The Rephaim: Burn Part 28

Jude is ahead of me, so I see when he stumbles. He keeps swinging and blocking, but he can't buy himself enough time to get up from his knees. I fight my way towards him, decapitating an Immundi, running through two more. Jude's holding his own, he's- A demon blade slashes across his back, slicing through fabric and flesh and muscle. Jude arches away from it, tries to turn. Exposes his neck to the snarling Immundi now behind him. The scream is there, right in my throat. And then Daisy materialises between Jude and the blade flashing down. She blocks it-at the same time I have to duck to avoid a sword aimed at my temple. I hamstring the two demons hindering my view and spring up to see Daisy in a stabbing frenzy, her sais plunging in and out of Jude's attackers with blinding speed and precision. And then she and Jude are gone. I have a heartbeat of relief, and then the next wave of Immundi sweeps towards me.

Before they can strike, the beach is bathed in blinding blue-white light. The horde snarls and shrinks back. I turn, squint against the glare. Nathaniel is on the beach behind us.

Thank G.o.d.

But the Immundi don't retreat. They lower their heads and rush past me, as if Nathaniel's arrival is a signal. They smash against me. Shoulders knock mine, spin me one way, then the other. My sword is almost wrenched out of my grip. I grapple for the knife at my hip but I can't get to it because I have to use my hands to push away the crush of demon bodies.

It's only going to take one of these p.r.i.c.ks to stab me on the way past- 'Boardwalk!' Rafa shouts from somewhere to my left. I don't need to be told twice. I slip into the void-it's almost a reprieve after the chaos of the beach-and re-emerge a few metres from Rafa. I look around, frantic, for Jude and Daisy.

There. Jude is leaning over the boardwalk railing, shirtless, shielding his eyes to watch the beach while Daisy cleans his back. She's using his torn t-shirt. The boardwalk is crammed with Rephaim. I scan faces as I push my way to my brother, find Micah, Malachi and Taya. Mya-blood soaking the right side of her head, matting her hair-Uri, Callie, Seth and Jones. Zak and Ez.

'It needs st.i.tches, Jude,' Daisy says as I reach them and I can see the gouge running from his shoulderblade across to his spine. The shift has stopped the bleeding, but she's right.

'I don't care about it scarring.'

'I do,' she says. 'It won't take Brother Ferro long to-'

'We're not going anywhere, Daisy. Look.'

I force my eyes from the two of them to see what Jude and everyone else are watching on the beach. Nathaniel is still in full glory so my eyes sting with the effort. The fallen angel is clearing a path through the Immundi like he's wielding a scythe instead of a broadsword, light radiating from him.

The Immundi scream-the blue-white brilliance actually burns their flesh-but it's not slowing them. They keep swarming, rushing him. The fallen angel stands head and shoulders above them, his entire being blazing, watching the demons stumble before they reach him, shielding their eyes. They keep falling, piling up around him. But they're not falling haphazardly. They're dropping to their knees and positioning themselves. And then the next wave does the same, on top of the first. Holy s.h.i.t...

They're sacrificing themselves to build a wall around him.

Nathaniel realises what's happening. With a strong beat of his wings, he's airborne. But before he can clear the ma.s.s of demon bodies, half a dozen Immundi scale the backs of their brothers and launch themselves at him, faces turned away. Nathaniel beats his wings, harder now, slashes at them with his broadsword. More jump and grab the legs of the dangling Immundi, weighing the angel down.

What is he trying to do? Shift, for f.u.c.k's sake.

Nathaniel tries harder but there are too many. They're howling, skin burning where they touch him, but they don't let go.

Shift!

He looks in our direction, his chiselled face bleak, and my breath catches in my throat.

Nathaniel doesn't shift.

He falls.

And then his light goes out.

h.e.l.l BREAKS LOOSE.

Gatekeepers and h.e.l.lions materialise on the sand right below us, between the boardwalk and Nathaniel and the sea of Immundi. Zarael lifts his face to the raging sky, long black hair whipping around his scarred face. Laughing. At his back, the writhing ma.s.s of demons swarm over Nathaniel.

Panic claws at me. My mind spins.

'Mobilise!' Daniel shouts. 'Get Nathaniel out of there!'

In a flash I find traction. I grab for Jude and Rafa before they can shift with everyone else. Even Daisy is gone.

'The Fallen,' I say.

'What about them?' Jude's injured and bare chested, and straining to be down in the sand fighting with the others. For once, Rafa gets what I'm saying before he does.

'Will it work?'

'I don't know, but Dani's watching, ready when we are.' When I left the resort, she was sitting in the middle of the bed, preparing to sink into that meditative state where she can see us.

'Where would we do it?' Jude asks, and takes one last look over the boardwalk: Rephaim pushing Gatekeepers and h.e.l.lions back, trying to get close to the spot Nathaniel went down. Rephaim stabbing at Immundi, dragging them away from the fallen angel. Shifting every few seconds to confuse the demons. 'Resort rooftop?'

