Seeking Souls

:// Chapter 40 //:

The Reaper looked down to see a gaping hole in his torso, with gallons of blood pouring from the wound. His breath sputtered as blood pooled in his mouth. His body hit the ground just as Elizabeth returned to malicious cackle.

Basilton wasted no time dwelling on her anymore. He joined his Soulmate on the ground, but not before impaling the crazed woman with a dozen bolts of icy blue energy. The laughing stopped, and her body fell with a sickening slump.

"Zack?! Zack-hey." Basil pulled the Reaper into his lap, but Zakariah's vision was already wavering. "CRAWFORD!" Basilton screamed for the only other person he knew could help as he clung to his mate. "Hey silly boy, stay with me now. You gotta keep your eyes open."

There was no response, and all of Basilton's magic seemed to fade the moment he took that horrid woman's life. "CRAWFORD!" He screamed again, the tears already pouring from his eyes. "Please..."

Zakariah watched as his mother's body began to rot at an accelerated rate. Just as she fear, she returned to the animated skeleton she lived as for so many years; stretched wrinkly skin stained a few disgusting shades fell from the bones. Then, those too turned yellow and cracked into fragments. Zakariah watched the horrifying display until there was nothing left but a pile of dust. Then, when he was sure that Basil was safe, his consciousness disappeared.

~%~

"This gives me the creeps." Corin mused as Elias wrapped her in his coat. The snow was still falling, but the various Silver-wings that Cassiel had summoned were determined to make sure that was the only remnant of the battle. "It's like we're in the Twilight Zone."

"It'll all be over soon." Elias promised, pulling her close with a kiss to her temple.

Oh Corin knew, she knew all too well, and she basked in the relief. Elizabeth was dead, Jasper was dead, Warren was gone, and Samuel said that the Angels would be taking their leave as well as soon as the mess was cleaned up and Zakariah was stable. And then life would be back to normal; as normal as it could be anyway.

"How are they?" She asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Zakariah's wounds are healing, slowly, though we're not sure if he'll make it." Elias gently drifted his fingers through her hair, pulling out the tangles she gathered during the chaos. "Basilton seems to be fine. Exhausted maybe, but he refuses to sleep until the Reaper wakes."

"Do you think praying would help?" Corin asked with a skeptical grin. "I'm not very religious."

"No, you are not." Elias returned her smile. "But you can certainly try."

The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the birds return to the peaceful sky. It seemed that even the clouds were retreating now that the looming sense of death was fading. Maybe now the average California weather could finally return.

"Are you..." Corin held the coat tight around her shoulders. "Will you be leaving with the other Angels?" The excitement was over; now the only thing Corin stood to lose was her mate. The first man she's felt a romantic connection with in a very, very long time.

"No." He answered simply. "I've resigned from Heaven."

"What?" She raised her head. "But why?"

"Because I've grown tired of my job as the 'Reaper's babysitter'." Crawford thought back on his registration. At first Cassiel laughed; she thought he had to be joking. "I'd rather spend however long I have here, on Earth, with you..." Corin's face flushed a bright red. "If you'll have me."