by JL Weil
With unsteady hands, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my mom, advising her to seek a safe place and to stay there until she heard from me.
Be safe, Angel, she texted back. I love you.
One by one we crept over the fallen door, prepared to meet the horror that waited for us on the other side. The chill in the air was more pronounced than usual for this time of year. Chase’s shoulder brushed up against mine, sharing his warmth and his steadiness. Night was in full swing, the moon a circle glowing brightly and illuminating the fields.
Travis tweaked the end of my nose, a gesture of affection. If things didn’t go down the way we hoped, then this was it. I gave him a weak smile. “Even in Hell, I’ll still kick your butt in CoD.”
He laughed. “Go get ’em, firestarter.”
It was weird having them depend on me for once. I’d always looked to Chase, Travis, and Lexi to keep me safe. They’d been stronger and faster. Here was to hoping I didn’t crack under pressure.
Chase and I held hands for a moment, offering silent assurances, but the moment wasn’t long enough. “You good?”
I wanted to say no. How could I be good? His warm hand felt strong and sturdy in mine. “Yeah. You?”
He blinked, his eyes flashing amber. “Just peachy, Angel Eyes.”
Let the good times roll.
As a group, we spread out but kept our ranks close. We passed the property line, each of us on alert. Chase’s expression was menacing. Craig, Hayden, and Travis bantered as we walked, easing a bit of the tension. Lexi stayed close to Colin, afraid to leave him alone in the house, but probably more afraid to have him in the middle of a war. The demons, in their true form, came out of the darkness, a sea of glowing scarlet eyes.
“Guard your loins boys. Trouble has arrived,” Emma said. “Better get those flames hot and ready, Angel.”
I rolled my eyes.
My body went into some sort of protective mode as I cleared my mind in preparation for a fight. I was definitely borrowing some of Chase’s confidence through our bond. He gave my hand one last squeeze, and I blew him a raspberry as we turned our focus to the parade of creatures coming right at us.
The ground thundered and trembled from the immeasurable pounding of feet as demons, hellhounds, and whatever else raced across the fields. Weeks of training prompted me into action. I only hoped it was enough, and I didn’t end up in tiny little pieces scattered all over the place.
I lunged forward, bracing the blade in my hand.
Emma fired her bow, the arrow slicing through the air, sprouting four ruby points at the tip, and straight into a demon’s throat. Hayden and Travis tag-teamed two demons, circling around the creatures and binding them with a rope made of properties I didn’t yet understand. The demons howled, and the skin touched by the red threads bubbled and oozed black goo.
“I’m going to rip out your sticky bits,” Craig threatened right before he plummeted his bare fist into a demon’s chest, splattering his shirt and face with demon blood.
I cringed.
Lexi was plastered to Colin. She was wielding a whip, twirling and slicing it through the air as Colin clutched her dagger. His knuckles were white, as was his face. Lexi wrapped the end of the whip around a demon. “Ooops. Sorry, not sorry,” she said sweetly, staring down at a pile of ash.
Chase was in the process of shoving a row of demons and making sure each landed on his blade. Craig, Hayden, and Travis started working their way through line after line of monsters. There were a few demons in human skin. I figured they were called to join the army, but most of them came in all their ugly glory. Black skin. Long, pointed nails. Some with horns. Some without. Razor sharp teeth. Demons came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the one thing they all had in common, besides their bloodlust eyes, was they were all skin-crawlingly grotesque.
I stopped in the thick of the fight and shook out my hands. A demon tried to grab me just as I spread my fingers, and I jumped back a step, barely missing being minced by the creature’s claws. Chase was there in the next blink, sinking his knife into the demon’s eye socket. It gave an unnatural howl, shriveling to the ground.
Chase held the tip of his blade skyward. There was a scarlet eyeball dangling at the end “Well, that’s just disgusting.” He flung the hilt, sending the eyeball sailing through the air.
