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“You die today, pendejo.” Dawn spat at his face. “We trusted you.”
Rafael wiped his cheek and glared. “All of you help me bring down the beast, Victus, and Joleen, and I’ll put you on my court.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Otis sent a flying apple and hit Rafael’s head.
Rafael roared, glaring at Otis as he rose. “Then die by my hands. You’re all worthless.”
Tank let go of the last arrow, hitting Rafael through the abdomen with a whack.
Rafael jerked to the side and let out a mocking laugh as he pulled out the arrow. “Is that all you’ve got? You all would have been dead had Asmodeus killed you like I told him to do. He made a huge mistake by not taking my advice.”
Sunshine and Midnight on Snow’s shoulders jumped up and down repeatedly as they squeaked out curses.
“No, that’s not all we’ve got.” Snow looked beyond Rafael as she marveled at the bare chested being with heart-shaped wings in all his glory. Lightning cracked and sizzled along his limbs like a god of storm. “We were just distractions. Or I should say, he’s the distraction.”
Even her mice made a swooning sound.
Michael pounced on Rafael from behind, grinding Rafael’s chest and face into the ash-filled ground. Then in a fluid swift motion, he bound Rafael’s arms behind him with hematite crystal cuffs and yanked him up to stand.
“I’m a top-ranking officer of the OA.” Rafael growled. “I command you to let me go. Or face the consequences.”
Though Rafael sounded like he was in command, Snow had never seen him so scared in his life. His feathers ruffled, trying to close his wings, and his features contorted with pain.
“Well, whatever you just said doesn’t apply to vampires.” Maria clacked her long nails together and bared her fangs.
Vara flipped her dagger into the air and caught it when it landed. “Maybe we should all take a turn and beat the shit out of him.”
Kristoff rolled his eyes, looking bored. “Whatever you decide to do, can you hurry? I’m getting hungry. Unless you want me to drain Rafael’s blood.”
Rafael flinched and bared his teeth.
“No,” Otis snapped. “That’s too easy for him.”
Michael grabbed a fistful of Rafael’s hair and yanked his head back. “I think you owe your team an apology, fallen, but we all know you won’t. Think about all the things you could have done right when you rot in the Netherworld as you suffer for eternity. And speaking of consequences. This is yours.” He gave a curt nod to Tank.
“What?” Rafael sounded like a coward, his wings batting in desperation. He could not take flight and he knew it. “What are you going to do?”
Tank had weaved behind Rafael without him knowing. “We would have died for you, but no more. This is for all the angels you killed.”
“No! No!” Rafael twisted, looking over his shoulders, to his left, then right, but Michael held him firm. “What are you doing, Tank? Not my wings. Please. Not my wings.”
“They’re not your wings.” Tank raised his sword high and brought the blade down with one powerful swing close to the spine.
He chopped off one at a time as Rafael howled in pain. Dark blood dripped and sizzled as it melted into the hot ash.
Rafael curled inward, exposing tiny dark feathers about the size of caterpillar hair, down the skeleton of his wings where the physician had sewn over with another pair of wings.
Snow’s heart twisted with a mixture of shock and hurt as she took in the sight of the puddle that was growing beneath Rafael. Not once had Snow seen him bleed, until now.
The inky, not golden, liquid pooling beneath him confirmed he was no doubt a fallen. Her stomach churned, and though she didn’t want to admit it, his betrayal gutted her.
Michael let him loose, and he pulled out a sword from within his feathers and swung the blade clean through Rafael’s neck. Rafael’s head thumped in front of Snow and Dawn and rolled as blood spilled and sizzled on the hot ground.
Snow kicked his head and it splashed into the lava. “Good riddance, angel with no face.” Sunshine and Midnight jumped up and down on her shoulder, but this time for a happy occasion.
One of you will die. Though Rafael was dead, she felt no peace. She had not only respected him, but cared for him like a brother.
Dawn kicked Rafael’s wings to the lava and the hot thick liquid bubbled as the wings sank.
