I clutch the golf ball-sized orb surreptitiously in my pocket to make sure it is still there. Its faint white glow intensifies, peaking through the material of my jeans. The action soothes me. No one would know how powerful such a pretty little thing is.

My boots hit the sidewalk and with each step I take, my heart beat picks up. My stomach flips. I feel sick. I know relief is coming.

When I finally see the neon sign for The Red Opium, I stop to look down at my pocket. The orb is glowing brighter. Lucifer was right. This thing really does work like a GPS.

With my head held high, I step to front door. The vampire guarding the entrance eyes me up and down until recognition flashes across his face. The corners of his mouth lift up in an evil smirk that makes my skin crawl.

"We were expecting you," he drawls in a sinister voice.

"Bet you did." I keep the edge out of my voice, when all I want to do is rip his throat out for these people did to Sophie. My entire being is shaking. More in anticipation than in fear of what I am about to do.

He chuckles dryly. "Come in."

He opens the metal door and red and white lights filter out onto the street. Loud grunge music reaches my ears at the same time as he snaps the door shut behind us. He walks in after me and my eyes settle on a group of vampires leaning leisurely on the walls. The club is empty, safe for them. They watch me intently, some of them with a scowl, some of them with an amused glint in their eyes. They already know why I am here.

"Mind if I search you?" asks the guard as he starts patting me down without waiting for an answer. His large meaty hands roam all over my body, stopping for a brief moment on the globe in my pocket. He lifts it up to his eyes and I hold my breath. He examines it briefly and probably dismisses it as a pretty jewel when he returns it to my pocket. I heave a sigh of relief.

"No weapons? If I did not know any better, I'd say you're here to surrender," he says.

No, because I have something stronger, much stronger right here in my pocket.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a sucker," the sassy says for me, "Oh wait, that's 'cause you are."

His face turns sour and he jerks me forward. His hand grips my arm so hard I know it will leave bruises to match the ones on my neck. "You're lucky she wants you for herself," he mutters, dragging me through a set of double-doors at the back of the club. I do not fight back. This is what I want. This is for Sophie.

We land in the basement and my eyes struggle to adjust to the darkened room. We walk through a main room and I notice a metal chair flipped over at the foot of a wall, some blood splattered on the ground in different areas and... are those fingernails?

I shiver, not from the cold, damp air in this place, but rather from the stench of death and torture. The vampire man-handling me notices and his fingers press deeper into my bicep. He knocks on a door three times and sends me a sideways glance. He looks almost nervous and that strikes me as odd.

A second later the door is flung open and a girl who looks a little younger than me bursts out naked and clutching a pile of clothes in her skinny arms. I think she is crying, but she does not stay long enough for me to confirm that thought.

"What is it?" grinds a familiar, feminine voice from the confines of the room. It is lit with a red chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with a plush black carpet in the middle and various torture devices adorning the walls. This looks like a red room of pain if I have ever seen one (and I have) (In Fifty Shades of Grey).

The guard pushes me inside in front of him and then bows. The chick who lit my house on fire walks out of the shadows clad in a leather bustier, fuck-me boots and black hair tied in a tight ponytail. She looks every bit the vampire stereotype. When she sees me, her previously annoyed expression turns into one of contempt. Her complexion is tinted pink from the light being filtered through red globes, but it does nothing to soften the severe look with which she pins me.

Only now do I notice more vampires standing idly in every corner of the room, as though they have been watching a show. They perk up when they recognize me, no doubt bracing for the next piece of entertainment the night will provide.

What kind of weird shit are these people into?

"What a surprise? Isn't that our little vampire slayer?" she says condescendingly while taking a step toward me. "I'll be frank. I didn't expect you here so soon."

I grind my teeth together to keep from jumping at her throat. I did not know I would react this strongly at the sight of her, but now all I can think of is how my best friend lost her life because of this forsaken creature.

I need to keep my cool. It is all for Sophie.

"Well, here I am," I say, jutting my chin forward when she stands before me, "Shall we finally settle this? You've taken everything away from me. My job, my house, my friend. There isn't anything left to take."

She lets out a bitter laugh, then looks back at me with cold lifeless eyes. "Tell me, what did you think would happen by you coming here?"

"I'm done with your games. If you want to end me, do it now," I answer calmly. The orb in my pocket starts vibrating.

"Do you honestly think I will believe that you came here, unharmed just to surrender?"

"I think whatever is left of your bitter heart wants to see me gone and I'm giving you exactly that."

