I frowned and Vas angled his head. “The Nike logo.”
I nodded. “Keep to yourselves. Stay away from humans, spread the word about what happened here today, and be sure to mention mymercy.” I gave him a sharp smile.
A trickle of blood dripped down the side of his face from a wound on his forehead as he nodded.
“If you make it to the middleground or the human realm, my people will not attack.”
I glanced at the nine demons I’d brought with me. Mammon was wiping blood off his cheek, but none of them seemed injured enough that I’d need to order them to return to the tower.
“Let’s go.”
We took to the air as one, hurtling across the sky toward the forest. By the time Ag spotted the first group of bubaks, I was once again deep in a killing rage.
The creatures stood approximately seven feet tall, sprinting surprisingly fast, given their lurching gaits. Their skin was the color of rotting flesh, their heads the shape of pumpkins. One of them looked up as our shadows fell over them, two holes in its head where its eyes should have been.
Bael glanced at me.“It’s not the right group.”
“I don’t care. Kill them all for daring to slow us down.”
Bael and Mammon peeled off to kill the first group. Lilith and Vas took the second group, Azazyel and Romyel the third.
And then I spotted orange, lurching between the trees. Ag instinctively shifted to the right, targeting the bubak closest to the leader, while the rest of my demons spread out, ready to pick off the others.
Wrath burned through me, and I tucked my wings close to my body, arrowing down through a gap in the forest canopy.
Black blood splattered my face as I attacked.
17
DANICA
Ilay on the floor of my bathroom, eyes open as I stared at nothing. Pischiel had attempted to haul me up once, and I’d headbutted him, ordering him out of my room. I didn’t want anything to do with the demon who Lucifer had raised in his image.
My shields remained, even in sleep. I didn’t want to be comforted by Samael. Didn’t deserve to find solace in his arms.
Of course I wanted my mate. Craved his arms. Wanted to lose myself in him and hear him vow that it would be okay. But I also wanted to be engulfed in my grief and guilt.I deservedthis. Deserved to lie here wishing that Lucifer had killed me instead.
Decades. My father had spent decades in that cell. How he must have hoped, when he learned Samael was coming. How he must have dreamed of feeling the fresh air on his face, the sun on his cheeks.
How he hadn’t cursed me with his last breath, I would never know. Instead, he’d told me he wasproud.
Impossible.
I could hear hushed voices from my bedroom. The maids were having a field day with my breakdown. The one time they’d attempted to convince me to at least get off the floor, I’d screamed obscenities at them.
Look at me now, Dad. Are you still proud?
Lucifer knew he’d broken me. I was certain of that much, because he was leaving me alone. Leaving me to count down to the moment he took my power. I had no doubt he was pleased by my inability to function.
I didn’t even have it in me to get up out of pure spite.
The large window over the bath looked out at the gardens. The meteor shower had begun. Slowly at first, but over the last day and night, I’d watched more and more bursts of lights streaking across the sky. I’d never expected the countdown to my death to be so beautiful.
Today, though, a beam of sunlight streamed through that window, bathing the bathroom floor in its glow. I stretched out a hand, still too numb to truly feel the warmth.
Pischiel hadn’t given up. He’d had food brought in to my bathroom multiple times, even when I’d ignored it. He’d teased, cajoled, and then ruthlessly mocked as he attempted to rouse me.
His latest plan? Garadiel.
