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We might need his strength later.
The feathers ceased, and Azazel’s thunderous footsteps drew close. He picked me up by the scruff of my neck and made it so that I was eye level with him. “You think you can attack me? In my own home?” he drawled in his deep growl.
He flung me, and I slammed into the wall, feeling my ribs crack. I whined; I couldn’t help it.
Sariel was on his feet and rushing Azazel before I could protest. Azazel clicked his tongue and swatted him away as he advanced on me.
His steps shook the house. I could hear things falling and breaking because of it. I wondered if Credence and Lucy were inside, too.
Despite the fire in my ribs and my waning energy, I leaped at him.
I shifted midair, and the motion jarred him so much that he stumbled back. His wings snapped out to stop him from falling, but his imbalance was precisely what I’d been counting on.
Sariel grabbed one of his legs from where he’d crawled unnoticed across the floor and yanked hard. Azazel’s wings spasmed wildly, then vanished as he began to fall—a wise decision, considering their size.
He flipped us over, though, one hand raised to claw at me, when a gunshot suddenly went off.
20
FAMILY
Aria
The gunshot didn’t register until Azazel had me pinned to the floor. One clawed hand was poised to strike, but another shot echoed, and Tyler’s voice interrupted him.
“That’s enough, Azazel,” the wolf said.
Sariel’s head snapped in my direction, and the distraction was exactly what the guards needed. One of them scrambled for his gun and pointed it at Sariel’s head.
“Don’t move,” he threatened, clearly out of breath.
Meanwhile, Sariel had healed physically; even his nose had snapped back into place at some point. The only evidence he’d ever been beaten at all was his torn clothing and matted hair, as his eyes otherwise shined with calculated intelligence.
He eyed Tyler, whose gun was leveled on Azazel, and then Azazel, who had one hand wrapped around my throat.
Azazel’s claws had begun to prick me, and I could feel a dribble of blood slip down my neck and catch in my collarbones.
“Let her go,” Tyler said.
Azazel’s eyes were wild as he turned them on Tyler. “What the fuck are you doing? Don’t point that thing at me!”
“Let the wolf go, Azazel.”
Tyler took a step closer, and Azazel’s expression cleared. He assessed the room, finally understanding that, in a sense, he was outnumbered. One to several fallen-blood wolves, one pissed angel hybrid, and an equally pissed-off wolf hybrid.
He released my throat slowly. I gasped as he eased off of me to stand and face Tyler. Another wolf quickly took his place, subduing me before I could think to attack Azazel again.
“We had a deal,” he said.
“One I intend to honor,” Tyler replied, the gun still trained on Azazel as they squared off against each other, “but you’re getting out of control.”
“I wouldn’t kill the girl,” Azazel sighed exasperatedly, as though Tyler were making a big deal out of nothing. “She’s integral to the plan.”
“Glad you remembered the plan,” Tyler sneered. “Nowhere did it account for her having a mate, but I overlooked that because we agreed they’d be separated and the boy would get thrown in the Pit.”
I exchanged a confused glance with Sariel. Tyler was interested in me?
“Nowhere did it involve dragging those people who pretended to be her family into it,” Tyler glared at Azazel. “That, I can’t overlook. We had a simple agreement, Azazel. You get the girl and find out if she can calm the wolf the way her mother could, and I supply you with wolves and do your dirty work for you.”
