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His blood boiling with both his fury and that of his demon, Maddox conjured a ball of arctic energy just as the door to the restroom rammed into the wall. Hector rushed inside and took in the scene with a single glance. Without hesitation, he launched a series of hellfire orbs at the angel near the broken urinal and—
Pain exploded inside Maddox’s skull. His vision grayed, his ears rang, and the energy ball in his hand fizzled out. One of the three halo-bearers wavered to the spot in front of him and grabbed his shoulder.
Still recovering from the psychic hit, Maddox slammed his fist into the angel’s jaw and followed it up with a hellfire orb to the face. The fucker jerked back with a growled cry of pain, his skin sizzling.
A telekinetic force whipped Maddox off his feet and sent him soaring across the room and crashing into Hector, causing him to knock down his sentinel like he was a damn skittle.
Jumping to his feet, Maddox tossed a ball of cold energy. It burst in the air and hit the angels like a scatter of bullets. The slivers sank deep under their skin, too deep to be worked out.
Maddox’s demon watched with grim satisfaction as the angels jerked, shuddered, and struggled to take in a breath as the arctic energy circulated through their bodies and killed them from the inside out.
Two collapsed on the tiled floor, dead, and their halos winked out, but the third was fighting to hold on. He’d only been hit by a single splinter, so his time hadn’t yet run out. His form was flickering as he tried to gather enough power to waver away.
Maddox’s demon wanted the piece of shit dead and urged Maddox to end him. He could’ve, but he instead taunted, “Yes, run back to your master like a good little puppy and tell him he failed again. I guess he’s just not ‘Seven’ material, is he?”
The halo-bearer shot him a hateful glare, spared his dead companions a quick look, and then abruptly disappeared.
Rolling back his shoulders, Maddox turned to his sentinel and frowned. “They got you good,” he said, the ringing in his ears dimming.
Sporting several holy fire burns, Hector flicked his hand. “Pain’s not that bad.”
Ignoring that comment, Maddox joined his palm to Hector’s and sent a burst of power into him to heal the wounds.
“Thanks.” Hector sighed at the rapidly decomposing corpses. “I guess Castiel wasn’t yet ready to personally rise to your challenge.”
“They didn’t try to wound or kill me,” Maddox mused. “Not really. They wanted me weak, if possible, but not dead. They kept trying to waver me out of here.”
“Waver you to Castiel, maybe?”
“That would be my guess.”
“Can we come inside now?” Carmen called from outside the room.
Maddox stilled. “Where’s Raini?”
“Right here with me, obviously,” replied Carmen. “I wasn’t gonna leave her alone for even a second.”
Not trusting that a halo-bearer wouldn’t make a grab for her, Maddox stalked out of the restroom and crossed straight to Raini, who was biting her lip.
“What happened in there?” she asked.
Maddox looked at his sentinels. “Home.” He teleported Raini to the monastery’s communal seating area and then replied, “Three halo-bearers paid me a visit. Seemed like they wanted to take me somewhere.”
“Say what?” asked Gunther, rising from the sofa.
The other demons in the room all straightened in their seats, and Maddox saw that most of his lair was present. Just as the sentinels appeared, Maddox began to relay what had happened. And Raini, well, she blew a fuse. He’d never actually seen her lose her temper before. But as she paced up and down, cursing and ranting and swearing she’d make Castiel suffer in several creative ways, it was a thing of beauty. Every descendant in the room watched her, seeming rather fascinated by this delightfully vicious side of her.
Maddox tagged her by looping an arm around her waist. He drew her close. “I’m fine, they didn’t take me anywhere.”
Her cheeks flushed, she glared up at him through eyes that sparkled with anger. “Not the point.”
“She’s right on that,” said Celia. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve had it with these fuckers and their puppet master.”
“That was a suicide mission,” said Gunther. “No halo-bearers were ever going to come out of a busy restaurant in the Underground alive unless they wavered in and out of it in the blink of an eye. They had to know it wouldn’t be that simple when dealing with Maddox, given how hard it’s been for them to take him out.”
“What choice did they have but to try?” asked Carmen. “They tried attacking him here and at the club—neither attempt was successful. The only public places he frequents are at the Underground.”
Feeling the echo of a telepathic conversation, Maddox looked down at his anchor and noted the faraway look in her eyes. He squeezed her hand. “I take it people are checking on you.”
