Night Hawk Trilogy (Night Hawk Series)

by J. E. Taylor

  Naomi hissed behind me and the spell that held me in place broke. I remembered the gun in my hand and raised it, aiming at the closest hellhound. I squeezed the trigger and the report of gunfire shattered the stillness, breaking the stalemate between good and evil.

  Chapter Twenty-three – Damian

  Thirty demons went down in the span of the ten seconds it took the four of us to empty our guns and the only one that took the time to re-load was Tom. The angels charged forward meeting the advancing demons in the center but Steve, CJ and I stayed put, protecting our families behind us.

  When Tom stepped between CJ and me, leveling the gun at the melee, I pushed his hand down and shook my head.

  “Hold onto those, we might need them,” I said, meeting his gaze and pushing him back into the safety of the cocoon we created.

  A hellhound launched at us, and I let a targeted power bolt loose. The beast exploded, like the one at the house and CJ and I traded a glance. I wasn’t sure I could target only demons in the battle, but both Steve and CJ nodded.

  “We have to give it a try,” Steve said.

  “On three,” CJ said and I closed my eyes, concentrating. “One,” CJ breathed low over the bellows of fighting angels and demons.

  “Two,” I said and felt the tight coil in my chest.

  “Three!” Steve said.

  My eyes snapped open and the wave rolled across the field, leaving only a bloody mist in its wake along with four stunned angels.

  Ty glanced at the three of us with a maniacal grin.

  Lucifer stood at the edge of the field, scanning the gory remains of his army.

  Michael and Gabriel stared at the mess with open mouths.

  Only the sound of blood rain filled the space and I realize we’d annihilated demons and angels alike. Only archangels remained and my gaze landed on Ty. A shiver caught my soul, turning my blood as cold as the frigid water behind me.

  We moved closer to Ty, Michael and Gabriel, squaring up to Lucifer, but he wasn’t done with his arsenal of tricks. Naomi howled and I blinked down at the writhing cat before my gaze jumped to Lucifer.

  I charged without thought and got one hit in before his backhand hit me, spinning me onto the ground. The howl turned into an ear-piercing scream snapping my gaze to my wife. Naomi lay in a ball, in human form, holding her stomach, screaming in pain.

  The black power moved from Naomi to CJ, dropping him to his knees as he held his chest. His head dipped and his hands balled into fists. When he snapped his gaze from the ground back at Lucifer, the devil stumbled back, nearly falling on his ass.

  CJ stood, his breath coming in shallow bursts and I scrambled to my feet, retreating to Naomi and falling on my knees next to her. She turned her head and shock filtered through me at the gaunt face that peered at me. She was too pale, too thin and my heart pounded in my throat. I put my hand on her swollen belly, praying for signs of life and the moment my hand touched, a foot found it, but with it came the writhing struggle inside the womb. My children were alive, but they were in as much pain as Naomi.

  “It hurts,” she whispered and I pushed her hair away from her face, planting a kiss on her cheek.

  “It’s going to be all right,” I said, even though I didn’t believe it, not with our dwindling numbers. Michael and Gabriel went on the offensive, launching a fistfight with Lucifer while we tended to Naomi.

  “Can you fix her?” I whispered and then sent a glance in Lucifer’s direction in time to see Gabriel fall. He went down hard, the side of his face marred by a red welt where Lucifer had connected. He met my gaze for a moment and then returned to the fight.

  Steve bent down and delivered a kiss to Naomi’s forehead and light danced over her form, rejuvenating her body, filling her hollow cheeks with a healthy glow. She blinked at him and then her eyes rolled back and she went limp.

  “What did you do?” I asked, alarmed by her slip into unconsciousness.

  “She’ll be fine,” Raven said, “But we need to get her out of here,” she added, watching the movement of the three archangels. “The path isn’t blocked anymore,” she said pointing.

  I didn’t hesitate, I picked Naomi up and headed for the open escape and the group followed me. I ran as fast as possible with her limp form in my arms, praying I wouldn’t slip. When I reached the back door, I used the power growling inside me to open the locks to the house and burst inside, heading toward the nearest soft surface. The couch sat on the sidewall in the family room with a view of the front yard and lake beyond. I laid Naomi on the soft cushions and pushed her hair away from her face.

