He gave me a tight smile. “They took care of the attack we were waiting on and I had them come straight here. Activity in Boston is increasing lately. Additional back-up was necessary.”
I tugged my phone from my pocket and sent a quick text. “In that case, maybe we should be prepared for something bigger than we can handle on our own.”
Chapter 12
Lucifer
“Casualties?”
“No deaths, but a lot of injuries.” Apollo growled and buried his fingers in his golden hair. “My sister and the Morrígan are doing their best to mitigate these attacks, but the humans are starting to panic and news stations are reporting them as coordinated terrorist attacks. Paris was too public to cover up, but we’re doing our best to explain away what people claim they saw there.”
This was getting out of hand, and I hadn’t heard from Michael in a few days. Where were the angels that were supposed to be keeping the demons in check? No one had seen or heard from Heaven’s forces since my brother reported on the deaths they’d discovered. Had they run back to hide in our Father’s skirts while the humans were being killed?
“Lucifer,” Apollo said, his voice soft. “We can’t keep this up much longer. Our alliance is small. We either need more allies, or we—”
“We need to end this,” I interrupted. “I know. I just need a solid strategy, but every time I think I’ve got an idea, Abaddon throws something new at us. I can’t predict what would happen if I went straight in, what would be waiting for me. I wish I had someone in there that I could trust.”
He blinked at me, eyes widening in surprise. “In Hell?”
Before I could answer, the energy around us shifted. Thickened. We turned simultaneously in the direction of the harbor. A golden bow appeared in Apollo’s hand, his muscles tensing for a fight.
The second I got a lock on the sensation, I dragged him with me through the space, popping out into a madhouse. People ran screaming in every direction, some lugging crying children, others terrified friends. Several mitts lay abandoned on a nearby baseball diamond and one woman tripped over a stray tennis racket, but my attention didn’t linger on them long when a flash of red caught my eye.
My chest tightened. “Lexi.”
“Nathan!” Apollo darted past me.
Lexi slammed into Nathan hard enough to knock him off his feet, but he wrapped himself around her protectively. I wanted to thank him and punch him in the mouth at the same time. Then they were up again, both rushing for the demon general who—
My mind stuttered to a halt just as Loki appeared in front of us. Apollo tried to dodge around him, but Loki caught his arm more easily than he should’ve. He chuckled and peeked behind him at the scene.
“Let the kids do their jobs,” he said. “Don’t step in unless it gets out of their control.”
I grit my teeth and grabbed Apollo’s other arm. “He’s right. We can’t always be there to protect them. This is a new generation; let’s see what they’re made of.”
Apollo looked ready to argue, but finally pressed his lips together and nodded reluctantly. Loki touched my arm and teleported us to the treeline along the edge of the park, Carson Beach at our backs and a wide view of the fighting and panic spread out before us. My heart raced with equal parts excitement and trepidation as I watched Lexi fight.
Fire danced up her arms and at the ends of her hair as she twisted away from a wild swing. Nathan dove into the opening the demon left, driving a Herculean fist into its blocky face. I heard the crunch of bone across the field, and Apollo pumped his arm and grinned victoriously. The two moved as if they’d been working together for years. A twinge of jealousy bit at my insides.
“Isn’t she something?” Loki’s voice was full of parental pride, his whole being practically glowing with it. “She’s still learning what works, but she improves by leaps and bounds with every new challenge that steps in her path.”
I frowned at his choice of words. “Every… are you saying she’s done this multiple times?”
He laughed, eyes glued to the battle. “Indeed, they’ve been going out of their way to hunt for this very purpose. They, like most of their generation, only want to prove themselves useful in the coming war, and they need practice to do that. Lexi has been sheltered for too long, I believe. But to see her now, how her power pours off of her, it’s a sight to behold.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong, but we were watching through very different lenses. In the midst of battle, Lexi was as fierce as a Valkyrie, as unrestrained as the wildfire that burned in her veins. And more beautiful than the goddess of beauty herself. I swallowed hard as my pants became unexpectedly restrictive. If the other two noticed, they didn’t say anything.
“Still not sure if I wanna punch Nathan or thank him,” I muttered, adjusting myself as discreetly as possible.
Apollo chuckled and gestured with his chin to where Nathan had just ripped a demon’s arm halfway off. “Don’t start anything you’re not prepared for. The fact that I have yet to see his sword come out means he’s beginning to embrace his strength. You never tussled with my unfortunate half-brother. Being immortal isn’t painless by any means, and his strength could rival Heracles’ in his pre-ascension days.”
A roar echoed behind us and we all spun. Across the street, lesser demons swarmed the beach. In broad daylight, I realized. Yet another twist I hadn’t anticipated. Though Hephaestus was hard at work on our weapons, it seemed Abaddon had recruited a smith of his own, and the number of pendants around their necks suggested he’d been at it a while.
The lesser demons ran toward the water, battle cries cut short when the water pulled back into a gigantic wave. And riding that wave was the blonde girl, Sasha, from Lexi’s apartment the day before. Rather than a surfboard, however, she stood on the scaly back of the largest crocodile I’d seen in centuries. It was the croc’s roar I’d heard as it bellowed again, answering the demons’ cries.
The pair crashed into the sandy shore, Sasha wielding a pair of whips made from the ocean itself. She snapped her arms out, light as a dancer on her feet as she spun between targets. Her whips were sharpened with icy edges that sliced through limbs, leaving splashes of black across the pale sand. The animal was much less graceful, using its teeth and enormous size to chomp and squish the oncoming horde.
I was more interested in Lexi’s battle, but before I could turn back, another general pounded across the sand toward them. The croc disengaged, leaving the small fries to the water wielder, and turned on the larger demon. It hissed and surged forward, morphing into something else entirely as it moved. Wings sprouted where its stubby arms had been, its body shortening, until it kicked off the ground on talons as sharp as Sasha’s whips. The giant falcon screeched as it made contact, leaving deep gashes across the demon’s face.
