Hades put away his flames to blast the demons with death magic instead; shouting his fury as he did. Persephone stood beside her husband; drawing upon every form of plant life she could reach. Mainly, it was seaweed that responded, and the slick stuff frothed up over the demons; smothering them and holding them tight for other gods to kill. Meanwhile, Pan spread panic among the horde, and Morpheus sent terror out within a fog of blue mist. Torrent fought back to back with Artemis using the bow Artie had taught him to shoot, while Toby launched his own arrows from my side. Torrent's skill with his new weapon surprised me a little, but the true shocker was Hekate.
Hekate was the Greek Goddess of the Moon, Crossroads, and Magic, but she was also the Goddess of Necromancy. I had no idea that Hekate had a magic similar to that of Anubis with his jackals. Anubis could reanimate any person killed by his werejackals, but Hekate had no such limitations; she could simply raise the dead.
As the demons died, Hekate claimed them, and soon, our army was growing while the demon army shrank. Yama watched this with narrowed eyes, and then he grabbed one of his demons. He shoved the demon off with a few shouted commands, and the thing lumbered away with his head down and horns forward. I didn't think much of it until the pounding thunder of thousands of feet drew near.
“Just get me through,” Krishna shouted to us. “I can make my way once I'm passed them.”
“Yeah; sure,” Hekate said sarcastically. “Let's do that.”
Hekate waved a hand and sent some dead demons after the live ones. But the fresh, demon troops had arrived and even with all of our advantages, it seemed as if the tide had turned. We were being pushed back through the street, and Horus had to land; his protection magic depleted. Hekate stood in front of her husband; guarding Horus with her zombie demons while he caught his breath.
Then it really started to go to hell. Morpheus leapt into the air to avoid demon claws, but Hades wasn't so lucky. The God of the Underworld was tossed aside by a team of demons who had banded together to form a living battering ram. Persephone screeched and gave up the fight to help her husband.
A high-pitched, feline whimper alerted me to my own husband's trouble, and I raced over to help Kirill fend off his attackers. A demon had sliced open Kirill's flank while he tried to protect Trevor—who was sliding down a wall; weakened by a wound in his side. Trevor shifted back to human as I took over for Kirill and healed himself in the transformation.
“Kirill!” I shouted. “Shift!”
Kirill shifted from lion to human, and then both of my husbands were naked but whole. They were also weakened from the shift. I needed to get them out of the city as soon as possible or they'd be easy pickings. But the rush of demons wasn't stopping, and all of the Squad seemed to be buckling under the onslaught.
I was about to go full dragon when a horrible shrieking filled the air. All of us looked up—even the demons—as a feeling of dread washed over us. The dry flapping and buzzing of insect wings accompanied the chilling shrieks as the strange sound drew closer. Then an angel appeared in the sky above us. He was dressed in sin-black robes and steel armor which set off his bright blond hair and made it appear as if he glowed.
“The Angel of the Abyss!” Yama shouted with shock and horror.
Abaddon winked at me as I smiled up at him. He pointed toward the demon army and shouted, “Kill the Yamadutas and the Oni!”
A swarm of locusts the size of horses descended upon the demons. They had male human heads set atop their bug bodies; heads who wore ferocious expressions and golden crowns. Long, greasy hair hung wild about them, and insectile carapaces—with the blackened look of iron—protected them. The locusts bared sharp canines as they descended on the demons.
If I hadn't known and loved the Hidden Ones, I might have been frozen with fear. As it was, I was startled but still able to draw my husbands back against a wall and protect them with my body. But the locusts followed their master's orders implicitly and only went after the two types of demons Abaddon noted. The tearing sound of monstrous insect limbs lashing out, and the high-pitched whir of enormous scorpion tails striking, was drowned out by demonic screams.
And then Abaddon alighted before me and shouted, “Kill Yama!”
The locusts converged on Yama—who had been trying to escape—and completely covered him. As they did, a path opened into the palace, and Krishna took it.
“Get out of the city and get that ward up!” Krishna shouted as he ran.
I pulled out my cell phone and called us a vimana.
Chapter Fifty-Four
“Krishna!” Karni-Mata shouted as the vimana landed in the courtyard.
The demons who had survived the locust attack had run off, and Abaddon sent his army buzzing after them. Karni ran toward the palace, but Teharon grabbed her around the waist and held her back.
“We need to ward the city, Karni,” Teharon said gently as she struggled. “We can't stop him now.”
“Get on that flying saucer, Karni!” I shouted. “Thor! Finn! Help me with Trevor and Kirill!”
Thor and Finn rushed over and grabbed my husbands in a fireman's carry. They took them onto the vimana and laid them down; propping Kirill and Trevor against the railing. Karni finally let Teharon lead her onto the vimana, and when we
