Page 69 of Indecent

“Fuck off,” Daniel snarled, pushing himself to his feet.

Ramiel smiled grimly. “I remember you. You shouldn’t have let them tarnish your worthless soul. But at least now I can make use of you.”

With a sweep of his hand, half the wall tore away, spilling blinding sunlight into the room. Ashmedai hissed, raising his hands to shield his eyes.

Daniel lunged, ignoring the way his skin prickled and his eyes watered. Fire exploded from his skin as he slammed his foot into Ramiel’s chest hard enough to send him staggering back out onto the front porch. It gave him time to reach into the aether and wrap his fingers instinctively around the hilt of the hellblade.

Ramiel came back hard and fast, wielding a blindingly white blade of his own. They clashed in the middle, and Daniel’s arms strained. Ramiel was worryingly strong even now that Daniel was a demon with powers of his own.

Ramiel moved fast, nearly a blur even to Daniel’s enhanced eyesight. He struggled to keep up, backing further into the room as Ramiel advanced mercilessly. Julian and Nicolas appeared beside him with holy blades of their own, circling Ramiel to draw his attention away from Daniel alone.

“Be careful!” he shouted, panic zinging down his spine. He didn’t want to see anyone he loved get hurt.

Ramiel laughed. “You care for these vermin? Weakness.”

“Fuck you!” Daniel said. The kernel was a raging inferno now. It was a firestorm, brewing to searing heights. He let it burn, focusing all his hatred and panic on the angel. The fire would only burn him, because Daniel willed it so. The others would be fine. The house would be fine. Ramiel was the only one he wanted to hurt.

Power suddenly swept through the room, knocking Ramiel’s feet out from under him. Daniel dared to turn his head and caught sight of the leviathans, Talon and Shadrach, with Alex and Isaac.

“Did somebody call the cavalry?” Shadrach asked. “The others are coming.”

“That would be me!” Julian called, saluting. “Thanks for getting here so fast!”

Ramiel kicked Daniel’s feet out from under him. He banged his elbow on the floor as he fell, and then Ramiel was on top of him, fingers wrapping tightly around his throat. Pain lit up his body, every nerve ending singing with it. It felt like every molecule was being ripped apart, and a red mist appeared in front of him. He choked on his own scream, his body thrashing uselessly. He couldn’t get away, and he couldn’t breathe. Panic seized him.

Nicolas landed on Ramiel’s back, wrapping an arm around the angel’s throat and baring his teeth. “That’s my brother, you son of a bitch.”

Ramiel snarled. His wings appeared in the air on either side of Nicolas, and with a powerful flap, he sent them straight for the ceiling.

The only thing that kept Nicolas from being flattened against the ceiling was Chaol. He dove straight through the air toward them, shielding Nicolas’s body with his own and grabbing him as Ramiel fell back to the floor.

Daniel rolled out of the way, and Ramiel landed on his feet with a thud. Daniel’s body shook with residual pain, but he was alive. Chaol and Nicolas landed nearby. One leathery white wing was bent at an unnatural angle, his face a mask of pain, but as Daniel watched, the fine bones reconnected. Nicolas was winded but scrambled back to his feet, unharmed.

Isaac drew a gun and opened fire, but Ramiel ducked his head and spun. The bullets pinged off his feathered wings like they were made of steel, sending ricocheting bullets around the room and making the rest of them duck for cover.

With a burst of fire, the others appeared. Luke, Malachi, Ira, Wolf, Nathan, and Storm. They stood in a row, holding hands, and leading them was Draego. He released Luke’s hand and strode toward the angel, drawing his hellblade.

“This should be fun,” Ramiel said, baring straight white teeth.

It was all Daniel could do to keep up after that. Ramiel fought like a dozen men, moving with a speed and power none of them could hope to match. Every now and then, a flash of blindingly bright light would flash from him, searing Daniel’s skin and leaving impressions on his retinas. He had a feeling Ramiel was toying with them. What was stopping him from using that light to destroy every demon in the room?

If he did that, he probably couldn’t consume their Wrath. He was just using it to keep the advantage.

Ramiel threw Storm through the stair railing. He twisted his wrist and threw the sofa at Valac and Ashmedai, whose powers were hindered by the sunlight streaming into the broken room. He left countless slashes on the Sentinels, though their wounds healed quickly enough thanks to the demon blood they consumed.

A slash across Shadrach’s chest had the leviathan hissing in pain. Ramiel snapped Wolf’s neck, and they had to converge around the halfling while he healed to keep Ramiel from sucking the Wrath from him while he was incapacitated.

Finally, Draego said what they were all thinking. “We can’t win this!”

No, they couldn’t. Ramiel healed as quickly as the demons did, and their hellblades didn’t seem to be doing any real damage.

“What do you propose?” Daniel asked, ducking under Ramiel’s blade and coming up slashing.

“I’ve got an idea!” Talon said. “Gather together!”

Daniel and Draego kept Ramiel’s attention on them as the others broke away. Talon teleported with Alex, Luke, Malachi, Shadrach, and Isaac first. He and Shadrach came back together, and Talon grabbed Ashmedai, Nicolas, and Julian, while Shadrach took Valac, Wolf, and Ira.

“Where are they going?” Chaol asked, dodging Ramiel’s next attack.