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Vaszhago laid Farryn down alongside the stone wall, where the boy curled up next to her, and the clergyman backed himself toward the arches, as the demon approached him.
“There is only one way out of this labyrinth, and by the Holy Father, I swear that, if you do not destroy this heart, we will all perish.”
“Good thing I don’t believe in your god,” the demon said, and as he raised his hand to paralyze the bishop, a hard slam of the door swung it open, and a dozen demonic creatures pushed through.
With their excessively long limbs and red eyes, they scampered like spiders toward Farryn and the boy. Vaszhago shot a hand out toward them, paralyzing their movements, and when he swung his attention back the other way, he found the old man had tossed the heart over the edge of the balcony toward the Mortunath below.
“No!” Vaszhago threw out his other hand, stopping the heart from falling, his muscles burning with the effort of holding so many in paralysis at once.
“Let it go,” the clergyman threatened, his voice tinged with malice. “Your hands are rather occupied at the moment. And if you do not let the heart fall, I will kill Farryn and steal the boy away for myself.”
As the old man edged toward the two, Vaszhago’s kept his eyes on him as he held the heart and the creatures at bay. He’d need a third fucking hand to cast the spell over the bastard.
“Do not toy with me, demon. I stand by my word.” The old man pulled a blade from his robes and held it up, twisting it in taunting. “This place … it drains your power. Even demons aren’t immune to it. You will crumple under its weight.”
Rage seethed in his blood, and he ground his teeth. Releasing his hold of the creatures would have them going after Farryn and the boy. Vaszhago growled out his frustration as the old man slinked closer to the two huddled together.
The boy shot up from the floor and charged toward the clergyman.
“No!” Vaszhago cried out. “Fuck!”
The boy bit onto the old man’s arm, and as the clergyman raised his blade, Vaszhago released the heart and paralyzed the old man to keep him from stabbing the child.
Growls echoed up from below. Still keeping his hands held outward, Vaszhago slid toward the balcony and peered down where the Mortunath climbed over each other to reach the heart lying on the ground.
Within seconds, it was consumed.
67
JERICHO
The deafening sound rattled against my skull, as I forced myself to my feet and stumbled toward Letifer. I pulled my blade, knowing too well that I’d never have the opportunity to shove it into his brain.
My father was right. His power was unrivaled.
The agonizing pain brought me to my knees before him, and as I stared upward, memories of Farryn flashed through my mind. Every moment. From the first day I set my sights on her at the cathedral, to the night I finally learned who she was. The first time I took her on the bell tower, up until the night I watched her eyes flicker with pain, seconds before my wings had been severed.
All of it felt like a dream. An impossible dream.
Gathering what power I could summon, I slammed my fist into the ground on a roar, and sent a bolt of lightning that shook the landscape. The yard split down the center in a deep cavernous ridge that divided the Mortunath army, so that only a few hundred remained close to the cathedral’s entrance.
Peering down at me, Letifer threw his hand to the side, and the ridge I’d created sealed itself again.
I fell back onto my heels, exhausted.
Farryn’s faced flashed through my head again, her eyes closed in eternal dreams, and I gritted my teeth. Through the debilitating pain in my ear, I shot upright and gripped his helmet. I’d explode his head with my bare fucking hands if I had to. Lightning shot from my palms, dancing over the metal, and he released a sound that drowned the ringing in my ear.
As he intensified the pitch, I focused my energy on the mask. His body convulsed, the glow of his red eyes dimming.
My head throbbed, the heat in my hands burning against the metal, and I let out a boisterous growl.
He raised his palm to my chest. The blow to my heart that would kill me, but I held on.
For Farryn.
His gaze shot to the side, and I followed the path of it, where the Mortunath scrambled for something. Releasing me, he turned as if to run in that direction. On a thunderous crack, his body exploded into a cloud of red smoke. It took a moment to realize what had happened, as I stared down at my hands.
An object fell to the ground in front of me, and I frowned, lifting it up to reveal a large skeleton key, the bow of which held the face of a demon with red eyes.
