Nia smashed her fist into the guy’s face, fed up with people grabbing her.
Lore seized him by the throat, hauling him away.
She barely registered the pain in her knuckles, blood drumming in her ears.
“A minion,” Lore muttered in disgust at the human he held.
“Kas,” she whispered, her knees shaking. She flung her throbbing hand against the tree trunk to keep upright.
Lore dropped the man, and he fell like a limbless corpse. Blood dripped from his nose. Only then did she become aware of the man’s glassy-eyed expression. He sat and shook his head as if to clear it.
“Wh-what happened?” he groaned, gingerly touching his bloody nose. He peered at his messy fingers. “I’m bleeding.”
“Go home,” Lore ordered. “Forget this happened.”
The man stumbled to his feet. With a blank look, he wandered off?—
The earth beneath their feet shuddered and cracked open.
Lore pushed her behind him, his wings spreading in a rustle as a horde of demons burst free.
“Oh, shit!” Nia gasped.
Their massive forms wavered between human facades and demonic ones—scaly gray skin, sunken faces, short horns jutting from withered flesh.
“Give us the human,” one demanded, his voice like the layers of dirt he’d crawled out of. “She belongs to our master.”
Oh, hell no.“I belong to no one, you damn turds!” Her hands clenched, the heat within surging in her fury. Before she couldsnatch her dagger from her boot, Lore grasped her arm. “Stay behind me. I’ll keep you shielded.”
While she could feel his power swirling around her in a protective barrier, how the hell was he going to fight them off with her attached to his back like a sloth?
“The human!” the growly one’s demand grew.
“Screw you,” Nia snapped from behind Lore. “As if I’d hand myself over like a damn parcel.”
The horde leader snarled, and the buzzing grew. Nia peeped under Lore’s wings as a barrage of fiery demon bolts targeted them. Flames hit the invisible shield around them and fizzled out.
Of course, these bastards didn’t care that humans were nearby.
Her angel’s growl reverberated through the trees.No, he wasn’t hers.
Lore flung out his hands, unleashing his power. The white, laser-like flash rolled through her as it slammed into them.
Screeches echoed. A few scattered and ran while the rest collapsed into piles of ashes.
More demons appeared, red eyes glittering in the dark, tails swishing in their fury.
A gleaming longsword appeared in Lore’s hand. He retracted his wings and arched the weapon over his head. A wave of power lit his heavenly blade and swept through the park, consuming the demons.
Sheesh. Naturally, he didn’t need to fight when he couldstandthere and dothat.
Mist billowed through the trees and around her, startling her. Nia spun, unable to see beyond an inch of her. “Lore?”
An arm slammed around her midriff, jerking her backward, all the air rushing out of her lungs. The acrid odor of sulfur stung her nose.
“Got you.”
“No…” She tried to wrench free. Her gaze snapped over her shoulder, colliding with the burning red eyes of the demon who stalked her.
