The man took another step.
Jared stood, and lifted his hand, pointing at the black-haired man. “She belongs to Him. You can’t touch her. You may kill us all, but He’s commanded that she live.”
The man took in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes rolling back into his head. His lids shuttered, and then popped open, focusing on the baby. When he spoke, his voice was many; distant and loud simultaneously. “If you’ve noticed, I quite enjoy doing things He forbids.”
“Should I shoot?” Ryan whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
“No,” Claire said, her voice strained. “Don’t move.”
Ryan frowned, clearly unsettled. “What is it?”
“The Devil,” Bex said.
The man’s pupils bled into the whites of his eyes, the darkness inside them glistening from the light of the fire outside. He took another step.
A large vein bulged from his pasty forehead as his calculating eyes targeted my daughter.
Jared didn’t wait for him to take another step. He charged, stopping abruptly when the Devil grabbed him by the throat. Claire immediately reacted, attacking him with astounding speed. Her small body flew against the wall, and Ryan reacted.
She held up hand. “Don’t,” she said, standing.
Jared managed to pull free, and then he attacked him again with a series of punches. They traded blows, and suddenly Jared was struck to the ground. Claire rushed Satan again, but she was blown back, this time held by an unseen force high against the wall. She screamed in agony as dozens of deep, bloody gashes formed across her face, neck and body. Blood oozed from her wounds and down the front of her clothes, dripping from her shoes onto the floor beneath her.
“No!” Ryan yelled, raising his weapon.
Bex reluctantly stopped him.
Ryan grabbed Bex’s collar. “Help her!”
Jared crawled to all fours, and then attacked the King of Hell again. He groaned and grunted with each heavy blow Satan dealt him, and soon he was overpowered, and thrown to the floor. The man in white jerked his hand, commanding Jared’s body against the wall under Claire. Her blood flowed from her wounds and dripped in a steady stream onto her brother’s shoulder.
Claire closed her eyes, her lids fluttering. “Help us,” she whispered. “Don’t you see? Help us,” she begged.
The Devil took another step. He was just a few feet from my makeshift bed. I held my daughter’s tiny head in the crook of my neck and touched my lips to her white, wispy hair. She smelled like her father, but softer; more pure. I looked up at her assassin from under my brow, terrified and hopeless; cowering in his presence.
Jared took off once again, his form obscured by the speed. They crashed together, and with barely visible movements, they blurred from one space in the room to the other, stopping momentarily, and then moving again. Soon they were back where they started, and Jared was on the floor, his blood spilling from his wounds.
Satan leaned in slowly, relishing my terror.
“Help her,” Claire begged in a tiny whisper.
Ryan moved toward me with desperation on his face, but Bex grabbed his shoulder. “Let me go!” he said, struggling. Bex wrapped both of his arms around my friend, forbidding him to step in.
Bex and Ryan were going to watch us all die. If Bex could somehow escape with Ryan, Claire could be saved, but that would leave my child vulnerable. A million thoughts ran through my head, hopes that even if I were killed, Jared would survive long enough to get our baby to safety.
In that moment, anger replaced my fear. I remembered Eli’s words, and courage I never knew I owned swelled inside of me. “You can’t have her,” I seethed, lifting my chin in defiance. “I am not afraid of you.” My eyes filled with angry tears.
He smiled. “And what will you do?” he said, looking over to Kim’s lifeless body. In one blurry moment she was in his arms. He cradled her, looking almost paternal as he brushed her cheek with his blackened fingers. He scanned her face with a somber expression, and then leaned down to smell her hair. “She had a heartbeat not an hour ago. Dreams. Aspirations. And now,” he said, tossing her limp body across the room with one hand, “nothing.”
I closed my eyes, unwilling to let fear rob me of rational thinking. Before I was a mother, I might have run from the room, but I had carried her inside of me for the better part of year, and I had survived Hell before. Something inside of me whispered that my child was safe in my arms. I would have faith in what Eli had told me, and I would stand my ground. Nothing was stronger than a mother’s love for her child…not even Satan.
Claire dropped to the floor, and Ryan rushed over to her. Jared attempted to get to his feet, but instead resorted to crawling toward me. Jared made his way to his family, and then slowly stood on his knees, weaving with exhaustion. Once again, he was all that stood between us and death.
Satan took Jared’s throat in his hand and lifted him off the ground. Jared gripped the man’s arm with both hands as his feet dangled above the floor. Moving his arm to the side, Satan held Jared in the best position to watch the end.
Long, blackened fingers reached for the child. Without thinking, I pulled her to the other side of my body, and with my free hand, gripped the Devil’s wrist. It was cold and thin. My skin blazed against it.
“Don’t. Touch. Her,” I breathed.
He frowned, noticeably confused. He tried to advance his hand to my child, but he was unable to move.
“That’s far enough, Lucifer,” Samuel said. As usual, he had blinked into our plane without detection, but time Eli was with him.
“What is this?” Lucifer said, struggling to reach the child. He was clearly straining, but he was powerless in my grasp.
Eli smiled. “Daddy says no.”
Lucifer wrenched his hand back, his eyes wild with anger. “He’s allowing this…this human to defy me?” he howled, dropping Jared to the ground. “Do you know what this means?”
“War?” Samuel grinned. “Too late.”
Satan began to speak, but Eli held up his hand. “Enough, Lucifer. It’s over. He has chosen to spare the child.”
Lucifer charged at us, he arms extended, his fingers curled, preparing to kill the baby angel in my arms. Just before he reached us, he was blown back and held against the wall. Large, long fingers curled around his neck. Lucifer’s eyes widened. The Prince of Darkness was afraid.
“Gabriel?” Lucifer said, surprised.
“He said enough,” Gabriel snarled. “Go back to your pits, Satan. He will not ask it of you again.”
“Dad!” Bex said, his hopeful and excited expression matching Claire’s.
A figure stepped into the room from outside, through the broken remains of the windows. It was Michael, battle worn but victorious. “Enough.”
Samuel stood beside Michael, crossing his arms; Eli stood before the warriors. His immaculate white shirt was a stark contrast to their heavy armor. Another form stepped over the broken glass and into the room, and then another. Soon, twenty members of Michael’s army were in the room.
“The time of great suffering has come,” Lucifer seethed. He stepped to the side, away from Gabriel’s grip.
Eli lowered his chin. “You will leave this family alone. Hell will leave Gabriel’s children, and their children’s children, alone. He has commanded it,” he said firmly. “The child has found favor with God.”
“It is not human!” Lucifer hissed.
Gabriel took a step, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “She is
“Vile!” the Devil screamed. “Vulgar! Iniquitous! Despicable!” After his tantrum, he smiled. “Well. He’s finally stooped to my level. How delicious.”
“Blasphemy!” Samuel said, taking a step. Eli stopped him.
Before Eli could utter a command, Satan disappeared.
I took a deep breath, letting out a sob. Jared crawled back to us, wrapping his bloody, sweaty arms around
