Chapter 74. War Part-2

**74. War Part-2 **

***Rafael's POV:***

To say I was irritated would be an understatement. Cindy had been advised not to come here, but she did. They must have realized our strategy and opted to go against us, and now everyone dear to my heart is present in this combat field, making me more vulnerable to risk and the possibility for me to become distracted and losing any of them.
I warned Astrid to be careful. I don't want to lose her at any cost, and I'm not sure what I'll do if there is even a scratch on her beautiful skin. She had had enough because of me.
But the damage was already done, and there was nothing I could do to undo it. I turned around and tackled everybody who attacked me.
Even while battling, my peripherals were trained on Astrid, and I was happy she had learned how to use her powers appropriately. My gaze would occasionally flicker toward her, and I was proud of how successfully she defended herself.
She was utilizing her powers appropriately, which was a huge comfort and will come in handy later.
We are well aware that as much as she takes life, the more energetic she is going to feel, but we also have to be careful that it could be quite addicting to her.
I growled as a werewolf charged at me. He shoved me with all his force, as if it were going to hurt me. He couldn't even get me to budge one inch. I smirked and lifted my eyes, and the werewolf in front of me gasped, looking at the color of my eyes.
Without warning, I put my hand into the werewolf's chest His eyes widened, but before he realized what was happening, I yanked my hand away, tearing his heart out. He immediately collapsed to the ground, and I squeezed the blood from his heart, causing it to stream onto the ground.
Another one was observing everything from behind, and when he saw his partner's condition, he drew away in fright, but I wasn't the one to spare. I teleported directly in front of whoever was planning to assault me. He sweated profusely and attempted to flee, but I was in front of him again, and this time my hand was inside his chest, but I didn't take out his heart. Instead, I gave it a firm squeeze from within, causing him to tremble, and his excruciating screams echoed throughout the entire ground.
With one last squeeze, his soul left his body. Then there was a warlock in line ahead of me.
He tried to strike me with his worthless, non-harmful spells, but before I could tackle him, Cindy took the lead and twirled her finger, causing a blue burst of light to pierce his body and kill him. She grinned at me before returning to battle with other vampires, whom I recognized as my father's servants.
I was delighted to see her, but I suppose Bryan was already irritated by the notion, which is understandable. I returned to her side and signaled that I would handle the vampires because I noticed a greater opponent waiting for us, and I knew I couldn't battle him. We needed Cindy's magic, but before she could reach Vincent, Cindy had to deal with a few witches. She began casting spells.
I turned around and either broke the vampires' necks or killed them with the knife infused with my blood and lying on my belt.
"Mom, Sky," Astrid said, turning around to find her parents in front of her.
Astrid had just confronted her family, whom I believe should not be held accountable since, technically, it is not their fault, but Vincent compelled them to do everything.
My little dove was clearly shattered, as I could see. I stayed at her side. I think she needs my presence. I signaled to Charles to back me up, and he gave me a thumbs up.
When I got close to Astrid, she was already shouting at them to blame them, but I knew they weren't to blame. They refuse to budge. Even though Cindy is battling Vincent, he is still using Astrid's weakness since she would not hurt them.
"Little Dove, please calm down." I wrapped my arm around her waist, preventing her from saying anything else.
"No, Rafael, they don't get it.  They have done so much damage to me that they are now rising up against us and attempting to kill me. I need my answers. What was even my fault that my own family treated me this way? and not only that, they couldn't even take me alive," Astrid screamed. Her family's presence usually sparked her darkest side, and she wasn't even attempting to restrain herself.
I escorted her out of there. "Listen to me, little dove; things are not as they seem right now. We should not do anything that we will regret later. Please don't fight with them or even approach them till this is over. Okay, we'll speak about it and try not to hurt them. We shall decide what we will do with them later."  I immediately explained, and Astrid nodded, confused.
I sighed and extended my hands to cup her cheeks when my gaze flickered above, and I saw Elliot trying to take advantage of our distraction by trying to attack, but his target was Astrid.
I paused and quickly drew Astrid behind me, halting the dagger in flight by gripping it in the air. I stopped him from advancing forward by holding his wrist with one hand and his hand with the other.
I took his hand in mine and twisted it with the dagger at his back.
creases began to form on his forehead With the severity of the pain, I didn't stop there. His screams were music to my ears. I grinned and twisted his hand even more, causing him to scream in agony.
"I've given you enough chances.  I warned you not to come near me or anybody related to me, but you are too arrogant to listen to anyone. You dared to mess up with my people once more? so no more," I reminded myself of the trash of my father and everything he ever did.
I was about to issue another warning when a ball of light struck me, causing me to spring back, clutching my hand and grimacing in pain. I jerked my fingers repeatedly as if I had touched a fresh current string.
I clenched my teeth as I stared at Vincent, who had an arrogant sneer on his face.
Cindy was kept occupied battling several minor witches, which was maintained as a distraction by Vincent. I mind-linked Alice and requested that she take control of those minor witches. I was sure that she would have no trouble taking them down.
Then I mind-linked Cindy to take care of Vincent while Alice handled the other witches. She turned and attacked Vincent right away.
"Is she with you?" Elliot was probably surprised to see Cindy. He must have recognized her. "Now I see why you guys came so prepared. It's because of her, right?" Elliot said.
