Daniel #4
Valac had arrived. His violet eyes flared with fury, and beside him, Menadel’s blade gleamed. Her golden-white wings stretched out behind her, and power crackled through the room.
“Enough of this, Ramiel,” she said sternly, her voice ringing out through the room. “You will return to Heaven with me for judgment for the crimes you have committed.”
“Crimes?” someone asked, and Daniel turned.
Commander Sloan stepped forward, looking between Menadel and Ramiel.
Daniel could barely believe he was here.
He’d always just sent lackeys in the past. He hadn’t changed a bit since the last time Daniel saw him, with his high and tight brown hair, no-nonsense polo shirt, and tactical khakis.
Black blood was dotted on his shirt and jaw. “What crimes?”
Menadel drew herself up. “Ramiel has committed crimes against humanity. He draws on the Wrath of demons to empower himself and burn the humans from the Earth.”
“She lies,” Ramiel said, stepping past the demons like they meant nothing.
His voice was soft and hypnotic. “She is the one who is committing crimes, paladin. She would turn you against me, against the Holy Host, but she’s the one working with these monsters.
She’s the one who arrived with a demon to face me down.
Our Father would never allow us to work with the enemy in such a way. What she does here is an abomination.”
Sloan nodded slowly. “Of course. I can’t imagine an angel would ever work with demons.”
“Of course not,” Ramiel said, his golden eyes glittering. “You are the true allies of the Holy Host.”
Daniel had to admit, it was clever. Sloan would lap that kind of talk right up. It made him feel self-important, reinforcing his own beliefs and reassuring him that he’d been right all along. Nothing else Menadel said would matter.
And she knew it. Instead of arguing further, she roared, raising her sword and attacking.
Draego, Menadel, and Daniel took up places around Ramiel, creating the points of a triangle and forcing Ramiel to turn and block their attacks. One by one, the paladins fell to the others, until Sloan and only a handful remained.
“We must go!” Sloan hollered when it was obvious the tide was not turning in their favor. He was fighting Isaac, who wore a hungry, focused look on his face.
“No!” Ramiel shouted.
“We’re outnumbered!”
“They cannot kill me!” Ramiel turned sharply, slicing a gash open on Daniel’s arm. He hissed and fell back, flames licking up his body in response to the burning pain of the holy blade.
“But they’re killing us!”
Daniel watched the indecision flicker across Ramiel’s face. Did he give up the ruse already and lose his human allies in order to continue this battle, or did he retreat now with the paladins and go on to fight another day?
Growling in frustration, he disappeared with a flash of light that burned both Daniel’s skin and corneas. It was like standing next to an exploding firework. Around him, the others hissed and exclaimed in pain, and when his vision finally cleared, Ramiel and the paladins were all gone.
“Son of a bitch,” Isaac growled. “We almost had them!” He viciously kicked a table over.
Shadrach broke away from the rest of the demons to draw him into his arms, and Isaac melted against him.
Hands grabbed Daniel, turning him to face Chaol, who fussed over the gash on his arm.
“Are you okay? This is from a holy blade. Shit, it’s still bleeding.
” He used the shirt still tucked into his back pocket to tie around the wound like a bandage.
It felt a little overkill, but Daniel let him do it.
“I’m fine,” Daniel said. “It’s shallow. I’ve had worse as a human.”
“You died as a human,” Chaol deadpanned. “Of course you had worse back then. Doesn’t mean I want you to have anything like that now.”
“To be fair, a gunshot to the throat wouldn’t kill me now,” Daniel teased.
“And thank God for that,” Nicolas said as he reached for Ashmedai. “Or… Lucifer, I guess. Although that feels pretty sacrilegious.”
“We’ve all done plenty of sacrilegious things at this point,” Julian pointed out. His hands were on his knees. Sweat dripped from his chin. “Christ on a cracker, can we go a day without a battle like this? I’m sore.”
“Everybody okay?” Nathan called out. “Xyra?”
She was leaning against the wall by the door, her midnight blue hair in chaotic tangles and her body still trembling from the aftereffects of Ramiel’s magic. She shot them a thumbs-up. “I’m okay. Thanks for coming, guys. Fantastic timing.”
Shadrach faced her, putting his hands on his hips. “We said no parties! What the hell were you doing here?”
Xyra grimaced. “Disobeying. We just needed to blow off some steam. Trust me, I regret it.”
Shadrach sighed, exchanging a look with Talon, who shrugged and said, “Bet they don’t disobey again.”
“The ones who are still alive, that is,” Shadrach added.
Talon pointed at Menadel. “Can you join us at the Rink? We need to talk.”
Menadel clasped her hands in front of her and inclined her head. “Of course.”