Runaway Devil
60

"You're her." His voice was strained and tense. "You're the she-devil."

I rolled my eyes and contemplated killing him right then and there. "How many?"

"They're waiting for you." I could hear his smile. "You're fucked."

"She asked you a question," Alec approached from the front, towering over the soldier. He stared down at him, his eyes were hard and fostered no argument. The demon hesitated, he had never heard an angel speak demon tongue before.

"Too many for you."

"You're fucking useless," I slit his throat and shoved his overgrown body to the ground. I wiped my knife on my pants and looked at Alec. "That's what we have to look forward to. They've gotten dumb." He rolled his lips in, fighting his smile and failing.

A breeze blew through my hair, chilling my scalp, and I inhaled the scents it carried. My stomach twisted with anticipation, like a shark who just caught the scent of blood on the water. "To me," I called to Balan. He was at my side in a second, matching my footsteps exactly, scanning the area. I nodded my head in the direction their scents were coming from.

Alec fell in next to me, his weapon drawn and ready. I held my knife still but unholstered my gun along with it. I lead us slowly towards them, as far as I could tell, they hadn't spotted us yet. As we rounded the corner, we used a thicket as cover, I got my first look at them.

Soldiers everywhere, meandering like the one we disposed of. They all looked clumsy and untrained. Some were talking, looking like they were on break, while others stood guard dutifully. A small group of humans was huddled off to the side, being watched over by unattentive guards. A stray soldier grabbed at one of them, prying a girl from her mother's arms. The mother's wailing overpowered all idle conversation, drawing everyone's attention.

Alec and I stayed low, waiting, and watching. Other demons stepped in, trying to convince their peer to let the girl down before they all got in trouble. There was a rattle of chains under all the confusion and panic. I peeked around some of the branches and saw him. He knelt, in chains, beaten bloody. His face was almost back to normal, with the exception of slight swelling. The blood from his beating was still on his clothes, but he was healing.

I stared at him for longer than I should have. His eyes shown under his bloody brow, the golden glow that I had missed so much, the very same I saw when I closed my eyes. He knew I was here, that I was close. He craned his neck, looking for me desperately. His instincts were stronger than logical thought. He fought against his chains, against the soldiers trying to contain him.

The chaos would have given us the perfect cover. We could have started picking them off, one by one. But it all suddenly stopped just as fast as it started. Her voice echoed across the courtyard, halting any and all activity.

"You are grown demons, not children in the schoolyard," She laid a heavy, measured look on all of them. "Who sparked this disobedience?" She was met with silence. Her severe face swept over them and landed on Dusty, who was still breathing hard under multiple soldiers. He strained against their weight. "You feel her, don't you?" I stopped breathing altogether. I remained deathly still, like a fawn that's been left by their mother. Dusty mirrored my actions, going still and starring at Azgaria in defiance. She leaned in closer, whispering to him. "She's here. How close?" I could hear the smile on her lips as she taunted him.

She stood and turned with intention, her eyes searched for me. I could feel her reaching for me, looking under every metaphorical stone. "Come out, little one. I know you're here. Might as well greet us." Her smile was sickening on her sharp-featured face. There was false warmth in her tone that made me want to tear her throat out. She made a subtle gesture and the soldiers constraining Dusty stood, taking their knees from his back. She ran her long, slender fingers over his scalp. It was almost a warm caress. But it quickly turned into a sharp yank, pulling him to his knees and exposing his throat. He clenched his teeth, his fangs inching out. "I don't have to tell you what I might do."

My hand tightened around my knife as I glanced at Alec. He was already looking at me, waiting for me to make my move. I sighed deeply and nodded. We squared our shoulders and stood.

We walked out from behind the brush, our weapons drawn and our eyes sharp. I did not let my gaze linger on any one demon. Azgaria's smile widened as she looked at me.

She sighed and there was a satisfied glint in her eye. "It's been too long, little one. And you've brought an angel with you. How... strange." Her eyes sharped with the last sentence, sizing Alec up beside me. Dusty stared at me, his gaze unwavering. My chest tightened as I glanced at him. "Oh, you haven't been properly reunited," She looked down at Dusty, then back at me. He twitched against her hold and grunted. I wanted so desperately to tell her to get her hands off of him, every fiber of my being was screaming at me.

My eyes darted around the courtyard, counting demons and humans alike. There were close to fifty soldiers in the courtyard, but the energy signal from their party was stronger than that. There had to be more around here somewhere, patroling, waiting for me to arrive. My eyes darted to the humans, knowing many of them.

But, as much as I resisted, my gaze found Bethany. She huddled with Joel, who stared at me with guarded eyes. Before long, someone else's energy demanded my attention. A small bundle of people caught my eye. Ben, Issac, and Jerry all sat together. Issac was shaking like a newborn foal trying to stand for the first time, Jerry's hand on his back. Ben was stone still, but his eyes betrayed his panic. There was a desperation in them that I had never seen. They were pleading, begging for something from me. Something I knew I could never give.

Bethany had the same look in her eye. She looked at me standing there with a knife and gun, with blood already staining my clothes. Any blood they had ever seen on me, they assumed was my own. The look in their eyes begged me to not be one of these monsters. They had the eyes of the wretchedly hopelessness, they wanted me to be one of the good guys.

"Now that you've reacquainted yourself, let's get down to business, shall we?"

"What do you want, Azgaria?" I was gruff and terse, ready to get this show on the road. Her false pleasantries faltered and she abandoned any fake civility.

"Your head, little one. I want your head on a stake in my garden, so every time I look out my window, I am reminded of how I hunted you down and took you apart myself."

"And you needed half an army to do that?"

She shrugged. "They aren't made the same these days. They are the quantity over quality types."

"Clearly," I growled, sneering at her.

"But you've changed too, I see. So much smaller than I remember," She looked me up and down, amused at my human form. "Pity, I always liked your horns." The back of my neck tensed, she was pushing me closer to the edge with each passing moment. She was mocking me.

"Might as well fight on a fair field," I said silently to Alec. I let a breath out and dropped my human glamour. I watched the ground move farther away as I stood at my full height. My horns became a comforting weight on my head, my jaw finally big enough to hold my fangs again. My shoulders broadened to hold my wings properly, and I felt my muscles wrap around my frame. I stretched, loving the feeling of my skin. My eyes shined from under my brows, a twinge of excitement rushing through me. I was finally back in my own body.

Bethany's shaky gasp interrupted my personal reunion with myself. I looked at her and she flinched as if I had struck her. She could barely look at me, horror clearly painted across her face. I tried to soften my face to look at her, but it wouldn't make a difference. I would still look like a monster to her.

In a moment of shocked distraction, Issac had stopped shaking. They stared at me with the same look as Bethany. There was betrayal in their eyes. I was one of them, a horrible beast.

With a flash of heat, Alec stood in his true form next to me. We were now of equal height and build, with thick layers of lean, hard muscle. His eyes shined brighter, the embers in his wings complimenting them.

Balan shook his body, relieving pent up stress. In his hellhound skin, he reached my hip. He opened his jaw fully, almost thirty centimeters, getting used to the muscles again. I smiled down at him, despite myself. It was good to see him in his body again, I had missed him. He looked up at me and felt the pang of excitement run through him upon seeing my horned figure again.

"Now that that's taken care of," Azgaria lost her smile and stared me down. She let go of Dusty's hair, rolled her neck, and squared her shoulders. "The angel and the hound are free game. But the she-devil is mine."

And just like that, the world plunged into a flurry of combat and blood.

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