“Introduce me to your… friend?” Thor asked, slapping a hand over Loki’s mouth and gesturing toward Lucifer with the other.
My eyes widened. “Oh, that’s Lucifer. My boyfriend.” A shudder ran down my spine and Lucifer spun toward us as if he’d heard. “Ew, no, don’t like that either. Lover? Significant other?”
“The term you’re looking for is soulmate,” Loki whispered loudly. I smacked his arm playfully, earning myself another grin.
Thor’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “I see it now. You’ve clearly inherited your father’s interesting taste in suitors.”
Chapter 14
Lucifer
Miranda twisted her fingers together, stealing worried glances in Lexi’s direction. I couldn’t blame her; I’d been ready to fight the moment Thor landed, though with the power Loki was throwing off, I wasn’t entirely sure I was needed.
Still, his intention had been written across his face as much as his aura. He held no ill will, or else he wouldn’t have gotten past the two of us.
I was happy she was able to have that moment, despite the terror it had started with. Michael came to mind, and the first time we’d met under peaceful circumstances after ages of war. The fact that I had yet to hear from him was starting to worry me. I didn’t necessarily need his help in this fight, but at the very least, I needed to know what was going on with Heaven’s forces, why the Host had abandoned the field.
At the sound of my name, I spun to see Lexi heading toward us with Thor and Loki. I’d never crossed paths with the god of thunder before, and I hoped this would solidify another much needed alliance. Especially given whom it was rumored he worked for these days.
He had just extended his hand when screams echoed across the park. Tires squealed, and the once-peaceful day was suddenly filled with the sounds of crunching metal and chaos.
The witches shifted into defensive positions, pushing some of the weaker ones behind them. I pushed my senses into the city and, just like the other day, I found the faint sign of sickening demonic residue, but hadn’t felt the power surge that would’ve accompanied their arrival.
And there were a lot.
Alana stepped out in front of the crowd, her smile pulling too sharply to one side. Her black hair, which had been hanging in a straight sheet down her back, was now moving on its own, curling in on itself as it settled into a tight bun at the base of her skull. She kicked her red-soled heels off and buried her pedicured toes in the grass. “Ah, here we go again.”
“Again?” Thor growled, eyeing me briefly.
Loki spun slowly, narrowing his eyes. “No time to bring you up to speed. Will you help us fight?”
He bared his teeth, his suit rippling and morphing into armor, a strategic mixture of medieval plate armor and hard leather. Iron gloves covered his hands and a metal belt held his hammer at his waist.
“I would be honored to fight beside you again, brother.”
Between one blink and the next, Izumi stood before me. Her hair was in disarray and a line of blood streaked across her forehead. Lexi stepped closer, but stopped when Izumi saluted. “Demons, Mr. Rivers. All over the city, attacking random people. They just started appearing out of nowhere, but there were no power fluctuations so they caught us off-guard. Requesting whatever back-up you can spare, sir.”
I looked over all the faces of the gathered witches and smirked, wondering who thought it was a good idea to attack today of all days. “Spread out in groups and help where you can. If you can’t do offensive magic, stay with Chloe and help with medical or defense. Be prepared for anything and don’t take risks.”
They didn’t hesitate. I blinked in surprise as they jumped to my orders, peeling off toward the demons who’d appeared at the north and south ends of the park. At the very least, I’d expected some minor resistance to my calling the shots. Turning my attention back to Izumi, I clapped one hand on her shoulder.
“There should be several allies in the area. Make contact and let them know what’s happening,” I said. “Whatever these demons are using, they’re not putting off their usual energy. It makes it difficult to judge the scope, but we’ll need more than we have on the streets now to turn this around.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted again, then vanished with barely more than a puff of dust.
Lexi rolled her eyes when Loki conjured two daggers and flipped them in the air. He nodded in a vaguely northwest direction. “Thor and I will take that way. You two, head toward the carousel. Be careful.”
She grabbed my hand and we ran. I got a vague sense of the demons, but their energy was dispersed across a large area, making it impossible to pinpoint individual targets. Teleporting was pretty much useless in this situation. We would have to find them on our own, and following the screams seemed like a fairly efficient way to track them.
We passed a few witches engaging with the lesser soldier demons, the same bronze pendants around their necks that the ones in Moakley had worn. I stopped for a moment and gestured to the chains. “Get those necklaces!”
Lexi gave me an odd look as we continued on, but before we turned the corner, I glanced back over my shoulder to see a man holding a pendant up victoriously while the demon writhed on the ground, body smoking. His demonic presence also clarified in my mind, which meant this new batch of Hellforged amulets held multi-layered spells in them.
Interesting.
The streets were messy with several wrecks backing traffic up along Atlantic, but we wove through the stopped cars and into the open area between the carousel and a pavilion. Luckily, the carousel was clear of kids. Unluckily, two archdemons stood waiting for us.
Standing tall with wings folded close, they were the closest thing to the humans’ stereotypical image of demons. Horns sprouted from their foreheads, twisting up and over their skulls, and thin, whip-like tails extended from their spines. Otherwise, they had a relatively human appearance.
