by Paula Weston
‘And who are these queers?’ There’s the tiniest waver in Mick’s voice. Rusty shuffles behind him and stares bugeyed at the hellions, now standing at their full height. They’re taller than the demons, and both are sniffing the air like hunting dogs, smelling us.
Mick suddenly swings the barrel of his shotgun to point at the hellions. The movement catches the attention of the demons, who notice the Butlers for the first time.
‘How thoughtful,’ the first says. ‘Snacks for our boys.’
‘You will not touch these men,’ Daniel says.
The demon smiles without a trace of warmth, showing perfect teeth. ‘Of course, they prefer Nephilim blood.’
Daniel stiffens. ‘We do not acknowledge that name.’
‘That does not make it any less the truth.’ The second demon gestures to himself. ‘Any more than this appearance makes us human. You are the bastard children of the Fallen. You are Nephilim.’
‘We transcend that label through our obedience to the Angelic Garrison. We are Rephaite.’
‘You are Nathaniel’s puppets,’ the second demon says. ‘As I have told you a thousand times.’
‘And you have never had a thought Zarael didn’t put in that abyss between your ears—’
‘Are you serious?’ Rafa says. ‘You still have to have this argument every time before a fight? Who gives a crap what these rejects call us?’
He turns to Bel and Leon. ‘Your pet’s dead. So now what? If you came to fight, we’d be spilling your filthy blood already.’
It’s a mild evening, yet the demons are wearing flowing coats. Both have heavy swords hanging from their hips.
‘There will only be a fight if you refuse to hand over the twin who has risen from the dead.’
My mouth goes completely dry.
The first demon is staring at me—at least I think he is. It’s hard to tell with those flickering orange eyes. ‘You were dead,’ he says.
Beside me, Rafa moves a little closer. ‘You say that like it’s a fact.’
The demon’s lips twist in what is possibly meant to be a smile. ‘It is.’
‘Obviously it’s not. She’s standing right here.’
‘And a year ago she was dead.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
The demon just keeps smiling.
‘Bel, you sulphurous prick, how do you know?’
The demon, Bel, caresses the hilt of his sword with long spindly fingers. ‘Because I put this blade through her neck.’
‘Bullshit.’
Daniel has gone completely still. I’m waiting for him to say something, but whatever is going through his head, he keeps to himself.
Bel turns to his companion. ‘Is it, Leon? Is it bullshit?’
Leon sweeps his long hair into one hand and brings it over his right shoulder. He looks bored. ‘No, it is not. It was the highlight of my time trapped in this rotting realm.’
Blood pounds in my ears. ‘Then how the fuck am I alive?’
Everyone on the deck stares at me. Either because I shouldn’t be addressing the demons, or because they all want to know the answer.
Bel’s fiery eyes bore into me. ‘You are the only one who can answer that.’
‘Haven’t you heard?’ My voice is too loud. ‘A week ago, I didn’t even know I wasn’t human.’
Simon and the Butlers are right there, but I can’t deal with that right now. I can’t look at Simon. Or at Maggie.
‘You do not remember your brother begging for your life?’
The night grinds down. It becomes darker, airless.
Did Jude and I take on these demons on our own? Is this pale demon responsible for the scar on my neck? And if Jude begged for my life, and I’m alive, does that mean he’s dead?
I prise my lips apart. ‘What happened to my brother?’
‘Come with us, and we will show you.’ It’s Leon who makes the offer. Rafa’s fingers dig into my arm.
‘Where did this attack happen?’ he asks.
Leon’s impassive face finally shifts. ‘You still do not know?’ He turns towards Daniel. ‘Surely the Council of Five knew what they were doing? No? Dear me.’
Daniel still doesn’t answer. What is wrong with him?
Next to the picnic table, the hellions are getting restless, shuffling from one foot to the other. The one beside Bel is drooling.
‘So, the twins were acting without orders from either side,’ Leon says. ‘That is excellent news. Nathaniel’s empire is continuing to crumble.’
‘Leon!’ Rafa snaps. ‘How did you find them?’
Leon strokes his long hair. ‘The same way we always find your half-breed kind. Through our skill and your laziness. Like tonight.’
