Chapter 79 Seal The Gateway (Sam POV)
Chapter 79 Seal The Gateway (Sam POV)
"The artifact..." Lucinda's voice breaks. "The artifact wasn't meant to seal gateways. Sariel didn't create it to help her daughters defend themselves. She created it to..." Lucinda stops, tears streaming down her face. "She created it to open a permanent bridge between worlds. To reunite what angels and demons tore apart. The seven artifacts aren't defensive tools. They're the key components of a mega-ritual designed to collapse all dimensional barriers simultaneously."
The words hang in the penthouse like a death sentence.
"You're lying." But I hear the truth in her voice. "Lucinda, you said the artifact would help Sam seal the gateway..."
"I said what I was programmed to say!" Lucinda shouts. "Thirty years ago, when I made that deal with Asmodai, he didn't just compromise me. He programmed me. Planted false memories. Made me believe I was protecting family while actually positioning Sam to become the final component in Sariel's original plan. The artifact wasn't stolen celestial technology. It was created specifically to corrupt Nephilim until they reached sufficient power to serve as permanent bridges. And I..." Her voice cracks. "I've spent three years deliberately corrupting my granddaughter. Deliberately pushing her toward ninety percent. Deliberately ensuring she'd wear the artifact to tonight's ritual where she'll complete Sariel's mega-ritual and collapse every dimensional barrier on Earth."
"No." I stare at Lucinda. "That can't...Sam destroyed the other six artifacts. She eliminated the components..."
"She destroyed the amplification network." Pedro's voice is hollow. "The six fragments were designed to boost her power. But the seventh artifact...the one bonded to Sam's genetics...that's the master key. The component that activates when a Nephilim reaches ninety percent corruption while wearing it during a dimensional convergence event. Like a midnight ritual at Pike Place Market during a blood moon. Sam doesn't need the other six artifacts to complete Sariel's plan. She just needs to activate her artifact while channeling Nephilim power at the right time and place."
"Then we stop her." Marcus already has his phone out. "We call Sam. Tell her the ritual is a trap. Tell her..."
"She won't listen." Lucinda's voice is defeated. "At ninety percent corruption, Sam has lost emotional capacity for doubt. She'll calculate my confession as unreliable testimony from a compromised source. She'll determine that proceeding with the ritual despite the risk is preferable to abandoning it. She'll choose to complete the mission even knowing it might destroy the world."
"Because that's what I trained her to do." Lucinda meets my eyes. "Kieran, I've spent three years programming Sam to prioritize mission over self-preservation. To make the hard choice. To sacrifice anything for tactical advantage. I created the perfect weapon...one that won't question orders, won't hesitate, won't stop until the mission is complete. And now that weapon is two hours from activating during a ritual designed to collapse dimensional barriers across Earth."
"So we force her to stop." I move toward the elevator. "We go to Pike Place Market. We remove the artifact by force if necessary. We prevent Sam from activating it during the ritual."
"You can't remove it." Lucinda sounds broken. "The artifact is bonded to her genetics. Removing it without her consent will kill her. And at ninety percent corruption, she won't consent. She'll fight you. Kill you if necessary to complete what she perceives as the mission."
"Then I'll kill her first." The words taste like poison. "Lucinda, I've been preparing to execute Sam if necessary since this investigation began. If she's become the weapon that will destroy the world, execution is the only option."
"But you love her." Lucinda's voice is gentle despite everything. "Kieran, I've watched you two this past week. Watched you care about her despite knowing it would make the necessary choice harder. Can you really kill the woman you love to save the world?"
"I've done harder things." I head for the elevator. "Marcus, we're going to Pike Place Market. We're stopping Sam from activating that artifact. By force if necessary. By execution if..."
My phone rings. Tyler.
