Made sense. Nadia wanted to take shelter, too.
He shifted to present his left side to Michael, mirroring Lucifer’s position and effectively shielding her from two avenues of attack. With the limo at her back, she felt somewhat protected, but still uneasy.
Across the short distance, she met Michael’s glacial stare and stiffened. His granite appearance screamed hatred. If he had a Medusa-like ability to turn others to stone, she’d be a statue.
“Why are we fighting? What’s a triscelene, and why do you all believe I’m one of their kind?”
“The only one of your kind,” Raphael corrected, daring to move toward them.
Luc responded with a figure-eight sweep of his weapon, twirling and testing its balance without removing his gaze from the main threat. The overall motion was beautiful, like a deadly dance.
Although Raphael didn’t progress forward, he didn’t retreat either.
“If I’m the only one, then are you certain they exist? Because I’m here to tell you, I’m just an ordinary woman who deciphers rare books.” But perhaps that’s what a triscelene was. Maybe they were the only ones able to read the angel’s writing. “I can stop reading your history if it makes you feel better,” she assured them, confident in her great plan. No more ancient scrolls. “In fact, I’ll forget all about this incident and find a deserted island somewhere far, far away. No harm, no foul.”
Raphael cracked a smile, and Gabriel snorted.
Only Luc and Michael remained stone-faced and unamused.
“She is under my protection, Michael. You will not harm her,” the former said.
What did it say that the Devil himself wanted to help her?
“She will die today,” Michael replied, withdrawing a second sword from another unseen sheath and whirling both in a similar fashion to Luc. His movements didn’t look nearly as fluid or poetic, but they were intimidating as fuck.
For the first time in her life, Nadia contemplated praying, but considering the company, it would do her no good. Her knees shook, and she fought the urge to sink to the ground. If she needed to get out of there, she’d have to hoof it and fast.
God, she hated running!
Why did there always have to be running?
Fuck it. She had to get a grip. Either she had suffered a mental break, or she was in the midst of insanity. No wait, weren’t they both the same thing?
Christ alive, she’d lost it!
Or was she not supposed to think in those terms anymore? These four fellas shot her atheist attitude to smithereens. So, did it mean she was using the Lord’s name in vain? How did he stack up to these four warriors?
And why the hell did the park smell like a bakery?
Maybe she had a brain tumor and was wandering aimlessly around, her broken mind dreaming up bizarre scenarios to handle death.
Michael took a step forward, and the group at the treeline repeated the action.
Luc and Gabriel raised their arms higher, lifting what appeared to be broadsword hilts level with their heads.
Reining in her runaway thoughts—sadly, the only thing running away—Nadia said, “Okay, but before I’m dispatched into the afterlife, does someone want to explain why? I need info here, guys.”
“You are an abomination,” Michael spat.
“Yeah, dude, I get it,” she snapped. “You’re the perfect angel specimen, and I’m the dirt beneath your feet. Pipe down, peanut gallery. I’m not asking you anyway.” Where she got the nerve to talk back and flip him off was anyone’s guess.
His shock gratified her.
Lucifer’s grin flashed, disarming with amusement. How was it possible one man was so—oh, right, not human.
And finally, it clicked.
Triscelene.
