Her Darkest Devils by Ginna Moran
Chapter 15
RAVEN
Heaven’s Army
I SCRAMBLE TO my feet, stealing Elias’s shirt to shrug on, which is faster than dressing in my own clothes. The hem reaches my thighs, covering my body. I beat Elias to Zade and extend my palm to Andre, now trying to do the impossible by crossing the barrier.
“Calm down, Andre. I’m not here as your enemy. I’ve come with a message that the guardians have sensed your portal. You must leave.” Zade flexes his muscles and peers at the dark yard behind him. “They come with vengeance in their hearts and righteousness in their minds.”
I tug at the ends of my hair. “Can’t you do something? Tell them that you took care of the problem?”
Zade shakes his head, his frown deepening. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”
“You mean there is nothing you will do,” I snap, digging my nails into my palms. “Why do you even bother? Just go before they catch you here. It’ll be me and only me that takes your fucking wings.” Anger explodes through me. I don’t mean to be a bitch, but after everything I’ve gone through, I’m not messing around anymore. I’m not going to deal with Zade at his own pace, because he will jump from grace for me. I’ll not have him ruin my already shaky eternity because he’s not brave enough to act.
Zade’s eyes sparkle, glassing over with his hurt. “Raven, I’m—”
“Either stay and help or just go!” I yell, spinning on my feet, looking around for anything I can use to protect Elias. “I don’t have time to deal with you.”
And like that, Zade disappears, the door slamming shut with his exit.
“Fuck!” I yell, swinging my arms through the air. “I thought that Heaven would only ever send fucking righteous Cassius to try to get in our way. But this angelic army? Bullshit. How do we deal, Andre? You’re stuck in a circle.”
Andre half transforms, his features turning monstrous with his giant curved tail swinging over his back like he plans to impale someone or something. “We don’t do anything. You’re going to cross the barrier and let me take you to Hell.”
I heave a couple breaths and nod. “Fuck. You’re right.” I jog the space to Elias, silently standing with only his jeans slung over his hips. “That’s what we’ll do.” I take Elias’s hand and tug him with me to enter the summoning circle.
Andre’s tail penetrates the floor in front of me, blocking our way. “I said you, Raven. Elias can’t come. He can’t enter Hell like you can, and even if he could, I wouldn’t allow it. It’ll alert every fucking demon that he’s here and they’ll come. Lucian will come.”
I sigh. “I’m not leaving without him.”
Andre growls. “I can’t protect you unless you do, Raven.”
Stepping away even more, I clutch onto Elias and whip my hair back and forth with my rejection. “Then go get someone who can, Andre. I’m not leaving. Don’t ask me again. Just hurry.”
Andre roars in anger and transforms completely into his devil form. The hellfire of the summoning circle crackles and explodes, reaching the ceiling. It vanishes along with Andre, only some ashes and scorch marks remaining behind. I comb my fingers through my hair, fear tightening my chest. What if Andre doesn’t get to the others in time? Elias and I are mortal. We’re powerless.
“Raven? Hey, focus. I need you to listen to me. You’re faster and stronger than me, so I want you to barricade the window and door of the bedroom. We’re too open out here.” Elias tugs my hand, getting me to pull myself from my panic. He smacks my ass, getting me to rush toward the bedroom first. “Flip the mattress up on the window, then the frame. I’m going to see if I left any weapons behind.”
I do as he says, running to his old bedroom, riddled with scattered moving boxes, books, empty cartons of cigarettes, takeout containers, clothes, and some old electronics that have to be two decades old. I haven’t seen a VCR since my mom sold ours at a yard sale when I was a tween.
Grabbing the pillow and blankets, I drag them off the bed and prop up the mattress, finagling it on its side as I carefully step between the wooden slats of the frame. And looking at them, I think they could be useful. I can’t stab an angel with them but I can swing it like a bat and keep some distance.
“Next time Micah creates an angel ward, make sure I pay fucking attention.” Elias drops a duffle bag in the middle of the room and leans forward, coughing and out of breath. He sounds utterly awful, and I wish I could close the space and rub his back, but keeping the angelic army out is far more important. If we can’t, we might not make it.
“We’ll learn together, okay? By the time this shit is behind us, we won’t even have to know. Those bastards will be too afraid.” I manage to lean the mattress against the window and then prop the metal and wood frame against it. I know it won’t keep anyone out, but it will at least slow them down.
“Damn straight, darlin’. They’ll regret ever thinking they could get in our way from our eternity together. We’ve been through Hell, Heaven, and every damn thing in between to get to where we are, and I’m not letting anything screw us over.” Elias digs into the duffle bag and pulls out a curved blade. “Now help me take care of the door to ensure it.”
His words fill me with hope. Rushing across the room, I do what he says and shove the dresser in front of the door, blocking it. Elias motions to the night stand, and I haul it over. He helps me arrange the barricades until there is nothing left.
Elias scoops up the bag and takes my hand, tugging me along to the closet. The broken rod lies on the floor, reminding me of how we first met in this lifetime and he tied me up in here like a fucking bastard. Picking it up, I add it to my arsenal along with the wood slats from the bed frame.
