“Hey, I heard that,” grumbled Lance as he scratched behind his ear and then shook his head. “I happen to like them a little loose. That way it’s like I’m wearing a necklace and not a choker.”
“But you knew somehow,” continued Milo, his eyes dancing with something Alexa didn’t understand.
Alexa flushed under Milo’s intense stare. “I just did. I realized that the oracle who wrote me that note,” she pulled it out to show them again, but also just to feel it in her fingers because it made her declaration more real, “had seen me destroy Lucifer, or some version of it. The oracle gave me the note because he saw me in one of his visions. If he saw me, I knew we wouldn’t die here. I knew we were supposed to free ourselves.”
Her eyes moved over the handwritten note, excitement pounding in her body. She could barely stand still.
“I knew it,” said Lance. “I knew we’d get out. Never doubted it.”
Milo’s face looked like he was torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Lance stretched and then shook his body, sending waves rippling over his white fur.
Alexa stifled a laugh as she folded the note and pushed it in her jean pocket. She reached down and grabbed the staff. She squeezed it with her hand, feeling its power pulsing against her palm, warm and inviting, as though it wanted her to use it.
She looked up from the staff. “We’ll have to run. But if we leave now, we might still catch them.”
“What about the blood of a demon?” asked Milo. “We still don’t have that.”
“I don’t know,” said Alexa. “We’ll figure it out. Trust me. We have the oracle’s vision on our side. It’ll work. Just have faith.”
“I hate to be the one to kill the happy party we have going on here,” said Lance, looking guilty, “but everyone knows the oracles’ prophecies don’t always come true. I’d say they’re wrong, like fifty percent of the time. It’s why you can never get a straight answer from them. They can’t even tell the right prophecies from the false ones.” Lance rolled his eyes. “Glad I don’t have their job.”
A hum of excitement went through her. Still smiling, Alexa shook her head. “No. I know this is going to work. I can feel it. Just… just trust me on this. It’ll work. We need to find Ariel! Come on!”
And the three of them dashed out the front doors into the night.
CHAPTER 20
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR ALEXA and the others to find Ariel and her band of angels. All they had to do was follow the sounds of battle—metal clashing against metal along with the unmistakable grunts and the wailings of the dying.
They ran, slipping around the corner of a pub called Tasty Brew and into an alley. It was narrow, choked with empty beer bottles, shredded plastic, moldy boxes and dirty rags with dark maroon spots she didn’t want to think about. They passed rows of townhouses, their lights on. The mortal world was waking. They broke through the end of the ally and found themselves running through rows of townhouses with manicured lawns.
Alexa felt the change in the air along with the smell of salt and moisture, but there was also the overwhelming stench of sulfur and the rotten smell of demon and blood. Even then, she felt something different. An unnatural pulsing, like the beating of a giant heart.
Stones kicked up as she ran, and Alexa could make out the point where the townhouses ended and the lane turned into open country with a sparkling harbor. Nestled between picturesque, deep green mountains was a large flowing river, cool in the blue light of dawn. Private yachts, sailboats and smaller ships were docked in the harbor, bobbing in the restless dark waters. The landscape seemed to grow larger and more detailed as Alexa squinted over the side of the river and mountains.
At the end of the lane, a sign written in bold green letters read CAHERSIVEEN MARINA.
Chaos reigned at the marina. Angels and demons swarmed the harbor grounds, screaming and waving their weapons. Demons charged, scattering the angels. Alexa could feel the stamping feet as more demons approached from the nearby town.
The battle was still raging along the marina, which was good because it meant the angels hadn’t all died yet. It meant whatever plans Lucifer had unleashed, the Legion was still standing.
Near the edge of the harbor, swathed in mist, was the shadow of a castle. Made of black stone, it was carved in the shape of a skull complete with eyes, nose, and a portcullis with large metal teeth that looked like an open mouth ready to devour anyone foolish enough to attempt to pass. And what looked like a crown made of swords sat above its head. Its enormous shadow slid over the harbor like a giant dark cloud. The air pulsed around it, coming from somewhere inside.
