Page 2 of The Angel's Kiss
“You beast!” he yelled as he covered his wound with his hand. He had to dissolve his gun to do that. Good, one of his weapons out of the way was an advantage. His sword grew brighter, which I found peculiar.
“I was trying to cut your throat, but you moved in the nick of time,” I taunted.
“You will die!” he snarled.
I moved in again, and at the same time, played with the shadows. Once I was close, I swung my sword, but he rolled, dodging out of the way.
“That trick won’t work on me, you scum!” he yelled and he looked directly at me, which let me know that he could see me.
How? No matter.
I discarded the shadows and revealed myself, then laughed. “Oh! You’re magnificent! Truly worthy of the death I will give you.”
He released a yell that I felt vibrate through my body and ran toward me, faster than any Guardian before him. I used one of my most powerful abilities to freeze him, but it had no effect. He continued to race toward me.
Interesting and concerning. The longer I fought him, the less my powers worked on him. It was going to come down to skill.
We fought again with swords, feet, and fists. I dodged his sword and punched him so hard, he spun but came back with a kick that caught me in the chest, sending me crashing into the car of the gangster I’d killed. The thick steel was dented from the impact of my body. My armor had protected me from most of it, but it still hurt. I had no time to gather myself before he was on me again. I blasted my fire, forcing him to leap back. The heat of my flames was lethal to demons and angels alike. Hellfire. The Guardian knew it and it gave me time to climb to my feet.
“Argh!’ I growled, my indigo eyes glowing brighter in my fury. My chest heaved as he growled. Never had any being given me this much trouble.
We stared at each other, murder in our eyes. I would have his blood on my hands. I charged at him, a flurry of blows and slashes, some landing, as he did the same. The cut he gave me burned like ice-cold fire. It was the best way I could describe it.
The sky began to darken above us as we fought, the eclipse becoming fuller. I attacked the Guardian, punching and kicking him, both moves landing. He countered with a kick of his own and caught my jaw, forcing me to stagger back. When he came in, thinking I was dropping my guard, I ducked and slashed, my blade slicing through his abdomen. Finally, an attack I could capitalize on!
He cried out and fell to his knees, insides spilling out. In his weakened state, he collapsed to the ground, hands holding his abdomen. I knew better than to give him any time to heal. The wound on his face was almost mended, so I had an idea of how fast it would take him. I sent a blaze of Hellfire at him. The bright red flames engulfed his body, devouring him. He screamed words, which I didn’t recognize. I also had no interest in them, only his death. He thrashed about, arms flailing as he wailed, and that was when I teleported to him, swinging my sword with all of my might and taking his head. I watched in satisfaction ashis head catapulted in the air, then landed in a thud as it rolled to a stop. His body, still gushing blood, fell as it continued to burn.
I was breathing hard, so exhausted after our battle as I looked at what remained of the Guardian. “I’ll give it to you, Jean Dubois... you made me work for it.” My human features returned as I absorbed my armor and sword back into my body and turned... or at least I tried to. My body was immobile and no matter how hard I tried to move, I couldn’t. I couldn’t even speak. There was a rumble as the ground shook beneath my feet. I could see the eclipsed moon in the sky and it began to turn red. What the hell was going on?
The body of the fallen Guardian floated in the air, which had never happened before when I’d faced other Guardians. In the past, I’d fatally wound one, and their Archangel Champion would die, leaving only the Guardian. And without that power from the archangel, the Guardian was all but dead in my presence. I noticed that wasn’t the case with this Divine Weapon. Was this happening because I killed him?
I watched in awe as two souls separated from the corpse and ascended to the sky. Yes, this was very different from before. And the moment they disappeared, I felt the most excruciating pain I’d ever experienced grip my entire body. I couldn’t even scream or breathe. It felt like liquid pain—debilitating pain—replaced my blood and was now pumping to and from my heart. The red glow of the eclipse grew brighter and then something shot down from the sky into me. My body jerked about from the powerful force of whatever it was as it invaded me.
The pain I’d been experiencing all but doubled and I was finally able to scream. The windows of the empty factories were all shattered by the powerful roar of my voice, the ground continued to shake as my body was assaulted by the presence that had been sent from above. Was it from the heavens? It felt like it was corrupting me, torturing me. Tears flowed from myeyes and I couldn’t even remember the last time I ever cried... if the occasion even occurred.
Finally, the pain just vanished and I fell to the ground, panting hard, my body buzzing with an energy I didn’t recognize. Everything hurt and I was too weak to move. There was something cold on my inner forearm and I lifted my sleeve to see a mark glowing white at first. As it seared itself into my flesh, more pain gripped me and I gritted my teeth as I growled in agony. I watched as the mark of a sword burned into my skin and once it was done, that pain faded.
I rolled onto my back, and the cold air from the nighttime breeze washed over my sweat-soaked body. I shivered a little from the entire ordeal. My chest heaved and the fatigue took over; I had just enough strength to teleport home and into my bed. The last thought that plagued me before sleep took me was: What just happened to me?
Chapter one
Azazel
The Darkness and the Light
“To think that thestrongest knight in the empire has been reduced to the lowly, pitiful being that I see before me,” cursed my Empress, Astaroth, as she glared down at me from one of the three thrones. “You used to represent all of my glory. You used to be a symbol of the power I wield. And now... you disgust me.” She snarled down at me and my gut clenched.
“How could you allow a mere Guardian to bring you to such a state?” asked Empress Regan, the youngest of the three Ruling Empresses of the Hades Empire. My Empress was the second oldest.
“Answer us!” demanded Empress Lilith, the oldest of all the Empresses.
I knelt on the floor, my head bowed low. I knew better than to look them in their eyes, but I could feel their judgment. I was surrounded by the other Knights of the Round Court, to which I used to be the Master Knight, but I knew that was no longer mytitle. Not after what happened to me. Even now, I felt dirty and didn’t understand what had happened three nights ago. That was how long I’d slept once I’d returned home. As a demon, I didn’t need to sleep the way humans did. I could go weeks without sleeping and when I needed to, only a few hours were required. It had taken me seventy-two hours to recover and that left me even more confused as to what I had endured. As soon as I’d opened my eyes, I was transported before the Tribunal for this trial.
“I cannot explain what happened, Empresses,” I said. I told no lies.
“Can’t or won’t?” Lilith asked me.
“Can’t, Empress. I don’t know what happened. I killed my third Guardian. He was to be your trophy. This one was bonded to his angel Champion as a Divine Weapon. His death was my gift to all of you.”