“Remind me when this is over that I need to repay you for this,” I murmur, waving the broken rod. If I don’t joke or concentrate on something else, I might panic. It’s too quiet. The world is too still. It makes me wonder what kind of powers the guardians have and if they can transport us to a different plane to ensure no one finds us.
He hums under his breath, lifting an eyebrow. “Careful, darlin’. I’m still horny as fuck. When this is over, it won’t be you repaying me. I’ll tie you up all over again and make up for leaving you hanging without a good time.”
“You better.” I lean in and kiss him, trying to distract myself from the building anticipation.
My whole body buzzes as goosebumps prickle over my skin. It’s the strangest thing—almost like a sixth sense. I don’t have to see the angelic army to know they’re coming and close.
Elias’s muscles ripple as he tightens his hand around the knife. “Shit. They’re close.”
“You sense them too?” I whisper, flicking my gaze from the blocked window to the barricaded door.
Elias shifts, nudging me to press my back against the closet wall. “Just stay behind me, okay? If you get hurt—”
“I don’t fucking think so.” I surprise the hell out of him and yank him back by his shoulder, shuffling around to plant my body in front of him. “If I get hurt, I’ll survive. You’re crazy if you think you’re going to fight. It’s my job to protect you, Elias. If you die...you’re not fucking dying like this. Now don’t even try to argue.”
Elias groans and dangles his curved blade in front of me. “My sexy, infuriating woman. It goes against my instincts as a hunter to let you but damn it if your protectiveness isn’t fantastic for my ego. I love it that you’re ready to channel Hell and be a psycho badass for me. Micah was right about it being a boner trigger.”
I can’t help my exasperated laugh. Most men would get a bruised ego if I made it seem like I was more powerful and stronger than them. Elias knows his limitations and melts into me, silently thanking me that I’m not forcing him into a position he knows he might not be able to handle as well. Like with the furniture. He knew I was capable of taking care of shit and didn’t have a problem letting me do something for him instead of cry and ask him to save me.
“I will gladly be your warrior queen in shining armor, my dame in distress. Your assurance and faith in me gives me the power of a spirit devil boner.” I adjust the blade in my hand and glare at the window. Faint light trickles in from the crack around the mattress.
He rests his hands on my sides, letting me support his weight some. “Nah, darlin’. The devils think they have these almighty cocks, but you have the power and strength of your pussy that keeps them all in line. Your power is all you and your ability to withstand Hell, no matter if it’s fucking you or trying to break you. Don’t ever forget that. No one wants you against them—Heaven or Hell.”
I crane my neck to meet his gaze. “I love y—”
A loud crack cuts off my words, startling me. My scared-ass nearly drops the blade, taken off guard by how the furniture crashes together as the heavenly forces blast them away from the window and door at once. And shit. Elias might’ve made me a bit full of myself for a second, because my confidence vanishes at the sight of two fearsome angels—a man and a woman—in black clothes and leather with gold wings bright enough to radiate their heavenly glow like a halo around their whole bodies.
“Raven Rose, you are an abomination. Come forth and kneel before me. I will not ask twice. If you do not, you will not receive mercy.” The female angel flaps her wings and soundlessly strolls over the fallen dresser.
“I’m used to that bullshit, so no. Just stay the fuck back. I won’t hesitate to cut your wings off and give them to my devils’ hellhounds as chew toys.” I straighten my back, wishing I could slap the bitch in her righteous face. She stares at me like a shit on her boots.
“Elias, my fallen brethren, if your mortal undoing can’t see reason, perhaps you can.” This comes from the male angel remaining outside. “You are ill and dying because of your treachery. You will find peace if you make the right choice. Bring the abomination forward and accept that this is your rightful path.”
“Fuck off, dickhole. Raven is my only path.” Elias grips my hips tighter, leaning into me. His lips touch my ear. “Get ready, darlin’. Aim for their hands first. Wings second.”
“You’ve given us no choice. You have nowhere to run. Our army surrounds you.” The woman strides toward us, unsheathing her sword, setting it aflame in angel fire. It glows blue instead of bright yellow-white like Cassius’s.
“Duck and charge. I’ll swing.” Elias shoves me, getting me to attack first.
I bend low and run at the woman as Elias swings the clothes rod at her head. She instinctively lifts her arms to protect her face, and I ram my shoulder into her stomach. My Hell power knocks the both of us off our feet, but the angel uses her wings to propel us up, causing me to lose my balance. I screech and blindly slash the blade at her, slicing her palm as she tries to gather heavenly light.
“Meri!” the male angel shouts, shooting angel power at us.
I keep swinging the blade, not giving the woman, Meri, a chance to do anything except block herself. My vision shadows with my fury and the heavenly light spilling into the room from her body as if her light tries to protect and heal her but can’t keep up.
“Raven, her hands!” Elias shouts, swinging the clothes rod at the guy angel. Elias clocks the angel’s wing, only to have the guy snatch the rod and drag him closer.
