“All will be forgiven once your breed has been wiped out.” The archangel conjured a high-powered ball of holy fire.
Maddox almost snickered. Oh, the halo-bearer who passed on his “message” would have also told Castiel that Maddox seemed immune to holy fire. But Castiel would no doubt believe that Maddox had no chance of withstanding an archangelic blast of holy fire—it would be so much more potent, so much more lethal.
Castiel slung the orb at Maddox, who didn’t make the slightest effort to dodge it. He let it come at him; let it explode into nothing mere inches before his body.
Castiel gasped.
Maddox smiled.
Then sheer chaos erupted.
Her eyes glued to the sight outside, Raini rocked back and forth on her heels, filled with a restless energy that had nowhere to go. Anxiety nibbled at her insides, rubbed her nerves raw, and made her stomach curdle. Her mate—her mate—was currently fighting a fucking archangel.
When more halo-bearers had wavered into the courtyard, she’d almost lost her everloving mind. She might have tried to barrel her way outside if the newbies, who Carmen told her were fallen angels of some kind, hadn’t appeared. They were fighting hard. They also seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, like they either had some bad history with the halo-bearers or they were quite simply sociopathic.
The presence of one of the Black Saints, who Carmen had identified as Viper, made all the difference. He was so much more powerful than his “brothers,” and that strength made up for the fact that they and Maddox were outnumbered—especially when the number of halo-bearers was rapidly dropping.
The battle was an ugly one. Fire hissed, power sizzled, the courtyard statues crumbled under the assault. The Black Saints bit into their foes, ripping out chunks of flesh or gulping down angelic blood. Maddox and Castiel were focused on each other, merciless and relentless.
The air was lit up with orbs of hellfire, holy fire, red crackling energy, the gold whips of lightning that shot from Castiel’s fingertips, and whatever weird shit the Black Saints were throwing. The flaming balls were like holy fire in that they glowed and burned brightly, but they weren’t pure white. They were ultraviolet, and they were doing real damage to the halo-bearers.
Poor Celia remained in the center of it all. An occasional orb of hellfire had accidentally hit her, so she was in some serious pain, but she wasn’t fatally injured.
Raini’s entity did not want to be up here in a musty attic, observing the battle through the small window. It wanted to be with Maddox, protecting and fighting alongside him. Raini wanted the same, but she knew better. Her presence would only distract Maddox, and the one thing he did not need when up against a goddamn archangel was to be distracted.
Behind her, Carmen placed a hand on her back. “He’ll be fine, Raini.”
“So will Hector, but I’ll bet your head is all kinds of messed up knowing he’s trapped in the monastery and, more, you can’t be with him,” Raini hedged.
Carmen sighed. “Yeah, it is, so I get why you’re panicking. But Maddox has been through battles before, and he’s survived every one of them. He’ll survive this one, too.”
God, Raini hoped so. She pressed both palms to her stomach—the damn thing felt heavy as fuck, like a damn rock sat in it. She moved closer to the window. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I would rather you were down there with him than up here with me.”
“That’s not happening. Maddox would tear my head from my shoulders if I left you.”
“I’m safe here—”
“He’s strong, Raini. Uber strong. And the Black Saints have totally got their shit together. Trust him to have this.”
Shifting from foot to foot, Raini blew out several short, calming breaths. They didn’t help. Like at all. “I just feel so fucking helpless. He’s right there. I’m—”
“Exactly where he needs you to be. I know it’s frustrating, but he’ll fight better if he isn’t wondering where you are and if you’re safe.”
Raini dragged a hand through her hair. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But I don’t like it and—” She cut off at the sound of a loud thump. Pivoting on her heel, Raini sucked in a breath. Carmen was on the floor, seemingly out cold, and Euan stood over her, a gun in each hand. Son of a bitch.
“I wouldn’t think of lunging at me, if I were you,” he said, his smile pleasant.
She would have lunged if he wasn’t pointing a gun at both her and Carmen, who now had blood leaking out of her ears. Panic gripped Raini’s insides. “What did you do to her?”
Euan shrugged. “Just caused a little brain aneurism. Maddox could save her. I’m sure you’re counting on him to save you both. That won’t happen. And if you’re thinking that you might as well charge at me if she’s really a lost cause, consider this: a bullet would hit you before psychic hellfire hit me. So it might be best for you to simply behave.”