‘We tracked our hellion’s blood to Patmos and then here, to that ripe little village down by the ocean,’ Bel says.
‘What happened to Jude?’ Rafa is still holding on to my arm. It’s starting to hurt.
Bel keeps drumming his fingers on his sword hilt. ‘He is our prisoner.’
‘Bullshit. You don’t have Jude. And you thought Gabe was dead, which means you don’t remember what happened to her either.’
‘Oi!’ Mick calls out. ‘I’m gonna put a hole in your mate in the ugly suit if he takes another step towards me.’
The hellion is creeping closer to Mick, like a dog trying to sneak food.
Bel smiles. ‘Oh, please, be my guest.’
‘I mean it.’
The hellion takes another step, and another. Mick fires. The reverberation of the shotgun forces him back a step. The bullet penetrates the chain mail, but the hellion barely reacts. It snarls and keeps coming at him. It’s still drooling.
‘Stop!’ Daniel shouts, but Mick uses the pump action to reload, and fires again.
‘Come on!’ he screams.
The hellion charges.
‘Mick!’ Rusty scrambles backwards. ‘Move!’
Mick has time to reload one last time before the hellion smashes the shotgun from his hands and wraps him in a bear hug. The last thing I see before he and Rusty barrel over the handrail is the hellion sinking its razor-sharp teeth into Mick’s tattooed neck.
I’M NOT SCARED…
Rafa takes one look at Daniel, tosses him his spare sword, and they disappear. One second they’re on the deck, the next, they’re down in the clearing. Bel is ready for them, blocking the first strike as soon as Rafa and Daniel materialise. The night explodes into violence.
There’s no division among the Rephaim now—they move together as a single unit. Uriel and Ez go after the hell-spawn latched onto Mick. Zak and Malachi team up to attack Leon, and Taya and the other Rephaim circle the remaining hellion.
It’s mesmerising and terrifying.
And then I remember.
‘Jason!’
He looks up from the chaos in the clearing.
‘NOW!’
He doesn’t have to be told twice.
Micah is watching the fighting, only half paying attention to Maggie. Even when he sees Jason dash to Maggie—hands untied—he doesn’t react. He thinks he’s got plenty of time.
Jason puts his arms around Maggie, says something in her ear, waits an agonisingly long second. And then they disappear.
Micah stares at the empty space, then up at me. I shrug. He shakes his head, and then bolts across the deck and vaults over the handrail into the fray.
‘Gaby!’
Simon peers out the front door. In all the chaos, he’s managed to get inside.
‘Come on,’ he says, gesturing wildly. ‘We can get out the back.’ He sticks his head out a little further. ‘Where’s Mags?’
‘She got away with Jason.’
‘Then let’s go.’ He grabs my wrist.
I glance back over my shoulder. I’d thought the fighting between the Rephaim had been full-on. But this… The demons are almost a blur, they move so fast, and the hellion—at least the one I can still see—is a lot more agile than the one I faced in the cage. And
Maggie is safe now, so there’s no reason to stay. And yet…
‘You go,’ I say to Simon, pulling loose from his grip.
‘Are you insane? Come on!’
Jason appears behind him in the middle of the room, already moving before he’s fully arrived. Simon turns to see what I’m looking at.
‘What the…’
Jason doesn’t break stride. He looks rattled. I guess Maggie didn’t cope so well with the unexpected shift.
Simon backs away, hands out in front of him. ‘Mate…’ he says.
But Jason has him by the wrist—and they’re gone.
Outside, Rafa and Daniel have forced Bel past the picnic table, towards the forest. The demon is fast and strong, but Rafa is almost his match. Daniel’s no slouch either. They might despise each other, but they know how to fight together, tag-teaming, keeping the demon on the defensive.
Zak and Malachi aren’t doing quite so well against Leon. The left sleeve of Malachi’s shirt is shiny with blood, and when he next dodges a strike, I see a deep cut in his upper arm. Zak’s still moving freely, but he’s too big to be quick enough to take advantage if the demon drops his guard. What he needs is a third fighter.
I’m running down the stairs before I think about it.
I leap off the bottom step—and Micah cannons into me.
