I couldn’t see him, not yet, but his power was wrapping around me, trying to trap me. I held the Deliverer a little tighter, feeling it warm in my palm. The runes along the surface of the blade began to glow in a soft white light, pushing back against the demon’s power.

  “You know why I came,” I said. “Give me Avriel, and I’ll leave without a fight.”

  His laughter shook the entire building, spreading a film of dust and mortar. “You won’t be leaving. There is no need for me to fight.”

  The tendrils moved closer - bunching in, surrounding me, placing me in a cocoon of total darkness. I couldn’t see anything around me. I couldn’t see anything except the blade glowing in my hand, preventing me from losing myself to the despair and disease Abaddon wielded like a sword.

  “The Beast will destroy you too, once he has the power. You aren’t immune because you’re strong.” It was probably pointless, but I didn’t think it could hurt to try.

  “Perhaps,” Abaddon said. “But ask yourself this, diuscrucis. Where do you see yourself in ten thousand years?”

  I was ready for a fight. Now I paused. I’d never thought about such a distant future. I’d only been here for five years. Heck, I wasn’t even through a mortal lifetime yet. Was Abaddon that old? Older? What was the future like? What would it be, when the whole world had changed? If I had tired of the fighting and the killing in five years, where would I be in one hundred? Where would I be in ten thousand?

  “No smart answer?” he asked. “No idealistic retort? Maybe now you begin to understand what the Beast has to offer? Torturing the angel has its enjoyment, but even that will grow old in a millennia or two.”

  He showed himself then, stepping out into the open, his body barely visible to me through the shroud of panic he threw out around him.

  “This isn’t about me,” I said. “This is about the billions of people who live here.”

  “Think, child. One hundred years is a millisecond to those who cannot die. One hundred years and nearly every single person you are protecting today will be dust. All any of them lose is one hundred years. What do you gain?”

  Rebecca had tried to recruit me. Rachel had tried to recruit me. Even Sarah had in her own way. None had made a case quite like Abaddon, but how could they? He was a destroyer, like the Beast. In fact, he had been made in that mold. He understood life and time in a way that they couldn’t. What did I gain, fighting against them and surviving? More war? More killing? More death?

  “Landon,” Ulnyx said, trying to get my attention.

  Ten thousand years. Could I picture doing anything for ten thousand years?

  “Landon,” Josette said.

  “You’re hesitation proves what you know to be true,” Abaddon said. “Mortals think in such short terms, because it is all they have. You are a Divine. There is a bigger picture for you to look at.”

  I was looking at it, and I didn’t like what I saw. Emptiness, hopelessness, sameness. Death, destruction, loss.

  “Landon,” Ulnyx and Josette shouted, together.

  It was like an electric shock. I looked at the Deliverer, hot in my hands, the once glowing scripture turning black. Somehow, he was overpowering it.

  I closed my eyes and focused, pushing my own power to my hands, trying to bypass the bracelet and feed it directly through into the sword. It must have worked, because the darkness began to retreat again. Abaddon shrieked, and attacked.

  How do you fight a creature shrouded in blackness, when you can never be sure of where his actual form is? He had dug his claws deep into my shoulder and thrown me to the ground before I had a chance to find out.

  The Deliverer wasn’t enough to keep him from hurting me, I realized. Not when I had my hands full holding off the life sap that came from his innate design. I rolled to my feet in time to hop back away from the darkest part of him, and then struck out at it with the sword. It sliced only through air.

  “Your weapon is impressive,” Abaddon said, shifting himself so I could see his fanged mouth, his dark skin and sharp red eyes. “I have not seen its like before.”

  “That’s because you were trapped in the Box, like a chump,” I said, focusing and leaping towards one of the walls, avoiding a black blade that had shot from somewhere within his shroud. I bunched my feet against it and shot towards him, stabbing downwards where his head had been.

  Except it wasn’t there anymore. A leg came up at me, but I blocked it with the flat of the blade and spun myself over, landing on my feet. I jumped at him again, the Deliverer raised to strike from directly overhead.

