Free Angelus by Sabrina Benulis Page B

bottom.
    â€œHere is your life force,” Python said. He gazed into the hourglass almost hungrily. “You have until the last grain falls to the bottom. After that, well—”
    He snapped his fingers and a necklace with a small hourglass pendant swung from Kim’s neck. As if it were an afterthought, the demon tossed back the sapphire necklace suspended in the air to Sophia. She caught it expertly, but that couldn’t erase the fury emanating from her like smoke. “What did you do?” she demanded of Python.
    Yes, what did he do? Kim swallowed. It felt like his soul was bottoming out inside of him. He grasped the pendant and forced himself to breathe.
    â€œI didn’t do anything,” Python said. “We’re all simply prisoners to the laws of the universe. And I’m sad to bring you this news if you’re unaware, but when one person’s life force Binds with another’s, the helping individual is drained. Slowly, but always surely. Your time, Kim, will eventually be up.” Python reached into the bag of crimson sand and slowly let some grains slip through his fingers. “Time is merely the hourglass of God. The only difference is that in this case, I’m the one who flipped that hourglass into action. And it was all thanks to Sophia’s divine little song.”
    Sophia trembled. Her steely grip was now stopping the flow of blood in his arms. Kim wanted to be enraged. He had every right to be. But something had broken within him.Looking at Angela, knowing he was doing what he could to help her, he had no regrets. The old hardness within him was dying.
    And he loved her for it.
    Kim never took his eyes off her. It was like he couldn’t anymore. “When the last grains fall to the hourglass’s bottom, what will happen next?” he murmured. He already knew the answer.
    Python grew deeply serious. The very air seemed to hang on his words. “Well, then, you’re mine,” he said softly.
    Now Sophia let loose. “You devious snake, ” she screamed at Python.
    Kim lowered his head and leaned against the table. If someone had punched him, the effect couldn’t have been worse. He stared at Angela, brushing aside her hair. Tears filled his eyes and trickled hotly down his face.
    â€œKim,” Sophia shouted, “he has no right to claim your soul. You can’t be Python’s slave.”
    Kim had nothing to say.
    â€œDon’t you understand what this means?” Sophia screamed at him.
    He nodded, his mind and soul already lost in a strange fog. “I do. And I know that I have no regrets. For the first time, only I could help Angela.” He gripped one of Angela’s hands impulsively. “Besides, what do I have left now, anyway? I’m a man without purpose. I’m a soul walking in a haze. Maybe this is what it was all for—this moment. Maybe every moment of my life led me not to Lucifel’s Altar, but here.”
    Sophia became speechless. She probably felt both guilty and grieved, but it was too late. It was all too late.
    Python stepped closer to Kim and examined the hourglass pendant, lifting it with his fingers. “A perfect miniature,” he said. “It will match the hourglass I keep here. You see, Kim, I’m a gentleman at heart. I always find it polite to let a soul I favor know just how much time it has left. And even though I tended to despise you by turns, I’ll admit your bravery earned a special place in my heart today.”
    Kim grasped the pendant, sickness welling within him in a flood. “Promise me one thing,” he said weakly. He meant the words for everyone. “Don’t tell Angela what I’ve done.”
    Sophia’s gentle sobbing cut him to the heart.
    A great weariness overtook Kim. He barely protested as Python stroked Angela’s cheek and she sighed, her face relaxed, her suffering starting to diminish.
    But although the demon’s words