by Amy Braun
Warrick tried to be quiet for the sake of everyone in the car, but I wanted to know what was going on. The other demon slayers were constantly hounding him, though I couldn’t help wondering if he was talking to a Federal Marshal in secret.
Warrick stopped talking, so I opened my eyes a crack to watch him. He stared at the road, looking exhausted and depressed. Suddenly I felt guilty about thinking he was only in it for the money hanging over my head. I never liked seeing him this way. He’d chosen to help us, but it hurt me to see him so unhappy when he should have been fighting somewhere else. I wasn’t making it easy by not trusting him, but that wasn’t the sort of switch I could randomly flip on and off. Still, I could pretend for a while. I raised my head slowly.
“What happened?” I asked him.
“Nothing.” He sighed. “The rest of the slayers just want to kick my ass.”
“Why?”
“They’re pissed that I’m not fighting with them. All these possessions and attacks are overwhelming them and they want to know why I haven’t reported in.”
I snorted. “This from the same people who didn’t believe you when you said you needed help in Texas?”
He grinned weakly at me. “The same.” His smile disappeared. “They want to know where I am so we can meet up and fight together, but I told them no. I said I was on a mission, but I didn’t say anything about Dro.”
I glanced in the backseat. Max’s head was resting in the crook of Dro’s shoulder, his hand in one of hers. Her head was pressed against his. She was awake, but he was fast asleep.
“Thanks for that,” my sister whispered. Warrick looked in the rearview mirror to smile and nod at her.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked. His eyes moved over to me, and I had to remember to breathe. Damn bright green eyes. “Do you think they’d try to hurt her?”
He looked uncomfortable. “Of the six slayers in North America, I only trust one now. We aren’t the most noble characters.”
“Says the one who collects government bounties to put bad people behind bars,” I said.
I winced as soon as the words were out of my mouth, because I was one of those bad people who should be behind bars, and Warrick made most of his money by collecting federal bounties.
Which is what he’s going to do to you when all this is over. Twenty-five grand is a lot of cash, and after this, he’s going to want that more than he wants you.
“True,” he admitted, glancing at me when he sensed my unease. “But I’ve recently learned that some people deserve a second chance.”
He held my eyes for a long time, as if he could ask me to trust him with them. Damned if it didn’t almost work. His eyes shone brightly against the grey light coming from the windshield. They were the color of leaves under a summer sun. It didn’t help that they were attached to a rock hard body and a strikingly handsome face. It wasn’t a perfect face– there was a scar under his left eye and he desperately needed a shave– but it was strong and confident, unrelenting and steadfast. It was a face that was too easy to dream about.
I didn’t how to be careful around Warrick. Every time I looked at him, I felt myself starting to fall and not really caring. He looked at me with admiration, respect, and something else I didn’t want to identify. He got under my skin, and I liked it.
But I’d been caught in that trap once before. I’d trusted and loved, and suffered because of it. I wasn’t going to go through that again. I couldn’t focus on it anyway, not with endless demons and indifferent angels hunting my sister. I liked Warrick, liked him a lot, but the risk was greater than the reward. It always was.
Warrick kept glancing at me, waiting for me to keep talking to him, but I turned my head away. Thankfully, Max woke up and broke the awkward moment.
“Are we there yet?” he yawned.
Dro smiled. “Max, we don’t have a destination.”
“Yeah, but I was hoping that would have changed in the last few–”
Dro inhaled sharply and snapped her head toward to the windshield. I twisted forward, and watched a man appear out of thin air. He landed in a crouch, stabbing a silver broadsword into the hood of the car, making it scream.
His head was hanging low. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew who– and what– he was.
Rain soaked, bleach blond hair dripped in front of his face. He wore a long, white trench coat that snapped with the wind. The sword embedded in the car kept him in place. Warrick slammed on the brakes, but the man didn’t slide off. The car skidded along the slippery road, and we had to brace ourselves as Warrick tried to gain control. After doing a one hundred eighty degree turn, the car finally stopped. The man lifted his head.
