Page 80 of Indecent

Daniel was hungry for violence. He stepped toward the door before anyone else, surprised when Draego appeared beside him. There was a salt line at the threshold, trapping all of the other demons inside the club. Julian scuffed his foot across it to break the seal and then stepped back.

Chaol’s hand fluttered against his back. “Be careful.”

Daniel nodded, reared back, and kicked the door in.

If he thought the outside was chaos, it was nothing compared to the inside. Bodies littered the floor, human and demon alike. Black and red blood was splattered in random places across the floor, walls, and furniture. The room was scattered with paladins and demons still locked in battle, and among them was Ramiel, a pillar of gold and white in the dark sea. Standing out on the dance floor with Xyra’s throat in his hand, he’d lifted her off her feet, and red mist was draining out of her.

“Oh hell no,” Daniel said.

He threw the hellblade. It spun end over end, and for a moment he really thought it was going to hit Ramiel. He disappeared at the last second, and Xyra crumpled to the floor. She gasped and coughed, pulling herself across the blood-slick floor toward them.

“Run!” Talon screamed to the demons. “The salt line is broken! Run!”

Halflings turned and fled for the door, abandoning their fights with the paladins now that they could escape. The Sentinels fanned out, distracting the paladins by crossing blades with them. That left Ramiel for the demons.

Ramiel appeared in front of the door, right beside Talon. “I think not.”

He grabbed Talon by the throat, his free hand reaching toward Talon’s chest. Daniel lunged toward them, grabbing Ramiel’s wrist and pulling.

“Get off!” Ramiel shouted.

Chaol joined him, and together, they pulled Ramiel’s arm away from Talon, preventing him from sucking Talon’s Wrath out. Daniel’s arms shook under the strain. Ramiel was too damn strong.

“Get him off me,” Talon rasped, grappling with the hand around his throat.

Ramiel snarled, shoving Talon away and spinning. His fist connected with Daniel’s jaw, and he staggered into Chaol, who caught him around the waist.

Tendrils of shadow lashed out toward Ramiel, wrapping around his limbs and lifting him into the air.

Valac had arrived. His violet eyes flared with fury, and beside him, Menadel’s blade gleamed. Her golden-white wings stretched out behind her, and power crackled through the room.

“Enough of this, Ramiel,” she said sternly, her voice ringing out through the room. “You will return to Heaven with me for judgment for the crimes you have committed.”

“Crimes?” someone asked, and Daniel turned. Commander Sloan stepped forward, looking between Menadel and Ramiel. Daniel could barely believe he was here. He’d always just sent lackeys in the past. He hadn’t changed a bit since the last time Daniel saw him, with his high and tight brown hair, no-nonsense polo shirt, and tactical khakis. Black blood was dotted on his shirt and jaw. “What crimes?”

Menadel drew herself up. “Ramiel has committed crimes against humanity. He draws on the Wrath of demons to empower himself and burn the humans from the Earth.”

“She lies,” Ramiel said, stepping past the demons like they meant nothing. His voice was soft and hypnotic. “She is the one who is committing crimes, paladin. She would turn you against me, against the Holy Host, but she’s the one working with these monsters. She’s the one who arrived with a demon to face me down. Our Father would never allow us to work with the enemy in such a way. What she does here is an abomination.”

Sloan nodded slowly. “Of course. I can’t imagine an angel would ever work with demons.”

“Of course not,” Ramiel said, his golden eyes glittering. “You are the true allies of the Holy Host.”

Daniel had to admit, it was clever. Sloan would lap that kind of talk right up. It made him feel self-important, reinforcing his own beliefs and reassuring him that he’d been right all along. Nothing else Menadel said would matter.

And she knew it. Instead of arguing further, she roared, raising her sword and attacking.

Draego, Menadel, and Daniel took up places around Ramiel, creating the points of a triangle and forcing Ramiel to turn and block their attacks. One by one, the paladins fell to the others, until Sloan and only a handful remained.

“We must go!” Sloan hollered when it was obvious the tide was not turning in their favor. He was fighting Isaac, who wore a hungry, focused look on his face.

“No!” Ramiel shouted.

“We’re outnumbered!”

“They cannot kill me!” Ramiel turned sharply, slicing a gash open on Daniel’s arm. He hissed and fell back, flames licking up his body in response to the burning pain of the holy blade.

“But they’re killing us!”