  “Come on, baby,” I whispered, pressing my lips to hers. She didn’t respond and I turned, looking at the crowd behind me.

  Raven stepped forward, her gaze averted, but she forced eye contact. “She’ll be okay; her life force is still strong.” She touched my cheek. “Your babies shine just like you.”

  I dropped my head to my chest, my relief choking me for a moment before I inhaled and stood, shaking off the momentary lapse. The dull ache in my arms reminded me of my human frailty and I scanned the beautiful view, wondering who would win the battle in the blood-filled clearing.

  My answer came a few minutes later, when Lucifer stalked onto the property. The severed heads of my father and uncle dangled from each of his hands and he held them up for me to see. His roar of triumph painted my skin with a burn I hadn’t felt since I watched Athena die.

  I wanted vengeance and the power inside me screamed for justice.

  “Shit,” Ty said from behind me and I turned, staring down the only other angel standing.

  I pointed to Naomi. “Keep her safe. That’s all I ask,” I said, moving my gaze across the faces in the room, then I turned and crossed to the door.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Steve asked.

  I paused with my hand on the doorknob asking myself the same question. I glanced out the window and then met Steve’s stare dead on.

  “Ending this,” I said and stepped outside, letting the fury of twenty-five hundred years take over.

  Chapter Twenty-four – Damian

  I stalked towards Lucifer, getting my mind in fight mode. A shadow moved into step with me and I glanced at my companion.

  “I thought I told you to keep Naomi safe.”

  “CJ and Steve will see to that,” Ty said and met my gaze. “They’re making the house safe right now,” he added, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get back in, and neither would Lucifer if he was the last one standing.

  I focused on my nemesis and he dropped the heads on the ground so they faced me. I ground my teeth together at the manner in which he wiped his hands together, like they were nothing more than dirt and grime. He grinned at me, knowing just how angry I was.

  “Coming to exact revenge for your family?” he asked, moving his gaze from me to Ty and back. The question was fitting for both of us and we stopped less than five paces away.

  “Vengeance is mine,” I whispered, feeling more like a god than a human at the moment. “And you shall behold the full fury of the heavens.”

  He laughed, leaning back and cackling to the sky. Ty and I traded a glance and then the angel by my side launched his attack, leaving me standing in place like a shocked little kid. I blinked as Lucifer went flying on his ass. Ty shook his right hand and then curled it up again as Lucifer got to his feet, his smirk long gone and replaced with wariness.

  “I’ve only felt that kind of power from Michael,” he said, narrowing his eyes and studying the angelic form of Ty Ryan. “Gabriel wasn’t strong enough to wage any sort of decent fight,” he added, stepping away from the discarded heads.

  Ty grinned. “The world has never seen anything like me,” he said, his voice a feral growl that promised all the pain hell could deliver. “And neither has heaven.”

  Lucifer waved his hand and I landed on my ass from the invisible sucker punch. The cold snow seeped into my bloodstained jeans and I climbed to my feet, circling away from Lucifer,
letting Ty take the lead in this fight, even though he didn’t have the same mental power Lucifer had.

  Ty’s smile faded when he was shoved a step backwards, but he didn’t stumble, he only leveled that glare.

  “What are you?” Lucifer asked, unnerved by his inability to budge his primary foe.

  “I’m your worst fucking nightmare,” Ty said, pulling memory after memory of the same line delivered for the past two decades.

  The two angels charged, slamming into each other and creating an explosion that knocked me back twenty feet. Dazed, I pushed into a sitting position, shaking the cobwebs from my head and focused on the flurry of snow before me. The only identifier I could see in the blur was black wings. Ty’s blended in with the snow tornado they created.

  Blows sounded like thunder, shaking the landscape; and I chanced a glance at the picture window behind me. Steve and Tom had a hold on CJ, his mouth crying out, but the glass prevented me from hearing his wail. I turned back in time to witness the fountain of crimson coming from a headless body kneeling on the ground; blood cascaded down, staining the pristine white wings.