I recognized his pale grey eyes and stern, unforgiving face. The same face that had been horrified and outraged when he learned that my sister was the half angel, half demon child of Lucifer.
Rorkiel’s eyes could have frozen a lake. But he wasn’t looking at me.
“Get down!” I screamed.
Just as I was shouting, Rorikel lifted his sword out of the hood of the car and drove it straight through the windshield.
Glass shattered around us. I covered my head with my arms, twisting my body so I could see if Dro had missed the sword. I breathed easier when I saw that she and Max had ducked out of range. The sword jerked back out of the windshield, screeching along metal and glass.
I grabbed the hatchet off my hip and pulled open the car door. The rain was coming down in torrents. It soaked me the moment I was outside.
Rorikel stepped off the hood of the car, taking his sword with him. The blade was half as tall as I was. I’d seen Rorikel fight before, and knew exactly how dangerous he was. He was a Seraph a soldier of the Heavenly Host. He was humorless and cold. Despite our past alliance, he truly believed that Dro deserved to die just because she existed. He would have no problem cutting me in half to get to her. He’d probably enjoy it, simply because he hated me.
I spun my hatchet in my hand, the weight of it reassuring me. I might not stand a chance against Rorikel, but I could lie to myself before I died.
“Rorikel!” Warrick shouted through the rain. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him standing near the front of the car, holding his sawed-off shotgun at Rorikel’s head. “Don’t do this!”
The angel ignored him. He was feet away from me. I got ready.
“Rorikel! Please! Don’t–”
Warrick suddenly shouted in pain. I couldn’t see what happened to him, because Rorikel swung his sword at me. If I hadn’t ducked, he would have taken my head off. I took a step closer, knowing it would be a little harder for the sword to hit me. I slashed at his chest with my hatchet, but he blocked the strike with his wrist. I tried to kick him in the ribs, but he was able to twist away and make me stumble forward. I ducked again before as his sword swept over my head. Rorikel drove his knee up into my chin. My brain rattled in my skull from the hit, but I dropped down and swept my leg out to catch him off balance.
He was too fast for that. He stepped back, raising his sword to slash down at me. I rolled away, hearing the sword cut through the back of my lucky jacket. The tip of the metal sliced through my shirt, and I knew I had to be faster. I wouldn’t get that lucky again.
I got up in a crouch and grabbed a silver throwing knife from inside my jacket. I threw it at Rorikel, only to see it batted away by his sword. I got to my feet as he swiped the sword at me. My hatchet hooked the blade to keep it from going into my face. Rorikel spun our blades around with so much force that my hatchet flew out of my grip. I was going for another knife when he kicked me in the chest and knocked me onto the road.
I pushed myself up as he walked away from me. He was walking toward Dro, who was being held captive by an angel I didn’t know. Max was next to her, another angel holding his arms behind him as he struggled. The new angels had come out of nowhere, and now we were outnumbered two to one.
Rorikel never slowed as he approached my sister with his sword. I ran f
or him, getting one step before someone wrapped an arm around my throat. Leather creaked as it choked me. I kicked and thrashed, but whatever angel was holding me had an iron grip.
Dro shoved against the angel trapping her, but it was no use. Rorikel lifted his sword, ready to kill her.
As soon as I saw what he was going to do, I reacted faster than I ever had in my life.
I grabbed a knife inside my jacket with my free hand and stabbed it into the angel’s arm. He barked in pain and let go of me. I stepped forward and hurled my knife at Rorikel’s back.
The blade sank into his spine, causing him to stumble and screw up his strike. Dro ducked, the sword missing her completely and nearly slicing open the neck of the angel behind her. Rorikel whirled angrily, focusing all his rage on me. I saw my hatchet on the road and raced for it. A blast of gold light flared behind me, slamming into my back.
It was like I had been caught in a tornado of fire. My skin felt as if a million angry wasps were stinging it. The heat was so intense I thought I was going to turn into a pile ash. I cried out and dropped onto the ground, inches away from my hatchet. Dro screamed my name.
