He didn’t know who to save, the conflicting needs making his stern brow furrow.
I shook my head, silently pleading with him to go for Willow. She was injured and in need of help. She was important to Crystal Hollow and worth saving for that reason alone.
I was just me.
He looked to Willow, the two of them exchanging a glance before he turned back toward me and lunged toward Michael. “No,” I gasped, realizing he’d made the wrong choice. The archangeltossed me to the side violently, sending me careening off-balance. I flipped head over feet, unable to stop my forward momentum as I rolled.
“Margot!” Willow screamed, trying desperately to tear her hands off the seal. “She’s your friend!” she shouted to Iban, her voice the only solid thing in the world as it spun. I caught myself as I fell into the seal, throwing my legs wide with all thoughts of modesty forgotten. Willow’s blood covered the edges of the seal, pouring out as she thrashed against Iban’s hold and tried to reach me.
I grumbled against the gag, feeling the panic in my own voice as my feet slipped slowly over the stone. I wasn’t going to be able to hold on for long, wasn’t going to stand a chance of supporting my own weight this way.
My only shining light in the darkness of those moments while I waited to fall was the reality that with me gone, Beelzebub wouldn’t be torn. He wouldn’t hesitate to save Willow, and I had to take a little comfort in that.
My right leg slipped, making my entire support collapse beneath me. I fell through the doorway, tumbling out of reach as Willow screamed, “MARGOT!”
My own scream was muffled, but it mirrored Willow’s as air rushed up to greet me. I fell through the air, my legs kicking and lashing out but there was nothing around me. I was weightless for a few moments, unable to see the ground beneath me to know what might wait for me.
I whimpered as I closed my eyes slowly, ready for the end that would surely come on impact. This was the moment I died, the moment that I could never come back from.
Beelzebub dove through the doorway just before my eyes closed, his wings tucked in tight to his sides so he could fit through the hole with ease and gain speed. His arms were outstretched, reaching for me as he fought to get to me in time.
He wasn’t going to make it.
I let my eyes drift closed finally, not wanting to see the devastation on his face in the moment I hit the ground. I didn’t want to see his agony and have that be the last thing I saw before I died, especially not with the bittersweet knowledge that he would be freed shortly after.
The grief he felt would fade with my death, freeing him from my spell and leaving him with only the hatred he felt for the way I’d made him betray his own loyalties.
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 fightwhat?
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 toBeelzebub’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.