  A head rolled on the snow, landing at my feet and I scrambled into a standing position. The sense of loss coming from the house clouded my vision, my heart ached with sorrow and I raised my gaze.

  Lucifer stepped out of the snow cloud and I had a chance to revel in a moment of satisfaction. Ty had done some damage, but none of it was catastrophic. Lucifer limped forward on a bloodied leg. One of his wrists was twisted enough to elicit a wince from me and his right eye was swollen shut. Even with his injuries, he was a dangerous adversary. I exhaled, stepping into a defensive posture. I wasn’t going to charge into this, blinded by fury. That would only result in the same outcome as Ty, and my father, and Michael.

  I was rather fond of having my head attached to my body and I had a family inside to defend, so I proceeded with caution, letting the power coil up inside me, looking for the right moment to strike.

  I ignored the belligerent curses coming from CJ, the cautions coming from Steve, and the cries of pain coming from Naomi. I ignored everything but the bastard in front of me.

  “I got this,” I whispered and the din in my head lowered.

  Lucifer raised an eyebrow, waving me in with the fingers on his good hand. I took a tentative step forward with my heart in my throat and the metallic taste of fear lacing my tongue. New cries filled my mind and I paused, looking at the snow to my side before bringing my gaze back to Lucifer.

  “I’m so looking forward to feeding on a trinity heart, no matter how tainted,” he said and looked at my chest. “Especially one containing the grace of two angels.”

  I let a small laugh escape; he didn’t know I was now a father. He didn’t know just what kind of strength was building in my bones, and I sidestepped, bringing him away from the house. Away from the heads lying in the snow and towards the pretty little gazebo on the edge of the lake.

  The full moon sat high overhead, settling a blue hue over the snow covered world. I caught a glimpse of CJ standing in the window, his glare as deadly as the power coiled in my belly. He met my gaze and the order to make the devil pay rocked my form but CJ didn’t have control over me, just like Steve couldn’t get me to relinquish the gun, and my gaze dropped to Lucifer.

  Despite their lack of control over my actions, I wholeheartedly agreed with CJ’s order.

  Lucifer would pay, but I needed information. I needed to know how to fulfill the statement Michael made at the hospital. All I needed now was Lucifer’s grace.

  “Just out of curiosity, what the hell did Michael mean when he said now all I needed was your grace?” I asked as Lucifer advanced.

  He smiled, stalking me like a deadly black panther. “You would become a trinity.”

  “I thought I already was?” I asked, stalling, stepping further from the house.

  “By vampire blood, not by angel grace.” He took a step in my direction and I countered, backing up into the half wall of the gazebo.

  I had run out of space and Lucifer knew it. He lunged, pinning me against the post with his injured arm. His glare filling me with dread and the ripping pain that gripped my chest pulled a yelp from my lips. I looked down around the arm pinning me in place at the fingernails piercing my skin.

  My jujitsu maneuvers didn’t work, it only proved to further increase the penetration. My base instincts started to take over and I let out a growl, sinking my teeth into his arm. They broke through the flesh and he howled, pulling away from me. I covered my heart with my left hand and shot my right out in the same dagger like formation as his hand had been.

  My fingers sank into flesh and I pushed with both my inertia and my mind, crushing the ribs that stood in my way. I met Lucifer’s shocked gaze and smiled as my hand wrapped around his heart. His grace.

  He stumbled back, and I yanked with everything I had.

  Lucifer landed on his ass with a gaping hole in his chest, but he was still lucid. His wide eyes landing on the pulsing muscle in my hand.

  Hot blood ran down my wrist and the thing continued to pulse in my grasp. When I looked beyond the still beating heart and met Lucifer’s gaze, I knew I only had a minute to react. He was already climbing to his feet, his features transitioning into fury. If I did the wrong thing, I’d be the one lying dead in the snow.

  My stomach rolled at the thought of what I had to do, but I inhaled and brought the heart to my lips.

  “No!” he yelled and lunged, but I had already sunk my teeth into the slimy muscle.

