Black bits of clothing adhered to the blistered flesh of his thighs, chest, and neck. The skin on his face resembled a runny, scrambled egg as part of it dripped off to land on the ground beside his fist. Singed remnants of hair stuck in tufts to his pinkened scalp.
Slowly, Lucifer lifted his head and his eyes latched onto me. His eyeballs remained untouched by the fire, but he didn’t have eyelids anymore, which made his eyes look as if they were about to pop out of his head. What remained of his lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“Daughter,” he rasped.
“Fuck,” Hawk breathed.
That sentiment summed this situation up perfectly.
Lucifer raced forward far faster than I would have thought possible for someone who looked as if they’d climbed off a barbeque spit. The other two angels launched at Corson and Magnus while Lopan started slicing at the ankles of one with his sword. Hawk stepped protectively in front of me.
“No!” I shouted, unable to throw the ball of life I still held at Lucifer.
Lucifer didn’t even look at him as he backhanded Hawk. The crack of Hawk’s jaw reverberated in the cavern, and he was flung away, but not before his feet lashed out and he kicked Lucifer back. Weakened, Lucifer stumbled back before tripping and sprawling onto the ground twenty feet away from me.
I went to throw the ball of energy I held at him, but something swung out of the shadows behind me and bashed my hand. I cried out as the ball was driven straight into the ground. I gawked at my flopping hand as Onoskelis strolled out of the shadows with her sword resting against her shoulder.
“Niece,” she greeted with a smile, and I realized she’d used the butt of her sword to break my hand.
Fire burst from my other palm, and I launched it at her, staggering her back. She planted her feet in the ground and bent over backward to avoid the next ball of fire I threw at her. Frustration warred to the forefront of my emotions, but I tamped it down.
If I lost control of my emotions now, I would lose. My toes curled into my boots as I sought out the life flowing through the rocks beneath me. Sparks flared across the tips of my fingers and the bones in my broken hand set back into place with an audible crack. The midnight blue light spreading up to my wrists drew Onoskelis’s gaze. Wrath twisted her striking features, and when she lifted her sword, I knew she would chop my hand off.
I released the ball, aiming for her torso. She spun to the side, but not in time to completely avoid it. The ball sliced across her belly, spilling blood down her ivory skin. When she whirled back toward me, I braced myself and waved both my hands in a come-and-get-it gesture before giving her the finger.
She charged at me at the same time that I spotted Lucifer coming at me from the corner of my eye. I turned to avoid his rush, but it was too late. His good wing swung out and hit me in my chest. Before I could fight against him, he swept me backward and smashed me into the wall. The impact caused rocks to break free. They pelted my head and skin as they tumbled down the wall. Warm liquid trickled down my leg, and I realized that Lopan’s rose had broken.
I wheezed as I tried to draw air past my bruised and possibly broken ribs, but my brutalized lungs remained uncooperative. Like a fly caught in the spider’s web, I was helpless to fight them off as Lucifer and Onoskelis leaned closer to peer at me. I could barely look at the hideous destruction of Lucifer’s face. I knew Kobal had inflicted that damage on him.
Where was Kobal? What had happened? He was still alive—I would feel it if he wasn’t—but was he badly injured? The sounds of the others fighting the angels at the end of the tunnel drowned out the noise of what was happening in the cavern below.
Behind Lucifer, Hawk moaned and shifted. Onoskelis didn’t look at him as she lunged to the side and sank her sword through his heart. “N… n… no!” I managed to get enough air into my lungs to gasp out.
Hawk jerked on the ground and clawed at the sword protruding from his chest. Onoskelis tore it free and lifted it up in preparation to slice his head from his shoulders. I lunged forward, only to be crushed back by Lucifer’s wing. My fingers tore at the rock behind me as Hawk rolled to get away, but not in time to avoid taking a blow that cut halfway through his neck.
Blood spilled over Hawk’s fingers as he scrambled to cover the wound. Air succeeded in rushing back into my lungs. I screeched in fury and tore at the rocks as sparks of energy flashed over my fingers and swirled toward my arms.
