Evelyn’s scream pierced Alexa’s soul. It was nothing like she’d ever heard before. She could feel the woman’s heart breaking.
Within seconds, light covered Denton’s skin. Then a shower of little glowing particles flowed out of his body and hovered in the air above the pavement where he lay. They slowly formed into a ball. It was his soul.
Alexa watched in horror as the Higher demon crouched down and ingested Denton’s soul. It shivered in delight and then stood up, higher and larger, more powerful and deadly.
“Scrumptious,” it said as it licked its lips. “The big ones always taste better.”
Alexa’s fear was mirrored in the faces of her companions. What could they do against such brutality, such vile power?
The Higher demons were winning. They were all going to die.
CHAPTER 10
THE HIGHER DEMON PICKED UP Denton’s severed legs and cast them away like chicken bones. Alexa unleashed her anger at the demon that had just killed Denton. She didn’t think about anything other than destroying and killing. Her instincts and training kicked in like an adrenaline shot, and she soared through the air, diving towards the demon with her blade.
But the demon moved away like a gust of wind. She saw its dark shape twist past her as her weapon clanged into the pavement. Cursing, she pulled it out and whirled around, readying herself for the next onslaught. How could it move that fast?
“You’re outmatched, little angel,” said the demon. “I’m superior in every way: superior in strength, in skill, in intellect, and everything else. Just give up. Why even bother? Saving people, hunting demons, doing the Legion’s business. I’ve got news for you. Mortals just don’t care. They don’t care that you risk your angel skin to save them every single day of their lives. They’re too busy spending money on things they don’t need, on screwing themselves over, on alcohol and drugs. They only think of themselves. And what? You think they’re happy and healthy because of you?” The demon shook his head with what Alexa could only guess was a look of disappointment. “You deserve to die because of your stupidity.”
Denton’s blood marked its face and hands. She realized that she had moved far away from the others. Somehow the demon had driven her to the opposite side of the parking lot.
“It doesn’t matter how many meat suits you wear, you’ll never be as powerful as us,” mocked the demon. “You refuse to take the life force from these useless mortals, and it’s the one ingredient that could make you more powerful. It would make you immortal.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Alexa caught a glimpse of Erik behind the demon. His face was pale and drained, and his movements were too slow. He was so exhausted from parrying the demon’s thrusts that he was going to fall over. He was going to die.
The demon laughed. “You should have left this miserable town and gone straight back to your precious Legion when you had the chance. You shouldn’t have come here.”
Alexa stiffened. “What did you say? How did you—”
The demon leaped at her, but Alexa grunted with effort and lunged straight for the beast’s neck. It leered as it swung its dagger towards her face, but in one smooth movement she faked left, spun, ducked under the demon, came back up behind it, and slid her blade across its neck.
She didn’t stop, not when putrid black blood spattered onto her face, and not when her fingers brushed the flesh in its throat. Finally, she heard the tearing of flesh, and the Higher demon’s head fell at her feet. It was still smiling. Its body slipped to the ground and then rose up in black flames and disintegrated into a pile of dust.
For a moment, Alexa just stood there. She was half impressed with herself and half disgusted. She was covered in blood and smelled like she’d rolled in manure.
She heard Erik scream and bolted across the parking lot. Santo, Evelyn, and Haru were still battling the Higher demons, and there were only two demons attacking them now. They must have killed one.
She didn’t see Lance anywhere.
Erik was on the ground behind the parking lot with his back to an old apple tree. Blood poured freely from his fingers as he struggled with a large wound on his left side. He held his blade in his right hand and waved it feebly at an approaching demon.
She couldn’t feel the poison from her wound anymore. All she felt was white-hot rage, unlike any rage she’d ever felt before. She embraced it.
Erik was the only person in the world who had stood up for her. She was not going to let him die.
In two leaps, she faced the demon. She saw a flicker of surprise as her blade slashed it across the neck. But the thing was fast, and it leaped away before she could do any real damage.
“Angel bitch,” it hissed. It brought up its arm and inspected the cut in its neck with its semi-grown hand. “I’m going to feast on your soul as payment for what you did.”
“Alexa.” She heard Erik’s feeble voice. She could see the desperation in his face. “Don’t. Run. Get out.”
“Please don’t run, Alexa,” the demon mocked Erik’s desperate voice. “I’m going to rip your pretty angel body apart with my bare hands. And then I’m going to suck your soul and ingest it. I’ll have immeasurable strength, and you’ll be a part of me forever. We’ll destroy the mortal world together, and you can take comfort in knowing that your soul helped.”
“That will never happen, demon.” She knew it was crazy for a rookie to battle Higher demons on her own. But she couldn’t let Erik die. So, she’d fight for him.
“You call that a hand?” Alexa shot back. “Looks more like a chicken leg to me. Doubt you can do anything with that.”
The demon hissed in anger and flew at her, snapping its jaws like a piranha. She parried his sword with the edge of her blade, and without stopping, kicked the furious demon back.
“You will wish you’d died as a mortal when I’m finished with you, angel filth.”
