My jaw dropped when I realized the charred and bloody thing they set down inside the tunnel wasLucifer. When they released his arms, Lucifer bent to rest his fist on the ground. Through his charbroiled skin, the glean of some of the bones in his hands, and his collarbone, could be seen. What remained of the burnt skin on his knuckles broke open and blood seeped out to stain the ground.
The wing Kobal had broken remained twisted at an unnatural angle. The fines bones of it stuck through in a few places, but it had healed more since I’d last seen it. His other wing was tucked against his back.
Black bits of clothing adhered to the blistered flesh of his thighs, chest, and neck. The skin on his face resembled a runny, scrambled egg as part of it dripped off to land on the ground beside his fist. Singed remnants of hair stuck in tufts to his pinkened scalp.
Slowly, Lucifer lifted his head and his eyes latched onto me. His eyeballs remained untouched by the fire, but he didn’t have eyelids anymore, which made his eyes look as if they were about to pop out of his head. What remained of his lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“Daughter,” he rasped.
“Fuck,” Hawk breathed.
That sentiment summed this situation up perfectly.
Lucifer raced forward far faster than I would have thought possible for someone who looked as if they’d climbed off a barbeque spit. The other two angels launched at Corson and Magnus while Lopan started slicing at the ankles of one with his sword. Hawk stepped protectively in front of me.
“No!” I shouted, unable to throw the ball of life I still held at Lucifer.
Lucifer didn’t even look at him as he backhanded Hawk. The crack of Hawk’s jaw reverberated in the cavern, and he was flung away, but not before his feet lashed out and he kicked Lucifer back. Weakened, Lucifer stumbled back before tripping and sprawling onto the ground twenty feet away from me.
I went to throw the ball of energy I held at him, but something swung out of the shadows behind me and bashed my hand. I cried out as the ball was driven straight into the ground. I gawked at my flopping hand as Onoskelis strolled out of the shadows with her sword resting against her shoulder.
“Niece,” she greeted with a smile, and I realized she’d used the butt of her sword to break my hand.
Fire burst from my other palm, and I launched it at her, staggering her back. She planted her feet in the ground and bent over backward to avoid the next ball of fire I threw at her. Frustration warred to the forefront of my emotions, but I tamped it down.
If I lost control of my emotions now, I would lose. My toes curled into my boots as I sought out the life flowing through the rocks beneath me. Sparks flared across the tips of my fingers and the bones in my broken hand set back into place with an audible crack. The midnight blue light spreading up to my wrists drew Onoskelis’s gaze. Wrath twisted her striking features, and when she lifted her sword, I knew she would chop my hand off.
I released the ball, aiming for her torso. She spun to the side, but not in time to completely avoid it. The ball sliced across her belly, spilling blood down her ivory skin. When she whirled back toward me, I braced myself and waved both my hands in a come-and-get-it gesture before giving her the finger.
She charged at me at the same time that I spotted Lucifer coming at me from the corner of my eye. I turned to avoid his rush, but it was too late. His good wing swung out and hit me in my chest. Before I could fight against him, he swept me backward and smashed me into the wall. The impact caused rocks to break free. They pelted my head and skin as they tumbled down the wall. Warm liquid trickled down my leg, and I realized that Lopan’s rose had broken.
I wheezed as I tried to draw air past my bruised and possibly broken ribs, but my brutalized lungs remained uncooperative. Like a fly caught in the spider’s web, I was helpless to fight them off as Lucifer and Onoskelis leaned closer to peer at me. I could barely look at the hideous destruction of Lucifer’s face. I knew Kobal had inflicted that damage on him.
Where was Kobal? What had happened? He was still alive—I would feel it if he wasn’t—but was he badly injured? The sounds of the others fighting the angels at the end of the tunnel drowned out the noise of what was happening in the cavern below.
Behind Lucifer, Hawk moaned and shifted. Onoskelis didn’t look at him as she lunged to the side and sank her sword through his heart. “N… n… no!” I managed to get enough air into my lungs to gasp out.
Hawk jerked on the ground and clawed at the sword protruding from his chest. Onoskelis tore it free and lifted it up in preparation to slice his head from his shoulders. I lunged forward, only to be crushed back by Lucifer’s wing. My fingers tore at the rock behind me as Hawk rolled to get away, but not in time to avoid taking a blow that cut halfway through his neck.
Blood spilled over Hawk’s fingers as he scrambled to cover the wound. Air succeeded in rushing back into my lungs. I screeched in fury and tore at the rocks as sparks of energy flashed over my fingers and swirled toward my arms.
I may not be able to throw anything at Lucifer right now, but I’d launched Kobal across a room when he’d touched me while my body was thriving with energy. At the time, I hadn’t meant to hurt Kobal, but I would love nothing more than to step over Lucifer’s dead body.
“Bitch,” Lucifer snarled.
Before I could draw on life enough to use my ability against him, he punched me in my temple. The world swayed as bells rang in my head. Blinking, I tried to retain consciousness, but as I grasped at it, he hit me again and the world went black.
CHAPTER 19
Corson
Swinging upward, grim satisfaction filled me as I sliced the angel from groin to ribs. His entrails and blood splashed over the ground as I effectively ensured he wouldn’t be fucking anyone for a long time to come. The angel’s startled eyes met mine; I grinned at him as I lifted my talons into the air and casually flicked his blood at him.
The black blood sprayed across the angel’s face as he staggered back. His heel slipped over the edge, his momentum carrying him out of the tunnel before he could get his wings out.
Lopan and Magnus danced around the remaining angel as he swung his wings back and forth while stalking toward them. The two of them would have to hold him off as only River mattered right now.
My gaze went to her as Lucifer struck her. Her head lolled to the side, and blood streaked down from the broken skin at her temple. She tried to lift her head, but he hit her again and she went limp behind his wing. Rage filled me as I bounded toward them. Not only had he dared to hit my queen, but he’d also hurt my friend. I’d make him pay for that.
