Page 142 of Viper

The archangel looked at Joe. “Sleep.”

Like that, the demon toppled to the ground at the sisters’ feet, out cold.

Oh, hell.

In a matter of milliseconds, three things happened.

Ella’s demon went AWOL.

The archangel took a step forward.

A ring of ultraviolet flames formed around her, Mia, and Joe. Flames that grew and curved and swam … before then forming a glowing-ultraviolet shield.

Mia slid her a sideways look.That wasn’t me.

It wasn’t me either.It was Peanut.And that wasn’t scary at all.

Through the shield, Ella watched the archangel curiously cock his head.

“That I did not expect,” he said.

That made two of them.Call out to Dice, Mia. Do it fast. We need to get away from here right the fuck now.

Grabbing his ringing cell phone from his office desk, Viper looked at the screen.Teague.He felt his brow dent. It wasn’t often he heard from the hellhorse.

Leaning back in his leather chair, he was just about to answer the call when Darko materialized in front of him. his expression hard.

“Don’t go postal, okay,” urged Darko, “but you should know that, uh … Ella and Mia disappeared.”

Everything in Viper and his entity went rigid. “What do you mean they disappeared?”

“They were there and then they were gone.Poof.Mia’s anchor teleported them away from the compound.”

Rage and dread clawing at him and his entity, Viper shot out of his seat as he tried touching Ella’s mind. Nothing but dead air. “I can’t reach Ella telepathically, so she isn’t close by.”Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Terror took him over. Terror for her, for their child. Terror that he’d lose them both.

Dice. He should contact Dice and have him reach out to Mia.

Viper would have done exactly that if the seraphim hadn’t right then appeared beside Darko.

“I just heard from Mia,” Dice clipped, his eyes hard. “Fucking Joe took her and Ella. Only it seems like he was forced to do it by an archangel. A blond archangel with dove-gray wings.”

Realization smacked Viper right in the face. “Ophaniel,” he snarled, his entity bashing at his insides, demanding they track and kill the archangel. “Either he lied that he hadn’t taken up the Uppers on their offer, or he’s since then changed his mind.” Viper took a quick step toward Dice, urgency gripping his gut. “Where are they?”

“They don’t know. Mia said there are no landmarks, nothing that stands out. Just grass and trees and dark fucking clouds. Oh, and strix. They’re fuckingsurroundedby strix. Ophaniel is working with them somehow.”

It had to have been him who’d lowered Ghost’s cloak and possibly even targeted Ella. “Then his plan must be to allow the strix to do his dirty work.” Viper gripped his still-ringing phone tight.

“He’s having trouble with that right now, because your kid decided to pop up a protective shield.”

The startling news made both Viper and his entity go still. “A shield?”

“Yeah, one constructed of ultraviolet flames.” Dice shook his head, stunned.

“The shield is a good thing, but only to an extent.”

“What do you mean?” asked Darko.

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