Page 104 of Death Trap

Not even a little bit.

When he realized he wasn’t intimidating me by standing over me, his grin faltered and annoyance flared again. He held out his hand, palm only inches from the front of my head. I never broke eye contact with him. Didn’t even blink.

“I’m really going to enjoy this,” he said. The muscles around his over-stretched mouth twitched.

Blackness gathered in his hand so close, I could smell the distinct rotten-egg and ash scent of sulfur, the odor of all things Hell-dwelling. Out of the corner of my eye, the power hardened into the dark glass-like spikes, ready to propel outward and end me once and for all. But I didn’t look away. Didn’t close my eyes. I kept them locked on Azrael the entire time, letting him know even face-to-face with death, with nowhere else to go, I wasn’t afraid.

When he unleashed his power, something whooshed in front of my face so fast, I flinched backward. There was the sound of shattered glass and a puff of black smoke, and it took me a second to realize something had swiped Azrael’s power away just in time.

That’s when I saw Eli standing there, his spear swirling in the air in a blur of motion. Azrael turned to confront him, and in that moment, Eli lunged forward and stabbed him in the center of the chest. Right where his heart would be if he had one—which I sincerely doubted.

Eli kicked out, sending Azrael backward to hit the desk, and removing his spear at the same time.

The giant glass shards imbedded in me vanished in two bursts of smoke, and relief flooded me instantly.

I seized the opportunity and stood on shaky legs. The gashes still bled terribly, but the stabbing pain had eased some. Enough for me to regain my head again anyway.

Azrael clutched his wound. Black tar-like liquid oozed out from between his fingers. Just like Xaver and the Halflings.

What I would do for some Holy Water bullets and one of Cole’s guns right now.

When Azrael saw it, he roared with anger and launched himself off the desk, charging at Eli. As he was about to whip more spikes Eli’s way, he was thrown backward by an invisible force, his body smacking against the window hard enough to send cracks splintering through the glass.

As if sensing Azrael’s closeness, the storm clouds outside bunched near the window and boomed loudly with thunder. The building shook under our feet, sending more dust and debris into the air.

I glanced over my shoulder. Marla stood beside Simon, palms outstretched, with another spell hovering on her lips, just in case. A mess of fallen Halfling bodies were scattered on the floor around them.

“Enough of this!” Azrael bellowed, his voice a powerful echo. He held out his hand, and instantly, Eli, Simon, and Marla’s bodies froze in place. But unlike when Monnie had done it in Hell, their eyes still moved, not fully under the spell. Azrael must not have been powerful enough to hold so many people at once. Not anymore.

My friends glanced around the room, horror in their eyes, as they tried to move their limbs but couldn’t. Eli stared at me, his gaze holding only fear for me, since I was the only one unaffected by Azrael’s power.

“I am the Angel of Death,” Azrael continued to shout. He strode over to the others, hand still out. “I am the ultimate decider, the one who determines who lives or dies. And I think you three have overstayed your welcome in the afterlife. Time to Release you all.”

Oh shit. Could he even do that?

There was no way I was going to sit around and find out.

I glanced at the wall of glass across the room, riddled with cracks, and remembered how easily the window had splintered when Azrael had hit it. Lightning flashed between the rolling clouds, and I knew what I had to do.

I could try to blast Azrael with my power, but it was still unpredictable. And if I could manage to make it bend to my will, to use that much power in one blow, it would drain me dry or worse, backfire. It could hurt everyone else. Or bring down the building around us.

Sometimes the best method was an old one.

As Azrael crossed the room, I rushed at him. We collided and my light power exploded all around us, propelling us through the windows. Glass shattered, and suddenly, we were falling.

Azrael clawed at me, trying to pry me off, screaming as if my touch seared into him. And I think it did. The scent of burning flesh and hair stung my nose, but still I clung on.

My stomach flipped as we spun through the air, dropping downward at a frightening speed. The sky boomed all around us. Electricity buzzed across my skin, and lightning shot out like arms toward Azrael.

Then, suddenly, my light pushed out of the space between us, forcing us apart and drowning us in brightness. When I opened my eyes again, Azrael was far away and much lower than me, just a dark outline in the clouds.

It wasn’t until then that the gravity of what I had done hit me. If this place between the planes did have an end or a ground, then I would be meeting it soon. And if it didn’t—well, then who knows what was to become of me.

Either way, it looked like I would be visiting Hank in the Void again very soon.

But at least Azrael would meet the same fate. And I had saved Eli, Simon, and Marla, including everyone in the afterlife.

For now, at least. I could only hope Eli could handle the rest with the other Archangels and Guardians.

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