he fought against what must have been excruciating pain. His teeth were bared, snapping together in a frenzied staccato. Though he seemed to be screaming, little sound came from his throat. I had no doubt he’d screeched it raw, the vocal chords so damaged they could only produce a senseless groan. His head thrashed about, swaying from side to side without rhythm, squirming to be free. The muscles beneath his boiling flesh rippled with strength as he fought against his binds. I didn’t care what Gabriel had claimed, one look at Glorius’s tortured face made it clear to me he wasn’t accepting his fate peacefully. He was fighting his bondage with all of his might. There was no way Glorius was a willing accomplice in Asmoday’s plans, he was a victim.
I sighed. That was a twist I hadn’t foreseen coming into this.
As if to reinforce my presumption, I heard Gabriel’s voice call out to the angel.
“Be still, Glorius. Put aside your anger and accept your fate. Your struggling changes nothing. The end is at hand. Let us finish the ritual without distraction so you may find your peace.”
A shimmering white light settled over Glorius, the manacle cuffs flaring up. The angel’s head snapped back and slammed into the stone floor with a dull crack and lay there as though being held by some unseen force. His squirming arms and legs struggled against the light, yet they too succumbed, sinking to the floor to twitch helplessly. Though pressed down, Glorius still fought. Every muscle in his body surged as he strained against the restraining magic. For several seconds it looked as though he might win out, his limbs lifting away from the floor, battling the pressure to stay down. Then, I heard a muffled snap and saw his arm bend back at an awkward angle. Mouthing a scream, his resistance crumbled. His body slammed once more to the floor and he lay shivering, writhing. Behind me, Scarlett gasped. Having snuck up alongside me while I was distracted, she had seen Glorius’s arm break. Her agonized voice carried out into the room.
Any chance we had of catching Asmoday and Gabriel off guard died on the vine. All eyes in the room turned to us.
Gabriel sneered, rage burning in his cheeks. “I should have known you’d fail me, Asmoday.” His hands Page 267 glowed with shimmering white light, yet he didn’t move to attack. He did, however, throw up a spell. The air around Glorius twisted and warped, vomiting color like a demented kaleidoscope. The space between him and us was instantly distorted, so much so I could make little out of the entire back half of the room. My stomach tightened into hard knots as I recognized what he’d cast, its magic altering the very nature of the affected part of the room. So much for my guns.
I’d hoped to take Glorius out from a distance, avoiding a close brawl with his captors, but Gabriel had ruined that idea with his spell. Anything that struck the whirling shield, which was smaller than a man and faster than a turtle, would be reflected away uselessly by the colorful maelstrom. With that, Gabriel had effectively cut our options in half. If we were gonna kill Glorius, we’d have to do it up close and personal, and that was really gonna suck. The last thing I wanted to do was murder the guy while he watched it happen. It was a good thing I’m part devil, because this was the kind of shit that gets you sent to Hell. Asmoday just stood there oblivious to what his partner was doing, his eyes wide with surprise. He stared at us, saying nothing as I imagine he tried to figure out how we knew where to find him. I saw sudden realization dawn on his face. Appearing crestfallen, I watched as he struggled with the fact Lucifer had betrayed him, favoring me over his own lieutenant. The look on his face warmed my heart, but I didn’t get the chance to enjoy it. Scarlett, enraged, shoved me out the way and leapt at Gabriel, her arms outstretched, hands balled into fists. Stumbled, I couldn’t stop her.
She streaked through the air like a missile, ramming her fists into Gabriel’s face. Judging by the offended look on it, he seemed more galled she’d actually gone and done it than he was hurt by it. The two tumbled into a ball of wailing limbs, rolling about on the ground in a flurry of sparkling energy. Thunderous booms echoed throughout the room as they battled. Katon stepped out from behind me, his crimson sword held tight in his hand. “Like we planned, Trigg. Nothing changes, do you hear me?” His voice was like steel, tempered only by his professionalism.
“Yeah,” I muttered, as I tore my eyes from Scarlett’s suicide mission. Angry she’d screwed up our plan, there was nothing we could do but go on and hope for the best. She didn’t stand a chance at beating Gabriel so we needed to get on it fast before we had the archangel up our asses.
Katon understood the same. In a blur of movement, he launched himself toward Glorius, weaving back and forth to avoid being struck by Asmoday’s magic. I took off after him, tracing my own winding path toward the bound angel, making sure Page 269 there was plenty of room between us so the demon couldn’t target us both.