"Kieran, thank god!" Tyler sounds panicked. "We have a problem! Sam just...she's detected the truth somehow! She knows about Sariel's mega-ritual! She knows the artifact is designed to collapse barriers! And she's decided to activate it anyway because..." Tyler's voice cracks. "Because she's calculated that controlled collapse is preferable to Asmodai's uncontrolled invasion. She's going to deliberately destroy dimensional barriers because at ninety percent corruption she thinks that's the tactically sound choice!"
"We're on our way." I end the call, turning to Lucinda. "You're coming with us. If Sam won't listen to me, maybe she'll listen to..."
"She won't." Lucinda doesn't resist as I cut her magical restraints. "Kieran, at ninety percent corruption, Sam has lost the capacity to value my opinion over tactical assessment. But I'll come anyway. I'll try. Because despite everything...despite being Asmodai's agent, despite corrupting my granddaughter deliberately, despite destroying everything I claimed to protect...I still love her. And sometimes love is all we have left when tactical options are exhausted."
We take the elevator down. Pedro follows, his expression haunted by the realization that his seventeen years of deals with Asmodai have been building toward this moment, toward Sam activating an artifact that will destroy everything.
"If Sam completes the mega-ritual," Pedro asks quietly, "what happens to Maria? To my daughter who's serving as Asmodai's vessel?"
"She becomes irrelevant." Lucinda's voice is flat. "If dimensional barriers collapse, Asmodai doesn't need a vessel. He can manifest directly in physical reality. Maria will be discarded. Consumed. Destroyed. Just another casualty of the plan."
"Then I'm helping you stop it." Pedro's voice hardens. "Whatever it takes. Whatever the cost. Sam doesn't get to sacrifice my daughter for her calculated dimensional collapse."
We drive toward Pike Place Market at speeds that would get us arrested if any cops were paying attention. My phone buzzes constantly...Tyler providing updates on Sam's preparations, Echo warning that angelic forces are repositioning, Lord Ash confirming fae warriors are in defensive position.
And through it all, one message from Sam herself:
Kieran, I'm aware you're attempting rescue operation for Lucinda. Aware she's confessed artifact's true purpose. Aware you're planning to stop me from activating it. Your concern is noted. However, my assessment stands: controlled dimensional collapse is preferable to Asmodai's invasion. The mega-ritual will proceed as Sariel designed. Seattle will be sacrificed to save Earth. I regret you'll likely die attempting to stop me. But tactical necessity overrides personal attachment. See you at Pike Place Market. -Sam
"She's saying goodbye." I stare at the text. "Sam is...she's warning me she'll kill me if I try to stop her. And she's doing it with the emotional investment of someone canceling dinner plans."
"That's ninety percent corruption." Lucinda's voice carries decades of guilt. "That's what I created. What I programmed. What three years of deliberate engineering produced. A weapon capable of calculating her partner's death as tactical necessity without emotional hesitation."
"Then I'd better make sure her calculations are wrong." I check my knife. "Marcus, when we reach Pike Place Market, you and Pedro evacuate civilians. Get everyone away from the market before Sam activates the artifact. Lucinda, you try talking sense into Sam. And I..."
"You'll do what you've been preparing to do all week." Marcus finishes. "Kieran, if Sam won't stop voluntarily, you'll execute her. You'll kill the woman you love to prevent dimensional collapse."
"Yes." The word comes out steady despite my hands shaking. "I'll kill Sam. I'll feel her death through my curse. I'll experience her murder as my own. And then I'll spend whatever time I have left knowing I destroyed the only person I've cared about in eight years. But at least..." My voice cracks. "At least the world will still exist. At least her death will mean something."
We pull up to Pike Place Market. Midnight approaches. The blood moon rises. And somewhere in the market, Sam Drewsbury...ninety percent corrupted, wearing an artifact designed to collapse dimensional barriers, convinced she's making the tactically sound choice...prepares to destroy everything.
The question is whether I'm strong enough to stop her.
Whether I can kill the woman I love to save the world.
Whether three hundred and forty-seven years of being a cursed hunter has prepared me for the one death that will finally break me completely only to discover that Lucinda is absent.