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“Sariel! Get up!”
Kiyomasa’s voice cut through the sound of screaming and fighting just as Azazel's wings launched him further into the air.
Black tendrils formed around me just in time to stop Azazel from dive-bombing me foot-first, looping around the man’s leg and slinging him away. I took the opportunity to scramble up, after which I slammed a fist into my father’s face when he stood.
“Sariel!”
Kiyomasa was relentless, shouting for me as Azazel matched me blow for blow. When the other angel’s mouth suddenly parted for the first time since I’d spotted him, I gagged at the scent of rot that left it, then watched as his jaw unhinged, distorting his features—
I cursed as another body slammed into me, taking me to the ground in a swirl of black. The wind was knocked out of me on my landing; after coming back to myself, I saw Kiyomasa getting off of me, his form barely visible behind the black, shadowy tendrils coming off of him.
“What the fuck was that?!” I exclaimed when I got up.
Kiyomasa was glaring at me as my gaze hunted for my father, wondering if I had imagined the complete insanity that I’d just seen.
“He’s transitioning,” he grunted, looking around us. “You need to start evacuating our people.”
“But—”
The older hybrid’s hands shot to my shoulders and fingers curled into them as he gave me a quick shake, cutting off my protests. “There is afallen angelturning into ademonamidst this chaos, Sariel!”
For once, he was anything but calm, and it caught me so off guard, I quieted.
“This isn’t about you and your issues!” he continued to shout. “Have youseenthe damage even lesser demons can do without divine intervention or a keeper to make sure they stay in line? I don’t know if your father died or if this is another terrible manipulation, but this isnota fight we were prepared for—not with someone as old as he is. Get these people to safety.”
A hissing noise followed his impassioned reprimand. When Azazel came back into view with a too-wide display of sharp teeth and a face that was unevenly splitting into four parts, I shuddered.
“Find your brother, save our people, and come up with a strategy,” Kiyomasa ordered, then launched at the man with impressive speed.
Even though every fiber of my being protested, I obeyed, turning and hurrying away from the fight. I wasn’t sure if the half-demon could stand up to my father, but there wasn’t time for me to worry about it.
Weaving between wolves and witches alike, I finally spotted Auren, aviators missing, barrelling towards me.
My brother’s uncovered gaze went wide with horror. “Dad!” he shouted.
At first, I was confused, thinking he meant Azazel. Neither of us had called him that in a long, long time, though.
When I turned back around, I finally realized what had made him say that, struck dumb in horror at the scene unfolding behind me.
Kiyomasa had been impaled straight through the heart by a black, crystalline spike, his body hanging limply as Azazel’s mouth unhinged further, his limbs twisting at odd angles. His wings were out, and they were shedding feathers with every passing second.
My heart broke as Auren stumbled forward, then straightened back up, clearly about to head toward them. He snarled when I gripped his forearm to hold him back, but I didn’t let go.
“We have to get people out of here, Auren.”
He shook his head, obviously keen on ignoring me, but Azazel was already turning to stare at us.
My grip on his arm turned bruising. “Auren, I’m sorry, but we have to. Kiyomasa told me to find you and get our people out of here, so damn it, that’s what we’re fucking doing. Azazel can pay for all of this shit later.”
Wounded eyes found mine. Right then, I knew he was done with it all—another leader had to be in because Auren had mentally checked out with this development. He wouldn’t be able to keep it together enough to rally everyone.
Which meant thatIhad to be the one to start barking orders.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated.
We’d lost so much already,sufferedso much already, but it seemed like the world was keen on kicking us while we were down.
A flurry of feathers suddenly shot by us so fast, I was nearly bowled over.
