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R oman moved like a blur through the warehouse. He snapped orders to Phoenix, Cael, and Marius as he passed, telling them to finish taking out the reinforcements the demons had called in. When he spotted Grigori, he told him to keep two demons alive for questioning as he shot two more demons blocking his path. Black fog swirled up above them before seeping back into the ground. The Lycan had been true to their word about the new guns they’d delivered. Every bullet was sending the wretched things back to Hell.

He continued on, mowing through the demons. They were no match for him as he punched, kicked, and shot his way through a dozen until he finally laid eyes on what must be his prize. The Archdemon.

As far as he knew, he’d never crossed paths with one before, but there was no doubt this demon was not of the lower ranks. On the other side of the warehouse, beyond a floor of dead demon corpses, stood a giant man as tall as Roman himself. He had dark-colored skin, short black hair cut neat, and wore, of all things, an expensive black pinstripe suit, reminding Roman of the old-school gangsters back in the 1920s. His crisp white dress shirt had the top few buttons undone, revealing his upper chest, but his glowing yellow eyes gave away the demon in him.

He stood surrounded by some of the fallen, who were trying to take him down. He bared his teeth, revealing sharp fangs… another thing that set him apart from the regular demons. But it was his strength that really gave him away.

Sabriel, Ramiel, Ariel, and Maalik were all attacking him, fighting as one, trying to take him down to no avail. The Archdemon grinned like a madman, fending off blows and dodging bullets and blades. Roman was shocked. Never had they come across anything that had been superior to them in strength, not since they’d been in the heavens and trained with the Archangels.

He rushed over, aiming his gun and firing off four rounds at the demon, joining in the fight. The demon dodged the bullets like they were slow-moving snails. Then, in one swift movement, he slammed his fist into Maalik’s face, blood spurting from his brother’s nose as he flew through the air.

Sabriel, her white-blonde hair shimmering in the warehouse lights, moved like a dancer, a samurai sword in each hand, slicing through the air as the demon dodged and weaved each swing while kicking backward. Ariel moved in to attack from behind, her fiery red hair gleaming as she ran. The demon, in his ridiculously expensive dress shoes, landed a kick perfectly center in Ariel’s chest, sending her soaring across the room as Maalik had just done.

Sabriel, like a beautiful avenging angel, her silver and black wings now spread wide, sliced through the air, ducking, spinning, and weaving with her swords.

Roman ran from the right with Ramiel coming from the left, his wings tucked tight against his back and a gun in one hand with a knife in the other, the lights above enhancing the tattoos on his clean-shaven head, making him look frightening.

Roman threw his weight behind his right arm as he swung his fist, connecting with the Archdemon’s cheek while he was busy dodging the bullet Ramiel just shot and jumping over Sabriel’s swords as she lunged and swung at his legs. He didn’t even flinch, turning his yellow-eyed gaze to Roman in an unnerving movement that sent chills down his spine.

“Lucifer sends his regards,” the Archdemon spoke to Roman in a deep voice, an evil grin spread across his face.

Then the demon threw his right arm out, catching Ramiel by the throat while kicking out his left leg, connecting with Sabriel’s head as she was coming up, trying to slash his legs. Her head snapped to the left, blood spraying through the air as she went flying. Roman fired his gun, the demon jumping out of the way and slamming his fist three times into Ramiel’s face before throwing the bloodied angel across the warehouse.

Roman lunged at him, punching and kicking as fast as he could. His fist connected once again with the demon’s face, this time drawing blood. Roman smiled at the sight as he spun, ducking and swinging his left leg, kicking the demon’s legs out from under him.

Maalik, with his vampire stealth, appeared out of thin air next to the demon, slamming his fist repeatedly into its face. Ariel ran up, jumping and sliding along the ground on the opposite side of the demon, securing its right arm, but the strength of the demon was remarkable. Ariel was struggling, her fiery red hair whipping around as the demon tried to fling her off.

Roman pulled out his dagger, slashing the demon in the chest as Maalik once again went airborne. Sabriel appeared with blood all over her face, helping Ariel hold the demon’s arm down and seeming to have that side under control. Ramiel rushed over, trying to grab his left arm while slashing the demon’s side as fast as lightning with his knife. Roman punched the demon twice in the face.

“Fucking stay down,” he spat at the demon angrily, and before he knew it, the demon had kicked upwards with both of his legs, hitting Roman square in the chest, sending him through the air and crashing into the wall. He could tell by the pain shooting through his chest that at least three ribs were broken. “Fuck me.” He quickly pulled himself up, wincing.

The demon was trying to get his arm free of Ramiel’s grip as Maalik once again appeared, helping Ramiel hold him down. Roman ran across the warehouse. Four. Fucking four fallen angels held him down, and he was still too strong.

“Armaros!” Roman screamed as he lunged, landing on the demon’s legs. “A little help!”

“What the actual fuck?” Maalik said, trying to keep the demon down.

“You are no match for me, fallen.” The demon laughed as he struggled to get free. Then he turned his yellow eyes to settle on Maalik, his grin pure malice. “I’ve seen your wings, King of the Nightwalkers. They hang above Lucifer’s throne. Do you miss them?” the demon hissed the last word with a laugh.

Roman’s heart froze. The image of his brother’s once beautiful wings hanging torn and bloodied in Hell had fire coursing through his veins, his anger renewed. Maalik’s eyes flashed black with hatred as he bared his fangs, hissing viciously at the demon.

Just as Roman thought, Maalik was going to attempt to tear out the demon’s throat. Lucian ran over, helping Roman secure his legs, taking a good kick to the jaw first, causing Lucian’s eyes to glow green for a few seconds.

