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Fuck. There were too many of them.
I swooped, talons outstretched. They sliced through the alpha's thick throat, blood spraying my feathers, before I swung around and shot at a woman who thought she could get past me.
"Stop!" a whip-sharp voice shouted, and the woman I was flying for sneered and stepped out of my path at the last minute.
I screeched in rage and defiance, turning to face this new threat and—I paused. I knew the grey-haired woman from somewhere, but I couldn't remember if she was a friend or an enemy. She hadn't been wearing thick armour or wielding a broadsword the last time I saw her—withHaley.Fuck, she was my mate's friend.
"Back the fuck up!" Verena yelled, fear obvious in her voice but not in her stance when she lifted her hands and curled them into fists. Golden sparks lit her fingertips, but compared to the magic I'd seen monsters wield lately it was nothing, compared to the violence of alphas, it was nothing.
I dove for the ground in front of Verena, my wings tucked tight to my body. Furious with protectiveness, I yanked hard on my shifting magic, magic rushing up and over me, bringing a threat of exhaustion with it. I landed hard on two legs, impact spiking up both legs and a rumble of warning in my throat.
But all the alphas had frozen at the woman's command; they didn't even twitch in our direction even if violence clearly shone in their eyes.
"You touch her," I warned them, looking directly in their commander's eyes, "and you die."
The commander tilted her head, her long grey braid falling over her shoulder. She was Renna's wife, I remembered, but I didn't know her name. "You're Halwen's man. The big, growly one. Where is she?"
"Fighting Cronus," I replied grimly, crunching grass and twigs as I positioned myself in front of the kid, every step venting my rage and panic. "Now get out of my way."
"Who's the girl?"
"She's ours," I growled. "She's family. I—"
I cut off, spreading my arms to shield Verena when an enormous three-headed hellhound tore through the forest, sharp teeth bared in each head and murder glowing in their eyes. The creature didn't glance our way, just sprinted through the trees and raced out of sight. My heartbeat quickened.
"Something's wrong," the commander said, alarm in her eyes. "I can feel—can't you feel that?"
I shook my head, but then a shift went through me, like an earthquake shuddered through every atom of my being.
"Lucifer," the commander breathed, her face pale. "That's—impossible."
"What?" I breathed, glancing back to make sure Verena was still behind me. She'd edged closer, her fists still raised but no longer flickering with golden magic. She didn't have nearly enough power to be fighting threats as deadly as these. I needed to get her out of here.
"He's—no longer our king." The commander shook her silver head and raised her voice, "Everyone to Olympus.Full speed!"
When I grabbed Verena's arm and twisted away from the city, the commander said, "You're not coming?"
"That's no place for a kid," I rumbled, picking up my pace, wanting Verena as far away from these alphas, the city, and the titan as possible. Even if it killed me to walk away from my family when they so clearly needed me.
What the fuck had happened to Lucifer?
"Wait," the commander yelled, stalking after us. "Take this."
I spun with a scowl, but Verena was already reaching out to snatch the shining metal thing from the woman’s hand.
"This is a pen," she said flatly, her young face filled with an ire that better suited someone twice her age.
"It's an emergency portal," the commander corrected, her expression hard when she looked at me. "Get the girl to safety and come back. You're an archdemon, and you've survived death once. If Lucifer really is—we're going to need all the help we can get."
If Lucifer really is … what? Dead? Shit, did Cronus killLucifer?The devil, the King of Hell?
My blood turned to ice.
"Go!" the commander barked at me, and I startled, instinctually jumping to obey a more powerful demon. She raced away from us and threw her hands out at her sides, an awful, chilling magic roiling through the forest.
"What the hell is she?" Verena breathed, staring at the pen in her hand.
I grabbed her wrist so she couldn't portal alone and murmured, "A demon, but no kind I've seen before. Let's go. The sooner I get you somewhere safe, the sooner I can go back for the rest of our family."
