Could he really do it with Lucifer asleep? It had never worked like that in the past. In fact, there were moments when he desperately needed that power but it was held back by Lucifer because he was a dick and wanted to teach him a lesson.
“I’ll take the girl,” Karen whispered. “You take the other three.”
That hardly seemed fair. Actually, it seemed about right. Alex should be able to deal with the three angels, but only if Lucifer was right that he could access the power without needing it to be given.
There was only one way to find out.
With sword in hand, Alex charged. Karen was beside him, wielding both blades and looking every bit the bad ass.
Unfortunately, the angels managed to look even cooler. With Demon Hunter speed, Karen and Alex moved incredibly quickly. But it counted for little. The angels simply flapped their magnificent wings and with a rush of wind, they rose off the ground and out of reach. Both Alex and Karen stopped in their tracks. They couldn’t help but stare up in admiration mixed with some envy.
“Fuck, they look cool,” Karen muttered.
Alex nodded his agreement. It was so unfair that angels looked so amazing. The white wings were long, elegant and so damned white. Like, how did they not get dirty? They rose off the ground so elegantly. Alex liked to think of angels as glorified pigeons, but that was pretty far from the truth.
The four angels held their rods of light before them and pointed downwards. Bursts of bright white light shot out from them. As it came towards him, like an idiot, Alex stood frozen to the spot. He’d been so used to battling close quarters with his sword, he’d completely forgotten how to deal with being fired at.
Lucky for him, Karen was much better at dealing with surprises. She pulled him out of the way just in time. The spot he had been standing in was now a black torched hole. He now knew what had happened to the houses with similar burnt marks.
Karen continued to pull his arm and managed to drag him towards one of the few cars that were parked by the side of the road. It was a blue Nissan Micra. Not the biggest of cars. It seemed to shrink in size as they were joined by Melissa, who had brought along with her the two demon girls.
“It’s going to be okay,” Karen said gently as she placed a hand on one of the demon girls, trying to calm her down.
“Is it?” Alex asked, not being able to hold back his pessimism. It didn’t matter how great he was with his sword; he’d brought a sword to a gun fight.
“Yes,” Karen said firmly. “We’re going to go out there and we’re going to kick those angels assess.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. Karen was a bit of a stickler for following the rules. Never did he imagine her being keen on attacking angels. It was a big no no. Demons, nor Demon Hunters were allowed to interfere with angels.
“What’s come over you?” he asked.
Karen smiled weakly. “I think watching you kick Satan back down to hell has made me a little carefree.”
Alex grinned. He’d always thought it would be nicer for Karen to loosen up a little on the rules. “How are we going to do this?” he asked.
“We go out there and attack them.”
“Right,” Alex nodded. “What do we do about being shot at though?”
“Dodge.”
Alex nodded automatically. “Wait,” he frowned. “What?”
“We dodge the beams of light they fire at us. It’s not as hard as it seems. It’s a secondary weapon of theirs. Not as effective. Some of them will stay up in the air all the time. It’s the ones that come down that you need to worry about. If they don’t try to fight from above, shooting or swooping down and stabbing, it means they’re competent with their rods. Those are the ones you need to be more wary off.”
It didn’t sound so bad, Alex thought. “Anything else I should be wary about?”
“Yes,” Karen said. “You get hit by those white flares of theirs, and it’s game over. If you don’t die, you’ll certainly be disabled. And that’s worse. You’d rather die than be at the mercy of an angel.”
And with that, Karen ran out from behind the Nissan Micra and charged towards the angels. It was a pointless charge. The angels were still flying out of reach. They pointed their rods at her. Bursts of bright white light shot out. Karen dodged out of the way and even used her sword to block a few.
“Are you not going to help her?” Melissa asked.
Alex knew he should, and he was definitely going to go out there. It just didn’t look great at the moment. The angels were out of reach, flying about in the air, their great big wings flapping around, making great big whooshing sounds, but at the same time, looking damned comfortable off the ground.
