Page 143 of Alastair

“Anything for you, sweet Bellamy.”

Mason fired his gun, taking out demons with every silver bullet dislodged from the barrel. Another round of ammunition was clipped to his belt that held celestial bullets for his secondary weapon.

“Gray?” Castor called out before slashing at a reptilian demon.

The avatar of Sloth slumped in place, his eyelids fluttering open and closed. His energy reserve was close to being depleted. But he had a plan to combat that. With the last bit of his strength, he leapt onto the back of one of the giant demons and dug his fingertips into the beast’s scalp. A glimmer of white passed from the demon and into Gray.

His power. The ability to drain someone’s energy and absorb it himself. And since he’d targeted one of the biggest demons on the field, the energy he received would be enough to hold him over for another few hours.

Kallias threw his celestial-tipped spear, and it pierced the weak spot in the armor of a fallen angel. A direct hit to the heart. A snap of thunder filled the air as the angel’s soul exited their body. The former Spartan then lodged his xiphos into the belly of a serpent demon, sliding the blade upward through the guts to disembowel it.

Titan grabbed an enemy Nephilim’s face and crushed it with his titanium hand. He tossed the body aside before blocking a demon’s spiked axe that had been coming down toward Nico’s neck. Raiden took off the demon’s head and struck at another. They didn’t let Nico out of their sight.

Much like me with all of them. One in particular.

Alastair’s graceful movements as he fought were remarkable to behold. He was elegant yet deadly in his strikes, each one precise. After taking down two insect-like demons, he smirked at me, blood streaking through his pale blond hair. “Are you going to gawk at me all night?”

Warmth gathered in my groin. Gods, he was delectable. “You’re my mate. I can gawk all I want.”

He chuckled before facing another foe.

I sent my whip hurling toward a fallen angel. It caught her around the neck and singed into her skin before I flicked my wrist, causing the lashing to tighten and take off her head. Another boom of thunder.

The battle surged on. Bloody. Brutal. Dead bodies piled up, some faces I knew. Others I didn’t. Vampires had lost their lives, as had members of the wolf pack. Lucifer’s army had thinned as well, but the fighting continued. It wouldn’t stop until that fateful event played out—until I lost those dearest to me.

“Kon!” Alastair shouted. He stood in the middle of two enemy Nephilim, fighting both at once.

A fallen angel had grabbed the vampire by the back of his hair and flung him to the snow. There was a gleam as a sword was raised in the air and came down. Before it made contact, however, white wings with large gold-tipped feathers appeared and knocked the angel backward.

Michael.

“You okay, vamp?” he asked.

Konnar smiled as he stood from the ground, wiping blood from his lip. The wound sealed. “I am now. Thank you.”

“It would be a shame for a face like yours to leave this world,” Michael said with a sly grin before spinning toward an approaching group of upper-level demons. “You’re much too young to die so soon.”

“Young? I think I’m in love.” Konnar situated himself on the other side of Michael, and the two of them fought back-to-back.

Shouts drew my attention toward the right of the field. A spinning cyclone of ice blazed through some of our soldiers. Some were torn apart by the ice, their blood mixing with the whirlwind.

Vepar was manipulating the weather, using it as a weapon.

Dargan tackled Vepar to the ground. The tornado died as the fallen angel lost focus. They struggled in the snow, punching and slashing. Oliver joined them. Two against one.

“Belphie!” Vepar cried, reaching a hand toward him. “Help me!”

Belphegor stood beside the rubble of the mansion and only stared at them. And then he turned away.

Vepar’s hand dropped back to the snow as shock flitted across his face. Then, sadness. The betrayal cut him deep. Belphegor didn’t care if he lived or died. With a pained bellow, Vepar threw Dargan and Oliver off before lifting in the sky, using the air as a shield around his body.

And then, he left the battlefield, abandoning the cause.

“Sparkles left?” Raiden asked.

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Castor responded. “That’s just one less strong motherfucker to deal with.”

“Uh, guys?” Gray pointed toward a pile of dead bodies. “That’s not what I think it is… is it?”