  He flowed out of the way like water, and a claw came out and caught me in the chest, holding me impaled. I coughed on blood filling my lungs, but turned the blade and lashed out at him anyway. He let me go, sidestepping the weapon.

  “It has been so long since anyone has challenged me like this,” he said. “It’s an honor.”

  I wasn’t expecting that. I brought the blade up and deflected two more strikes, and then went back on the offensive. I could never seem to get close, his dark, shrouded form slipping away as if it were carried by the wind.

  “Just freaking die,” I shouted, launching another flurry of thrusts and slashes, searching for him within the darkness.

  He only laughed, and then clawed my face, sending me tumbling backward.

  “One last true challenge before the end,” he said, suddenly sounding tired. “Thank you, diuscrucis.”

  I couldn’t see him, because he’d ripped out my eyes. I couldn’t See him, because of the bracelet. I held the Deliverer in my hand, but I knew it was over, because he would kill me before I healed. We both knew it.

  The bracelet. It wasn’t doing anything to help me right now, but I couldn’t pull it off without dropping the sword. Could I survive his power on my own for that long? I had no idea, but I needed to find out.

  I let the hilt fall from my fingers, and reached over to the bracelet, ripping it from my wrist and dropping it. I focused, fighting against the despair and desperation, sure that he was right on top of me. I could feel the pressure against my soul, needling in to tear it apart.

  I reached for the Deliverer again, but a clawed hand caught mine and held it. “I will enjoy the taste of your essence,” Abaddon said. I could feel his breath against my face, and my eyes began to regain themselves.

  Ten thousand years. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. I got a blurry view of the demon’s face right on top of mine, opening to literally eat my soul.

  A gust of wind, a loud crunch, and Abaddon was gone.

  I grabbed the sword and got up. Adam was laying against a wall, covered in blood. Abaddon was near him, getting back to his feet. I didn’t waste any time.

  “Sorry to be less than honorable,” I said, grabbing his neck with my free hand. “But… you know.” I brought the Deliverer forward, into empty air. “What the…?”

  There was a dark spot on the ground, like a pool of spilled oil. The black tendrils of his power were retreating into it, condensing into a shrinking point of evil.

  “He’s retreating,” Adam said. “Back to Hell.”

  The angel was still against the wall, and he looked completely dazed. He stared back at me with one eye open, the other with a gash over it, hissing from the demon’s poison.

  I ran over to him. “I guess it’s your lucky day,” I said, handing him the sword. As soon as he took it in his hand, the wound stopped sizzling, and began to heal.

  He looked at the Deliverer, his eyes wide. “Amazing,” he said, with reverence.

  “Not that amazing,” I replied. “It wasn’t enough to stop Abaddon from kicking my ass.”

  “It wasn’t designed to stop Abaddon,” Adam said. “He had already been dealt with when the Blades were created. Lucifer poured so much power into him, we knew he wouldn’t gift another like that.”

  I wanted to pick him up by the neck and punch him. “You couldn’t have told me that before I challenged him to a duel?”

  He chuckled. “That would have been entirely detrimental to your confidence.”

  I still wanted to punch him, but he had a point. Instead, I held out my hand and helped him to his feet. “You saved my life, again.”

  “You know what you can give me in return.” He held the sword out to me. “Just not yet.”

  Except that was one promise I wouldn’t be able to deliver on. The only question was - who was I lying to? I was glad I didn’t have to decide that yet.

  I went back to where Abaddon had knocked me down, picked up the bracelet, and returned it to my wrist.

  “We need to find Avriel, and be quick about it. The Beast knows we’re here. If he knows Abaddon isn’t anymore, he won’t be a happy camper.”

  Chapter 22

  We found him in the largest of the golden temples, naked and bound to the ground by chains. Runes ran up the length of them until they reached the manacles themselves, which were ordinary metal. He was filthy, covered in his own blood, which had been splattered around the room so often that it was nearly a dark red coat of paint on top of the floor. Spread out on either side of him, beyond his reach, were his wings, somehow shorn off without killing him.