Lucifer’s castle. The Legion had been right. He was here.
Alexa cursed silently as she saw a major problem. To get to the castle they would have to cross through the angel Legion, who were fighting what looked to be thousands of demons. A sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn-out cry of misery, pain, and dying. But she was too far away to determine if the cries were from angels or from demons.
“Wait!” Milo held up his hand. Both Alexa and Lance skidded to a stop. Lance’s hair stood on end like he’d just stepped out of a dryer.
Milo narrowed his eyes as he took in the battle. “Something’s not right. These demons… they feel like… they feel strange...”
“Demons have always felt strange,” offered Lance. “It’s the first sign that tells us they don’t belong here.”
Milo shook his head. He drew both sabers and said, “No. That’s not it. We should be coughing at their stench with a crowd that size. It should be burning our throats like acid. But I’m not getting that feeling. I’m barely getting anything as it is. I can’t explain it, but I know something’s just not right.”
“Milo’s right.” Alexa had barely spoken when an unnatural chill descended on her like a cold mist, and sudden cries made her shudder where she stood.
A swarm of Higher demons was gliding along the port. Their white skin was a sharp contrast against their dark suits. They stopped just outside the battle, watching. Alexa could feel their chill, smell the poison from their death blades, even though she couldn’t see their weapons.
“Why aren’t the Higher demons attacking?” she asked, her eyes never leaving their eerie, identical faces, which always freaked her out.
“They’re like hyenas.” Lance made a face. “Cowards and scavengers, waiting for the other demons to do the hard work for them.”
Milo’s grip was tight on his sabers. “No. Higher demons aren’t cowards. They relish in killing. It’s what they were made for—to kill angels.”
“Why are they just standing there? It’s almost as if they’re waiting for something.” Alexa couldn’t suppress the feeling of dread that was slowly trying to burst her confidence bubble. She’d never seen Higher demons stand back and watch a battle. In her experience, they were always the instigators, but none of the Higher demons moved. They were waiting.
A growl rippled in Lance’s throat. “Waiting for what?”
“I don’t know.” Alexa tightened her grip on the staff. “Do you think they know about the staff? Nathaniel might have told them.”
“Could be,” said Milo as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his right arm. “They do look like they’re waiting for something.”
“Or someone,” said Lance.
“They can never get their hands on the staff,” said Milo, his face pale and deadly serious.
“Can they even touch it?” asked Lance, his eyes roving over the staff in Alexa’s hand. “You told me it vaporized those two archangels. Maybe it would do the same to them?”
“I don’t know.” Milo was silent for a moment, his eyes traveling over the Higher demons to his father’s castle and then back. “If Nathaniel is here, my father’s already aware of the staff and our plans.”
Alexa stared at the battle, her nerves jumping inside her like a swarm of bees. “How do we get past that,” she asked, pointing with the staff to the battle ahead.
&n
bsp; “We’ll need Ariel’s help to reach my father’s castle,” answered Milo. “We need to persuade her to lend us a team.”
“And you’re sure he’s in there? What if he’s out there fighting?”
“He sees battles like these as being below him,” answered Milo. “He’s the true coward.”
Alexa watched Milo’s face go through a few different emotions in a few seconds—frustration, disgust, contempt, even pain. She felt sorry for him. What kind of person would you grow up to be if you knew your father was Lucifer?
“There!” shouted Lance. “I see her. Quick before I lose her scent.” The dog bounded ahead of them, leaving Alexa and Milo having to double their efforts to catch up to him.
Alexa kicked into action. She ran as fast as her legs would take her, but the staff was still a hindrance in her movements. She galloped, commanding the muscles in her legs to push harder, faster, forward. Alexa gritted her teeth. Wind pushed at her face, her hair ripping out of her braid and waving like a brown banner behind her.