“I think it’s time to add a little spice to the party, don’t you agree, Chase?” Travis asked, looking at me.
“Definitely.” He squeezed my hip. “Light ’em up.”
Now it was my time to shine, but I was suffering from a bit of performance anxiety. I held my breath, arms outstretched at my sides. If I let my nerves get to me, we were all dead. You are not going to crumble under the pressure. So I kept telling myself until…
Fire leapt over my fingertips, and in that instant I could have whooped for joy and done a ridiculous happy dance. I can do this.
Another demon made a play for me just as my hands ignited, and this time I was ready, veins filled with torrid power.
The demon’s eyes bulged. “It’sssss not possssible.”
Geez, the lisp on these guys was heinous. “Believe it, atomic jerkwad.” I let the romping flames loose.
I stopped breathing, waiting to see what would happen, as did everyone else. The fire traveled through the air as if it was attracted to the demon, drawn to it, and the beast was powerless to stop it. His tar skin caught. I held out my hand, flames crackling over my fingers. One second passed, two, three. I didn’t know how many more. I lost track of time, and I was too enthralled with the flames that rushed over the demon’s body, until it covered every inch. As the demon fell, its head detached from its body.
Boom.
The body exploded, leaving behind a black residue burned into a perfect circle on the ground.
Panting from exertion, my friends had stopped to watch me with spellbound fascination.
“Holy shit,” echoed a uniformed chorus, including me.
“I think it’s safe to say that Angel’s a slayer.” Emma said. “You’re going to make a helluva hunter.”
Chase scowled, his demon eyes glowing. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I am.” The flames subsided, sinking into my pores, but the heat stayed with me, just under the surface, ready and waiting to be called forth for more. “And you? Are you hurt?”
“I’ll be fine. Nothing that won’t heal.”
In that instant, I thought about Mom, Devin, and the small town I’d grown to love. Tonight was going to be a night many would never forget. I know I wouldn’t. Demons were popping out of every nook and cranny this town had.
The wind had picked up to alarming speeds and the sky had turned an ugly greenish-black. In the distance, the emergency alarm sounded, indicating a severe storm was headed our way. They had no idea. The storm was already here.
Looking around, I realized we were barely making a dent. At this rate, the demons would eventually overrun us. I needed to amp things up. I concentrated on the swell of energy flowing through my body, and in an instant, it spread down my arms.
Using my speed, I moved to the next demon and the next. One by one, I set their asses on fire. Just a touch and the demon promptly burned and combusted into nothingness. They had no defense against me. And soon there were no creatures left in the field.
Emma laughed behind me. “Didn’t anyone teach you not to play with your kill?”
“Have you met my instructor?” I panted.
“Unfortunately, countless times.”
“Is that all you got?” Travis screamed, provoking Hell as he came to stand beside Emma.
Chase shook his head. “Don’t count on it.” He spit blood on the ground, and used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.
“You guys are like the Avengers,” Colin said in awe. There was black blood splattered on his cheek, but the blade still seized in his hand was clean.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Rolin. We’re not superheroes,” Chase ru
mbled.
“Speak for yourself, man,” Craig said before Colin could correct Chase for his deliberate blunder of his name. “I am definitely super.”
Travis chuckled. “Super lame.”
Hayden and Emma barked out a laugh.
We all needed a moment to relax and let the tension of fighting for our lives roll off our shoulders. I looked my friends over, taking in the cuts marring their skin, the blood soaking their clothes—mostly demon—and I was more determined than ever. “I’m going to char that son of a bitch,” I growled.
“That’s the plan, Angel Eyes.”
A smile curled on my lips. “What are we waiting for?”
Hell didn’t disappoint. My heart sank to new depths as I spotted another wave of telltale red eyes in the distance. Two, three times as many as before. My marks twitched, increasing in alarming speeds, and I heard the groans and grunts of Hell.
We all got serious in a snap.
