33. A Time For War
Deyva
A zariah circled slowly as he made his descent from the dark sky, the only bright spot among the thick, ominous clouds hovering over Bethel. The angel’s face was grim as he landed in front of the priest house where me and the guys waited.
“They’ve surrounded the town on all sides,” he reported. “I spotted six generals, but there could be more holding back for a second wave. The smog is just too thick even for me to tell.”
“Kimaris?” I piped up.
Az looked at me and shook his head, the frustration evident in his eyes. He wanted to take out that sadistic demon just as badly as I did.
“How much time do we have?” Zach asked.
“They’ll reach the gate within an hour.” Az’s eyes landed on Kais, the closest person to a general we had. “Battle strategy isn’t one of my kinks, so I’ll hear out whatever you suggest, Father.”
“We meet them outside the gate with our best fighters from the town,” Kais answered.
“Everyone else stays inside the gate, but armed. Let them take out whoever slips past us with the help of the gate’s protection.
You and Deyva take out the generals first, then help us wipe out the hellions once they’re gone. ”
“Can I have John?” Azariah shot a grin at me. “He’s like a good luck charm to me now.”
“No,” I huffed. “John is my sword. Stavros gave him to me.”
“I’ll give you Andrew,” Zach told him. “He’s my backup after Joan.”
“What do we tell everyone?” Stavros had been mulling it over quietly. “They’re waiting for us in the gym, and they’re fucking scared. Should we, I dunno, give them some kind of morale boost?” He looked at Az. “You’d be good at that.”
“Respectfully, Father,” Az sighed. “These are your people. They’ve turned to all of you in their darkest times, all of which will pale compared to what’s going to happen very soon. Some of them may not make it through this. They need to know their priests are with them.”
“He’s right,” I said. “Az and I are the big muscle in this fight, but it’s you guys the people believe in. They’ll be the most comforted, the most ready, after hearing from you.”
Stavros' gaze rested on me, his weariness and self-doubt the most distinctive flavors coming from him.
We were all scared. And these men had been fighting for so long, always holding on by a thread.
The sense of finality hung heavily over the town.
Either this was when the thread finally snapped, or the first step for humans to take their world back.
I pushed a concentration of love and admiration toward him, not just my own, but what I’d gathered up from the people of Bethel. They owed their lives to these priests and not one of them took it for granted.
Stavros smiled at the swell of emotions that filled him, and he nodded in agreement. “You’re right. Thank you, babe.”
I turned to Kais next, snipping off a bit of what I gave Stavros for my warrior priest. The heaviness in his shoulders settled as he aimed a warm smile my way.
After seeing what his people were capable of against the hellbats, the intense fears of loss plaguing him had lessened.
And I had to give myself a pat on the back for fucking the nightmares out of him.
Now, well-rested and balanced, he was ready to lead.
Saving the rest for Zach, my youngest boyfriend beamed with love and devotion, not only to his faith, but the people he protected. As the least jaded of us, the hope within him shined the brightest. I hoped—no, I knew —he would inspire the people of Bethel if things got bleak on the battlefield.
Once juiced up with a little extra love from me, the priests headed for the church where the townspeople awaited their instructions.
Az and I followed a few paces behind them.
The angel grabbed my hand with an affectionate squeeze, topping me off with warm emotions after I gave a little to the priests.
“You gave the spotlight to someone else,” I teased him. “I’m shocked.”
“Oh, I’ll have it again during the battle,” he grinned. “I’ll make sure everyone sees when I make balloon animals out of old Kim’s gonads.”
“I hope that’s not you claiming dibs on him,” I said. “Not to knock you off your high horse, but the honor of killing him should go to me.”
“Let’s share him,” Az suggested excitedly. “Pass him back and forth a bit, but you can deliver the killing blow.”
“That’s if he bothers to show up,” I grumbled, entering the side door of the church.
“He will,” Az insisted, following me down the hallway to the gym.
