Page 95 of Guardian Angel

“Good talk,” I said to the cloud of smoke as I walked across the roof and picked up my blades on my way to the door leading into the warehouse. I shoved it hard, breaking the lock and nearly sending the door off its hinges. The stairway beyond was dark and ended in a simple wooden door.

I heard a scream,Sierra’sscream, through the door. I ran down the stairs, not caring about stealth or caution. They’d know I was here soon enough anyway. And Dantalion knew about the guardian bond—he had to be expecting me.

This door did fly off its hinges, soaring across a balcony and crashing into the wooden railing.

There were dozens of demons in the warehouse, all looking up at me. My gaze darted back and forth, searching for Sierra, but I didn’t see her. I knew she was here. I could hear her crying softly.

Rage turned my vision to little more than a red haze. I was going to make every single one of these assholes pay for touching her. Every tear she’d cried or moment of pain she’d felt would be avenged.

And then I’d deal with the guilt swirling under the rage. I’d promised her that no demon would touch a hair on her head. I’d failed as her guardian and as the man she’d put her trust in.

“You’re all dead,” I promised as the heavenly fire pulsed through my limbs and caused my knives to glow brightly.

My wings flared out behind me and I vaulted off the balcony, landing just as one of the demons charged me. I slashed at his neck, and there was a splatter of dark blood before he turned to smoke.

Another one rushed forward, clearly not learning his lesson from his friend’s fate. I kicked out, catching the asshole in the gut. He stumbled back, doubling over. I moved forward, stabbing down into the demon’s back with one knife while throwing the other one into the chest of another demon. Both were reduced to smoke. It was going to get hard to see in here pretty soon, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. I didn’t have any weapons with me that would take them down without killing them.

I slammed my remaining knife into the chest of another demon just as he tried to grab me. He looked startled for a second before he dissolved into a cloud of red smoke. It didn’t escape my notice that there wasn’t a single demon royal in sight. Either Dantalion realized they were no match for me, or he’d run out of high-ranking demons willing to fight his battles.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a reddish arm swing a second before a demon’s claws raked down one of my wings.

I hissed, but the pain only fed the fire inside me. I was born an angel of the sixth order—I was bred to fight these idiots, and I healed damn fast.

“Is that the best you can do?” I smirked at the demon, who snarled at me. I could feel hot blood trickling down my wing, but the pain was already fading as my skin knitted itself back together.

The demon swung again, but I easily danced out of the way and threw my blade. I ran forward, sliding under the arm of another demon as I reached where my knife had fallen. I grasped the handle and came up, slicing at the demon I’d just dodged. She let out a scream as the burning blade sliced through her stomach.

I waved away the red smoke that was left behind, and my eyes collided with Sierra’s. Hers were wide with terror. Dantalion’s last surviving son held her by her upper arms. Her wrists were bound together by handcuffs, and a chain ran from another pair of cuffs around her ankles to one of the many rings in the floor.

All of that barely registered. I was more concerned with the cuts that ran up and down her arms. Was that the source of her scream earlier? There were so many slices, small and just deep enough to be painful. How long had they been torturing her?

I brought my gaze back to hers, searching her eyes without knowing what I was looking for.

Morex jerked her back against his chest, and Sierra whimpered. The sound cut through me like no physical pain could.

I roared as everything turned white. I could sense the demons backing away from me, feel the flames engulfing my body in an aura of light. I’d never felt like this. I didn’t know it waspossibleto feel like this. I was channeling too much power, and I doubted my ability to control it. I was past the point of being able to rein in the heavenly fire.

I focused on the half dozen demons closest to me and let the flames shoot toward them.

This was the very definition of playing with fire, but I didn’t care. I needed them all dead as quickly and excruciatingly as possible.

My need to get to Sierra trumped any fear I had for myself. I’d been born and bred to fight demons, but honestly, the number in the warehouse should have posed a legitimate threat. I really shouldn’t be able to do whatever the hell it was I was doing now. But I didn’t have time to question it. Nothing mattered besides saving my girl.

Fire hit the six demons I’d set my sights on, and they all disintegrated with pitiful screams.

I felt my lips curve up in a dangerous smile. Playtime was over.

Every demon who dared to get close to me was incinerated. Occasional claws and hits got past my guard, but I hardly felt them. I slashed out with both my knives and the pure fire radiating off my skin, until I couldn’t see a damn thing through the thick red smoke that filled the air.

“Nate!” The sound of Sierra screaming my name yanked me out of my battle lust.

I looked around wildly, but I couldn’t see anything through the haze that blanketed the room. Using the bond, I went straight for her. Not a single demon tried to stop me. I didn’t even know if there were any of them left.

The smoke cleared enough for me to see Sierra, and I stopped in my tracks. Morex held her, one arm pressing into her throat while the other held a wickedly sharp knife against her bare stomach.

She’d lost her shirt at some point and stood shivering in nothing but her bra and jeans.

I took a ragged breath and pulled the heavenly fire into myself, forcing the glow around me to sink into my skin. The warehouse looked darker without the fire turning me into a living torch.