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A low, taunting chuckle echoed through the hallway as a tall figure cloaked in a crimson red robe stepped toward us. Shivers wracked up my spine, and fear settled into my stomach like an anvil. I felt weighed down, unable to move or struggle against Malcolm’s restraints. I was a sitting duck. As the figure neared us, I saw how tall they were–at least seven feet–and the rich red color of the hood covering their head. It cast a shadow, hiding their face from me. It didn’t matter, I knew who was underneath the cloak.Satan.
DESMOND PLEASE HELP ME!I screamed into the mindlink.Please!
Fear pumped through my veins, freezing me on the spot. This was it. Satan was going to murder me, and I was stupid enough to get led to him like a lamb to the slaughter. The fate I had tried so hard to avoid was right in front of me. The guys threw away their lives for me to stay safe, for nothing.He would kill them when he was done with me.I closed my eyes, trying to blink back tears.I wish Azazel was here.
He stopped in front of us, lifting his hand from where it hung at his side. His robe sleeves shifted, revealing tanned, olive skin.
“Thank you Malcolm Knight for bringing her to me. You are forgiven for your betrayal.” Satan’s voice was rough, familiar somehow.
He waved his hand toward us. Malcolm cocked his head and blinked as if waking up from a dream. He took in his surroundings, and terror settled over his face when he saw Satan standing before him. Understanding dawned on his face when he noticed the neon yellow magical bindings around my arms. That was his magic. Did he have any clue what he had done?
He mouthed something at me, but the tears in my eyes were too thick to read his lips.
Muted by fear, I couldn’t respond. I shook in the seat. Malcolm was right on my first day at the house. Without my attitude, I was just a scared little girl.
“Do you know who I am, child?” Satan asked me. I nodded. “Good. Youshouldbe dead. That will be rectified today.”
Malcolm stood, leaning down to retrieve a jewel hilted dagger from his boot. Despite the lack of light, it gleamed in his hand. He forced me up to a standing position, then held the dagger above me, poised to strike. I tried to run, but couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I shook so violently that I could barely stand. I would die here, by Mal’s hand. Alone.
A loud crack reverberated through the gate, then another two. The woosh of buffeting wings came from behind me. I turned my head and saw Desmond in his full demon form, flying through the gate, directly toward us. Bash was behind him, gliding through the air. A flash of glowing light sped past me, tackling Mal to the ground. Ares straddled him and knocked the knife from his hand, wailing punch after punch on his face. Mal tried to buck him off, but only unbalanced him. They wrestled for supremacy as I tried my hardest to blast the magical bindings off me. With the guys here, I stood a chance.
Desmond and Bash unleashed torrents of magical energy onto Satan, but he was immune to their magical assaults. He revved his arm back and vaulted a magical spear at Desmond, who blocked it with a magical shield right before it could pierce his heart.
Bash swooped low, landing next to me and disintegrating the bindings from my arms. “Diana, listen to me. You’re going to run and hide in terminal D with Olga. We’ll be back as soon as we can to fade us all back to a safe house.” I opened my mouth, but he put a hand over it. “Don’t talk, just go!” He took off into the air again as I ran toward the terminal.
An agonizing shout rang out from behind me. I turned to find Bash with a bloody laceration over his ribs. Satan blasted him with a bolt of magic, this time landing a hit on his bicep. His wings faltered, dropping him closer to the floor. Desmond tried to cage Satan with a magical trap, similar to the one I made for him in one of our lessons, but Satan broke through it without even trying.
Mal held Ares’ own magical spear to his throat as they continued to wrestle each other. I froze in place. They kidnapped me in the first place because they thought I had what it took to beat Satan. My anger toward them hadn’t disappeared–they were still possessive, controlling assholes who needed to chill the fuck out–but I couldn’t leave knowing that they may not walk out of this alive because they came here to save me.
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to clear my mind, mustering all of my courage and magic. I could feel it thrumming beneath my skin, crackling throughout the air around me.Remember what Azazel told you. You are destined to do great things, Diana Rossi.
With renewed strength, I ran into the fray. Ares was on top of Malcolm again, so I passed them, running straight toward Bash and Desmond. I grabbed each of their hands, catching them by surprise.
“I told you to leave!” Bash shouted. I pulled us behind a row of seats, crouching down to dodge Satan’s magical assaults.
“Shut up and combine your magic with mine, we’re taking this asshole out,” I commanded.
They looked at each other with uncertainty. Then the chairs in front of us caught fire, and we scrambled behind a column between the gates.
Desmond squeezed my hand.Let’s do it.
“You think you can beat me?!” Satan yelled. “By the time I’m done with you, Diana Rossi, you’ll be nothing but ashes on your nonna’s mantlepiece, right next to your Pop Pop. And your fuckboys will live in their own personal Hell, doomed to an eternity of suffering!”
I concentrated, envisioning three links chained together in my mind. Satan slammed a giant volt of magic at us, but I deflected it, sending it back in his direction. It struck him down and knocked him to his knees. Using our combined magic, I thought of a magical bomb in my mind. Multicolored balls of energy swirled in Bash’s and Desmond’s empty hands, and they pushed them together to create one pulsating mass of rippling power.
I used my magic to lift and drop it right in front of Satan. As it detonated, waves of magical energy rippled out, leveling everything around us. Furniture, displays, and gift shops were shredded to bits, laying in crumbles on the ground. The blast made my ears ring and my teeth chatter. Satan laid flat on his back, his robe hood dislodged. I let go of Bash and Desmond’s hands and ran toward him. I had to see what he looked like.
“DIANA!” Bash screamed. “Come back!”
When I approached his prone form, his chest was barely rising and falling. I knelt next to him, so I could get a closer look at his face in the darkness.
“Nick?!” I gasped. His face may have been battered and bloodied from the blast, but I’d recognize him anywhere. Same mobster face, same dark hair and olive skin, with an eagle tattoo on his neck. He had been my favorite patron at The Fool since the day I started working there. My heart clenched in my chest, thinking of all the times we’d made small talk. He’d acted like he cared about my life.
“I’ve had eyes on you for a long time,” he gurgled out. Blood oozed from the side of his mouth. “I know what you’re capable of, and sooner or later, I’m going to kill you. It’s only a matter of time.”
In the blink of an eye, he faded away. I tried to move, but I was in shock. The man I hid from–who pushed me into this crazy situation and turned my entire life into a fucking shitshow–was right under my nose the whole time. He hung around me for years, watching me, waiting until the moment was right to strike.
Diana, duck and roll, NOW.Desmond linked. All of the magic I had cast exhausted me, but I moved as quickly as I could. I felt a sharp sting across the back of my arm. Malcolm was behind me, brandishing the knife he pulled out of his boot. Red droplets dripped from the pointed tip. I scanned the room, searching for Ares. His chest was soaked in blood, and his shirt was sliced up with stab marks. He crawled toward us on his hands and knees slowly, pushing himself to reach us.