Smart. It's close to Dani and we can keep an eye on the chaos. I nod, and am about to step into the void when my stomach dips and fingers grab my wrist.

'Wait-'

I duck and spin and then register it's Mya. But there's not enough time to stop the sweep that takes out her legs. She lands hard on the boardwalk, her katana catching the fence on the way down. The right side of her face is smeared with blood now-is she missing half an ear? I grab her wrist and shift without explanation, taking her with me.

My shin hits something solid and unforgiving on the other side and Mya b.u.mps into me. Jude springs forward, steadies us before we both topple over.

'Mya-'

'You're breaking them out, right?' she asks, breathless. It's a demand, not a question.

'We're going to try,' Jude says. 'We have to.'

I move back from the thing that almost tripped me: a low-set timber table, the first in a long row, bolted to the rooftop pavers. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are strewn across the resort roof, upturned and battered by the wind. The noise of the battle carries up to us: shouting, snarling, steel on steel.

Rafa wipes his blade clean on a tattered umbrella. 'You want to help me cover these two while they do their thing?' he asks Mya.

She nods and I catch her eye. 'Are you sure this is what you want? It won't work if even one of us is against the idea of freeing them.'

'Anything's better than what's going on down there.'

I can't bring myself to follow her gaze. I take a steadying breath, fight off an a.s.sault of memories from the last time we tried this. The taste of dirt and pine needles. The feel of sharp steel breaking the skin on my neck. Blind terror that I was about to lose my brother, or die, or both.

And here we are about to do it all again, with the entire Gatekeeper horde and a monstrous Immundi army within shouting distance. This is what Zarael wanted all along, to draw all of us into a fight. Isolate Nathaniel. Come after Jude and me. Ironically, we're trying to give him exactly what he wants: the Fallen.

My heart is a jackhammer. What if we free the Fallen and they don't help? What if they despise the Rephaim as much as the Garrison does and attack us? What if- 'We need to do this now.'

I lock eyes with Jude. Swallow. He's as freaked out as I am, but there's determination in the set of his lips. Grim resolution. I sheathe my katana with trembling fingers, fumble with the knife tucked in the front of my jeans. Blood rushes in my ears, thunders through me. I feel it at my temples, my throat, my fingertips.

Mya sheathes her sword and draws two handguns. Rafa has a katana in each hand, spins both. They take up posts either side of us, ready. A bloodcurdling cry carries up from the beach. I can't tell if it's triumph or rage. I shove the thought aside and slice open my palm. It stings like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Jude takes the knife and does the same and then we slap our palms together. His skin is hot and sticky. He thrums as if there's an electrical current running through him.

This is it.

I hope Dani's ready. I hope she's right about remembering the incantation.

I hope we all survive this.

Jude and I keep our swords in our free hands. Tighten our grip on each other. Rafa and Mya prowl around us, impatient, agitated. Rafa leans over the timber handrail to see the beach. 'Anything yet?' he asks over his shoulder, and his urgency tells me how badly things are going down there.

A slash of lightning splits the sky, so close my hair crackles and lifts from my scalp. Thunder booms. Somehow, the storm is right over us again. But where's the wind? The rain? Even through my haze of adrenaline and impatience, I notice the stillness. Not quietness-the battle still rages between the resort and the ocean. But the clouds are lower, heavier. It's as if the world is shrinking, closing in around us. I feel a strange surge of energy catch at the tip of my hair and rip through me, blasting out through the soles of my boots. But that's not the weirdest thing.

The weirdest thing is that Jude's face is lit up, flickering, like there's a bonfire between us.

'Gabe...' He looks up and I follow his gaze.

The sky is on fire.

No. Wait. That's not right. The night is shot through with flecks of oranges and reds, but not like flames: like embers. As if the clouds themselves are glowing.

'Are we doing that?' I whisper.

'I don't-'

He doesn't finish because Zarael materialises on the roof.

Of course he does.

The night grinds down. Suspends. And in that moment-the blink of an eye-I see h.e.l.l's prime Gatekeeper with strange clarity. The cruel crisscross of scars on his cheeks and throat. The easy way he grips his broadsword. Orange eyes reflecting the flickering sky. The sheer delight in the curve of his mouth.

Rafa launches himself at Zarael, his katana smashing against the demon's broadsword. Time snaps back.

Jude and I rush forward, hands still linked-we can't lose contact, not now, not if we're the ones changing the sky-but Mya shifts and beats us. She raises her guns and Rafa dives out of the way as she unloads both into the demon's chest and head. Zarael's body twitches as each bullet rips into him, driving him backwards. His head snaps back, taking one in the forehead.

It might be enough to slow him-or not. He's the hardest of all of them to keep down. Mya presses the triggers until the firing pins click. Once, twice, three times. She's empty. She tosses the guns aside, draws her katana.