He’s airborne, so I know it wasn’t intentional. By the time we scramble to our feet, there are three more demons in the clearing.
Where did they come from? They’re standing at the edge of the forest, swords hanging loosely from bony fingers, watching the clash with their fiery eyes. There’s no way the Rephaim have the numbers to take them.
Taya is still trying to hamstring the hellion, but most of her efforts are focused on dodging its black talons. The hell-beast is herding her towards the new arrivals. She doesn’t know what’s behind her.
‘Heads up!’ Malachi shouts.
Taya glances over her shoulder. It’s time enough for the hellion to reef the sword out of her hand and pounce on her. It sinks its teeth into her neck. Her scream is bonechilling. Her body goes limp, paralysed by the ferocity of the hellion’s appetite. Pulling the life out of her with sickening efficiency.
After everything she’s done to me, it should feel like payback.
It doesn’t.
Malachi breaks away from his fight to charge the hellion. I’m right beside him. One of the newly arrived demons comes at us—quick and silent—and Malachi leaps around the hellion and Taya to meet him. That leaves me. I swing at the back of the hellion’s legs as hard as I can. The sword slices into its flesh. It drops to one knee and snarls. I jerk the blade out.
The beast throws Taya aside and slashes at me. I jump out of its reach, holding the katana with two hands now, waiting for the charge. The hellion hauls itself to its feet, favouring one leg. Taya’s trying to get up, but all the fight’s gone out of her. She slumps back to the ground.
‘Get up!’ I yell at her. ‘I can’t do this on my own!’
She nods in the direction of the forest. I risk a look, and see Micah leading another half-dozen Rephaim, armed with swords, knives and maces. I’m really starting to like this guy.
‘I’ve got your back,’ a voice says behind me. It’s Daisy, half-crouched, staring down the hellion. ‘No way I was staying out of this one.’
I have time to see she’s wielding two weird-looking skinny daggers before she flies through the air, wraps her legs around the hellion’s waist and thrusts them in either side of its thick neck. The beast roars and digs its claws into her sides, trying to pry her off. It stumbles backwards and collapses to its knees, unable to bear the extra weight on its severed tendon.
Daisy pulls her weapons out of the hellion’s neck and brings her fists down hard on its wrists.
I race in and smash the hellion in the side of the head with the sword hilt. It lets go of Daisy and swipes at me. I change my grip and bring the blade down on its forearm. Something drops to the grass with a dull thud. A clawed hand. The hellion’s howling splits the air.
One of the demons swoops forward and grabs the hellion. They both disappear. I back up against the deck, catching my breath.
At least one of the guys who came with Daisy and Micah is already down, clutching his stomach. Daniel is shouting at him to shift, but the new guy seems not to hear him. Malachi is still fighting, but his whole arm is covered with blood now, and Zak is bleeding from his ear. There are flashes of movement in the forest beyond the boardwalk. Uriel and Ez must still be trying to bring down the hellion that bit Mick. Are the brothers still alive, or are they bleeding to death while half-angels and demons butcher each other?
Why are the Rephaim still here? Why hasn’t Daniel called a retreat? Right now, he’s fighting alongside Malachi, leaving Rafa on his own with Bel. Daisy’s up again and racing at the nearest demon, her sides still torn and bloody.
I grab Taya by the arm and pull her out of the way. Her neck is punctured and her throat and shirt are slick with bright blood. Her eyes keep rolling back into her head.
‘Shift!’ I yell at her.
She tries to focus on me. ‘Not without orders.’
‘You’ll bleed out.’
She shows me her teeth, also covered in blood. ‘Doubt it.’
I can’t leave her here. The first demon to get close enough will take her head. I position myself between her and the ongoing battle.
A demon materialises in front of me. It’s more good luck than skill that I get my sword up to block the first strike. Daisy is next to me before he strikes again, and together we fend off an onslaught of blows. My arms feel like lead. Every cut on my body stings. Except, they’re not just stinging. They’re tingling—along with every other inch of my skin.
The clearing blazes with white-blue light.
‘Enough.’
NOTHING LIKE A HOLLOW VICTORY
The voice cuts through the clashing swords. I dive away from the demon, turning my face from the blinding light. I hit the grass, and shield my eyes. What the…?
