murmured softly, almost inaudibly.

“If you harm my sisters, I’ll kill you.” Sam staggered forward toward the angel Castiel, with ice roaring in both hands. Yet that being remained unperturbed. Though he should know he was losing the humans. Was he so confident in his own power? Or was he less than human, lacking the range of necessary emotions? Was he nothing more than a tool of the heavens?

“Enough, abomination. Don’t take another step.”

Sam obeyed the warning. He had to. Otherwise, most of the progress he had made with Christina now, and by extension with Violet, would evaporate. He had no choice.

“I don’t want to harm them. They are innocent people, like all the others you’ve killed. That’s why I tell them to step aside. To look the other way and let me do my job.”

“Like the whole of heaven looked the other way while Nero raped his daughter? Innocent? That bastard was innocent?”

A big risk. If he knew the truth, it could all come crashing down. But if he knew, he would bring it up anyway, no matter what he said. So the best thing was to mention it first to appear more innocent in his eyes. This is like a trial, and Christina is the judge.

“Even if you’re telling the truth,” Castiel said, “you didn’t have to kill him. You could have exposed the truth, ensuring he faced justice. Not only did you kill Nero, but it’s also your fault Kyrie died.”

“I didn’t think or want her to commit suicide. How fair you are. And I’m the demon?”

“What about Ivor and the other kid?”

He knew that? Had he been watching, but somehow didn’t see what he had done with Kyrie?

“It was an accident. Are you going to blame me for that too? I just wanted him to stop. My life and everyone else’s was in danger, he had lost his damned mind. I thought I would get the help he needed if I provoked him, not that he would be disinherited and kill himself. Blame Blake Wright. And in that case, you’ve already done justice.”

“Father is dead?” Violet asked.

“Yes. I... I'm sorry. If it were up to me, none of this would have happened. You see it yourselves. Not even an angel of the Lord, as he introduced himself, is willing to listen to me. Sisters, please... Christina...”

Sam extended a hand toward the girl.

The distance between them was too great to hold hands right now, but he wasn’t asking her to come closer for that. It was mostly a symbolic gesture. The angel, Castiel, wouldn’t allow it. He would strike as soon as the fool realized he had lost the verbal battle, at least, as overwhelming as he was in a real fight.

Christina looked back at him.

Then she lowered her head toward his hand.

Cold as Hell, Part 9: END