The Devil in Disguise

by Maya Daniels

  Helena

  “We left him around here,” Beelzebub growls while I twist in his arms, looking for Raphael. “Stop moving or I’ll drop you.”

  “I don’t care where you left him.” Snapping at him, I dig my nails in his skin. “Fly faster, damn it!”

  “There!” His jaw clenches and the wings fold close to his body.

  So I don’t scream, I bite my lip and taste blood when we arrow down at the group of demons. They are not fighting, just standing around as if confused, and dread overrides my panic at the reckless flying. The idiots may all have wings and are used to this shit, but I’m not a freaking bird. I freak out every time I’m in the air because I was meant to have solid ground under my feet.

  Beelzebub drops on his feet, my teeth rattling from the hard impact of his landing. Two seconds later, a pissed off Eric drops next to us, snatching me like a toy out of Beelzebub’s arms. I glare at him, but he glares back, so I keep my snarky comments to myself because I don’t have time to argue right now. Plus, Beelzebub is already making quick work of the confused demons. By the time we grapple so I can untangle myself from Eric’s arms, which are sticking to me like Velcro even after I remove them, only one demon is left dangling in Beelzebub’s grip.

  “Where is the Archangel?” The fallen sounds so pissed that I want to tell him where Raphael is, although I have no damn clue.

  “You are too late.” The stupid demon gloats, and his eyes bulge out when the hand around his throat tightens.

  “Let’s try again,” Beelzebub snarls. “Remember when I send you back to Hell, I will follow shortly to keep you company there. No jinn will help you while I learn to knit with your guts.”

  I walk up behind the demon and press my dagger on his bare back. The searing of skin and the stench of burnt skin makes me wrinkle my nose. The beast screams so loud, my ears are ringing.

  “Or, I can end him for good, if he likes,” I tell Beelzebub, and he grins proudly at me.

  “The jinn lead him away.” The demon whimpers.

  “Which jinn?” Nausea makes me lightheaded because I know what he is going to say.

  “The one that looks like you.” Pulling my hand back, I’m about to stab him, but Beelzebub drops him in a heap.

  “Let's go.” The fallen storms off, his face turned up as he sniffs the air like a hunting dog.

  I was going to ask if we should kill the demon, but a ball of energy tackles the curled-up asshole, rolling along with it a few feet. Narsi pops his head out, grinning like a fool. How he got here so fast is beyond me.

  “I will eat his face…” The Trowe hisses before opening his jaw unnaturally wide.

  I turn my back fast, swallowing the bile.

  “Oh my God…” I think I’m going to faint. “What’s with the damn Trowe and face eating?”

  “We need to find Raphael.” Eric knows how to snap me out of it and, thanks to my gruesome sidekick, his glare is gone, replaced by a barely-contained smile. “That’s what a Haltija does when they are protecting someone…”

  “I don’t wanna hear it.” Lifting a hand up, I stop whatever else he was going to say. “Let’s just go and find the Archangel.”

  Beelzebub is already disappearing around a corner, and I hurry after him, unable to stifle the munching sounds from behind me. Revulsion sends a shudder through me, and I shake like a dog with fleas. Eric chuckles but wisely keeps his mouth shut. After a few twists and turns, I almost jump out of my skin when Colt shows up out of nowhere. He just falls in step with us like he was always there. His smirk tells me he knows that he spooked me.

  I lose sight of Beelzebub for just a second, and his roar curdles the blood in my veins. I bolt for him, but the twins are faster. Thankfully, they each grab an arm, tugging me along with them, my boots barely scraping the ground. When we reach the tight space between two buildings, panic chokes me.

  The jinn that looks like me is standing in a wide stance over Raphael’s limp body. There is something like a shard sticking out from the center of the Archangel’s chest, and his blood is soaking down his shirt. Beelzebub is on his knees, clawing at his throat, ripping the skin with his nails. I freeze when I come face to face with myself, that strange, stupefied state overtaking my thought process entirely. Until Eric and Colt drop to their knees, their mouths open in a silent scream.

