Page 28 of Falling for the Devil

“That’s it! You’ve got him now!” Olivier’s encouragement felt hollow. If he really wished to assist, he’d enter the battle. Two angels against one of whatever this thing was had to be better than a one-on-one fight.

The beast wobbled over to a large boulder and smashed its side against the rock, pinning Lucifer’s hand beneath it. The crunching of bone sent a wave of nausea roiling through his stomach. The pain he could handle, but the sound made him a touch queasy.

Unusual.

It jerked to the other side, dislodging his hand and the embedded sword Lucifer had been holding. His weapon clattered a few yards away. Realizing he would not be able to kill it with the one sword buried in its side, he yanked it out and allowed himself to fall. His hand throbbed, pain rendering it useless until he had a moment to heal himself. He’d just have to slaughter the monster one-handed, even if it was with his non-dominant hand.

“Olivier, could use a hand over here!”

The only response was his brother’s laugh. “A hand? Yes, that does seem to be the case.” This was followed by another, louder snort. “You’re doing splendidly! Keep it up!”

I’m going to punch that bastard in his smug face when I’m done here.

The foul creature circled him, snarling with an inky liquid oozing out between its sharp teeth. Lucifer found himself wishing the thing would attack already instead of emitting its putrid stench with every exhale. Just as it lined back up with the tree, and lowered its head to charge him, something fell from the sky and landed on its back.

The something was small. In comparison to the beast, a mountain was small, but no—this was small like a mortal. Long legs clenched behind two nubby spots on the creature’s head—ears, perhaps?—before vaulting off it to land a few yards away... aligned with Lucifer’s other sword. Flaming red hair fell over her face.

Heaven forbid! Diana!

Without taking her eyes off the monster that now had turned its attention onto her, Diana’s kneeled down, her arm outstretched and grasped the hilt of the sword of fire. She held it out in front of her body, her other hand out to the side, her knees bent with one foot planted in front of her and the other supported on the balls of her foot as if she was ready to launch into a sprint.

And that was precisely what she did, but at the last second fell and slid underneath it with the sword raised until she came out the other end of the monster. It bellowed, black blood spilling out of its belly like a waterfall from a raging river.

Diana wasted no time in hopping back up and onto the back of the fallen creature until she stood above its head. With both hands grasping the handle, she plunged the sword between its eyes.

There was no thrashing. No cry. No final breath. There was no death rattle.

The foul-smelling, hulking predator fell, shaking the ground. Precious silence followed.

Lucifer stood rooted in place, both horrified and shocked.

Clapping resounded behind him. “Bravo, little one! Bravo! I do believe we’ll make a warrior out of you yet.”

A vision of wild hair, wilder eyes, and tattered clothes jumped off the unmoving hulk of whatever it was. Her ripped dress now had a slit all the way up her thigh. She strolled over to Lucifer, ignoring Olivier’s praise.

When she was nearly toe-to-toe with him, her gaze roved up and down his body. Her eyebrows furrowed over the bridge of her nose.

“What happened to you? You look”—she cocked her head to one side—“like minotaur dung.”

Chapter 14

Something is Amiss

“Well, it’s about bloody time you showed up!”

Lucifer almost jumped out of his own skin—again—when Diana’s red-eyed friend slid down the tree and landed without a sound. Would he ever not startle when Puck opened his mouth to speak? That voice was too high-pitched, but raspy, to pass as normal. And despite all the harrowing experiences of the trip, Puck’s hair was neatly slicked back, his clothes untorn and without wrinkles, and even though he’d fallen from an enormous tree, he didn’t have a scratch on him. How was that possible?

Puck marched up to Diana, threw his arms around her, and flashed a wicked smile to Lucifer.

I really don’t like him.

“Goddess, you saved us from that big, bad... whatever it was! What a shame our avowed protectors weren’t up to the challenge.” The damn punk winked at him!

Sounds of more clapping erupted behind him. “Yes, Diana! Truly, you are much braver than I’d imagined. I’ve heard stories of your courage during the hunt, but this... Why, I have no words.” Olivier smacked Lucifer on the shoulder. “Isn’t that right, brother?”

Swallowing a lump in his throat—as well as his pride—he conceded with a slight bow of his head. “Yes, indeed. Thank you, Diana.” He should’ve said more, wanted to say more, but the words lodged in the back of his throat at the base of his tongue.

Since they’d met, he had done nothing but place her in danger. And every time, she came out unscathed due to her own heroic actions, not from his defense of her. This woman could hold her own against the mightiest fiends of the universe, and he dared to wager that she’d triumph every time. Amazing was not a fitting enough word to describe her.

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