Page 61 of Trust the Fall
“Demons, line up behind me. Take no prisoners. Any who sided with Nolda die. Understood?”
More hurrahs and stomping sound off, and Luke’s hand raises into the air to silence them.
Luke turns to me. “This shouldn’t be a hard battle. If Nolda left, he took all the higher demons with him. All that remain are low demons and easily killed. You don’t need to join this fight, Victoria.”
“I might not need to, but I’m going to.”
“They’re in the throne room, Satan. Abdiel and Bumalin are holding the traitors for disposal.”
“The two high demons who were with Nolda?”
He tips his chin down in acknowledgment. “They’re with us,” he assures, but it does anything but reassure me.
Those demons were extra evil, and the thought of them siding with Luke is yet another reminder that he is their lord. The man I love and the creature who rules this terrible place are one and the same.
“They’re waiting for us,” Lilith says. Her tone is dry and curt.
Good. She got the hint that her time with Luke is over.
“Let’s go,” Luke commands.
The demons file into a line behind Lucifer, and they begin their march to battle. As the line ends, more demons join from the hall.
Luke and I share a glance, and I read so much in the depths of his eyes.
Be careful.
I love you.
We walk in silence for several minutes, the tension thick and suffocating as demons prepare to take out the traitors who’ve lived amongst them.
We round the last corner and come to an open room that’s roughly ten times the size of my barn. It’s wide open, and at the front, the high demons sit perched like kings, watching the fray below.
Demons’ knives and swords clank together as the first of our army begins the battle. I push my way toward the front, ready to join the fight. I’m yanked back and swung around, coming face to face with Luke. He pulls me into his chest, slamming his lips to mine.
It’s a quick, desperate kiss. His forehead rests on mine. “Please be careful, Victoria. You’re my everything. I need you safe.”
I roll my eyes. “I was born for this.”
Luke smirks. “I love you.”
With that, he rushes off, joining his legion. Removing my dagger, I rush toward a gnarly demon with spikes sticking out from its head like a porcupine. The dagger’s hilt is much shorter than Solis’s, so I have to be closer than I prefer to strike my killing blow.
Unlike with Solis, the demon vanishes before the blade is fully seated. No ash, no fire... nothing but dead air.
“That’s... different,” I say out loud.
“Reaper rock,” River states, sliding up next to me, pushing his blade through the neck of a vampire. “Although, that shouldn’t have happened,” he says, swinging around and beheading a wolf-demon. “Only a baptized reaper should be able to vaporize a demon with that blade.”
I stiffen at his words.
“Have you ever seen an angel wield this reaper rock before?”
His eyes squint in thought. “Only one,” he admits. “I suppose you could be on to something.”
We each swing away from each other, taking out more demons. I spin around to find my next target and slam into River’s solid chest. A ripple of awareness soars through me as every hard inch of him is pressed against me.
“Careful, angel, you’ll get me into trouble with Satan.”