The earth beneath me vibrated with the stampede of demon feet. Interspersed with that was the heavy thump Max made each time he brought his paws down. Over in the far side of the field, a light flashed. It was followed by the unmistakable tearing sound of another portal opening. The demon was calling for reinforcements.
Max swiped his paw at a cluster of popobawa to my left. A slash of blood dripped down his left brow. It soaked into his mane making it difficult for him to see. Sweat clung to his pelt. He would fight until his body gave out. Meanwhile, I was sitting in this damned circle like some kind of caged pet.
I shuddered when a foot broached the circle and connected with my hip bone. The breach started a cascade. Holes opened up all over the circle. Max roared again in such terrible fury it made the popobawa still for a millisecond. In that moment, Curtis swooped.
The popobawa scattered as the Nephilim came hurtling down towards me. Max’s hind legs lowered. He sprang just as Curtis attempted to cleave a chunk of my face off. Nephilim and shifters were equally strong, but Max had the weight advantage. Curtis also wasn’t in control of his own body. The demon was like a baby, trying to get used to its physical confines. That made it slow and gave Max the opportunity to sink his teeth into Curtis’s side.
A single bite from a lion shifter could tear a body in two. In his rage, Max could have done that easily. Any shifter in this situation could be forgiven for going a step too far. But the gene that marked him as an alpha stopped him from snapping Curtis in half. Max’s head latched onto the Nephilim’s side for a long second.
He did something no lion wanted to ever do and let go of his prey. Max bounded back to me and spat Nephilim blood into the cauldron. I looked up into golden eyes bleeding into red. Any more of this and he was going to go rogue. It hadn’t occurred to me that the demon would try to take over his mind.
My hand reached out to stroke his mane at the same time a shadow passed too close to us. Frost brushed the outside of the circle in my thoughts. I was leaping before I knew what was happening. There was no way I could push Max aside. Instead, I was real stupid and threw my body between his and the angel blade that was heading straight for his heart.
Pain erupted under my ribs. Max roared in such agony I thought I’d failed to protect him. Bran’s familiar copper eyes crinkled at me. He pushed the sword deeper as Max shifted and slammed his human fist into the side of Bran’s head. I fell to my knees beside the cauldron. Last ingredient: A life sacrificed in honour.
19
An angel blade wasn’t supposed to be able to hurt a human. It had been created solely to vanquish demons. But like most weapons from the angel realm, it all had to do with the intent of the bearer. Blood gurgled over my lips. The burning pain dulled as my body went into shock.
Max roared out of human vocal chords. He clutched at my body and lowered me to the ground. “No,” I sputtered. “Help me up.”
Everything around me blurred into a prism of grey. I wasn’t able to move past a kneeling position and that was only because Max was propping me up. “Sophie,” he said. “Don’t.”
But I was already stirring the elixir. It hurt like hell to move, but I wasn’t going to stop. Not when I had so little time left. The demon inside Marshall’s body circled around us.
So long, Sophie Mwansa.
The potion popped as it came to fruition. Blinding light burst from the cauldron. I grinned. My lips were slick with blood. The metallic smell made me want to hurl. Pink blanketed my palms as I drew the liquid from the cauldron and encircled it in magic. Max gripped my side, balancing the sword in my ribs so it wouldn’t do any further damage.
“See you in hell!” I snarled.
I turned the liquid into a fireball and launched it with all my might. The ball went wide as the demon Nephilim flew to avoid it. At the same time, Max picked up Curtis’s blade and whipped it into the air. As the demon tried to avoid it, I redirected the fireball at it. It struck the demon right in the chest. Through the force of my ebbing will, I made the liquid crawl into the demon’s nose and mouth.
Marshall screamed. My heart spasmed. Max’s hand gripped me tight as I tried to mentally separate Marshall’s voice from the demon that was actually in pain. Further and further I pushed the essence of the elixir. The demon clutched at Marshall’s face in pain. I could feel it trying to throw fear and uncertainty at me. I brushed it off. I had met my quota of pain. Death would be coming for me soon. Fear was a thing of the past. I fused the essence of the demon into the elixir. Everywhere it touched, the elixir purged the demon from Marshall’s mind.
My breath caught when I met with a barrier. When I brushed up against it, Marshall opened his eyes. They were a deep, brown instead of red. Purple light blazed from his blade. Whipping the hilt around, Marshall impaled himself with the blade. A roar like the sound of a train inside a tunnel filled my ears. A thousand anguished screams followed it until there was a crescendo of grief. The demon gushed out of Marshall’s mouth to form a dense cloud of black and red. It hung suspended for a second, encased in the pearly essence of the elixir. Caged, the
