Page 8 of Till Death

“Do these fuckers ever quit?” I called as I spotted another monstrous Halfling running on all fours to reach me. Two quick swipes of Bertha and he was headless, the rest of his body twitching before going completely still.

“It seems we’ve barely scratched the surface,” Eli shouted back as he sidestepped another Halfling’s long taloned fingers.

Ah, fuck.

And our numbers were dwindling by the second.

Not good.

There was a flash of dark fur and a choir of vicious snarls. More wolves appeared, using teeth, speed, and brute strength to tear into any Halfling they could sink their fangs into. I knew Cliff’s pack didn’t have this many members, so it was safe to assume he’d kept his word about finding others to help in the cause. And boy, did I appreciate it.

With the wolves’ help, I was able to get a second to scan the gory sight for any sign of Kay. Or Lawrence. Arianna or Sean. Or any of the others, really. But before I could get a good look, Eli’s hand snapped around my wrist in a bone-crushing grip.

“Follow me,” he barked and tugged me between the small, dark alley between Divine Magic and its neighboring office building. On cue, two spellcasters I’d never met before stepped in front of us, creating an invisible wall, all with a simple wave of their hands.

Now that we’re more alone and temporarily out of danger, Eli turned to me. His chest heaved.

“Did you reach the half-demon?” His words came out in a rush. “Cole?”

“Does it look like I did?” I snapped more aggressively than I intended. But I told myself to reel my attitude in and try again. It wasn’t his fault Hank had thwarted my rescue mission, or that I hadn’t saved him before the Halflings has carried him over the pit’s edge. “I’m sorry… It’s just…”

“I know,” he replied. “It must have been hard to accept Cole’s fate. But I’m glad you’ve returned to us.”

I shook my head. “Oh, I haven’t given up on Cole. I was just stopped before I could get to him.”

His brows knitted together. “Stopped?”

“By God.”

Eli stared at me for a few seconds, probably wondering if I’m trying to make a joke or if I’m being serious.

So, I decided to put him out of his misery and explain. “He plucked me from Hell and sent me back to the Void to give me a strong talkin-two. Or at least he tried.”

“What does that mean? Tried?”

“I told him to fuck off basically,” I replied with a half shrug.

Lips pressed into a hard line, he stayed deadly quiet. Had his gold-tinted skin paled a little too? It looked like it.

“Someone had to say it,” I tried to recover with a dismissive wave. “He’s going to stay nice and comfy in the bleachers, eating popcorn, while we all die. I don’t care if he’s God. IwishI could do more than curse him off, you know?”

More silence stretched between us, yet the sounds of war echoed all around. For the first time since I got back, I looked at him—really looked at him—and noticed the bloody gash above his left eyebrow and the bruise tinting his jaw. Fresh claw marks raked up the chest, still bleeding, and exhaustion weighed on his shoulders and in his gaze. He looked worn. Banged up and beaten. And honestly, kind of lost.

After a few more moments, he drew in a deep breath and let out a long exhale—a very human gesture for him.

Then, he lifted his chin. “Forget him.”

I balked, unsure I had heard him right. “Ex-Excuse me? What did you just—”

“Forget him.” His voice raised in strength and volume. “You’re right, Jade. He’s abandoned us. He created us to destroy us and pretended we all had free will.”

My mouth turned dry at his words. Everything he was saying was true, but hearing it come from his mouth was shocking and a bit disturbing. He’d always been loyal to this cause, had always stood by Michael’s decisions, yet here he was, agreeing with me that the man upstairs had a PhD in the art of being an asshole.

I should’ve been celebrating having him on my team finally, but instead, a shiver of trepidation run through me. Why? Because it seemed to solidify how fucked we were when he said it. I also felt a bit bad for him. Finding out the person you’d looked up to your entire life wasn’t who you thought they’d be was a hard pill to swallow.

Never meet your heroes and all that.

Maybe it was time I change the subject anyway, back to the apocalypse.

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