  Chapter Twenty-five – Damian

  Blood burned my tongue, sliding down my throat and I shoved the rest of his heart in my mouth before he could reach me. His face transitioned from fury to shock to pain with each chew. I struggled not to spit it out, knowing I had to eat the whole thing in order to destroy him.

  My throat spasmed, and I stepped up onto the gazebo, forcing breaths through my nose as the vile heart broke down between my teeth. Lucifer crawled forward and I suppressed my gag reflex, swallowing what chunks were left.

  My esophagus clenched and I fell to my knees, folding over at the pain that bloomed in my core. I grabbed a fistful of snow and shoved it in my mouth to calm the burn.

  Lucifer grabbed my wrist and I yanked away from him, falling back onto my butt.

  The power encompassed every fiber and I bellowed, pushing myself to the opposite wall with my feet. The wounds on my chest formed a patchwork-healing pattern and after a blink, my skin flushed clear. The wounds disappeared and the power inside me flashed beyond comprehension.

  Bitter cold sucked into my lungs as I huffed through the pain gripping me. This was far more painful than the shadow virus had been. It felt like two masses of air ramming into each other creating an internal tornado. White and dark, fighting for dominance as they melded together into one and CJ’s power braided through it like a golden lasso, tying it together and bonding it to every cell in my body.

  Lucifer chuckled, his gaze still animated and locked on me. I pushed myself into a standing position and he dragged himself up as well.

  Another cry filtered through me and I looked at the window. My second child. The storm settled like rain and I snapped my gaze back to Lucifer and the gaping hole in his chest.

  “So that’s how you steal grace,” I said and stepped forward, slamming my fist into his face. Bones crunched, and this time, I knew they were his. He flew onto his back on the snow and then turned onto his hands and knees crawling away.

  I stared at the withered wings, feeling a level of triumph I had never known. I always assumed I would die at his hands and a just fury wrapped around my heart. I sent the first blast of power at him, crushing him into the ground.

  “Go to hell,” I whispered and the power leapt out, striking with the full force of a flamethrower at point-blank range. Nothing was left but a blackened patch and I stared at it.

  Freedom.

  The word had a new meaning and I looked up, crossing the bl
oody snow to the house that held my future.

  A future filled with hope.

  Chapter Twenty-six – Naomi

  “Where is he?” I screamed as another contraction crushed my abdomen.

  “He’s coming,” CJ said and crossed to the door.

  A blinding fear filled me and I didn’t understand why CJ would let Lucifer inside. When Damian stepped in the door with blood dripping from his lips I gasped and the next contraction gripped my stomach. I cried out, grabbing the sides of the couch as Raven wiped my forehead with a damp cloth.

  As quickly as it started, it faded, and I breathed a few deep breaths in preparation for the next one, bringing my gaze back to Damian.

  He wiped his sleeve across his face, grimacing at the maroon swath it left on the coat. He peeled the fabric off, dropping it on the floor.

  “He won’t be bothering any of us, ever again,” he said and I blinked, unable to comprehend his words.

  Damian’s gaze jumped to Tom, and then the baby wrapped in a towel in his arms. It jumped to Steve and the same type bundle wrapped in his arms. When his gaze returned to me, it was filled with wonder and he moved across the floor, dropping to his knees next to me and pulled my hand to his chest.

  His warm smile settled over me and the next contraction began in earnest. It was like this child waited until her father was at my side. My face scrunched into a mask of pain and I saw the worry in his eyes.

  “It’s okay,” I squeaked out and relief flooded his features.

  “Push,” Jennifer said, looking down between my legs with the same excitement she had with the first two boys. Raven helped me curl forward; holding her hands on my shoulder blades like Jennifer told her to do.

  Damian stared at me, awe painting his features.

  “Watch for the baby,” I said, each word a pant and he seemed to snap out of his trance, shifting so he could see what was making Jennifer grin like a madwoman.

  “Oh, my god,” Damian said, his face flushing with anticipation. “I can see the baby’s head,” he added with a smile. “Keep pushing, sweetheart,” he added with a new level of exhilaration sparkling in his eyes.