“Not yet,” Bishop answered. “This was your choice, remember?”
Axel ignored the slight buzz at the back of his head. His body ached, his muscles so tightly wound he was as solid as granite. Everything seemed to be in hyper focus, every glint of dust that drifted in the air to every drop of the rain that glistened from the broken roof.
It was if everything was more acute, his senses jacked.
“I remember.” Axel licked at his lips, blood a thunder in his ears. “I’ll give you my soul, but in return you have to release his.” A growl across his mind, his beast pressing for freedom. “Safely, and without further harm,” he added before his words could be twisted in the contract.
“Do you believe your soul’s worthy?” Baldy chuckled, grip loosening enough that Sam sagged against the floor.
Axel needed to get closer.
“Do you have any idea what I am? What I’m capable of?” Axel allowed his beast to shape his words, the tell-tale tingling of his irises shifting to liquid silver. “My sole purpose, the reason for my existence is to destroy your kind.” He took a confident step forward, concealing his chi as he felt Baldy spread out his own, dark tendrils searching for a weakness. Testing his strength.
Baldy’s grip loosened further, his chi an acidic taste at the back of Axel’s palette as he flicked his gaze towards Bishop, who watched with a quiet amusement.
“And I’ve destroyed many over my lifetime.”
Come. On,he thought.Just a little more.
Bishop’s laugh cut through the tension, a sharp cackle that sent tremors down Axel’s spine. “How amusing, but I think we should come to our conclusion.” The floor cracked beneath his feet, the small debris, dust, and ash sinking into the markings that opened up around them in a perfect circle. Axel recognised some of the glyphs, but many were old, ancient, and far beyond his knowledge.
Shit.
He only had the one chance. He was going to have to take it. He just hoped it was enough.
Please don’t be fucking late.
“My soul for his,” Axel said once more. “Do we have a deal?” He stood only inches away.
Bishop tilted his head, cool eyes assessing before he held out his hand. “Your soul for – ”
A pop. Loud enough they both jerked in surprise, followed by two more. Baldy groaned, a hole appearing in the centre of his forehead as blood oozed slowly down his pale skin before he collapsed. It was seconds, a few heartbeats before Axel finally reacted, pulling the knife from his back, and launching himself towards Bishop.
His blade sliced through Bishop’s chest with little resistance as he forced the arcane to coat the metal, a heavy thud vibrating behind him. The only way to kill a Daemon was to burn them with magic from the inside out. Something rather difficult when they wouldn’t remain stationary for very long.
“Lucifer!” Axel snarled over his shoulder, only to be caught by a heavy wing knocking him back, his hold loosening on his blade as it clattered to the ground. One of the horns pierced his arm, hooking into the flesh before he ripped himself free with a tug. “Get Sam out of here!”
Bishop turned, distracted with a new enemy as red arcane burned his palms, so hot it seared against Axel’s chi. His own body reacted, his tattoos blazing to life as he concentrated his own magic, feeling the power beneath his skin as he dropped to his knees and reached for Sam.
Baldy blinked blindly at the ceiling, his face a sea of red. It looked like he had been shot, twice in the chest with a bullet seeming lodged against bone and one in his forehead. The holes had already started to reduce, and it wouldn’t be long until he had recovered enough to attack. One Daemon was difficult enough. Two was suicide.
“Sam?” he called, pulling him away as Baldy’s hand twitched. “Hey kitty, you there?”
Sam’s head rolled loose on his shoulders, his breathing laboured as his face twisted into a frown. Weakly he raised his hand, brushing his fingers featherlight against his jaw. “I must be dead,” he breathed.
His attention shifted to over his shoulder, eyes widening as Axel turned. Bishop held a red sphere with a heart of grey between both his hands. With an angered sneer he launched the arcane, the sphere soaring with such power it licked at Axel’s chi, burning even from the distance. He knew he would be too slow, the possible injuries catastrophic as he remained by Sam’s side.
A flash of black leather and blonde hair.
Axel watched as the arcane hit Titus dead in the centre of his back, the magic eating away at his armour and then flesh as it launched him across the room. He landed against a beam, bending at a painful angle as he sagged to the dirt. The entire structure of the building groaned, rubble falling down to kick up the ash.
“Ti!” Axel screamed, jumping to his feet, but Bishop was already there. Reaching down he gripped Titus, and with a smirk they disappeared in a burst of smoke. “Wait! Fuck!”
A sharp pain sliced into his back, a blade piercing through his chest just shy of his heart. Dropping to his knees with a gasp he turned, only to come face-to-face with Baldy. With a wink he reached forward, and Axel’s last thought before disappearing with a static pop was of Sam.
Chapter32
Sam
