“Is he insane?” Hawk muttered.
“Yes,” Bale replied flatly.
I scoffed at Lucifer’s words and reluctantlyreleased my hold on River in preparation of the battle I knew wasto come. “You think you can take her from me?” I demanded. “Thatwillneverhappen.”
“But it will,” he replied. “You took myfamily.” He flicked his fingers at the wraith once more. “You tookmy ally, the one who opened the seals for me, away. There must be areplacement. We can all work together and you can keep her, or wecan continue to fight and Iwilltake her from you.”
“That’s not going to fucking happen,Lucifer.” A muscle in his cheek twitched at hearing hisdespised, angelic name.
His wings shot forward, and the lethalsilver tips on the bottom pierced through the rock six feet beforehim. “And when I take her from you, Kobal, I will use her to makeyou my slave. Let’s not deny that everyone in this cavern, thateveryone of your followers, knows there isn’t anything youwon’t do for your Chosen.”
His gaze turned to River, and a smile curvedhis mouth as he spoke. “I couldn’t be more pleased with you, child,if you handed me his heart. Which, in some ways, you have.”
River recoiled from his words as if she’dbeen slapped. I growled low in my throat. Magnus stepped forward tostand near my side; I knew he would attempt to hold me back if Iwent for Lucifer. He would fail. River’s eyes followed everymovement Lucifer made, as from behind him demons emerged from theshadows.
Most of these demons were lower-levels. Theywere easy to differentiate from higher-level demons with theirgrotesque forms, more animalistic features, and distinct lack ofpower. I could sense that a few were stronger than others were, butnot by much. Behind them, some upper-level demons fanned out intothe room followed by the barta demons who entered last.
They outnumbered us, and River was not readyfor a battle. I could feel the fatigue pouring off her. If I couldsomehow get her back to the vast power of the Fires of Creation orto the wall of the intact seal, she’d replenish faster, but we’dnever make it to the chamber in time, and I couldn’t take the riskof us being trapped against the seals.
I took hold of her hand and slid her otherone to my back, keeping as much of a connection with her as I couldas I moved to stand before her.
“You must know that he has telekinesis,” Isaid to River. “Telecommunication, visions, he can also cast anillusion to warp reality and make the world appear distorted.” Itwas possible Lucifer was capable of other heinous tricks I wasunaware of, but I’d fought him so often over the years that Idoubted there was anything I’d yet to see.
Her palm flattened against my back as shewatched his every movement. “Kobal—”
“Be prepared for anything from him.”
“I will be,” she said firmly.
Taking a step forward, Lucifer stopped atthe edge of the carnage littering the floor. “Bring me the girl,keep Kobal alive, but kill the others,” Lucifer commanded and witha flutter of his wings forward, the barta demons and all of thelower-levels charged forward like lambs to the slaughter.
The hounds all released a simultaneous howland leapt forward. They toppled the first wave of lower-levels asmore demons moved forward to stand behind Lucifer. I spotted moresilver tipped angel’s wings waiting in the recesses behind theirleader.
The crunch of bone and the sound of musclebeing torn from flesh filled the air as the hounds descended on thebarta and other lower-level demons. Fire burst from the tips of myfingers; it flared up to my wrist and moved swiftly to encompass myarm and shoulders.
Around the room dozens, of illusionsappeared, some were of us, others were of the hounds and skelleins.It was enough to keep Lucifer’s demons guessing, but it wouldn’tkeep them guessing for long. I turned to Magnus, whose face waschanging before my very eyes. His hair lengthened and darkened ashis body shrunk to become something much more feminine and smallerin stature.
River’s hand flew to her mouth. She took alurching step back as an exact duplicate of herself materializedbeside her.
“Holy shit!” Hawk blurted.
Magnus’s now violet eyes reflected the lightof the room when they met mine. He’d always been able to change hisappearance, but before it had taken hours for him to complete themirage to the point where it was impossible to differentiatebetween him and what he copied. Somehow he’d just done it in amatter of seconds.
“I told you there was a reason I retreatedinto my world,” he said. His voice sounded more feminine but notquite like River’s, not yet anyway. I had a feeling that would alsobe changing soon. “If they manage to get to us, they’ll have totake us both because they won’t be able to tell us apart unless sheuses her powers. If we’re taken, I’ll keep her as safe as Ican.”
By the time he finished speaking, his voicesounded identical to River’s. There would be no telling them apart,not by anyone other than me. River managed to close her mouth, butshe continued to stare at him in dumbfounded wonder.
Finally, she turned back to the battlebefore us. Lucifer’s demons were carving their way across the fieldof bodies littering the ground. The upper-level ones moved inbehind the lowers, convinced they would be able to attack with easeonce their lesser counterparts were dispatched of.
A barta backhanded a hound, sending itflying across the room to smash against the wall. I snarled as thehound whimpered and rose unsteadily to its feet. Rage fueled me asI released a wall of fire into the lower-level demons and sent themspiraling backward across the floor.
The barta demons shook the fire off theirmangy coats and turned back toward us. They hunched their shouldersup before releasing a roar. The others took up defensive positionsaround me and River as they prepared for the creatures to chargeus.
River’s hand rested on my arm, drawing mygaze to her. “The bartas, I can take care of them,” she whispered.My gaze ran over her pale face and the circles under her eyes asshe thrust her shoulders back. “Icando it.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” I askedher.
“Yes.” She kept hold of my arm, ignoring theflames circling around it as she lifted it into the air before her.The flames wouldn’t hurt her, but still I tried to douse them.“Leave them burning.”
