Page 121 of The Monsters We Are

“No,” Adam gasped, his eyes on her. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, I totally did,” said Wynter, her lips quirking.

“Stupid girl, you have no idea what you’ve done!”

Her eyes hardened. “Of course I do. Just as I know you’ve kept him here since the massacre all those years ago. You tortured him. Endlessly. Until you felt sure that there was nothing of him left; that he was reduced to a feral, insanething. And I gotta tell you, Adam, I have a real problem with that. Not just because it was a straight-up evil thing to do, but because he once saved Cain’s life. There was no way I’d ever not repay him for that.”

Cain’s scalp prickled as a possibility drifted through his mind. No. No, surely not.

“He’ll kill us all—you included,” Adam snarled.

“Noah was of the same opinion.” She tossed the traitor’s head on the ground. “I guess we’ll see if you’re both right.” She blurred out of sight.

Stone blocks went flying as something surfaced from the fallen temple. Cain felt his face go slack. People stumbled backwards, crying out in horror as a mammoth-sized serpent stretched its upper body high, its golden scales glittering even through the layer of dust that coated them. It released a hissing shriek that carried screams directly from hell itself.

A Leviathan.

And not just any Leviathan. Cain recognized the distinctive scar on its head.

“Baal,” Abaddon whispered.

Yes, Baal. Cain’s own uncle. A man they’d all thought dead. A being who, if the light of insanity in his monster’s eyes was anything to go by, truly was now only a creature of rage.

With yet another shrieking hiss, the serpent breathed a long, wave of fire. Any person it touched literally melted out of existence, their soul heading straight to hell. So there was little wonder that the troops scattered in a blind panic.

Several explosions abruptly went off all around, knocking people off their feet, and causing blue smoke to balloon in the air in various places.The coven.

Cain and the other Ancients chose that moment to make their move. It wasAdamhe wanted. But—as proven by how the Leviathan’s fiery breath harmlessly hit the shield—the Aeon was currently protected. The only saving grace was that neither Adam nor Emmanuel could attack anyone while within the shield, so people were just as safe from them.

For now, Cain would settle for taking out the other Aeons. He tossed a frisbee of power that sailed through the air, cleaving into several troops like a chainsaw. Their broken bodies dropped to the ground like sacks of spuds.

Thanks to Baal’s flames, it took a few moments—and several deaths—for the Aeons to realize they were under attack from the Ancients. But once reality hit them, they retaliated fast. Power was launched from almost every angle, coming in waves, blasts, flames, whips, and orbs of all kinds as the two sides went head-to-head.

Not all troops stopped to fight. Some ran for the staircase that would take them up to the main entrance, determined to flee from the serpent now slithering through the city, exhaling fire and wiping out several people in one swoop. Every one of the fleers screamed in terror when two silver-scaled Leviathans appeared in front of them, blocking their path of escape.Inanna and Ishtar.

Cain’s own creature wanted out.Not yet, he told it. He wanted to pick off more of the Aeons first. As the only Ancient who could twist their elemental power and turn it back on them, he was the best form of defense the Leviathans had against this race. So that was what Cain did over and over and over. He twisted water, earth, fire, and air into swarms of locusts, bees, wasps, hornets, and mosquitos that targeted only the Aeons.

Cain occasionally caught peeks of the Bloodrose Coven. Wynter, Xavier, and Anabel fought with both sword and magic while a crow and monstrous cat brutally tore into troops as a unit.

A scorching heat licked at Cain’s temple as a fireball skimmed the side of his head. He hissed out a curse. The scent of blood made his creature snarl.

Cain retaliated swiftly, hitting his attacker with a crackling stream of power that curled around her like a snake, contracting and squeezing as it shattered every bone in her body. He didn’t bother to stick around and watch her die. He turned his attention to the nearest troops and fought on.

Soon, Dantalion and Lilith also released their inner creatures, ramping up the level of chaos around them. And it trulywaschaos. There were yells. Cries. Blasts. Animal howls and snarls. Hissing shrieks of Leviathans. Hoarse groans of revived corpses. The shatter of glass vials, which were promptly followed by explosions.

He also heard a female voice singing in a Scottish accent—something about walking five hundred miles. He thought it might be Anabel but couldn’t be certain.

Cain never strayed far from Adam and Emmanuel, who were still safe within their shield. Smoke puffed out of the Leviathan’s mouth as it repeatedly tried and failed to bite through the protection forcefield. For Baal to concentrate so hard on Adam, he apparently had enough awareness to at least know who his true enemy was. That was promising.

A troop conjured a ball of pulsing energy and went to sling it at Cain. But then an electric tentacle sliced through the air and struck him down.Seth. The confirmation that his brother was alive made Cain breathe easier.

He knew that Wynter, too, was alive but didn’t let himself worry about her. He couldn’t. He instead concentrated on wiping out as many of the troops as possible so she’d have less people to fight.

Again and again, Cain traded long-distance blows with the troops, taking out several. Orbs or gusts of magick occasionally came at him, but he effortlessly obliterated the witches and mages. They were simply no match for him.

“I have one of your fellow witches, Wynter!” yelled Jude.

Cain swiftly turned to see Wynter standing ten feet or so away from Jude, who held a sword to Anabel’s throat. The blonde didn’t seem at all fazed—in fact, she was weirdly smirking. But Wynter? Fury was etched into every line of her face.

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