Weaz-adj shrieked and bolted through one of the two doors leading off the living room.
Oh, goodie! Lucifer loved it when they ran.
“I’ll go around.” Raphael loosed his wings as he ran.
Lucifer shattered the door with a quick fist swipe.
Weaz-adj whipped his head round and gaped at them. He was halfway through a window, one skinny leg still dangling over the sill. He heaved himself through and landed with some breaking brush and a thump.
Even knowing it was pointless, Lucifer said to Bianca, “Stay here.”
He dove through the window after Weaz-adj.
Raphael took to the air and hovered above a fleeing Christen.
And then things went awry.
A red film dropped over Weaz-adj’s eyes, and he shot toward the forest, his shape nothing but a white blur. No human moved that fast.
Raphael threw him a loaded glance before setting off in pursuit. Yes, indeed, this was not at all good.
Lucifer released his wings and joined the hunt.
Weaz-adj disappeared in the woods.
Cursing, Lucifer furled his wings and legged it.
Raphael dropped back to earth and wove through the trees and brush beside him. They sensed their prey up ahead and closed on him.
Weaz-adj broke through the trees onto the road.
Raphael launched himself skyward and got ahead of Weaz-adj.
Weaz-adj stopped and glanced from Lucifer to Raphael. His eyes glowed lambent crimson, and his features contorted into a mask of hatred.
Apparently, Christen had left the building—or body, in this case.
“Name yourself.” Lucifer locked his compulsion on the demon.
The demon squirmed “You know who I am.”
“It smells of Wrath.” Raphael growled and curled his lip. “And something else.”
It was the something else that interested Lucifer most.
“Fuck.” Raphael grimaced. “What the fuck is that?”
“Rebel horde.” Lucifer stalked closer. “And it looks like they’re trying their hand at possession.”
“You can’t win.” Weaz-adj bared his teeth. “We are everywhere. The master’s power knows no limits.”
“Fascinating.” Demons had an overinflated sense of who they were. “Let’s talk about your master.”
Weaz-adj licked his lips, gaze swiveling between Raphael and Lucifer. “The master is all powerful. He will free us from oppression. Heaven, hell, and earth will all be ours.”
Lucifer yawned.
“Sorry to ruin your evil monologuing,” Raphael drawled. “But if your master brings about the end of days, we all go bye-bye.”
The demon laughed. “That’s what you think, but you know nothing.”
Raphael shot Lucifer a glance. Lucifer shook his head. He hadn’t been expecting that either.
“I tell you what.” Lucifer drew closer to the demon formerly known as Christen. The corporeal body hadn’t started to rot yet, so the possession was recent. “You tell me where Ashe is and give me the grimoire, and I’ll let you leave this body and escape.”
“How about I take the witch instead?” The demon smirked.
And with vile timing, Bianca crashed into the clearing. “Christen?”
“It’s not Christen anymore.” Without taking his eyes from the demon, Lucifer moved to stand between it and Bianca. The moment a demon possessed a human, their soul was released, and the physical body started to die. The idea of that happening to Bianca caused gelid terror to creep up his spine.
The demon’s tongue flicked, tasting the air. “Witch,” it purred. “The master likes witches, all the witches.” Its high-pitched giggle grated on Lucifer’s ears, and speeded up the demise of his rapidly receding good humor.
“He wants the witch child, but this one is powerful too.” The demon took a step nearer.
Her features frozen in horror, Bianca stared at the demon.
“Lucifer,” Raphael said.
He didn’t need Raphael’s warning. They couldn’t let that thing near Bianca.
Lucifer lunged and grabbed the demon by the neck. With a sharp twist and a crack, he ripped the head off its neck in an arc spray of blood.
Bianca wretched.
But Lucifer could afford no distraction. Reaching inside the neck cavity, he latched onto the surgat demon and yanked it out.
Raphael was there with his heaven wrought sword and plunged it through the thing’s neck.
Lucifer ripped out its heart and crushed it in his fist.
The surgat disintegrated into dust.
“Bianca?” Raphael softened his tone and approached her, arms spread, and palms raised. “It’s okay. It’s over.”
“No.” Bianca stared at Christen’s decapitated body, swallowing hard. “He’s dead. You killed him.”
The unadulterated revulsion on her face tugged at the deepest part of Lucifer. He wanted to take it all away. Take away the murdered witches, the rage demon, the surgat, Christen’s corpse.