I may not be able to throw anything at Lucifer right now, but I’d launched Kobal across a room when he’d touched me while my body was thriving with energy. At the time, I hadn’t meant to hurt Kobal, but I would love nothing more than to step over Lucifer’s dead body.
“Bitch,” Lucifer snarled.
Before I could draw on life enough to use my ability against him, he punched me in my temple. The world swayed as bells rang in my head. Blinking, I tried to retain consciousness, but as I grasped at it, he hit me again and the world went black.
CHAPTER 19
Corson
Swinging upward, grim satisfaction filled me as I sliced the angel from groin to ribs. His entrails and blood splashed over the ground as I effectively ensured he wouldn’t be fucking anyone for a long time to come. The angel’s startled eyes met mine; I grinned at him as I lifted my talons into the air and casually flicked his blood at him.
The black blood sprayed across the angel’s face as he staggered back. His heel slipped over the edge, his momentum carrying him out of the tunnel before he could get his wings out.
Lopan and Magnus danced around the remaining angel as he swung his wings back and forth while stalking toward them. The two of them would have to hold him off as only River mattered right now.
My gaze went to her as Lucifer struck her. Her head lolled to the side, and blood streaked down from the broken skin at her temple. She tried to lift her head, but he hit her again and she went limp behind his wing. Rage filled me as I bounded toward them. Not only had he dared to hit my queen, but he’d also hurt my friend. I’d make him pay for that.
Hawk clawed at the floor as he tried to drag himself toward Lucifer. Blood coated his fingers and the floor. His head fell to the side to reveal part of his spine. Onoskelis lifted her sword to deliver the killing blow to Hawk at the same time that I launched onto Lucifer’s back, knocking him into Onoskelis.
The tip of her sword hit the rock with a clatter, but I also heard the thick, bloody sound of more flesh rending. I didn’t know if I’d thrown her off enough to prevent Hawk’s demise, and I didn’t have time to check.
I swiped my talons across the wing sticking awkwardly up from Lucifer’s back, shredding it. He yelled as the blood spouting from his wing coated my face and the ceiling. Onoskelis spun toward me, her sword whistling as it sliced through the air.
I threw my other hand up to stop her from decapitating me. Sparks flew as my talons, made of a substance harder and thicker than bone, clashed against the blade of her weapon. A screech filled the air as she slid her sword over my talons before lifting it away.
She screamed and gripped the sword with both hands. When she lifted it over her head to slice me straight down the middle, I swung my hand forward. My talons pierced through the flesh and bone of her chest as she swung her sword down. The blade cut into my wrist, nearly slicing my hand off.
Lucifer reeled backward and flung me off him. I had to use my good hand to grip my nearly severed one as my talons were torn free of Onoskelis. Landing on my ass, I bounced across the rock before leaping to my feet. Onoskelis stalked toward me.
“Enough, Onoskelis, forget the pitiful demon. We have to get out of here,” Lucifer spat. “We have her, and so we have him.”
I knew the him Lucifer referred to was not me, but Kobal. As long as Lucifer possessed River, there wasn’t anything Kobal wouldn’t do to get her back. I lunged at him again, but he spun toward me and thrust River’s limp form in front of him. My heart lurched when I nearly sank my talons into her chest before stopping myself in ti
me. The ends of them cut into her shirt and scratched her skin as Lucifer edged her closer to me.
“Tsk, tsk, demon.” The hideous remains of Lucifer’s face twisted into what I assumed was a smirk. “You nearly killed your queen.”
Lucifer had killed my father and, in a way, taken the life of my mother. After my father’s death, she had been unable to face living without her Chosen. My entire life, I’d fought relentlessly by Kobal’s side, willing to do whatever it took to see Lucifer die, and he now held the one weapon that could turn Kobal against the quest for his throne.
Not only that, but whatever Lucifer planned for River couldn’t be good. Over my many years, there were few I’d truly considered a friend; River was one of them. Lucifer would abuse her, he would break her, and in breaking her, he would destroy Kobal. It would almost be best if I killed her now, but I couldn’t do that to Kobal, or her.
