Page 53

Story: Kiss of Death

I swing around at the sudden movement through the air, ready to blast whoever is trying to sneak up on me.

“Whoa there, Nex. It’s just me.”

I relax when I recognize Cassian’s voice. “What the hell, man? I was about to remove your head from your body.”

“That wouldn’t have happened.” He shakes his head as his eyes move over the battle beneath and around us. “This is a damn clusterfuck.”

“You can say that again.”

He sighs before turning back to me. “No one fights alone. I’m with you for the duration.”

Something flutters in my chest at his words.

Does this mean he accepts me? Forgives me for the damage I caused Audrey and Brenden?

I hiss as magic slices across my side, reminding me this is not the time to get lost in my thoughts. I spin around and launch myself at the angel who thought I’d be an easy target. I land a punch to his face before gripping his shoulder and sending lust coursing through him.

I laugh when he tries to kiss me, pulling out the sword Audrey’s mom made for me. I slice off the angel’s head, watching it fall to the ground beneath me.

“We need to find Lucifer. He wants his daughters close during the battle. We’re supposed to meet them there,” Cassian reminds me, and I give him a sharp nod.

We race through the sky, taking down angel after angel as they barrel toward us. Even having to stop to take out the angels, we make it to Lucifer in mere minutes.

“Wren and the horsemen are a few streets over. They got pushed away when people started crowding in. Go help them keep my girls safe,” he yells before launching more hellfire at the angels trying to dive-bomb him and Ana.

Cassian and I push our way through the crowd, fighting when we need to until we reach the horsemen. By the time we make it there, Wraith and Donovan have already arrived.

“Where’s Audrey?” Cassian yells as soon as we reach them, trying to be heard over the sounds of the battle.

Who knew battles were so loud?

Wraith shakes his head. “She took Brenden into the shadows with her before we followed them. We haven’t seen either of them since then.”

Shadows slink around him before darting out and wrapping themselves around an angel, dragging her to the ground. She fights against the shadows as they wrap themselves tighter and tighter around her and finally cover her face. She stops fighting and when the shadowspull away, her head is no longer attached to her body.

My eyes find Wren, surrounded by the other three horsemen as they fight. Her hand moves between them as she shoots fire at the angels, but unlike Audrey, she still doesn’t have access to hellfire. The fire doesn’t damage them much, but it does distract them long enough for one of the horsemen to take their head off with another sword made by Ana.

Ana hadn’t felt comfortable making more modern weapons as she’d never forged them before. She admitted that she’d given up forging to keep her secret safe, which means we’re all out here fighting with swords, daggers, crossbows, flails, knives, and axes.

Hecate was able to infuse each of the weapons with magic to kill the angels, but the only way they’re effective is if we pierce their hearts or if we chop off their heads. There are a few of our allies who have powers that will kill the angels without needing a weapon, but those are few and far between. The goddess had also infused the same magic into the reaper’s scythes. It’s all that most of them are comfortable fighting with.

Pulling myself out of my head, I dart forward to stop an angel intent on taking off Donovan’s head with his own sword. Donovan shoots me a quick thanks before dancing away to battle with another angel. I swing my sword toward the angel, but they parry my blow, and I’m really not in the mood for a long, drawn-out production.

I send lust through the crowd, making sure to only affect the angels who stand against us. There’s so many of them here, I can’t do much more than send a flash of lust through them, but it’s enough to distract them.

My sword slices through the angel’s neck, and he falls to the ground, his sword clattering loudly as bodies hit the floor all around us.

I won’t be able to do that again. I’m a powerful incubus, and I topped up this morning in Audrey’s room, but my power still has its limits. I’ll be able to target a few angels at a time, but that’s about it.

But as soon as the angels fall, another group of them is rushing toward us.

Fates only know how long this battle will last, or how long any of us will be able to last.

Forcing myself to focus, I work my way through each of the angels who step in my path. A few hits make it past my guard, leaving bloodwelling from the wounds, but I ignore them for now. Nothing feels life-threatening.

As more time passes, I can’t help worrying about Audrey. Why hasn’t she made it to us yet? None of us knew exactly where our group would end up fighting, but we knew we’d be with the rest of the war council. They were all staying on the same street as us, so it shouldn’t have been hard for her to find us.

So, where is she?