The doors slam open.
Fuck.
My spidey senses start screaming loud as a pack of beefy dudes strolls in like they own the place. The reek of wet dog and aggression slams into me, and I know what they are before I even see the glowing amber of their eyes.
Werewolves. In my fucking club.
I'm on my feet and shoving Seraphina behind me in the space of a heartbeat, fangs bared and ready to tear out the throat of anything that so much as looks at her wrong. But it's not the wolves that seize my heart in my chest.
It'sher.
Lilith slinks behind her pet mongrels, all sleek curves and a razor-sharp smile. Her green eyes gleam with malice and cruel amusement. She moves like smoke-made flesh, gliding across the floor in her blood-red stilettos.
"Time to make like a tree and get the fuck out of here, Cupcake," I mutter, my eyes never leaving the hellspawn Barbie as she eye-fucks the room like it's her catwalk.
Seraphina tenses against my back, confusion and fear rolling off her in waves. "Who is—"
Her question is cut off as Lilith appears before us, moving faster than any human could track. Up close, her beauty is a poisoned blade, ready to cut down anything in her path.
"Why hello, darling," Lilith purrs. "I'm Lilith. It's an absolute pleasure to meet Lucian's little slice of heaven finally."
I can practically feel Seraphina's confusion morph into righteous fury, her body going rigid against mine. The wolves close in, their hulking frames forming a wall of steroid-fueled muscle around us.
Fucking fuck. Lilith's got herself a pack of loyal dogs to do her bidding. And here I thought that was only Azrael's gig. What is this, evil villain timeshare for werewolves?
"Make this easy on yourself, Lucian," Lilith demands, trailing one blood-red nail down my cheek. "Tell me where Rhyland is, give me the stone, and your little angel might just leave here intact."
My celestial snack cake? She is not having any of it.
Seraphina steps forward, golden eyes blazing, and shoves Lilith's hand away. "Don't youevertouch him," she says, her voice honeyed yet razor-sharp, like a cupcake with broken glass inside.
Holy shit. My angel's gone from 'Disney Princess' to 'Avenging Seraph' in 0.5 seconds flat.
Lilith's face twists into a shark smile. "My, my. Aren't you full of surprises?"
"You havenoidea what I can do," Seraphina replies, her tone maintaining that angelic melody but carrying the unmistakable edge of someone who's personally witnessed the creation of stars and isn't impressed by discount designer evil.
Uh-oh. My angel isn't happy right now, and I can feel her power surging through our bond. It's like dating a nuclear reactor with wings and a cute ass.
Lilith only laughs, examining her manicure like we're just mildly inconvenient speed bumps in her day. "You do realize I can take both of you without so much as breaking a nail? Darling, I was terrorizing dimensions while you were still delivering bland celestial telegrams. Now be a good little halo and step aside before I turn your boyfriend into a very fashionable coat rack."
Shit's about to get real. And by real, I mean apocalyptically, biblically, 'someone call Michael Bay' real.
"Go back to the pit that spawned you," Seraphina snarls, her voice carrying the weight of Heaven's entire customer service department.
And then she fuckingexplodeswith light, her body going supernova as she launches Lilith across the room like a designer-dressed ragdoll. The stench of burning flesh fills the air as Lilith screams, her perfect skin blistering and peeling like an overripe banana in the Sahara.
Note to self: Do NOT piss off the angel.
My girl might not be packing the same holy firepower as Dani's DNA-enhanced ass, but her light? That shit's like mainlining sunshine straight into your veins. And trust me, for vampires? That's about as fun as deep-throating a UV lamp. Lilith may be a psychotic, older than dirt bitch, but even she's got to be feeling that heavenly burn right about now.
I don't think. I just move.
I grab Seraphina, throwing her over my shoulder like a sack of righteously pissed-off potatoes, and blur us the fuck out of there fast.
I practically rip the car door off its hinges, shoving Seraphina inside and slamming it shut with enough force to make the whole vehicle rock on its suspension. In the blink of an eye, I'm behind the wheel, my finger jabbing the ignition button like it's Lilith's fucking eyeball.
The engine roars to life, and I punch the gas. The tires scream as they fight for purchase on the asphalt. The stench of burning rubber fills the car, acrid and biting, as we peel out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