  Something in me flips.

  It’s nothing drastic or too powerful to handle. It’s very subtle, fluttering like a butterfly’s wings in my chest. One second, I’m panicking, the next a calm washes over me like spring rain. My entire focus centers on the jinn, the edges of my periphery dimming into shadows.

  Our gazes lock.

  A smirk starts lifting her mouth a little too soon. She thinks she has won. That she has Raphael and I can do nothing but watch her take him. My mate and the other two men that have fought by my side are unable to breathe, and this bitch thinks I will tuck my tail and run. Obviously, she doesn’t know me well enough to know I have a knee-jerk reaction to shit like this when I’m cornered.

  My anger surges through me like lava. The ground under our feet shakes so violently the jinn flies to the wall, her head cracking like an egg on the bricks. Like in a dream, I stand still while the world around me shatters. The golden glow that destroyed a horde of demons in Hell flows through my hands, wrapping around the four men in this tight space. The buildings on both sides start falling apart, large chunks embedding themselves deep into the earth. The concrete rises like hills around us, thankfully not on top of the men.

  The jinn shakes itself up, rising as well, with fury in its eyes. The image it has taken flickers like a dying lightbulb before the too-perfect creature is staring at me from across the space. In the back of my mind, I’m aware that I should be dead just by seeing it with my mortal eyes.

  But I’m not.

  I’m neither dead nor mortal. And this evil being that cares about nothing but itself thinks I will stand back while it devastates everything I care about, everything I’ve known. A matching smirk pulls my lips at the confusion on the jinn’s face. It seems they don’t know everything there is to know about the abomination that is Helena. And this jinn will not live long enough to warn the others.

  Acceptance stares at me from the too-perfect face of the jinn. Death stares back at it through mine.

  Then, we clash.

  When our bodies collide, a sonic boom blasts everything away from us, leaving a clear area an entire block wide. A quick prayer floats through my head that the men are not hurt, or worse, from the strength of it. I shouldn’t have worried because the golden glow surrounding them keeps them cocooned like eggs in the crater-like nest.

  The jinn fights with desperation, wild and brutal. Every hit I take, I feel the bones breaking, shattering from the force of the impact. And I feel the excruciating pain of them molding back together, healing faster than they are being broken. It all blends in, feeding me with a constant euphoria of such strong emotions, my skin feels like it’ll split open, unable to contain it.

  We keep exchanging punches and kicks, swirling around each other like possessed. The jinn looks reckless, but I notice it stays away from my dagger the best it can. Its foot slams me in the center of my chest, caving my ribcage like paper and sending me flying a yard away. When I drop on my knees, a horrible scream is ripped from my soul while my bones put themselves together. Through the tears streaming down my face, I see the three men clawing at the golden glow holding them prisoner. They will not escape until either one of us dies.

  Hanging my chin to my chest, I stay on my knees, panting. My entire body is shivering and shaking. The breath is freezing cold when it passes through my lungs, which are burning up from the inferno building inside of me. Blood drips down my fingers, soaking the ground, and my hair sticks to my face. I feel the jinn when it stops in front of me, its gloating like a tangible thing in the air.

  “You can’t win.” The voice that speaks is alluring, sweet, and tempting like poison before it takes your
life away.

  I feel the teardrop gathering at the tip of my nose, growing larger and heavier before it falls and splatters on the ground, disappearing like it never existed. Just like my heart is breaking, the cracks open wide at all the injustice around me. Power rules over love or compassion, in this realm or the next. And we all pay the price of having a soft heart.

  My knees tremble when I stagger and wobble around, lifting up on my feet. The jinn laughs, and it breaks the last of my sanity. The soft chuckle grows in volume, and the jinn takes a wary step back. Slowly, I lift my head up, gazing at its face with crazed eyes. My laughter echoes around us until it abruptly stops.

  “I never fight to win.” Faster than lightning, I bury my dagger in its chest. “I fight to survive.”

