Page 24 of Viper

Confident that Sting could take out the strix easily, Viper zeroed in on another demon—one who was attacking Darko from behind and clawing at his back. He pelted the strix with a shower of unholy orbs that reduced it to ashes. He couldn’t lie, the feeling of release that came when he allowed violence to take him was thrillingly addictive.

Viper and his brothers fought how they always fought: Viciously and without pity. Which wasn’t to say that they were allkill, kill, kill. As pre-agreed, they had some fun with the strix. They bit them, burned them, broke their bones, drank their blood, blistered their skin. And they enjoyed every fucking minute.

The strix retaliated hard with claws, fangs, hellfire orbs, and whips of black fire. Again and again the demons evaded strikes by shifting into mist or exploding into molecules. They sometimes attacked as oversized bats or owls, and they weregruesome in every form. But they were also outmatched—the power of the Black Saints too raw, their savageness too primal.

“Jesus, he’s heavier than he looks,” grumbled Merchant.

Viper tracked his brother’s voice, his brows lifting at the sight of Merchant and Rivet holding a demon by its wrists and ankles while swinging it from side to side. They sang something about shaking a bed and turning the blanket over before promptly dropping the strix face first onto the fire pit they’d lit with unholy fire.

Leaving them to it, Viper turned. And found a demon almost on him. He growled as it swiped out and dragged its razor-sharp nails across his face, scoring deep.

Fucker.He fisted its sweater, hauled it close, and sank his teeth into its throat. Blood hit his tongue, carrying a charred tang. He wasn’t crazy about the taste, but he drank the liquid down, letting it help him heal. His blood clotted, his wounds closed over, his energy—

A large impact blindsided him, breaking his hold on the strix and sending him stumbling to the side so hard he almost lost his footing.

Viper whirled on the new threat and lobbed an orb its way. The demon burst into molecules, evading the orb. Those molecules quickly reformed into an overly large bat that swooped down toward him.

He wacked it with a telekinetic hit. The winged little shit rammed into a tree with such force that wood cracked and bark—

His peripheral vision screamed a warning. The strix he’d fed from was advancing on him fast.

Viper didn’t move. He let it crash into him, let it bury its fangs into his neck, gritting his teeth against the sharp pain.

The demon jerked back with a loud screech, and Viper’s entity smirked. His once-blessed blood, now so acidic itpoisoned any who drank it, immediately went to work on the strix. The demon dropped to its knees as his blood killed it from the inside out.

Viper glanced around, braced for more threats. There were none, to his entity’s supreme disappointment. Few strix were left alive, and his brothers were focused on them as a group.

He took that moment to take stock of his brothers. None were fatally injured, but many sported puncture wounds, burns, and rake marks. No fatigue could be seen on their expressions. No, they were as amped up as always when battle came their way.

“Let’s end this,” he called out … just as an owl dropped down on his fucking head.

Viper grabbed it, slammed it on the ground, and stomped his foot down hard on its body. A screech erupted from the owl. It squirmed, twisted,shifted. And then a strix lay beneath Viper’s foot in its standard form.

It coughed up blood, its body sporting burns, bruises, slices, and broken bones. The demon was dying and knew it.

Viper cocked his head as he stared down at it. “If that was supposed to be one last ditch effort to kill me before you die, it was a totally shit one. Did you really think it was wise to come after us? Did you think you could take us out?”

It bared bloodstained teeth. “My brethren will keep trying. They will eventually succeed.”

Viper pursed his lips. “Nah, they’ll just be slaughtered.”

He didn’t bother asking for the location of the colony. Strix never gave up their own, not even under heavy interrogation. But there was another way to extract information from it. Few mental shields could keep Viper out.

“Don’t do it,” Dice said to him, clearly sensing what Viper was considering. “We’ll find the colony another way.”

Jester nodded. “It ain’t worth the pain you’d go through, or the psychic burnout. And you can’t afford to be weak when you have celestialsandhell-born demons to contend with.”

Excruciating pain hit any angel that tried delving into the mind of a demon, and vice versa. It also rendered them weak on a psychic level. Hence why Viper hadn’t stayed in Ella’s mind long the one time he’d invaded it to confirm his suspicion of who she was to him.

“We’ll find the others,” Jester went on. “We’ll keep chipping at their numbers until what’s left of the colony finally launches an attack. Then we’ll wipe out the rest.”

“No,” the strix objected, its red eyes like lasers of hatred. “Theywill wipe out all ofyou. My colony—”

“Stands no chance against what we are and what we can do,” finished Razor. “You should have just stayed away.”

The demon slid Viper a look. “He calls to us.”

That wasn’t something Viper could control. Neither could they, but they weren’t compelled to act on it. “You could have ignored that call. You didn’t.” He shrugged. “Now you die.”

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