The cries of battle were all around them until she couldn’t even hear her own footsteps crunching the stones beneath her boots. She had no idea where Ariel was. All she saw was a blur of faces, clothes, limbs and swords. She knew without Lance’s keen sense of smell they would have never found the archangel in all the chaos.
Alexa’s mind went over the oracle’s note, and she willed her legs to move faster. She would bring Lucifer down. She was almost smiling.
Faces around her began to take shape the closer they got to the fighting. Alexa’s confidence faltered, and her legs lost their spurt of intensity. Her stomach shot right into her throat as they approached the first line of fighters.
What she had first thought were demons fighting against the angels were not demons at all, but humans.
The angels were fighting mortals.
Milo halted suddenly, sending Alexa crashing into him. It was like hitting a tree at forty miles per hour, but she barely noticed. His eyes, the shock Alexa saw there, explained everything she felt.
“What in the souls?” Lance stopped short next to Alexa.
What she saw next tore at every nerve in Alexa’s body. The mortals were attacking the angels.
It was total anarchy, a commotion of screams and movement. The landscape was covered in a mass of mud and blood, turning into a pink paste. Alexa had never witnessed a battlefield of this magnitude, and there was hardly any way to distinguish angel from mortal because they all looked human. Alexa winced as she stared, unable to turn her eyes from the battle.
Suddenly there were crowds surging around her, hands grabbing her and pulling at her clothes. Alexa pushed them away and saw the angels scattering, trying to save themselves by jumping into the river. But the mortals dove into the battle, crazed and fighting as though the angels were an army of zombies and their mortal lives depended on their success. Some angels never made it to the water.
Alexa didn’t know how many mortals were out here fighting. They were everywhere. She never imagined the kind of sounds the mortals could make, never thought she’d hear such things from a human mouth—the wailing, the grunting, the sick laughter and the sounds of stabbing and cutting flesh with hungry satisfaction.
Suddenly, she felt a ripple of darkness, the presence of death and of something not from this world. Alexa felt the eerie feeling of being watched. Following the feeling, she moved her gaze to the Higher demons. They were watching her. They hadn’t moved.
A split second before she turned her head, Alexa caught another scent on the air—the familiar stench of rotting flesh and garbage. Behind her, on the lane next to a row of townhouses, was a nightmarishly jumbled wall of lesser demons—scaled skin, winged beasts, worm-like masses and reaching claws. The scent of carrion and the vile, burnt smell of death and rot wafted through the air making Alexa choke. She even saw a handful of belphegor demons. She looked for Willow, but the girl demon wasn’t there. Their rotten faces were focused on the battle. They stood on the outskirts of the battle, watching and waiting.
“Don’t do this!” said an angel close to Alexa, who she recognized as Andy. He was backing away from a mortal woman with a death blade. “Please. I’m here to protect you.”
“Protect this.” The woman stabbed him in the chest with the death blade, her eyes wide and smiling like she’d just won a car.
Alexa turned to the sound of someone shouting.
“…it matters! You should have joined us when it mattered, Janet!” shrieked a man with red hair. “How does it feel now to be on the losing side!” He let out a cackle of mad laughter as he plunged his blade into her chest.
“The world’s gone mad,” whispered Lance. “This is Lucifer’s plan. Isn’t it?” He aimed his question at Milo. “He’s made the mortals mad. He’s made them turn against us. The angels can’t fight back! Can’t you see? They’re being slaughtered by the very beings they’re sworn to protect.”
Alexa recognized another angel from the CDD but didn’t know her name. The girl disappeared under a group of four mortal men. She heard a muffled scream and then nothing until the triumphant howls from the mortal men.
To her right, a mortal child was beaming, her teeth sharpened into points like that of a fish. The child threw herself at an unsuspecting angel’s neck, ravaging him like a vampire. The child’s face was wet with blood. Alexa blinked and the two vanished into the crowd.