Cindy was listening intently to everything while battling. She conjured up a ball of energy, and Vincent did the same. When their forces connected, Vincent flew away with the strength Cindy possessed.
"And hello to you, Elliot!" Cindy laughed. "I couldn't say I'm glad to see you after all these years."
"Feelings are mutual." Elliot sighed and rolled his eyes. "What were you talking about, my darling son?" He focused his attention back on me.
Sarcastically, I grinned. "Nothing. You were saying farewell to me since you are about to die."
"I believe your memory is failing you, my son.  Did you forget that you had spilled Fiona's blood? How are you going to get rid of me now?" He burst out laughing.
"Dear brother-in-law, did you forget I still possess my magic?" Cindy spoke in a sing-song tone.
"Did you forget I was still here?  We're not going to stop until we have all of you on your knees pleading for our mercy," Vincent chuckled.
Eva's mind linked to me as Vincent and Elliot were talking. "What do you mean you spilled your mother's blood?  Did you waste it?" Eva inquired.
Eva nodded as I quickly described what was going on. "I know there's no other way to kill him but with our mother's blood," I stated.
"You're an idiot, and you forgot I have one capsule to myself lying around my neck," she said.
"Eva, listen, love, I am going to keep him distracted, and this time it should be you killing him.  No one else can do it, and Elliot will not expect you to attack. I've got your back, no worries."  I asked for Eva. Though she had seen Elliot kill me once, she didn't know that he was responsible for Mom's death, something I had to keep secret.
I know that our father attempting to kill me would be enough for Eva to kill him. I nodded as I stared at her. "All right, I'll do it," she said.
"I'm going to divert his attention, and I've hidden the dagger beneath the rock. You can take that, alright? Get ready, and when I signal, just attack him." I directed Eva, and she silently fled without being noticed. I even doubt Father is aware of her presence here, but his ignorance will work to our advantage.
I moved my gaze to Elliot. "What makes you believe Vincent won't perish beside you?" I asked, smirking, that while this talk would make little sense, my major goal was to distract Elliot.
I focused my attention and began reading his thoughts. He had the same reservations. Why am I so sure of myself? He was also terrified of losing his life.
"Look around at what happened to the troops you came with to take us down.  I told you that statistics don't matter as long as you're brave and believe in yourself. See for yourself, you arrived with three times as many people as we did, and now you're outnumbered, whilst I have few to no casualties," I smirked.
"Don't be worried, my son; we are both enough for you," he added, gesturing to himself and Vincent.
I laughed. "I wish he was your son instead of me, because then I wouldn't have been linked with someone like you, and it would have fit like father like son," I sneered.
That struck a chord with Elliot. He swiftly turned around from where I was standing, and he came face-to-face with me. A sharp blade sound echoed on the horizon. Elliot's attention shifted to his chest, and his eyes widened in alarm as I grinned.
Before anybody could comprehend what had just occurred, Elliot's lifeless body was on the ground, holding the dagger I had driven into his chest.
"That was for Jack and all of the innocent lives you have taken.  goodbye, father. I am not the kind to stab my enemies in the back as you did earlier, but my dignity will not allow it.  I wish I could say Rest in peace, but you don't deserve it." I sighed, staring into the eyes of this man, who was, unfortunately, my father, and who still had his eyes wide open.
That dagger dropped to the ground and quickly turned to ash. I examined my hands. I had to breach my pledge to Mom because if I hadn't, he would have killed not only me but everyone I had ever loved.
Eva backed away at the last moment. Eva had gotten hold of the knife and slathered it in blood while I was distracting them, but when she approached us, she stepped back. She couldn't bring herself to kill someone she'd known her entire life.
She wasn't prepared when I mind-linked her. She requested time, which we did not have in hand. I can't even hold Eva responsible. She has always been like this, and perhaps now that she and Charles have mated, her angel side has taken control.
I sighed, and as Eliot turned around, I teleported so quickly that no one could see me. Even Eva was surprised at how quickly I pulled the dagger from her grasp and returned to my position. I wasted no time in thrusting the blade into Elliot's chest as he turned around.
It was finally all over. I had to kill my father, and I'm not sure how I should feel now. Did I make the correct decision?
When I looked up, I noticed Eva sobbing in the corner, but she assured me that I had done the right thing.
With a forlorn expression, I looked to my right and found Cindy and Bryan standing with their eyes filled with sorrow, but they were not the ones my eyes were looking for. I hurriedly stood up and looked around.
"Where is Astrid?" I became concerned and approached Cindy and Bryan.
"She was standing just behind you," Cindy responded. When I turned around, there was no trace of Astrid.
"Rafael!" My attention was drawn to her scream. I looked around, and the image in front of me made my blood boil.
Astrid's eyes were covered by Vincent, who was dragging her by the hair.
"Vincent, leave her right now." Azael began to take possession of my body without even my consent.
Another scream from Astrid was enough to unite my vampire and demon sides.
Black veins began to appear on my neck, and I began to see red everywhere.
Everyone around me exclaimed and started backing away.
Cindy was the one who realized what was going on. "No, Rafael, you must stop yourself." Her speech was hardly audible to me. "Astrid suffered no harm. I'll do something, but don't give Azael control." Cindy warned me several times, but I was deaf ears.
It was too late. Azael was already enraged, and my vampire side was as well. Both sides of mine were fighting for control, and without my consent, they fused.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _