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“No,” replied Maddox. “But I think Castiel is hoping I’ll try it. Look at how very still she is.”
“Shit, he’s trapped her there somehow,” Raini realized. “He’s probably hoping you won’t notice and that you’ll go to her— placing you right in his path. Essentially, she’s bait.”
“Yes.” A sense of urgency riding him hard, Maddox looked from Raini to Carmen. “I need you both to stay inside. I’m going to—”
“Now hold on a second, you cannot be thinking of going out there alone.” Raini shook her head hard. “No. No way. No fucking way.”
Touched by but not liking the fear in her eyes, Maddox took a step toward her. “Baby—”
“Don’t you ‘baby’ me. You have seen how many of them are out there, right? You do realize you’re totally outnumbered?”
“I’ve fought higher numbers—”
“At times when an archangel was included in those numbers?”
Maddox cupped her neck. “I’ve got this. Trust me. I wouldn’t go out there if I didn’t believe I could come out of the fight alive and back to you. Stay here with Carmen. I can see you’re balking at that, but it’s vital that Castiel doesn’t get to you. That’s why I brought you here instead of leaving you with your family. The cathedral is protected, the same as the monastery—those angelic bastards can’t get in here or burn it down.”
“I’ll keep her safe,” Carmen promised him.
Maddox nodded and kissed Raini hard. “I have to go. No matter what happens, you stay inside.”
Raini’s mouth firmed. “Fine. But if Celia somehow gets away, teleport out of sight and then I’ll psychic-hellfire the shit out of those motherfuckers.”
Maddox nodded. After sending a brief telepathic message to a certain someone, he teleported to the doorstep of the cathedral. “Took you long enough to turn up, Castiel.”
The archangel and halo-bearers swerved to face him and braced themselves to attack. Moreover, a dozen additional angels appeared out of nowhere.
“Maddox Quentin, I presume,” said Castiel in a booming voice that rang with power.
“You presume correctly. I was beginning to think you’d never work up the nerve to face me.”
“You think me afraid of you?” scoffed Castiel. “How very foolish. Killing you will be easier than squashing a bug.”
“Hmm, then I’d have to question why you’ve brought backup with you—and so very much of it.”
“My angels are simply here for the pleasure of witnessing the demise of the demon who murdered their brothers.”
“I wasn’t alone in that. Members of my lair helped with utter delight. You’re not going to drop the forcefield so they can come out and you can punish them, too? I’m thinking … no. I think you would rather keep them contained so that I don’t have any backup.” Maddox gave a lazy shrug. “I suppose I should be flattered that you see me as such a threat.”
Castiel sneered. “You are nothing.”
“A ‘nothing’ who none of your minions were able to take down—not even when they outnumbered me.”
“Those fools were weak.” Castiel’s chin notched up. “I am not.”
“And yet, you do not feel comfortable facing me unless I’m without aid.”
Castiel’s upper lip curled back. “Wrong again. I would not care if you had backup.”
Both Maddox and his demon smirked. “It’s funny you should say that … ” He sent a brief telepathic signal, and the people he’d called on mere moments ago swiftly appeared. Viper and his brothers gathered around the halo-bearers, their eyes bright with bloodlust. “As you can see,” began Maddox, still smirking at Castiel, “I’m not alone.”
His gaze landing on Viper, Castiel did a double-take. “You.”
Viper grinned. “Me.”
“Traitor,” Castiel hissed. He glanced at the other Black Saints, and his scowl deepened. “You’re all traitors.”
“And you’re delusional if you think you have a chance at being made one of the Seven,” said Viper. “That’s never going to happen, no matter how many grand gestures you try to make. But hey, don’t take my word for it.”
Castiel’s nostrils flared. “I will kill the descendants here,” he told Viper. “Then I will kill you. And I will take your body home with me. They will all see then that I am—”
“Completely fucking delusional, like I said,” Viper finished. “You won’t defeat Maddox, let alone me.”
“You were right, Viper,” said Maddox. “He is incredibly arrogant. You know, Castiel, even if you were to win this battle—which you won’t—you’d never get the promotion you seek,” said Maddox. “Not when your higher-ups hear that you brought my anchor’s lair into this. Her family now want you gone. They’ll demand retribution.”
His eyes red, Castiel let out a derisive snort. “They won’t get it.” He coughed again. “No one will ever hand me over to them.”
“No, they wouldn’t. But you’d be in their bad books for pissing off demons, wouldn’t you? That risks starting a war. They know that. They don’t want it. You really should have stuck to fucking with my lair—they won’t care so much about that.”
