Gabriel beat his wings and slid closer to Patrick. “Don’t risk her life. I’m willing to die.”
Sapphira stumbled over to Elam. She leaned against his shoulder, hiding her lips from Morgan’s view. “Listen,” she whispered, “there’s a portal between the idols. If we can lure Devin there somehow, I can transport him out of here.”
Hiding his own lips, Elam kissed her on the forehead. “Then Morgan would kill Paili.”
Morgan pointed at Devin. “Slayer, strike the mongrel through the heart. His courage has earned him a quick death.”
Sapphira cringed. Her tortured whisper rose to a squeak. “Do you have an idea?”
“Maybe. Merlin told me something about Excalibur. It’s a long shot, but it’s better than nothing.”
With blood still oozing from his wound, Devin stalked toward Gabriel and pulled back his sword.
Elam waved his arms and dashed between Gabriel and the slayer. “Wait! It won’t work unless Patrick does it!”
The slayer paused and glanced at Morgan. “Shall I kill them both?”
“Let him explain,” Morgan said, her eyebrows lifting. “I am intrigued.”
Elam patted Gabriel on the chest. “Patrick has to kill him. It’s the only way.”
“Elam!” Patrick’s cheeks flushed scarlet. “Have you gone mad?”
“It would be mad to let him die in vain! We have to do it right or the prophecy won’t be fulfilled!” Elam glared at Morgan. “Or maybe you don’t know anything about ancient prophecies.”
Morgan nodded at him. “Please enlighten me.”
Elam laid a hand over his ear. “I once had a song in my head that kept playing over and over. It told me that I had to betray the one I loved so she could sacrifice her life for me. It said she loved me, and if I really loved her, I would turn her over to you. I didn’t believe it at the time, but now that I see a sacrifice happening right in front of me, I finally understand. The one who benefits from a sacrifice should play a part in the execution. Otherwise, the sacrifice won’t work.”
“I see what you mean.” Morgan eased the dagger’s pressure on Paili’s neck. “Betrayal has long been the instigator of redemptive sacrifice.”
“So” Elam pulled on Gabriel’s arm and began leading him toward the idols “Patrick should do the job over here, right between the idols.”
Morgan narrowed her eyes. “Why there?”
“You know why,” Sapphira said as she hustled to Elam’s side. “The ancient scrolls say that many human sacrifices were made between these idols when they stood in Shinar. What better place is there?”
“No tricks!” Morgan pressed the dagger’s edge under Paili’s nose, drawing more blood. “Or I’ll carve this pretty little face like a pumpkin on Halloween.”
Sapphira shuddered. Her voice pitched up again as she shook her head. “No. . No tricks.”
Gabriel pulled the rubellite pendant from underneath his shirt and let it dangle in front. “Let’s do it and get it over with.”
Morgan nodded at Devin. “Give Excalibur to Patrick.”
“After he dispatches the mongrel,” Devin said, glowering at her, “he will turn the sword on me.”
“You fool! Haven’t you figured out that he is paralyzed while I hold his beloved at the edge of a blade?”
Devin grumbled and laid Excalibur in Patrick’s hands. As soon as Patrick wrapped his fingers around the hilt, its beam shot out from the tip. Patrick’s eyes bulged, and Devin jumped back.
A smile spread across Morgan’s face. “Ah! The king’s heir reveals his pedigree.”
His arms trembling, Patrick frowned at the sword. “And now he wields it in shame.”
“Get on with it!” Morgan shouted. “Disintegration will be clean and quick.”
With his shoulders slumped and the beam angled toward the sky, Patrick marched slowly to the driveway.
Elam nudged Sapphira and whispered, “Light your cross, but try not to let Morgan see it.”
Now standing about ten paces in front of Gabriel, Patrick raised the beam straight up. When Morgan’s eyes lifted to follow the brilliant shaft of light, Sapphira slid the cross out and whispered, “Give me light.” A low flame rippled across the wood.
Patrick swiped the beam downward but halted it just above Gabriel’s head. His face twisted in agony. “I can’t do it!” he cried. “I just can’t do it!”
“Do it now!” Morgan screamed. “Or I will slice your wife into pieces!”
“Patrick!” Gabriel extended his folded hands, his face pleading. “In the name of all that is holy, don’t let that witch hurt your wife! Strike me down! Better you than the slayer!”
Patrick’s stare burned into Sapphira’s. Tears flowed down his cheeks. “What do you two say?”
Sapphira wiped away her own tears. “You have to, Patrick. We all agree.”
“Trust us,” Elam said, nodding. “You have to do it now, before Morgan sheds any more of Paili’s blood.”
Patrick tensed his muscles and swung the sword the rest of the way. The beam sizzled through Gabriel, and he dissolved into a column of sparks.
Elam barked a low whisper. “Now, Sapphira!”
Sapphira waved the cross in a broad circle over her head. A wall of flames began edging downward from her hand, wide enough to envelop herself, Elam, and Gabriel’s field of sparks. The rubellite pendant floated in midair and absorbed Gabriel’s energy along with a stream of flames from the wall.
“Elam!” Sapphira shouted. “What’s happening to Gabriel?”
“I don’t know! Maybe he’ll be okay on the other side!”
Sapphira peeked through the vortex of flames. The fiery stream rushing into the rubellite suddenly reversed and spewed out in a lightning streak of dazzling crimson. The cross’s wall of fire shattered into a million jagged pieces and crumbled away.
Chapter 5
When the pieces from the fiery vortex cleared from view, Sapphira dropped to her knees, exhausted. Lifting her head slowly, she peeked up at the surrounding shadows. Two human figures stood next to her, alive and well. One unfurled a set of beautiful dragon wings.
Sapphira leaped up and hugged Gabriel. “You’re alive!”
“I guess I am,” Gabriel said, patting his torso. “What happened?”
Elam clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. “Merlin told me that Excalibur’s beam doesn’t necessarily kill; it just changes physical matter into light energy. I was hoping Sapphira could bring you through to this dimension, but I didn’t know you would be physical again. Looks like it worked better than I expected.”
“Your plan was brilliant!” Sapphira tucked her cross into her waistband and hugged Elam. “It’s so good to be with you again!”
“Brilliant, yes, but did we fulfill the prophecy?” Gabriel slashed his finger across his throat. “Will Morgan believe that I’m dead?”
“I think she will.” Elam caressed Sapphira’s cheek and pulled away. “It looked like you dissolved before everything disappeared.”
“I guess we can hope so.” Gabriel kicked at the ferns at his feet. “So where in the world are we?”
Elam crouched and peered down a narrow path that wound through the forest. “We’re probably in another dimension, but I’m not sure which one. I’ve never seen this place before.”
Sapphira plucked a fern leaflet and twirled it in her fingers as she studied the landscape nothing but tall trees and dense undergrowth as far as the eye could see. “I was in a place like this, but I don’t think I’ve been to this exact spot.”
Gabriel grabbed a thick vine hanging over his head and pulled it down to eye level. “The trees look sort of like the ones I saw through the portal window at the back of Patrick’s mansion.”
“So,” Elam said, scratching the ground with a stick, “if the window leads to this dimension, Sapphira can find where it comes out here and get us to Patrick’s house. Then we’ll sneak back to the idols.” He looked up at Sapphira. “What do you think?”
“It’s better than popping right into Devin’s clutches.” Sapphira dropped her leaflet and picked up a long stick. “We’d better hurry. If Morgan’s not convinced that Gabriel’s dead, then Patrick and Paili are both in trouble.”