It shot at her again. Alexa sidestepped, but she wasn’t fast enough, and the death blade sliced into her flesh. Despite the pain, she didn’t stop moving. The demon lashed out and tried to stab her again, but she was just out of reach and the demon roared in anger.
“You’re nothing, you mortal loving whore!”
It came at her again, but Alexa feinted right, and then pivoted to her left. Her blade sliced across demon’s back, and the thing bellowed in a strange inhuman language.
She didn’t have time to think about how remarkably she had been fighting. She only thought of Erik’s pleading eyes, and of the pool of blood he lay in.
She could see that his eyes were closed. She knew that was a bad sign.
The time when she could have fled had come and gone. She was invested now, whether she liked it or not.
The demon spun, closing the distance between them to deliver its own strike, but she jabbed her sword into one of its black eyes. She pushed it until it came out of the top of the demon’s skull. The demon toppled to the ground, writhing silently and spilling its blood across the pavement. Just in case and without a second to lose, Alexa leapt on to the demon and hacked off its head.
The demon’s body burst into black flames, just as the other demon had, and it dissolved into a cloud of black dust.
Alexa ran over to Erik’s side and fell to her knees. He looked much worse up close. His face was so swollen it was scarcely recognizable. Dark maroon bruises and cuts had ravaged his once handsome face. He was so pale, so white, that she thought he was dead. She ignored the wild fright that rose in her and reached down and shook him gently by the shoulders.
“Erik!” she squeezed a little harder. “Erik! Wake up!”
His lids flickered and the opened. “Alexa?” His voice was muffled, and his eyes didn’t seem to focus, but a wave of relief gushed through her. He was alive.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” she said. “Can you walk?” She hated asking, but she wasn’t sure she could carry him.
He blinked twice and sat up. He cringed as his hand went to his side. His shirt was soake
d in blood. “I think so.”
Screams and howls erupted from across the parking lot. The two last Higher demons were closing in on the surviving Sensitives. She could see the fear on their faces. She was only too aware that the others needed her help, too. She was also aware that she wouldn’t be able to save Erik if she abandoned him now. Even though she had no medical training, she knew he was losing too much blood. If the bleeding didn’t stop, he’d die.
She knew that her M-9 suit would continue to protect her, but it couldn’t help Erik. Perhaps she could move him to his car for protection. But before she could move him, another Higher demon turned from its battle with the others, grinned at her, and shot toward her with incredible speed.
“Shit.” She yanked Erik to his feet. He let out a cry, and she ached for his pain. It pained her to see him like this, but she knew she couldn’t fight the demon and protect Erik at the same time.
“Come on.” She wrapped his right arm around her neck and began to pull him towards his car. It was only about a hundred feet away, but even with her supernatural strength she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to make it.
The Higher demon lunged and Alexa covered Erik with her body.
But the impact never came.
The demon howled and kicked as the white dog impaled it in its ferocious jaws. The demon stabbed the dog, over and over, but Lance wouldn’t let go.
Alexa screamed with the effort and pulled Erik across the pavement to the car. She pulled open the passenger door and shoved Erik into the seat. He cried out as he landed awkwardly, but he was in.
As she was leaning over him, she saw a strange mark on the side of his neck. It looked like a cross between a symbol and the letter A. It had a line drawn through it and a small circle. It looked as though some higher power had sketched it. Where had she’d seen it before? She didn’t have time to worry about it. She shut the door, ran to the other side, and got behind the wheel.
Her hand went straight for the ignition—no keys.
“Erik? Keys! Keys!”
But he had passed out from the pain and slouched on the seat next to her.
She searched his jeans and finally found the keys. She pushed the largest key in the ignition and kicked the engine into life. She pressed the gas petal and took off.
She could see the demon that had pursued her. Lance lay a few feet away in a crumpled pile of white fur. He didn’t move. He had saved them. Alexa guessed that the demon had just eaten Lance’s soul or was about to do so.
And so she did the only thing she could. She pressed her foot on the gas and shot forward.
The Higher demon turned in surprise at the sound of the tires screeching on the pavement. Its look of surprise was the last thing she saw before she rammed it with the front of the car. The car shuddered on the impact, and she hit the brakes in time to see the demon fly backwards and land on the pavement. It wasn’t dead, but it was injured.
The commotion caused the other demon to turn, and that half second of attention was all Santo needed. With a great swing of his sword, he cut easily through the demon’s neck.
The demon crumbled into dust.
Alexa ran out of the car and gently scooped Lance into her arms. He was limp, and she struggled a little with his weight. She couldn’t tell if the demon had eaten his soul or not. Either way, she wouldn’t abandon him here. She laid him into the back seat as carefully as she could, and then hurried to jump into the driver’s seat again.
“Where are we going?”
Alexa nearly jumped out of her M-suit. She turned around and looked into Lance’s face. “You’re alive?”
“Technically I’m not, but I’ve been better, thank you,” said Lance. His voice was a little labored. “I don’t know how, but that black-eyed creep managed to knock me out. I’m guessing you saved me?”
“And you saved us,” said Alexa. She saw that the brilliant light of his angel essence was seeping out through his many cuts. “You’re hurt. We need to find a source of water and get you back to Horizon before—”
“Not yet,” said Lance. “The boy needs help first. He’ll die without it.”
