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Soraya gritted her teeth as she pushed herself farther than she ever had before.
There was heat on her back, but she didn’t dare look. Asmodeus might not be that close, but the intensity of his power felt like he’d created a second sun in the middle of the night, searching for her with the kind of fury that warned her she might not survive this encounter.
She could see the cathedral, but it was still farther away than she’d like. Soraya couldn’t hold back if she wanted to make it.
Wrapping an illusion around herself, she unfurled her wings and launched her body into the sky.
Massive, demonic wings instead of the feathered beauties the fallen angels possessed. They weren’t batlike, but scaled…
Monstrous.
Soraya arrowed toward the cathedral, knowing she only had seconds until?—
It felt like she was hit by a freight train in midair.
Something dense and heavy hit her side with the kind of speed that shattered her ribs before throwing her off course hard enough she slammed through multiple walls before skidding to a stop.
Blessed hell, it hurt so much worse than she’d expected. Soraya couldn’t even get to her feet, so she crawled to the edge of the building, falling from the second floor to the street. Glass tinkled when it hit the ground, but the sound of the metal getting crushed under her body was loud enough to wake the dead.
She couldn’t breathe and the bones in one of her wings were broken, but she didn’t let that stop her.
Rolling off the car, she managed not to smash her face against the asphalt, but just barely.
She was bleeding everywhere – her tights torn. The leather jacket had protected the skin on her arms, but not the bones. Shaking them out, she limped toward the cathedral, wincing as the bones healed.
Something slammed into the cement right in front of her with enough force she was thrown backward, hitting that same fucking car and making her cry out in pain when her broken ribs protested. It slowed down her healing and made it really fucking difficult to breathe.
Not that she needed oxygen to live, but it was a hard habit to break after years of pretending to be human. Not being able to inhale fully was making her panic.
“I have to admit, I didn’t expect that.” The sound of Asmodeus’s voice was all she could really focus on.
It was difficult to make out his face when she felt so disoriented, but Soraya refused to give up. She would heal. All she had to do was surprise him again, and then she’d get a little closer to the cathedral…
Her salvation.
“Where did you get an angel’s blade, little demon?”
She pulled on that sexual energy she’d taken earlier and let it suffuse her body, kicking his chest as hard as she could.
The look on his face when he flew back was priceless.
Asmodeus caught himself before he could slam into the building, but it was still enough time for her to gather her power and slip through time and space to the steps of the cathedral – the blasted vampire magic making it impossible to teleport in to the cathedral.
“I had a feeling this was where you were going.” Asmodeus grabbed her shoulder and kicked her knee, snapping it instantly.
Soraya bit her tongue instead of screaming, feeling her nails crack when she dug her fingers into the cement steps of the cathedral. She was so close. Just a few more steps and she’d invoke sanctuary – something even Asmodeus couldn’t violate.
All she had to do was trick him into believing she was too hurt – that she couldn’t fight back at all.
“Why are you so desperate to be anywhere other than hell?” Asmodeus crouched down beside her, trailing a fingertip over her broken wing and making her gasp in pain. “Lucifer considers your race precious. He reveres Lilith and gifts you all much more than you deserve. Why do this to yourself?”
“What would you know about it?” Soraya grabbed her knee and pushed it back into place so it would heal, unable to keep the small noise of pain to herself this time. “Have you ever spent any time with the lilim, prince?”
His sharp smile showed off his canines and she hated how attractive he was in that moment. “Some of you, but I leave it to Lilith for the most part.”
“Ah, yes, the mother of monsters who keeps forgetting how many children she actually has.” Soraya pressed her hand to her ribs, focusing what power she could hide from him to the bones, repairing them as quickly as possible. “I would say she never has time for me, but that’s such a middle child thing to say, don’t you think?”
His smile faded as he studied her from head to toe, taking in the way her broken body was draped across the steps of the cathedral – the blood from a thousand cuts as well as the wings that she couldn’t tuck away, not with one broken this badly.
