Page 137 of Guarded
My head snapped around to see Noah in Lyle’s grip. At first you might mistake it for a lover’s embrace. Lyle’s arms were wrapped around Noah, his hand around his neck.
But there was nothing sweet or tender about it. Not with how Lyle was crushing his throat. Not with how Noah’s legs were kicking desperately as he tried to breakfree. Or how his powers were rising and falling, too spent to do anything.
Even from here, I could feel Lyle’s own powers rising. The amount he was drawing up wasn’t to injure or even kill.
It was to execute.
My horrified scream was lost on the wind.
All of this passed in less than two seconds.
Those two seconds cost me any chance of saving him.
A hand wrapped around my neck as well now. Not to choke me, but to grab my chin. To force me to watch the horrors that were unfolding.
“You’re going to watch Noah leave this plane,” Lucifer said roughly. “You’re going to stand here, knowing you failed him. That you couldn’t save him. And once it’s done? I’m dragging you back into the ninth circle, where I’ll make you relive this moment over and over again.”
I wish I could say everything went numb, but it didn’t. I was aware of the terror I was feeling. The anguish. The fear etched into every line of Noah’s face. The cruel triumph twisting Lyle’s lips. The hordes of demons baying for the blood of my mate. The angels and demons in the distance, flying hard and fast.
What the?—
My brain kicked into overdrive. I couldn’t save Noah, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him die.
I just needed to buy us a few seconds.
Setting myself aflame, I wriggled in Lucifer’s grip to distract him. As I did so, I bellowed a message. Something that would only make sense to Noah. “The sunrise. The sunrise is here!”
Hope. Hope is here. Things will get better.
Noah’s eyes widened for a second, and then he wasthrashing. His power rose again, weak but there. He released it all into his shield, making Lyle’s hold on him more tenuous.
With everyone distracted, none of them noticed the winged figures approaching until it was too late.
Nobody except me.
The supes split into two groups. Those with black wings made a beeline straight for me, while those with white landed on Noah’s side of the river. Blasts of lightning lit up the sky as the Seraphim unleashed themselves on the demons and Lyle.
Micah roared commands as Ezekiel blasted whole sections of the attacking force with just his power. Grace and Breann fought back to back, neither giving any quarter. The twins were moving in sync, cutting their way through the crowd with wicked blades, cackling as they did so. Benji was on the fringes, eliminating targets with simple flicks of his wrists. Rami had forgone weapons entirely, simply ripping demons in two as he fought his way towards Noah.
They’d all come. All of them. For Noah.
Not just the Seraphim, I realised belatedly. Those attacking Lyle himself, those hauling Noah out of his reach…
Dash.
Atlas.
Rowan.
Juniper had come to fight for Noah too.
Shadows swooped overhead. Lucifer released me with a cry, pulling up his shields, but it was too late.
Eight winged figures dropped from the sky. The four sons of Lucifer, along with Dimitri, plus Nox, Darius, and Dahlia. That wasn’t all either, as Mori had a man cradled in his arms. A water mage, if I was reading him correctly.
“Hello, Father,” Cal drawled, calmly pulling a sword from its sheath along his spine. “I see we need to have another discussion about boundaries and expectations.”
Harlow tutted. “I’d have thought my visit last month would’ve inspired better behaviour than this, but clearly I was mistaken.”
