"You betrayed me," I said into the phone.

"Carlton? Is that you?" A smile spread on my bloody lips when I heard her smooth, silky voice on the line. My eyes were bloodshot, but yet they shone.

"You can stop now," I said, my voice ringing in triumph. "There is no need to continue your schemes. I have done it. You have lost."

"Cal? Is that you, baby?"

I noted that she had chosen to call me 'Cal', a name she had not uttered in over two years. She was the only one who had ever called me that. There was a time I would melt whenever she did.

Not anymore.

"You have failed, Jolene!" I crowed. "You betrayed me. You betrayed the love we shared for so long. You thought you had broken me. But you failed. What we had was special, Jo. But you were greedy. You wanted His evil power. And you were willing to give what you had of me to Him."

I coughed, and blood splattered on the floor, staining the candles lit in a circle around me.

"Cal, you aren't making any sense. Tell me where you are. I'll come get you. We can sort this out."

I laughed. The ring of it sounded strange to my ears. Manic. Very uncharacteristic of me. But that didn't matter. I knew what she wanted. I knew what her deal with Him had been.

"It's too late!" I replied. "I have made the ultimate sacrifice. You may have broken my spirit, but you will never have my heart! You have failed, and your Lord will not be pleased."

"No... No!" She screeched. "Cal, what have you done? What have you done?!"

"I have given up my life, Jo! I have given my heart to the Flame, and with that power, He will come for the Deep and defeat Him. Your Lord will not be pleased."

"It's a trick. No... Please, no! Cal, it's a trick! Don't do it!"

I could hear her sobs on the other end of the line, but I didn't care. The candles burnt low. My vision was blurry and I knew I would soon be gone, along with their flames. But I had done it. The world would be safe.

For now.