All it takes is that tiny distraction for Meri to get in a jab. Pain explodes in my middle like fire and ice and sheer agony. Meri didn’t punch me with her fist. She fucking stabbed me with her angel sword.
My legs buckle, sending me crashing to the floor. I try to suck in a breath of air to scream Elias’s name, but the words won’t come.
And then the male angel elbows Elias in the ribs. He gasps, his face paling and losing color. Commotion echoes outside. I clutch my bloody stomach, trying to think of something, anything, I can do to save us. I can’t pray for mercy. Begging to spare us won’t work either.
Meri abandons me, leaving me bleeding on the floor as the pain of her blade sears me to my very soul. Her golden wings glow, tiny pinpricks of light shine brighter where I managed to stab her with Elias’s knife. She remains unfazed and expressionless as she joins her companion, and the two of them stand above Elias, looking down at him.
“Your sacrifice will right the paths of many, Elias,” the male angel says, flexing his muscular arms.
“Fuck...off.” Elias can barely spit the words out through his coughing.
“Meri, Mikail, you must hurry,” another angel says, the blond man crossing his arms on the other side of the window. We cannot distract and mislead the devils much longer. Our shields weaken.”
The angel, Mikail, nods and unsheathes his flaming sword, longer and brighter than Meri’s shorter blade. Heat burns over my skin, and I blink a few times, watching as sudden flames eat the world around me, separating me from the angels and Elias.
“May your cycle finally complete and your bond to this mortal break.” Mikail aims his sword at Elias.
“Raven, Raven! This isn’t over! I’ll find you. I’ll destroy the universe if I have to.” Elias’s words rip me from the burning world and back to his old bedroom.
“Blessed be the Higher Power,” Meri says. “Blessed be our armies. For this finally ends here.”
I gasp and scream, staring in horror as Mikail slams his sword at Elias, unable to do anything but lie placidly and weak beneath him. Molten power burns over my hand, the mark of my contract with Lucian igniting, unleashing Hell through my palm. The angels yell and scream as the hot power whips over them, burning the wings of their feathers and smoldering their skin.
With the burst of energy from Hell, I scramble to my feet and charge them, slapping my hand to Mikail’s arm, branding him with Lucian’s mark the same way I had branded Zade. The angel outside the window yanks Meri through but not without the shock of power burning him too. It lights the whole room in strange flames, the heat painful but nothing like the agony still coursing through me.
“Raven, let it go!” Elias shouts, struggling to get to his feet. “You have to let it go!”
My body acts as a vessel for the power of Hell and it simmers like a boiling pot about to overflow. Elias’s words knock sense back into me, spilling the darkness from my being until the fiery world fades. My knees buckle as I try to step toward him, and I fall flat on my stomach. Shadows steal the world from me, leaving me in a strange abyss of darkness, though the pain of my body doesn’t release me. I focus on trying to move, trying to speak, trying to do anything to drag me from this strange state.
“Darlin’, hey. Hey, it’s over. You fucking did some strange-ass Hell power shit. You saved me.” Elias drags me into his arms and cradles me, running his hand over my beaten and bloody body. “Now let me look at you. I’ll destroy those bastards for hurting you.” Carefully, Elias tugs up the hem of my shirt and intakes a sharp breath.
“Shit, this is bad, isn’t it?” I ask, whacking his hand away from my burned yet still slightly bleeding stab wound. “It hurts like a mother fucker.”
Elias locks his hand around mine, restraining me the best he can while he looks at my stomach. “It seems that most of the wound has been cauterized. Do you think you’ll be able to walk? I don’t think we should stay here.”
I groan and rub my hands against my eyes. “Do you have a phone or something here? I can call—”
Light glows from the broken window, startling me. Elias drags me to my feet and helps me walk toward the hallway. This isn’t over. One of the angels said they were blocking my devils.
“I don’t think they’ll be able to get to us if they wanted to, but I know somewhere we can go, but you have to trust me.” Elias tightens his jaw, guiding me toward a side door that leads to an empty one-car garage. He snags the single helmet off a work bench and doesn’t give me a chance to argue before locking the strap in place.
“You have a motorcycle?” I ask in surprise.
“Did you really think I was going to surrender all of my human possessions when I moved in with you guys? This is my house. I wasn’t just going to sell it and risk not having a backup plan. It’s no secret.”
“I hate that I didn’t know,” I mutter, trying to suppress my fear. I’ve never been on a motorcycle before, and this one looks...like it’s been through as much as his beater of a car.
He takes my hands in his for a moment. “We’ll amend that, okay? The not knowing. I swear when we get home, you’re going to know everything there is to know about me. Things you won’t even want to know.”
I force myself to smile. “Good. Because unlike what those bastard angels think, our bond can never be broken. If anything, they just proved to the universe that we’re strong as fucking Hell.”
“Hot, too,” he murmurs, kissing my nose. He flicks the visor of the helmet down. “Hold on tight. We’re going to need to outrun the angels.”
Shit.
Hell help us.