She hinches closer to me, her face standing barely an inch away from mine. Her strong flowery perfume invades my nose, making my head throb with an impending headache. She purses her lips and caresses my jaw. I want to recoil from her touch, but I stay put.

"Such a waste," she says with a shake of her head, "I don't know if I should kill you right now or keep you as my toy."

Both options repulse me. I think I will pass.

"William," she calls whilst keeping her gaze on me, "What do you think? Wouldn't she make a great pet?"

A blond vampire, William I presume, leans away from the wall and approaches us with a casual smirk on his mouth. He places a hand on Alicia's bare shoulder. "We should probably try her out first. No need to make a decision in haste."

"Sorry lady, but you aren't my type." I scrunch my nose in disgust.

Her hand flies to my face and sharp jolt of heat erupts in my cheek. I stretch my jaw and apply some pressure on the spot she hit.

"Ow."

"William, bring me the pliers." Her eyes never leave my face while William goes to fetch the tool. I wonder what she is planning to do with me, but decide I prefer not to find out.

"He was surprisingly easy to kill, you know?" I say, forcing a smirk on my face, "And the woman who contracted me to do it, pretty sure they had been banging each other." I make up the last part, but it has the desired effect because her nostrils flair, lips parting in an ugly snarl. Like this, she reminds me of an animal. An angry hyena that is being challenged.

Her fangs extend past her lips and she hisses at me before she pulls me up by the throat and throws at the other side of the room. My back collides with the wall and I slide down to the floor before scrambling back to my feet. She lunges herself at me in a blur and swipes her nails across my chest, leaving behind three large claw marks on my skin.

"Don't you dare talk about him," she says menacingly and uppercuts me in the jaw.

My head snaps back and I begin to feel warm blood dripping between my breast.

I bring my eyes back to hers. "Seems to me like you got over him pretty fast," I say, looking pointedly at the BDSM paradise around us.

"Shut up!" She grabs my shoulders and slams me to the wall, making various torture devices fall off their hooks and rattle loudly on the floor.

I kick her off me and she stumbles back a little, leaving me just enough for space to slip past her and regain my footing. This is it. I have to do it now or else I never will.

She stares at me with murderous eyes, but she will not get to kill me tonight.

And I will not kill her either, because I am done. Done with all the killing, done with all the deaths. This ends tonight and it begins with her.

I am breaking the cycle.

My fingers find the glowing orb in my pocket, running over its smooth surface. It vibrates, shakes with anticipation. The magic is seeping out of it in waves. It wants to break free. I hold it up to my face and look past it at Alicia who analyses at it with suspicion on her face.

I fist it and propel it to the ground where it shatters in a hundred tiny pieces of glass. White light pours out, slithering through the air like silver snake breaking free of its prison. It swirls frantically in the room, searching for the one thing that was lost to it.

Alicia stares in horror as the vampires recoil from the light, shielding their faces with their arms. They start scrambling out of the room, William included. She gasps and the light freezes. Time stops. The air becomes heavy, shaking with anticipation at the miracle that is about to happen. The light snake begins to swirl once more and charges at Alicia, crashing right into the spot where her clavicles meet below her neck. She is yanked back a few feet from the impact and she begins to shakes as her soul re-enters her body. Her eyes widen, fangs retreating and face morphing into shock. She falls to her knees, breathing fast and heavy as though it is the first time. She looks at me with unadulterated terror and crashes to the ground with tears streaming down her face.

"I can feel," she cries out, "Everything!" She holds her head with both hands and shutters with every sob that rakes her body. "What did you do to me?"

"I gave you back your soul. Your life," I take a shaking breath, because I know what is about to come. "You have a second chance to move on and redeem yourself."

Because in the end, Alicia is a victim. A victim of her past circumstances, because no one becomes a vampire by choice. And then she is a victim of my actions, because I murdered her mate.

It may look as though I saved her, but she saved me. I got my revenge without doing the one thing that has been destroying me. I broke the cycle.

And now, it is my redemption that will come.

My knees buckle from under me and I crash to the floor. My hands meet the cold concrete as I land on all fours. I feel my heart beat begin to slow, my skin grows cold. Alicia's head snaps to mine, confusion etched on her features.

My body becomes lighter, my breath comes out ragged. I close my eyes, knowing it is coming. An ethereal sense of peace washes over me. In front of me, I see images blur by. Pictures of everything. My entire life laid out in a slideshow.

Death's face invades my mind. Now, all I can see his him. My heart constricts in my chest, as though an iron fist is squeezing its life out. A single tear rolls down my cheek.

"No!"