“Right.” Alexa looked over to Erik. His eyes were still closed, and his breathing was shallow. “We’ll have to drive to the next town. There’s no hospital in Coffin Grove, and the clinic is closed. There’s a hospital in Greenburgh.”
“No,” said Lance. “He won’t make it that far. We need to take him to the nearest safe house.”
“He needs a hospital, not some makeshift clinic. He’s going to bleed to death if we don’t get him to a hospital soon. I won’t let that happen.”
“Can’t,” said the dog. “We can’t take him to a mortal hospital. And before you kill me with that look, it’s because it’ll bring too much attention to us. There’s a medical facility at the safe house. They have real doctors. They’ll know what to do. Trust me.”
Reluctantly, Alexa had no other choice but to trust him. “How far is it?”
“Not far,” said Lance as he leaned against the backrest with some effort. “About twenty minutes, maybe less if you drive fast. Do you even know how to drive? Never mind. We need to leave now. I can feel his life force slipping away. He won’t last much longer.”
Lance was right. She felt it too. Erik’s energy was dissipating like a mist. He was dying.
Alexa’s eyes were blurred with tears. “I have my learner’s permit.”
“Just don’t hit any mortals,” said Lance. “Ariel would not be pleased. Make a right at the exit, and then a left on Bedford Road.”
Alexa snapped Erik’s seatbelt into place, put the car into drive, and made for the exit. Her heart was heavy because she knew she was abandoning the others. But when she looked in rearview mirror, she saw Santo, Evelyn, and Haru jump into their old black Ford sedan. They were safe and alive, at least for now.
Hang on Erik, she pleaded as they sped down the street. Please hang on.
CHAPTER 11
IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT, so no one saw her miss those eight stop signs, or run through five red lights. She didn’t stop. It was a miracle that she’d didn’t have a head-on collision.
Alexa’s nerves were shot. She felt sore where the death blade had punctured her M-suit, but she could already feel a tingling, soothing warmth where she’d been stabbed. Ariel had been right. Her mortal suit was healing itself.
Lance never commented about her driving skills. He sat in the back, bleeding all over Erik’s leather seat and barking out before she had to turn.
Erik’s skin was the color of milk. During twenty-five minutes of driving, he never once opened his eyes or spoke. And now Alexa feared the worse.
Still, his life force didn’t give up. Erik wanted to live.
They turned left onto Beech Hill road and passed a green sign that read Wildlife Park. The road was lined with majestic pines and oaks. She’d heard of this park and knew it was protected by the state, but she’d never been when she was growing up because buses only went here on school trips.
She could smell the cool, sweet forest in spite of the rotten reek of demon ash that was still on her. The pavement stopped, and he car jerked and swerved a little, but Alexa didn’t slow down. Giant dust clouds followed in their wake.
“Spit it out,” said Lance suddenly, cutting through the heavy silence.
“What?”
“Whatever it is that’s making you restless,” he said. “I can see that you’re debating something in that head of yours. Out with it.”
Besides the fact that the Scout seemed to read her so well, she figured he might very well have the answers to what was troubling her.
“Somehow, the Higher demons knew that I’d stayed behind instead of going back to Horizon with the other angels,” said Alexa. She watched for the dog’s reaction in the rearview mirror. “How could they know that?”
Lance shook his head. “No idea. But it can’t be good. Unless they were following you, which I doubt very much since you’d only just arrive
d here. They shouldn’t have been able to sense you in your M-9 either.”
Lance’s council only made her feel worse. Why were the Higher demons after her and who had sent them?
At the end of the long dirt road, Alexa could see a spectacular stone building. It looked like a lavish English country manor in beautiful manicured grounds.
“Welcome to Hallow Hall,” said Lance as though he’d read her mind.
“What is this place?”
“A safe house, a school, a home, and everything in between,” said Lance. “It was originally built as a luxury hotel in 1890 but closed in 1901. A few years later, the Hudson School for Girls moved in, and the building became home and school for students from prominent families.”
“But then the school went bankrupt and was left abandoned until four of the more prominent houses bought it in 1975.”
“What houses?”
“You know, the seven archangel houses,” replied the dog.
Alexa shook her head. “No, I never heard of them.”
“When the Legion decided it needed help to keep the mortal world safe, seven of the original archangels got together to create the race of Sensitives.” Lance explained. “They mixed their archangel essence with mortal blood. There are seven houses, one for each archangel. Because each archangel was different, each house had aptitudes that reflected the archangel who created it.”
“So Sensitives are born with different skills?”
“That’s right,” answered Lance. “The Sensitives belonging to House Michael are brave and skilled with weapons. House Raphael are skilled healers, and House Uriel are bookkeepers, keepers of the peace, and involved in justice and government. Each House is different because each archangel was different. The bloodlines of the Sensitives and their families determine which house they belong to.”
Alexa looked over to Erik. “Do those houses have anything to do with the mark on his neck?” She watched Erik for any signs that he could hear this conversation, but he barely looked like he was breathing.
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