The heavenfire ended as quickly as it had come, my entire being swimming with pain. I had been hit with heavenfire before, but last time my brain was kind enough to shut my body down. This time I wasn’t so lucky. Every inch of me throbbed ruthlessly. Every time I breathed, the wasps were back in full force.
Despite the agony, I tried to move. My body hated me and screamed for mercy, but Rorikel was still here. He would still try to kill Dro. I stretched my fingers out as far as they would go, straining for my hatchet.
I couldn’t lift my head, but I managed to see Rorikel’s white leather boots stop in front of me. My silver knife clattered onto the rain-soaked pavement a couple inches away. He kicked it and my hatchet out of reach. Bastard. His feet twisted, and another set of white boots came into view.
“She is quite resilient, for a human,” a new angel said. This one’s voice was lighter and more cheerful than Rorikel’s monotonous voice, but that didn’t make him less of an enemy.
“She is subdued. She will not be a problem.” Rorikel paused, and I could hear my friends and my sister screaming for me. “Would you like to do the honors, Commander Gabriel?”
Gabriel. As in the archangel, second in command to Michael. Oh no.
I tried to move faster, but my body just wouldn’t allow it.
“It was you who found them with your subtle tracking of the hybrid. I trust you can do what needs to be done, Rorikel. You may proceed.”
No! I pushed myself up, my arms shaking as I tried to support my weight. I got to my knees and started scanning the road for my hatchet. Someone stalked toward me. I lifted my head, and found myself looking at Gabriel.
I knew it was him. He was tall and beautiful, his skin perfectly tanned and flawless. Long, sandy blond hair cascaded in waves down to his shoulders, the rain shimmering through it like water in a shallow creek. His face seemed kind, his bones, nose, and lips so delicate that he almost looked like a child. But his eyes gave his true self away. They were shimmering hazel, so bright I swear they were glowing. He tilted his head, and then pushed himself into my mind.
I shut him out as best as I could. I didn’t like supernatural beings going through my head. The last one to do it was Lucifer, and while Gabriel wasn’t nearly as strong as he was, the archangel still caught glimpses of my darkest fears and deepest secrets. I gritted my teeth, but couldn’t completely shut him out. He knew how much the demons terrified me, how destructive and ruthless I had been in the past, and how desperate I was to protect my sister.
Gabriel suddenly broke the connection, twisting his head to the side. My entire body sighed with relief, though there was a dull ache in the back of my skull from when Gabriel had torn himself out. I lifted my head again in Dro’s direction. The angels had suddenly backed away from her. Max was lying on the ground with his hands over his head.
Dro had broken free of the angel that was restraining her. She held her arms out in front of her, and sent a blast of gold light at Rorikel and Gabriel. They blinked out of existence, avoiding her power in time. I watched in amazement. I’d never seen Dro use heavenfire before. The angels standing next to her and Max were stunned, and didn’t move fast enough when she turned her wrath on them. The light hit them like a punch and sent them flying off the road.
The angel behind me drew his sword and ran for my sister, but she swung another blast of light at the angel, flinging her arm out to the side and sending him flying into the car. There were shouts and another blast of gold light to my right, and then someone was beside me, pressing their hand onto my back.
“It’s okay, Con,” Dro whispered in my ear. “I’ve got you.”
Pins and needles coursed through my body as she began to heal me. I couldn’t stop the small scream that escaped my lips. The heavenfire had been awful, and no matter how good her intentions, Dro was hurting me as much as she was helping me. But she pressed on, slowly numbing the pain and piecing me back together. More footsteps sounded beside me. Warrick and Max.
The uncomfortable tingles stopped and I opened my eyes again. I took a breath and pushed myself up. Dro and Warrick moved to support me, but I brushed them off. I might have been almost burned alive but now that I was healed, I could fight again.
Max handed over my hatchet and the knife I had thrown in Rorikel’s back. “Thought you’d want these.”
I took them, unable to smile. “Thanks.”