A putrid stink of sulfur wafted in the air. I grabbed Chase’s shoulder, steadying myself as the ground quaked. The demons branched off, half surrounding me, half zeroing in on Chase. The air was so thick and hot it clogged my nose and burned my throat.
I coughed, suppressing the urge to gag.
Chase’s eyes meet mine for a brief few seconds, surging with a magnitude of feelings. Love. Courage. Rage. Fear.
Here we go again.
Do or die.
I summoned the fire. The flames at my fingertips sputtered before blazing beautifully. So many demons. So many monsters. It was too late to come up with a different plan.
Inhaling sharply, I watched as Alastair suddenly appeared out of the shadows. He didn’t charge like the lower demons, letting them do all his dirty work, but as soon as I saw him, I couldn’t take my eyes off the beast responsible for tearing my life in two.
“Angel!” Chase screamed. It was the pure panic in his voice that broke the spell.
I was fenced in by twenty or so demons. One managed to get a hand on my ankle, his claws slicing my skin. I winced, and Chase called my name again. Bending my knees, I tapped my hand on what I guess would be his shoulder. At the moment of contact, my flames licked over him.
I pushed back the sting of the pain and turned around in time to see that Colin and Lexi were in serious trouble. Chase noticed a millisecond before me and started to move. I was right behind him, but the coconut-sized pit in my stomach warned that neither one of us was going to make it in time, not with the army of demons spanning between us.
Lexi screamed.
It was a sound I’d never forget. I stumbled, my knees weakening at the sight of Colin being raised in the air by his throat. The lower-demon manhandled him like a doll, except when I played with a doll, I didn’t rip out its heart and toss aside its body.
I felt sick.
Oh God. Colin was dead.
Lexi sunk to the ground, her hands covering the blood spilling from the opened wound on his chest. She shook her head. “No. No. No,” she repeated over and over again, but there was nothing we could do, and our situation was looking dire.
I was dumbstruck.
Wildly, I searched through the commotion, until I focused on Chase. There were at least a dozen demons encompassing him as he fought and hacked with his blade, alternating with his fists.
I knew he needed help, and he wasn’t the only one. Travis and Emma were trying to keep Lexi from being demolished as she lay over Colin’s lifeless and bloodied body.
“Get her out of here!” Chase yelled.
Lexi wasn’t making it easy. “I’m not leaving,” she said in a tearful low growl. I don’t know how she didn’t fall utterly apart. My guess was she was running on rage. Lexi got to her feet and swiped at her eyes. From where I stood, they were pure gold.
Oh crap.
There wasn’t time to breathe. One crisis led straight to another, and the confidence I’d been feeling before withered away. I needed to get to Chase. He was in trouble. My marks flared as his pain registered throughout my body. I raced toward him, but my worst fear came true.
No matter how many demons I touched and torched, it wasn’t enough.
A hellhound barreled up behind him and took a chunk out of his calf. Chase’s wounded cries filled the air as he fell to his knees.
No. God please. No!
Breathe, I told myself. Just breathe. I gave myself up to the heat. White-gold flames spread down my arms, over my chest, down my waist, until I was basking in nothing but fire. Empowered, I grinned and dove forward.
Demons fell. My flames licked over their torsos and faces, howling as they ruptured into dust.
Buh-bye.
Chase was limping, but at least he was back on his feet. I never should have doubted him, but I learned you couldn’t be overly cautious. As much as I wanted to continue fighting alongside my friends, I needed to focus on what Chase and I really wanted.
Alastair.
The bastard must have had ESP, because he suddenly appeared just at the edge of where the fields met the forest line. Finally, he showed some balls and revealed his slimy self.
“I’m going to destroy you,” I whispered.
Chapter 28
{Angel}
A gross feeling slithered through my belly, worming its way up my chest. I faced Alastair. “What took you so long?” My heart banged at my own courage. The rest of my body quivered.
“Ah, I see you brought the B-team with you,” Alastair said, smiling.
