by C. S. Wilde
This was it.
Liam didn’t fear what was coming. But Gods, he wished he could’ve kissed Ava one last time.
32
Ava
Ava hurried through the night sky, dodging buildings with glassed surfaces that reflected the city lights.
“Ava!” Ezra screamed from behind as he followed her. “Where are you going?”
She barely registered the question. Liam was out there, and he was in pain.
The city gave way to the darkness of the channel below, and then Ava hovered above sector thirteen.
Liam was somewhere within those abandoned quarters. Even if Ava couldn’t feel him anymore, this was where those strings of light and dark had ended.
Darkness fell in a silent mantle over the abandoned buildings and warehouses. Only one construction, a big, bulky cube at least five stories high, had lights flickering inside. No, not lights exactly.
Flames.
He had to be there. And she had to hurry.
Ava swiveled left and descended, soon landing with a big thud. Ezra landed behind her, his presence noted and ignored at the same time.
“Jophiel!” he shouted.
Ava blinked as if woken from a trance. She turned left to see the Seraph crouching on his knees behind a pile of scrap metal. Bulky chains wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles; chains that weren’t made of iron or silver but a night-black material.
Ezra unsheathed his sword and hit the chains. A spark ignited from where his blade met the metal, leaving a faint scratch on the surface.
These were no ordinary cuffs. If they could hold down a Seraph, they must’ve been damned by an incredibly powerful demon—or the devils themselves, if that was even possible.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He caught me by surprise,” Jophiel said through gritted teeth. Golden veins shone faintly from underneath his ebony skin. “He looked, smelled, even sounded like Liam. Behemoths can impersonate others, but they’re never that flawless.” A sizzling sound came from where the cuffs touched his skin. He winced and took a shaky breath. “I wasn’t expecting to find one of them on Earth.”
She would ask who Jophiel was talking about, but screams poured from the warehouse. Silhouettes battled fiercely through the windows and gaping door. Ava sensed the anger that flowed from Jophiel, the fury as he watched what happened inside. It overcame the burns the cursed chains inflicted on his skin.
Whoever trapped him had wanted the Seraph to suffer beyond physical pain.
They’d wanted him to watch.
“Help them,” Jophiel ordered, his voice weak.
She didn’t want to leave him, not like this.
“Go, Ava.” Ezra raised his sword and hit the chains. “I’ll free him.” He hit them again, and one of the links cracked. “Go!”
She nodded and rushed into the warehouse.
Blood was sprawled on the walls and flowed on the floor. Ava almost slipped in a red pool, but she kept going, dodging the bodies intertwined in battle and jumping over the fallen as she searched for Liam.
The cavernous space amplified the shrieks of horror, pain, and fury; skin-crawling sounds that formed an eerie symphony.
Werewolves and vampires fought against the demons. She found Lilith taken by insatiable bloodlust, and a big werewolf who howled eagerly, urging his packs forward.
The priests of the Gray weren’t here, and Ava understood why. The place was peppered by demons with multi-colored wings on full display. Against second-tiers, the Gray would easily perish.
She found Liam near the back of the warehouse and remembered to breathe. He might be alive, but he wouldn’t last much longer. Blood painted the left side of his face, and he could barely stand. He was cornered by four demons, all second-tiers.
Despair spread inside as she rushed through the mess of battling bodies, but she wouldn’t reach him in time. Her beasts of light and dark, however …
Black and golden lightning birthed from her hands and shot at the winged demons who threatened Liam’s life, flinging them across the warehouse.
Liam gaped at the creatures and then at her, his green eyes filled with disbelief and awe.
“Ava?” he muttered as she ran to him.
She wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him closer. He held in a painful scream because a deep cut slashed across his back, piercing through his shirt, skin and muscle. The wound tainted her hands with his own red.
Warmth took over Ava’s body as her light shone, connecting with his. She never imagined a demon could have light, but then again, she was an angel and her darkness was stronger than she’d like to admit.
Up is down, down is up, the Cap’s voice rang in her mind.
Her light penetrated Liam’s flesh, mending the deep cuts on his forehead and back. He hugged her with strength, and even when he was completely healed, he didn’t let go.
“You’re here,” he whispered, his voice muffled at the curve of her neck, his fingers digging into her back.
She wanted to kiss him senseless, but there was a time and place for that and this was neither.
She let go of him and tucked her wings inside her light. She then withdrew her sword, swiveled, and slammed her back against his. “Just like old times?”
His body heaved with a chuckle. “Oh Hells yes, princess.”
On they went into the crowd of battling bodies, piercing and slashing, burning and electrocuting. She and Liam fought with the coordination of a machine, charging, dodging, and attacking in perfect harmony. Sweat bloomed on her skin, both from the effort and from the heat of Liam’s flames as he shot them forward, but she didn’t mind.
This was more than like old times; it was better. It felt as if their minds were one. Their hearts, too.
“You’ve been training,” Liam remarked as he slashed across a demon’s torso.
She opened her mouth to reply, but someone yanked her away from him—a demon with spiky hair and a mad grin.