“Let her go,” I grated through my teeth as Lucifer continued to use River’s body to push me backward.
Behind me, Magnus released a shout that fell further away as it went on, and I realized he’d been knocked over the edge. Lopan would be little use against the remaining angel, and Hawk had collapsed onto the floor in a growing pool of his blood. I had no idea if he was demon enough yet to survive that amount of damage, or if his head was still attached at all.
“I think I’m going to keep her,” Lucifer replied and smirked at me. “She is my child after all.”
River’s head drooped forward. I lowered my hand, afraid something would happen that would cause me to run her through. Glancing behind me, I saw the other angel waiting at the end of the tunnel, grinning at me. Lopan was nowhere to be seen.
I calculated every move the angels made as I tried to plot a way out of this, with River. When Kobal sent me after her during the gargoyle attack, he made it my duty to protect her, and I would not fail in that duty now. Planting my feet, I leapt forward and grabbed for her arms at the same time as her head lifted.
Her eyes had become the pale violet color they turned when a vision took her over, and I realized she didn’t see me. Then, color flooded back into her eyes.
“Run!” she breathed when she focused on me. “Corson, run!”
Onoskelis hammered the butt of her sword into River’s temple, causing her to go limp again. The shadows behind Lucifer shifted and three more angels emerged. Running from danger was not something I did. I attacked it head-on, but I also didn’t have a death wish. Six to one odds didn’t work in my favor. I couldn’t get her away from Lucifer while he continued to use her as a shield, and I couldn’t free her from him if I was dead.
I still might have a shot of getting her back, if I could stop myself from plummeting out of here as the others had.
Mind made up, I turned and raced toward the angel blocking the end of the tunnel. Lowering my shoulder, I slammed into him, propelling us both toward the edge. I buried the talons on my good hand into the vulnerable flesh of his stomach. Lifting him, I carried him back three feet as his hands pounded against my bare shoulders. Arriving at the end of the tunnel, I flung him away from me and into the open.
Leaping out behind him, my feet kicked through the air as I spun to the side and threw myself toward the wall. The talons on my good hand sought to get some purchase as I slid down the wall. Stones tore away as the rough surface abraded my chest and my feet scrambled to dig in somewhere on the wall.
Finally, my talons found purchase on a shelf. I dangled over open air for a moment before I lifted my feet and set them on a rocky outcropping. I took a breath and glanced at the tunnel ten feet above my head before focusing on my wounded hand. The bleeding had stopped, muscle was repairing itself, but it remained almost useless. It didn’t matter, I could do this without it.
Bracing my feet against the wall, I started climbing by using my legs and one hand. I heard Lucifer and the others approaching the tunnel entrance as I became even with it. Moving faster, I scurried past the opening and rose above it. Settling myself on a ledge, I perched over the opening in preparation of leaping onto Lucifer’s back when he exited.
If I could tear River away from him, I could keep her sheltered from most of the impact when we hit the ground. It wasn’t the most solid of plans, but it was better than nothing.
A disturbance in the air snapped my head up seconds before a manticore descended on me. I’d been so focused on getting River that I hadn’t heard its approach. I leaned to the side, but it was too late. Its stinger pierced through my back and dug in until I felt the tip of it scraping against my spine.
The second I felt the burn of its paralyzing juice enter my body, my limbs went rigid and my heart stuttered a beat. The manticore’s tail remained buried in my back as it lifted me off the wall.
CHAPTER 20
Kobal
I was halfway up the wall, my claws around a rock and my feet braced to make the leap to a higher level when an angel flew backward out of the entrance above. He spiraled toward the ground before flipping over and righting himself on the currents of air. Less than a minute before the angel fell out, Lopan and Magnus had toppled out of the tunnel. I’d heard the breaking of their bones when they hit the bottom, but they would survive.
Corson leapt out of the tunnel and swung so that he skidded down the surface before his talons caught on a rock. Scrambling up the wall, Corson settled on a ledge above the tunnel entrance just as a manticore sprang out of an opening, fifteen feet above him.