  I hold the jinn to me like we are lovers about to share a kiss. I don’t look away from its eyes until the light in them dims and the life fueling it disappears. I don’t release the body until it disappears in my arms like it never existed. Only after that, I drop on the ground, the golden light around me winking out.

  “Hel!” Eric is next to me in a split second, gathering me in his arms.

  “Help, Raphael.” Cupping his face, I smile when he nuzzles my palm.

  “Colt removed the crystal from his chest.” Pushing the hair from my face, his deep, green eyes look panicked. “Hopefully he will heal on his own.”

  “What?” Frowning, I try to push him away. “What do you mean he will heal on his own. They healed him before.”

  Eric releases his hold on me reluctantly, and I stumble to the Archangel. I think we need to stop finding ourselves in a situation like this where one or another is barely hanging to life. This reminds me too much of the time the bomb went off when I was escaping Michael. Only this time, Raphael is on his back, his kind yellow eyes closed. He looks ashen, and I have to stifle a sob. Dropping on my knees before I even reach him, I crawl to his side.

  “His chest is not moving.” Colt and Beelzebub are kneeling across from me, so I look at them. “Why is his chest not moving?”

  ‘He is alive, Helena,” Colt says somberly, as if that will make me calm down.

  “I don’t give a shit, Colt. Make his chest move, like now.” I might sound hysterical, but that’s fine, because I am.

  “Hel.” Eric crouches next to me, reaching for me, but I swat his hands away. “They already gave him more than he should have from their energy. Love, he is an Archangel, he can’t have too much energy fed into him from Hell.”

  “Bullshit. There was nothing wrong with him after they did that.” I don’t understand why the three of them are just sitting there. It’s driving me insane. “Do it!” Yanking on Eric’s hand, I place it on Raphael’s chest. “Feed him those shadows of yours Eric, or so help me God I’ll stab you.”

  “You can’t make that choice for him, Hel. Believe me when I tell you I want nothing more than to heal him.” Eric looks pained. “But we can’t. It’ll change who he is, what he is.”

  “What? It’ll make him evil or something?” My stomach is flip flopping, but I refuse to give up.

  “He won’t eat humans.” Eric tries a joke, but my glare shuts him up, and he sighs. “It’ll put more darkness in him, Hel. I’m not sure he will want that.”

  “That’s fine.” All three look at me like I’ve grown horns. Maybe I have. “There is a piece of the Devil in all of us. I’m your living proof. Heal him now, Eric. We don’t have much time.” When they don’t move right away, I want to scream. “All of you should’ve thought about this shit before you decided to join me on this suicide path. If Raphael dies, nothing is stopping the jinn from snatching someone else, and I’ll be at the top of their list after that. They want Raphael for a reason, and I’ll be damned if I let them have him, dead or alive. Now, heal him before I go nuclear again.”

  That works like someone just poked them in the ass. All three of them spring into action, their hands stretched out above the Archangel. I hold my breath, waiting for what feels like an eternity. I’m not sure my heart is beating. Just when I’m ready to go insane, Raphael gasps a long breath, his back bowing off the ground. The sound coming from me is something between a sob and a laugh. Eric, Beelzebub, and Colt drop on their backs, breathing heavily. I ignore them all when the golden gaze locks on mine.

  “Raphael…” Okay fine, I’m crying like a little girl, but I don’t care. “You are okay.”

  “It’s really Helena, the jinn is dead,” Beelzebub grumbles.

  Raphael jumps up, hugging me like he hasn’t seen me in years. I laugh and cry, my snot and tears smudging his blood-covered shirt.

  “I’m sorry.” Sniffing, I keep repeating it. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about, Helena.” Hearing Raphael’s voice makes me ugly cry.

  Bawling my eyes out, I clutch his arms. “You might grow horns now.”

  “What?” The question is half incredulous, half a burst of laughter.

  The twins and Beelzebub release deep belly laughs and I really, really want to stab them right now. I don’t, only because of something slamming into my back, sending both Raphael and I rolling in tangled limbs.

