Page 92 of Alastair

Another grumble that transitioned to a hard sigh. Only Pride would concern himself with such superficial matters while in the midst of a fight.

Galen barreled into Lucifer, his beefy arms going around Lucifer’s waist before he body-slammed him. Well,almostbody-slammed him. Lucifer teleported right before they hit the ground.

“You feral beast,” he spat at my brother. Light Bringer gleamed as he lifted it into the air, the backdrop of the frosted windowpane and falling snow bringing out the lighter swirls of silver in the celestial steel.

Kallias slammed into Lucifer and knocked him off-balance, giving Galen time to move. He then jabbed his xiphos into Lucifer’s gut. The blade, like mine, didn’t break the skin.

“You should’ve stayed dead.” Lucifer backhanded Kallias, putting magic behind the hit so it sent him flying across the room.

That drew my attention to Lazarus. He fought Belphegor and another fallen angel. My soul ached. Twisted. Lazarus was fighting well, but he was outnumbered.

“Don’t worry about me,”Lazarus said using our connection.“Focus on Lucifer.”

“Who said I was worried about you?”

Even with the distance between us, I saw a trace of a smile on his mouth.

Fire ran along the blade of Belphegor’s sword as he sent it hurling toward Lazarus’ side. Fear churned inside me. A dark blur buzzed around the room before Phoenix materialized right in front of Lazarus and blocked him from being hit. His sword clashed with Belphegor’s.

“Get out of my way, demon,” Belphegor growled.

“Make me.” Phoenix smirked before teleporting behind him and sweeping out a leg to trip him.

Bellamy peered over at his mate, checking on him. Lucifer then regained both of our attentions as he sent out a blast of energy, sending me and my brothers flying toward the window.

Galen burst through the window first, and shards of glass protruded from his skin as he landed in the snow. With a roar, he leapt to his feet, the glass falling around him as the wounds sealed. He dove toward Lucifer, missing him by a fraction of a second.

Sounds of battle echoed from the woods to the right of us, where Michael and our allies fought zombies, Nephilim, and demons. Cold air licked my skin now that we were outside. Snow fell lighter now, the flakes slowly drifting toward the ground.

“Focus,”I told my brothers after opening a link into their minds.“Together, we can do this. We can win.”

“Our blades aren’t doin’ shit to him.”Blood streaked from Castor’s hair, though the wound had already closed. Kyo rushed to his side and cut through a shade who had heard the commotion of the breaking glass and attacked. Shrieks filled the night as more low-level demons changed course to pursue us instead.

“We have to trigger the synchronization,”I said.

“And how do ya suppose we do that, Sherlock?”Castor swiped with his golden dagger, causing the shade in front of him to explode.

“Now’s not the time to be a smart-ass.”

“Come on, Alastair,” Lucifer said as we surrounded him. “This isn’t interesting at all. You wish for me to fear the power of the eight cursed Nephilim, yet I’m moments from falling asleep.”

His gaze followed Galen—or rather, Wrath—as we circled him. My brother was still inside there, somewhere, but his sin had taken over. Unlike in the past when the very thought of Wrath consuming him scared the piss out of us, Wrath, although blood crazed, was tame enough not to hurt his family.

Daman lunged at Lucifer and was knocked aside by the edge of Light Bringer. My heart skipped a beat as he landed hard on the cold ground.

“Kotya!” Warrin jumped through the broken window and gathered Daman in his arms. In his hybrid form, pale blue horns curved up from his silver hair. Roaring, he sent a blast of ice toward Lucifer as he cradled my brother.

“I’m okay,” Daman said, voice veering on a gasp. “Just… knocked the breath out of me.”

The ice had stunned Lucifer, if for only a moment. It froze the ends of his long black hair and created a frosted design on his pale flesh before melting away. “An ice dragon,” he said, mouth hitching upward. “The winter solstice increases your power.”

It was true. Warrin was a strong warrior to begin with, but this time of year strengthened the mana flowing through his veins, amplifying his ice powers.

“Hit him again, Warrin!” Gray dashed forward and sliced at Lucifer’s abdomen before rolling out of the way. Light Bringer hit the snow where Gray had just been standing, sending out a cloud of powder into the air.

As ice flew from Warrin’s fingertips, blasting Lucifer, Daman forced himself back to his feet. He held his side before readying his sword and standing beside his mate.

Relief trickled through me. There was no blood on his hand when he pulled it from his side. The blow would’ve been much worse if not for the coat he wore. King Nikolai’s wife, Queen Kira, had a knack for fashion and had designed Daman a coat with magic thread that allowed him to spread his wings while wearing it, to fly without ripping apart his shirt. Apparently, it also acted as armor. Where Daman had been sliced, the threads were a bit frayed, but the blade hadn’t actually pierced his skin.