Zarael stumbles against the timber rail and recovers immediately, his face streaming with blood. He's not smiling anymore. The four of us attack simultaneously. But Jude and I are useless swinging one-handed and Zarael knows it. He skips sideways, blocks a strike from Rafa and collects Mya with a backhand blow. It lifts her off her feet. She lands on the pavers, bones crunching, barely missing an overturned deck chair. She doesn't move and I feel Jude waver.

My insides plummet. I glance over my shoulder; Leon and two h.e.l.lions have arrived. Leon's sword is streaked dark. One of the h.e.l.lions carries a club, the other flexes razor-like claws, bares its long teeth.

I half-turn, prepare for a second attack. Should we shift? Will it nullify the ritual-if it's even working at all? Can we afford to be further away from Dani? f.u.c.k. She's right here, a few storeys below us. In the middle of this nightmare. So's Maggie-unless Jason's finally taken all of them to safety. If he has, is there any point in us being here?

G.o.d, I don't know what to do. I don't- The night shatters with another sky-splitting bolt of lightning and cracking thunder. And it's in the flare of orange light that I see them arrive. Leon staggers back and the h.e.l.lions snarl. My heart stumbles.

The rooftop is seething with angels.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

Angels. Everywhere.

Zarael shifts. I don't know where he goes because I can't take my eyes from the beings in front of me. Their shoulders rise and fall, chests heave. They're wild, untamed. Hair long and matted. Beards unkempt. Tunics and trousers faded and threadbare. Boots scuffed and wings ruffled. Even their broadswords are dull. But their eyes...

Their eyes flare icy blue.

My fingers slip from Jude's. My pulse thunders as violently as the sky. I skim their faces: every shade like their children. I can barely form a single coherent thought.

There's movement in the host. The angels are stepping aside to let someone through, someone with unruly dark hair hanging in curls to his broad shoulders. Whose face in this weird orange light looks a bit like...mine.

Blazing eyes find Jude and me, and then drop to our bloodied hands. He falters.

Semyaza.

Our father.

For a long moment, I forget to breathe.

How can he be our father when he looks no more than a decade older than us?

Beside the overturned deck chair, Mya moans and sits up-and then scrambles backwards on her hands when she sees the army of Fallen. A fallen angel with dread-locked blond hair breaks ranks and strides towards her. She tries to get to her feet, stumbles. Jude shifts and puts himself between the angel and Mya, now pressed against the door to the stairwell.

'Don't touch her,' Jude growls.

The angel raises his sword to bat aside Jude's blade, but then abruptly stops. The rest of the host looks on, restless. Their eyes flicker, completely unreadable. At least they're keeping their light to themselves. The thought of them all revealing glory at once is terrifying.

'I am Hadrial,' the angel says, looking down at Mya. His voice is rough, like he hasn't used it in a while. 'She is mine.'

Jude holds his ground. 'Back off.'

Hadrial pauses and then takes a single backward step. Mya stares at Hadrial, eyes wide, her bloodied arms wrapped around her knees. I tear my gaze back to Semyaza. He's fixated on me, unblinking. He radiates strength, volatility. I haven't raised my sword-I don't want to invite violence-but I will if he comes any closer. I'm meant to say something here, but my mind is a flat ocean.

A h.e.l.lion snarls and Semyaza's head snaps in its direction. I risk a look and see Zarael, Leon and the h.e.l.l-beasts on the far side of the roof watching our stand-off. Zarael is drunk with glee.

'This is my reward for all the decades in this putrid realm.' He makes a sweeping gesture to take in the roof and the beach. 'I shall slaughter your b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in front of you and then drag you back to the pit.' He grins, and then he and Leon disappear, taking their h.e.l.lions with them.

n.o.body moves.

Do the Fallen even know what's happening here? The urgency of the moment crashes over me.

'That battle down there,' I say, trying to smother the swelling panic. 'That's the rest of us fighting off Gatekeepers and a thousand Immundi. We need-'

But they're already gone. Semyaza and every single member of the Fallen: simultaneously shifted without a word. Rafa, Jude and I sprint to the edge of the building. This is it. There's no way any demon army can withstand two hundred angels manifesting in glory. I scan the teeming ma.s.s, see cl.u.s.ters of Rephaim, flashes of long white hair. The churning mound of Immundi still covering Nathaniel.

No.

I look harder. Straining to see wings, even the faintest tinge of blue-white light.

But the Fallen aren't there. They aren't anywhere.

We've freed them, and they've left us to face this nightmare.

Alone.

DADDY ISSUES.

'Motherf.u.c.kers,' Rafa spits.

Dread claws at me, sc.r.a.pes at my bones. n.o.body's coming to help us. I fight a wave of desolation. A hundred and thirty-nine years of searching for the Fallen. A body covered in scars. All the questioning, the unknowing. The lies and blame and doubt. All the bulls.h.i.t.