Page 33 of Widow

The demons all turned their heads at once towards me. It was freaky seeing them all turn like that. I didn't recognize any of them, but they seemed to know exactly who I was.

Most in Inferna did.

I was a royal guard who let his king and queen be murdered, and his prince be imprisoned.

"Let the family go. Enough death is on your hands." Michael, head honcho to the guardian angels, didn't realize that trying to reason with this group of demons was futile.

Most demons weren't evil by nature. Inferna was a harsh place where the sun didn't shine and the magic community was always out to steal the light magic from others. It was one of the reasons Picard was the last of his kind.

"We want something in return." A vampire, who seemed to be the ring leader, stepped forward, his arm practically choking off a woman's oxygen supply.

"And what is that?" I didn't know Michael that well, but he sounded like he was about to say fuck it and attack the group of them.

He was the head warrior angel, after all.

"Lucifer."

Lucifer let out a puff of air and clenched his fists at his sides. His jaw ticked, and the vein in his neck seemed ready to burst.

Of course they wanted him. We were foolish to think the desire to open the barrier between Inferna and Earth would stop just because Lilith was dead.

They at least didn't seem to know that it was any archangel's blood that would do the trick.

Lucifer took a step forward, and I grabbed his arm. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He gave me a look out of the corner of his eye that told me he had a plan. I let him go, and he took several more steps forward.

He had already been taken once and spent months held against his will. He was strong, sure, but he had been poisoned and spelled. If they could do it once, they could do it again.

"Let the family go, and I'll come with you."

Several of them laughed. I schooled my reaction as I watched several angels land on the Ferris wheel and scale down the side of it like they were ninjas.

Two large demons stepped forward to grab Lucifer, but before they could, the angels on the Ferris wheel dropped right on top of the whole group. The four innocents were flown off to probably have their memories wiped, and then the fun started.

I looked to Michael in sweet anticipation. He nodded his head, and I shifted as I sprung forward into the melee.

It was chaos as I took another shifter to the ground. He was young; I could tell only because he hadn't fully shifted yet. The older the shifter, the smoother the shift.

I ripped out his throat and leaped at another demon. A gargoyle. Gargoyles were surly bastards that always woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Not that they ever slept. He turned to stone right as I crashed into him, knocking me back. I yelped as my teeth felt like I had just bitten into a rock.

He laughed and sprung into the air, his wings spreading and his body shifting into his animal form. I felt the urge to run because he was a lion shifter. He had a few hundred pounds on me and teeth twice the size as mine.

He grabbed me by the scruff and flew into the sky. Fuck a monkey, he planned on dropping me.

"You're batting for the wrong team, wolf," he growled before letting me go.

I yelped as I fell back towards the ground. I probably wouldn't die, but it would take a long time to heal from all the broken bones and internal damage.

Damn that cursed motherfucker. He should have just ripped my throat out.

I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable. Arms wrapped around me and stopped my plummet.

Lucifer.

"Now we're even." He landed, and I squirmed out of his arms.

Did that mean he would ship me back to Inferna? Damn it.

---