I gripped the knife and hatchet tightly. I looked at Warrick next. He was standing, but he’d been roughed up. There was a deep cut under his eye, his lip was split, and his nose was bleeding.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I raised my eyebrows, about to tell him how dumb that question was since I was healed and he had been pulped by an angel. But then Max breathed in sharply, and I twisted my head to look forward.
Gabriel and Rorikel were back, standing in front of us with their swords drawn. A new group of angels were standing behind them. I didn’t see the angels she attacked earlier, but these new ones looked just as furious and stone cold as Rorikel did. Gabriel didn’t look angry. If anything, he seemed entertained.
Spinning my hatchet, I took a step toward them. Dro held out her arm and pushed me back. I blinked at her, but she was completely focused on the angels. She was holding her breath, power blazing in her intense blue eyes. She took a single step forward and swept out her arm, drawing a line of hellfire between them and us. I knew it was hellfire this time because of the flames. Nothing else in the world was hot enough to evaporate water three inches before it hit the flame.
I cringed a little under the intense heat, not sure how Dro was controlling it but trusting that she could. I had no desire to be set on fire again.
For the longest time, I thought we were going to be trapped in a group stare-down. Then Gabriel spoke in his light, delicate voice.
“You’re more than what they said you were, Andromeda. It is almost as if you are pretending to be human.”
“We’re trying to close the Gates,” she insisted, ignoring the jab. “We should be helping each other. We’re after the same thing.”
Gabriel smiled, shaking his head. “I do not think so. You are the spawn of Lucifer, the result of an angel’s violation. You do not have Heaven’s interests in mind.”
If Dro’s hellfire line hadn’t been there, I would have tried to kill him. No one disrespected my sister without getting a taste of my fist. If Dro was bothered by the comment, she didn’t show it. She stayed still and strong.
“Lucifer is the enemy here,” she tried again. “Not us. We don’t need to do this.”
“Give yourself over to us, and your friends shall not suffer. Enough humans are dying now that the demons are set upon Earth. I do not care for further bloodshed, and neither do you.”
“Fuck you,” I spat violently. Being attacked and burned brought out the worst parts of m
y temper. “She’s not going to be killed by you flying motherfuckers. Go back to your puffy white clouds.”
Max coughed uncomfortably. “Not helping, Constance,” he muttered.
I shot him a look so murderous that he held up his hands in mock surrender and took a step back. “Okay, okay, sorry.”
I looked at the angels again. Gabriel’s amusement was vanishing quickly. Rorikel’s anger was ready to explode.
“Do not taunt the power of Heaven, Constance Ramirez,” Gabriel warned. “You know nothing of which we can unleash.”
Rorikel noticed something behind me, his mouth opening in surprise. Something dropped heavily on the hood of the car at our backs, causing us all to spin.
Another angel had landed, dressed in the same white trench coat, white pants, and white boots as his brothers. This one had curly, auburn hair and bright blue eyes. Unlike the other angels, this one didn’t want to kill us. He looked at Gabriel and the other angels fiercely.
“They do not,” Sephiel said, pulling a small, golden tube out of his jacket. “But I do.”
Rorikel and Gabriel rushed to stop him, but Sephiel leaped down from the hood of the car and got close to us. Max grabbed Dro and pressed her close to his chest. She grabbed my hand on reflex. I reached back and grabbed Warrick’s hand as tightly as I could. Sephiel clutched Warrick’s shoulder then twisted off the top of the golden tube and raised it above our heads.
There was a sudden snap of gold light and a roar of thunder that popped my eardrums. Then I felt like I imploded. A sudden, sharp pressure contracted my body in on itself, like a giant had taken hold of me and was trying to bend me into a harsh V-shape. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling someone crush my hand in theirs.
My feet left the ground and the world rushed around me. A massive noise roared in my ears, the sound of a hurricane. My hair flattened around my face as I rocketed to wherever I was going, but I didn’t open my eyes. Everything was too tight and moving too quickly, like I’d been wrapped in Saran-wrap and fired from a cannon. I didn’t know what Sephiel was doing to us, and part of me didn’t want to know. I just wanted it to be over.