Page 63 of The Angel's Kiss
“Where are we?” Rai asked, his eyes on the glowing and beating bloody heart.
“In Harlem. We must hurry,” I said, then teleported him to the very apartment where our target was because I had sensed a powerful demonic presence.
“Oh shit!” Rai said as soon as we landed.
I tried to freeze the demons, but I couldn’t and I knew why. Four demons had laid waste to the humans in the home. One I was sure was a Seeker by the way Saraphell’s heart shook in my hand. It recognized one of its own. The other two were foot soldiers, but the one who worried me was a Knight. He was also the one who nullified my power to freeze the other demons. Demon Knight Leviathan stood in the room, blood dripping from his claws, his glowing green gaze on me. He must have also been the Knight who’d poisoned Veronica.
I tossed Saraphell’s heart because I needed both hands free for this encounter. “You’ve betrayed Lilith,” I said.
“Lucifer is the only one I serve, Azazel,” Leviathan said, then he charged toward me.
I brought out my sword and armor, then slashed, but he dodged, then conjured up his sword and armor. His was silver with black razor-sharp edges. Rai pulled out his dagger and gun as it was all that he had to defend himself.
“Save the girl, Azazel!” was his command.
I looked past Leviathan to see a demon trying to climb out of the window with a teenage girl. I threw my sword, piercing the demon in the back of his head. At the same time, I had to dodge an attack from Leviathan. The demon my blade killed, burned to ash and the girl fell to the floor, still unconscious. Rai ran over to the other demon and their fight ensued. He was at a disadvantage because we weren’t fighting as one, but he wasn’t without skill and fortitude. He was going to need it.
I called my sword back to me in time to block a downward slash from Leviathan. We clashed as we fought, I caught glimpses of Rai’s tussle with the other two demons. It wasn’t looking good, which meant one of those demons had to be at mid-level. He needed me, but I couldn’t go to him. I had to switch my complete focus to Leviathan. I kicked him and managed to slash his back, but he countered by jabbing me in the side with his blade, making me growl. The pain was searing, but the wound wasn’t life-threatening.
Both injured, we stumbled away from each other, my stomach bleeding and burning from the power of his blade and him falling to one knee as his back gushed blood. I pushed the pain aside and charged forward and Leviathan blocked my blade. We were both on our feet again, our swords slashed as the sound of steel echoed off the walls. Leviathan was Lilith’s highest-ranking Knight and he was proving why with every calculated move.The wound in my stomach would take time to heal, just as the wounds I was giving him would. Blades from demon Knights could not be matched.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Rai had killed one demon, but that attack left him open to the other. “Rai!” I screamed and sent my sword toward that demon. It spun in the air like a flying guillotine and when it struck, it did the damage I wanted. The head of the demon flew from its shoulders before his blade could kill Rai.
It was a decision that cost me as Leviathan’s sword pierced my chest. I grabbed it before it could stab my heart and held it tightly. Blood bubbled up from my mouth and I choked on it as I fell to one knee. The wound burned and throbbed as I fought to keep my heart safe.
“Azazel!” Rai screamed, the sound of his voice reverberated through my very soul. Something inside of me burst open. I’d never felt anything like that before. All pain disappeared as my body lost its shape and formed into a black mist that floated into Rai.
Chapter twenty
Rai
The Bonding
When I saw Azazelget stabbed in his chest with that demon’s blade, I didn’t know what came over me. All I could do was scream, my heart leaped into my throat, and I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to cry and then I felt something inside of me break open. Before I knew it, Azazel had turned into a black smoke or mist and flowed into me. My body was ignited with energy, all of my senses were heightened to a level that felt like I’d been made a god. I stared at the demon before me. The last one. The one who had almost killed my Champion.
Oh, I was about to kick his fucking ass. I felt a level of confidence take over and just knew what I needed to do. All of my years of training were for the moment when I truly called my Champion to me. To fight as one. Black armor covered every part of my body that didn’t feel heavy at all. It looked like the armor Azazel had when he battled Baal. I let my sword extend from my hand using the energy that flowed inside of me. But I alsoconjured up a black gun with flames on the handle. The bullets I knew would last as long as my energy did.
“Azazel really has sunk so low as to be a Guardian’s dog,” the demon said.
My sword was an arming sword with a double-edged blade so sharp, it could cut through any bone, I knew it. The hilt that was just as dangerous with its sharp design. It was the most badass weapon I’d ever seen. It looked like the perfect slayer of demons.
I charged forward with a speed that was astonishing even to me and slashed, catching the demon off guard. He managed to bring his sword up in time, but the impact of my blow sent him flying back and crashing through the brick wall into the next apartment. Thank goodness no one was there. The lights were out, so it would seem no one had been home. Perfect. Dust and debris fell as I stepped through the hole. The demon groaned as he brushed the rubble off his body. I could feel the power, more intense than anything I’d ever experienced, circulating all around me and through me. I was high on it.
Before he could get to his feet, I shot at him several times and he had to roll out of the way to dodge my bullets. I leaped over to him and stabbed him in his leg and he screamed and tossed a ball of red light at me. I pulled my sword from his ankle fast enough to slice through the energy he’d sent, making it fizzle out. He rose and made a break for it, limping toward the girl, but I was on him. I was not going to let that motherfucker get away with that girl. Not after what he’d done to Azazel. I shot at him, the indigo flaming bullet leaving my gun and hitting the demon squarely in the back. He arched and screamed, his back smoldering from the flames that were lighting him up. I teleported in front of him, which seemed to surprise his ass and I slashed, my sword cutting through his body. Blood gushed out like a fountain and I kicked his body away from me.
“Oh my god!” I heard a female voice gasp.
I turned to see the teenage girl the demons had tried to take was now standing in the farthest corner of the room, trembling in fear. All of the demons were dead now. The one who I had just killed burst into indigo-colored flames, he was the only one who did thanks to my bullet. That demon was strong as hell, definitely a high-level one.
Holy shit, did I just kill a fucking demon Knight? Oh man, wait until I told Darius and my best friend about that. I had to snap out of my elation at having just kicked major ass and bonding with my Champion. While I still had Azazel inside of me, I wanted to use his powers to teleport the girl out of there. My armor, sword, and gun absorbed back into my body and I felt the return of their energy. I wondered if Azazel felt the same when he did it. It tingled.
I ran over to her. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded, her brown eyes still wide with shock. “You... you saved me from them.”
I turned to see one woman and two men—all human—lying among the dead. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save your family.”
“They weren’t my family. They kidnapped me and brought me here where those fucking monsters tried to take me away,” she said.