Karen was just about managing to hold off from being scorched. She moved around nimbly on her feet, dodging the bright speedy balls of light and occasionally, she blocked them with her sword. But four angels against one, she was tiring. It would only be a matter of time before they caught her. It was now or never, Alex thought.
He stepped away from the car and joined Karen as she sidestepped another ball of light. It hit the curb and broke the cemented edge.
“Nice dodge,” Alex said.
“What took you so long?” Karen growled.
“Didn’t really fancy playing dodgeball with a bunch of angels throwing death balls at us and not being able to do the same back at them,” Alex said honestly. “They fly too,” he added.
Karen’s eyes narrowed. “You can face Satan and even knock him back to hell, but you’re afraid of these beautiful angels?”
“Not afraid. Also, don’t judge a book by its cover,” Alex muttered. “They might be beautiful, but they’re complete assholes. And deadly too.”
It was then did the ball of light come shooting down at him. Alex hoped the ball of fire that built up in his chest would happen and that Lucifer would somehow take control and deal with this shit. But that didn’t happen.
In a panic, Alex stumbled back and tripped over his own feet. He heard the angels roaring in laughter. Karen wore a scowl on her pretty face. Alex felt pretty good though as the ball of energy sailed over his head. Had he not tripped, he would be headless right now.
He realised the balls of energy, while fast, weren’t exactly like bullets. He climbed to his feet, longsword gripped firmly in his hand, feeling pretty good. Alex dodged the second ball of light that came at him. And the third.
Alex’s confidence began to soar. He was getting good at this. The angels still hovered at an unreachable distance. But Alex had an idea. He had his sword in hand, and as the next ball of light came for him, he tried to feel for the heat within him. Lucifer said he could find it by himself.
Lucifer was right.
Alex felt the additional warmth in his chest. It wasn’t as fiery as when Lucifer brought it. But it was enough. The sword was Lucifer's sword. It had a connection with Lucifer, and in turn, with Alex. The heat from within his chest spread down his arm and the hand that held the sword. The dull grey blade now had a red glow to it.
As the ball of light came at him, instead of moving out of the way or using his sword to block it as Karen had done with some, Alex struck the ball with his sword like you would a ball with a bat.
It was a good strike and his aim was true.
The angel did look like a massive flapping bird as the ball came at him much faster than he had thrown it at Alex. For a second, it looked like it was going to hit the angel on the chest. But at the last second, he was able to turn. The ball of light struck the angel on the wing.
The angel flapped wildly as its feathers burned. It came crashing down to the ground, but managed to land on its feet. It spun in a circle, trying to put out the flames. Its wing struck a lamppost and knocked it down.
Karen charged towards the angel. Still flapping its wings wildly, the angel didn’t spot her approach. She slid down and ducked underneath a wing, then leapt into the air, both blades in hand.
Alex was sure she was going to drive the blades into the angel’s ches
t and kill it. At the last moment, Karen changed her mind. She flipped the swords, then slammed the pommels on both of the angel’s cheeks.
The angel staggered back, then collapsed as its head reeled. It lay on the ground with its wings spread out. The ends reached the houses opposite each other on the street. The flames on its right wing died out, leaving the normally perfect white now stained with black.
From behind the little Nissan Micra car came a loud whoop. Alex looked back. It was Melissa. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. She caught his stare and smiled, her blue cheeks added a tinge of red. This was most unlike Melissa. She was not the type to cheer about stuff like this. The girl was terrified of angels, and of breaking the rules, which is exactly what Karen had done. She’d broken the rules and attacked an angel.
The three other angels did not seem amused. The two males remained in the sky, but the female angel slowly and elegantly floated down to the ground. She was wearing a long white dress that was cut from the waist in long strips. Those strips floated up as she landed, revealing her gorgeous long legs.
“You’re going to pay for that,” she said.
