The ground continues to tremble, and multiple familiar battle horns blare from outside the stadium. More tears flow from me as I recognize the call. Blake didn’t just find me. She brought the whole damn demon army with her.
Germain grunts in pain, and I can’t see exactly what happens, but the swords lift away from my neck, and when I look up, the original is sprawled on the sand on the other side of the arena. He shakes his head, lifting from the sand and is soon on his feet again, glaring at where Blake stands next to me.
The demon queen uses her power to loosen the queen’s shadows enough that I can wiggle free. When I’m no longer restrained, Blake holds out her hand, casually resting her sword on her shoulder, and grinning at me as she helps me to my shaky feet.
Queen Krosia shouts a battle cry, and around the amphitheater, the shadow warriors who were still in the stands march downward. The originals all draw their weapons, standing beside their queen, but before the shadow warriors can attack, five more figures drop from the sky.
My tears turn to laughter as Blake’s formidable mates land on the sand around us. The five kings of the demon realm.
“You were supposed to wait for us,” Callan drawls at Blake, and the archangel tucks in his massive white wings as his boots touch down. His silver armor glints in the sunlight, and my trembling lips form a smile.
Nate, Blake’s jaguar shifter mate, climbs from Callan’s arms, having to be carried seeing as he has no wings of his own. “Thanks for the lift, brother,” he says, smiling playfully at thearchangel as he slinks from his friend’s arms with all the grace of a predator.
Not far away, Dante, Blake’s demon mate gives me a sensual smile. He doesn’t mask his relief when he stares at me, running his gaze over me like he’s trying to check I’m in one piece. Beside him, Blake’s centaur shifter mate, Mason, is already in his shifted form, and the centaur grips a long, golden spear, looking like he’s just itching to use it.
Blake’s fifth mate, Alaric, jumps from the centaur’s back. He’s not in his giant form, but the sand still stirs when the massive male lands. “This is what we get for letting you out of our sights, little one,” he grumbles at me, his deep voice rolling through me, and somehow making me feel safe, even though the queen still undoubtedly wants my head.
My mates stare in surprise as the demon queen’s five mates move to her sides, and Blake is still grinning as she drops into a fighting stance, positioning her sword and folding her large, black wings behind her back. She looks like an avenging angel, but a gold crown sits atop her head, the jewels glinting in the light and identifying her as the demon queen.
“Now,” my friend says fiercely, narrowing her eyes at the shadow queen. “Who the fuck is trying to kill my bestie?”
