Page 94 of Demon Demands

Sloane’s focus was tunneled, everything around her forgotten as she came at the gorgon with an intensity that I couldn’t understand. She was on a warpath, but Blue was the least of our worries.

Two hellsteeds circled Grim, one much bulkier than the other, making it clear who was Jack and who was Hannibal. The reaper's eyes trailed after the smaller of the steeds, searching for an opening to attack.

Lucifer and Lilith were tangled in a tussle with Satan, trading blows like they were one person. Whatever blood magic Lilith was using had done significant damage to Satan already.

Lightning struck in Sloane’s eyes as she finally reached the gorgon. The snakes on his head hissed in agitation as he faced my mate. To his utter surprise, his powers had no effect on her. Forming a fence-like barrier around the three of us, I caged him in, giving him nowhere to run.

“You stole my treasure, Blue.” Sloane’s whispered words held more threat than accusation. “You signed your soul over to the Third Devil of Hell when you walked into Dolyn Drake’s home and took Hyde from us. You guaranteed yourself a painful death when you put your hands on her. Your whole horde is dead because of your actions. How does it feel to stand alone?”

As soon as the gorgon opened his mouth to speak, Sloane slammed her right hand into his throat, wrapping the tips of her fingers around his windpipe. His snakes struck at her, nipping at her wrist and desperately trying to reach her face.

“The question was rhetorical.” She shrugged, digging the end of her dagger into his eye socket with her left hand. He gurgled and gasped, slinging his arms at her and jerking his body away with all his might. She had no intentions of letting him go until he was dead.

And he did die. As the battle waged on around us, her grip tightened, crushing his windpipe beneath her fingers. She observed him with detached fascination as he struggled to breathe. He fought to live against Sloane’s will with everything he had, his last-ditch effort to persevere in the face of defeat.

She squatted in front of him as he fell to the sand. “This death isn’t painful enough for you, but I’m working with limited time. I’ll make sure your soul suffers immensely for the abuse you put Hyland Drake through. She wears the Devil’s seal. You should have known she was mine.”

Sloane turned to me, her eyes solid black as she checked me for injuries. I huffed at her, narrowing my own stormy eyes. “I’m fine. I haven’t died yet. I’ve been playin’ the offensive, pushin’ the demons away from everyone when too many pile on.”

“Good.” She nodded, not catching my sarcastic reply. “Keep doing that, but stay behind this barrier. There’s still too many of them, and we need someone to run interference. If you don’t have to watch your back, then you can stay focused on the fight.”

Walking to the edge of my barrier, she crouched down like she was about to jump. “Where’re ya going?”

“To help Jack,” she called over her shoulder, pushing off the ground to leap gracefully over my magical fence.

“Well, fuck,” I muttered to myself, aggravation lacing my voice.

With Sloane assisting Jack and Grim, I turned my attention to Lucifer and Lilith. Demons came in droves to aid Satan, and Lucifer couldn’t hold them all back. Creating a cloud over the First Devil, I sent multiple lightning strikes down.

Lilith pulled a piece of hair from her head, weaving it around her right hand and one of her katanas. I wasn’t familiar with demonic blood magic. But as the hair began to sizzle, leaving burned marks on her skin, I thought it must have been a binding spell to keep her weapon in her hand.

I sent a vortex to spin a circular path around Sloane’s grandparents and Satan, keeping them contained without interruptions from the outside fighting.

Swinging my gaze around the battlefield, I searched for the members of our small group. Charlie was with the First Legion, and they were handling themselves nicely. The reddish wolf was herding demons straight to the legion, most likely doing his own assessment of their skills mid-battle.

The triplets had morphed into the true children of Cerberus. A gigantic, three-headed, hellhound look-a-like snarled and gnashed rows of teeth together, splattering demonic blood in the sand as they crushed victims.

Soren and Charlotte were working flawlessly together. The spider-guy was stringing demons up in webs and biting them while the chameleon covered his back, practically invisible as she cut enemies down.

Checking on the guys, I called a few stray weapons to me. I pushed a leather whip to York as he maneuvered through the enemy line, and then I started throwing singular lightning bolts at anyone who was in his way. The druid was heading to Stone and Briggs. Demons were congregating en masse around them.

Vaughn and Novak were coming from the opposite direction. The vampire was in full-on bloodlust, his skin ashy and face gaunt. His pupils were impossible to see as crimson stained the whites of his eyes, blood spilling over from his lower lashes. The fae’s eyes were completely white, frost crawling up his arms and across his chest despite the heat from the hellish sun.

The five of them could handle their own, but I still pushed a few weapons to them, dropping my stolen haul in between them. The guys would be having a blast while I played the part of lookout, safe in my demon-proof bubble.

It wasn’t a bad position to be in, though. I had an analytical mind, I could logically see where help was needed most and prioritize my efforts.

And that was why the creeping King caught my attention next.

Watching as Sam tried to sneak up on Satan, I could see the diversion a mile away. When the gray demon snapped his glare toward the Second Devil, Lilith pounced. Crossing her dual katanas into an X, she decapitated her foe with makeshift scissors.

I wanted to snort at the spectacle, but the Mother of Demons didn’t stop there. She hacked at Satan’s body until he was cubes of flesh and bones scattered across the sand.

Grim rushed over to Lilith, leaving Sloane in his place to help Jack finish off the fight with Hannibal. Swinging his scythe above the kill spot, the reaper caught Satan’s soul.

After a moment, he held his hand out, presenting Lilith and Lucifer with a baseball-sized glass orb, an angry gray essence thrashing inside. Lilith smiled viciously as she cradled the orb in her hands and bowed her head to the reaper.

Trailing back over the chaos, I witnessed the moment Hannibal Steed died. He reared up on his hind legs, attempting to trample Sloane, and Jack shifted to his human form.