Alex didn’t doubt her. She might have been the most beautiful thing in the world ever, but those blue eyes of hers sent shivers down his spine. Alex readied his sword and waited for her to attack.
Beside him, Karen charged at the angel.
Alex watched in amazement as the two gorgeous women went at it. Karen’s blades were a whirl as she attacked the angel. But the divine being matched Karen. With ease, it seemed. She started with one lightning rod, but somehow, out of nowhere, she now had two. Sparks flew as she blocked Karen’s strikes and then went on the offensive. Her lightning rods were blurs and impossible to follow. Karen managed to parry the strikes, but only just.
And then it happened.
Karen blocked a strike, but her grip on the blade was weak. It flung out of her hand. With now only one blade, her feet moved backwards as the angel pressed her advantage. Another hard strike and Karen lost her other blade.
The angel kicked Karen in the chest. The force sent her flying backwards. She crashed into the Nissan Micra behind which Melissa and the other two demon girls were hiding. The metal dented as the windows smashed into little pieces that showered Karen’s limp body as it hit the ground.
It remained there, on the hard tarmac, unmoving.
Chapter 6
One arm was hidden beneath her and the other arm rested by her side, palm flat, fingers spread apart. Karen’s legs sprawled in an awkward angle. One knee was high up, the other foot was twisted at the ankle. Her long black hair covered her face. Alex stared in horror as her body lay still on the tarmac.
And then he realised it wasn’t still.
Alex noticed the gentle movement of her chest. It was subtle, and most would have missed it. But he had the eyesight of a Demon Hunter, one infused with the power of Lucifer.
A normal human being struck at that force would have died. The metal car doors bore the bodily shaped dents as if struck by metal and not flesh and bone. Karen’s insides should have shattered completely. Broken bones, gutted organs. Blood. But there was none of that. Karen was tough, even for a Demon Hunter. She might have been out cold for now, but given time, she would recover.
That was what Alex had to give her. Time.
It meant going head-to-head with the angel. The divine creature turned her eyes on him now. Cold blue eyes. She was beautiful, but the beauty was an illusion, one he could not allow to fool him. Alex’s fingers tightened around the grip of his longsword.
The angel’s dress was cut into strips from the waist down. They floated back as she walked towards him, revealing her long smooth legs. In her hand, she held the two lightning rods that glowed brighter, as if infused with the power of the angel’s being.
Alex glanced down at his own longsword. The blade was a dull grey. He needed it to be flaming red. That power came with Lucifer, who apparently was asleep. But Alex didn’t need Lucifer to give him the power. He had tapped into it by himself once already. He closed his eyes to concentrate, to do the same again.
For a second, it seemed like the world had stopped. The two angels floating in the sky, their great big wings flapping, the female angel walking towards him, the demons hiding behind the car, their breathing rapid, their chests shaking, Alex heard none of it. The air was still and silent.
And then he felt it. That sudden burst of heat within his chest. It spread through his body like electricity. Alex opened his eyes. The world resumed as it was filled with noise. The dull grey metal of his longsword was now glowing red like embers.
The angel didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did, she didn’t care. She continued to walk towards him, calm and elegant, like a Victoria’s Secret model flaunting her divinity on the catwalk. She was ten feet away when her wings spread out from her back and she rose off the ground and flew into the air. And then, she dove down towards him.
Her wings suddenly hugged her body. She spun around in a circle as she came down onto him like a meteorite. Alex leapt back. The angel didn’t crash into the space he had formerly occupied. Her wings spread out and she landed on her feet, knees bent.
She charged at him. Both her rods of light slashed at his face, trying to slice it into little bits. But Alex matched her speed with ease. The experience of battling Satan had changed him. He didn’t freeze on the spot. He parried her strikes, then sidestepped and spun around. Coming up behind her, with the flat side of his sword, he spanked her curvy bottom.
