Chapter 29-3

"Because you have no choice," Lucrezia told him. "Archer and I are from the same family line. You want his blood. And you'll get it. Through me." "What? Lucrezia, no, I can't ask you to - " Death shot me a warning look that immediately made me shut my mouth, even though I wanted to scream. Why would Lucrezia even think about taking my place? "You're dead," Havoc snarled. "You killed yourself four hundred years ago. You have no blood." Lucrezia waived an airy hand, as if none of what Havoc had just said mattered any. "That's very true. I've no doubt my skeleton has already turned to dust in some unmarked grave in Rome. But, as you can see," she said as she held her arms aloft, "this body is perfectly functional." "You implanted yourself," Death said, and there was something like awe in his voice as he stared at Lucrezia. "Geinus." "The real Agnes Schaffer passed away peacefully in her sleep months ago," Lucrezia said, staring right at me. "I simply...took over. I may not have possessed my original body for centuries, but the essence of what made me Lucrezia Allegretti still remained. So when I implanted myself in this body, what was left of Agnes became me." I felt as if I had just been put through a wringer. Everything I thought I knew wasn't real. Nothing was real anymore. "You've been looking out for me this entire time." Lucrezia smiled at me, and then it was glaringly obvious why Death had fallen in love with her. "Of course I have. That's what families do. They look out for one another. And that's why you're going to let me take your place." "Lucrezia, I - " "Enough of this bullshit!" I barely had enough time to register that Havoc was making a desperate lunge for me before I threw up my arms in attempts to brace myself against the attack. But Havoc never reached me. Death had snatched Havoc by the scruff of his collar, yanked him backwards, and Havoc was sent spiraling into the air, only to collide with one of the pillars that supported the foundation of the church. The sickening crack that broke through the air at the sound of Havoc's skull smacking against the marble of the pillar made me wince and shrink backwards. I waited with baited breath for Havoc to immediately pick himself up off the ground and begin a new attack, but he remained awkwardly slumped against the pillar, motionless. Blood was beginning to trickle down the side of his face. I looked over to Death, who was now clutching at one of the pews to keep himself upright, his breathing labored. Something on my face must have spelled out what the hell was that, because Death gave a pained smile and said, "Not as hurt as I look, apparently." I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but Lucrezia beat me to the punch. "You have to leave. Now. He won't be unconscious forever, and when he wakes up, you can damn well be sure he's going to send this place tumbling to the ground." Already I noticed that the unsettling apparitions of my family members had begun to grow dull and were slowly disappearing from sight, one by one. "But how is he even unconscious in the first place?" I said quickly. "I thought - " "We're not human, but we can still bleed," Death said. "Go," Lucrezia said, giving me an urgent shove towards the door Death had come through. "Now." I hadn't even begun to process everything that had just occured, and already it was starting to fall apart. I stayed right where I was, not budging an inch. "How can I ever - " Lucrezia clapped a hand over my mouth before I could finish my sentence. "Don't thank me. Just live. Be with your family. Our family. Will you do that for me, Archer? Please?" I nodded when she pulled her hand away, not trusting myself to speak. There was a painful lump in my throat, and my eyes were burning. Lucrezia turned back to Death, and this time reached out to place a hand against the side of his face. His eyes slid shut as he turned into her touch. I wanted to look away, to let them have this last private moment together, but I couldn't. Lucrezia slid her other arm around Death's shoulders, pulling herself up to his level, and just as she was about to press her lips against his, he muttered, "Don't." She pulled back a fraction of an inch, her face drawn in a confused expression. "It's going to hurt." "It's always going to hurt." Death opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, thought better of it, and then tugged Lucrezia closer so he could finally kiss her. That time I did manage to look away. Even at a moment like this, I felt my face turning red with embarrassment. Theirs was a love story that I think words would never be able to explain. I nearly jumped a foot in the air when a hand came down on my shoulder, and then Death was dragging me towards that door on the other side of the altar, even though he was still sporting a limp. I wanted to turn back and say something to Lucrezia, some small something to let her know how grateful I was for her sacrifice, but Death gave me a rough shove forward. "Don't look back. Just go." In the few short seconds that it took us to close in on the door the floor had started to shake, and the stain glass windows were shattering pane by pane. The ceiling of the church was beginning to collapse inward, the chunks sounding like cannons being fired when they finally hit the ground. Just as Death's hand closed around the door knob to yank open the door, I heard Lucrezia say from behind me, "Goodbye, Archer," and then more softly, "Goodbye, Aleph." Death gave me another sharp jab to the back, pushing me over the threshold, saying, "What're you waiting for, kid? Go!" I felt myself heading into a deep, all consuming blackness that sucked every last breath of air from my lungs. And then nothing at all.