Before she could defend herself, the demon slammed a damned dagger in her gut, and a scream ripped through her throat. Ava’s legs buckled as blood spurted from the wound. She fell with her back to the ground.
“Ava!” Liam yelled, but battling bodies had already closed the path to her.
The demon dragged her through the warehouse by her foot, leaving a red trail behind.
Gods, she couldn’t heal herself, not while the cursed blade was stuck in her stomach.
The pain was blinding, and it sucked all the reason in her. She grabbed the dagger and tried to yank it out, but every move sent a jolt of pain from her gut up to her lungs. If she caused more damage, Ava could die before her healing was strong enough to fix the wound.
She could barely breathe now. The blade’s darkness had been built to hurt and kill. It corroded her body, spreading tentacles of pain that curled toward her chest and waist, poisoning her. Ava’s mind whirled, and she faintly remarked that the demon had stopped pulling her foot.
He turned back to her, and his smile spoke of madness. The creature kicked her forehead, then her ribs. The attack dislocated the dagger, which dropped tentatively on the ground beside her.
Heal. She needed to heal, but she was so weak and the world was spinning.
The demon spread his charcoal wings and raised his sword. “Now it’ll be your head, angel.”
Her golden shield swept across her skin. The thin layer wouldn’t withstand an attack, not when it was no stronger than a thin coating of glass. The edges of her vision darkened.
The demon laughed. “Let’s see how your shield holds against a damned blade.” He raised his sword higher.
“Ava!” Liam howled from somewhere, his voice distant.
A blast rang in Ava’s ears, but her sight was too blurry. She tried to focus and saw the demon standing still, his mouth agape and soundless. His hand opened, and his sword clanked on the ground.
A hole caked by black lightning consumed the demon’s chest, eating through his fl
esh. Beyond the gap, Ava spotted Liam rushing toward her. He shot dark spheres of black lightning toward the enemies that stepped between them. Pitch-black flames blazed around his body, turning him into a storm of night and darkness.
Liam’s flames sunk under his skin as he pulled the demon’s body away. He kneeled beside her, checking her face and stomach. His despair seeped into her core, cold and agonizing. “Are you okay?”
She smiled. “Never better.”
“Smartass,” he grumbled with amusement. “Can you heal yourself?”
“It’s going slowly,” she said while trying to ignore the stings of pain that pierced through her body.
“Well, let’s give it a try.” He spread his hands atop her wound and focused. A fog of darkness unfurled across her skin, diving into her flesh.
“Agh, it’s cold!”
“I know.”
Ava watched in awe as her wounds began to heal faster than ever before. “I never thought a demon could heal an angel.”
“Me neither. But my darkness is connected to yours,” he said quietly, his green eyes sharp with focus. “I can’t understand why, princess. It just is.”
Liam was almost done when he suddenly screamed and crouched over his knees. A horrible bellow burst through his throat as veins popped on his temples. His skin reddened, and he howled as if someone was murdering him from inside.
“Fuck!” he spat, trying to catch a breath.
His bellows caught the attention of a group of demons not far from them. They’d just finished off two wolves and a vampire, and now they were coming.
Ava didn’t know what was happening with Liam, but she had to protect him. Her black and gold lightning crackled around them, closing them both in a dome.
The demons stopped outside, watching.
Waiting.
She wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. Already her mind felt fuzzy, pulling her over the edge of unconsciousness. The loss of blood took its toll and still, she managed to fling two demons away with her telekinesis.
Her body felt too heavy to breathe, like a massive stone sat on her chest—the symptom of abusing her abilities in a weakened state.
She would have to be more careful.
Liam kept screaming as talons pierced his back. Bone structures snapped and built atop themselves, forming two ivory trees coated by blood.
Ava’s heart stopped. She had never seen how her wings had grown, but it must’ve been similar to this.
Flesh and muscles spread atop Liam’s new bones, the clay of his creation. His naked muscles moved tentatively, accustoming themselves to motion. Skin wrapped over the surface, connecting femurs and ulnas, forming membranes. Finally, scales bloomed over the surface. They were dark as night, but their tips turned emerald green. The color of Liam’s eyes.
Heavens, they were magnificent.
“You’ve ascended,” she mumbled.
Or maybe it was descended. She had no idea what the right terminology was.
Her vision darkened for a moment, and then her back hit the floor. The first thing in Ava’s mind was the shield—keep up the shield. She had to protect Liam; she was his Guardian.
He was her everything.
She blinked lazily, and then Liam was staring down at her, worry all over him. His labored breaths made her think he was injured, but then she remembered the brand-new wings which had just sprouted from his back.
“I’m fine,” she said as he helped her up. “Just a little dizzy.”
The dome of lightning still whipped around them. Liam’s wings closed them both in a cocoon.
Ava smiled, and so did he. She could almost see her reflection on his magnificent obsidian scales. “How are your wings obeying you? It took me forever to control mine.”
“I don’t know,” he said as he watched her, love and care flowing like a river inside him. He cleared his throat, and the draconian wings coiled behind him. He wiggled them playfully. “They’re still sore, but it feels as if I’ve had them since forever. It’s strange.”
Not entirely. Liam had been an Archangel for centuries. Some part of him must’ve remembered having wings.
