It was gone now.
Knowing what I knew about Daimonion, I had a feeling he’d seen something in that infant, and had decided he would be a worthwhile opponent one day.
These old, murderous creatures did so have a tendency to get bored.
Daimonion raised his sword to swing. Vas stumbled, a little move I liked to call “the uncoordinated bear.” Bael had fallen for it three times before he finally realized Vas was messing with him.
But Ag… I saw the moment he moved as if it was in slow motion. It was the first time I’d ever truly seen fear in Ag’s eyes, and he lunged toward Vas, threw himself in front of his nephew, shielded him with his own body.
He didn’t know. Didn’t know Vas was luring the assassin closer.
The blow cut across Ag’s shoulder, deep and vicious. Ag snarled but didn’t move, determined to protect Vas.
Daimonion’s face lit with a dark fury at being denied the kill he’d aimed for.
Vas threw back his head with a roar that seemed to make the entire battlefield pause. I felt Samael freeze. Felt him swing his sword with even greater desperation as he fought to get closer to his friends, his family.
Daimonion used the confusion, used Ag’s sudden inattention and determination to protect his nephew.
And smiled as he lit Ag up with demon fire.
Vas’s howl was chilling. Distantly, I felt Samael, and through him, all of his demons. They were thrusting their power into Ag in an attempt to keep him alive. But they’d been fighting for hours. They were mostly drained themselves.
A scream ripped up my throat as Ag fell to his knees. Then he slumped fully to the ground, and I knew. He was gone.
Vas charged at Daimonion, his own sword swinging. The assassin had likely used a good chunk of his power to kill Ag, but he still had centuries of killing compared to Vas.
“Do something,”I begged the underworld. It stayed silent, but once again, I could feel it watching, weighing.
Vas sliced at Daimonion. Again. Again. Again. The assassin laughed, ducked, but I’d been forced to spend enough time with him that I could see the strain on his face. He raised his sword to block Vas, but he wasn’t fast enough. Wasn’t driven by the cold fury that drove Vas.
Vas’s sword bounced off of Daimonion’s. But he used that motion to twist. To thrust his sword into Daimonion’s gut.
“More,”I silently urged Vas. I’d stabbed Daimonion myself, and he’d healed it within a couple of hours. No healer required.“More, Vas.”
That’s when his hand lit up with demon fire.
I almost choked. Pischiel’s words running through my head.
“It takes centuries before a demon is powerful enough to use demon fire. Samael was the only exception.”
Something had cracked open inside Vas, and he’d up-leveled. Face stunned, he raised his hand, examining the bright glow.
Daimonion’s eyes widened, and Lucifer’s assassin, who had slaughtered countless people, who had rampaged up and down that battlefield…
Turned to flee.
He launched himself into the air, ducking and twisting, but Vas snarled, lifted his hand higher, and let his power loose. Demon fire engulfed Daimonion’s arm, but he kept flying, his scream filled with cold fury and a promise of vengeance.
Vas screamed his own rage. Then he dropped to the ground, next to what was left of his family.
My throat ached. Ag had become something like a disapproving father-in-law over the past few months. I mentally reached for Vas, wishing I could wrap my arms around him. But the underworld was already showing me more.
Showing me Taraghlan, marching toward our people with an army of seelie dressed in white.
His soldiers were armed. They were fresh. They practically burned with eagerness and power.
He hadn’t just delayed Samael. Hadn’t just told Lucifer about our plan with the pocket realm. No, he was here to join forces with Lucifer, to attack us from behind.