“Where the fuck is Armaros?” Roman asked, struggling.

“Fuck if I know,” Lucian answered.

“I’m here,” he heard Armaros’s voice as the angel raced across the warehouse toward them, shooting down a demon who’d jumped in his way.

“Hurry, he’s about to get free!” Sabriel yelled as the demon ripped his arm from their hold, grabbing her by the throat.

Ariel was desperately landing punches to the demon’s face and chest, but he simply laughed at her.

Armaros stepped up and stood over the demon’s head. “Hold him tight,” he ordered.

“What the fuck do you think we are trying to do?” Lucian answered as he and Roman struggled to hold the demon’s legs.

Armaros ignored him, quickly kneeling and placing a hand on either side of the demon’s head, his fingers touching his temples, his eyes already glowing.

The demon stopped thrashing and looked Armaros straight in the eyes. “Your magic won’t work on me, angel,” he whispered, then he laughed like a crazed man, baring his fangs at Armaros and slowly squeezing Sabriel’s throat, her body going limp and her eyes rolling back in her head. The demon threw her limp body away.

“Hurry,” Roman snapped, straining to hold on.

Armaros started whispering, a long-ago forgotten language that none of them understood.

The demon’s eyes grew wide. “How do you know this magic? It’s a dead magic… Long dead,” he said, thrashing violently.

Armaros’s chanting grew louder, magic filling the room, electricity coursing through the air. The hairs on Roman’s arms stood as chills crept down his spine. He’d never felt power like this before, not even in all the long years on this Earth.

“Tora!” the demon roared as he wrenched his arm free of Ariel’s grasp. He pulled out a dagger, slamming it into her chest, straight into her heart. Ariel’s eyes were wide, her hands going to the dagger. She locked eyes with Roman, coughing up blood and falling to the ground next to Sabriel.

“Ariel!” Panic shot through him, staring at them both.

Roman had to remind himself they couldn’t die from their injuries, gritting his teeth in anger. Armaros’s chanting became deafening, his eyes so bright they were blinding. He stopped and looked past Roman.

“Don’t!” he yelled at someone.

Roman turned his head. A woman with white-blonde hair stood near them, her hands raised, eyes the same violet as Armaros’s. She had dark charcoal makeup around her eyes, with beads and braids woven through her hair. Everything about her was bewitching. She screamed, the noise hurting Roman’s ears. A giant bolt of light flew out of her hands. It hit Armaros, sending the giant angel flying back into the wall.

The demon slashed Ramiel across the face with his claws before punching the angel across the room. He managed to kick Roman and Lucian off as he whipped out another dagger, embedding it deep into Maalik’s neck, spinning and kicking his brother across the warehouse.

The demon rose, casually smoothed out his suit, and locked eyes with Roman, an evil grin creeping over his face.

“Like I said. You angels are no match for me.”

And with that, he snapped his fingers, and he and the witch were gone.

Roman stared, dumbfounded, at the place the Archdemon had just stood. A mixture of shock and rage flowed through him as he stared around in disbelief at the fight they’d just had with the creature. Then, his gaze stopped on Sabriel and Ariel, both lying on the ground injured.

Roman quickly moved to Sabriel as she lay on her back, coughing and struggling to breathe, her neck black and purple and her windpipe half crushed. “Are you okay?” he asked her. Her deep emerald eyes watered in pain; the whites of her eyes were red from burst blood vessels. She simply nodded, unable to speak.

Maalik flashed to Ariel’s side, blood dripping from the wound in his neck. He pulled the dagger out, flinging it to the ground, then yanked the dagger out of Ariel’s chest, helping her sit up. Roman glanced around the room and noticed that everyone had some kind of injury. He spotted Lucian kneeling next to Armaros, the angel not moving.

“He’s out cold but alive. I wonder what she hit him with,” Lucian said, his brow furrowed with concern.

“What the actual fuck just happened?” Ramiel walked back over, wiping blood from his face. “How was that demon so strong?”

“He’s an Archdemon,” Roman answered, getting to his feet.

“This is going to make things interesting,” Maalik muttered, helping Ariel and Sabriel to their feet.

“His strength is a great concern, Roman. We were no match for him.” Ariel winced, rubbing her chest. Blood spattered across her pale face.

Roman agreed. If they were going to take the demon down, they would need another approach. He rubbed his ribs, feeling his age for the first time in a long time. His whole body ached, and as he looked around and took in his bruised and broken brethren, he realized how much damage the Archdemon had caused.

“I swear my jaw is cracked,” Lucian mumbled, his bottom jaw black and purple.

“I think we all have something broken,” Ramiel grumbled, rubbing his side, his face a mess.

“Lucian, go get the SUV. It’s time to get out of here,” Roman said, looking around at the carnage of the warehouse.

Dead bodies littered the floor. Phoenix, Cael, and Marius were killing the last few demons, while Grigori had two tied up in the back. Half the warehouse was on fire or blown up.

Roman frowned, scanning the warehouse again. “Where’s Turel?”

As if in answer, the tall, dark angel came strolling into the warehouse, blood splattered all over his clothes and his long brown dreadlocks tied up. He strolled in with a smile, a dagger in each hand, his smile fading as he looked around, taking in his brothers.

“What the hell happened in here?” he asked, shocked.

“An Archdemon happened,” Ramiel answered dryly.

Turel frowned. “A fucking what?” he asked, confused.

“We will explain on the way home,” Roman told him as the sound of sirens echoed in the distance.

Definitely time to go, he thought, holding his aching ribs. His thoughts turned to Charlotte. His body craved her. He needed to see her and make sure she wasn’t hurt. The image of her bleeding ears popped into his mind.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he ordered.