  “Misstress...I ate his face…”

  You guessed it. Narsi found us again.

  It took us most of the night to find the rest of the people scattered through Atlanta. It turns out, the jinn impersonating me was the chief honcho pulling the strings in this realm. Eric is beside himself from happiness because I won’t have to infiltrate their ranks. I never knew he has that many teeth, and that he can smile so much. It’s like his face is frozen in that state the last two days.

  It’s weird as hell.

  More people start showing up at the safe house, and not just demons. Angels, even humans, start popping up on the street, waiting until we let them through the wards. We need to look for a bigger place soon since we are being packed like sardines at the moment.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Eric tells me, pecking me on the lips before he disappears through the front door of the building.

  Him, Beelzebub and Leviathan are going to Hell. Mammon turns out to be as slippery as a snake. He follows us here from Hell, making as much damage as he can, but as soon as the demons start dying and the jinn are gone, he bolted right back to his realm, thinking he is safe. I don’t know about Beelzebub and Eric, but if the look on Leviathan’s face is any indication, I would be petrified if I was Mammon. They’ll also try to get the other fallen to join our fight.

  The portals are still unstable, opening up all over the place. George and Cass found some of the hunters and brought them into our fold. Now all of them, along with Maddison’s ever-growing army of demons, are patrolling the area and forcing whatever comes through the portals back. It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from Hell or from Heaven. The damn jinn are everywhere, and until we know for sure they are gone to their own realm, we will not let anyone get by us.

  “I think I’m ready.” Raphael stops next to me where I’m leaning on the doorframe.

  “I’m not sure this is a good idea.” My fingers wrap around his forearm.

  I started touching him the last two days, as if reassuring myself that it’s really him and I’m not imagining it. He scared the shit out of me when I thought he was going to die. Many have been killed because of me, but like hell I’ll carry an Archangel on my conscious. He will stay alive if I have to force him.

  A giggle bursts from me, and he looks at me with his golden eyes.

  “What’s funny?” Maddison comes from down the hall, looking from the Archangel to me.

  “I was just thinking how much Raphael scared me and that I’d force him to stay alive if I had to.” I grin at him when he laughs.

  “I have every intention to be alive.” He pets my hand that’s gripping his forearm. “I promised your mother, and I will keep my vow. Although I’m not sure anymore who is protecting whom.”

  “There’ll be plenty of time for you to p
rotect her, Archangel. I have a feeling this was not the worse that we will face.” Maddison looks too serious for my liking.

  “Why? We have more trouble?” The Archangel’s face turns stormy and dark, his golden eyes darkening.

  My stomach drops to the floor at that. Ever since I kind of forced the twins and Beelzebub to heal him, he is easier to anger, and there is this cloud of danger surrounding him even when he is relaxed. I don’t want to think too hard about it because it’ll drive me insane. I keep telling myself that Raphael is just too kind and too soft. Nothing can make him bad. Right? You must have evil in you for something to bring it to the surface.

  There is a piece of the Devil in all of us. My own words ring in my head, the ones I said so they can heal him. But Raphael is…well, Raphael. Still kind, still smiling. Only he has an edge to him now. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. Only time will tell.

  “Nothing for you to worry about.” Maddison waves off his concerns. “Go do what you need to do and let’s hope we can be prepared for whatever comes next.”

  “I will not be long, Helena.” Raphael offers me a tight smile before leaving through the door.

  “You think any of them will agree to join us and help?” I don’t look at Maddison, keeping my eyes on Raphael’s retreating back.

  “We have nothing to lose by offering a chance to join.” She leans her shoulder opposite me, watching the Archangel too. “They’ll either agree, or they won’t.”

  Raphael is going back to Heaven. He wants to find Gabriel and try to convince him to join forces with us. According to him, in a loud debate—I don’t want to call it screaming at each other—he had with the twins and the fallen, the angels will agree to fight together so we can get rid of the jinn. I’m skeptical, but that’s because of my own trauma from the jinn impersonating Michael.

  “So, what’s with you and Leviathan?”