“Corson!”
My shout of warning came too late as the manticore’s stinger pierced through him. Corson jerked before going still. I scaled the wall faster. Bits and pieces of stone gave way beneath me and knocked my grip loose in some places, but I ignored the pain in my still healing body as I climbed.
River. I had to get to her. If the others had fallen out, and Corson leapt out…
Whatever was happening up there was far from good, but I couldn’t think on it now. I could only focus on reaching her. Then I would figure out how to get Corson back.
Two more angels appeared at the entrance and spread their wings. It took me a second to realize they held Lucifer’s battered body between them as they took flight. They circled over the cavern before rising higher into the air.
Then, another angel appeared. Onoskelis, I realized with a sneer as she unfurled her wings. Over the years, she’d swayed numerous male demons to Lucifer’s side with her near siren ways. She looked down at me, a smiling curving her mouth.
I was only fifteen feet away from her when part of the wall gave way beneath my hand, causing me to lose my hold. I scrambled to find purchase as I fell, but the rocks I clutched at continued to break away. Pulling my arm back, I rammed my fist through the stone to stop my plunge to the bottom. My healing wounds from the sword broke open, and fresh blood trickled down my sides as I prepared to climb again.
“Don’t fret, Kobal. I’ll make sure my niece is well taken care of!” Onoskelis called down in her husky voice.
Bending, Onoskelis lifted something off the ground and draped it over her shoulder. I caught a glimpse of River’s limp form before Onoskelis spread her wings and soared over the cavern.
“No!” I bellowed as she rose higher to alight on another tunnel entrance further up.
Onoskelis blew me a kiss before slipping away. My markings shifted as they ebbed and flowed with the thundering pulse of my heart. Phenex and Crux begged to be set free, but I kept them leashed.
They have River.
My breath labored in and out of me as my muscles swelled with their need for destruction. I took a minute to steady the rage battering me. If I allowed it to take control of me, there would be no stopping my rampage. Before River, I never would have hesitated before giving into my murderous impulses, but I knew it wouldn’t do River any good if I lost control now and tore Hell apart.
No matter what it takes, I will get her back. But first I had to get off this wall, get Corson back, and reorganize everyone. Then, I would hunt Lucifer throug
h every corner of Hell. And if he took her out of here, I would hunt him all over Earth if that was what it took to get her back.
The manticore spread its wings and leapt off the wall with Corson curled over its back. Hawk came into view as he staggered to a stop at the end of the tunnel. Blood coated his clothes, and there was a hole in his shirt over his heart. His hand pressed against the wound oozing blood from the side of his neck. When the manticore flew into view before him, his hand fell away.
Hawk took a few steps back before running forward and flinging himself onto the manticore’s back. He wrapped his arm around Corson’s waist as he twisted to the side, wrenching the stinger from Corson. A choked cry echoed through the cavern as they rolled across the manticore’s back before falling off the side.
Keeping my fist buried in the wall, I shoved the rest of my body off it and snagged Hawk’s arm when he plunged past me. I nearly wrenched Corson from his grasp when I jerked him toward the wall. Hawk grunted when he crashed against the rocks and his hold on Corson loosened further. Corson fell a foot before Hawk caught him under the armpit.
“Ahhhh,” Corson managed to get out.
The manticore screeched and turned back toward us, determined to reclaim the meal Hawk had stolen from it. Hawk twisted in my hold and managed to get his fingers around a rock. He shifted his grip on Corson and braced his feet on the wall.
“Where’s River?” Hawk demanded.
My lips skimmed back to bare my fangs at the reminder of exactly where she was right now, and who she was with. Hawk’s eyes widened on me and he leaned back. I released my hold on him before I accidentally sliced his arm from his body.
“Climb down with him and I’ll hold this thing off,” I ordered gruffly.
“I’m not sure I can,” Hawk muttered as Corson slid further down and made another squawking sound.
The manticore flattened its wings against its back and dove toward us. Its tail pointed straight at me. “Prick!” I spat.
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