Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 10

you murdering bastard. So, I suppose this will have to do."
    Con raised the dagger and stabbed Anzel in the heart. As Anzel fell back, Con withdrew the blade and leaned down over the fatally wounded Lord of the lower realm. He traced the tip of the dripping blade over Anzel's heaving chest. Rather than cooling his rage, stabbing Anzel had somehow morphed his anger into a tightly coiled bundle of white-hot fire that burned through Con's body, making him quiver with need. A need to see Anzel suffer for all he had done to Ren.
    "What's it like, Anzie, to know that your life is ebbing away as you lay there unable to do a thing about it?" Con dug the tip into the wound on Anzel's chest causing him to cry out and jerk upward in pain. "Well, before you close your eyes on this world, remember this." As Con spoke the next words he slowly pushed the dagger into Anzel's chest once more. "If Ren is truly dead, as I suspect he is, no realm in heaven or hell will give your spirit rest. I will follow that black soul of yours into the bowels of hell to torment you." Con withdrew the dagger once more, reveling in the death rattle he heard coming from Anzel's throat. Giving into the violence in his heart one last time he raised the dagger above his head and with eyes blazing roared at the dying man below him. "This is for my boy!"
    Now Con gave over to the rage within him and with near gleeful abandonment began to stab Anzel again…and again…and again. Con seemed unable to stem the tears flowing down his cheeks or halt the downward motion of the dagger. Blood splattered his face and neck, his hands grew slick with it. Were it not for the small gasp he heard behind him, Con might very well have lost his mind to the bloodlust he was in the grip of at that moment; but that small noise pulled him back into reality. Dropping the dagger Con turned and scrabbled his way toward Ren. Despite the fine sheen of blood that coated most of Con's upper body as well as his hands, he reached out to touch the sweat slicked brow of his lover. Tearing off his jacket he pushed it against the wound on Ren's chest. Somehow the blade must have missed the heart.
    Ren's eyes fluttered open slowly and looked directly at Con. Con held his breath, his heart threatening to burst from his chest as joy at the thought that Ren was alive coursed through him. Ren tried to speak.
    "Shhhh, boy. Save your strength."
    Ren raised his hand weakly and motioned for Con to come closer. Con bent down until his face was right next to Ren's.
    "Anzel"
    The whispered name was nearly inaudible but Con understood what the boy wanted to know…needed to know.
    "Dead, Ren. He's dead. He can't hurt you anymore."
    Ren sighed and closed his eyes briefly. Then they flew open once more and a strange light blazed in them as he struggled to breathe. Con could not hold back the unchecked tears that flowed from his eyes. In his heart, the joy he had initially felt turned to dust as he realized that Ren must be dying. Ren's lips were moving again. Continuing to hold his jacket against the wound in Ren's chest, Con dashed the tears from his eyes and cheeks with his other hand and gave himself a mental shake. It would not do for the boy to see him like this, filled with tears and sadness in their last few moments together, not when his boy had brought such joy to his life.
    Con leaned in, wrapping his free arm around Ren's shoulders, drawing him close to his chest. He listened closely to the words his boy spoke. Ren's final words. Words that Con would remember…always.
    "You…always you. My light…my heart…my love. Never…never forget…never forget."
    "Shhh boy. Enough…it's enough. Rest now…rest here with me…I'll never leave you, Ren…you're my boy…my beautiful boy…always."
    Con looked down at the head that rested against his breast…the pale face turned toward his…the eyes full of love. He wondered how he could go on living if his boy died. Then Ren smiled at him…and Con's heart stopped at the breathtakingly beautiful sight.
    "Love…Con…love you…always."
    Ren's eyes closed and with a sigh his head fell forward, his body slumping against Con's. Ren's heartbeat grew fainter. Con lowered his head until it rested against Ren's soft curls. He would remain here with his boy until he passed over, for Con was convinced that was Ren's fate…death. Con closed his eyes…and finally succumbing to his grief, wept.
    A few minutes later, Gael and half the army of the upper realm