Page 13 of The Damned (Coven of Bones #3)

The leather of his wings surrounded me as I drew in a shocked breath, wrapping me up in a tight embrace. He twisted us in midair, placing his massive body beneath mine only a second before we struck the ground. Taking the brunt of the fall, he did everything he could to shield me from the impact.

Dirt flew around us, pelting into his wings with distinct thuds of rock and sediment. The sound of our crash echoed in our ears, making them ring with the sound of bells, and for a moment I wondered if it was even possible for Beelzebub to have survived that.

“Hmmm,” I groaned, wiggling my hands where they’d been pinned beneath our bodies. Beelzebub didn’t move for a moment, making me fear the worst. I would never forgive myself if he had died to protect me while under my spell, if the price of my magic was to take a life.

His eyes flew open finally, staring up at me intently as if he needed to see that I was okay.

His gaze traveled over me, searching for injury as I shook my head to tell him I had none.

Forceful impacts of something new slamming against his wings made him grunt, but he never let whatever it was touch me as he kept me tucked safely between his body and his wings, forming a shelter that I feared stepping out of.

“We might have to fight our way out, songbird,” he said, his voice gentle in spite of the way his entire body flinched in pain in time with a tearing sound from outside my shelter. “Can you do that for me?”

I nodded, even as my entire body filled with apprehension. We were going to have to fight what ?

Beelzebub nodded back, unfolding his great leathery wings as he sat up.

He took me with him, moving quickly to untie the knot that bound my hands and tearing free the rope that gagged me.

I spit out the fabric that had been balled up on my tongue, my relief immediate as Beelzebub touched my face, cupping it so sweetly for a moment of intimacy I couldn’t ignore.

I kept my eyes on him, attempting to tune out the fighting that surrounded us.

Movement was everywhere, and I shuddered to think of what exactly existed around me.

“Arms around my neck,” Beelzebub ordered, and I hesitated for only a moment before I did as he told me and tried to ignore the warmth of his skin on mine.

He looked up, maneuvering to his feet with me in his arms.

He twisted and turned, holding me tight as he took the scratches and strikes meant for me. He tried to unfurl his wings only for them to be cut and torn by the demons surrounding us. There were too many of them to count, so many that Beelzebub couldn’t fight alone.

He wasn’t, I realized as I dared to peek out the side of my eye. Jonathan fought alongside him, protecting my back with vicious snarls for the demons who threw themselves at him.

All this was for me, I realized with a stark reality. All this was the hunger for the living.

Beelzebub yanked me to the side as he fought to get free just as a rush of air came funneling down through the doorway above. Two of the archdemons plummeted down, crashing into the ground beside us. They got up within seconds, joining the fight and working to protect me.

“Get her out of here, Beelzebub!” one of them shouted, but he couldn’t spread his wings wide enough to take flight. Every time he tried, a demon jumped onto them and used them against him.

Another demon slipped through the gateway, coming to Beelzebub’s aid the moment he landed. They fought together in a way that communicated they’d done so countless times before, moving as one.

There was a commotion up above us as Michael and Lucifer grappled at the doorway, and I saw the moment Willow thrust her head back into Iban, using the last of her strength to break his nose.

She tore her hands free from the magic of the portal with a scream of agony, blood gushing from her hands as she tore the knife from her stomach.

Spinning on her knees, she swept her arm out in a single sweep and cut Iban across the throat.

Michael fell into the pit, losing the fight with Lucifer at the moment Willow shoved Iban into his path, the human’s body landing atop Michael’s as he grabbed the edge of the pit in desperation.

Lucifer did not hesitate to step on His brother’s fingers, sending both of them careening through the doorway into Hell.

Michael fell through, but Iban exploded into a mess of blood and gore, serving as the needed sacrifice to save Willow’s life. Beelzebub fought desperately to get his wings spread, to take off, only for the demons to drag him back down to the sand as Michael landed beside us.

Beelzebub roared out in pain as his gaze connected with mine, an apology in it that told me everything I needed to know.

I wasn’t going home.

I looked back to the doorway to Crystal Hollow, at Willow’s panicked face staring down at me as we both shared a moment of understanding.

She knew as well as I did that none of us were going to make it out in time.

Glass covered the doorway slowly, creeping across the gap and cutting me off from the only home I’d ever known.

With all the chaos surrounding me, I felt only guilt that Willow would blame herself.

I could see that guilt already etched into the tense lines of her face, her mouth open as she called for me, but I couldn’t hear her through the glass.

Jonathan whimpered as a demon landed a blow against his chest, leaving three bleeding wounds behind. He leapt into my arms for safety, transforming into his feline form in the moment before I released Beelzebub, caught Jonathan, and curled him to my chest between the archdemon and me.

Willow’s eyes were wide and panicked as the glass filled the boundary between planes, her hands frantically smacking against the surface as if she could break through. I watched her nails claw at the window, her blood staining the glass.

The stone that slowly spread to cover the seal was tan where it rested over the bloody smears she’d left behind. I couldn’t tear my eyes off that seal, couldn’t focus on the fighting happening around me.

It covered the gateway to Crystal Hollow as it closed.

And Willow was gone.