Asmoday, his disappointment having turned to rage, was raring to fight. Firelight leapt to life at his fingertips. Clearly not interested in trying to snipe Katon, his lateral movement random and unpredictable, Asmoday settled for an area effect. He tossed two flaming balls of fury into the air, which took off of their own volition. They streaked above the running assassin and as they neared, rather than try to strike him directly, they exploded in the air above him. Fire rained down like a volcanic storm. Katon did his best to avoid the burning fall, but there was too much of it.
One projectile struck him in the thigh, the sizzle of his flesh drowned out by his growling complaint. He stumbled, the burning flesh of his leg slowing him just long enough to be caught up in the storm. A second seared down the length of his back, melting through his leather jacket and leaving a trail of blackened, scorched skin behind. I could smell charred meat thick in the air. His rhythm interrupted, he could do little but endure. A third and fourth ball of flame tore into him, one setting his chest on fire, the second burning his arm as he frantically tried to put the first fire out. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to continue on without going to his aid. It took all of my willpower to not stop, but I knew we’d only get one chance at taking Page 270 out Glorius and I was gonna have a hard enough time pulling that off without getting caught up in heroics. So, leaving Katon to take care of himself, I cast a glance at Scarlett as I continued to run. I was amazed she was still holding her own against Gabriel. Flashes of light sparked all around them as they slugged it out. Gabriel, his hands still glowing, seemed out of sorts. He looked tired, distracted perhaps. Whatever it was, I hoped it lasted.
Turns out, it didn’t really matter.
Asmoday, confident he had Katon delayed, turned his fury on me. Distracted as I was by Scarlett’s success, I’d failed to notice the demon charging at me. I heard him an instant before he reached my back. With a hiss, I spun about to fire, but Asmoday was already on top of me.
He threw a right hook that would make Mike Tyson proud. Reinforced with magical energy, his fist slammed into my face like a high speed train wreck. Brilliant lights flashed in front of my eyes as my head snapped almost horizontal to my neck. Through the cluttered haze of my head, I heard several pops as I stumbled back and fell to the ground. The pain yet to penetrate the fog of impact, I didn’t want to think about what kind of damage had been done. Not that thinking in general was all that easy at the moment anyway. I tried to open my eyes and see where Asmoday was only to realize he was standing right in front of me.
Though it was hard to see him, his image wavering back and forth like a bad acid trip, I could see the murder in his eyes. I moaned as I noticed his hand extended toward me, his palm glowing with flame. Not a big fan of being charbroiled, I curled into a ball just as he released it. Like a flame thrower, his magic tore into me. I screamed, but my breath was sucked from my lungs by the heat while the fire lapped at my flesh. All of my nerve endings picked up the pain signal at once and roared to life in a cacophony of searing agony. My face covered, I felt my scalp boiling up, blisters springing to life beneath the torrent of flame. The backs of my hands were the same.
Frantic, I fumbled with my gun belt with one hand, hurling it away before the shells could go off. Once it was clear, I threw myself at the ground, ignoring the violent collision as I rolled to put the fires out. My lungs tightened, the blast burning up all the oxygen in the surrounding air. Unable to see, I flopped against the hard stone, rolling back and forth. I could feel the heat melting my clothes, adding their scent to the bitter conflagration of burned flesh. After what seemed an eternity, the heat backed off, though I wasn’t sure if it was due to the fire going out or if my nerves had just been seared insensate.
I pulled my arms away from my face, daring to hope, and drew in a deep, pained breath. I could breathe again, however much it hurt. The fires were gone and I was still alive. For what that was worth. I opened my eyes, dried out from the blast, and blinked to focus. Once I could see again, the tear ducts reluctant to engage, I looked to see how bad off I was. Nearly naked, my clothes having been burnt away, the skin beneath was black as coal. Much of it was the same consistency. The only parts of me that didn’t look like a charcoal briquette were my face and my backside where the flame hadn’t managed to reach. Overall, it could have been much worse. Given the level of power Asmoday wielded, I’d gotten lucky. Under any other circumstances, he’d have killed me outright. I guess our theory as to his having spent most of his energy performing the rituals was a good one. Though it gave me little comfort, it did conjure up some small inkling of hope we might survive long enough to pull off our plan.