“Naturally, he’ll let his hellions and generals get slaughtered first, but he’ll want to be there to claim you himself.
But don’t worry, Deyva.” The angel stopped me just outside the gym door with a turn of my shoulder to face him.
“I won’t let you get drained enough for him to take you.
We’ll keep coming back to each other to keep each other juiced, deal? ”
I nodded, trying to stamp down the fear before he could sense it.
I wasn’t worried about him or me being powerful enough to take him on, but what if I choked?
Kimaris rendered me a scared little shell just from his visits in my dreams. It felt like so long since I saw him in the flesh, what if I wasn’t mentally able to handle it?
Azariah promptly shoved those thoughts away by grabbing my chin and pressing a hard kiss to my lips.
Pure, angelic love filled me, practically lifting me off the floor as his tongue stroked inside my mouth.
One beat of those wings had my back pressed to the wall, Az’s hips pinning me in place as he filled me to overflowing with the inner strength I desperately needed.
“Are you absolutely certain we don’t have time for quickie right here?” He lifted my knee to wrap around his hip, fingers digging into my thigh as he pressed his growing erection against me.
“We should be listening to the speech,” I panted, reluctantly pressing back on his shoulders. “But thank you.”
“After we win then.” He smirked, stealing a final kiss before releasing me from the wall. “We’ll celebrate with that threesome you promised me.”
“I promised you no such thing!” I giggled, darting a hand out to ruffle his feathers, but the sexy, winged jerk got away quickly.
We slipped into the gym just in time for the climax of the priests’ speech, the townspeople focusing on the three men with rapt attention and their blessed weapons ready. Zach, ready with a copy of the good book in hand, recited a passage from Deuteronomy.
“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you.
And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
He closed the book with a firm slap of the cover, raising his gaze to those of his townspeople.
“This will be unlike anything we’ve ever fought before, my friends.
” Zach’s voice projected with authority and confidence throughout the large room.
“These demons are literally the stuff of our nightmares, and they will be counting on us to be terrified, to run the other way. But they have forgotten one very important thing.” His mismatched eyes scanned over everyone in the building.
“We are human. This is our world. We have an angel, God’s First Daughter, and God himself on our side. ”
People started thumping their feet, clashing their weapons together in camaraderie. Az and I exchanged a knowing look—we both tasted the fighting spirit, the faith and determination in the air.
“They’ve tried, but they have not succeeded,” Zach shouted passionately, “in taking everything from us. And we won’t let them!”
“YEAH!” Everyone shouted now, feeding on their own energy, cultivated by the three shepherds who had never led them astray.
“Are you ready to show them what humanity is made of?!” Zach demanded.
“Fuck yeah!” Jason shouted, a chorus of support roaring behind him.
“I’ll be damned, succubus,” Azariah mused. “We just might have a chance.”
“I hope so.” No one spoke or dared to think of what failure would mean. Anything but an outright victory would be beyond devastating.
It would be the end.
The wind whipping around us had a strange coldness to it, not the ashy brimstone we usually encountered on a daily basis.
Azariah’s holy light shining down on us from above provided some warmth, but the eerie chill was penetrating.
These hellions must have come from the bowels, the deepest parts of Hell that not even heat from its eternal fires could permeate.
Zach stood to my left, roughly a hundred feet away. The holy fire engulfing Joan’s blade flickered, a beacon of hope in the swirling, dark fog. Stavros stood somewhere another hundred feet to my right, barely visible. It was mid-morning, but dark as night.
Across town, Kais commanded his squadron of civilian fighters. And above us, Azariah could see all. Together, we braced ourselves and waited for the inevitable. Our task was simply to prevent as many demons as possible from reaching the gates of Bethel.
“Hellions coming up fast on Kais,” Az reported, his voice radiating power as it reached us. “Looks like they’re going for the maximum amount of humans.”
“Want me over there?” I yelled up.
“Nope. Already on it, sweet cheeks.”