Page 126 of Bellamy
Alastair made no sound as he fell to his knees, but blood oozed from the wound and down his chest.
“Al!” Raiden yelled, locked into combat with two Fallen at once. But in typical Raiden style, he was more worried about those he loved than he was about himself.
Lazarus spun around, whip in hand, and didn’t hesitate before hurling it toward Asa. Something in his expression stopped me in my tracks. He looked… terrified. I had never seen him like that before.
Asa’s eyes flashed bright red as he focused on the whip, and it went off course, missing him. Galen charged at him next with me close behind. Asa knocked us backward without even touching us.
I slammed into the ground hard, and Phoenix appeared beside me, nostrils flaring as he glared at his former king.
“Alastair!”Galen exclaimed telepathically, his emotion strong enough for all of us to hear his thoughts. His eyes turned black, but when he tried to sit up, an invisible force kept him pinned down. Asa’s power again.
“Admit your defeat!” Asa kicked Alastair’s chest before placing the sharp edge of Light Bringer to his throat.
The breath rushed from my lungs.
“Never,” Alastair responded.
“When I was a boy, all I wanted was my father’s approval,” Asa said, voice thick with bitterness. The sword rested at my brother’s throat. None of us would be able to stop Asa in time if he decided to kill him. “He rarely visited me, you know. I only met him a few times in my entire life, and he never stayed long.” Blood beaded on Alastair’s neck as the sword dug into his skin. “Why were you so special! Why did he choose you over me?”
Alastair’s unwavering gaze was just as cold as his voice as he said, “Because you were merely a lamb he was raising for slaughter. And me? I was the son he chose. The one he loved.”
“Al,”I said.
His eyes flickered over to me. I hated the look in them. Like he knew it was the end.
“No!” Raiden roared, his voice breaking. He killed a fallen angel and tried to burst through the other two.
“Love,” Asa said with a short laugh. A crazed look appeared in his crimson eyes. “My father loved no one but himself.”
And then… he raised his sword and swung, the sharp blade aimed right at Alastair’s neck.
Chapter Twenty-One
Phoenix
I wasn’t a hero. I could watch humanity fall to ruin and not lose a single night of sleep over it.
However, all the mornings eating breakfast with the Nephilim brothers, the evenings of playing in the arcade and talking shit to each other, and watching them risk their lives to save a world that didn’t deserve it but they fought anyway—something had shifted inside me. I cared about them.
Enough so that I couldn’t stand by and watch one of them die.
As Asa swung to take Alastair’s head off, I acted on impulse. I teleported beside Alastair and tackled him to the ground. Light Bringer cut through the air over us not even a half second later.
Still holding Alastair, I then teleported us far from Asa’s reach. We appeared beside Bellamy, and he helped his brother to his feet before looking at me in awe.
“What?” I asked, cheeks heating. “It’s not because I like him.”
Alastair placed a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Yeah. Um. No problem.” Pain spread through my chest, and I did my best to hide it.
Bellamy noticed anyway and slid his arm around me, frowning. The combat, plus me using my teleportation, had angered my injury. It felt like a blade had wedged itself inside my lungs, making it hard to take a deep breath.
“How sweet. The dog has a new master,” Asa said to me, flames burning in his eyes. “But you forget the future that awaits them. The future that was promised to me. With Light Bringer, I will kill your new little family, mutt. I think I’ll keep you alive long enough to see it. You’ll regret the day you—”
“By the gods, stop talking.” Belphegor hit Asa in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. He retrieved Light Bringer from the grass and nodded to Vepar. “Cuff him.”
Vepar glided over, using his own current of wind, and dropped down beside Asa, who was blinking in confusion after being knocked silly. He pinned Asa’s arms behind his back and slapped the magic-suppressing cuffs on his wrists.