I strode forward, and Chase discreetly stepped between a formidable Alastair and me without looking my way. Always trying to be my hero.
“Wow. Showing your ugly mug here takes guts. You’ve just issued your own demise,” Chase rumbled.
“Not everything is always as it seems.”
I really hated cagey replies that left me more puzzled. If his plan was to use suspicion and doubt to get inside our heads, he was going to need a better plan. “Then you know what I am,” I declared.
Hidden by the dark green shadows of the ominous skies and the thick covering of the evergreens, Alastair’s voice rang out over the field. There was a godly quality to the texture as he replied, “It doesn’t matter what you’ve become. What matters is what you’re not.”
The winds hadn’t let up; if anything, they had gotten stronger. Bits of wheat blew in the air and, in select spots, circled in a cyclone. “I’ll tell you what I’m not, and that is your slave.”
He grinned wryly. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your spunk. It would have been a shame.”
I bit my lip, trying to figure out how this was going to play out.
“I’ll admit I’m seriously disappointed in you, Angel. Such potential. I gave it all to you and you threw it away, wasted such power. Now you’re useless, and Chase knows all too well what I do with waste.”
“I was hoping you would feel that way.” I flung open my palms, the tips of my fingers glowing embers.
“Ah, someone learned a new trick. I’m quaking,” he mocked, not an ounce of fear or surprise.
He made it sound like I was a dog, which pushed my buttons. “We’ll see about that.” I planned to have the last laugh. Raising my hand, energy crackled at my fingertips and wrapped down my arm like a snake. I hurled a bolt of fire from my palm, shooting it across the field toward Alastair.
A blur of red light flashed as it rolled and rolled. Not going to lie, I was feeling pretty good about myself, but there was a little voice in the back of my head. This is it? This is the best Hell’s got? I wanted to tell that voice to stop bursting my bubble.
I waited for the flame to take root and spread like wildfire over his body. I felt the need to hold my breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Travis and Emma inch up behind me. I lost track of everyone else, solely concentrating on the bright flame. The edges of Alastair’s body started to flicker, and I thought this was it. He made an inhuman sound. And then…
Nothing. Gone. Poof.
The orangey-red sparks fizzled out, not a s
ingle drop of ash.
I inhaled sharply.
What the shit?
I didn’t understand. If I was the slayer, why didn’t he go poof?
Well, that just plain sucked. What was I going to do now? Everyone was depending on me, and I somehow managed to totally doof the single most important task I’d ever been given. Only me.
Alastair laughed. “You’re going to need more than that, little slayer.”
The blood drained from my face.
A cacophony of groans, gasps, and sounds of shock created this domino effect of confusion. Right then, I think we all knew it was about survival.
“Mine turn.” Alastair raised a bear-sized hand.
I hadn’t even noticed he had moved until he was directly in my face. My eyes went wide, and I heard Chase holler my name as Alastair’s hand arched in the air. I stumbled sideways toward the ground at the force of Alastair backhanding me. Delirious, my cheekbone pounded with pain.
Chase roared, vaulting forward, but he didn’t get far. A trio of demons intercepted. Chase blocked a punch to the head, only to take one in the side. He recovered like it was nothing, throwing a quick precession of hits to the culprit.
“What are you waiting for?” Alastair shouted to his subordinates. “Kill her! Kill them all!”
Demons scurried in every direction, and my gaze crawled along the field as I slowly lifted my head. My friends were out there battling for their lives while I was having a panic attack. Chase fought one after another, pure malice radiating in his eyes as he tried to get to me, even Lexi with tears of potent rage streaming down her pale face, was ferocious.
Horror settled in my gut like rocks.
Craig cracked his neck. “This stopped being awesome about five minutes ago.”
“It’s too late,” Travis said, grabbing a demon and slamming him into the ground.
Whirling around, Chase pulled me against his chest, tightening his hold. “I got you.” He twisted, bringing me with him, and drop-kicked a hellhound in the snout.