“Yes,” she says. “Four of them.”
Lowers. And seven of them total. Not a usual demon number.
Then I hear, “Hello, love.”
I turn toward the voice, and standing on the centerline with his hands behind his back is who has quickly become my second least favorite Upper.
“I’ve been looking for you.” Hex is locked on to Nyx and not paying attention to me in the least.
“Stall,” I whisper, tapping away on my phone.
Nyx side-eyes me, doubtful, but then she sends him a venomous smile. “Are you here to grovel out an apology?”
Hex laughs. “I tried the apology route. And you repaid me by disappearing and leaving me to face the boss all on my own.”
Finished ratting myself out to Cass, I pocket my phone. I texted Hannah to save time. Poor girl will see the thirteen exclamation points at the end of my message and flip her shit.
Nyx runs her hand up my arm. “It’s not my fault I found someone who plays the game better than you.”
His eyes flick to me, tension creeping across his face. By stall, I didn’t mean get me maimed with a fireball from her jealous ex. But I’m an asshole, so I hook an arm around her waist and wink at him. The flame flares to life in his hand. I consider showing him mine since he’s showing me his and all. Only the fire extinguishes a second later when he looks beyond us.
Fuck.
“Is Abaddon behind me?” I ask.
She glances, and her entire body tensing is my answer.
“Of fucking course he is.” I rotate enough to see the demon’s red beams.
Hex opens a portal. “We’re square then, Abaddon. Consider my debt paid in full.” He offers Nyx a tight smile and steps through.
“Chazaqiel,” Abaddon says. “What a pleasant surprise. And with my little mystery princess.”
“Gang’s almost all here,” I deadpan. I blow out a breath and hand Nyx my phone. “Send another round of exclamation points to—” A burst of divine light interrupts me, and I take the phone back. “Never mind.”
Cass appears in a blaze between us and where Hex was standing before he bailed. After a fuck you look to me, he lifts his glowing palms and juts his chin in Abaddon’s direction. “You finally had your chance to end him, and you blew it? Damn, Donald.” His eyes cut to us, and I move Nyx between us, creeping toward him while he distracts. “I don’t know how you’ll recover from something like this.”
We stop when the demon’s shoulders heave in a growl, his flame reflecting in his eyes.
Uppers. So damn touchy.
“Aww, look.” I pout my lip out. “You hurt his feelings.”
Donny zeroes in on me, giving Cass an opening. “It’s not over yet. I will end you, Chazaqiel. And I’m coming for you next, Kasdaye.”
And we slide backward.
“Any damn day,” he says.
“But, Cass”—I glance enough to note my brother’s a few cool steps closer—“how will he come after you without the Dimming Blade?”
Abaddon’s face goes slack, and then he snarls at me. “You have the dagger?”
“Did you not know that?” I ask.
“How could you not know that?” my brother asks, taunting him as Nyx and I inch.
I tug her belt loop before taking over again. “I’m pretty sure everyone knew that.”
We must get cocky then—it happens with us—and move at the same time. Donny darts his eyes between us, realizing we’ve more than halved our distance to each other right in front of him. He doesn’t take it well, his palm flashing.
I can’t tell which happens first—Cass’s drop or the Upper’s teleport. But I know where they’re going. I barely swing Nyx out of the way before light and dark clash where she was standing. Donny immediately retreats to a safe range, and then the rats pile in. Lowers hit Cass from every side, and when Nyx screams, I jerk her away from the one with his hands on her.
“Don’t hurt him,” Donny commands, dodging an arc of light Cass managed to fire at him.
“Yeah.” Cass drops to within a few feet of us. “What he said.”
A fireball flies close enough that it forces him to drop farther away.
“He’s going to have to cull the herd,” I tell Nyx.
My brother’s focus goes from getting to us to taking out as many demons with one bolt as possible. It kills me to sit out of the action. I flex my hands, playing out all the moves I could be making, but instead of a rush of heat, my palms ignite with cold, shadows appearing in place of light.
“The amulet,” Cass shouts. “I can’t tell what’s them and what’s you.”
I mutter the spell, and the amulet bursts to life, not stopping at its usual intensity. The white glow grows until it encircles us. The Lowers flinch about as severely as I do, but they have the option of getting away from the light. Right now, we need the protection even if it’s tearing me to pieces on the inside.
“That works too,” Cass says before impaling a demon.
But while the Lowers scatter, Abaddon is stalking toward us. He reaches the perimeter and grunts as the light hits his skin, only slowing as he continues to push through.
“We can’t stay here,” Nyx says. “Can’t you angel us somewhere?”
“If by angel us you mean drop, then no. It requires wings, which require my light.”
Abaddon stops, and it looks like he might give up. Until the shadows twist and swirl around him in a demonic tornado. He takes another step, using it like a fucking shield.
Shit. I really hate not being able to land a house on him right now.
Our clothes flap in the wind from Donny’s vortex.
“Cass,” I shout over the growing roar. “We need to go.”
“You think?” He dodges a fireball, reappearing closer to us but not close enough.
“Portal.” Nyx moves farther behind me, wincing at the dirt being kicked up. “You can portal to him, right? Or do the teleport thing?”
“I can’t access the darkness when I’m using the amulet.” But I can feel it, ready for release. Like at the house earlier while I spell-cast.
I check Cass, who’s still battling it out, and I rip the amulet over my head. As I hold it away from my body, the darkness storms to the opposite side.
Nyx is ducking behind me, and I crouch. “Get on.”
She jumps up, and I straighten, stretching out my arm so the amulet stays as far from the darkness as possible, as I concentrate on upping the power.
“So,” I say over my shoulder, “this is either going to work or go really fucking wrong.”
Her arms tighten around me, and I blow out a long breath. Then, I shut off the light from the amulet.
The sudden loss of resistance throws Donny off-balance. He loses control of his shadows and stumbles forward, his eyes bulging when I open a portal and wave with the amulet hand as I step through.
We come out just short of Cass, who drops in the opposite direction to avoid a fireball.