The angel let out a squeal as the red-hot metal hit her flesh. Alex couldn’t tell if it was from pain or from indignation. When she turned to face him, he knew it was mostly the latter. The angel’s glowing white face had turned a cherry red.
Her eyes wide, her mouth hung open as she stared at him. One of her rods vanished into thin air as she now used her free hand to rub her bottom. “...you spanked me?”
“You were being a bit naughty,” Alex said, grinning.
“How dare you!” the angel fumed. “Do you know who I am?”
Alex shrugged. He obviously had no idea who the angel was. He didn’t care either. She could be the freaking archangel Gabriel and he would still have spanked her with his sword. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the gorgeous angel. “Wait… are you Gabriel?”
The angel’s lips curled in annoyance. “Why is it always the same with you demon kind? You see a female angel and you think it’s Gabriel. I don’t ask every spawn of hell if they’re Satan himself.”
“So you’re not Gabriel?” Alex asked, his lips twitching.
“I’m going to kill you,” the angel threatened.
“Didn’t you just try that?” Alex asked pointedly.
Undeterred by being spanked, the angel decided to try and kill him once more. Her face scrunched with anger, she charged at him, both rods in hand once more. Now that she was angry, she made more mistakes. Alex parried her strikes with ease. As she brought both rods down on him roaring in anger, Alex stepped aside. She turned and tried to kick him, but he beat her to it, raising his foot, he kicked her on the shin. The angel fell back. The rods slipped out of her hands and hit the ground. Their bright glow faded away to leave simple metal rods lying on the tarmac.
Alex kicked the rods away from the angel’s reach. He wondered if it made any difference. Were the rods like Demon Hunter weapons that were stored in a secret pouch, or could angels draw infinite weapons from thin air?
Alex realised he knew very little about angels, and of heaven. He’d always assumed it was the good place full of humans floating on clouds and eating flavoured yogurt with gorgeous angels about, doing the humans bidding.
The gorgeous angels’ part was right, but he couldn’t see them serving humans in heaven. Angels were complete assholes. Arrogant assholes.
They were angry too, he thought, as the angel before him rose to her feet, her eyes bulging.
“I’m going to kill you!” she roared and white light emerged fro
m her mouth.
Other than being a bit bright, it was harmless. “Cool trick,” Alex said.
His conversation with the angel was cut short when Karen appeared from behind and whacked it on the head with the pommel of her sword. It was a hard whack. There was a crunch as it made contact and Alex winced. The angel’s eyes lolled as her body collapsed.
Up above, there was a whooshing sound as the remaining two angels flew off.
“Bunch of cowards,” Karen muttered as she put her swords back into the secret pouches within her waist.
Alex stared at Karen, smiling. Her long black hair was a bit messy and her skinny black jeans were torn by the waist, revealing the pink lace panties she wore underneath. But other than that, she seemed perfectly fine.
Noticing his smile, Karen frowned. “What?”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Alex said.
Karen rolled her eyes as she placed a hand on his chest. “You might have defeated Satan,” she said. “But I’ve been a Demon Hunter for much longer than you. I’m tough, okay. I’d kick your ass,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.
Alex didn’t doubt she was tough. But he had worried for her when she crashed into the car and then lay motionless on the ground. She was fine now, and he was happy. He pulled her in for a kiss. As their tongues met, his hands moved down her body and came to rest on her curvy bottom.
Alex could have stayed in that embrace for ever. But he became aware of Melissa standing in front of the battered car, the two naked demon girls beside her. There was fear in her eyes.
“What are we going to do about them?” Melissa asked, as she pointed at the two angels lying on the ground.
Both angels’ chests rose steadily. They were alive, and neither seemed to be hurt too badly. Alex glanced around. The road was empty. The houses were quiet, though Alex thought he saw a curtain twitch in one of them. Would demons come out of the houses and take advantage of the angels if they left them there? Did he care if they did?
The Devil's Apprentice: Book 2: Descent to Hell Page 3