Page 38 of Give a Devil his Due
Raphael
Crippling shock has me frozen while Zadkiel squeezes for all she is worth in her attempt to choke me to death. I do not fight back or even try to remove her grip on my neck because I’m stunned by the golden blood drenching her shirt. Lungs burning and heart hammering at my protesting ribs from her weight, my gaze travels over her shoulder when Helena appears in the doorway. It breaks something in me to see the heart-wrenching sorrow on her face, but to go to her, I need to not die first.
Nothing makes sense.
When I realize we are fighting too long like the hellspawn is trying to keep us occupied instead of killing us, I search for Helena. Not seeing her anywhere has me separating from the others and rushing into the room only to find, not just my charge, but Zadkiel, too.
“Raphael.” Helena’s broken cry clears the cobwebs assaulting my brain, and wiggling my fingers between Zadkiel’s, I wrench her hands off me. Her enraged scream makes me flinch, and I throw her to the side.
Still dazed, I jump to my feet and take a step toward Helena. The only warning is the widening of her green eyes and the terror I see in them. Whirling around, I raise my hand in time to block the short sword that would’ve carved me in half. The blade sinks in my forearm, and my snarl has Zadkiel yanking it out and jumping back.
“Good to see you, Raphael.” The female, who I’ve thought about for decades and done things for that make me ashamed to wear a pair of wings, stares at me like I’m her enemy.
“What is the meaning of this, Zadkiel?” Surprised I sound calm, I stand between the two females.
There is only a handful of the higher-class demons left battling on the other side of the tunnel. I catch Eric darting glances toward his mate, but if he sees me standing here, he will finish the fight knowing I will protect Helena with my life. Even from her own mother.
Good thing Satanael hasn’t seen what is happening away from the horned attackers.
“It must be nice for you to enter and leave Heaven as you please.” Zadkiel throws a cursory look over her shoulder, her sword held at the ready with the tip pointed my way. My frown must clue her in to confused I am. “Some of us were unworthy, as you see.”
“Don’t be absurd, lower your weapon. You are the Mercy of God, and that means you are worthy.” I sound hollow to my own ears. “I thought you were dead.”
“How convenient for all of you.” Sneering, she slashes at me, and we spin, twisting and turning until she scores another hit. Blood runs down my thigh, filling my boot. “You think the jinn did this? That those pathetic creatures could come up with such a brilliant plan? If it wasn’t for you, everything would’ve passed smoothly.”
“Put the sword down and we can talk.” Hands to my sides in hopes to calm her, I lock my gaze on hers. “I do not know what happened to you, Zadkiel, but we can get past it. You trusted me once, so I need you to believe in me again.”
Indecision flickers in those irises I know too well. I’ve gazed at them many centuries wondering if I will ever hold her in my embrace as a male holds a female and not just a friend to lend a shoulder and an ear. The same Zadkiel stands before me now with my blood on her sword. Same, yet so very different. Whatever she was about to say never reaches my ears when Helena steps next to me.
“I see.” Zadkiel’s sneer turns into a chilling glare. “How predictable.”
“What the fuck is your problem?” Helena, to my chagrin, steps ahead of me, placing me at her back. Her dagger points right at her mother’s face. “You want Raphael, bitch? You’ll have to go through me first.”
“With pleasure.”
The two females collide, blades arching in the fray of kicking limbs and long strands of hair flying around them like sheets of silk on a strong breeze. Dread fills me, but I stay rooted to the spot, fearful I will hurt one or the other without attempting to if I get involved.
“Zadkiel, stop this. She is your daughter.” My desperate attempt to separate them falls on deaf ears. For a moment.
“All of this is because of her.” I stiffen when she shouts. “When she dies, time will reset itself.” Slashing with her sword, she almost stabs Helena in the back. “Everything will go back the way it was. All my mistakes forgotten.” Judging by the look of disdain, Zadkiel believes Helena is a mistake.
I might be undecided on whether or not to step between a mother and daughter, but Satanael does not have the same shortcomings. As soon as the last demon drops, the other males turn to the one-on-one battle playing out a foot from where I’m uselessly standing.
“I will drink your blood, Zadkiel, and feast on your bone marrow if a hair is missing on her head.” Satanael’s roar rattles the whole tunnel.
Everything happens so fast my brain cannot register who moves where.
Zadkiel jumps away from her daughter, her dark hair swirling around her head, and with one furious look at Satanael, she bolts down the tunnel. He tries to give chase, but Helena’s call stops him, and he pants like a raging bull in the middle of the tracks glaring at the darkness like he can will her back with his mind. Eric and the others rush to Helena, their hands fleeting around her body in their desperate attempt to check for injuries.
“I found Lucifer and Michael. They need us more than we need her dead. Her time will come.” Her voice breaks, but she doesn’t let the tears brimming in her eyes fall.
I just stand.
Alone and lost with a gaping hole widening inside me.
How could this be?
What in all the heavens has Zadkiel gotten herself into.