“This can’t be happening,” whispered Alexa, looking around frantically, her throat tight. “I thought mortals were protected from demon or supernatural coercion. Don’t their souls act as a layer of defense? Aren’t souls a protection against that sort of thing? I know some souls are weaker than others, but to have so many compelled by Lucifer at the same time? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Milo was stone-faced. His grip on his swords slacked, and for a second Alexa thought he was about to drop them. His body shook as he said, “Whatever this is, the only way to stop it—”
“Is to stop Lucifer.”
A wave of nausea hit Alexa. Bile rose up her throat. Everywhere Alexa looked, mortals were killing angels at an alarming speed. Hell was staring at her in the face.
She wished the oracle had warned her about this in his note.
“I’ve lost Ariel,” shrieked Lance in a panic. “I can’t smell her. I’ve lost her scent!”
Alexa ran her fingers through the fur on Lance’s head. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry,” she soothed as best she could and grabbed a fistful of his fur to keep her fingers from trembling. Was Ariel still alive?
“Give me the note,” said Lance urgently.
Alexa’s eyes widened. “My note?”
“Yes, yes. Quickly. I have a plan.”
Alexa reached down and pulled the note from her pocket. She placed it in Lance’s mouth.
“What’s the plan—”
The air was rent by a scream.
Alexa turned just as a pudgy mortal man came at Lance with an axe.
“This is for Helen, you snitch!” The axe went sailing straight for Lance and Alexa as she stood next to him.
“Move!” she shouted and pushed Lance out of the way. She felt her hair lift as she lowered to a crouch. The axe landed next to her with a thud, the handle sticking out from the ground.
The man never stopped moving. He lunged at Lance, his hands outstretched, going for his neck—
Alexa spun, kicking under him, and sent him sprawling on the ground.
“Stay down,” she warned. But the man scrambled up, teeth showing, and came at her swinging.
She ducked and hit him on the side of his temple with the hilt of her blade. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and he hit the ground.
“Alexa! This way!” she heard Milo call.
Once she was sure the man wasn’t getting up, Alexa turned towards Milo’s voice. She stumbled over a body lying half in and half out of the mud. It was an angel. Light poured from a long gash along his neck. His eyes were vacant as they stared int
o space. Alexa felt nauseated.
A noise made her scramble to her feet. She smelled the citrus scent of angel blood before she saw it—the shadow of something looming up behind her.
Alexa spun but not fast enough. She felt something tug at her stomach, like a stinging kiss, cold and hot at once, and felt a warm trickle of liquid spill down onto her waist.
When she looked up, she found Milo surrounded by mortals, death blades pointed at his neck. Anger rippled across his body, and his spirit sabers shook in his hands, his knuckles white. She couldn’t see Lance anywhere and prayed he’d gotten away.
A tall, broad-shouldered mortal man stood before her, the promise of violence dancing in his dark eyes.
He smiled in triumph and anticipation as he said, “I told you I’d kill you for what you did, Alexa.”
CHAPTER 21
TRANSFIXED, ALEXA STARED AT THE STRANGER’S face and at his lips where he’d uttered those crazy words. The clatter of her soul blade hitting the floor was barely audible over the hammering in her ears. She stumbled back, staring at the black hilt of a death blade sticking out of her lower abdomen.
Alexa yanked the death blade from her stomach and tossed it, but she could already feel its poison spreading through her veins. She looked back at the mortal man. Beneath the growing fear she managed, “What did you say?”
The man lifted his nose at her, his features twisting as though he’d tasted something bitter. “Thought you were real clever, didn’t you? You think I don’t know what you’re trying to do with that staff? You think you know more about the world of angels than me? The first creation? The first angel? You’re a lesser angel, inferior in mind and spirit. Did you really think you would get away with it? Kill two of my friends and wouldn’t suffer the consequences? I warned you’d pay for your actions. Give me back my staff.”
Realization dawned on Alexa and she took a step back, staring at the stranger’s face. “Nathaniel?” she said in a voice that broke with emotion. “But how? No, can’t be. Impossible.”
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