The heat of Hell abates as Elgios’s magic swarms around us and my core turns ice cold. Elgios rage runs hot and his anger might be enough to turn the tide, if we can turn him. Morgana and I wait, watching Elgios fight against his better self, and his shoulders fall as he concedes defeat.
“The kill is still mine, Amaymon,” he sighs, opening his wings and flashing every one of his razor-sharp talons at me. “Kill Eva, but save Mordecai for me. I need a fucking scalp to hang on my wall.”
Time’s up and I turn, staring at the masses of demons racing toward us. They're so many of them it’s impossible to count them and they merge into each other as they charge at us.
“The temple, Amaymon,” Morgana says under her breath. “We’ll clear a path, but you need to do the rest.”
Magic surges forward and its power is an explosion that burns hotter than a supernova. Hell quakes, shaken by the force we’ve unleashed. For the first time I recall, demons pour their magic into one combined force, working together for the common evil.
Demons burn, and I sprint towards the onslaught, racing toward the gates of the temple. This is the fucking act of heroism that I never thought I’d commit, and I ignore the screams behind me as Eva’s army collides with mine. With Elgios’s army. And demons fall as I race forward, propelling myself closer to the temple entrance.
I slash at some lesser demons who seem to have realized our plan. Their heads fall and I keep moving forward, determined to cross the threshold. Determined to reach Adriana.
There’s a fucking bloodbath behind me and either I kill Eva or we all die here. Today.
More demons throw themselves at me and my wings tear them to shreds as I ignore the urge to revel in my glory. There’s only one thing that matters and my pride takes a back seat for once as I set aside my vanity for my girl.
Blood pours, and I don’t know if it’s mine.
Sweat drips onto the ground as I burn and work harder, fighting for my girl.
Pain bursts through me and I ignore it, certain I’ll know worse without Adriana.
My feet cross the temple’s threshold and I break the barrier, keeping lesser demons off its sacred ground. Hell’s changed, but I am not, and my thoughts fade away until only one remains. My obsession with Adriana holds me in its sway, and she’s the only thing that matters. She’s always been the only thing that matters, and I race through the temple grounds, outpacing the fuckers who are chasing me.
I fly up the steps and land hard enough to shake the foundations of the temple. My talon slices across my hand and drawing the blood needed to pass through the final ward. Only high demons can cross this, and unless I can tear it down, I’ll be on my own.
We’d planned for Elgios and Byron to be here with me, along with any other high demons we could gather. But the best laid plans often go awry and this is all that’s left.
My blood merges with the magic protecting the Temple of the Damned and electric pulses spark as the barrier draws itself back. The archway is just big enough for me to pass through and I step forward, aware I haven’t brought it down.
I’m on my own.
Against whatever Eva’s got planned.
I walk into the temple, and my footsteps echo around the hallowed walls. There’s no reply. Not a fucking sound. The place is dead. Deserted. No magic haunts its interior, and no demons or monsters lurk in its shadows.
This is too fucking easy, and Eva wants me to know it. She wants me to know that something truly wicked waits for me in the Inner Sanctum and she wants me to fear it. My lieutenant’s learned the lessons I’ve taught her and she’s using them against me.
And she’s fucking good.
Just not good enough.
I will not cower, and I will not run. Not when I walk through the temple and not as I enter the Inner Sanctum. Not even when I see Adriana’s bloodied body curled on the floor beneath the altar.
My girl’s taken one hell of a beating. Her hair is matted with blood and her limbs are caked in its dried remains. She’s breathing, but her chest is injured and I’m betting more than one rib is broken. Her collar—my fucking collar—is chained to the altar as some cruel and twisted joke, using what is mine to tether her to this place that keeps her from me.
And I’ve never known anger like it.
In all the centuries I’ve endured and the battles I’ve lived through, I have never known a rage like this. It’s all beyondcomprehensive and beyond containment. It’s so fucking vicious that Lucifer himself would quake in fear and Eva won’t know what’s hit her when I find her.
I race to Adriana and snap the chain, tying her to the altar. My girl wakes in my arms and her dazzling eyes flood with hope as she stares up at me. Blood covers her swollen face and she’s never been more beautiful. More radiant. More fucking divine.
“You came,” she mumbles. “I called and called. I knew you’d come.”
“I’ve got you, baby.”
Laughter echoes around the chamber and slow hand claps sound Eva’s arrival. The bitch is gloating and I’m going to make damned sure it’s one of the very last things she does. She’s hurt my girl and I won’t tolerate it. I won’t allow it. And I’ll make fucking sure that everyone knows what happens if you so much as touch a hair on Adriana’s head.
