Page 108 of I Accidentally Summoned A Demon
“I see your point.” Uriel emerged from the doors and descended the stairs, sending Melchizedek a side-glance. “He’s perfectly reasonable. I don’t know why I didn’t approach him first.”
“Uriel.” Nex’s mouth fell open. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Uriel was the one who sent the demon.” Gabriel stood alongside Melchizedek. “I would not send someone to kill her, Nex. If anything, I would’ve separated the two of you.”
“You sent the demon after Katherine.” Nex fumed at Uriel. “When I get my hands on you—”
“You’ll do what?” Uriel smirked. “What powers do you possess while you’re trapped in this blood bond?”
Nex inclined his head to the demons behind him. “I have help.”
“No blood needs to be shed.” Melchizedek glanced between Uriel and Nex. “Nex, you know the rules with humans. Surely you knew discipline would be coming. Let’s agree that both parties could have handled this better and resolve it without a fight.”
“Is that what you call trying to kill an innocent woman?Discipline?” Nex scoffed. “Call me what you like, maybe I am a demon, but I’ve never spilled innocent blood. Can you say the same?”
“That wasn’t the way it should have been handled. Uriel was not supposed to be part of it,” Melchizedek said. “I apologize for his actions. I don’t blame you for being angry, but she’s fine, and we need to work something out.”
“She’sfine? You think she’s fine? She was thrown off a fucking bridge! She’s had enough trauma in her life, and you made it worse. She’s not fucking fine.”
“Thrown off a bridge?” Gabriel rubbed his forehead.
Uriel shrugged. “I didn’t specify how the demon was to get rid of her. The method doesn’t matter. They need to be made an example of, or there will be more instances like this.” He gestured to the demons whose glowing eyes were all that were visible through the snow. “Look at them. Already they’re threatening us.”
“It’s only still a threat because you’re too much of a coward to get off that fucking holy ground.” Nex growled. “I will force your hand, Uriel. If you have no problem spilling innocent blood, why should we?”
“Let’s not spill any blood,” Melchizedek said. “We won’t come after Katherine again. There’s no reason to continue the violence.”
“You won’t come after Katherine again?” Nex cocked his head to the side. “I thought you couldn’t lie, Melchizedek.”
Melchizedek spun toward Uriel, who only gave him the briefest glance before continuing his staredown with Nex. “What did you do now?” Melchizedek asked.
“Our duty. I’m fulfilling the vows I made. The girl is not innocent. She’s been knowingly sleeping with a demon. It ends now. It wasn’t smart of you to leave her alone.” Uriel narrowed his eyes at Nex. “If you truly loved her, you would have stayed with her instead of coming after me. That action proves it’s not love. It’s infatuation and lust. If you loved her, your love would’ve controlled your temper.”
“What did you do?” Melchizedek repeated.
“He sent an angel to do the job,” Nex said. “Isn’t that right, Uriel? One of your angels finally decided to get their hands dirty. Did you think I’d leave her unguarded after what you did? Did you think I wouldn’t doeverythingto protect her? Don’t fucking tell me what I have with her isn’t real. She’s everything to me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
Gabriel and Uriel stilled.
Melchizedek closed his eyes, shook his head, and took a deep breath. “Nex, what did you do?”
“What didIdo?” Nex laughed. “I made sure my innocentKatherine was protected.” He stepped aside, and the head of an angel rolled from the crowd, stopping in front of Uriel. “Send as many angels as you like. They’re weak from centuries of having us do the work they couldn’t handle. Send all your angels for all I care.” He crossed his arms as several hundred demons emerged from the snow, surrounding the church. “You won’t win, and you willnotlay a hand on her again.”
“Nex,” Melchizedek scolded. “I was trying to get a pardon for you. Do you have any idea how unlikely that is to happen now that you’ve had an angelkilled? That’s practically unforgivable.”
“It’s notpracticallyunforgivable. Itisunforgivable.” Uriel stalked toward Nex. “This ends now.” Demons moved in front of Nex as Uriel approached, a sword appearing in his hands. “You think your fellow demons can help you?” A flash in Uriel’s eyes forced all the demons to sink to their knees. “Tell me again how weak we are.” The sword slashed through the air as he swung it down at Nex’s head.
Another blade caught Uriel’s with aclankand knocked it off course, sparing Nex’s skull.
“Enough.” Gabriel shoved Uriel back onto holy ground, away from the demons. “Enough blood has been spilled and attempted to be spilled. This is not how we handle things.”
Uriel turned on Gabriel. “You dare step in when you failed to fulfill your duties?”
“I dare to do a lot of things when you take things too far.” Light flashed in Gabriel’s eyes, paralyzing Uriel. “We are angels. We do not spill innocent blood. We do not act relentlessly.”
“As angels, we—” Uriel started.
“I think you’ve lost the right to call yourself an angel.” Nex glowered. “Go ahead, hide on holy ground. I’ve got time. I intend to stay with her until our last breaths, and I will keep her safe no matter who I have to fight.”