I hear a violent roar echoing on the room walls and then I am pulled into familiar arms. My body is paralysed. All I can do is listen to the frantic sound of his heart beat as it threatens to burst out of his chest.

***

No.

This cannot be happening.

I run to her as she is about to collapse, clutching her cold body against my own. I listen for a heart beat, but all I can hear is my own pouding in my head as I begin to see red.

This cannot be happening.

She remains immobile and when her last breath slips through her lips, I lose it.

"Lucifer," I shout as loud as my lungs with allow.

The air around me begins to crack with pent-up electricity as I stand up. My brother appears in front of me.

"What have you done?" I yell. The girl on the ground near us recoils and starts crawling away from me with fear in her eyes. I recognize her as the vampire I should have killed a long time ago. The one I underestimated. The one who's soul is now firmly in her body and that is when I finally understand.

Emma exchanged her soul for Alicia's. She made the grotesque deal with Lucifer. For what?

"Hear me out," he offers, but it is too late, for I throw myself at him and start pummelling him to the ground with all the rage and adrenaline that courses through my veins like angry poison.

Each time my fist hits his jaw, a loud thundering bang reverberates in the air and Alicia whimpers.

"Why?" I cry, unable to stop my assault. I want to destroy him like she destroyed me.

Lucifer grabs hold of my hands and pushes me off him. "She let me in her head!"

I freeze.

"What did you just say?" I grit, ignoring how incredibly cold the air becomes. Frost begins to blossom on the walls, colouring every surface in white. Alicia begins to shiver violently in her corner of the room, but Emma's body remains impassive to the change in temperature.

"I said she let me in her head. And what I saw there, Azra," he shakes his head, "She could never have given you what you both needed in the state she was in."

"The state she is in!" I growl, "Don't you use the past tense, she isn't dead!"

I grab his throat and stamp him on the wall.

"Stop," he yells. "Emma could never have moved on. She needs this! She wants to repent."

"She isn't going to Hell with you," I snarl and bring my knee up to his gut. He topples over and grabs at his middle. "I'm not reaping her soul."

He scrambles to his feet, "So what? You're just going to let her wander around aimlessly until she becomes a ghost? Will you really forsake the woman you love like this?"

"What other choice do I have? I need her, Lucifer," I push him against the wall once more, "I will destroy myself before I have to walk another day on this earth without her." The words that have been floating at the back of my mind for as long as I can remember are finally out. Admitting them out loud scares me, but it is the truth.

"Death." I hear her voice behind me, an eerie sound that cascades through the atmosphere and envelopes me in its sweetness. Her soul is beautiful, vibrant, colourful. Not in the slightest tinted. It is the most beautiful one I have ever seen.

I am drawn to it like a blind person seeing the light for the very first time. Her body lay lifeless beneath her and as I look up into her soul's eyes, I am brought down to my knees.

The scythe materializes beside me. It vibrates with anticipation.

"Why?" I ask.

She kneels in front of me and brings a translucent hand to my face. "I cannot live with myself like this."

"You know I can get you out of it. I've chased away your demons once before," my voice is so pleading it sounds foreign to me.

Her eyebrows knit together, "I need to do this on my own."

She pulls away and I feel empty. I know where she is coming from. I understand her pain. I know I can make it go away, but Emma is stubborn. As I look deep into her broken eyes, I see the pain eating her from the inside. It was always there, buried within her. Now, it has taken over. No matter how much she tries not to succumb to it, it will always loom over her existence. Breaking her.

I can put her pieces back together, but she needs to know she can fix herself.

I have to let her go. Lucifer is right.

"This is not the end," I say, resolutely.

If going in Hell is what she wants, what she thinks she needs, then I have to let her. This is bigger than her, bigger than us.

I stand up, lifting my scythe from the ground.

"I know," she whispers with finality and closes her eyes.

I cup her cheek and brush a kiss on her immaterial lips. I know I will have her again, but she needs time.

I brush the tip of my scythe on her forehead and see her soul begin to wither away. More tears fall from her eyes and all I can do is watch, powerless when I thought I had all the power.

When she is finally gone, I begin to slip. Madness takes over me as an uncontrollable fire begins to burn deep within my being. The cold is replaced by heat as angry flames erupt from the ground, eating away at the walls. Alicia screams in terror as the entire place starts to fall to the ground.

Yav appears beside the Lucifer. I hold Emma's body in my arms. I see black.

"Azrael!" Yav grips my arm to keep me grounded, but it is no use.

Power radiates from every pore on my skin as fiery rage sparks around us.

"No!" he calls, but it is too late.

I am gone.