The demon is silhouetted against the glare, turned away from its source. Daisy and I lash out at the back of his legs. Both blades strike flesh. The demon cries out—sounding so human my skin prickles—and then shifts.
I collapse back to the grass, panting. Exhausted. Relieved. And only then do I notice the fighting has stopped.
‘Hold your position.’ The voice is commanding, but not quite as sharp as before.
‘Daisy?’ I whisper between short breaths.
‘It’s Nathaniel.’
She hauls me to my feet. The white-blue light has softened, but the clearing is still lit up. The sky has vanished. Bel and Leon are at the edge of the forest, where they first appeared, a third demon with them. The other Rephaim are behind Nathaniel on the boardwalk, including Taya, who can’t stand up. Daisy’s grip leaves mine as soon as I’m steady, and I don’t have time to look around for her before she appears with the others behind Nathaniel.
Rafa and Zak are in the clearing with me, and we’re all that stands between the demons and the rest of the Rephaim.
I’m trying not to stare at Nathaniel—and failing.
He’s a fallen angel.
He stands at the same height as the demons. And the white-blue light is coming from him. Not from something he’s holding, but from him. Like an angel on a Christmas card. Except instead of robes or a tunic, he’s wearing jeans and a shirt. His fair hair is cut shaggy against his chiselled face, and he’s holding a sword that’s throwing off as much light as he is.
I don’t know what I was expecting him to look like, but this isn’t it.
He’s an angel. That makes him what? Thousands of years old, at least. And it sounds like he’s raised the Rephaim like a high school principal, so I was expecting someone grim and authoritarian. Not a guy who could be a footballer on his way to a nightclub.
‘The twin is no longer yours,’ one of the demons says, shielding his flaming eyes, even though
Nathaniel’s light is not as blinding as it was. I think it’s Bel, but now there are three of them side by side, it’s hard to tell. ‘We’re taking her.’
I see Nathaniel’s eyes. Where the demons’ irises are orange, his flicker an icy blue. ‘Why?’
‘Because Zarael wants her.’
My heart stumbles.
‘Belial, you know very well I don’t care what Zarael wants.’ Nathaniel’s voice is as melodic as I remember it in the Sanctuary treatment room.
Bel’s lip curls, revealing unnaturally white teeth. ‘You will when he finds your brothers.’
The demon next to Bel—possibly Leon—raises the tip of his sword and licks blood from it. ‘We have devised new torments for your return to the Pit, Nathaniel,’ he says.
‘The Fallen may well return to the Pit, but it will not be by your hand, Leonard. The Garrison will decide the fate of Semyaza and those who follow him, not a gutter rat like Zarael.’
Leon laughs. ‘You cannot believe your fate is no longer tied to your brothers. Nothing you do in this realm changes what you are. Remember that.’
Daniel is rigid beside Nathaniel, his shirt skewed and face bleeding. It’s the most crumpled I’ve seen him. None of the Rephaim are checking their wounds, or their wounded. They’re tensed, weapons ready.
My attention drifts to Bel. He meets my gaze, and the skin on the back of my neck prickles. He smiles, and taps his sword hilt twice with his thumb. He and the other two disappear. I can’t believe they’re going to leave without—
A brightly lit figure materialises in front of me and shoves me backwards.
‘Hold position!’ Nathaniel shouts at his Rephaim, at the same time the three demons appear where I was just standing. He blocks their flashing swords.
Rafa and Zak close ranks around me, weapons ready.
Nathaniel is as quick as the demons. He moves like the laws of gravity don’t apply to him, and his blazing sword, broader and heavier than any of ours, flashes so fast I can’t see it, until it is buried in Bel’s collarbone. The demon collapses under the weight of the blow and is still screaming when Nathaniel puts a boot on his chest and shoves him backwards, jerking the sword free.
The air around Nathaniel shimmers and brightens, and he starts to…expand. I stumble backwards and fall, but keep my eyes on that blazing shape. I blink. I’m starting to make out detail in the glare. It’s not Nathaniel getting bigger, it’s two massive wings unfurling either side of him.