Around them, demons battled beyond her bolts of light and dark, but that cursed group simply waited eagerly.
Fools.
Ava shot the lightning from the shield forward, flinging the demons away like waves crashing against a rock.
A shriek of pain came from the end of the room. Jal was limping near a scrawny demon with red hair. Their friend wouldn’t last long.
“We have to help him!” she said, but Liam held her hand.
“That’s Hauk,” he growled, his focus on the red-haired demon. “He’s mine!”
Hauk punched Jal mightily in his face, and he fell limp to the floor. Liam bellowed a war cry and boosted forward, propelled by his new wings.
Ava yelled after him, but he didn’t listen.
A demon approached from behind. She could sense his body moving through her essence, reflected in her light. Ava spun just in time, and her blade clanked against her opponent’s.
In the distance, Hauk’s form began to change. His bones cracked, and his skin stretched. His muscles swelled until he became a much bigger version of himself. His fingers deformed into claws made to rip the skin off people’s bones, and his wings spread behind him, spanning the width of a small airplane.
“Liam!” Ava yelled as she dodged another attack from the demon.
Her relentless, brave Selfless didn’t hesitate. Liam jumped and slammed a punch of red, angry flames between Hauk’s eyes.
The demon shrieked loudly, his deep, rumbling voice an earthquake in itself. It nearly drowned the rest of the noise in the warehouse.
He grabbed Liam’s foot and threw him aside like a rag doll. He then focused on healing the wound between his eyes, which soon closed.
Hauk turned back to Liam to finish him off, but a colossal sphere of black lightning slammed into him, throwing the demon across the room and through a wall.
Ava watched the fight, mindlessly blocking the attacks from the demon who charged at her. When he nearly chopped off her arm, she grabbed him by his neck.
Golden light shone under her skin, but it wasn’t her healing light. It came from the lightning that lived inside her rift, the lightning that normally whipped at her enemies. This time, it scorched everything that touched her palm. Like a firestorm raging inside her.
The stench of burnt flesh spread on the air as the demon screamed, but he soon fell unconscious and Ava let go. The skin on his neck was dark and scabbed.
A bright light shone from the entrance of the warehouse, then zinged through five demons; a merciless bolt that pierced their chests.
The demons stood where they were for a moment, unmoving, before their bodies went down the way ripe apples fall.
Those who remained glanced around in fear and shock, not knowing what had hit their comrades.
From the entrance, Jophiel stepped inside, supported by Ezra. The Messenger had broken the chains, but the collar and cuffs were still locked around Jophiel’s neck, wrists, and ankles.
The Seraph’s chest heaved up and down in labored breaths. That bolt had clearly come from him, and it must’ve taken a toll on his already debilitated state.
Bright sickly veins spread further over his body, as if his skin was a cracking vase that kept the sun inside.
Ezra patted Jophiel gently on his shoulder and let him go. “Thank you, my King.”
The Messenger then unsheathed his sword and swung it in circles, daring the demons to attack. Blue thunder cracked around his force field, forming a sphere around him.
The remaining demons glared at each other before raising their swords and bellowing a furious war cry.
33
Liam
Hauk didn’t stay down for long. The asshole walked back through the massive hole his body had punched in the wall, his steps pummeling the ground.
“You may be a second-tier now,” the demon spoke
with a deformed voice, “but you’re still weak!”
He charged at Liam and dodged the two spheres of black lightning he sent his way. The fucker was fast, even with his enormous size.
Before Liam could raise his defense, Hauk smacked his face so hard that he zinged in the air above the battling bodies. He should’ve spread his wings to slow down, but instinct took over and it wasn’t used to them. Not yet. They disappeared into Liam’s darkness right when his back hit the ground.
His body dragged on until he lost momentum, and then a freezing cloud spread underneath his skin, attending to the raw flesh on his back, the slight cracks on his skull, and the broken vertebrae on his spine.
Liam forced himself up using his sword as an aid. His wounds weren’t completely healed, but it would have to do. Hauk would be coming for him anytime now.
A scream came from the entrance of the warehouse. Her scream. Ava was crouching on the ground, her left arm twisted in an unnatural way.
Nothing mattered but her. Ava was his fuel, his entire existence. Before he could go to her, his princess jumped up and with one swift move cut across the demon who had broken her arm, making his guts rain down on the floor.
Ezraphael rushed to her, and light shone from his palms. He touched the wound.
He’s fixing her, Liam’s light whispered.
He’s touching her, his darkness growled.
“I’ll make the one you love suffer!” Hauk bellowed from behind as he rushed toward Liam.
He ducked as the demon’s giant claw cut the air where his head had been a minute ago.
“When I’m done with you,” Hauk continued as he attacked Liam nonstop, “I’ll take her like I took my bride, over and over again!”
“The Hells you will.” Black flames engulfed his fist, and Liam punched the left side of Hauk’s face, scorching his skin.
The demon stepped back, half of his profile scabbed and deformed. If he felt any pain, Liam couldn’t tell. The fucker actually smirked.
“I’ll take your love, and then the entire Gorge will have their way with her.” The laugh that broke through his throat turned into a cough.