  I had my own anxiety about facing him, even before we had entered the temple. Seeing what the Beast and Abaddon had put him through, it took an extra helping of courage to continue forward.

  “You.”

  That was all he said when he saw me. Despite what he had been through, he was defiant.

  “Avriel,” Adam said, going down to one knee. “We’ve come to save you, brother.”

  The archangel looked at him. “You’ve come to save me? Save yourself, brother. Get away from this one before he breaks whatever promises he’s made to you.”

  Adam turned to me, a questioning look in his eyes. I ignored it.

  “Avriel,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

  That was all I said. No excuses, no trying to weasel out of it. I had spent hours trying to think of a way to explain, but in the moment I knew there wasn’t one. I got down on my knee and bowed my head, ready to take whatever he dished out.

  There was silence for at least ten seconds. Finally, he let out a huff of air. “I felt the demon retreat. You came back for me, and you apologized with sincerity. The Lord would not approve if I could not find it in my soul to forgive you. Rise, diuscrucis, and help me get away from this place.”

  “Well done, Landon,” Josette said.

  I got to my feet and walked over to the chains. A single stroke from the Deliverer not only snapped them, but made them disintegrate entirely. I pulled the manacles off with my bare hands.

  “What manner of weapon is that?” Avriel asked. He rubbed his wrists as they began to heal. The wings stayed mangled on the floor.

  “A weapon of the Lord,” Adam said. “Created after your disappearance.” He rose to his feet and approached the archangel, wrapping him in a hug. “I am honored.”

  “Thank you,” Avriel said. He looked at his blood-soaked wings. “My days of flight are behind me it seems.”

  “Take the sword,” I said, holding it out to him. “It will heal you.”

  He surprised me by shaking his head. “Let it be a reminder to us all. The value is in survival, not in lamenting our wounds.”

  “I can’t get you out of here any other way,” I said. “Adam can only carry one of us.”

  Avriel laughed. “Fear not for me, diuscrucis. The wings are for more local travel. Besides, we won’t be alone for much longer.”

  Before I could ask him what he meant, sixteen seraph charged into the temple, organizing in a circle around us. I didn’t need to ask who all of them were; I already knew. The Inquisitors, and their backup.

  “Adam.” A woman stepped forward, with long wavy blonde hair and an equally long face. She was a little bit pudgy, a little bit butch, and she exuded power.

  “Kassie,” Adam said, dropping to his knee once more.

  She turned to the archangel. “Avriel. It is an-“ That was when she noticed his wings, and all the blood. “What has been happening here?”

  “Kassie,” I said, stepping towards her. “It’s-“

  Her sword was out and headed towards me before I could finish my greeting. I brought the Deliverer up in plenty of time to block it, but I didn’t appreciate her attitude. When the swords met, hers cracked and crumbled to dust.

  Her eyes grew wide. “Is that?”

  “The Deliverer,” Adam said. “But why did it just shatter your blade?”

  Kassie didn’t say anything. She looked at the other assembled angels. Then her face changed.

  “Darn,” the Beast said. “You got me.” A small demonic dagger appeared in his hand, and he lunged at Avriel.

  The archangel didn’t flinch. He put his hand out and caught the Beast’s wrist, twisting and breaking it with ease.

  “Ouch,” the Beast said, his other hand coming around in a fist and slamming into Avriel’s face. The archangel fell backward.

  I rushed to help him, but everything erupted in chaos, with the Beast’s servants turning on the loyal angels. “Adam,” I shouted, getting the angel’s attention. I threw him the Deliverer, and shifted.

  He caught the blade and turned, just in time to block one of the angel’s attacks. As had happened with Kassie, the sword shattered when it came into contact with the Canaan Blade. The seraph tried to back away, but Adam caught him with the tip of the Deliverer, and it tore through him, the wound opening with a blinding white light. The seraph didn’t turn to ash. He vanished.

  I heard an angel try to sneak up behind me, and I leaned on my hands and kicked back with Ulnyx’s powerful hinds, feeling claws ripping through flesh and sending the angel flying. Then I brought the legs back in and used them to spring towards another of the now-fallen Inquisitors, grabbing his neck in my jaws as his blade smacked into my side. I didn’t even notice such a puny wound, and I took a sick pleasure in feeling the crunch of his spine in my teeth.

  “Not bad,” Ulnyx said. “You’re getting better at being me every time you shift.”

  The statement made me catch myself. It was too easy to be corrupted by the Great Were’s power if I didn’t keep myself grounded. I turned and looked for Avriel, finding him still going hand-to-hand with the Beast. He was more than holding his own, and had managed to knock the dagger from his hand.

  “Getting sick of losing yet?” I asked the Beast, coming up from behind and grabbing him. Avriel might have been able to kick the crap out of the host all day, but without a weapon all the damage would just heal.

  “Who says I’m losing?” He twisted in my grip, trying to turn around. I focused and tightened it, keeping him straight.

  “You’re down one Abaddon. I’ve got the Box and Avriel. I’ve got Sarah. I’ve got a bracelet that hides my location from you, and I’ve even got a pretty sweet sword. Where exactly are you coming out ahead?” I brought my forearm around his neck. He grabbed it and fought against the motion, knowing that I was getting in position to break it.

  Somehow, he managed to slip the move, ducking his head under my arm, turning and elbowing me in the stomach. He followed up with a punch that launched me across the room.

  “You don’t have Avriel yet,” he said. He held out his hand, and the knife flew into it. Avriel was coming at him, ready for another round. He turned in one smooth motion, and the dagger launched from his hand and pierced the archangel’s heart. “I just wanted you to think you were winning, so it would hurt more when I did this.” He motioned with his hand, and Avriel’s entire torso collapsed inward on the dagger. His expression was one of surprise, and then he fell to ash.

  “The Divine aren’t the only ones who know how to channel power with symbols,” he said, laughing. “Let’s see how well Avriel’s Box works for you without Avriel.”

  I didn’t say anything. I just stared at the pile of dust that used to be Avriel the Just. I could hear Josette crying in the back of my soul, and I could even feel the shock of the Were at the sudden turn of events. I felt sick to my stomach, the hope and despair pouring in as though Abaddon were still standing right outside the door. All the while, the Beast laughed.

  “Keep underestimating me, kid,” he said. “I’ll find out where you’ve got Sarah stashed sooner or later. I know it’s somewhere in New York, thanks to the hours this sack of feathers I’m wearing spent chasing around after your sidekick. I’m just glad she came in useful after all. She was almost as much of a loser as you.”

  He smiled his stupid smile, and left her body.

  I walked over to Avriel and knelt down over the ashes, my eyes threatening to fill with tears, my heart ready to burst. I heard footsteps, and looked back. Adam was approaching, along with five other seraph.

  “Using the sword told the angels where I was,” I said. “It’s all the Beast needed.” I turned back to the ashes. “He was our only hope.”

  Adam put a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll figure something out. The Inquisitors are with you. What’s left of us, anyway.”

  It didn’t bring me any comfort. “We need to go back to the church, and meet up with the others. We need to tell them what happened. I don’t know if we can recover from this one. Even Malize thought Avriel was the only one who could make the Box strong enough to keep the Beast contained. Without him? I just don’t know.”

  I stood up and faced the other angels. There were two men and three women, of varying ages and features. They all looked upset at the loss of the archangel.

  “Do you believe in the Beast now?” I asked them.

  “We do, Landon,” Adam said.

  “This fight isn’t about Heaven and Hell. It’s about survival. For all of us. Can you abide by that? Because I can tell you right now, you will have to fight side by side with demons if we’re going to take him out.”

  The angels weren’t happy about that, but they didn’t argue.

  “We’ll do what we must,” one of the women said. She was dark-skinned, and spoke with a thick Haitian accent.

  “Which of you is the First?”